200G IM EXT (First tank ever)

[UncommonSense]

alright well we came home to some new life in the tank, only additions to the display I have had are the 3 lps which I dipped) and the 2 emeralds, so not too sure how he got in or even what he is? google search says maybe a asterina starfish? idk? It is very hard to get a focused picture on this guy tho because of his size and the stuff behind it lol

Yup, Asterina!

It seems like some species are better than others, but the evidence is largely anectdotal…

I have them in my QT tank, I pluck them out en mass when I get the motivation, pending tank reset! (Whichever species I’ve got in there definitely feeds on soft corals!)

I also spotted one munching on the base of a gorgonian recently at my LFS…

I’d start plucking them out as you see them! — they reproduce primarily by division!

 

[vittpsu21]

alright well we came home to some new life in the tank, only additions to the display I have had are the 3 lps which I dipped) and the 2 emeralds, so not too sure how he got in or even what he is? google search says maybe a asterina starfish? idk? It is very hard to get a focused picture on this guy tho because of his size and the stuff behind it lol

Yup, Asterina!

It seems like some species are better than others, but the evidence is largely anectdotal…

I have them in my QT tank, I pluck them out en mass when I get the motivation, pending tank reset! (Whichever species I’ve got in there definitely feeds on soft corals!)

I also spotted one munching on the base of a gorgonian recently at my LFS…

I’d start plucking them out as you see them! — they reproduce primarily by division!

As you say that I saw another moving…

lol oh fun

 

[UncommonSense]

As you say that I saw another moving…

lol oh fun

I’ve found that you can do a pretty decent job of getting the population down by hunting and plucking at night after lights out, when they’re grazing on the glass!

They are amazing at camouflaging, annoyingly!

 

[vittpsu21]

As you say that I saw another moving…

lol oh fun

I’ve found that you can do a pretty decent job of getting the population down by hunting and plucking at night after lights out, when they’re grazing on the glass!

They are amazing at camouflaging, annoyingly!

prob had to come in with a frag or something. I did manage to get 4 fish in qt finally successfully about a week ago, lawnmower(lost mine in my first batch if you remember) diamond goby, solarensis wrasse and a filefish lol. All eating frozen already amazingly

 

[vittpsu21]

Feels like I’m pretty close to rounding the bend though on the fun part, my three lps have been doing very well since adding 2 weeks ago

 

[UncommonSense]

Feels like I’m pretty close to rounding the bend though on the fun part, my three lps have been doing very well since adding 2 weeks ago

Absolutely!

If you want to try to clean up some of the uglies faster, you can see about scrubbing the worst of it with a long-handled brush… then, cleaning mechanical filtration out an hour or two later, once all the stuff you’ve scrubbed off has been collected!

 

[vittpsu21]

Feels like I’m pretty close to rounding the bend though on the fun part, my three lps have been doing very well since adding 2 weeks ago

Absolutely!

If you want to try to clean up some of the uglies faster, you can see about scrubbing the worst of it with a long-handled brush… then, cleaning mechanical filtration out an hour or two later, once all the stuff you’ve scrubbed off has been collected!

I was considering this, I’ve been trying so hard to be patient and keep my hands out of the tank and use natural solutions whenever possible. But seeing all the coraline starting to show up has been tempting me. I wish the lawnmower was in the main tank already from the first batch but he’s not so it just is what it is cause he would def help with algae I think.

But my nitrate export finally started going back down and my chaeto growing again after I added a power head to the refug.

It’s been 3 weeks in this weekend so I’m pretty sure I’m going to pick up 3 more lps. Frogspawn for sure and then idk what else but dang I love these hamers and flowy ones. Just not quite ready for a torch yet imo

 

[vittpsu21]

It won’t be the next batch, probably one more between but then I’ll be looking to add the tangs (3 I hope) and rabbit fish. My wife really wants an angel but I just don’t know lol


But I figure by that point I’ll have

4pjs
Firefish
Lawnmower
Diamond
Solarensis wrasse
Filefish
Royal
2 clowns

So 12 fish then maybe one batch then tangs+ rabbit fish or if it’s already going to be too much will add that batch in next. I know for sure I want those big fish so I just wanna try to keep things not overstocked if that makes sense. But those I plan to make my last batch of fish.

I would love to fit a yasha and pistol though if I can before them. Guess we will see. My plan tho was the mandarin and that pair at same time, and by then all the pods I seeded and all the photo hopefully did their job

 

[vittpsu21]

I’m sure I’m very late to the party but I finally ordered the Orphek lens.. man do pictures look way better. I’m still figuring it out but







Really does a good job lol

 

[vittpsu21]

Well today we did some thing to the tank, im hoping it will work well but…

We had to use the brs piece to make a hole in the net and then use the extra mounting bracket for the euro brace but we got it working. Hooked it up to a timer for 20 seconds 3 times a day and then I’ll still feed frozen on top! Only sad part is I did not have room for a pump under so I may want to add a power head under it to get things through tank but we will see!

Also big day tomorrow have a visit to coral gardens to shop, I’m sure I’ll leave with way more than I expect

 

[vittpsu21]

Well tonight we tested it, we are 7 hours into a power outage and still going…



I had a plan, and a ton of nerves but thus far all has been good. I have a pdu under my tank that all essential stuff runs to, everything else runs to a second surge. I purchased a battery backup as well as a generator, the idea was I would hook both tanks up to the battery backup and buy myself time to hook up the generator. I haven’t built and enclosure yet for the generator but after tonight I’m very much ready to do it asap. I purchased 2 100 ft cables rated properly and had them at a good close location.

Power went out about 7pm got everything instantly switched to the battery backup and turned the lights off at the pdu. On the main tank, 2 mp40s, the heaters, the skimmer, and the return are all running. On the qt tank the hob, heaters, and sponge/airstone are running. I made it till about 12:30/1am before I had to refill the generator with gas. Was able to swap everything back to the backup battery and turnoff the generator to let it cool down and refill…then swap everything back to the generator after. I used the backup battery to hook up the atos for about 5 minutes to catch up just now on both tanks and then turned those back off and out of the battery. Overall I was very anxious for this moment because I knew it would eventually come, but at this point I’m ready for it to end… lol

Have the generator going and probably won’t need to do much other than add more gas at about 5-6 am… but I’m truly hoping power is back before then. Ultimately my anxiety about it was worse than my prep so that was probably good? The biggest worry now is house temp dropping and heaters not keeping up but I really hope it doesn’t come to that and not really too sure what I could even do if that time comes! All of this of course the day after my trip to coral gardens though from a perspective of the tank the only real difference was the lights going off a few hours early thus far.


Side note, pool noodle with slits in the bottom and weather stripping to run the cords through the window works pretty darn well…

 

[UncommonSense]

The biggest worry now is house temp dropping and heaters not keeping up but I really hope it doesn’t come to that and not really too sure what I could even do if that time comes!

Does your home have a gas furnace?

If so, run an extension to the 120V plug which controls its electronics (low amperage draw), and it should still operate to keep you, and the tank warm!

 

[vittpsu21]

The biggest worry now is house temp dropping and heaters not keeping up but I really hope it doesn’t come to that and not really too sure what I could even do if that time comes!

Does your home have a gas furnace?

If so, run an extension to the 120V plug which controls it’s electronics (low amperage draw), and it should still operate to keep you, and the tank warm!

I do have a gas furnace, I’m very unfamiliar with them though so I guess I’d have to look up what the panel looks like you are talking about. I’m fairly handy but working in tech and hating/fearing gas lines has always kept me far away from those

 

[vittpsu21]

The biggest worry now is house temp dropping and heaters not keeping up but I really hope it doesn’t come to that and not really too sure what I could even do if that time comes!

Does your home have a gas furnace?

If so, run an extension to the 120V plug which controls its electronics (low amperage draw), and it should still operate to keep you, and the tank warm!

Ah quick search and I see some just have plugs, mine had a switch in the front like a light for on and off.

 

[UncommonSense]

I do have a gas furnace, I’m very unfamiliar with them though so I guess I’d have to look up what the panel looks like you are talking about. I’m fairly handy but working in tech and hating/fearing gas lines has always kept me far away from those

Often, gas furnaces just have a literal plug on them, just like a coffee maker!

It depends on the furnace, don’t go poking around if it is indeed hardwired into the house!

Alternatively, why don’t we work out if you can just run the tank heaters off generator power?

— What generator do you have?

 

[vittpsu21]

I do have a gas furnace, I’m very unfamiliar with them though so I guess I’d have to look up what the panel looks like you are talking about. I’m fairly handy but working in tech and hating/fearing gas lines has always kept me far away from those

Often, gas furnaces just have a literal plug on them, just like a coffee maker!

It depends on the furnace, don’t go poking around if it is indeed hardwired into the house!

Alternatively, why don’t we work out if you can just run the tank heaters off generator power?

— What generator do you have?

Tank heaters are going off generator already, I have a wen 2000 I believe. My worry is when/if the house gets too cold and the heaters can’t keep up mostly

 

[UncommonSense]

Tank heaters are going off generator already, I have a wen 2000 I believe. My worry is when/if the house gets too cold and the heaters can’t keep up mostly

It looks like 2,000W peak (~16A 120v), and either 1,600W (~13.3A) or 1,700W (~14A) continuous output…

That should suffice for everything besides maybe lighting at 100%!

— you have sufficient water volume to only loose a few degrees overnight, but that’s still less than ideal!


so, definitely no luck on your gas furnace having any visible 120v power cord you could simply plug into the generator?

 

[vittpsu21]

Tank heaters are going off generator already, I have a wen 2000 I believe. My worry is when/if the house gets too cold and the heaters can’t keep up mostly

It looks like 2,000W peak (~16A 120v), and either 1,600W (~13.3A) or 1,700W (~14A) continuous output…

That should suffice for everything besides maybe lighting at 100%!

— you have sufficient water volume to only loose a few degrees overnight, but that’s still less than ideal!


so, definitely luck on your gas furnace having any visible 120v power cord you could simply plug into the generator?

Pretty sure I’m hardwired from what I see





So far my heaters are keeping up but who knows for how long. I’d likely have to get a bigger generator too to add it all

 

[UncommonSense]

Pretty sure I’m hardwired from what I see





So far my heaters are keeping up but who knows for how long. I’d likely have to get a bigger generator too to add it all

Yeah, that’s hardwired… don’t go poking around in there…

Well, a bigger portable generator would definitely be the easy way out! Even if only because you could use a larger electric heater for the whole home to knock the chill off…

The much more elaborate/robust solution is the whole, or partial home stationary generator route; these are typically wired into the home’s electrical via an “automatic transfer switch”, and will turn on/off automatically as-needed!

 

[vittpsu21]

Pretty sure I’m hardwired from what I see





So far my heaters are keeping up but who knows for how long. I’d likely have to get a bigger generator too to add it all

Yeah, that’s hardwired… don’t go poking around in there…

Well, a bigger portable generator would definitely be the easy way out! Even if only because you could use a larger electric heater for the whole home to knock the chill off…

The much more elaborate/robust solution is the whole, or partial home stationary generator route; these are typically wired into the home’s electrical via an “automatic transfer switch”, and will turn on/off automatically as-needed!

Real answer is likely I could call and electrician and get them to add one if it came done to it. Then simply go buy a bigger generator I guess but I don’t know how real that will be with all these outages

I looked at whole house but it’s just very expensive imo lol