40 gallons of water and some rocks..

OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Photo update
EA1D2945-1CFE-4206-9814-EFC7A5412A55.jpeg
FDFA1606-44EB-40FE-8889-05113113C70E.jpeg
551AAF88-AFDF-4F24-B098-69DC916C9F67.jpeg
A9ED4966-E53E-482D-9A6C-208E68BE519D.jpeg
56E46B7E-8EA8-4050-A724-7CD4F3DD329B.jpeg

Corals and crabs are happy. The hammer coral is lush, the star polyps are spreading like the plague, the Xenia is happily pumping , and the almost dead plate coral has a bunch of heads growing on it. The button polyps are still unhappy but starting to open slightly again. Not sure what has them in a funk. They’ve been unhappy for a while now. The Pitho crabs are doing good so far. Though they are fairly private I have started seeing them during daylight hours lately. They like to bury in the sand when they aren’t busy eating. I’m thinking I may step up the frequency of my water changes to get the nutrients down a bit in the tank. Got an OW-25 cheapo wave maker on its way. I really wanted to get the icecap 1k gyre but I have all these small snails and I thought they would jam it up.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Things are going good sorta. :) it’s been a while since I’ve done anything of note to the tank. I put in the jebao ow25 wavemaker. It works as advertised and I’m happy with it so far. I have a bit of hair algae in the tank but considering my high nitrates for an unknown amount of time it’s looking pretty good. Got some crabs and snails doing a bit of work.
5C028874-EE60-4B11-B574-467E1B512C94.jpeg

I decided to try a few fish again so I put in an order with Aqua Locker. It should get here tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll report on my experience with them before too long.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
So my order with aqua locker was good. I got a couple of clowns, a lawnmower blenny, a royal gramma, some snails and an acropora frag.
the acropora was a guinea pig to see how they would do in the tank. It was fine until I did a water change. Was bleach white the very next day. Maybe I’ll wait until I get a bit more stability in my routine to try those again. I didn’t bother with asking for them to cover it under their 14 day guarantee. It was my fault.
the Ocelaris clowns and lawnmower have adjusted nicely and are happy :). The gramma never seemed to settle in. Never saw it eat and I found the poor thing dead after 4 days or so. Aqua Locker gave me credit for it no problem.
I had also ordered a springeri damsel but they didn’t ship it for some reason and gave me my money back for it.
Overall I was very happy with what I got from them and will order from them again. Its been a while since I took pics I’ll have post some soon.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Got a little RO setup from where I work this week. Tap water here runs between 750-800 TDS. The RO unit drops that to about 40. Got the single DI expansion from BRS and it takes the rest out :) I used a tee and some valves so I don’t use the DI cartridge on drinking water. It’s a good setup I think. It’s a 36gpd little thing but it will do what I need
558DD4C1-1299-48EE-B873-6B953C7B6208.jpeg
C2C1C1F1-21DD-432C-B340-0A0473E5B7E3.jpeg
0D300D4D-509A-40CA-A41E-AE6C5189DAA3.jpeg
 

raketemensch

Ape That Likes Fish
View Badges
Joined
Oct 13, 2019
Messages
378
Reaction score
478
Location
Northwest CT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Good stuff, I'm at a little earlier stage than you, but it's nice to read someone just figuring it out rather than someone who completely knows what they're doing already. I think a lot of us are fumbling along slowly.

I'm just adding my first CUC tomorrow, and waiting a few weeks before adding my first fish, most likely a diamond goby. It's especially interesting that you were able to get all that coral growth without a RODI unit at all.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks! I love diamond gobies. I had one named digger Dan. He was named after my borderline workaholic dad lol. Yeah I’m surprised I’ve ever kept anything alive lol. For a while there I didn’t even dechlorinate my top off water...... Which I would dump in 3-4 gallons at a time. it never seemed to bother anything.
Joining R2R was eye opening to say the least. It was also a bit discouraging. There’s no way I can afford to do things like most of the high profile tanks on here do. I decided to go back to my roots but with a bit more understanding. I’ll add nice things like RODI as I go.
Where you getting your CUC from?
 

raketemensch

Ape That Likes Fish
View Badges
Joined
Oct 13, 2019
Messages
378
Reaction score
478
Location
Northwest CT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It's coming from reefcleaners, I picked up a 15 gallon kit, since they apparently run large. I have a bunch of meetings today, so I'll have to start each one by saying "I may have to run out for a minute in the middle of this to rescue some crabs and snails from the freezing cold."

Honestly, I read a lot of the threads here with a salt shaker, taking them one grain at a time. In a single thread you'll find opinions on both sides of every debate, because different things work for different people.

Do you need a skimmer for coral? Yes, you do! Also, no, you don't. Are cartridge filters horrible? Yes, they are! Also, they work very well.

So much confusion to wade through, and that's before asking yourself whether the poster is running a FOWLR tank, a coral-only tank, a frag tank, etc.

The best advice seems to be "figure out what works for you."
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I put another order in with aqua locker this last weekend! All arrived in great condition! So far everyone is happy. I got a little two spot bristletooth tang, a Valentini puffer, a blue chromis and 4 fire fish gobies.
1B43F2DD-026E-40A4-88C2-3F562C368710.jpeg
776A63F5-28B9-430C-B8A4-D3D0BE077051.jpeg
F2199A90-67FF-4383-8418-2767119ECD99.jpeg

tang don’t like his picture taken yet.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
902C5BA7-3BB6-4BBA-B4AF-340BECD0147C.jpeg

FTS for posterity. Thinking I need more corals now. I have a trial led on the tank right now. Trying to get a second one for coverage. I love my metal halides and switching to less might be a bit tough. But for the price of these lights they will pay for themselves in just about 3 years worth of MH bulbs. For my budget it’s a good switch to make.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well. No luck getting the second led. The company quit selling them online because too many people couldn’t figure out how to use them ;Facepalm Looks like I’ll be sticking with my metal halides;Smuggrin that won’t hurt my feelings.
And to put under my lights I got some new corals today from Hidden Treasure Corals!
627484DB-53CF-4FC0-8831-DC29BD6AB999.jpeg
E4F7C4B5-67DC-4FF4-AA2E-F5EE1FF69368.jpeg
EBADC990-8D07-4F0D-BF3F-5D1774C2E783.jpeg
9E3A8430-35FA-41E2-A209-6447E131C4C1.jpeg
920D24D5-990B-4670-A74E-85411020D1AA.jpeg

prices are REALLY good. Packaging was excellent I feel completely satisfied with my purchase. The “frag” of pocillopora is a frikin mini colony! F3F595A9-10AF-4D62-AD8B-30B20B480F6B.jpeg
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
FTS for posterity.
CC18D334-ECD1-41B6-BD9D-E8DD459788EB.jpeg

All of the new corals seem to be doing good except the canycanes. They aren’t very fluffy. I did see the puffer harassing them a bit. He may be picking at them when I’m not looking.
F825BFEA-F57C-4154-8C1E-355676AC94AA.jpeg

I’m watching you bruh.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well I just got everything going good. So I’m going to move the tank and screw it all up. My house is in a constant state of remodel/repair. I got what I paid for :rolleyes:
I started this off by moving another tank I have that I use for quarantine into a good spot to use as housing for my fish n corals n such while I move the 40b into its new home and get it settled. I’m not too concerned about the move because I move tanks many times and been successful with it. It makes me nervous still though. The spot I’m moving it to should serve as a good location for several years. Hopefully :)
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Tank move has been put off. Hopefully for a long time. Tanks got some good momentum lately! Still only have 4 fish. A pair of fire fish. A valentini puffer and an ocellaris clown. Corals are doing great for the most part. Have an acan and a candy cane coral that haven’t done so great but everything else has thrived lately. I have finally defeated the hair algae plague I had for so long! I got a bit of dinos afterward because my nutrients went too low for too long.
No problem. Fed a lot of food and turned on the UV sterilizer. No more dinos.
I’ve got some more corals coming from Hidden Treasure Corals in a week or so ;Smuggrin;Smuggrin
BCFC1728-7B94-4C3D-AD10-CECA5F840647.jpeg
65D92C16-6A6C-47BE-8030-8BA98B41B65F.jpeg
7061A4DE-6840-469B-BB38-0C20D919EE3C.jpeg
9D309A5F-E967-467D-8350-A3D747D8030B.png
4BC5DA8A-712B-4D71-B1E9-4D0AB992EDC8.jpeg

39609554-A5C5-4828-B1E0-020740AF4A97.jpeg
19F2DA53-D462-4801-804E-E8B8136D421C.jpeg
7A15407E-0EE8-4E7F-B3E3-CB67BD763DDF.jpeg
322FEB09-0AAE-4B10-94BB-B5BE32C88A3D.jpeg

Now some shoddy iPhone pics!
BCFC1728-7B94-4C3D-AD10-CECA5F840647.jpeg
65D92C16-6A6C-47BE-8030-8BA98B41B65F.jpeg
7061A4DE-6840-469B-BB38-0C20D919EE3C.jpeg
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Some the rastas and the ding dang palys we’re slow to open up but look good otherwise. The mystic Montipora is huge. Lol. No dna sample here, the “frag” is about 4” across. It was open and happy as can be until my dang emerald crab decided it looked good. My wife got a good video of me dueling said crab for the corals life. Had I been thinking I should have removed him right then. If I catch him on it again he will get sumped. I bet the coral recovers nicely though.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Well crud. Seems my Valentini has taken a liking to my Duncan coral..... I think I’ll move the coral to my 20g I have set up. If he takes to another coral it’ll be the puffer in the 20g instead. Hope not. I really like it where it is.
Ah well I knew the risk.
 
OP
OP
Johniejumbo

Johniejumbo

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 12, 2017
Messages
1,360
Reaction score
2,069
Location
San Angelo Texas
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
New fishies!
54D5CE6B-44C3-4D77-87DA-944801DDBEC4.jpeg
354E46A2-B1F4-48BA-8D9A-9F799ACF1362.jpeg
E814371D-5E69-4EC9-868B-A7799985D56C.jpeg
F8EA2393-BFB2-4D8E-90BD-874582219393.jpeg
28ECF4A4-9DF4-48BF-8EBE-1A7532DAAB18.jpeg

Also got a chalk bass but haven’t seen it since I released it. May be it’s still hiding. I haven’t given up on it yet.
These came from reefbeauties.com all came in very healthy and ate the first day. Chalk bass unknown of course.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top