And now for something a little different ...

[LBReefer]

I took out the big camera last night with the goal of getting a new FTS. I was partially successful at best. I struggle to get the right white balance because of the contrast between the backdrop and the sand. Any tips?


I have tried unsuccessfully to have a school of blue-green chromis, but no luck. I am back down to two and plan to keep it that way going forward.


This guy consistently photo bombs and is definitely the prima donna of the tank. He and the yellow tang battled it out in the first few days, but they seem to have settled their differences.


This is a birdsnest I received from Cultivated Reef. I was really happy with their customer service and the quality of their corals. After my shipment getting lost, they replaced all of the corals that were lost.


This green gonipora finally started taking off in the last few days. I'd like to be able to track down why ...


This DaVinci clown has a bit darker base than I would have preferred, but the white lines are awesome. I have seen her(?) dancing with the other DaVinci as the lights dim down. I'd love to see some clown babies.


I would have preferred to get a shot of him heading towards the viewer, but it was cool to see his fins expressed.


I consistently see these viewpoint when looking at my tank. I love the contrasting shades of blue.


I really struggled to get a shot of this guy. My 20 year old macro lens does not work with my new (10 year old) camera. My camera struggles to differentiate this guy from the sand in the background. Any suggestions?

 

[LBReefer]

I will probably post this as a separate thread, but I would appreciate any suggestions on how to incorporate my biocube into my main systems. I currently run separate pumps for my chiller and reactor and have thought about finding a way to incorporate all three.

The biocube currently functions as my frag QT tank, but I would like to make it a display fuge ...

 

[LBReefer]

My next attempt at integrating acros into my tank.

I am hoping that my DOS will lead to more success.

 

[LBReefer]

I picked up a green acro and cleaner shrimp to throw into coral QT. I had ordered some new frags from Cultivated Reed last week, but they got caught in some bad weather and we're delayed. Only the softies and one small bridsnest appear to have made it. Cultivated Reef was super supportive and offered to replace the dead/dying corals in my next order.

The green acro is still plugging away, but the cleaner shrimp bit the dust.

I can't keep shrimp in this tank. The snails, hermit crabs and sea star are all fine. As such, I don't think its linked to copper contamination.

I have another round of icp tests going out this week. Perhaps its vanadium noted on my previous posts?

 

[LBReefer]

My best attempt at getting a full body shot of the Naso. He's really quite a bit more striking in person. I haven't been able to entice him with Nori yet, but I have big plans.

The naso has definitely put on weight. I'm still inconsistent in my nori supplementation.

 

[LBReefer]

Side shot with my phone.

I really wish I had setup this tank as a peninsula.

 

[LBReefer]

Updated FTS with my phone.

I decided to repaint the stand and canopy to match the rest of the room. I think the more demure color palate makes the tank itself pop. Unfortunately I still get a ton of glare when I try and take daytime photos of the tank.

I've added a few sps, tried to trim back some of the softies to transplant to my office tank, and started dosing. We'll so how this transformation progresses.

I have this leopard wrasse in qt, along with a few fish from my office tank. I think it's time to clean the acrylic.

 

[LBReefer]

And there was no leapord wrasse in that photo. Trying again ...

 

[sam.veilleux30]

Nice build!
Love your tangs.

 

[LBReefer]

Nice build!
Love your tangs.

Much appreciated. It's been an adventure.

 

[LBReefer]

Little guy enjoying the tank.

 

[LBReefer]

 

[LBReefer]

 

[LBReefer]

 

[LBReefer]

I ordered some crushed coral to fill in the bare spots in my sand. Any other recommendations on this? I have two bare spots in the center of my tank. I'm using a combination of two Maxspect 250s and two Neptune WAVs.

 

[LBReefer]

Well the crushes coral came in, but I didn't do a good job of rinsing the sand. I had a complete white out.

 

[LBReefer]

I decided to take the plunge and plumb the external refugium. Here's a few progress shots:

 

[LBReefer]

Leak testing

 

[LBReefer]

Final product.

It turns out I'm really bad at taking photos during a project.

 

[LBReefer]

So, leak testing is less effective when you bash the pipes around afterwards. Somewhere between flipping the tank around and attaching the hose, I managed to disconnecting the overflow box on the back.

I swear that next time I do this, I'm going to keep a two foot walking path behind the tank and parts. Trying to fix these issues by reaching around, over, under, etc sucks.

A new layer of silicone now coats the overflow box inside and out. I'm hoping that I do not have to wait a full week for it to cure.