El Kae's Bonsai Lagoon 50

[DHill6]

2020 update:


Well, shortly after the previous update, I made the decision to switch to Aquaforest's reef salt, and balling method. Literally after one water change, the tank took a turn and went to crap. First time ever, I had an outbreak of dynos. The combination of that and tank chemistry changing, and my corals started dropping like flies. I held on through October and November, trying to salvage what was still hanging on. Finally going into the holidays, I gave up and planned for a hard reboot going into the new year. Over the past 2 weeks, I've swapped out to a different sump and integrated UV into the return. Also got my hands on a Trident and have that hooked in to monitor the system. In the display, I pulled the previous scape and put in a new one. (not surprising for me lol) 2 weeks in and things have been holding stable. SPS wise, only the oregon tort and Cherry Bomb pulled through, though showing much battle scars. I swung by my cousin's and trimmed some of his corals to throw in as testers. So far so good. This hobby stresses me out haha.

Oh no, sorry to hear about the trouble. Very interesting to follow your scapes as they change You’re going BB again or plan on using a substrate? Following

 

[Just_Pete]

2020 update:


Well, shortly after the previous update, I made the decision to switch to Aquaforest's reef salt, and balling method. Literally after one water change, the tank took a turn and went to crap. First time ever, I had an outbreak of dynos. The combination of that and tank chemistry changing, and my corals started dropping like flies. I held on through October and November, trying to salvage what was still hanging on. Finally going into the holidays, I gave up and planned for a hard reboot going into the new year. Over the past 2 weeks, I've swapped out to a different sump and integrated UV into the return. Also got my hands on a Trident and have that hooked in to monitor the system. In the display, I pulled the previous scape and put in a new one. (not surprising for me lol) 2 weeks in and things have been holding stable. SPS wise, only the oregon tort and Cherry Bomb pulled through, though showing much battle scars. I swung by my cousin's and trimmed some of his corals to throw in as testers. So far so good. This hobby stresses me out haha.

Sorry to her about the troubles. At least you're in good spirits and continuing on. Your tank has been an inspiration man. Keep up the work.

 

[El.Kae]

I just found your thread, I'm sorry for your recent troubles with your tank. You're a very talented reefer, I'm sure you'll bounce back in no time. Your tank is beautiful, with one of the coolest scapes I've seen in a while.

Thanks for the kind words!

Oh no, sorry to hear about the trouble. Very interesting to follow your scapes as they change You’re going BB again or plan on using a substrate? Following

As much as I love the look of running substrate, I'm going to stick with BB.

Sorry to her about the troubles. At least you're in good spirits and continuing on. Your tank has been an inspiration man. Keep up the work.

Thanks! It's all part of the hobby. With my constant tinkering and changes I always make, it was bound to happen.

 

[Ikikimo]

 

[El.Kae]

Couple shots taken the other night.

 

[DHill6]

Good looking corals. What kind of flow are you running?

 

[Just_Pete]

Always amazed by your photos. Keep up the good work man!

 

[El.Kae]

Good looking corals. What kind of flow are you running?

I'm running two Maxspect XF 330's each on random

 

[El.Kae]

FTS: Jan 29, 2020

 

[KÜRŞAT]

which brand you use reef salt ?

 

[El.Kae]

which brand you use reef salt ?

Aquaforest Reef Salt

 

[El.Kae]

FTS: Feb. 2020
Removed coraline off the back wall, added corals. Everything's been progressing smoothly.

 

[DHill6]

Always amazing scapes, we’ll thought out.
When you had your reefer 170 did you prefer the MPs on the sides or back wall for flow?

 

[El.Kae]

Always amazing scapes, we’ll thought out.
When you had your reefer 170 did you prefer the MPs on the sides or back wall for flow?

To be honest I don't recall running them on the sides, was always on the back in the 170.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Beautiful tank...

 

[Pickwun]

FTS: Feb. 2020
Removed coraline off the back wall, added corals. Everything's been progressing smoothly.

Just freakin' beautiful.

 

[Spencer]

Stop changing things! haha
Got anxiety flipping through your RS-170 and then through this. Very jealous of your seemingly nonchalant access to premium frags. You also are giving me more confidence in trying Tropic Eden Supreme Tonga Branch Rock in my RS-170 scape (vs. making my own minimalistic scape pieces via rubble).

So are you off of the Aquaforest lineup? I was planning on dosing Triton's CORE7 with RS blue bucket.

Happy with running two 330 Gyre's?

 

[El.Kae]

Stop changing things! haha
Got anxiety flipping through your RS-170 and then through this. Very jealous of your seemingly nonchalant access to premium frags. You also are giving me more confidence in trying Tropic Eden Supreme Tonga Branch Rock in my RS-170 scape (vs. making my own minimalistic scape pieces via rubble).

So are you off of the Aquaforest lineup? I was planning on dosing Triton's CORE7 with RS blue bucket.

Happy with running two 330 Gyre's?

Haha thanks! I'm lucky to have a few high end reefers that love to roll their eyes at me every time my tank changes. I'm sticking to the Aquaforest line for the time being. The gyres were good. I actually changed (lol) to a pair of nero pumps on the back wall. Was a pain cleaning the side glass. I have no complaints about blue bucket. My rs170 tank was at it's prime using blue bucket and brs 2part.

 

[El.Kae]

Such has become unsurprising with how my tank goes, I lost all my sps after the last update. I had treated my tank with a dose of Salifert Flatworm Exit. The morning after all my sps showed signs of stress and some rtn. Within 24 hours everything had rtn'd. I know it was not because of the flatworms as I had only saw a handfull of tiny ones on the glass and it was more of a precautionary treatment. I've treated this and previous tanks this way in the past with no ill effects. There must have been a change in the formula or a bad batch. All the corals are easily replaced but only ticked about losing my Oregon Tort colony which I had grown to a baseball size from a 1/2" frag I got two years ago. It finally had enough of my bs I guess lol. Luckily I was able to grab a new frag from the same mother colony. I've since moved on from the situation. Two months later and the tank has stabalized after several 100% waterchanges. After a couple of test corals showed no stress, I loaded the tank up with fresh frags this week. Let the regrowth begin... again. lol Here's some shots of some of the frags tonight.

 

[ReefguyEric]

That sucks looks like you are getting it back on track