Griev's IM-200 Mangrove Lagoon

[TheWB]

The rear euro-brace covers most of the rear chamber making it impossible for a fish to jump back there. Only in the middle is it open, and the included mesh cover leaves only a small gap. I'd be impressed if a fish got back there, but having had a wrasse jump through a tiny opening myself... nothing is 100% wrasse-proof, lol.

PINKYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry, couldn’t resist lol.

 

[tautog83]

Yeah just saw the tank at lfs and I was looking at that area and a wrasse could 100% get in there in the box . Definatley clearance , I'm not sure why they dont have a cover for the part of the box. I'll have to figure out what the best solution is . I'm going mostly for wrasses that's why I'm concerned. However this thread has been really helpful !

 

[Griev]

So I might have been accidentally running a cold water tank for a while.

This weekend I started getting alerts from my apex that the temperature of my tank was 85+ degrees! A quick visual check showed the heater was off and the water didn't feel warm to me. I grabbed the laser surface thermometer I use for the grill and it only showed 70.5. Wait a sec, 70.5?! I checked with another thermometer and my tank was 70.5 degrees! Apparently my temperature probe has been going bad slowly, no idea how long it's been reading low. This could definitely be a contributing factor to the issues I've been having.

Luckily I had a leftover BRS thermometer controller from my previous tank, and I was able to get the tank back up to 77.5 over about 10-11 hours. So far the corals seem happier and the fish more active.

I guess regularly checking the temperature with a separate thermometer is going on the regular maintenance list...

In other news, I'm still slowly but surely bring phosphates down. Last test was 0.13 and I'm dosing around 50 ml a week of NeoNitro to keep nitrates around 4-5.

My largest anthias is transitioning! My previous Lyretail didn't get the purple/indigo spots and I definitely thought something was wrong with him at first.

 

[TheWB]

So I might have been accidentally running a cold water tank for a while.

This weekend I started getting alerts from my apex that the temperature of my tank was 85+ degrees! A quick visual check showed the heater was off and the water didn't feel warm to me. I grabbed the laser surface thermometer I use for the grill and it only showed 70.5. Wait a sec, 70.5?! I checked with another thermometer and my tank was 70.5 degrees! Apparently my temperature probe has been going bad slowly, no idea how long it's been reading low. This could definitely be a contributing factor to the issues I've been having.

Luckily I had a leftover BRS thermometer controller from my previous tank, and I was able to get the tank back up to 77.5 over about 10-11 hours. So far the corals seem happier and the fish more active.

I guess regularly checking the temperature with a separate thermometer is going on the regular maintenance list...

In other news, I'm still slowly but surely bring phosphates down. Last test was 0.13 and I'm dosing around 50 ml a week of NeoNitro to keep nitrates around 4-5.

My largest anthias is transitioning! My previous Lyretail didn't get the purple/indigo spots and I definitely thought something was wrong with him at first.

Weird temp problem, good catch though, probably explains a lot. Very nice looking Anthias.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Glad you got that figured out!

Great photos btw!

 

[Griev]

Finished my light shade today. I wanted the light to shine through the pattern caused by the 3D printed infill. I think it came out looking even nicer than I expected!

 

[Griev]

Printed a little media tray for my filter socks to make swapping out the media a lot easier.

 

[Griev]

I must have bought the world's laziest berghia nudibranches and peppermint shrimp. I see them around still but I certainly don't see any progress being made.

My wife bought me the big guns for Valentine's day. Find yourself a woman who buys you death lasers.

It's the new Reef Delete and it's pretty well made. My only complaint is the switch is pretty stiff for something you're expected to hold down for 120-160 seconds at a time. A timer mode where it runs for 1X0 seconds on a single push would be a great improvement.

They say it can take a few treatments and some time for them to waste away after being radiated. I'll zap them again tomorrow and keep posting updates. I know a lot of people were interested in this gizmo.

 

[Griev]

Just did another treatment. My thumb is sore. I'll have to think up a 3d printed handle or something to make it easier to hold the button down for extended amounts of time. Here's some more progress pictures;

Area 1
Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Area 2
Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Area 3
Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

 

[TheWB]

Just did another treatment. My thumb is sore. I'll have to think up a 3d printed handle or something to make it easier to hold the button down for extended amounts of time. Here's some more progress pictures;

Area 1
Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Area 2
Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Area 3
Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Dude, how much for the rental lol.
I’ve got 5 or 6 big ones that my aiptasia eating file fish and my peppermint shrimp won’t touch. I need one of these but it would be a pretty steep price to pay to just kill like 6 of them.

 

[Griev]

Dude, how much for the rental lol.
I’ve got 5 or 6 big ones that my aiptasia eating file fish and my peppermint shrimp won’t touch. I need one of these but it would be a pretty steep price to pay to just kill like 6 of them.

Hah, I might consider renting it out through my local reef club once I've got my own under control. Part of the reason I'm taking pictures is to document how long it takes and such.

My only hesitation is that it's somewhat dangerous, not sure I'd want the liability of someone turning it on underwater and looking down into it to see if it's on or something.

 

[TheWB]

Hah, I might consider renting it out through my local reef club once I've got my own under control. Part of the reason I'm taking pictures is to document how long it takes and such.

My only hesitation is that it's somewhat dangerous, not sure I'd want the liability of someone turning it on underwater and looking down into it to see if it's on or something.

Oh for sure, you can’t trust anybody anymore. Lawsuit waiting to happen.
I’m disappointed in my aiptasia eating file fish because I thought as it got bigger it would go after the big ones like it went after the small ones. My sandbed was completely infested and within a week of adding that fish the sandbed was completely clear. It just won’t go after the ones on the rocks. I don’t have a lot of them but some are just huge now. Maybe I’ll get lucky and an LFS will see the value in making one available for rent.

 

[Griev]

Printing my "make the Reef Delete comfortable to use" prototype;

 

[Griev]

Works great! Designed it to be print in place, no assembly needed.

 

[Griev]

Day 4 pictures (3 zaps so far);

So far so good, the aiptasia definitely do not look happy. I'm going to stop zapping (unless they start inflating fully again) and see how long until they're fully gone.

I've also started seeing my Berghia more frequently. Not sure if the weakened aiptasia are easy pickings, but interesting observation.

 

[TheWB]

Day 4 pictures (3 zaps so far);

So far so good, the aiptasia definitely do not look happy. I'm going to stop zapping (unless they start inflating fully again) and see how long until they're fully gone.

I've also started seeing my Berghia more frequently. Not sure if the weakened aiptasia are easy pickings, but interesting observation.

I’m amazed you see your Berghia at all. I’ve tried twice and never seen one again after letting them loose. Looks like the zapper is doing its job. I don’t know why but I kind of had the idea that the zapper just instantly nuked the aiptasia. I did not realize you had to keep going back and hitting them over and over.

 

[Griev]

I’m amazed you see your Berghia at all. I’ve tried twice and never seen one again after letting them loose. Looks like the zapper is doing its job. I don’t know why but I kind of had the idea that the zapper just instantly nuked the aiptasia. I did not realize you had to keep going back and hitting them over and over.

Yeah it's not a laser, just a very strong UV light that destroys the DNA. In theory the organism can't reproduce new cells anymore and wastes away. Some things like Aiptasia seem to be a bit more resilient to it, so I've done multiple treatments to make sure they're gone. It also should neutralize any spores that they give off as you're zapping them.

I don't see the berghia often (even less so while the lights are on), but it's always cool to see them. I spot their egg swirls too, so hopefully between the zappers and the slugs I can get them all.

 

[Griev]

My mangroves are still growing great. Trimmed the new tips to encourage branching.

 

[Griev]

My battle box arrived! I asked @Battlecorals to send me 5x of three different acros.

Blood bank;

Reading Rainbow;

Tinkro-Belle (two of these didn't ship well, but Adam is usually great about replacements);

Summer Harvest (freebie);

 

[TheWB]

My battle box arrived! I asked @Battlecorals to send me 5x of three different acros.

Blood bank;

Reading Rainbow;

Tinkro-Belle (two of these didn't ship well, but Adam is usually great about replacements);

Summer Harvest (freebie);

Niiiiice!!! I really like the Tinkro-belle and the Blood Bank from the pics on the website.