Isaac's CADE 1500s2/ Peninsula Reef Build

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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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The chocolate Tang is such a gentle tang, at least this one. And he’s a healthy fish — eating up my nutrient rich nori soaked food.

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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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Found a great deal at Petco for an arch CaribSea LifeRock. Figured I shouldn’t pass it up because it was 15% off and I had a $10 Petco membership coupon. And I want to add a few more little hideaways for the fish — so that they can hide and feel they have a place to chill if there’s too much going on around the tank .

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So my curiosity lead me to drill (with Mason bit) into the rock in several places. Should allow me to have spots where I can drop in some frags on a stick.

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I think I’ll put this particular piece towards the back of the tank to continue that rock coming from the back look.

Odd how some parts pull up grey interior dust and others look like aragonite.

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Make sure to rinse well with RO water.

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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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PB Tang to temporary holding in my office 40 breeder.

I’m going to keep him in here so he has a bit more room than in the isolation box, plus, I’m hoping it disorientates him a bit.

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the image above used the iPhones wide angle and is making everything seem smaller. He’s actually pretty large from when I first got him. The PB has almost tripled in size since his arrival from fishotel.com.

unfortunately he’s already chasing the kleins butterfly around a bit. Luckily there’s hiding places for the Klein.
 
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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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Placed the CaribSea LifeRock arch into the tank yesterday evening. I’m hoping to create some extra caves in anticipation of reintroducing the Powder Blue Tang back into the tank.

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I added the rock to the back, to the left of the overflow column:

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There’s a nice refuge there now, as well as keeping that lower overflow intake unobstructed.

——

On a side note, seems the system is balancing (I think). I’m noticing the cyano is almost completely gone, and now, there’s a bit of Coralline algae, but mostly green algae covering the rocks. The sand bed seems very clean.
 
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Isaac Alves

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how are you liking the combo gyre and mp40 for flow? have to decide soon myself

I love it. I wish I had more control over the gyres but it seems I'm getting great flow across the entire tank. Oh...and FYI, I replaced the MP40s for MP60s -- so they're running at 35%. The MP40s I got kept falling off the when I cranked them up to higher speeds.
 
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Isaac Alves

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Took advantage of a 30% off discount from @AquaSD today. Picked up:

  1. Branching Hammer
  2. ORA Pearlberry Acro
  3. Kryptonite Candy Cane
  4. ASD Nuclear Shortcake Acro

Screenshot 2023-04-03 224105.jpg


Also, the shipping within California is crazy -- only $20.
 
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Isaac Alves

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One Complaint with the Ultra Reef Typhoon UKD-200 Protein Skimmer


The lid doesn’t hold in the foam -- it always oozes out. I don’t know if anyone else has this issue but I really wish it wouldn’t. You’d think the weight of the lid, which is quite heavy, would press down enough on the edge of the skimmer cup to seal it.



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I mean...

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At least it skims. But man it is a bit annoying for the cost. Maybe it’s just mine and it got machined slightly off or something.

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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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Cooling.

In southern California we can get pretty hot weather and it looks like the forecast is showing a warming trend. I used evaporative cooling in my last display tank and it worked great to keep temps at the 77-78 range. Now, that was a smaller tank. Now to cool this longer peninsula tank I’m going to try the same tactic. This time with a larger, more powerful fan.

I saw someone on Instagram use a smaller version of these and I purchased it originally mounting it inside the sump; and this turned out to be a mistake since the moisture level in the cabinet runs super high and ultimately the fan was just a large rusty mess. I removed it fearing that dripping rust could be a problem if the fan turned on.

Fast forward to now, and I still need a cooling solution. I liked the design of the fan I originally bought and luckily there was a larger, more powerful version available.

It’s called the Vornado Pivot3C. And it can really move air. I found it on Amazon for about $44. Here’s a link directly to it:


What’s great is that it mounts perfectly on my light rail that’s mounted to the wall stud. So it’s super secure and away from moisture.

Next steps are to get it plugged in…


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Widdlyscudds

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Took advantage of a 30% off discount from @AquaSD today. Picked up:

  1. Branching Hammer
  2. ORA Pearlberry Acro
  3. Kryptonite Candy Cane
  4. ASD Nuclear Shortcake Acro

Screenshot 2023-04-03 224105.jpg


Also, the shipping within California is crazy -- only $20.
I love AquaSD they were nice enough to call me the day my order shipped to tell me a torch I had ordered wasn't doing so hot and let me pick how I wanted to be refunded, they hook it up for sure
 
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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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Backup power.

I currently have a 100 amp hr LiPO4 battery and a Victron charge controller connected to my system. This backup is connected directly to my Vectra and Vortech pumps which is great because they have the battery relay built into the driver, easy peezy.

But I want something that can run the entire system for around 6 hours. I decided to pick up an Ecoflow Delta MAX unit that I’ll run in UPS mode, initially. I’m considering this as insurance to keep the system alive in case energy demand, or fires, cause blackout/brownouts in my local area.

I got the unit delivered yesterday:

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Isaac Alves

Isaac Alves

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Livestock in front of tank

With water flowing strong but soft at the front of the peninsula I’m thinking of collecting some euphyllias to fill this section opposite the clown’s nem. The dragon soul has been happy.

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The hammer from @AquaSD looks nice. But I noticed a Kenya tree was hidden in the zoas. I'll need to cut that guy out.


My Chocolate is looking all healed up. And he’s grazing on algae and doing his thing. I’m thinking next week I’ll move the Powder Blue back into this tank using an isolation box and large mirror.

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Making aqua concoctions: Have you ever tried the Reef Moonshiner Method?

  • I currently use the moonshiner method.

    Votes: 32 21.8%
  • I don’t currently use the moonshiner method, but I have in the past.

    Votes: 2 1.4%
  • I have not used the moonshiner method.

    Votes: 107 72.8%
  • Other.

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