JHunt's Rimless Landen 28.5g AIO

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jhuntstl

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I got the Fijicube 32G AIO: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fijicube-32g-aio-build.839699/#post-9213420

Dimension-wise it is almost identical to the Landen 28G, but front to back it is deeper by 2 inches. also the back chambers are slightly narrower so that gives prolly another half inch of depth to the display area. Another thing I noticed is that Fijicube is quiet no matter what water level you set, whereas with the Landen I tried to tune out the water noise by adjusting water height, but could not eliminate the noise.

Same I planned to go skimmerless(for low noise build) but there was a sale for icecap Skimmer so I bought one

I bought some zoas once and it came on a clam. you can see the clam opening:

Ya I wouldn't mind those extra couple inches. That was a good reason to switch. My options were limited when I ordered. Stock was low and nano demand was high! I'm really happy with the tank, but I do dream of a future 24x24x18 build.

There is definitely a trickle in the back chamber. It doesn't bother me, but I understand the desire for a silent build. Did you have a media basket picked out that fit in the Landen? I made my own out of eggcrate.

I find clams to be super freaking cool. That is too neat you had one covered in zoanthids.
 

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Did you have a media basket picked out that fit in the Landen? I made my own out of eggcrate.
No, and that was the other reason I switched, I couldn't find one that fits the back chamber perfectly. Was thinking of making one out of acrylic, but then I saw Fijicube makes a nice one that fits all of their AIO tanks and only costs $40 so made the switch:


The Landen tank is still better bang for buck. Similar size and quality materials for almost half the price of the fijicube.
 
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No, and that was the other reason I switched, I couldn't find one that fits the back chamber perfectly. Was thinking of making one out of acrylic, but then I saw Fijicube makes a nice one that fits all of their AIO tanks and only costs $40 so made the switch:


The Landen tank is still better bang for buck. Similar size and quality materials for almost half the price of the fijicube.
Ya it was definitely a good deal at $224 with 2-day shipping. Egg crate media basket works well enough. If it can hold my carbon and filter floss, that's good enough for me. TBH I keep both of those at the top, so I never have to pull the dang thing out to change anything. $40 is a fair price, though. Between the $10 worth of eggcrate, $5 bag of zip ties, and my time...I'd have preferred to spend 40 bucks.
 
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Added a new section to the first page. This thread has become an easy AIO place to keep track of my successes and failures. It's important not to forget! Also added a few things to my regrets list.

As ashamed as I am to include this next section, I think it's important to keep updated.


LIVESTOCK CASUALTIES

Coral


Hollywood Stunner Chalice
- very early introduction
- RTN
- pretty sure I nuked it with my LEDs

PC Rainbow Acro
- early introduction
- this was ballsy, but it was cheap and I'm dumb
- STN'd
- ALK swing most likely finished it off when I started dosing AFR

Fish

- none

Inverts

Cleaner Shrimp
- Had it for about a week. Never mentioned it in this thread. I really am not sure what killed it.
- It may have died due to a brief spike in nitrates
- My clown may have killed it after one too many attempted cleanings
- I miss it trying to clean my hand :(

recent FTS cause why not.

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AFR - 4ml/day(up from 3)
Phyto - 10ml/day(up from 5)


ALK - 7.9
NO3 - 5
PO4 - .04

Gonna be photo overload on this update.

Last week my ALK dropped below 8 for the first time since starting AFR. I reacted with a 1ml dose increase when I hit 7.7 and ever since it's been stable at 7.9. I'm going to try and get it in the low 8s with a WC today. I think moving forward I'm going to test ALK every evening for the foreseeable future. NO3 and PO4 once or twice a week.

I picked up a few more frags this weekend. ORA Green Planet Acro, Flower Pot Monti, and an unknown branching acro. It's starting to get pretty full of frags in this little tank, so will be mostly holding off on new additions. Time to sit back and watch the growth!

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Speaking of growth. I went digging through my photos and got some good comparison shots.

German Blue/Purple Branching Digitata
This guy has really been blowing up lately. No shortage of new branches, that's for sure.
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Red Monti Cap
Classic beauty.
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Unknown Stylo(I think)
Been a rocky road for this one, but is looking better than ever.
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ORA Birds of Paradise and Green Birdsnest
Really not much growth between these two. BoP has actually been coloring down lately. Might be time to move. The green birdnest has a white sponge that loves to grow all over it's base. I guess taking it out of the tank and exposing to air would nuke the sponge easy enough. I've been plucking chunks off every couple weeks, but it always comes back.
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Season's Greetings Monti
Was upset being up higher, so brought this guy down. Started to STN a month back. I let it go to about a 1/4" before I snapped off the receding section. Has been fine since.
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GSP!
Love the movement it brings to the tank. Got some GHA growing on it.
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Also...


Happy to report I got my Lawnmower Blenny eating Juliun Sprung Nori and Hikari Algae Wafers! He was getting pretty skinny, so this is a big step in the right direction! He's even been taste testing some frozen too, but usually spits it out.


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Now onto scarier things. I am starting to see some Dino'ish algae growth. I've actually noticed it for some time, but it was always such a minuscule amount. There is no doubt a snotty growth with bubbles attached to it that is making a small appearance. It disappears at night, which is pretty indicative of dinos IIRC. I did have a snotty, stringy and bubbly algae phase in my first month, but it was gone quickly.

I'm not seeing as much today or any of the bubbly strings yet, but it's still early.

I don't plan to change anything or react yet. No chemical dumps. No microscopes. Going to continue my routine as usual. It is still a very small amount, but enough to put me a little bit more on edge. If I were to react, I think I would try introducing more Ulva/Sea Lettuce. There are claims it is beneficial in out competing dinos. I still have a little growing in my tank, with plenty of snails that enjoy eating it. So shouldn't have to worry about the ulva getting to infestation levels.
 

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Tank looks great! You’ve documented it really well in this thread! That trochus snail with the bivalve is super cool! Fingers crossed that you don’t have the start of dinos, and I agree not to do any knee jerk responses to it. Stay the course for now and keep the updates and pics coming!
 

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I've been slacking watching your thread. Your last couple posts and the photos accompanying look AMAZING. You've got a ton of beautiful coral growth, and the rock is filling out spectacularly. That red monti is gorgeous, I only hope my monti can be half as colorful.

Where are you buying your coral from?

Also crossing fingers your dino stays minimal.
 
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I'm pretty sure it's them. I'm not convinced I have a lot to worry about, though. I've been keeping note of my routine and it's effects. A lot of things certainly point to them.

I dosed a touch heavier on phyto yesterday and fed only frozen. I also noticed my Oxydator was just about empty and refilled. I saw a very small amount in the AM and it never got worse throughout the day. If anything it looked to improve.

Today I did a 5 gallon WC, siphoned the entire sand bed, and fed my coral a mix of Benereef and Reef Roids. This is very routine for me. These are things I've often read NOT TO DO when you have dinos.

Well since then I'm definitely seeing some not so nice stringy stuff around my zoas and paly. They're not gonna look happy in the gifs, but they've been ticked for a while. This is really the worst of it today. It seems mostly isolated to the left, lower side of the tank.

I'll be getting a bottle of phyto from @Eldredge this week. A fresh bottle of his phyto always seems to clear up my glass, back wall, and make my water about as clear as possible. I bet it'll knock this stuff down too.

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Tank looks great! You’ve documented it really well in this thread! That trochus snail with the bivalve is super cool! Fingers crossed that you don’t have the start of dinos, and I agree not to do any knee jerk responses to it. Stay the course for now and keep the updates and pics coming!
Thank you!! That bivalve is probably my favorite thing in the tank!

I've been slacking watching your thread. Your last couple posts and the photos accompanying look AMAZING. You've got a ton of beautiful coral growth, and the rock is filling out spectacularly. That red monti is gorgeous, I only hope my monti can be half as colorful.

Where are you buying your coral from?

Also crossing fingers your dino stays minimal.
Thanks! While that red monti looks great in person, the filter I'm using makes it pop with a lot more orange. It's one of my worst offenders for not photographing true to it's color.

Rocks are definitely getting full! Especially up top. I'll have to move or even remove some as they continue to grow.

I've bought mostly from the local LFS's. Some nice stuff fragged from local hobbyists has been popping up lately. My initial SPS pack was from ebay, though.
 
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Well whatever that stringy dino'ish stuff was, it's pretty much been gone since my last post. All my SPS are happy, except my Birds of Paradise Birdsnest. It's been coloring down slowly for a while and not much polyp extension. Today it was looking it's worst. I finally pulled it out, took it off it's plug, dipped it, and remounted it lower. I glued it so it would grow sideways this time. I've heard this can help. Broke off some tips as well to encourage new growth. This guy used to be one of my most colorful. Blueish purple polyps with an electric green flesh. Hopefully it'll bounce back!
 
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Alk consumption is really picking up. I'm at 5ml/day of AFR now and I'm having to supplement sodium bicarbonate while I wait for the AFR increases to show. It can take a few days. I tested 7.6 on Hanna and about the same on Salifert this evening. That's the lowest I've ever been. Going to manually dose up to 8 tonight and retest tomorrow evening.

I think my 1000ml of AFR lasting nearly a year days are rapidly coming to an end.
 
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Small update...

ALK- 7.9
NO3 - 5-10
PO4 - .09

AFR up to 6ml/day. Watching ALK like a hawk.

Fed a lot this week. I'm finding it's really easy to increase my phosphates auto feeding pellets. I think if I reduce the feeds per day, I can maintain them around .05.

My Lawnmower Blenny has acquired a taste for frozen LRS Reef Frenzy. No longer spitting it out. My nutritional concerns with him are now 100% solved. Great to see him looking fat and happy again.

Bivalve is growing. :)

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Been enjoying investigating my rocks with whites cranked to 100%. There's so much hiding under the heavy blue spectrum I usually run.

I have a good amount of sponges hiding in most crevices. Mostly pineapple.

I believe the light green and yellow growth you see everywhere is coralline.

The little white dots all over are Nerite snail eggs. I've never seen a baby nerite. Not sure if they're even hatching or the six-line is enjoying the free food.

Then there's the reddish, but mostly brown growth all over. It doesn't blow off, nor have I had any luck getting it up with my nail. Not too sure what that stuff is yet. It's more prevalent in the lower par areas.

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SaltyT

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Been enjoying investigating my rocks with whites cranked to 100%. There's so much hiding under the heavy blue spectrum I usually run.

I have a good amount of sponges hiding in most crevices. Mostly pineapple.

I believe the light green and yellow growth you see everywhere is coralline.

The little white dots all over are Nerite snail eggs. I've never seen a baby nerite. Not sure if they're even hatching or the six-line is enjoying the free food.

Then there's the reddish, but mostly brown growth all over. It doesn't blow off, nor have I had any luck getting it up with my nail. Not too sure what that stuff is yet. It's more prevalent in the lower par areas.

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Tank looks great!
You taught me something... I have nerite snail eggs all over my overflow they‘ve been coming and going for over a year and I never knew what the heck they were LOL thanks!
 
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Tank looks great!
You taught me something... I have nerite snail eggs all over my overflow they‘ve been coming and going for over a year and I never knew what the heck they were LOL thanks!
Hah! Glad I could help. My nerite only seem interested in laying them on the rocks. Not a single one on the glass or any plastic. Wait not just the rocks, my mexican turbo has 5 or 6 on his shell. :p
 

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For reference, here's my DIY reef-pi/dosing stand. Carpentry skills are not my forte :D
 

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