My lil reef

[Rick.45cal]

You're making me hungry Rick!

Try making burgers that way and you’ll never be hungry again LOL

 

[Maxx]

Clyde is my second Malinois and I love the breed, but he will likely be my last. He’s an amazing dog but he’s an alpha and it’s been a challenging journey. He can be a lot to handle, he’s a very well behaved, well trained dog and we work well together, but is EXTREMELY territorial and his prey drive is off the charts. He’s a fun dog to play frisbee and ball with though. He’ll catch anything you throw (no matter how badly). He’s definitely a good guard dog, and an excellent friend to have on your side if you need it. But he isn’t friendly to other people outside of family and our Vet and that’s hard on him and me at times.

Training on any dog with a strong prey drive is crucial IMO.

I'm glad Clyde has you as an owner who recognizes this.

ETA - and gives him plenty of attention and care. It's obvious he gets plenty of both.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Soooooooo I did a thing today, and I‘m sure alot of you will probably think I‘m crazy. But I got started and it all kind of snowballed into a major overhaul. I was tired of not being able to access 50% of my tank since the anacropora had grown to fill the entire right side, it was all touching three sides of the glass, shadowing everything below it in that side of the tank and choking out many other colonies. I also wanted to take the oportunity to rid myself of the Orange monti in the center of the tank that was rapidly engulfing every coral in it’s path. FWIW I‘m more than a little saddened to have had to do this, but I knew it was inevitable and I had put it off for too long. Long story short, (and lots of work later) I ended up removing the entire anacropora colony, the orange monti, and 95% of the German blue digi. I’m certain it won’t be the last Ive seen of any of these corals, but I’ve now opened up probably 50% more space than I had before. So it will be interesting to see where the tank goes from here.

I took a top down shot before I started, and I’m glad I did. I’m sad to see it go, as I loved it , but excited for having the real estate and opportunity to grow some new things there.

So things have changed A LOT, but I don’t hate the after like I thought I would

 

[User1]

First pass of your update I only had time to flag a like Sorry for the delay in a actual reply but I like it. Something someone said in one of their pod casts or post that always sticks in my mind is that reefs are built upon dead reefs. Or something along those lines in that corals grow, shade part of their original base and that dies off feeding the newer growth. I don't know but it seems to make sense as I see something similar in my tank although nowhere near mature as yours.

I like what you did and it makes sense. I do something similar with aquascape and moving rocks around while my tank matures. I think the change is just a bump in the road for the tank overall and it gives one room for future growth or additions.

Looks good and also like a lot of work

 

[Rick.45cal]

First pass of your update I only had time to flag a like Sorry for the delay in a actual reply but I like it. Something someone said in one of their pod casts or post that always sticks in my mind is that reefs are built upon dead reefs. Or something along those lines in that corals grow, shade part of their original base and that dies off feeding the newer growth. I don't know but it seems to make sense as I see something similar in my tank although nowhere near mature as yours.

I like what you did and it makes sense. I do something similar with aquascape and moving rocks around while my tank matures. I think the change is just a bump in the road for the tank overall and it gives one room for future growth or additions.

Looks good and also like a lot of work

I still have lots of work to do, but I had to step away from it today to get a better perspective of what needs to be moved and where it needs to go. There are also a couple of corals I need to address on the other side of the tank too, but I don’t want to do too much and lose perspective of the plan.

Yes, at some point if things are going right in this hobby you have to make drastic changes otherwise there is no more tank space left. Hopefully now I can clean the glass on the side again LOL

 

[Maxx]

Sometimes bold steps are the best ones.
I agree with saf1, it opens up the space and gives you more/new room.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Sometimes bold steps are the best ones.
I agree with saf1, it opens up the space and gives you more/new room.

Room to spread the homewrecker around! LOL

 

[Maxx]

Sure, I guess...I mean if you want to spread meh all over the tank...but why?

 

[Maxx]

One of these days Rick, I'd love to have a cup of coffee or a few beers with you...you're choice, first round is on me.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Fresh photo from today

 

[Maxx]

Fresh photo from today

I fixed it for you and cropped out the ugly part of the picture.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Ooooooo just because of that I’ll have to post a blue pic ;Hilarious

 

[ImaFlippinDolphin]

Your tank is an inspiration to us all and thank you for sharing the journey!!

 

[Rick.45cal]

Your tank is an inspiration to us all and thank you for sharing the journey!!

Thank you for the compliment!

 

[Everything Aquatics]

Amazing tank do you have a frag tank.

 

[GoVols]

Rick,
Are you happy with opening up your reef?

 

[Rick.45cal]

Rick,
Are you happy with opening up your reef?

I’ll have to take some pictures soon, I’ve been preoccupied with some home projects. My well pump died a week and a half a go, and had to be replaced, I also replaced the tank with a 120 gallon tank and inevitably it all revealed I had a giant leak in the system somewhere. So I had to have some professional leak detectors come out and find it, which they did. It ended up being under the slab of my house, so I’ve spent the last week having plumbers repipe my house. Needless to say, it’s been a real nightmare Freddie, but as of last night at 7pm it’s fixed and I have water again. YAY!!!

The tank has been ignored a bit recently, I’ve had a huge explosion of aptasia I’m hoping the Berghia nudibranchs I added a couple months ago will soon start making a dent in. Most of the big white patches have filled in with coraline algae and there are spots where the corals I removed the vast majority of are growing back. So it no longer looks like some one ran their boat aground on it. I don‘t know if I’m really happy with it, I do miss it being full, but it needed a big change. Most things are doing great, my big giant supa fly chalice got stung pretty bad by aptasia and I lost 75% of it, but it seems to doing ok now, that made me pretty ill watching. But that’s reefkeeping, lots of ups and downs.

I hope all is well with you and your family!

 

[GoVols]

Rick,
That is a lot going on, my friend... ;Wideyed

lol
My reef has gone through cyano, dinos then Lyngbya, but just got her back inline.

Big Mistake:
Added in some ole live rock in the reef that was in our garage for five years and did not cure it...

It's going to take some time to fill back out.

2020 is sure going down in the books.

The family is doing well and thanks for asking, Rick

Did they have to jackhammer your slab to fix your plumbing?

 

[Rick.45cal]

Rick,
That is a lot going on, my friend... ;Wideyed

lol
My reef has gone through cyano, dinos then Lyngbya, but just got her back inline.

Big Mistake:
Added in some ole live rock in the reef that was in our garage for five years and did not cure it...

It's going to take some time to fill back out.

2020 is sure going down in the books.

The family is doing well and thanks for asking, Rick

Did they have to jackhammer your slab to fix your plumbing?

That was one of the options available Freddie, however all the pipes in the slab are all galvanized pipes so it’s likely to happen again somewhere under there. Since I’m fortunate and live in Florida and we don’t really get freezing temperatures for extended periods of time, I had them repipe the whole house through the attic, so hopefully in the future if there’s a problem it will be significantly easier to fix.

I’m glad to hear you and the family are doing well.

 

[Petesreef]

Hi Rick, I have a question but first off I want to say that I've been planning/researching starting my first reef tank for the past 2 1/2 yrs (long story but basically life happened) and I really admire your tank & approach to reef keeping!

I was wondering if you use the USB adapter kit and optional programming with your Panta Rheis?

Have a good Thanksgiving (hope your dad and rest of your family are doing well

This is Nico, 3rd GS but first "working-line" and major alpha!