Nowell's Reef Savvy Pastel Peninsula/Black Widow factory

[jp_75]

Very cool reef! Following!

 

[Nowell]

Thanks to @brandolphjr for the Black Widow rose bubble tip. She’s sexy.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Really, really nice. The tank and stand were aesthetically nice and you have carried that to the display for sure. I usually am not a fan of the beginnings of a dry rock setup because it is so white. What you have so far though is really using color beautifully amidst the white, and actually using the white space in a pleasing way. Great job so far.

 

[Fin]

Coming along very nicely! Beautiful set up. You have done your Reef Savvy proud.

 

[Nowell]

Really appreciate the kind words @Fin @NY_Caveman. Thanks for following along on this journey.

I suffered a second mechanical issue last night. I came home to water level in the return chamber of my sump 2-3” low. Osmolator appeared normal. I power cycled it and noticed that the pump worked for a few seconds and then stopped with the “Level” LED illuminated. This Osmolator is about 6 years old. The water level sensor was free of fouling. I manually raised the level overnight and again noted a low level this morning. Even solid state electronics eventually fail. About a week ago I hooked up a BRS 50ml/m peristaltic pump through the Tunze Osmolator socket. My RO reservoir is in the basement beneath the aquarium. Control wires and the 1/4” tubing run through a 3/8” hole I drilled through the baseboard trim.

I ordered a replacement 5017 this morning. This afternoon I’m temporarily hooking up an Osmolator Nano with a 5g bucket next to the stand.

I’m happy this occurred while I was not on vacation.

In the next month I’m ordering a Profilux 4 and will look to use it’s capability to add redundancy to the Osmolator. First just to sense high or low levels and perhaps eventually a parallel top off pump. I could even put a few gallons in the stand hooked up to pump 4 of the Doser 2.1 to buy me 24 hours in the future if I’m away.

 

[Fin]

I used to use two Aqualifters on my ATO. Both pumped into a single ½" tube that I had running into the sump. Always was pretty certain that they both would not fail at the same time. Inexpensive insurance. Plan on doing something similar with my new (eventual) build. So that is a good idea to build in some redundancy there on yours.

 

[dbraun15]

Sweet black gorg! Where'd you find it? I have been looking for some of the eco gorgs with very little luck.

 

[Nowell]

Sweet black gorg! Where'd you find it? I have been looking for some of the eco gorgs with very little luck.

It’s purple (Plexaura flexuosa), and I don’t think the color came through well. I purchased it from Reef Systems locally, sustainably harvested from the Keys, I presume. I’ve been looking at KP Aquatic’s website as well. They appear to have a great gorgonian selection from the Keys.

 

[Nowell]

I donated more than half of my Chaeto to a bud and two days later noted some Bryopsis. As the Chaeto has grown back the Bryopsis has begun to fade away.

Full tank shots. Still recovering from bloom:

M. setosa showing growth onto the rock. It was added 11 days ago on the 5th day of the reef.

P. flexuosa and S. elegans.

 

[Nowell]

What’s going on with my black widow RBTA? Everything else is growing well. It was in a well stocked LED tank previously. Its foot was extending down the left face of the rock earlier. Is it splitting? Too much light? Too few nutrients? NO3 undetectable with Salifert. KH, Ca, Mg perfect.

Everything else is doing well. I increase dosing nearly every day to keep up.

M. setosa continues to spread laterally.

 

[GoVols]

I've had certain BTA species that have been picky about different kinds of leds.

Really don't know if that's your answer , but pulling for you to make him happy.

Crocea looks really happy

 

[GoVols]

Nowell,
Sorry about that ;Sorry

Your pushing T5's, so I don't have a clue with your BTA.

Freddie

 

[dbraun15]

BTA looks to be splitting to me...almost looks like 2 mouths have formed.

 

[Nowell]

I added a huge piece of neon green Sinularia, 3 blue Ricordea and 3 pieces of a purple soft coral that I need to ID. It was sold as a Parlemnalia sp..

Also dosed fluconazole 20mg/gal actual volume for Bryopsis (and a little GHA..).

BTA has left its rock and moved to the rock beneath. Could not find it this morning but it exposed itself after the lights came on.

 

[Nowell]

Time for a bit of an update.

I referred to Bryopsis in a previous post. I noticed a little bit here and there and suddenly the little palm-like leaf collections were everywhere. I attacked it quickly and it melted away rapidly (as you can see). I used Diflucan (fluconazole). I have no GHA algae in my display, however, there is some in the refugium. Chaeto growth may have slowed slightly, but I'm still harvesting 150+ grams every 3 weeks.

Coraline algae began in appear about two weeks ago. Also seeing small tube worms.

I've added tail spot and lawnmower blennies. There is a bit of aggression from the lawnmower.

ph ranges from 8.03 to 8.13 night/day. Loving the Profilux and the Doser 2.1.

I've been unable to detect nitrate since this first few days.

Anemone has found its happy place.

Setting up a WiFi cam.

 

[dbraun15]

Looking great! Can you get a closeup of the coral needing ID?

 

[najer]

Looking great.

 

[Nowell]

Looking great! Can you get a closeup of the coral needing ID?

@dbraun15
Thanks. Natural light:

 

[lbacha]

Time for a bit of an update.

I referred to Bryopsis in a previous post. I noticed a little bit here and there and suddenly the little palm-like leaf collections were everywhere. I attacked it quickly and it melted away rapidly (as you can see). I used Diflucan (fluconazole). I have no GHA algae in my display, however, there is some in the refugium. Chaeto growth may have slowed slightly, but I'm still harvesting 150+ grams every 3 weeks.

Coraline algae began in appear about two weeks ago. Also seeing small tube worms.

I've added tail spot and lawnmower blennies. There is a bit of aggression from the lawnmower.

ph ranges from 8.03 to 8.13 night/day. Loving the Profilux and the Doser 2.1.

I've been unable to detect nitrate since this first few days.

Anemone has found its happy place.

Setting up a WiFi cam.

I have a amcrest for my tank as well I really like it. Fairly easy to set up and control through their app

 

[mrpizzaface]

Very impressive build. I may have missed it, but what rock did you use?