Paul’s Rubbermaid Reef

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Graffiti Spot

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Cat friendly? Mines not either and that’s one of the negatives I thought about when I decided to use the tub. We breed bengal cats but have been lucky in that we keep mostly the males where the tank is. They are smart and know what’s in it and what happens when they look in it!
Our old 15 year old tried to jump on the lights that hang by wire and fell in the tank and hasn’t looked in it since. I heard a huge bang and splash and turned my head and he was gone. In and out and upstairs in seconds. I found him a few min later at the top of the stairs licking himself dry with almost no evidence he had been in the water left. Like he knew if he was dry I would think another cat did it...
The problem is the kittens when we keep them for breeding come downstairs when they are old enough and are very inquisitive and are brought up taking showers and baths and a number of them actually do it because they like it. They jump right in the shower with me and some get in the bath and walk around neck deep. But they learn very fast the tanks off limits.
The big issue is cat hair and tight branching smooth skins like turaki or echi’s. The cat hair floats into the tank and seems to want to collect in their branches more than anywhere else. Also birdsnest would trap them too but I am not keeping any birdsnest this time luckily. This time around I am just keeping a turaki or Hawkins type acro and an ora delicate. We will see how big I can get them before I have any issues :)
 
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The one thing I regret is buying all my corals before Indo opened back up. I was hoping to keep a few different digitate acropora with thick branches and I know indo has a few cool ones I haven’t kept yet. So far I only have two so maybe I will be able to find a nice one on one of aqua sd’s shipments. They sure had a bunch of stuff on the site this weekend and lowered some prices too.
People who have grown massive colonies of these acropora are the ones who inspire me. Not the guys who collect and frag little micro colonies of different color variants of acropora. Although that sounds fun, growing reefcrest types of acropora to good sizes is still one of the things you just don’t see often and it’s still very challenging even to the best reefers here. They often are hard to acclimate and get growing and most resort to buying fragments from other reefers who have a colony successfully growing.
I think there should be more interested in growing these acro types like monticulosa or humilus. Most these days think they are all green or brown colors but they actually come in a number of awesome colors.
 

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Cat friendly? Mines not either and that’s one of the negatives I thought about when I decided to use the tub. We breed bengal cats but have been lucky in that we keep mostly the males where the tank is. They are smart and know what’s in it and what happens when they look in it!
Our old 15 year old tried to jump on the lights that hang by wire and fell in the tank and hasn’t looked in it since. I heard a huge bang and splash and turned my head and he was gone. In and out and upstairs in seconds. I found him a few min later at the top of the stairs licking himself dry with almost no evidence he had been in the water left. Like he knew if he was dry I would think another cat did it...
The problem is the kittens when we keep them for breeding come downstairs when they are old enough and are very inquisitive and are brought up taking showers and baths and a number of them actually do it because they like it. They jump right in the shower with me and some get in the bath and walk around neck deep. But they learn very fast the tanks off limits.
The big issue is cat hair and tight branching smooth skins like turaki or echi’s. The cat hair floats into the tank and seems to want to collect in their branches more than anywhere else. Also birdsnest would trap them too but I am not keeping any birdsnest this time luckily. This time around I am just keeping a turaki or Hawkins type acro and an ora delicate. We will see how big I can get them before I have any issues :)

Yeah, thats the problem, I have a bengal too and he loves water.

Such awesome cats though, dog like personalities almost, mines 5 years old and he still has the energy of a kitten.



20200301_160110.jpg
 

Charlie’s Frags

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Yeah, thats the problem, I have a bengal too and he loves water.

Such awesome cats though, dog like personalities almost, mines 5 years old and he still has the energy of a kitten.



20200301_160110.jpg
Are Bengals as cool in person as they look in pics?? We have a Maine coon that has dog like characteristics as well.
2485C8F8-159C-4E8D-950A-A4A76EA64A51.jpeg
608A3925-68CB-4E9C-948C-E70E7D6DCD5C.jpeg
 
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No such thing as “buying all my coral” - it never ends...

Yea I have been there before. I am really not a big collector of named pieces though I do pick some that I like to add colors I haven’t found. I have more trouble with seeing a species I haven’t grown before these days, hard to hold back the purchase but I am going to try my best to just let things go

Yeah, thats the problem, I have a bengal too and he loves water.

Such awesome cats though, dog like personalities almost, mines 5 years old and he still has the energy of a kitten.

20200301_160110.jpg

Nicely filled out cat you got there! Glad to see others appreciate the breed too. My wife is really good with them and she has bred some beautiful kittens. Maybe I will post some pics throughout the thread of my favorites.

Love this. Following!

Thanks for looking, I will post some pics as soon as I can take some good ones. I would rather fill the thread with good macro shots then ohone

Are Bengals as cool in person as they look in pics?? We have a Maine coon that has dog like characteristics as well.
2485C8F8-159C-4E8D-950A-A4A76EA64A51.jpeg
608A3925-68CB-4E9C-948C-E70E7D6DCD5C.jpeg

Yea they are pretty wild. The gens that are closer to their ancestors are really wild looking and act more like a wild cat but the kittens we breed are very tame and smart. They learn tricks very quick but also need a lot of attention. I love Maine coons though, so laid back and they are massive cats! Our males get big but nothing like those. We have wheels they run on to keep their stocky strong look and keep them happy.

Man, love that lighting setup. I'd love to see a tank with MH and those Orphek light bars; this seems like the perfect lighting combo.

I do like it a lot so far. I tried the daylight strip but the ends of the strip were brighter than the middle so I returned it. I originally wanted some white led mixed in as well since I like a natural look.



Haha, glad I have door knobs and not handles :)
 
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Here are a few quick phone pics.

Here is a cool mille, and I am really liking the colors in this one.
583DD6A3-1C48-400C-9B6A-C72666D3E962.jpeg


Ora micro red tip stag, finally seeing colors from this. The base died back a while ago but it’s just now looking ok.
63E26FC1-8896-4631-BBB6-A0809E4810B0.jpeg


Purple monster and a frag of my red stag. I got a really cool wild red stag back years ago and lost it during the move. So this is the frag I got back from a friend. High hopes for this stag.
6485B659-525E-4D25-BA6A-E687C19B6516.jpeg


Ora skyline granulosa
2BBDBDDB-CB62-4065-8E79-2CAB22F06219.jpeg
 

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Love your setup and totally agree with the philosophy behind it. Personally was never a fan of the pretty frag tanks and always miss my complete reefs when I have to tear them down. Funny I'm also a huge fan of the Rubbermaid containers, but I use them as a sump and a mixing vat. Thanks for sharing!!!

sump.JPG
 
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Oh man I wish I had space for the 300 Rubbermaid. I keep saying I will do something crazy when I move but it might just end up being that instead at least to start.

Of course a friend was breaking down his tank that I helped him set up and I took the fish, also added three little fish before that so I am trying to pull through my nutrients climbing. The cheato in the tunze reactor is growing finally but not well and it sticks to the top too much even at low flow. Most corals are fine but I knew it was happening once I saw a few smooth skins turn super dark colored.
I am also wanting to go with a different bulb. I always get tired of the radium on electronic ballasts and want to go with a 10k bulb but my favorite xm is gone. I will try and wait out the few months I have left on this bulb while thinking about which bulb will please me.
 

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Hah! Hard being old school and watching all your supplies dry up. I was feeling that way when VHO actinic started disappearing since my old Hamilton Tech hood used VHO. Too bad I didn't run into you online a few months back 'cuz I had a bunch of old MH bulbs including 2 10K XM 400s and even a couple 1000 watt Radiums. Turns out my local aquarium uses MH still so they took them all.
 
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I am wondering if that yellow frag is even a mille now that I have looked at it closely. Thought it was as a frag now the coralites are very opened and flared in the new growth.
 
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Quick update (I know I am slacking on pics), nutrients jumped from adding the fish and I lost two smoothies. Red dragon (of course) and a pink and green jaq which I am upset about but might be able to save some if I ever put my hands in the tank. For now I am trying my best to hit weekly water changes until the nutrients get back to normal. I can tell a few things darkened from the stress and look pretty flat. Especially that blue and green granulosa looking piece.
I ordered new halide bulbs, had a hard time finding anything I liked so I went with 14k 400W ushios since I remember them being pretty white for 14k. I did not really want to go 400W but i think the ushios will make the corals happy for sure as well as me. The radiums are just too blue with the orpek bars and no pfo running them.
I also ordered a tunze wavebox which I am hoping works good in the tub. A few things are almost touching so I need to move stuff around to make some room. I will try and take some quick pics of a few things tonight.
I found a pic of that brown colony that I have been updating the pics of. The pics of the coral when it was a frag.
633AB991-07CE-4E5E-870F-131A3C10E491.jpeg
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 74 37.6%
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  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 12.7%
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