Red_Beard's 75 Tank Build

[Ghostbuster]

Still gone so no tank pics :/
But this happened, was on a course up the mountain and had an unexpected natural hazard wander onto the green.

I thought they liked tall grass but that’s pretty cool

 

[Red_Beard]

I thought they liked tall grass but that’s pretty cool

Well, to be fair, it is in the rough lol

 

[Red_Beard]

Ok, lots to catch up with around the house after a 3 week break.
This is what i came back to, cleaned the glass to show the full extent of the neglect this poor box of water has endured. My wrasse had almost completely buried that poor turbinaria(left middle) in the sand, kinda surprised it wasn't bleached and dead. Gotta find a better home for it.

(don't worry, i have since given it a semi-thorough cleaning, it is looking much better)

Also, in much more awesome news, I was visited by the brown truck fairy yesterday!

A box from battlecorals! It had 3 grow-out contest frags in it as well as some VERY awesome extras. If anyone reading this has been on the fence about online sps orders or where to get quality sticks from, I can't sing Adam's(battlecorals) praises loud enough. Chunky healthy frags as always, and he upped his shipping/packaging game again too. I'm almost at a loss for words... just WOW!

This pic is from 30 mins in the tank, already they have some great polyp extension:

Grow-out competition frags:(top row left->right)
Bozo the Nasuta
Colliderscope
Brain Candy Table

Extras! :)
top right corner, then lower row, left to right:
Firth Fantathy (super stoked for this one, beautiful piece!)
Bees Knees
Lunar Lemon
Strawberry Fields

Next on the list, figure out where to put all the new frags.
I will have to get some FTS updates here soon too.

 

[CBonito]

Dude, you're a freaking superhero!!! I saw some really clever things done in this thread that I admired.
Very cool system, and I was impressed with all the glasswork.

 

[Red_Beard]

Dude, you're a freaking superhero!!! I saw some really clever things done in this thread that I admired.
Very cool system, and I was impressed with all the glasswork.

Thanks man, I appreciate it! I hemmed and hawed for months trying to figure out the best way to do it :)

 

[Ghostbuster]

Ok, lots to catch up with around the house after a 3 week break.
This is what i came back to, cleaned the glass to show the full extent of the neglect this poor box of water has endured. My wrasse had almost completely buried that poor turbinaria(left middle) in the sand, kinda surprised it wasn't bleached and dead. Gotta find a better home for it.

(don't worry, i have since given it a semi-thorough cleaning, it is looking much better)

Also, in much more awesome news, I was visited by the brown truck fairy yesterday!

A box from battlecorals! It had 3 grow-out contest frags in it as well as some VERY awesome extras. If anyone reading this has been on the fence about online sps orders or where to get quality sticks from, I can't sing Adam's(battlecorals) praises loud enough. Chunky healthy frags as always, and he upped his shipping/packaging game again too. I'm almost at a loss for words... just WOW!

This pic is from 30 mins in the tank, already they have some great polyp extension:

Grow-out competition frags:(top row left->right)
Bozo the Nasuta
Colliderscope
Brain Candy Table

Extras! :)
top right corner, then lower row, left to right:
Firth Fantathy (super stoked for this one, beautiful piece!)
Bees Knees
Lunar Lemon
Strawberry Fields

Next on the list, figure out where to put all the new frags.
I will have to get some FTS updates here soon too.

Bees Knees is going to look amazing in there too! All your picks were on the money I believe

 

[CBonito]

Bees Knees is going to look amazing in there too! All your picks were on the money I believe

They give nice sized frags too. Hmmm....I have an order coming in on Tuesday, then I can eyeball for spaces.

 

[Red_Beard]

Bees Knees is going to look amazing in there too! All your picks were on the money I believe

Heck yeah, I think so too! Can't take credit for the picks though, I told Adam just hit me with something ridiculous. He really hooked me up!

They give nice sized frags too. Hmmm....I have an order coming in on Tuesday, then I can eyeball for spaces.

Indeed. I have never been disappointed with anything I've gotten from battlecorals, healthy chunky stock. Usually it is mostly encrusted too. You will have to share pics when you get them settled in!

 

[Ghostbuster]

Built a new ATO with a pi zero w, it sends me text messages when it's out of water or hasn't run in a few hours. Also if the lower sensor fails and if the return pump shuts off. I went away from the optical sensors in the last one and now just use float switches. It also has 2 temperature probes(not shown) to track temps and text me if the 2 probes are over or under temp, or if the no longer agree. Print is a little rough, old wet filament, and 2 letters pulled off, but it is hidden in the stand anyhow.

Great work on your ATO, just a word of caution though, I believe the wires in the float switches will eventually corrode in about 4-5 years from the salt exposure, then no connectivity. But definitely don’t have to worry about them as much as optical sensors (having to remember to clean them every few months)

Regarding your hair algae, I had a major issue with it about a year ago and about gave up on reefkeeping… so found out my nitrates were undetectable. Ever since I raised them to about 25-30ppm, hair algae disintegrated. I was pulling massive amounts of that stinky stuff out of my tank and thinking this has to be super poisonous for the coral and fishes

 

[Red_Beard]

Great work on your ATO, just a word of caution though, I believe the wires in the float switches will eventually corrode in about 4-5 years from the salt exposure, then no connectivity. But definitely don’t have to worry about them as much as optical sensors (having to remember to clean them every few months)

Regarding your hair algae, I had a major issue with it about a year ago and about gave up on reefkeeping… so found out my nitrates were undetectable. Ever since I raised them to about 25-30ppm, hair algae disintegrated. I was pulling massive amounts of that stinky stuff out of my tank and thinking this has to be super poisonous for the coral and fishes

Thanks, and thanks for the heads up! Luckily if the sensors fail, it will only run the ato for a minute and then fault out on over run, or not run at all. Either way it will send me a message. Unless I'm out of town... I did grab a few extras when i built it, hopefully I get 4-5 years out of them, that would be awesome.

Good tip on the nitrates too. I have been dosing quite a bit more the last 2 months and have them hovering around 10ppm lately. I think I may bump them up to 15 though.

 

[Red_Beard]

Tank update:
The center rock structure still has a bit of gha and cyano, mostly due to neglect. After scrubbing down the right side last week though it remains almost spotless. I will grab some updated pics tomorrow when the lights are back on. Most exciting news, beyond my BC competition frags getting settled in, is this!

I was wondering who would win with these 2 pitted against each other. If you zoom in on it, you can see that A Fire Engine! is clearly winning :) I think that red acro is going to POP on top of that sunrise monti.

 

[Ghostbuster]

Tank update:
The center rock structure still has a bit of gha and cyano, mostly due to neglect. After scrubbing down the right side last week though it remains almost spotless. I will grab some updated pics tomorrow when the lights are back on. Most exciting news, beyond my BC competition frags getting settled in, is this!

I was wondering who would win with these 2 pitted against each other. If you zoom in on it, you can see that A Fire Engine! is clearly winning :) I think that red acro is going to POP on top of that sunrise monti.

Yeppers, I see it, the Fire Engine will The picture is really good with the blenny and PJ Cardinal in there too

 

[Red_Beard]

Yeppers, I see it, the Fire Engine will The picture is really good with the blenny and PJ Cardinal in there too

That blenny loves to sit there, im surprised the coral isnt irritated all the time, but it doesnt seem to mind. He adds some fun contrast to the scene too

 

[Red_Beard]

Finally got around to grabbing some fresh full tank shots. Between relatives coming over to visit and some all nighter work benders i remembered and was in a position to do so before the heavy blues were on.

I think it is really starting to look good! Gha and cyano are mostly gone. I havent messed with that at all in a few weeks on the right island, and just a couple spot cleans on the center. (Still one more spot looks like and it will be clean) Should probably clean the back glass, the critters are dropping the ball there.

Really cool growth pattern on this Strawberry fields and copps calicali.

 

[Troylee]

Ok, lots to catch up with around the house after a 3 week break.
This is what i came back to, cleaned the glass to show the full extent of the neglect this poor box of water has endured. My wrasse had almost completely buried that poor turbinaria(left middle) in the sand, kinda surprised it wasn't bleached and dead. Gotta find a better home for it.

(don't worry, i have since given it a semi-thorough cleaning, it is looking much better)

Also, in much more awesome news, I was visited by the brown truck fairy yesterday!

A box from battlecorals! It had 3 grow-out contest frags in it as well as some VERY awesome extras. If anyone reading this has been on the fence about online sps orders or where to get quality sticks from, I can't sing Adam's(battlecorals) praises loud enough. Chunky healthy frags as always, and he upped his shipping/packaging game again too. I'm almost at a loss for words... just WOW!

This pic is from 30 mins in the tank, already they have some great polyp extension:

Grow-out competition frags:(top row left->right)
Bozo the Nasuta
Colliderscope
Brain Candy Table

Extras! :)
top right corner, then lower row, left to right:
Firth Fantathy (super stoked for this one, beautiful piece!)
Bees Knees
Lunar Lemon
Strawberry Fields

Next on the list, figure out where to put all the new frags.
I will have to get some FTS updates here soon too.

Looks like some great 2nd place frags!

 

[Red_Beard]

Looks like some great 2nd place frags!

I would gladly hang a silver medal over this tank! Besides, silver matches my color scheme better, gold is so... 1960's

 

[Ghostbuster]

Finally got around to grabbing some fresh full tank shots. Between relatives coming over to visit and some all nighter work benders i remembered and was in a position to do so before the heavy blues were on.

I think it is really starting to look good! Gha and cyano are mostly gone. I havent messed with that at all in a few weeks on the right island, and just a couple spot cleans on the center. (Still one more spot looks like and it will be clean) Should probably clean the back glass, the critters are dropping the ball there.

Really cool growth pattern on this Strawberry fields and copps calicali.

My strawberry fields is having a flattened growth pattern as well, planted near the top of the water column, getting lots of par

 

[Red_Beard]

I was informed today, labor day just means getting to work for the other boss for a day lol. Finally finished up the wife's laundry room shelving. I think it turned out alright. Not a super fan of the brace on the big shelves, but wasnt sure how better to do it without making it big and in the way, and i KNOW that shelf is going to get stacked with 400lbs worth of stuff (food storage/pantry overflow) so i made sure to beef it up.

Now that the paint is dry, i get tondo a water change and mix up some more AFR :)

Hope you all are having a great holiday!

 

[Red_Beard]

Took some glamour shots today, some of these are already posted on growout contest threads, but they are looking fire! Photo dump time!

BC Colliderscope:

BC Diabloberrybow and a no-name blue light tennie that hates me and won't grow even though i have gotten down on my knees and begged. (@Battlecorals, if it does grow, that is what i am going to name it.)

BC no-name blue lighter, gorgeous and is showing me some good slow love.

BC Bubble-bath Unicorn amazing lavender growth tips, can't wait for it to pull some yellows and greens for contrast!

BC Blood Bank - still green, but starting to color up! and growing slooow... Going to be really neat!

BC Bozo the Nasuta

BC Strawberry Fields and Copps Cali-Cali (bonus if you can spot the creeper)

BC Firth Fantathy - Really excited for this one, it is a uniquely stunning pale lavender. need to give it a better background than a birds of paradise so it will stand out though. Still planning out where to mount it

BC Bee's Knees and Lunar Lemon - Waaay cool colors, those yellow tips are going to really pop when they start to grow out!

And finally, a mostly FTS, apologies for the untidy corners and lonely nem stuck in the box. it wandered off and got a little too close to the bubble bath unicorn. (it has since healed up fully thank goodness)

 

[Rocks reef]

Took some glamour shots today, some of these are already posted on growout contest threads, but they are looking fire! Photo dump time!

BC Colliderscope:

BC Diabloberrybow and a no-name blue light tennie that hates me and won't grow even though i have gotten down on my knees and begged. (@Battlecorals, if it does grow, that is what i am going to name it.)

BC no-name blue lighter, gorgeous and is showing me some good slow love.

BC Bubble-bath Unicorn amazing lavender growth tips, can't wait for it to pull some yellows and greens for contrast!

BC Blood Bank - still green, but starting to color up! and growing slooow... Going to be really neat!

BC Bozo the Nasuta

BC Strawberry Fields and Copps Cali-Cali (bonus if you can spot the creeper)

BC Firth Fantathy - Really excited for this one, it is a uniquely stunning pale lavender. need to give it a better background than a birds of paradise so it will stand out though. Still planning out where to mount it

BC Bee's Knees and Lunar Lemon - Waaay cool colors, those yellow tips are going to really pop when they start to grow out!

And finally, a mostly FTS, apologies for the untidy corners and lonely nem stuck in the box. it wandered off and got a little too close to the bubble bath unicorn. (it has since healed up fully thank goodness)

Wow brother!! Beautiful!