Stuns' Reef

[stunreefer]

Corals are home! :bigsmile: I brought home my white rhizo from Juniors on Saturday, and he's been doing awesome in the new tank... so well that I ended up getting my other two from Jr. last night to join the party :nerd: Another friend has a couple corals for me that I should be picking up by this weekend, and the tank will be well on it's way to becoming a deepwater "reef." I'm planning on ordering some fish next week from the good doctors, assuming I finish setting up my QT tank in the next day or so.

He already knows, but I cannot thank Junior enough for holding my coral for me... it was a much needed break for me (that I extended a lil bit after being on it ), and the corals came back happy as can be.

If you like Thai, then you got to try Siam Cuisine in A2!! Its the best I've EVER had.

Ohhhhh yes... you don't need to tell me! Next time you roll my way we'll have to have a Thai grub session :smile:

Sick looking tank Austin!

Thanks Clint! After drooling over your tank (before it was yours ) and many others I knew what needed to be done... I'm happy as a clam!

He/it already is! I drop his place just to see the tank....and talk to Austin too!

I think you need to roll over bro... :confident: (the smilies on R2R are so awesome, LOL)



Oh yea... one last thing... GO WINGS!!!

 

[Poseidon]

You mean you have your Corals back from Jr, and you didn't take any PICTURES!!!!????

Glad to hear it Austin!

 

[stunreefer]

You mean you have your Corals back from Jr, and you didn't take any PICTURES!!!!????

Mike, have you ever seen the pics I take? :squigglemouth: I'll toss up a couple later if I get any that you can make out what the heck it is!

 

[Poseidon]

LOL!!!! Ok, but we still need PICTURES!!!!

 

[Salt Water Crazy]

yeah stun lets see some pics. you now what they say about threads with out pics. :hammer:

 

[dknuckles]

Thanks Dave! I cannot wait either... we'll have to grab some awesome Thai food and then roll over to check it out

LMK whenever you are ready.
The woks are hot and ready to go

 

[SaraB]

Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[Bruder]

Was over at Austin's place tonight and the new tank is looking great. The rhyzos and dendros were looking sweet and eating like champs. Can't wait to see some more corals and fish in there.

 

[stunreefer]

Alright... pic time!

Things have been a bit hectic around here lately, as you can see...

...but after weenin' him off the bottle and watchin' the WINGS go nuts this weekend :tongue:, I've managed to snap a couple pics of the livestock... bear with me, they're horrid pics - and I haven't mounted anything yet (just placed on SB or LR), but you get the idea:

One of my pink/oranges:

Dendros with a different pink/orange and a white in the background:

Another pic of the two rhizos seen above:

And here is a different pink/orange with sweet black striations... you cannot see the striations here though - this is what a rhizo looks like just after excreting waste :neutral:

I took a couple pics of my RO/DI system for another reefer, so I figuire I'll post that up too:

I no longer use GAC... I reduced that stage so it's now prefilter, then MATRIX Carbon Block (Chlorine Guzzler), then RO membrane, then DI. It's one less stage to have to replace that really does nothing I foud out.

I also just set up a temporary ATO system, called a TSUNAMI. Really easy to use, but I don't 100% trust it so I'm using a 5 gal bucket for the resevoir. If all hell breaks loose and it pumps the whole thing my animals will still be fine (probably not the MJ that'll run dry, but who cares).

Next on the list:
-A few Nassarius snails to help eat excess foods
-Light
-Light Mount
-Controller (debating between APEX and RKE)
-Tunze Osmolater (unless I run through one of the aforementioned controllers)
-Vortech MP40W (a modded MJ is sufficing for now - and my wallet is appreciative!)
-fish

 

[Poseidon]

This has to be the first "reef" tank I have ever seen that has CORALS before the LIGHTS!

That is a HUGE advantage to the NPS reef! Have you decided which fixture you are going with yet?

 

[stunreefer]

LOL, yep me too!

Those pics were taken with just a "track light" on in my room... it's proly about 5500K :neutral: I believe they were all taken with a flash, but honestly I don't remember.

I've thought about trying a couple different bulbs in the track light overhead, but I think it would be too dim and would make the whole room look funny. For now my first pick is still the light I linked earlier in this thread: http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...t_Code=AL-420035&Category_Code=AquaticLife-T5 I saw one in person at a LFS and I must say I'm pretty impressed for the price. The one with MHs you can actually direct the MHs as they were a spot-light, and they still provide great spread... really a neat idea. The one downfall I saw is it seems to have a "cheap-plastic" cover as are so many things in this hobby, but at the price and with it's capabilities, it's the perfect fit!

 

[mcliffy2]

Austin - As an RKE owner I'll say get an Apex and don't look back. Not only will you not have to deal with DA's empty promises, buy you'll get remote control. Not sure if you read what happened to Leonardo, but basically he was away and somehow the lights got turned on for 2 days - this caused ph drop and extreme calcification that locked up all his pumps...not a good situation. With the Apex you could have got a msg on your phone that the lights didn't shut off (or the ph had dropped) and turned off the lights from your phone. With an RKE, you know something is wrong, but can't do anything about it.

 

[stunreefer]

:neutral:

I did not hear that about Leo, Mike... I'll have to go check it out in his thread - that's some scary spit right there! That's one thing about this tank I really worry about... overheating. Cooling down won't harm much, including the fish I plan on keeping unless it's a drastic temp drop. Remote control is a HUGE aspect of what I want too... actually it's THE reason I want a controller again. I have no problem turning on and off a power strip if need be when I want to spot-feed, but "peace-of-mind" is my main goal, plus the ability to actually do something if god forbid the peace is broken! Thanks for the heads up man!

 

[Poseidon]

Remote control does sound quite cool indeed! I have not experienced the "empty promises" from DA that mcliffy2 mentions, but I am quite new to the controller game, and mine is a basic RKL.

I wonder if remote control is something in the works for the RKE? Seems like it could happen...

 

[mcliffy2]

Remote control does sound quite cool indeed! I have not experienced the "empty promises" from DA that mcliffy2 mentions, but I am quite new to the controller game, and mine is a basic RKL.

I wonder if remote control is something in the works for the RKE? Seems like it could happen...

Maybe unkept and delayed promises is the better word. They promised 3-4 firm dates for pre-order and release, and ended up getting delayed on every one. I also asked them about remote control, telling them this was my number #1 need, and their response was that they would "do everything the other guys do and more" yet low and behold when the RK-NET comes out (after being delayed, of course), it only monitors. So I'm a little irritated with them I guess you could say

 

[SaraB]

Nice start to the coral collection with the Rhizo's and Dendro's!

I like your drinking cat too!

 

[stunreefer]

Thanks Sara! The cat likes you too

So I had a little scare today at lunch, and confirmed one of my fears... I'm gonna need a chiller :cry:

Today in Ann Arbor it's dreary, rainy and humid (~60*F)... I went home for lunch (as I always do) and stuck my finger in the tank as I passed (as I always do - my "human thermomemter ) and noted it seemed "warm." Mind you I have been running this tank on the cool side, hovering between 75*-76*F, and it was definitely warmer than that... so I pulled out my little hand-held TDS meter/thermometer (nice and accurate) and it read 26*C, which is 78.8*F :sad:

I doubled checked to ensure there was nothing wrong with my heaters, and they checked out OK. This just stinks as it's not even hot out, and I don't even have a light! So chiller here we come! I suppose it's not the end of the world, as I'll be much less worry-some having a "controlled temperature" through some controller keeping the temp in check. I'd be devastated to be gone for one day that it gets very hot and lose any fish because I didn't have a chiller...

 

[SaraB]

Bummer, one more cost to the tank ... I hate that for you!

That's why I love my basement systems ... no chilling, just heating for me!

 

[Viva'sReef]

Dude turn on the AC!!! LOL...really though how is your tank warming up that much?

 

[stunreefer]

That's why I love my basement systems ... no chilling, just heating for me!

That's what stinks the most... it IS in the basement! Well, kinda... it's about 3/4 underground.

I'm heading out of work here in a minute and I'll see if I can't figuire out how to get some cross-ventalation in there... regardless at this point I'll be getting a chiller of some kind for peace of mind as well. One of the animals I really, really want will not tolerate temps above 76*... at all.

Dude turn on the AC!!! LOL...really though how is your tank warming up that much?

You've got me bro... the house is set-up kinda weird. I essentially have my own apartment (kitchen, bathroom and all) in the "basement," so I have a feeling not much air makes it down there. Plus we get excellent cross-ventalation on the first floor, and to be honest I believe we've only ran the air once so far...