Waterbox 7226, resistance to upgrading was futile

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dragon99

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Get excited!
*no trashcans were spilled in the making of this water change*
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dragon99

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Sumpdate:
I've pulled out the Lifereef skimmer and replaced it with a Icecap K2. Mainly I needed the space in the sump for my CaRX, but I also was never really impressed with the Lifereef. I probably expected unicorns and rainbows from it based on all the feedback. It worked fine really, but draws a lot of power (75-80W) compared to the new one (26W).

New Icecap skimmer is quite nice. Very well built and is super compact. It was basically the largest skimmer I could fit and still have enough room for the CaRX. Ran it in vinegar for ~12hrs, and then into the tank. It was pulling skim immediately. First 24hr cup:
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I haven't fired up the CaRX yet. I'm still just doing limewater, but I'm up to 2.6L/day of kalk. There's still a little more I can add before it equals my ATO, but I wanted to have time to ease in the CaRX.
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dragon99

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Swallowtail angel is looking much better. Her pop eye is almost healed. She hid for about 4 days then started coming out and acting normal and eating again. Just a slight bulge left
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Got a new phone so playing with it, Samsung A51. Takes pretty decent photos really for a cheapo phone.
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dragon99

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Added some astrea snails and mexican red leg hermits to work on the hair algae. It's not horrible, but need to bump up the clean up team. Only had 6-8 trochus that came over from the old tank. The new guys were hungry; they put a spit shine on the left gyre.
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Cyano is starting to build up, so I started Dr TIm's Refresh which will be followed by Wasteaway. Worked a treat last time and I have no reason to believe it won't work in this tank.
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You have a really nice tank. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping in!
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Hair algae and cyano are starting to recede. Between Dr Tim's Refresh/Wasteaway and new snails and hermits it's quickly looking better. Haven't seen any change in nutrients though, still ~16-20ppm NO3 and .1ppm PO4. I had kinda hoped to start seeing the nutrients drop a bit with the chaeto, but I'm fairly happy as long as they stay around the current levels.

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JCOLE

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My foxface being sneaky!
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Does your fox face look like this all the time? Mine does this all the time as well. I known its their way of blending in but it looks like this 80% of the time.
 
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dragon99

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Does your fox face look like this all the time? Mine does this all the time as well. I known its their way of blending in but it looks like this 80% of the time.
Not all of the time, but when he's upset. Which is often though. Pretty much anytime I'm doing something around the tank besides feeding. Cleaning the glass, he's scared, emptying the skimmer, he's scared. I was doing something under the tank one morning before the lights came on and he jumped out (knocking the screen top out of place). Definitely a skittish fish.
 

JCOLE

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Not all of the time, but when he's upset. Which is often though. Pretty much anytime I'm doing something around the tank besides feeding. Cleaning the glass, he's scared, emptying the skimmer, he's scared. I was doing something under the tank one morning before the lights came on and he jumped out (knocking the screen top out of place). Definitely a skittish fish.

Yep, sounds like mine. Once or twice he has been yellow. Any other time he is a pale white or the camo color. Mine got huge in a 6 month period.
 
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dragon99

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Frag shots. They are still to small and growing way to slow. The first year of SPS is a test of patience for sure.

North Star Corals Clathrata (notice the vanishing cyano, so happy...)
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Pikachu
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BC Frakenberry 2.0
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BC Happy Glamper
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Glow in the dark fun. Trying to get a good shot for POTM, gonna take another try probably getting a FTS under actinics is a little tougher.

av99 sunset envy
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BC rainbow brite
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kung pao monti (spicy!)
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TCK Pikachu

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this is me

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Looking great!!
Sometime, we just need to take a break and sit by the beach and away from the tank. Actually, I think the tank needs us to stay away from it for a bit. :D
 
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Meet the milles

DaM Mille
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Boom Coral Unicorn Snot
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ASD Rainbow
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Copps 24k
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As you can see I don't get the massive polyp extension most millepora are known for. I'm assuming it's the flameback angels fault although I've never really seen him nipping.
 
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So I stopped checking my PO4 and it has bottomed out again which has led to some cyano creeping back into the nooks and crannies. I'll have to start dosing again and keep an eye on it. Corals mostly seem happy though (with a few exceptions that have browned out).

BC Pearly Cadaver
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BC Rainbow Brite
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And it's not all sticks. I have a hammer too...
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Minor catastrophe this week. My return pump (vectra M1) got clogged with chaeto so I had to pull it and clean it out. Probably due for that anyway since it's been running for ~11months. I ended up having to slow down the pump by 2 steps because it was pushing way more water after the cleaning.

Everything went smootly until the next morning I noticed a ticking/clicking sound. Figured it had sucked something in again. Pulled the pump apart and sure enough a hermit crab had found its way into the pump. And then the problems started... The stand lights cut off. Huh, weird. Then the skimmer turns on. I grab and flashlight and start pulling power cords out of the strip when I hear a sizzle and see water dripping!!! Apparently messing with the return pump caused the return line union to loosen up just a bit and it started leaking right into the power strip. Seconds later the GFCI trips and everything on the tank goes out.

Fortunately the damage was limited to the power strip. After several minutes of cursing and drying things off everything was back up and running.

In the good news column, I got Triton results back and this might be my best results ever. Everything is in the green except lithium, which is caused by my use of Instant Ocean/Reef crystals (sidebar, not a fan of RC, but Amazon has been out of IO for awhile)
 

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Glad you caught the leak early while you were around the tank. Potential leaks make me as nervous as a cat.
 
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