Comeback Tour - Haggisman14's Eshopps Deskmate Build

Haggisman14 · May 16, 2023

I want this in my tank...

PC Rainbow! Oh yes...it will be mine!!

Haggisman14 · May 19, 2023

Happy Friday everyone!

So not much has been done or updated over the last 2 weeks, but just sitting back and letting the tank do it's thing.
I'm keeping up with 2-2.5 gallon water changes every 7-8 days. Daily 1/8 cup top off, feeding the tank 2-3 times per day while I'm at the office, and Mon/Wed feeding the tank reef chili.

Everything is growing extremely well. The little SPS frag I've got in the back has really darkened up in color, and starting to show signs that it's getting ready to grow some branches. GSP almost has it's mat all over the frag plug. Zoa's are big and full, and have lots of baby heads getting ready to grow out of existing polyps. All favia's are laying down more skeleton and encrusting really well. My chalice and lords are doing great, and my cyphastrea went from having 3 polyps to having 8 polyps!

Next thing I think I"m going to do since I've got a killer light now, is getting a box of SPS from @Battlecorals

Happy Reefing everyone!

Haggisman14 · May 23, 2023

@WWC Love my swag pack from "Spotting Casper" in your YouTube videos! 3 Stickers for the tank, and 3 stickers for my boys!

Haggisman14 · May 30, 2023

Nothing much to report here, but here's a 1 month update on the tank. Everything seems to be settling in nicely and growing well. Only corals I haven't really noticed much "growth" on are my lords or my candycane, but I know those sometimes take a few months to settle in, and then can really explode in growth from there. The pic of my purple/pink stylo doesn't really show the growth, but this want from a sinny little twig that was light pink when i got it, to a deep pink, and it's beginning to encrust at the base, and get some knobby bumbs through out the coral. My zoa's are doing really well, continuing to throw down more mat and little heads, and all 4 of my favia/favites are encrusting like crazy! I love how you can really tell where they're growing as the new skeleton is always a different color.

Already can't wait to put more coral in the tank. Not sure if I"ll do one of the bargain Battle Coral boxes of 5 premium sticks...or try and score another 10-20 corals on WWC ebay auctions. Either way, I"m very happy with how the tank is looking and where it's going.

Enjoy the pictures! (All progress pictures are from May 8th-May 30: 23 days)

Gumbies R Us · May 30, 2023

Love seeing your updates!

Haggisman14 · May 30, 2023

Gumbies R Us said:
Love seeing your updates!

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Cyndi & Jim · May 31, 2023

Following!

Haggisman14 · Jun 1, 2023

A little top down action. Color corrected a bit to show close to the colors I see in real life (still don't have a filter for my phone)

Haggisman14 · Jun 5, 2023

This weekend I took my trip with all my kiddos to the fish store to pick up 3 fresh buckets of salt water, and also got 2 new nassarius snails and 3 new astrea snails. My two small hermits killed 2 of my initial nassarius snails, and then one of the astrea snails just died on his own...kept flipping himself upside down, and the hermits got to him one weekend.

I also got in my shipment of Reef Roids and the FLIPPER Nano scrapper.

First off, I love me my BRS Reef Chili, but I'll tell you what, nothing triggers a feeding response quite like Reef Roids! All of my zoa's closed up "eating" all my favia/favites threw out some of the biggest feeder tentatlces I've seen to date, and my lords were fluffy and open huge! Moving forward I think I'm going to feed Reef Roids on Mondays, and then Reef Chili on Thursdays.

I'd also HIGHLY recommend the Flipper Nano Scrapper if you've got a smaller tank. My little sponge that I had wasn't able to clean the bottom of my tank (near the sandbed). The little square card scrapper works like a charm and got off all the stubborn algae on the glass, and then hard sponge did a great job as well. I think if I use that sponge a few times a week during my broadcast feedings, that will keep the acrylic nice and clean.

I was going to pull the trigger on some new corals this week (WWC Auction), but with a ton of family stuff/school stuff for the kiddos, and delivery just wasn't in the cards. Will probably be holding off on anything new until July when we get back from a long weekend trip to NY.

Thanks for looking as always!

Haggisman14 · Jun 7, 2023

So I figured out how to take some good pictures on my iPhone. Set it to portrait mode, natural light, and get it to "focus" on a piece of white paper, and then it kicks out all the blue light! Need to take some better closeups, but this is how the tank looks to my eyes!

My graffiti favia is taking off like crazy!! My cyphastrea is continuing to develop new heads/polyps, however the overall flesh color has gotten very muted/bleached....but under blues the polyps still pop like crazy!

Haggisman14 · Jun 8, 2023

Just did my weekly 2.5 gallon water change, and I went to ham town cleaning my RFG nozzele! Let me tell you it's like I turned up the flow to 20! It's easy to forget how much small buildups can sometimes make a HUGE difference in relation to flow!

All corals are looking good and plumped up! My cyphastrea is the only one that has lost some color, but as mentioned all the new polyps are growing really well...I don't get it, but I"m goign to roll with it.

The Radion XR15 has finished it's "aclimation" schedule, and I have it running at 60% full intensity. Overall color has a blue tint, but I've increased the whites so it's not just an all blue look. I"m curious to see if I had considerable growth increases the next few weeks with the increased flow.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Haggisman14 · Jun 13, 2023

A few little pics for updates. Everything is pretty happy and growing well. My favia's are growing the best and encrusting really well! My cyphastrea is continuing to grow new polyps, but the base skin color is still very bleached in color, but these new heads keep popping up.

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure!

Haggisman14 · Jun 14, 2023

I just played with my lights a little bit. Turned down the whites during peak hours "just a bit". I had them at 39%, and dialed them back to 25% warm and 20% cool. I'm hoping this will bring my cyphastrea base color back, and keep my zoa's open a bit more.

FTS picture has been color adjusted, but the color of the corals looks pretty true to what I see when I look at the tank. Without one of those orange filters it's hard to get a true color picture without it being washed out with the blues.

Let me know what y'all think of the schedule?

My light is also 8" off the water, and at 61% full capacity.

silent1mezzo · Jun 14, 2023

Looks amazing, can't wait to see it fully grown out

Haggisman14 · Jun 14, 2023

silent1mezzo said:
Looks amazing, can't wait to see it fully grown out

Thanks man! I appreciate it! I'm really happy with how everything is going at the moment. Can't wait to add another coral haul in here with a mix of softies, more LPS, and some more sticks to round out the top of the tank!

I've got a lot of plans for this little 5 gallon tank!

Haggisman14 · Jun 16, 2023

Did my water change today. Took out 3 gallons b/c I had a little algae bloom this week as I feed a bit too much reef roids on Monday. I use my little spoon from Reef Chili, and I think 2 scoops of reef roids is just too much for my little tank.

Today I did a bit of a deep clean. took out the pump, made sure that was free and clear of any blockages, scrapped the rear chamber, also readjusted my Radion as I noticed it was about 1/2 favoring the left side of the tank, so I fixed it that it is now smack dead in the center.

All corals are looking happy, and it also looks like my golden eye chalice is developing 2 more eyes for a total of 6!

I'm trying HARD to win a free box of corals from @WWC to keep filling out this little Deskmate!

Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks for looking!

Haggisman14 · Jun 20, 2023

Full Tank Shot Tuesday!

Everything is continuing to grow well. My purple stylo is finally starting to encrust on the epoxy plug, and is starting to get the beginnings of branch nubbings starting to form. Corals have now been in the tank for a full 2 months, and I must say I'm happy with the growth/progress. Star polyps are finally starting to encurst on the back wall, you can really see the growth on my favia/favites. Coloration is vastly improved, and everyone is happy!

My clowns color is also improving as well. Not sure if it's a mix of them being older, or if it's just the food that I'm feeding them, but when I first got them, they were a pretty pale orange, and now they dark orange with a blackish top (one more black than the other).

This picture shows about 2 months of growth (back when I was using the stock light, right after I glued all the frags in place)

This is a pretty wild color comparison of how my clown fish looke when I first got them!

As always, thanks for looking!

Haggisman14 · Jun 27, 2023

Upgraded my tank lid. I wanted something that would cover my entire tank to really cut down on evaporation, and at the same time look good.

I tried doing it all out of glass first, but I cracked 3 different pieces of glass when trying to cut out the rear notch where the Radion RMS mount is, and where the electrical cords come out of the tank. After fail number 3, I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to do it myself.

Fast forward I decided to get a piece of orange plexiglass that would match the tank, and cut it out myself.. I got my handy dandy 20 year old jig saw, and a fresh "fine" blade to cut through it. First cut out the rear notch....then I accidentally "cracked" it when I was cutting out the hole for the glass. I think it came out great for a home made lid. I've got the original glass lid over the cutout that I can now just slightly scoot it back and feed the tank.

Cuts aren't as smooth as say a Kraken Lid (which I really want), but for a $6 pound piece of glass, and a $10 piece of plexi...it's going to work for now!

Plus it glows like the bottom of the tank so it's a match made in heaven!

Let me know what you think!

Gumbies R Us · Jun 27, 2023

Haggisman14 said:
Upgraded my tank lid. I wanted something that would cover my entire tank to really cut down on evaporation, and at the same time look good.

I tried doing it all out of glass first, but I cracked 3 different pieces of glass when trying to cut out the rear notch where the Radion RMS mount is, and where the electrical cords come out of the tank. After fail number 3, I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to do it myself.

Fast forward I decided to get a piece of orange plexiglass that would match the tank, and cut it out myself.. I got my handy dandy 20 year old jig saw, and a fresh "fine" blade to cut through it. First cut out the rear notch....then I accidentally "cracked" it when I was cutting out the hole for the glass. I think it came out great for a home made lid. I've got the original glass lid over the cutout that I can now just slightly scoot it back and feed the tank.

Cuts aren't as smooth as say a Kraken Lid (which I really want), but for a $6 pound piece of glass, and a $10 piece of plexi...it's going to work for now!

Plus it glows like the bottom of the tank so it's a match made in heaven!

Let me know what you think!

Love the new lid on your tank!!!