jcolliii's IM25 Lagoon journey - MASTERTRONIC up and running!

[TheWB]

Replacement coral(s) came in today from Kung Fu Corals, and all I can say is not only did they replace the damaged and dead coral, but what they sent was well beyond doing the right thing. No exposed skeleton, no damage, just as carefully packed as the first shipment was.

When damage happens due to shipping (and I believe that was what happened) and not due to packaging and the care folks use in packing it always just sucks. You almost don't want to even say anything because it's not the fault of the packager/seller. But, at the same time you ordered something and you didn't get it... just a sucky situation.

These guys sent me a bunch of pictures and told me to just pick what I wanted. I chose the one that was closest in appearance to the original purchased coral. They said that it was three heads, just like the original one, and although they couldn't refund shipping, they were throwing in a hammer frag to basically cover the shipping cost of the replacements.

I had them send it Fedex this time and had it held for pickup, so it did arrive safely, picked it up, shot home to acclimate, and this is what they sent.

Yep, technically three heads, but you can see one of them is almost divided into two heads, and that big head is nearly divided into three. So, essentially, they sent me a six head coral to replace a three head one. AND a polyp of gold hammer to cover shipping.

I've had stuff arrive that was not what I have ordered from other vendors in the past, and stuff arrive dead (again, because of UPS), and all sorts of other issues, but I have never had this kind of a positive experience come out of a negative one. WWC sent me a wrong coral once after an auction, and they refunded the purchase and I kept the coral, but I didn't get the coral I wanted and that was never an offer from them. I had a shipment from ASD die, and they gave me credit but no longer had that same torch, so I had to kick in extra to get something else. Neither of these was ideal, but both were acceptable.

What these guys did was ideal for me, but certainly not for them. They went way out of their way - they sent me at least 15 emails, and a bevy of texts to make sure I was happy. And I cannot recommend them strongly enough. In the rare event that something is wrong with an order, they *will* make it right.

These. Guys. Rock.

Awful color from a quick cell phone snap, but this "three head" yellow octospawn is probably 6" long and 5" wide and isn't even fully inflated yet. I would be embarrased to tell you how little I paid for it. If you're in the SoCal area, you should check them out in person. And please post some pictures for the rest of us to see if you do. Will be doing a vendor review on them soon with more details.

Stay tuned. Tomorrow is rescape day. Everything out, tank total scrape and clean, and then playing with the lego bricks that are my coral tiles until I get it right.

I’m so happy to hear how well they took care of you. In my business there can be serious customer service issues and they are not always handled the right way which is very frustrating. I’m always happy to hear about a business that goes the extra mile to make things right because that’s the right thing to do. It earns you customers for life.

Staying tuned for re-scape day, can’t wait to see it.

 

[jcolliii]

Snowy afternoon here, so perfect day for this sort of work. I think we've 4" on the ground now, and still coming down.

Okay, still a work in progress. I have to take a couple of my colonies off of their current pedestal and move them to shorter or taller ones, but I am narrowing in...

Still way too much in the tank. I still have to figure out how to cut two colonies off of their current branch, need to re-make Starsky's (the starkii damsel) house (or the clown will pick on him and tear his fins up). I am thinking Crusty's days in this tank may be limited. He's just too much of a problem child. Anyhow, I glued most of the colonies to their final column today, but still have a lot of stuff to move and adjust. At least you can see the bones coming together and get an idea of where this is going.

Man, is that yellow octospawn cool. Never really cared too much for frogs/octos before, but this thing is vibrant, there are not too many true yellows in corals, and it has a lot of motion! Tomorrow, I need to fins a small piece of ABS, silicone it to one of my 'tiles', and fit a coral topper and Starsky's house will be complete. I think his roof will be that AOG colony. A couple branches need to be cut, and it will be closer to the final product - but probably still not quite there.

Stay tuned.

 

[jcolliii]

Man do I hate messing with paly's.

Safety glasses, gloves, and a surgical mask, and still nervous. Anyhow, I got 3/4 of my Bloodshot Kraks transferred on to their new branch. Many of them are wounded and deflated, but I have found that Palythoas are almost indestructible - they'll regenerate. A couple I popped and they deflated, they'll be fine probably. Super glued them on to their new branch and a few of them are already starting to puff back out.

Nothing worries me more than Paly's. Probably overcautious, but better than the other way. That got the last of the big old branches out of the tank. Just have to get one more tube of epoxy, and some more gel superglue. Couple more days and will be ready for the reveal.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Man do I hate messing with paly's.

Safety glasses, gloves, and a surgical mask, and still nervous. Anyhow, I got 3/4 of my Bloodshot Kraks transferred on to their new branch. Many of them are wounded and deflated, but I have found that Palythoas are almost indestructible - they'll regenerate. A couple I popped and they deflated, they'll be fine probably. Super glued them on to their new branch and a few of them are already starting to puff back out.

Nothing worries me more than Paly's. Probably overcautious, but better than the other way. That got the last of the big old branches out of the tank. Just have to get one more tube of epoxy, and some more gel superglue. Couple more days and will be ready for the reveal.

I'm with you, they seriously freak me out. Probably unreasonable but still. When I first started the hobby, I ordered two softies online. My first corals. Dipped them dutifully and they both melted in the following days. I was sure I'd messed up dipping them and actually contacted the dip manufacturer. Ended up talking to the owner of the company who assured me it wasn't the dip (and now I'd agree, the corals were probably damaged in shipping) and he sent me three corals of his own to try again! Seriously! Unfortunately, they were also poorly packed and the only one that arrived alive was a Palythoa Grandis. Now, if I'd known they could grow up as awesome looking as yours I might have considered keeping it but as a noob I wanted it as far from me as possible. My LFS gained a nice paly. So that's my story about my fear of palytoxin!

Can't wait to see the big reveal!

 

[jcolliii]

They do look really great when they are fed and happy, but 1 gram of palytoxin can kill 1/6 of a billion mice. I put a small frag in my office tank, but I think the big colony may be going to a frag swap with me.

In other news... teaser for upcoming DIY... (and not a Ca reactor...)

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

They do look really great when they are fed and happy, but 1 gram of palytoxin can kill 1/6 of a billion mice. I put a small frag in my office tank, but I think the big colony may be going to a frag swap with me.

In other news... teaser for upcoming DIY... (and not a Ca reactor...)

I'm intrigued!

 

[TheWB]

They do look really great when they are fed and happy, but 1 gram of palytoxin can kill 1/6 of a billion mice. I put a small frag in my office tank, but I think the big colony may be going to a frag swap with me.

In other news... teaser for upcoming DIY... (and not a Ca reactor...)

That’s a heck of a coffee maker you got there lol.

 

[jcolliii]

Also, going to give this stuff a try in the display. Blue Hypnea macroalgae. Anyone know if macros can be dipped, and in what?

 

[jcolliii]

I'm intrigued!

Hint: Going to use two of exactly the same head/tubing size but only one pump motor.

 

[reefstarterpack]

Amazing looking Lagoon. Just ordered mine today. Hope it ships quickly. Very eager to get started. All I do now is watch reef videos

 

[jcolliii]

LOL - I hear that! What sort of plan do you have for yours?

 

[aws2266]

I absolutely love this fish. I need to get one at some point, maybe after I figure out what to do with my clowns. Those speckled Kraks are really nice too, don’t think I’ve seen them before. You’ve got a lot of good stuff in that tank.

I loved my starki damsel. When I put my powder brown tang in he freaked out and cut himself on some rock and subsequently died a few days later. Pretty bummed about it, was my favorite fish. Haven't decided if I'm going to get another one or not.

 

[reefstarterpack]

LOL - I hear that! What sort of plan do you have for yours?

So far the only thing I’ve settled on for sure is a pair of clowns and a yellow watchman goby. Still in the process of planning it all but going to use Agra Alive Special Grade sand and Caribsea South Seas base rock and a AI Prime HD. Outside of that I’m looking at some easy to care for corals and going from there. The goby I’m still on the fence about but I’m taking everything really slowly and doing a ton of research

 

[jcolliii]

Such a bummer - sorry to hear.

I had a powder brown in a 135 long ago. Easily one of my top 5 favorite fish (so is the starkii). Had such a personality - would come up and eat from my fingers. I could probably get my starkii to do the same if I had the patience right now.

Bummer also that Fedex is using a plane leaving Memphis 2.5 hours late and still arriving before 8am in the destination city as an excuse to not deliver an overnight priority. Sent some free corals to TheWB (he covered shipping) and now it's looking like FedEx will not deliver. They are sitting in the SeaTac FedEx terminal with no attempt to get them on a truck. Gotta love this excuse-driven economy. Hurricane within a 900 mile radius of the gulf - let's jack up oil prices and make gasoline more expensive. A conflict in sub-Saharan Africa - there go battery, capacitor, and tech prices. A slightly late flight (and some snow on the ground) and FedEx balks at its commitments. UGH. Makes me want DHL back.

 

[reefstarterpack]

Such a bummer - sorry to hear.

I had a powder brown in a 135 long ago. Easily one of my top 5 favorite fish (so is the starkii). Had such a personality - would come up and eat from my fingers. I could probably get my starkii to do the same if I had the patience right now.

Bummer also that Fedex is using a plane leaving Memphis 2.5 hours late and still arriving before 8am in the destination city as an excuse to not deliver an overnight priority. Sent some free corals to TheWB (he covered shipping) and now it's looking like FedEx will not deliver. They are sitting in the SeaTac FedEx terminal with no attempt to get them on a truck. Gotta love this excuse-driven economy. Hurricane within a 900 mile radius of the gulf - let's jack up oil prices and make gasoline more expensive. A conflict in sub-Saharan Africa - there go battery, capacitor, and tech prices. A slightly late flight (and some snow on the ground) and FedEx balks at its commitments. UGH. Makes me want DHL back.

FedEx is horrible all around. I really dread when I get a shipping notification and see it’s them that’s delivering my package

 

[jcolliii]

Okay, so I have cleared up the bottom somewhat - still need to figure out the safest way to get that baby torch off of that big chunk of rock - don't want to damage a coral that was the result of in-tank reproduction as this coral may be more prone to reproducing under captive conditions. I'm thinking about taking the dremel to it tomorrow, and gluing it onto a frag plug.

Still somewhat a work in progress - the big colony of Palythoa grandis will be going to a frag swap in Fargo or sold locally. On the small frag rack on the right there are a couple more frags of speckled krakatoa palys and the gold hammer frag that Kung Fu Corals sent me. I think that one is splitting right now.

I cleaned some of the tiles today and it was really pretty easy. I can get some of them with a scraper right in situ on the bottom, so those are quick. A few of them will be a bit harder to take out - like the big Montipora, so those will likely get done less frequently. I will also need to:

1. find something for that empty pedestal on the left middle - I am thinking blue Hypnea macroalgae in that spot.
2. find a place for the interstellar mushroom that never seems to want to split for me.
3. find something to go where the big Paly grandis colony currently is. I NEED BLUE to balance out my color pallette, but don't really want any more sps - or I would go with an Oregon tortuosa.

Top down for an idea of layout.

Left 2/3.

FTS 1-1-2022 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

p.s. Don't mind the surface grunge on the water - need to get some photos without floaties some time.

 

[TheWB]

Okay, so I have cleared up the bottom somewhat - still need to figure out the safest way to get that baby torch off of that big chunk of rock - don't want to damage a coral that was the result of in-tank reproduction as this coral may be more prone to reproducing under captive conditions. I'm thinking about taking the dremel to it tomorrow, and gluing it onto a frag plug.

Still somewhat a work in progress - the big colony of Palythoa grandis will be going to a frag swap in Fargo or sold locally. On the small frag rack on the right there are a couple more frags of speckled krakatoa palys and the gold hammer frag that Kung Fu Corals sent me. I think that one is splitting right now.

I cleaned some of the tiles today and it was really pretty easy. I can get some of them with a scraper right in situ on the bottom, so those are quick. A few of them will be a bit harder to take out - like the big Montipora, so those will likely get done less frequently. I will also need to:

1. find something for that empty pedestal on the left middle - I am thinking blue Hypnea macroalgae in that spot.
2. find a place for the interstellar mushroom that never seems to want to split for me.
3. find something to go where the big Paly grandis colony currently is. I NEED BLUE to balance out my color pallette, but don't really want any more sps - or I would go with an Oregon tortuosa.

Top down for an idea of layout.

Left 2/3.

FTS 1-1-2022 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

p.s. Don't mind the surface grunge on the water - need to get some photos without floaties some time.

That came out great. Must be very satisfying to see you vision become reality.
For some blue how about some Blue Hornets grown out over a domed shaped rock? I believe there’s also some blue caulastrea but it’s a lighter blue if lighter is an option.

 

[jcolliii]

I think the fish really love swimming between the columns, and I really dig how it came out. Was looking at some of the multi-colored fungia, a Hawkins echinata, some chalices, and a couple of favia. Nothing is really speaking to me yet. Staying away from caulastrea though, and cespitularia as well!

 

[TheWB]

I think the fish really love swimming between the columns, and I really dig how it came out. Was looking at some of the multi-colored fungia, a Hawkins echinata, some chalices, and a couple of favia. Nothing is really speaking to me yet. Staying away from caulastrea though, and cespitularia as well!

Well, you’ve got a very specific concept going so if nothing is grabbing you yet just wait. Better to get the right thing than to settle for something you ultimately don’t want.

 

[jcolliii]

Well, the Biocube 16 LED hood crapped out leaving me with just a 9w actinic LED strip that I added on for supplementation. Ordered a Smatfarm 95w chinese LED from Amazon. For $125 bucks shipped, it's 95 watts, has 6 channels of color control, and comes with the mounting bracket! They seem to have pretty good reviews other than for the programming, which seems to be rather cryptic. A couple videos on youtube though, so should be okay. going open top on that one and will cut the upper black trim off and probably CNC a curved acrylic top as the bed on my CNC should be able to cut that in one piece. Have the screen from my original IM cover that I can reuse. Should look nice with the trim removed.

Still looking for blue corals. I have found a couple pieces that I think would look great - none of them are particularly dark blue (which is ideally what I am looking for), but all are pretty nice!

In no particular order...

A bowerbanki that I am not sure what sort of lighting this image was captured under. I assume super blue lighting, but I have asked for clarification and a 10k photo.

An echinata that is just super cool. This one is blue under both 10k and listerine lighting.

Or a similar echinata with a bit more green and purple. Still a neat piece. Right now leaning toward the first one, but without knowing what lighting it's photographed under, I am not pulling any trigger just yet.