SuncrestReef's Red Sea Reefer XL 425 build

[SuncrestReef]

I got a new toy today! Here's my new microscope with my Nikon D610 attached:





This came in very handy already. Today I picked up a new goniopora frag, and when I took a macro photo I noticed a bunch of eggs on the frag:



I scraped the eggs off with a tweezer, then took a look at them under the microscope. I was amazed to see live worms wiggling around inside the eggs! Take a look at this video I shot through the microscope:

 

[Salahunreal]

Woooo.. that's really handy. Very nice and link to the microscope sir

 

[SuncrestReef]

Woooo.. that's really handy. Very nice and link to the microscope sir

This is the microscope I ordered: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006BGVIMQ

 

[Salahunreal]

This is a serious one. I like.
Thanks a lot

 

[SuncrestReef]

My LFS, Cuttlefish & Corals in Portland OR, held a Black Friday sale where they had $10 grab bags and various price mystery boxes of corals. I bought a $250 mystery box, and here's what I found inside:





















I also picked up 3 grab bags:







My tank is starting to run out of space!

 

[SuncrestReef]

My new tailspot blennie graduated to the main display tank and is doing really well. He's got some interesting camouflage at night, and I just noticed the white mark on his back resembles a Transformer robot or something:

 

[SuncrestReef]

I spend a lot of time just staring at my aquarium. It's so peaceful and relaxing. Here's a 5 minute video of tranquility:

 

[SuncrestReef]

My mystery box contained a sun coral which was a new one to me. It's interesting how it stays retracted all day, then really opens up at night for feeding:

Day:


Night:


I'm target feeding Reef Roids and it seems really happy.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I'm really enjoying exploring the tiny inhabitants of my aquarium with my new microscope. Here's a video showing some sort of pod under 80x, 200x, and 800x magnification.

 

[SuncrestReef]

A couple months ago I found an aiptasia growing from below a scoly in my tank. I removed the scoly and injected the aiptasia with lemon juice, but a week later I saw it came back. I repeated this a couple more times, but the lemon juice wasn't killing it. Last week I discovered 3 more aiptasia, but this time on rocks I can't remove or easily get to. I just bought a 4 watt laser and burned them all within 5 minutes. It worked easily and quickly, and gratifying to hear them crackling and sizzling. I'm sure there are others that I can't see, but for now the unsightly ones are gone. If they continue to spread I might invest in some berghia nudibranchs, but the laser it a lot more fun!

 

[johnj]

aint reef tanks just so cool to just watch

 

[NY_Caveman]

A couple months ago I found an aiptasia growing from below a scoly in my tank. I removed the scoly and injected the aiptasia with lemon juice, but a week later I saw it came back. I repeated this a couple more times, but the lemon juice wasn't killing it. Last week I discovered 3 more aiptasia, but this time on rocks I can't remove or easily get to. I just bought a 4 watt laser and burned them all within 5 minutes. It worked easily and quickly, and gratifying to hear them crackling and sizzling. I'm sure there are others that I can't see, but for now the unsightly ones are gone. If they continue to spread I might invest in some berghia nudibranchs, but the laser it a lot more fun!

Awesome! Nice shooting. Did you feel like Han Solo?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Awesome! Nice shooting. Did you feel like Han Solo?

Yes! I already told a friend it's like I have my own light saber.

 

[SuncrestReef]

For months I’ve been battling air bubbles in my DOS tubing for my 2-part dosing. I’ve tried re-seating the tubes, tightening the connectors, and even heating up the tubing for a better fit.

Today I replaced the stock connectors on the DOS with push-connect fittings. Once in place and holding the priming button for a minute, the air bubbles were gone.

I’ll probably need to monitor and adjust my dosing volumes over the next week to get it dialed in now that it’s only pushing fluid.

Here’s what I used:

 

[SuncrestReef]

Here's my mushroom doing its best impression of a clam:

 

[Crabby48]

That is a great looking mushroom! Outstanding picture

 

[SuncrestReef]

Here's an updated full tank shot for December 2018 after adding all my mystery box and grab bag corals:



Side view:

 

[SuncrestReef]

And here's a quick video recap of the evolution of my Reefer from Feb 2018 - Dec 2018:

 

[SuncrestReef]

Last night was our annual white elephant xmas gift exchange party. This party has grown over the past 10 years and we had over 50 guests at our house last night. This was the first big party since setting up the aquarium, and I figured it would be a big hit for entertaining kids, but it turned out to be an even bigger hit with the adults! I ended up giving four separate tours of the tank, sump, and garage mixing station to groups of interested guests. Everyone was amazed and I got tons of compliments. Makes all the planning, work, and care worth it!

 

[BigMo]

Last night was our annual white elephant xmas gift exchange party. This party has grown over the past 10 years and we had over 50 guests at our house last night. This was the first big party since setting up the aquarium, and I figured it would be a big hit for entertaining kids, but it turned out to be an even bigger hit with the adults! I ended up giving four separate tours of the tank, sump, and garage mixing station to groups of interested guests. Everyone was amazed and I got tons of compliments. Makes all the planning, work, and care worth it!

This kind of planing, execution and colorful tank deserves lots of compliments.
Congratulations it’s really a beautiful Tank, enjoy the view every time you look at it [emoji106], I sure do, thanks for sharing pictures.