TheWB’s IM Lagoon 50

[TheWB]

You're totally local and welcome to any frags i have available... Just message me when you have time, i am around weekends usually (working) and don't take work consults on Monday's or Tuesdays, so those are typically good days. I have seachem media that i keep in the sump that may be more convenient and maybe more populated with bacteria than sand... I removed most of my sand anyway and have recently replaced it with calcium reactor media, which i much prefer to sand (for now anyway). This current 50 gallon tank is not super old, but it has actual live rock from another's system that had been running for a long time, and never dried out, so the diversity is pretty good... i see sponges and tube worms and random critters.. I assume there is good bacteria populations populating everything from that stuff.

Cool man, I’ll definitely take you up on that. This is theoretically my slow season (not slowing anywhere near as much as normal, supply chain issues and labor shortages are real) so I should be free to wander over to Gig Harbor fairly soon. I also have matrix in my back chambers, a bag in the empty space under chambers one and two and another bigger bag just sitting on my return hoses in the middle chamber so I’m happy to contribute if you’d like some. I have pondered calcium reactor media as substrate but I thought it would end up as a detritus trap, are you not experiencing that with it? At one point in the beginning I was going to use Stax rock as a substrate but didn’t for the same reasons, just thought it would get filthy between the pieces. Not having any SPS my flow is not strong enough to keep everything suspended.

 

[TheWB]

Man, I'm going to have a lot of stuff available as well when I do my rescape. Big honking hunks of a really nice bright red-pink cap, maybe some Anacropora (not at all a tough genus - likes a lot of light, but otherwise don't do anything to it) and probably some bubblegum digi and maybe others too. I have zero pests (but a few small patches of GHA at the moment as my PO4 is a bit low). Pay the shipping and I'm willing to send them off to you. PM me when I am doing my rescape and I'll let you know what I can send. I am not sure where to get the low and slow heat packs though.

I also periodically add additional bacterial cultures as well, and I think that as some strains outcompete others, periodic re-inoculation might be helpful. It certainly hasn't hurt. As others have indicated I also noticed that when I attained a certain coral biomass, stuff just went...

That’s so cool of you to offer, I’d definitely pay for the shipping.
I do add bacteria periodically, just put in a little of Dr Tim’s refresh this morning. I have added at various points Microbacter 7, Microbacter Clean, Dr Tim’s One and Only and some of that Fritzyme. I’ve also added stuff from Indo Pacific Sea Farms.

The consensus seems to be that more coral is better for the system. My wife and I have an agreement on the reefing budget so I don’t get too out of control. When you work on commission a bad month is always potentially one month away so it really pays to stick to a budget and sock away the excess. That’s been working for us for a really long time. I may need to dip into the reserves for some easy SPS and see if I can get this thing working a little better. The Zoas, and the nem if it ever quits acting weird, should be fine with more light and the Euyphilias will probably be ok off to the sides and corners. I’m considering re-homing my clownfish due to aggression and the fact that they have taken up residence in a giant patch of Zoas that are not very attractive. Removing them and the Zoas would give me a lot of new real estate for other coral. I’d love to move the clowns to their own tank with the Zoas but there’s just no place to put it.
Gonna have to think this out a bit more but doing what I’m currently doing is kinda stagnant and who doesn’t want more corals.

 

[TheWB]

Took a top down FTS the other night right before lights out.

The pink skirted orange zoas have really taken over the top of that island. Never meant to let them get that big but the clownfish really love living in them. The stalks are pretty long so it’s like wriggling around in an anemone for them. They won’t go anywhere near the actual BTA though.

 

[TheWB]

I recently ordered a CO2 Scrubber from BRS which arrived yesterday. I had to make a little modification to get it hooked up to the air intake on my skimmer because I didn’t order the correct reducer but no big deal. Some boiling water, a small cut to the tubing and some gorilla tape and I was good to go.

Very preliminary results since it hasn’t been even 24 hours but you can see from the graph below that PH topped out slightly higher yesterday and didn’t bottom out nearly as much overnight as it normally does. Not big changes but potentially more stable. We’ll see if this trend continues.

 

[jcolliii]

I had thought about trying that with my pink paly's too. I don't know if I want to devote as much real estate as it takes for a big hammer colony. Hmmm.... maybe when I start taking colonies off of the rocks I will put that one over in the corner where my clown hangs out.

How do the zoas take to the clown? Do they close up all the time or do they kind of get used to the clown after awhile?

 

[TheWB]

I had thought about trying that with my pink paly's too. I don't know if I want to devote as much real estate as it takes for a big hammer colony. Hmmm.... maybe when I start taking colonies off of the rocks I will put that one over in the corner where my clown hangs out.

How do the zoas take to the clown? Do they close up all the time or do they kind of get used to the clown after awhile?

The Zoas never close up when the clowns are in there, which is all the time. They’ve just gotten used to it and now it’s normal. The clowns are quite discolored from all the stings. These are just normal ORA captive bred clowns but they are very dark from hyper melanization (if that’s a word? Lol). I’ll try and get a decent picture.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Boy, nice to see numbers on the axis...

Here's my GHL:

Wonder what my PH is???? or ALK????

The first graph is by a high schooler, the second my 3 year old drew.. .basically.

 

[TheWB]

Boy, nice to see numbers on the axis...

Here's my GHL:

Wonder what my PH is???? or ALK????

The first graph is by a high schooler, the second my 3 year old drew.. .basically.

Yeah, that’s…….not good. Do you have to click on the point to get the value? I’ve never seen a graph that didn’t have reference values on the margins so you could, you know, actually read the graph.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

Yeah, that’s…….not good. Do you have to click on the point to get the value? I’ve never seen a graph that didn’t have reference values on the margins so you could, you know, actually read the graph.

yes you have to scroll over the points.... which is completely cumbersome to the point of being pretty useless because (a) getting the value you want is hit or miss, literally, and (b) you can only see one value at a time--nothing in context--without numbers on the axis...

It's nonsensical and i don't use the graph for anything ever...

 

[TheWB]

yes you have to scroll over the points.... which is completely cumbersome to the point of being pretty useless because (a) getting the value you want is hit or miss, literally, and (b) you can only see one value at a time--nothing in context--without numbers on the axis...

It's nonsensical and i don't use the graph for anything ever...

My Apex is basically just used as a heater controller, tank monitor and I enjoy the convenience of using a virtual outlet to turn everything off for maintenance. I’m not very high tech. Recently we have decided that we’re going to move to a single level house in the next 18 months for family reasons and when that happens I’m getting a bigger tank. It has been stipulated that it has to look nice since it will be in a Living Room and that means no AIO with the skimmer sticking out the top, etc… I’m thinking of going with one of the Cade systems that has the built in power center. I’m hoping that by the time this all happens Hydros will have introduced something capable of monitoring salinity in addition to ph and temp. If that happens I’d likely switch as I need monitoring and leak detection more than anything else. Hydros is almost there now. I know a lot of people don’t care about monitoring salinity and complain about the probes but I like it. It’s just comforting to know that it’s stable. I use the Tunze ato which would be eliminated in a Cade system, my lights, return pump and wavemakers all have their own controllers and if I ever get dosing pumps the better ones seem to be stand alone, or there are Hydros versions. Just don’t see the need for a full Apex if that situation comes to pass.

 

[jcolliii]

The Zoas never close up when the clowns are in there, which is all the time. They’ve just gotten used to it and now it’s normal. The clowns are quite discolored from all the stings. These are just normal ORA captive bred clowns but they are very dark from hyper melanization (if that’s a word? Lol). I’ll try and get a decent picture.

Hmmm.... that's not good then. Don't want the little guy have to get stung to live in a new house. Right now he just hovers around the right side rear powerhead. Not ideal. I guess back to the hammer idea. No guarantee there either, I suppose. Honestly, surprised he hasn't gone to the torch, but the torch is being kept quite compact by constant skirmishes with the Palythoa grandis right now. Ugh... why did the wife want a clown...

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

My Apex is basically just used as a heater controller, tank monitor and I enjoy the convenience of using a virtual outlet to turn everything off for maintenance. I’m not very high tech. Recently we have decided that we’re going to move to a single level house in the next 18 months for family reasons and when that happens I’m getting a bigger tank. It has been stipulated that it has to look nice since it will be in a Living Room and that means no AIO with the skimmer sticking out the top, etc… I’m thinking of going with one of the Cade systems that has the built in power center. I’m hoping that by the time this all happens Hydros will have introduced something capable of monitoring salinity in addition to ph and temp. If that happens I’d likely switch as I need monitoring and leak detection more than anything else. Hydros is almost there now. I know a lot of people don’t care about monitoring salinity and complain about the probes but I like it. It’s just comforting to know that it’s stable. I use the Tunze ato which would be eliminated in a Cade system, my lights, return pump and wavemakers all have their own controllers and if I ever get dosing pumps the better ones seem to be stand alone, or there are Hydros versions. Just don’t see the need for a full Apex if that situation comes to pass.

bigger tank sounds great! Check out Parker's reef frag tank cade setup (youtube). One thing he did was not add water to the ATO compartment and stick MP 40's in there... The ATO isn't all that big, so you may want a bigger ATO anyway and that way you can utilize some MP 40's--which for a living room tank is as clean as it gets..

edit: I also like the de-centralized approach as far as monitoring and control.

One thing i think will suck for Neptune and Eco-tech being under the same roof is that Eco-Tech was really headed towards a viable decentralized approach.... the opposite of Apex--- Now with the merger--there just wont IMO be that wonderful cut throat competition that drives independent innovation so well....

 

[TheWB]

Hmmm.... that's not good then. Don't want the little guy have to get stung to live in a new house. Right now he just hovers around the right side rear powerhead. Not ideal. I guess back to the hammer idea. No guarantee there either, I suppose. Honestly, surprised he hasn't gone to the torch, but the torch is being kept quite compact by constant skirmishes with the Palythoa grandis right now. Ugh... why did the wife want a clown...

I don’t necessarily think the stings bother them too much. I can’t imagine they would continue to do it for all this time if it did. There aren’t really any threats to them in the tank that would make them want to hide and the female clown is the biggest bully in the tank, she regularly chases off the tang and the wrasse out of their area. No real reason for them to be in there unless they just want to be. I think I’d much rather have the clowns in a patch of Zoas than irritating a hammer colony. I just wish my clowns had picked a nicer looking Zoa to live in, the ones they chose are not very attractive and it’s the most prolific one I have.

 

[TheWB]

bigger tank sounds great! Check out Parker's reef frag tank cade setup (youtube). One thing he did was not add water to the ATO compartment and stick MP 40's in there... The ATO isn't all that big, so you may want a bigger ATO anyway and that way you can utilize some MP 40's--which for a living room tank is as clean as it gets..

edit: I also like the de-centralized approach as far as monitoring and control.

One thing i think will suck for Neptune and Eco-tech being under the same roof is that Eco-Tech was really headed towards a viable decentralized approach.... the opposite of Apex--- Now with the merger--there just wont IMO be that wonderful cut throat competition that drives independent innovation so well....

I will check that out. I didn’t realize there was enough access to the ato section to get the dry sides of an mp40 down there. I don’t really want to pay for mp40s but that’s just me being cheap Lol. Wife acceptance factor will likely get that purchase authorized.

I’m hoping that since Ecotech was acquired by Bertram but not through BRS that maybe some independence will still exist. Since I switched from a Radion to the Reefi Unos I don’t run any ecotech products right now so it’s less of an issue for me personally but I get the sentiment about competition driving inovation.

 

[Mywifeisgunnakillme]

I will check that out. I didn’t realize there was enough access to the ato section to get the dry sides of an mp40 down there. I don’t really want to pay for mp40s but that’s just me being cheap Lol. Wife acceptance factor will likely get that purchase authorized.

I’m hoping that since Ecotech was acquired by Bertram but not through BRS that maybe some independence will still exist. Since I switched from a Radion to the Reefi Unos I don’t run any ecotech products right now so it’s less of an issue for me personally but I get the sentiment about competition driving inovation.

MP 40's are well worth it IMO. The flow is great, broad but also projecting, aftermarket deflectors can direct it, and the biggest points are EASY cleaning--buy extra wet sides to just switch out. Then there is no cords in the tank and the low profile.... They also last a very long time, frequently a decade, so take that into consideration.

I could be wrong, but i think the entire point of investment companies buying up smaller companies is to increase profits by eliminating inefficiencies. A big way to do that is eliminate competing products to a large degree. We'll see.... but i think its safe to say if eco-tech stayed its own company it would not have cared what neptune did...

 

[jcolliii]

Something else to consider - I have had nothing at all but positive experiences with the pretty darn inexpensive Jebao SLW-10s that I use in my tank for oscillating flow. They are completely silent, push a ton of water and wirelessly talk to each other. I gather the controllers now have increased functionality as well. Great pumps at a much lower price point. Also, nothing outside of the tank except a small magnet.

 

[TheWB]

Something else to consider - I have had nothing at all but positive experiences with the pretty darn inexpensive Jebao SLW-10s that I use in my tank for oscillating flow. They are completely silent, push a ton of water and wirelessly talk to each other. I gather the controllers now have increased functionality as well. Great pumps at a much lower price point. Also, nothing outside of the tank except a small magnet.

Thanks for the recommendation. I actually just ordered a pair of Nero 3’s to replace the Innovative Marine wavelink pumps I’m running now. Wavelinks were fine but very directional and while you can’t hear them next to the tank they are noticeable as they ramp up and down in other rooms in the house, my wife and daughter are sick of hearing the vrooming oscillation in our walls. The Neros should provide a wider, hopefully gentler flow with some different patterns. The Neros were sold out everywhere except, ironically, Innovative Marine had them in stock so that’s where I ordered them from.

 

[TheWB]

Hmmm.... that's not good then. Don't want the little guy have to get stung to live in a new house. Right now he just hovers around the right side rear powerhead. Not ideal. I guess back to the hammer idea. No guarantee there either, I suppose. Honestly, surprised he hasn't gone to the torch, but the torch is being kept quite compact by constant skirmishes with the Palythoa grandis right now. Ugh... why did the wife want a clown...

Here’s the larger clownfish for ya, all snuggled in for the night. Scuse the blue pics, no filter handy.

It’s more impressive when they are in there while the zoas are open but I had to take what I could get.

 

[jcolliii]

Hmmm.... maybe I will try that first then. The big colony of AOG's is on the side the clown hangs in, but they are up pretty high toward the top right now and the clown hangs low, so maybe when I start hacking things off of rocks I will put that colony close to his powerhead and see what happens.

 

[TheWB]

Hmmm.... maybe I will try that first then. The big colony of AOG's is on the side the clown hangs in, but they are up pretty high toward the top right now and the clown hangs low, so maybe when I start hacking things off of rocks I will put that colony close to his powerhead and see what happens.

Here’s some pics from just now with the clowns in the Zoas. If you look closely at the clowns you’ll see the discoloration I was talking about.