This is it. My last build thread

[Mschmidt]

Well the algae scrubber is taking off.

spaghetti with pesto?

 

[Nate Chalk]

Skipped some did you figure out a plan for the maxima? Mines on the rock tucked in between some Sps. Happy as a pig in the mud

 

[CMMorgan]

Just what every guy wants to hear from their gal. (right up there with "Of course you can get another tank!" and "I don't need to go shoe shopping, let's stay home and watch the game.")
Congrats on the big tank! It looks incredible.

 

[exnisstech]

spaghetti with pesto?

Does look like it lol

Skipped some did you figure out a plan for the maxima? Mines on the rock tucked in between some Sps. Happy as a pig in the mud

The maxima are attached to their own small rock and I have them sitting in a larger rock.

I think I'll bring that whole rock over today and place it on on the x for now. I'm sure I'll be rearranging things for a while.

I found out my derasa has a broken hinge so its probably not going to survive the move. Sucks because it's the first clam I've had some success with and it's tripled in size since I added it a year and a half ago. This is not a hobby for the faint of heart that for sure

I'm concerned about how I'm going to move my one and only acro colony. It was a broken frag I just stuck on the back wall for the heck of it and it really took off.
Its sitting under 800 par. I'm thinking of trying it lower to see if the colors change any. More than likely I'll end up with several pieces and I can experiment lol. I can be a klutz when my hands are in the tank.

 

[twentyleagues]

Does look like it lol



The maxima are attached to their own small rock and I have them sitting in a larger rock.

I think I'll bring that whole rock over today and place it on on the x for now. I'm sure I'll be rearranging things for a while.

I found out my derasa has a broken hinge so its probably not going to survive the move. Sucks because it's the first clam I've had some success with and it's tripled in size since I added it a year and a half ago. This is not a hobby for the faint of heart that for sure

I'm concerned about how I'm going to move my one and only acro colony. It was a broken frag I just stuck on the back wall for the heck of it and it really took off.
Its sitting under 800 par. I'm thinking of trying it lower to see if the colors change any. More than likely I'll end up with several pieces and I can experiment lol. I can be a klutz when my hands are in the tank.

Thats too bad about the clam hoping for the best out come. Until I read that I didnt even know it was a thing. I have had crocea and maxima and a squamosa in the past but never a derasa.

I dont think you are going to have an option with the acro you may want to just frag it as close to possible to the base of the colony to start.

 

[exnisstech]

Thats too bad about the clam hoping for the best out come. Until I read that I didnt even know it was a thing. I have had crocea and maxima and a squamosa in the past but never a derasa.

I dont think you are going to have an option with the acro you may want to just frag it as close to possible to the base of the colony to start.

I had another member mention the hinge when I inquired about the clam leaning over. They had seen it in the past and even tried repairing the hinge but the clams didn't pull through. Not sure what the cause is. The clam was placed on the sand and attached shortly after I added it and was never moved. Hopefully it's a derasa issues.

I'm thinking of cutting the acro as close to the base on the back wall as I can then setting the colony on a rock and hope it will encrust.

 

[steveschuerger]

There is a study some where that outlines all the different beneficial stuff in dog spit. Supposedly wounds licked by dogs heal 2x as fast.

I’ll try that experiment with my cat sometime. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up getting on all fours and meowing afterwards lol

 

[steveschuerger]

Read and caught up. Looks like a great start to the new tank.

 

[exnisstech]

I’ll try that experiment with my cat sometime. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up getting on all fours and meowing afterwards lol

That brush like tongue on a cat may not feel as good as a dogs tongue

 

[steveschuerger]

That brush like tongue on a cat may not feel as good as a dogs tongue

It’ll be fine. Just like rubbing a #22 sandpaper on it..

 

[twentyleagues]

It’ll be fine. Just like rubbing a #22 sandpaper on it..

Just smoothing out the edges.

 

[exnisstech]

Just smoothing out the edges.

Be good at scab removal. Kinda like a betadine brush

 

[exnisstech]

Lights are up. I'm usualy a hack when it comes to running cable but I'm happy with myself this time around.

Hopefully I can continue being neat with the rest of the cable management. There are a LOT of wires and power bricks. I have an idea I'll share later and maybe someone will have a better idea. More to come on that

I'm getting some green film algae under the lights so I turned them off and moved the coral back. I know I'm not going to avoid all the nasties but I'm going to delay them as long as possible. I pulled a couple of turbo snails from other tanks. As soon as they finish eating the gha off each other they promise to go to work on the tank. They were both covered in algae. No sterile looking tanks here no matter how hard I try

I figured since I'm leaving lights off for a while I would bring the little yellow tangs over. I think they color up a bit more everyday. Two had tattered fins when they arrived and they are already healed

They were pretty active when I added them last eve but have been a standoffish today spending time in a corner. Not surprising with what they been through flying from FL then spending a week in acclimation box and getting dumped into a 7ft tank. I just had a thought as I'm typing this. They loved the clay pot that was in the acclimation box. I'm going to bring it up and place it close to where they are for a familiar safe haven. I'll report back. This is them shortly after being added.
EDIT ok not super active swimming laps but not hiding lol

 

[twentyleagues]

Man that light rack looks great!

 

[Bruttall]

Looking Great Ex!! Dare I say, Nice Rack! lol. the hinged light rack is beautiful.

 

[exnisstech]

Man that light rack looks great!

Looking Great Ex!! Dare I say, Nice Rack! lol. the hinged light rack is beautiful.

All the credit goes to @Reefer Reboot . He did all the design and gave me the parts list. All I did was assembly. I'm so glad he volunteered to help or I would have ended up with something cobbled up attached to the wall behind the tank.

 

[exnisstech]

Eclipse 2024 yeeha. Not really my thing but my Gal was calling me a Debbie downer and threatening to leave me so I went out. It was cool and I can say I saw it. Dogs were not sure and just lay down for a few. They were probably trying to figure out why it was getting dark and they hadn't had supper.

EDIT: I think a lunar eclipse is much more fun to watch being able to see the entire progression from beginning to end. The solar was like click dark click light again then over. I expected much more progression from light dark light. Thinking about it I guess it just shows how bright the sun really is and how little of it is need to light the planet

The spring peepers in the valley didn't skip a peep.

I promise tank info next post.

 

[exnisstech]

One of the little tangs has developed popeye. It looked like one eye yesterday but both today. I haven't decided a course of action. I'm tempted to just let it go and see what happens. I'm afraid I'll do more harm than good chasing it around trying to catch it to move it to a hospital tank. Everything I've read has treatment being hit or miss. I have treated an orange shoulder tang successfully once only to wake up to it dead in the display a month later with no known cause of death. They have a large vlamingii at a lfs that has had it for a few years and while ugly it doesn't seem to bother the fish. Its always something in this hobby but I'm getting used to the set backs. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not

I feel bad for the poor fish even though they say it isn't painful.
Its the lightest colored and smallest of the three so maybe it didn't get the quite nutrition it needed when it was younger, I dunno.

The other two.

I'm going to start adding MB7 today to try and help the bacteria along.
My PO4 is staying a bit high at 0.28. All speculation on my part from reading and such but I'm thinking the dry rock may be the cause. It was high from the beginning so my thoughts are to try and lower it with some GFO and see if I can get it to stay lower after running the GFO for a while. I'm hoping the rocks will release the excess but again more speculation. I'm not much of a science guy. I'd like to see if I can get it to stay below 0.1 before I start moving stuff over. I run high P04 in the 180 but feed a lot and this tank is getting very little food so that shouldn't drive the PO4 up. I don't fret over numbers and the 180 has pegged the Hanna ulr before with a flashing 0.9 and everything looks fine. I just don't want to start off with an elevated level. NO3 was 3.5 so I'm good there. Alk is staying rock solid at 10.7 dKH since there is no consumption at this point and calcium is 420. I haven't tested mag yet. I may at some point. I typically don't worry about magnesium. pH I couldn't care less about. I've tested a few times over the years and was always over 8. With four tanks running the last thing I want to do is start chasing my tail trying to obtain some magical number.

Corals in the 180 are looking better than ever making the task of pulling it all out something I'm not looking forward to. It will happen tho. I'm sick and tired of listening to those hob overflows gurgling. I can stand next to the 330 and hear nothing but those hobs lol.

I had me a little helper for a couple of days this week. He is explaining the purpose of the "toilet paper" roll in the sump. I'm not a goal oriented person but I have a goal of teaching this guy how to clean glass while he is young enough to think it's fun. My Gal already quit even after I offered her $5 a tank I hate cleaning glass almost as much as I hate cleaning test cuvettes.

Looking for worms to feed the fish. My CBB sucks them up like spaghetti.

I put a trap in the 180 last night and caught one of the big peppermint shrimp and put it in the 330.

I'm trying to catch some of the smaller fish and shrimp and have been plucking out hermit crabs and snails and moving them to the 330. I'll wait until I'm pulling rocks and coral to catch the big fish.

The cryptic zone is showing more life.

And the ATS is still growing gha. It will be interesting to see how things go in the display when I turn the lights on.

 

[Stang67]

Things are chugging along. Sorry about the pop eye. Hopefully it will resolve on its own.

 

[twentyleagues]

Luckily I have not had to deal with this. That poor guy. Hopefully it all works out.