lastlight's 97 (lights out)

[lastlight]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/solana/before_after.jpg

[Delphinus]

Not only that, but the word on the black painting above the tank totally changed too!!

[lastlight]

Haha. Smartass.

[Zoaelite]

Are you moving it outside?

[parkinsn]

Your couch seems to be missing as well.

[Trabby]

Creepy..... Where could it have gone? Hopefully it has just hidden in a closet to
Molt.. Soon it will emerge bigger and shinier... :)

[lockrookie]

i think it is the mouse that put the hole in the wall sucked it up in to a vortex and all his buddies are swimming in a therapudic salt tub.

[Leah]

Lostlight?

[Lance]

Alien abduction? With that light it looks kinda space-shippy! Maybe E.T stole it to get home.

[fishoholic]

I don't know, I think I like the before better then the after :razz:

Although if it comes back bigger and better, that's always a good thing :biggrin:

[globaldesigns]

Hmmmm, I do prefer the Before Pic, not to happy with the After.

[lastlight]

Well I found it. The thing was just around the corner.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/solana/kitchen.jpg

The real mystery now is how an empty spot has survived a whole day in the living room without my wife putting something there.

[lastlight]

Well you guys are no fun.

Let's just get on with it shall we?

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/stand1.jpg

[Zoaelite]

Its... So much bigger :razz:. How long until you put the tank on it?

[lastlight]

Right after it gets fixed. I bought the display and sump off Jay and clumsy me chipped the front bottom corner badly on a tie-off anchor in the bed of my truck.

Wed night is the big night. We're putting an inner eurobrace in the front and he's also going to demo his glass scratch removal skillaz as there are a few on the left side. Assuming the fix goes well and the cure is fast (should be) I'll have things transferred very quickly! Jay is the man btw. He offered to replace the entire front pane and front eurobrace for free but I suggested the inner bracing as it should be much easier for him and in my opinion make the tank even stronger than before.

Tank btw is 36L x 24W x 26H

The sump has a nice 36" long fuge area which I may or may not put some chaetoBalls in. What I do plan to do just like with the 225 is dedicate that portion of the sump as water change space. A pump will sit in there always and I'll flip a switch and drain 10gallons and then pump from a 10 gallon downstairs to replenish and then bring the compartment back online.

All hardware from the old tank will be moved over as well. Tunze 9002 will be swapped for an SWC Xtreme 160 and the modded Tunze 6025 will be joined by 3 more.

Also, my terrible luck with fish continues. After draining the tank halfway and setting it on furniture moving sliders Tony and I (thx dude!) slid her around the corner. Now I haven't seen my blenny I am ****ed! The move was so fast and easy but maybe he was spooked and jumped last night?

Tony also demoed his glass drilling skillaz as we added a second hole into the side of my external overflow. Thanks mang!

[ALBERTA REEF]

After all this work You will be saying! I should of got a bigger tank! :lol:

[lastlight]

Lol I think this is pushing the LIMIT of what this tired and twisted old floor can hold. It may end up as a basement install if too many people gather round!

[ALBERTA REEF]

How about flood the basement for one big tank. The wife won't mind.:twised:

[mytank90]

nice size tank ,you will have to tell me how good the swc 160 works .bine looking at getting one for my tank :lol:

[andestang]

So the upgrade has happened, thats awesume :) Are you planning on keeping both tanks running ? What do you have up your sleeve for lighting ?

[Skimmerking]

Lol I think this is pushing the LIMIT of what this tired and twisted old floor can hold. It may end up as a basement install if too many people gather round!
Wait a minute Brett the old twisted floor come on aren't you in a new house there you could easly put a 230 There if you wanted to

[lastlight]

So the upgrade has happened, thats awesume :) Are you planning on keeping both tanks running ? What do you have up your sleeve for lighting ?

No everything from the Solana is migrating over. Adding new skimmer and more powerheads. I have no doubt the single 250w will be good for now. I may install a pair of actinics later so I can have some sort of lighting on longer. I'm only up to 5 hrs a day with the 250 hqi and a few corals are still in light shock.

Wait a minute Brett the old twisted floor come on aren't you in a new house there you could easly put a 230 There if you wanted to

That was the old house man. We had to sell everything when the wife got sick so we're in an old condo complex now. Crooked 2x8 floor joists rather than engineered laminated joists these days. To give you an idea, when I put the wall shelf up when we moved in here and i did the wall anchor to secure it level to the wall...I could place my thumb under the front of the shelf! The floor has some mean dips! I did put a jackpost in front of the Solana and think it will be good for this tank too. This stand is a good old 2x4 box unlike the Solana 4-legger too. I can already tell things will be much more stable even with kids pressed to the glass and jumping around.

[Lance]

Nice acquisition Brett. What skimmer are you thinking?

[lastlight]

Swc extreme 160. I Went for the cheaper vertex in-100 without measuring my sump. Got lucky and was able to cancel before it shipped after I bothered to measure!

Got the tank back all painted up this morning. Black of course!

[fishoholic]

YAY bigger and better that's the way to go :mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

Blenny still MIA? That's odd. Maybe in the backpack part of the tank? You'd think you'd notice if he'd have jumped out... Hopefully he turns up in the tank at some point.

Stand and sump's looking awesome so far!

[lastlight]

I have that hairy feline family member now Tony. I think she got the jumper or maybe in sliding the tank he got spooked/wedged in some hole and perishes or rocks shifted on his cute lil self? Back compartment is fish free unfortunately.

[lastlight]

Well the tank's on the stand now. It's all cleaned up and all the front bits of silicone as well as the bottom going back 4" has been removed (not the seams just the inner part). A 4" wide inner eurobrace is going in on the bottom front on Wednesday and new vertical silicone will be applied and a few scratches removed. The overflow area will be covered with a piece of black acrylic mounted to the inside of the tank.

Can't wait to get this thing filled!

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/tank1.jpg

[Funky_Fish14]

Ooh Brett this looks sexy!

What are your plans for finishing the stand?

[Zoaelite]

WOW, like always Jay did a killer job. Can't wait to see that thing stocked Brett!

[abcha0s]

The tank looks really nice. I guess that's one way of solving your heat issues :smile:

[lastlight]

Thanks guys!

What are your plans for finishing the stand?

Well since I'm not good with working with wood in the craftsman sense and I am in fact doing wood this time I'll make sure it looks good before I say! It wil be pretty simple tho: just skinning with 1/2" standard plywood, 2 or 3 inch ledge around the the tank's bottom (won't see bottom seam). The canopy will be joined to the stand with a rear portion that hides the rear seams. Basically the only seams showing with be the front two...sorta like a built-in. Plan to paint with a white/creamy colour.

FlamesFan's 25g tank/stand is my partial inspiration here but mine won't look 1/10th as nice!

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=67205

WOW, like always Jay did a killer job. Can't wait to see that thing stocked Brett!

Yeah there isn't an edge not mitred and polished on the tank or sump. Even the bottom of the baffles have curved cuts it is pretty sweet.

The tank looks really nice. I guess that's one way of solving your heat issues :smile:

Yeah I took that 'add more volume' advice to heart didn't I? I think this is it for upgrades while I'm living here tho as I'm not bothering with a basement reno while we're here. When I am in a house again though...gears will turn =)

[lastlight]

Well my SWC 160 came today. Super fast service by Oceanic Corals / SWC as it came a day earlier than even they said!

I have it running in my salt mixing bucket (with water/vinegar) which I guess I forgot to clean out. The brown film that is leftover after I do a waterchange is all boiling away on the surface of the head of foam after 5 min! So already I'm pleased and it's not even installed lol.

Anyone running this skimmer mind telling me what's up with the machined piece of white plastic that came inserted into the pump's intake end? It just loosely seats in there...I have it in right now.

[lastlight]

So I just finished filling the tank and sump. Was about to power on the eheim to give it a whirl. What's that sitting in the back of the sump? Oh it's just the Osmolator controller. I set it back there so the kids wouldn't touch it. It's underwater...oh bonus!

It wasn't turned on so I think I'll be able to save it. Full rinse in a bucket of ro/di and the cover is off and it's going to dry out for a few days before I check it out. I cursed pretty loudly and the wife thought the tank had a leak.

GRRR...

Good news is the tank and sump hold water and none of my bulkheads or pipes leak. Tank's still dead level too.

Oh I almost forgot...I tipped over my can of pvc glue (the grey crap) in the MIDDLE of the living room carpet last night. That was a 60 minute 'break' from plumbing. Miraculously you can barely see where it pooled but I deserve awards for the messes I make in my haste.

[Skimmerking]

Brett put it in a bag of Rice and seal the bag

[Doug]

:lol: Brett. I dumped mine in the middle of the vinyl floor.

Not sure what white pvc part you are referring to unless its the outlet from the pump to the outside of the skimmer? Great skimmer though. You going to love it. I think I may invest in one of those carbon caps though as it just reeks in my sump compartment. My wife gives me what for all the time.

[lastlight]

Brett put it in a bag of Rice and seal the bag

Oh good call I'll do that.

:lol: Brett. I dumped mine in the middle of the vinyl floor.

Not sure what white pvc part you are referring to unless its the outlet from the pump to the outside of the skimmer? Great skimmer though. You going to love it. I think I may invest in one of those carbon caps though as it just reeks in my sump compartment. My wife gives me what for all the time.

My very first reef ever...I spilled the primer in the middle of a new lino floor. I spent about an hour shaving the top layer off of the floor wherever it had sprayed and then picked closest match pencil crayons from the arts cupboard and filled in the now white areas. My wife always wondered 'wtf' i guess when her feet would sorta run on that non-smooth area. I told her before we moved what had happened!

Yeah the skimmer test I did in bucket was awesome. I plugged it in in the sump today (i ahd taken out that machined white piece in the skimmer pump intake) and all it would do was fill with water and no air. i put it back in and you could tell it was working properly (even tho it's just fw).

[Doug]

Mine skimmed even in the laundry sink in fresh water with some vinegar. :lol:

[Delphinus]

When I was making the canopy for my old 72g bowfront I kicked over a can of white oil based paint on the carpet in the room I was working on. Turpentine and a shop vac (admittedly, probably not a great idea anyhow) at 1am. That was a classic "WTF are you doing" discussion with the wife. :lol:

Good luck with the controller. I would suspect it will be OK once it dries out.

When I was in Maui a few years ago, I would keep forgetting to take the car key fob out of my swim suit pocket before going snorkeling. At least 3 times that thing made it into the ocean, but it seemed to stay working... :redfaace:

[lastlight]

Yeah I hope you're right. Since the 34g is around the corner I decided not to try and connect my topoff bucket to it so I'm been manually doing it when I think to. I totally hate this and it's not stable either. I consider it an essential piece of equipment and I can't afford to replace it if it's gone bust-ville.

I think we've all had these mishaps haha. We should compile some sort of book. foreward by lance.

[Lance]

I think we've all had these mishaps haha. We should compile some sort of book. foreward by lance.



Yup, I wrote the book on mishaps, screw-ups and general idiocy! :lol:

[Lance]

I tipped over my can of pvc glue (the grey crap) in the MIDDLE of the living room carpet last night. That was a 60 minute 'break' from plumbing. Miraculously you can barely see where it pooled but I deserve awards for the messes I make in my haste.



I've never spilled anything like that, but when I was plumbing the big tank I got a drop of the Weld On P70 Primer in my eye. Holy Crap did that hurt! I rushed to the bathroom and rinsed my eye repeatedly. The white of the eye had turned a bright scarlet that lasted 6 hours or so. That stuff is nasty! Wear eye protection when working with it.

[lastlight]

The fact that you never went to see a doctor (to likely keep on with the plumbing) is worthy of much respect lance.

[Lance]

The fact that you never went to see a doctor (to likely keep on with the plumbing) is worthy of much respect lance.


You may call it respect, my wife calls it being a stubborn dumb ass!

[lastlight]

Controller is totally fine and now keeping the new tank topped up nicely! Heaved a heavy sigh of relief there. Thing smells like basmati now too.

In typical me style we drove out of town today to have dinner with my folks while the system ran it's first day full of water. Not sure why I do that but once again no problem when I opened the door tonight.

[lastlight]

Well finally got most of the stand done. The new rock in there is just cycling...haven't scaped it yet nor added my livestock or corals. The stand appears to be white but it is a nice off-white/creme sorta colour.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/skinned1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/skinned2.jpg

My to-do list:

- let tank/rock stabilize
- remove light from Solana and mount in new canopy
- get a switched dj power bar and make everything tidy
- plumb in waterchange tank downstairs
- aquascape/incorporate my old rocks (which all frags are glued to...fun!)
- paint up a few remaining things like the canopy supports and my drain pipes

[Lance]

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

[lastlight]

Forgot to share a funny little story.

I don't have a garage anymore and I can't fit a 4x8 sheet of ply down these stairs so for a long time they were sitting in the livingroom up against the window! Anyways I was in a hurry to get them cut up and out of there and using the patio table in the back yard...cutting the overhang on the table. Got a little too close and *POP* the glass top (yeah I am SMRT) was decorating the ground! I got the same look I did when I spilled the pvc glue in the middle of the living room.

[muck]

Looks pretty nice to me Brett!
What did it cost you to build the stand/cap?

[lastlight]

Cheap cheap mostly. These are guesses I don't recall exactly...

2 sheets of 1/2" ply - $72 (Used 1 and maybe 1/4 of the other)
paint and primer - $30
24' of moulding - $20
wood filler - $5
drawer slides - $30

So maybe $150 ish?

[kien]

Whoa Nelly! What in the name of Jehovah's Witnesses is going on here?!?! Damn that looks sexy!

[lastlight]

Thanks dood.

Please note I've totally given up on those 'must do' things like sealing the inside of stands and canopies. Whatever...I think that's hogwash when the stand can hold a car and my builds are only up for a few months at most haha.

[muck]

Yeah.. let Chris deal with it in a few months. :lol::lol:

[Parker]

Geeze, a guy can't turn his back on your for a second and you have a new tank up and running!

Looks great Brett!

[shrimpchips]

Whoa! When did this tank happen??

Looks great Brett! Any chance you have more pictures of the stand build?

[reefcanada]

Very well done, the corals will love the new space. Is there a fish list yet?

[lastlight]

Thanks man nothing too official.

I want a Kole as my last fish. I have bought a black cap basslet and it's still at the LFS waiting for me.

I don't actually have any more pics of the stand's build but it's very similar to the last one except I used cheap 1/2" ply rather than tile this time.

[trinac]

The tank looks sweet!!

[karazy]

looks great, love the canopy on slides

[Sebae again]

That looks really sharp! I really like your canopy idea.

[lastlight]

Nothing exciting here. Nitrites are still climbing but the pods are breeding like mad in there. Got the light installed today and have the good ol' disco ball on the Solana again. Going back to the 150w looks like I have a NO T8 on there in comparison it's sad lol. Tank looks far brighter to the eye than this pic shows.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/floating.jpg

[lobsterboy]

WHOA, this is exciting, you must be flexin a nut to git er goin.

awesome canopy. You always have some cool gadgit on your system, DOPE.

[Llamarama]

Puuurdy :)

[lastlight]

Lol thanks guys.

I swapped out the Eheim 1250 return for a 1262 tonight and the added flow is really cleaning my water column better than the trickle I had going before. Nitrites are slowly falling.

The black cap basslet I had waiting for me at the LFS perished. Pretty bummed about that so not sure what I'll do with that credit just yet.

[lockrookie]

better at the lfs than at home but sad either way.. can they order another in for you? tank does look great tho. i wish i had the money to upgrade my 90 to a 120 with starfire maybe when my inheritance money comes in. tank build in memory of gramma? or is that wrong.

[Rbacchiega]

pee'd a little reading this through. Just sayin.

[lastlight]

Yeah I forgot the peeDisclaimer at the top...shoot!

[christyf5]

"lastlight's 97 - get out yer Depends!" :razz:

Frankly I find it a little wild that all of your tanks so far have looked so damned spectacular. My tanks are all about making the insides look great to detract from the DIY-ness of the system. Yours look fantastic even without water in them. I can't wait to see where you go with this one :biggrin:

[lastlight]

Lol seriously this build is so simple. I didn't even seal my wood it's like a whitewashed plywood cover slapped on! Thanks though! Maybe it's the drawer slides I've sorta made them my buildBeatch?

And you know where this build likely leads but maybe I'll have livestock in it for a little wee bit haha.

Nice disclaimer tho. Consider it adopted =)

[christyf5]

Lol seriously this build is so simple. I didn't even seal my wood it's like a whitewashed plywood cover slapped on! Thanks though! Maybe it's the drawer slides I've sorta made them my buildBeatch?

And you know where this build likely leads but maybe I'll have livestock in it for a little wee bit haha.

Nice disclaimer tho. Consider it adopted =)

Maybe its your creativity with lighting and photography then :razz: I wonder if it might be the white. I really thought Tony's tank room was sharp. Maybe I should paint my stand white and it will look more professional instead of the plywood and 2x4/2x6's that it is now.

And yes, those drawer slides are pretty sexy.

[lastlight]

Transfer went super well except for a few things:

- I got too frustrated with the volume of rock I had bought. Way more than I thought I needed and 2 feet of depth is not that much. Rockwork turned into a big pile but I'm ok with that.

- Incorporating my 4 large rocks with glued-on corals SUCKED.

- My tiny frags look even smaller now

And some good news:

- The blenny I lost more than a month ago in the tank slide/move into the kitchen turned out to be in the skimmer compartment! I usually let just a few food pellets make there way down the overflow just in case and it paid off! He's cruising the tank like a champ!

- Corals didn't even slime while some have lost a little colour overall things look really good.

Solana got emptied and tossed in the basement. I have my water change setup plumbed thru the wall for a reason with the big tank. Didn't want to STILL be doing the bucket thing with the small tank at the moment so the dedicated nem tank is on hold.

Pics with just the T5s on (My mh shots seem to blown out so I didn't bother) but with the fiji purple and coral light tubes everything in the tank also looks either red or green but you get the idea:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer2.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer3.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer4.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer5.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer6.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer7.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer8.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer9.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer10.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer11.jpg

[BlueTang<3]

Looks good your going to have a lot of pruning to do when those frags take off.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Whats in the door behind the tank with the caution danger tape across it? Monsters?

[Delphinus]

Geez it looks fantastic Brett. It's going to look incredible once you get some coraline and some coral growth happening. Like the background colour too.

Ok that settles it, I'm putting water in my tank this weekend. Screw the lack of skimmer, screw the lack of T5's. I want a new tank now darn it all! :lol:

Very skillfully drilled hole on the side of that overflow. Whomever did that must be one handsome fellow, and probably soopr smrt too!

[reefcanada]

That looks sweet, are you still liking your skimmer?

[Lance]

Glad to hear the move went well. Everything looks to be in good shape.
Now GROW corals GROW!

[lastlight]

Thanks guys! My wife has already decorated the house for Halloween if you can believe that so excuse the crime scene tape lol. Since I added the livestock the skimmate has turned BLACK! I love the skimmer. Great value.

Got one side of my brs reactor running carbon. Not sure if I'll do gfo later but I am officially off the bio pellets now.

Picked up a nice large healthy bangaii off a user here (thx Jim) and he's doing really well so far. Will let things run as is for a month or so and possibly pickup my kole or something else.

And tony if you're looking for me to call you handsome we've been thru this man it's never gonna happen (but thx for the help!)

[Delphinus]

Aw. But glad to help nonetheless. :p

[reefcanada]

Why are you not running the bio pellets any more?

[lobsterboy]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/transfer5.jpg



Lookin good there Brett. Looks like that little guy has alot of charcater

[lastlight]

Why are you not running the bio pellets any more?

Look at all the hair algae I have. I'm going to see how the new system does with decent skimming and a Kole tang. Perhaps my skimmer failed the NP test for me but I didn't really feel it.

[Zoaelite]

Swap over looks great Brett! Can't wait to see those SPS grow in for you.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Look at all the hair algae I have. I'm going to see how the new system does with decent skimming and a Kole tang. Perhaps my skimmer failed the NP test for me but I didn't really feel it.

Your the 3rd person in about 4 days who I have heard is stopping the pellets because they either caused hair algae in two cases or bleached livestock in the other.

I was reading on RC about the pellets and your results are not uncommon.

[lastlight]

Yeah so I sorta got new fish already. I never said I was perfect :razz:

Bangaii I had already mentioned. He's been in another reefer's care for a year and is nice and large. Eating mysis like a pig. Kole grazes like a machine and loves mysis too. Working on pellets. Wrasse hunts pods with a vengeance and today also had some mysis.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/kole1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/kole2.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/kole3.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/kole4.jpg

[Rbacchiega]

that wrasse is bad a** ha ha. Looking great bud

[Lance]

Nice. You'll enjoy the Kole. Very hard working guy. What species is the 4th pic of? (little light?) Very cute spawn.


P.S. When can we look forward to the next shirt design?

[lastlight]

Lol thanks. That frag turned 3 in July and shows no signs of slowing in growth. As far as her place in the Light family I'd classify her as a plasma. A ton of energy (re: tantrum power) in a small package!

I have plenty of shirt ideas but it costs me a fair amount (in my world) to print a batch so none in the near future unless I somehow sell a bunch more. So busy with work that I sorta forgot about my side business to be honest!

[Delphinus]

Looks fantastic!

[phi delt reefer]

sweet stand and tank.

question for you - how did you make the corners look seamless? did you mitre them or just wood fill/paint?

cheers;

vince

[lastlight]

Thanks guys.

I don't have a garage these days and I was in a rush so the wood sides are normal cuts that sorta met up sorta square. I then mastered the art of using wood filler lol. Paint to seal the deal! In person it basically looks like a seamless box with trim on 3 sides.

[lobsterboy]

nice, the kole looks really fat already.

cant wait to see the tank in person.

[kien]

Looks like I missed some excitement while I was away. Looking good! Would love to see it in person someday.

[cale262]

I must say, I've been following this build and checking out some of your others...Very inspiring work, thanks for sharing. :thumb:

[lastlight]

Thanks guys!

Kien maybe I'll host the 'low-key reef snackathon and chat' at my place so that happens lol.

Here are some shots of the new topoff and mixing tanks.

Topoff is a 45g and mixing tank is a 20g. I have yet to plumb the water change drain from the display and the new saltwater delivery to the display but I have a pump all ready to go in there. Maxijet will push 10g down into the basement drain from the reservoir in my sump. Eheim 1250 will double as mixing/refill reservoir duty.

Pics! Please note the stylish shelf-top made of a bunch of these ikea shelf pieces I had kicking around lol.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/shelf1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/shelf2.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/shelf3.jpg

[lastlight]

Also my Kole has now taken to my NLS pellets today as well so he digs pellets, mysis, grazing and looking dead-sexy. Still hasn't figured out the nori sheet I have clipped into my old easyblade scraper attachment. I might try tying it to a small rock tomorrow.

[Lance]

Also my Kole has now taken to my NLS pellets today as well so he digs pellets, mysis, grazing and looking dead-sexy. Still hasn't figured out the nori sheet I have clipped into my old easyblade scraper attachment. I might try tying it to a small rock tomorrow.


They have trouble with nori sheets as they don't have the right mouth for that type of feeding. What he will do is hang around when the other fishes are feeding off the nori and grab up any pieces that escape.

[lastlight]

This is and will remain my only tang lance. what do you suggest? I was going to try one of poontang's feeder thingies but what should i do? I can just shred into bits and pop it in?

[Doug]

Mine/Mikes, :lol: ate from a clip no problem. They just kind of suck it in, I guess mimicking scraping it from rocks and glass. Dont really rip it like larger tangs do.

If the clip does not work, perhaps as bit wrapped around a pvc pipe may. Its like algae on the hard surface for them then. More natural but still kind of messy. I have also heard of using algae wafers for fish like them, if they wont take to clipped algae sheets.

[lastlight]

Thanks Doug.

Potentially Mine/Mikes/Mine or is he keeping it?

[Lance]

This is and will remain my only tang lance. what do you suggest? I was going to try one of poontang's feeder thingies but what should i do? I can just shred into bits and pop it in?


I use Poontang's feeder and my Kole cannot get the nori off of it. Maybe mine's just slightly retarded. He still gets some though because the Tuskfish rips pieces off but doesn't like it and spits it out. The Kole follows him around like a remora. But don't worry about him being underfed: Kole's make out very well. They scrape algae, eat pretty much anything you give them that they can get their lips around and even eat other fish feces. (mmmmm..... fish feces)

[Doug]

Thanks Doug.

Potentially Mine/Mikes/Mine or is he keeping it?


:lol: Who knows Brett. I at least have 4ft. of swimming room for him again but its only 12in. in height. For sure he will be one of two places only, here or in Mikes.

[lastlight]

Haha yeah so far I'm observing the same. I ripped up some of the nori that was clipped and it's made a nice mess and I don't think he's showing interest. Guess the filter sock's gonna need an early cleaning. Hate doing that lol.

[lastlight]

So it's been a few days since I made the trek to visit DEZneyland but here's my small army of new additions. Hopefully I match them up with the id list he gave me. Always a pleasure buying frags from Dez and my family even stayed for dinner with his. Thanks man!

Blue smooth which receded on me first night but seems to be holding sorta steady with no recession today. fingers crossed:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez1.jpg

Snappy's supergrape (the white bit was from me snapping it off it's plug):

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez2.jpg

Rainbow stylo:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez3.jpg

pink pocci:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez8.jpg

unknown teal:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez9.jpg

Acro abrolhosensis:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez10.jpg

Super teal:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez11.jpg

A. loripes

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez12.jpg

Orange cap (looks very pink tho. Melted away first night but has been like this holding steady for days now):

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez13.jpg

Purple cap also melted first night and also holding steady with polyps out:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez14.jpg

Tony gave this gorg to Dez a while back and now it's all MINE:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez15.jpg

Blue-tip green stag:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez16.jpg

green orange tip:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez17.jpg

alien green:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez18.jpg

Jay (reefcanada) also stopped by and gave me a sweet green digi (thanks!). Clumsy me dropped it so I mounted all the pieces including a daring attempt to decorate the acrylic hiding my overflow box. Will look silly for some time I suppose!

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez4.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez5.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez6.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/dez7.jpg

[lastlight]

Here's some random shots too.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random1.jpg

The pair of orange digis are so dang brite these days I love'em. The bali blue tip inbetween them has strangely done NOTHING besides encrust and colour up a bit. The mystery frag to the right of the bali that never had colour but encrusted has colour now and seems to be growing a branch. The other mystery frag behind the bali has started to develop a green base. Both were freebies from Dez in my first frag haul.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random2.jpg

Loving my SWC:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random3.jpg

I broke the kids' toy box wheels by sitting on it while I watched the tank. Wife picked me up a stool today!

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random4.jpg

Superman was starting to get more blue in the Solana when I switched to 250w but lost it during the transfer. Hoping it comes back. Blue digi is re-encrusting downwards and my oxypora is red again! My daughter calls it the sea shelf and loves it when the blenny hides under it.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random5.jpg

Since the other head of this frogspawn perished due to what I think was some fungal funk the other head has grown a lot.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random6.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random7.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/random8.jpg

[Trabby]

Looks great!!

[lobsterboy]

nice tank Brett.

[lobsterboy]

oh yeah , the colors and all is really coming along.

that pink pocci is looking mightly fine.

and that stool is cool, hehehe. :razz:

i need me one of tem dare chairs (stool)

[kien]

Got to see this tank in person!

and..

Holy WOW!

Love the tank but boy are you going to have some tough decisions down the road as it fills up. It'll happen fast!

And stellar photos!

:D. You probably don't remember when or where you posted that ;)

[Dez]

I guess that freshly sliming caps don't seem to ship well hey? Too bad. The rest is looking good though. Gonna be a crowded tank soon :). Can't wait to see that rainbow stylo Colour up.

[Rbacchiega]

going to be bangerang there Brett. Look forward to one day seeing it in person.

[Lance]

Good start Brett! I like it!
Gonna look great when all those frags grow in.

[fishoholic]

Looks great!

[andestang]

Wow , stick-tackular :) ! You sure have the touch of making a nice set-up Brett. Good assortment of colors. Glad about the blenny, love those guys. Look forward to seeing this in person.

[lastlight]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. We've been saying 'when those sticks grow' for a while now I gotta crack the whip on these guys!

Frustrating day today as I realized the rowaphos in my brs dual reactor won't tumble. Perhaps with the amount of ROX carbon in the other chamber there isn't enough flow...so I thought. After emptying them multiple times and trying different amount and even swapping the mj1200 for my eheim 1250 nothing worked. I'm using the rowa in a TLF now and the carbon in one of the chambers of the BRS. Much cursing especially when the display got littered with rowa once it truly WAS tumbling. It's all working now but I am still pretty ****ed!

So NOW the rowa should be working before it was a solid clump of it. My phosphates measured 0.6 ish yesterday so I'll see how this goes.

Have a good thanksgiving weekend!

[Polscot]

looks awesome man, +1 on the free stool lol

[lastlight]

Not sure if it's just part of the new rock and sand (much more of the rock is newly cycled than established) but this cleaning the glass daily is a royal pain. Sure hope the GFO does the trick.

[fishytime]

I was thinking the same thing as Kien......man thats gonna be chaos when she fills in.......looks good though Brett!

[lastlight]

Got to see this tank in person!

and..



:D. You probably don't remember when or where you posted that ;)

No I don't recall it at all haha. You had a 90? That was older than a year ago my mind can't store info that old I guess. I clicked the link and recognized your photo handiwork right away tho!

And thanks Doug. I will have some trimming to do ONE day for sure.

[lastlight]

I officially hate staring at these blue squares and trying to judge what my phosphate level is at. I think today it's around 0.1 down from 0.6 ish. Not sure that accurate or possible but WOW my colours, polyp extension and even growth (easily visible over the last 2 days) has noticeably improved. Getting the Rowa tumbling properly was ALL win.

Kien where did you buy the Hanna phosphate checker?

[kien]

OC :D. It may or may not be legal I don't know! Take your chances! :lol:

[lastlight]

Thanks man I'll look into one when my Elos runs out. I should have bought the checker dangit.

[lobsterboy]

OC :D. It may or may not be legal I don't know! Take your chances! :lol:

oh man :lol:

The p04 checker is wicket Brett, its way easier than reading those charts.

[lastlight]

Yeah I'll be getting the checker for P04 once my kit runs out. The rest of the tests I currently bother with (main 3) don't involve comparing shades of colours...just simple end points so I'll likely stick with ELOS for those.

Regardless of where the levels are at though I went a full day today and barely a green film on the front pane which normally gets it the worst. Progress has obviously been made. Corals are growing faster and shouting 'thanks!'

[lastlight]

Mailman paid me a visit today as did the Red Coral fairy. I've got some fiddlin' to do today to take care of my rowaPhos black algae with the BRS HC GFO and appease my laziness with the doser. It's getting a little crowded by my stairs with equipment lol.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/doser1.jpg

[BlueTang<3]

Nice please keep updated on the dosing pump i am thinking of switching that way more control over the level vs ca reactor.

[Lance]

Ah yes. Dosing pump is the only way to go.

[lastlight]

Nice please keep updated on the dosing pump i am thinking of switching that way more control over the level vs ca reactor.

I've never used a reactor but I've never really wanted to. I don't trust regulators, don't want a pressurized cylinder in the house and like independant control of my params. That's just me but I've loved dosing so far. I just wanted to have the dosing done for me lol.

[Delphinus]

SWEEEET!!!! Man I wants me one of those units... soon enough mehopes.

Whatcha planning on using for reservoirs?

[lastlight]

I've got the standard 1 gallon BRS jugs propped between the studs against the stairs. Gotta keep it ghetto down there.

I'm still banging my head trying to sort out how to mount this doser. I don't want it to stick out from the wall in fear a head will hit it. Looking to see if it can mount flush to the wall...

[Rbacchiega]

pretty fancy unit for being "ghetto"..I think I need to teach you the true meaning of ghetto....I went to school at Father Lacombe ha ha...Forrest Lawn suckaaaaaa

*ahem*

Anyways, I can read Tony's posts only on my laptop...the computer at work seems to ban me from seeing his posts....

Tanks coming along swimmingly Brett

[lastlight]

Thanks Randi stuff is growing slow but steady I guess. I want some colony-on-colony action but I guess I gotta be patient =)

So if anyone wants to see proof of that good old saying "it's who you know not what you know" here it is. I had GHL boss Matthias custom fab me this slick mounting bracket and drop ship it straight from Germany.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/doser2.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/doser3.jpg

To the untrained eye it looks like some old ikea door handles, some bent up brackets I had laying around and a piece of braided flex hose but don't be fooled. This is ALL win :mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

That's so strange. Only my posts?? Man what did I ever do to your work computer?? It sounds like a big meanie. Yeah, you heard me, I said big meanie. Hi Mom. In all seriousness I have to wonder if it could be my avatar image then? If it's only MY posts??? Does it at least show that or does it cut out beforehand? You should see if you can grab a screen capture of it happening..

[Delphinus]

a piece of braided flex hose

Aaahhhh hahahahahahaha! Awesome.

I mounted my wavemaker (similar shaped box) similarly, but I used a piece of 16 gauge wire instead of a braided hose.

[lastlight]

Almost forgot here's my 'ballin' in-wall reservoirs lol.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/doser4.jpg

[lastlight]

Aaahhhh hahahahahahaha! Awesome.

I mounted my wavemaker (similar shaped box) similarly, but I used a piece of 16 gauge wire instead of a braided hose.

LMAO! Before I found the hose I *HAD* a piece of electrical cable in hand man that's rad!

[Lance]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/doser3.jpg[/IMG]

To the untrained eye it looks like some old ikea door handles, some bent up brackets I had laying around and a piece of braided flex hose but don't be fooled. This is ALL win :mrgreen:



That custom fabbed piece of flex hose or what looks like flex hose is going to put someone's untrained eye out when they run up the stairs. :mrgreen:

[lastlight]

That curved bit runs flush with the wall Lance no worries. Matthias thought of EVERYTHING =)

[Lance]

That curved bit runs flush with the wall Lance no worries. Matthias thought of EVERYTHING =)



That Matthias is a wonder isn't he? And by the way, you're gonna love that doser.

[lastlight]

I should prolly toss a container under the hoses so I have visual proof the thing is working throughout day 1 but I'm too lazy to rig something. I have the hoses in a tight spot in my overflow.

I love it already Lance. Makes a great night-light in the dark stairway!

[muck]

The accessories and mounting options for GHL products are endless.
So many options to choose from... :surprise:



Need a full stairway shot now Brett. :lol:

[lastlight]

Love this SWC. 5 days of nog here.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/nog.jpg

Tank's doing well except for some corals on the edges. A blue digi and my superman haven't been loving life lately. I should have another 250w bulb over the tank as soon as Tuesday I hope. Gotta build a new canopy unfortunately to accommodate.

[lorenz0]

yummy, wheres the latest FTS?

[lastlight]

I want to hopefully beat the algae down a bit more and wait for more growth before I embarrass myself with a FTS!

[Rbacchiega]

FTS or GTFO...(FTW!) hahahahaha oh god I need to NOT be awake at 2 am

[lastlight]

Randi go rock out on your ELECRIC and quit harassin' me aight?

[Sebae again]

That skimmer looks like it is kickin A. What model number is it ? I wonder if Mike has seen this pic?

[Rbacchiega]

Randi go rock out on your ELECRIC and quit harassin' me aight?

I WAS 8!!!! damnit!

[lastlight]

That skimmer looks like it is kickin A. What model number is it ? I wonder if Mike has seen this pic?

It's just a plain ole Extreme 160 but I love it.

I WAS 8!!!! damnit!

I know I know I just have a hard time letting go =)

So I just added about 10lbs of extra sand to fill in some bald spots and make my wrasse's bed a little deeper. Poor bugger circled around for like 30 min last night looking all depressed. Of course everyone was wondering what was so interesting over there and he won't dive in with anyone watching. Wife and I watched feeling bad for the little guy. Now he's got a sweet sack to jump into!

[Sebae again]

Hmmmm wonder how the english vocabulary evolved ? The little guy didn't want anyone watching so he wasn't embarrwrassed when he went to bed. Originated from the saying " embeded wrasse".

[lastlight]

Updated shot of the stairs with my freaking massive pfo dual hqi. I can hang off the 2x4 shelf I made which is good because the thing weighs a TON.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/pfo1.jpg

New FTS. This canopy is only 8" high compared to the old one which was around 11" high I think. It perfectly fits both reflectors.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/pfo2.jpg

It's strange I always thought the tank looked...sharper with only the T5s on. Now I'm thinking it was because of the falloff from the centered 250w. With 2x250w now the tank looks so much sharper and contrasty I love it.

[Lance]

It's strange I always thought the tank looked...sharper with only the T5s on. Now I'm thinking it was because of the falloff from the centered 250w. With 2x250w now the tank looks so much sharper and contrasty I love it.


Plus you get the shimmer with the MH's. Gotta have the shimmer!

[lastlight]

Shimmer is so balls.

Please note the growing army of purple spots on my back wall. About time boys where the heck WERE you? Now I gotta scrape the back lol.

I'm seeing polyps open all over where I didn't before. The sides of those corals were either too dim for me to see or they just weren't out. Saweeeet. Fans haven't even kicked on with the extra halide on yet. Gotta love crappy old condos and all the cold 'AC' leaking in on days like this haha.

[Rbacchiega]

pretty sure "contrasty" isn't a word.

[lorenz0]

Which MH ballast is that?

[lastlight]

it's a pfo dual hqi. Not sure of the model number but she's ALL M80 and sexy big to boot.

[freezetyle]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/pfo2.jpg


Tanks looking pretty clutch!

[kien]

Yup looking pretty good there squats!

[Delphinus]

Your lack of clams disturbs me.

[Delphinus]

Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of ... moar clams.

[lastlight]

I've got a little sandbed don't tempt me. I'm sorta trying to take a break from going broke for a bit but we'll see =)

Few things I want MOAR of first are some LPS and maybe some anthias. Too small for anthias or what guys?

[lobsterboy]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/pfo2.jpg

Hey Brett, looking sharp

[muck]

Looks Moar better Brett!!

Let me know when you change up to 400 watters... :lol::lol:

[lastlight]

no moar upgrades on this sucker man. I think she's finally ready for growout time. Which means I need a new tank now right?

[parkinsn]

Looking good Brett. Didn't take you long to get that ballast installed :biggrin:

[riceboy]

wow that tank is gorgeous, where is everyone getting thier tanks built? i want a 2'x2'x2' cube :lol:

[lastlight]

Looking good Brett. Didn't take you long to get that ballast installed :biggrin:

Lol yeah I had the canopy built the day before and I rolled into action as soon as I got that puppy home. Thanks again dude you're a reef-saver.

wow that tank is gorgeous, where is everyone getting thier tanks built? i want a 2'x2'x2' cube :lol:

Thanks this was an old setup of Jay's:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=69699

Jay kicks glass.

[Rbacchiega]

look at dispars, bartletts, ignitus, or even lyretails. These are all ones that I was looking at for the 75 gallon, so they'd be perfectly fine in your tank...just remember that they need lotsa feeding!

[lastlight]

Levi has a pair of squarespots for sale but I'm wondering if they're a bit too active for the tank? I have no regrets about the Kole though he seems very happy.

[lastlight]

I can see I need to do more than just turn the lights off 2 hrs early. A few pieces look a little ****ed about moar light. It's also been 2 weeks since a water change too so maybe it's just that. Was too busy and missed a week.

So normally my halide ran 1 - 8 and since upgrading I've just shut them off at 6. Keeping in mind I can't raise my lights and don't want to lay anything over the tank as a difuser what should I do?

Yesterday I forgot to shut them off so tank got 7 hrs. Today I changed my program to 1-3, 5-7, 8-9.still 5 hrs but with breaks. Not sure corals sense a difference or if it's just simple hrs and 5 hrs is still 5 hrs.

Advice anyone?

[lastlight]

After thinking about it more I set it to 1-3, 5-7 for now. It's twice the wattage so to be safe I *should* run them total 3.5 hrs for equal watts over a day. 4 is 8x250w hrs just a small bump from the original 7x250w hrs. I'll ramp an extra 1/2 hour per day each week until I'm at 7 hrs again.

Unless I'm way off. Just tell me.

[paddyob]

After thinking about it more I set it to 1-3, 5-7 for now. It's twice the wattage so to be safe I *should* run them total 3.5 hrs for equal watts over a day. 4 is 8x250w hrs just a small bump from the original 7x250w hrs. I'll ramp an extra 1/2 hour per day each week until I'm at 7 hrs again.

Unless I'm way off. Just tell me.

I was always under the impression it was the intensity of the light... not the time. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.... but if you are standing in the closet and then someone opens the door real fast BANG the intensity of the light gets yah. Would this not be the same with turning a brighter light on... regardless of how long or how you stagger the timers?

[lastlight]

Tony might be able to chime in here I'm not sure. He's stepped out of a closet a few times and might have some details regarding his recovery.

[Delphinus]

You are doubling the intensity or at least the wattage (I'm not sure if 2*wattage = 2*intensity, but nonetheless it's a jump no matter what the relationship is specifically) so an adjustment period is to be expected. The best way to acclimate to a new intensity is to ramp it, which could involve either raising the lights (which I know you said wouldn't work, but still, I mention it because it's there). Another option is using layers of eggcrate that you remove one by one a couple days apart.

And then my personal preference which is just to keep the photoperiod but go in bursts. Let's say your photoperiod is 10am to 10pm. You keep the endpoints the same but you adjust the timer to do 15 minutes on, 45 minutes off. Then 30 on, 30 off, then 45 on, 15 off and then finally all the way on the whole time. A couple days apart between adjustments.

Or you can hope to heck that the corals just pout a bit but eventually recover. Which could work sometimes but I imagine it's the riskiest approach.

[Delphinus]

Coming out of the closet. :lol: Nice!

[Lance]

When I went from 250W to 400W I raised the lights and lowered the photo period. I ran them 2 hours on, 2 hours off; ramping up slowly over a couple of weeks. This seemed to work fine for me.

[lastlight]

Thanks guys sounds good. My canopy can't lift and the eggcrate sorta scares me because of the tight clearance between tank and canopy. Sheets of eggcrate may restrict airflow enough to make my fans/cooling not work.

I'm going to keep the overal 1 - 8 photoperiod like you suggested Tony and work with the on/offs. I doubled the light so I would think 30 on 30 off for each hour would be ok but I've already ****ed a few off so maybe I will start with the 15/45 split. Only a few days with each setting so not so bad.

Thanks!

[lastlight]

Acclimation has been going well. I went up in 5min increments daily until today. Should be 1-1:55, 2-2:55 etc but with only 5 min off now each hour I decided to just run the lgihts today 1 - 7:30. I'll adjust the overall endpoint now that I'm so close and eventually be at 1-8 again. Corals have not become more bleached and hopefully the few I ticked off will be happier soon.

Also added a nano wavebox today. I was amazed at how silent these units are compared to the fullsize ones. The unit itself is as quiet as my little 6025s and there is just the smallest swish swish sound which I kinda like. Stirred up a ton of crap and my skimmer has been really foaming nicely.

Also been filter sock free for about a week I guess? Display is just a tiny bit less clear but my skimmer has been working much better.

[Dez]

Wow Brett! Nice....the scape looks good. Something to be said about a simple scape. I like it. Colour looks good too! Haven't kept up with your build thread, just catching up now. I've been too busy tracking your runs.

[Douglas]

Good to hear the wave box works well for you. Doug

[lastlight]

Thx guys. Yeah the wavebox along with the added light seems to really be helping growth. I was noticing polyp extension down some and was due to replace my gfo and carbon in a few days but did it today. What a difference that made in just a few hours. I seem to VERY slowly be beating the hair algae but the bryopsis is going stronger than ever. We'll see how the new gfo works. I'm also up to 2 cups in the reactor vs the 1 to get things started.

[lastlight]

Here are a few new shots. The big growth spurts have been in the Salty Nuts Acro and an unknown teal I got from Dez and the Orange/green formosa from John. Main halides had gone off this is just a Fiji Purple and a KZ New Gen.

Salty Nuts and Formosa. Tons of new branches starting to take shape:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s5.jpg

The A. Abrolohensis has a super blue growth tip. It's grown over an inch in mere weeks:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s4.jpg

This teal sprouted 4 new branches:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s2.jpg

New Duncans and Acans from Greg. Acans are much more extended with the halides on:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s3.jpg

My favorite angle into the tank:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s1.jpg

[kien]

Whoa! Looking sexy! Need to see in person for sure.

Oh and tank ain't bad either.

[Delphinus]

Wow nice colours and polyps and stuff.

[Dez]

Wow nice colours and polyps and stuff.

Nice "stuff" :)

[Dez]

Your Albrohensis is taking off faster than mine did. Mine was a square top for months and the first branch was out the side. Once that first branch came out it all started branching from there. How did you ever snag a frag of that off of me anyway? I don't even remember ever fragging that coral.

That Saltynuts is a fast grower. Soon it'll be at the water surface in my tank.

[lastlight]

Thanks guys. Dez I'm just that charming I guess I'm nit sure lol. What really drives me nuts is how some tips on my spas do nothing. You'll have an out of control branch and nothing from the other spots. Ive heard breaking a tip off can jumpstart growth but I'm too nervous to try.

[BlueTang<3]

Wow its is looking really nice Brett. Colours are looking great.

[Lance]

Looking good Brett. Nice colours and growth. Whatever you're doing, keep on doing it.

[christyf5]

Looks great Brett, you've got some great colors and an awesome collection of SPS there :cool:

[MitchM]

Nice pics. Those colours really stand out!

Mitch

[lastlight]

Thanks everyone!

Anyone else notice that certain corals look way more colorful depending on which end of the tank you're looking into? Must have to do with angles of light hitting corals but my corals all look brighter looking into the ends of the tank. My bulbs are positioned so the end of the bulb faces the front of the tank and maybe that has something to do with it?

[lorenz0]

really digging that one from salty nuts. I think its a tenius

[kien]

Your salty nuts are my favourite Brett!

[Dez]

The saltynuts look best from the top, so blue. We can rename it the blue nut acro :)

[Delphinus]

:lol: Oh dear... I always thought blue nuts weren't all that good but what do I know. :lol:

[lastlight]

The growth looks really purple in my tank actually. The rest of the coral is nothing to write home about so I'm hoping it's always got mad growth!

[chris121277]

Not sure if I missed it somewhere in here, but what model of SWC skimmer are you running?

[Dez]

The growth looks really purple in my tank actually. The rest of the coral is nothing to write home about so I'm hoping it's always got mad growth!

You're right Brett. I just couldn't pass up the blue nut name. Purple nut just isn't the same. In my tank the colony is about 8" tall and only the top 1 1/2 is always purple. The rest of the coral is kind of tan/brown cause it grew sort of like an upside down cone so the parts underneath the growth don't see any light. We have to start coming up with underwater lighting to light corals from below :). Maybe when I'm in Calgary between Christmas and New Year I'll invite myself over to see your tank in person.

[lastlight]

Not sure if I missed it somewhere in here, but what model of SWC skimmer are you running?

SWC Extreme 160. Cheap and awesome!

You're right Brett. I just couldn't pass up the blue nut name. Purple nut just isn't the same. In my tank the colony is about 8" tall and only the top 1 1/2 is always purple. The rest of the coral is kind of tan/brown cause it grew sort of like an upside down cone so the parts underneath the growth don't see any light. We have to start coming up with underwater lighting to light corals from below :). Maybe when I'm in Calgary between Christmas and New Year I'll invite myself over to see your tank in person.

Mine is pretty much a little bouquet on top of the stem so I'm wondering if the top gets too large if the base can support it. There is one branch coming out the bottom and I hope I see more to balance it out.

We'd love to have you guys over for a visit. If there's a possibility let us know so we can actually arrange for dinner or lunch or whatever you guys can manage =)

[riceboy]

wow your growth is fantastic, and the colors are unreal. can i ask, are you using np pellets or zeo or vodka dosing, or anything else?

[Snappy]

Looking good Brett. If that abrolhosensis keeps growing like that I might even be able to get a piece of it back next year some time. I miss that coral.

[lastlight]

wow your growth is fantastic, and the colors are unreal. can i ask, are you using np pellets or zeo or vodka dosing, or anything else?

I used the pellets on my Solana but the overall volume of them never really changed much over the course of months. I don't think they were working correctly and I think the reason was my Tunze 9002 basically pulled zero out. I wasn't impressed at all with that skimmer. I switched to RowaPhos and had a strange outbreak of some black algae. Now I'm using the BRS HC GFO and it seems to work better. Bit of a ramble there but no I'm not running anything besides carbon and gfo. I try my best to have the colours look true to life on my screen but I do find the mac screens show images less saturated. When I drag the photos over to my second screen the colours are maybe ever so slightly too colourful. Tough to say what you're seeing but it's close either way thanks for the nice words.

Looking good Brett. If that abrolhosensis keeps growing like that I might even be able to get a piece of it back next year some time. I miss that coral.

Yeah I spoke a bit soon on RC Greg but of course when I've got a couple branches going I'll snap you off a piece. Abrolhosensis... Abrolhosensis... Abrolhosensis... I originally pulled the spelling off your own site but have since obviously forgotten how to spell the darn thing. I can't get over the tips on this thing...the blue seems to actually glow I can't wait until I have a mini colony of the stuff.

[Lance]

:lol: Oh dear... I always thought blue nuts weren't all that good but what do I know. :lol:
:lol:

[Snappy]

"thread hi-jack"

Brett that coral went through several morphs & color changes for me over the years depending on the light and other conditions so here is a few examples of what it used to look like for me back in the day.

Lot's of light near the top.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h210/Trainer02/july192608022aabrolhosensis1.jpg

With less light mid tank but it was more light blue than grey unlike the picture shows & the tips are always bright "dark" blue.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h210/Trainer02/apr7008abrolhosensis1.jpg

[lastlight]

Holy cow those are the same?! Yeah mine is def much closer to the second pic. I think a lot of that has to do with PE. Mine is very hairy like your second pic and the polyps are a ice blue sorta colour.

[Zoaelite]

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s1.jpg

Wicked photo Brett! That Salty nuts acro is one sweet looking piece, all of these wicked looking SPS tanks are making me regret parting with mine.

SWC Extreme 160. Cheap and awesome!

Funny how that works some times, any noise coming off of it? My API BM 250 is driving me CRAZY, the one impeller makes the most irritating vibrating noise (and of course it's right next to my bed).

[michika]

Mmmm photos! I love how this tank is turning out.

[lastlight]

Wicked photo Brett! That Salty nuts acro is one sweet looking piece, all of these wicked looking SPS tanks are making me regret parting with mine.

Funny how that works some times, any noise coming off of it? My API BM 250 is driving me CRAZY, the one impeller makes the most irritating vibrating noise (and of course it's right next to my bed).

Yeah without growth tips the coral (mine at least) is pretty plain looking. I totally love the growth tips though and as I get more of them I love this coral more and more! I'll need a pile of zoas in the new year so maybe I can snap a branch off of it for the visit =)

Mmmm photos! I love how this tank is turning out.

Thanks me too. My only regret with the scape is that it's a pretty tight formation and my frags are mounted pretty close together but I wanted lots of them lol. I can weed out the non performers I guess. That and if I pull out for a straight on FTS it looks like all I have is rock haha. Patience sucks!

[TheMikey]

Looking great! What's your dosing schedule look like? I skimmed back earlier but was wondering if anything had changed.

[lastlight]

Thanks I'm still dosing BRS 2-part just a tiny bit more than when I moved into this tank. Used to be roughly 6mL of Ca and 8mL of Alk daily and now it's 8mL of Ca and 12mL Alk. So I'm barely dosing at all you could say lol. Reef Crystals has much higher levels than I target. I shoot for 420 and 8 and RC contains 480+ and 10+.

[Dez]

*thread hijack*

I'm jumping on Snappy's hijack as well. Here is my albrolhosensis. Originally from the Coral Master himself. It's tough to take a picture of it cause it's sort of shaded by my Blue Nut acro and it's deep in the tank from both sides. Everyone comments about how blue it is, electric almost.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/_MG_7331.jpg?t=1292025614

This is where there was a square end when I originally got the frag. It was almost a frag of a frag that I got and that square end didn't grow for the longest time instead it sprouted from the side.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/P3290008-1.jpg?t=1292025897

[Dez]

This is the Blue Nuts acro top view....
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt88/des_sublime/P3290017.jpg?t=1292026020

[lastlight]

Dez your Nuts do look blue after all. Now I need to look into why mine are purple. Can these things bruise?

[Dez]

Well, from the top my Nuts look blue, but from the side they look purple. So it's a matter of perspective. They are by no means bruised, but they are growing at an alarming rate. Only a few people get to see my Nuts from above. Try looking at your Nuts from above, maybe they're blue too.

[lastlight]

Dez what did we do to you haha?!

[Lance]

Dez what did we do to you haha?!


Dez, Walk away very slowly. Before it's too late!

[Dez]

I can't get the chaeto balls out of my head....AHHHHH.....

[kien]

oh dear... I have some really bad images that I need to try to purge from my mind now.. thanks for that, dez.

[Myka]

Uhm... :neutral:

I froze my nuts right off the first winter I spent working on the oil rigs in northern Alberia...I mean Alberta.

[fishytime]

Brett that coral went through several morphs & color changes for me over the years depending on the light and other conditions so here is a few examples of what it used to look like for me back in the day.

ya we're not sure what it is about your corals color changing Greg....I had one of your green Millis turn almost compleatly pink in my tank(not that Im complaining:wink:)....

Brett that sps shot is da bomb!!!.... you may wanna have someone take a look at those blue nuts(btw Im not volunteering!:razz:)

[Skimmerking]

Uhm... :neutral:

I froze my nuts right off the first winter I spent working on the oil rigs in northern Alberia...I mean Alberta.


I would hate to see that picture Mindy and the look on your hubby's face too

[lastlight]

It seems nuts have found a safe haven here in my thread and that's ok. Not the poetry that chaetoBalls were but you have to play with the nuts you're dealt whether they're blue, purple or Mindy's old ones.

Oh and thx Mike and dougMang!

[Dez]

At least all the nuts we're talking about are salty, if they weren't, then we'd have a serious issue on our hands.

[BlueTang<3]

I froze my nuts right off the first winter I spent working on the oil rigs in northern Alberia...I mean Alberta.



Lost your nuts but gained a clam not necessarily a bad thing :wink:

[Lance]

Uhm... :neutral:

I froze my nuts right off the first winter I spent working on the oil rigs in northern Alberia...I mean Alberta.


Would that be when you changed your name from Mandy to Mindy? :mrgreen:

[lorenz0]

You good sir always have the most interesting threads.

[lastlight]

Yeah weirdos are drawn to me somehow. I thought like charges repelled each other but science may be wrong?

[lastlight]

So I have redbugs. found them on the teal a few minutes ago:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/250s2.jpg

Love it.

[Delphinus]

Interceptor treatment bam move on done.

[kien]

So I have redbugs. found them on the teal a few minutes ago:

Love it.

That's what you get for sharing Dez's saltynuts.

[lorenz0]

That's what you get for sharing Dez's saltynuts.

HA HA

always use protection. I'm never offended when people want to use protection, but its so good not worrying about it.

btw where have you been shopping. Just want a heads up where you have added lately from

[Dez]

That's what you get for sharing Dez's saltynuts.

What are you saying Kien, that I have Nuts with bugs? :) I had
Red bugs early on in my build, but did 3 whole tank interceptor treatments and killed Everything including a couple of my beloved acro crabs. Haven't had any since. I just did a thorough check.

It's not that bad Brett, like Tony says, interceptor and they're gone.

[lastlight]

I haven't added any sps since my batch from Dez which I think was a couple months ago so I *guess* I've had these all along. No sense naming names now I just need to sort out what I'm going to do about it. I have a lead on some interceptor so I'll have to do some reasearch.

I watch my corals like a hawk (for growth and because I'm a nerd) so it's nuts that they could have survived this long unseen by me.

Any change red bugs can come from non-sps? Couldn't their eggs be laid on some rock or whatever from other corals and get in that way? I'm just curious. Doesn't matter now I just need to make a decision here.

Does everyone here treat every last piece of sps with interceptor? Considering it's the only fix and it's hard to get I find that tough to believe...

[lastlight]

What's funny is I'm a lazy reefer. Don't quarantine and have never dipped any coral. Just yesterday I bought and used some dip treatment on some new zoas I had gotten.

[lastlight]

I just inspected that coral again and polyps are now out and i can't see any bugs and I looked hard. This leads me to believe I've had them all along...that it is possible I've missed them. This coral is growing very fast too.

I'm going to still try and get some interceptor for future dips but doubt I'm going to treat the tank right now. I'll watch this coral and the tank as a whole and see. Growth and coloration has been great especially lately. I didn't have plans to add more sps either. I was into phase 2 which was lps and zoas.

At any rate cat's out of the bag isn't it? My tank is SICK =)

[lastlight]

Some new pics. First some of the acans I already had from Greg:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap2.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap3.jpg

Duncans from Greg. Already have 2 new heads on this side...no idea about other side.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap4.jpg

New zoas. I added lots more but they either melted away or the one or two polyps left didn't photo well.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap5.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap6.jpg

Love my Clash of the Titans Favia from Greg:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap7.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap8.jpg

Some new acans I picked up from him last night as well as a tiny little piece of his green-polyp toadstool. I was over pretty late and saw his night-time lighting over his toadstool. The thing GLOWS.

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap9.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap10.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap11.jpg

Some new fishies:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap12.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap13.jpg

My boy Cole:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap14.jpg

That little frag I plastered to my overflow is liking life:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap15.jpg

Random shots:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap16.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/snap17.jpg

[Zoaelite]

Great shot the of the Cole Tang! What camera you shooting with?

[Snappy]

Lookin' good Brett!

[lastlight]

Great shot the of the Cole Tang! What camera you shooting with?

Thanks it's a Nikon D80 with a kit lens. I need to borrow a macro lens again so I can take some nicer ones.

[fishytime]

well somebody's photography skills just keep getting better and better.......and those are some sweet cans Brett........*did I just say that?*:mrgreen:

[lastlight]

Yeah you did and I also giggled like a schoolgirl. We're both out of line!

Thanks btw. I still really don't like my livestock shots for some reason?

[Skimmerking]

well somebody's photography skills just keep getting better and better.......and those are some sweet cans Brett........*did I just say that?*:mrgreen:

See Brett if you would have quote what DOUGY said then I wouldn't have had to go back a page to see what was so funny about you laughing like a School gir .
other then , that I am starting worried that you are becoming a Homo. Love ya buddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddy:wink:

[lastlight]

After 2 more visits to the CoralMaster himself I wanted to post more pics. Previously I had picked up some toadstool which didn't photograph well and last night I grabbed 2 zoas and a green ric. here we go:

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/bluezoo1.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/bluezoo2.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/bluezoo3.jpg

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/bluezoo4.jpg

And this is a funny shot for two reasons. One my blenny is a real clown. He's hiding in his man-cave sporting a mustache. Two this frag I got from Kien a long time ago has NEVER branched. It's determined to put all it's eggs into one stick of a basket and touch that front glass. Like wtf?

http://www.fishbrains.net/images/97/bluezoo5.jpg

[Snappy]

I told you that toad stool was too small & not ready. I hope this won't make people think I'm in the "miniature" frag business.

[lastlight]

Greg I forgot a disclaimer my bad! Folks that frag was NOT FOR SALE. I just harassed Greg until he let me have it =)

[fishoholic]

Tank is lookin good, and I think your blenny's mustache is very cool. Funny how it just grows out long and straight.

[kien]

Oh my god Brett that thing is SO long!!!

[muck]

kinda looks like it hangs to the left a little.

[lastlight]

You can see it's gone limp near the tip as well. Thanks for caring guys =)

[kien]

I think there's an additive for that Brett.

Anyway, it has gotten much longer since the last time I was at your place having a good look at it. Impressive!