Originally Posted by Kryptic4L (Post 847955)

that purple tip birdsnest is getting fragged for me or im sending out a team of highly trained lemmings to attack your prayer reactor

Originally Posted by lastlight (Post 847960)

suddenly i've got a hankering for MS DOS and BBS.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...ps1d58093c.jpg.

Originally Posted by kien (Post 847996)

PM me to arrange pick up :-)

Originally Posted by kien (Post 847647)

Now that summer has wound down and we are back into the fall I found myself reflecting back on the past year. For those of you still following along at home, this is about the time last year that I rolled up my sleeves, got back into my tank and made a major course correction from where it was headed, back in the summer of 2012. In short, the tank sucked goat nads and I needed to do something about it. In fact, now that I think about, the tank has suffered in some form or other pretty much every summer that it has been running. This summer was different though. Miraculously, the tank came out of this summer with very few bumps or bruises. There was that incident with the flooding and subsequent power outtage back in June, but even from that the tank came out with just superficial wounds.

So, what was different about this past year compared to the previous 3 years ? Well, for starters I started to pray for my tank more often. Once I cleaned up the tank with a few hefty water changes I immediately started to pray for its stability and continued health. As soon as I put in my first few pieces of coral I would pray for their survival. I prayed a lot. I prayed to God, to Mother Mary, Baby Jesus and even to Brett. I prayed to anyone who would listen, or not. I didn't discriminate. This worked out quite well as I started to observe immediate results. My corals were growing, gaining great colours. My nuisance algaes went away and my fish were all thriving. I continued to pray for every single organism that I put into my tank with great success. I even started to pray for my equipment.

Then.. (dun Dun DUN..) the summer rolled around. Like every other summer before it, and like everyone else, I started to get super busy again. And again, I didn't have as much time to dedicate to the tank. However, I was determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past summers. I decided that I really needed a way to pray for my tank while I wasn't around my tank as often..

Let me present, The Reef Prayer Reactor.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7291/9...49cdf4b1_c.jpg

The prayer reactor is just as its name suggests, a reactor, for prayers. This was a fairly simple DIY project which went something like this..

Step 1. Obtain an old or new reactor, it really doesn't matter. In this case, size really doesn't matter either. Reef prayers are surprisingly compact and space efficient.

Step 2. Label the reactor appropriately so as not to confuse it with other media reactors. The last thing you want is accidentally putting carbon or GFO into your Prayer Reactor and dirtying up your reef prayers. As you can see here, it is very clear what each reactor is used for.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3731/9...9a87129a_c.jpg

Step 3. Write out your reef prayers of choice. It really does not matter if you hand write or print them. The paper stock doesn't matter either. I've used different paper styles with great results. Font also does not matter.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3684/9...b2a015c9_c.jpg

Step 4. Place your reef payers in the Reef Prayer Reactor.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3775/9...c0f2194f_c.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5475/9...097cb72d_c.jpg

Step 5. Place your Reef Prayer Reactor near your tank.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5484/9...4d4f6bcf_c.jpg

Step 6. Enjoy and marvel at your achievment.

Step 6b. Take pictures and post to Canreef.

The Reef Prayer Reactor was a very simple DIY project that has proven to be invaluable ! It is extremely energy efficient and has very little impact on the environment. Now I have a means of praying for my tank while I myself am unable to for whatever reason. It prays for my reef while I'm busy mowing the lawn, gardening, out playing soccer, on vacation. Reef prayers 24/7/365 ! I highly recommend it to anyone needing or wanting something similar. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have as I will be more than happy to answer them. As always, thanks for looking, and keep on reefing on!

Originally Posted by Snufflupagus (Post 847904)

I'm still blown away by your tank, setup, coral, etc. I'm still hoping one day I can have half the tank you do. Are there any tricks to get the full color out of your corals? I fine that mine do well, just can seem to get their true natural colors. It's like one day I'll get a glimpse of the true color and the next day they hide.
Love seeing your tank pictures.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot (Post 848210)

Do you ever have to add Mg?

Originally Posted by kien (Post 848209)

Thanks for the comps everyone!



I don't have any tricks. I do more or less the same things that everyone else does. Water changes, dose alk&calc, bioPellets, GFO, Carbon, and prayers. That's about it. Aside from recently adding the prayer reactor my methods have remained unchanged for 4 years. These methods have worked well for me. I've had issues over the years but the issues were usually related to a failure to implement and maintain my methods. Ie, bioPellet reactor failure allowing my nitrates to climb too high. GFO reactor failure allowing my PO4 to get too high. Lack of time to do water changes, or temperature spikes due to our AC failing for an entire summer. So long as I stick with my (fairly simple) methods, I find that things work out well.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot (Post 848731)

Love those sequence pics, and how you put names to all your SPS. There are still a few of mine that I am not sure of, so that really helps. Wish everyone would do that.

And when I saw your Granulosa, I think I may have that one, although the stocks on mine are more pink than green. The tips look the same though. I saw an Ice Fields Tenuis on the Mad Jelly site, which also looks similar. So am not totally sure.

Good news, is I just bought a new camera. Once I figure out how to use it (LOL), will start posting more pics of my tank and corals.

Originally Posted by thmh (Post 848735)

I love progression shots! You got some serious growing power? Do you does nouc mam?

~Tony

Originally Posted by brotherd (Post 848755)

Dude grows amazing corals and takes amazing pics of said corals. And makes it sound easy. Is there a Kien kourse for Kool koral?

Originally Posted by kien (Post 848775)

Discover the methods that work for you. :-). It's as easy as you want to make it, or as hard as you want to make it. What works for me may not necessarily work for you. What's "easy" for some, may be challenging for others.

At the end if the day, the principals are exactly the same for all of us.

1. Keep your tank clean
2. Keep your tank stable
3. Collect stuff you like.

What's different are the methods we employ to achieve the above. There are so many methods, and they all work so long as you implement them properly. That's the beauty of this hobby.

There is not just one single road, there are in fact many roads that will lead to success in this hobby :-) #LessonNumberOne

Originally Posted by kien (Post 848775)

Discover the methods that work for you. :-). It's as easy as you want to make it, or as hard as you want to make it. What works for me may not necessarily work for you. What's "easy" for some, may be challenging for others.

At the end if the day, the principals are exactly the same for all of us.

1. Keep your tank clean
2. Keep your tank stable
3. Collect stuff you like.

What's different are the methods we employ to achieve the above. There are so many methods, and they all work so long as you implement them properly. That's the beauty of this hobby.

There is not just one single road, there are in fact many roads that will lead to success in this hobby :-) #LessonNumberOne

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic (Post 849000)

I couldn't agree more. If you ever run into someone who tells you there is only one way to do reefing, run away.

I've seen some of the nicest reef tanks with super healthy, colourful, growing corals that were KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and others that were gorgeous but with all the bells and whistles. Some use RODI, some tap. Some are almost religious about doing frequent water changes, others go months in between. Whatever works for you, stick with that. Some people have more $$ to spend on the high end equipment, others prefer to put in more work and time to so simple water changes to keep up water parameters. It really is more an ART than a science, although a lot of science does go into it.
'

Anthony

Originally Posted by SanguinesDream (Post 850501)

After randomly searching through the 150+ pages of this thread for a FTS, I vaguely remember searching for one a month ago to no avail.

On the excellent chance that I am wrong, I extend my sincerest apologies for my laziness and poor form. On the slim to none chance that I did not see a FTS, would you be ever so gracious to provide some pictures of your reef aquarium now?

Originally Posted by SanguinesDream (Post 850501)

After randomly searching through the 150+ pages of this thread for a FTS, I vaguely remember searching for one a month ago to no avail.

On the excellent chance that I am wrong, I extend my sincerest apologies for my laziness and poor form. On the slim to none chance that I did not see a FTS, would you be ever so gracious to provide some pictures of your reef aquarium now?

Originally Posted by thmh (Post 850552)

Can't you just use your navy bed sheets to cover one side of your tank again! No no we won't go? I don't wanna know your name all I want is to bang bang bang out a full tank shot! :-)

~Tony

Originally Posted by kien (Post 850553)

Ya, I thought about doing that again but since it's fall now it's getting dark well before the lights go out so I should be able to get a decent FTS soon. I didn't really like the sheets approach because it was hard to get the sheet perfectly smooth. You could see the wrinkles :lol:

Originally Posted by lastlight (Post 850557)

Not every shot needs to be a winner. Nor every race your fastest, young padawan. A simple disclaimer along with your FTS should suffice?

Originally Posted by lastlight (Post 850557)

Nor every race your fastest

Originally Posted by lastlight (Post 850557)

Not every shot needs to be a winner. Nor every race your fastest, young padawan. A simple disclaimer along with your FTS should suffice?