AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
Note to self: if you happen to knock the clamp for the ato tube off while doing maintenance and don’t catch it…you will have a bunch of water to clean up when you get home lol.
Andy’s 30gal Hot Mess
- Thread starter AndynotDrew
- Start date
AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
Officially a hot mess lol. Learned a lot, I think. Long story short the can is now housing the live rock/misc media, and drains into the hob ac110 ghetto fuge. Got it installed 5 days ago and had an immediate algae bloom. Left the light off for a day then switched to a shorter cycle. Bloom cleared up and nitrates have dropped to 25 from I don’t wanna talk about it. Some fishy friends, a fire shrimp, and tuxedo urchin have also joined the party over time.
After dialing things in with the par meter the corals all look happier. Grateful to have that tool available! Unfortunately both heads on the green torch shrunk up and one jellied. I panicked, figured the other heads a goner and pulled it since the rest of the euphyllia look ok. The splatter hammer did have a head bail out the day after I put it in but no jelly, maybe related, idk how to feel about it.
After dialing things in with the par meter the corals all look happier. Grateful to have that tool available! Unfortunately both heads on the green torch shrunk up and one jellied. I panicked, figured the other heads a goner and pulled it since the rest of the euphyllia look ok. The splatter hammer did have a head bail out the day after I put it in but no jelly, maybe related, idk how to feel about it.
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AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
Thanks! I’m trying to pack as much into this space as I can while keeping things as accessible as possible. The whole fam are some sticker junkies too so it works out lol.
Great question! I didn’t think of that at first (newb move) but the solution was easy. Attached a rubber tube to the output of the pump. Drains maybe a pint or so now and the display can handle that.
Maybe force trigger a power outage to find out like turn off power strip or unplug it abruptly. Good idea not to be caught off guard to ensure it doesn't end up on the floor. Than make a plan or adjust based on results.
If you do a tube as you mentioned same thing test it out as well.
AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
I should’ve clarified I didn’t think of it, at first. Upon hooking it all up it came to mind. Tube was added and has been tested.
The biggest issue I have with this hot mess is the water flow through the hob. I’d like to find another ac110 or similar to tinker around with but that’s a project for another time lol.
AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
Sitting here at the tank and figure it’s a good time to post. Sorry in advance if it’s an essay length update lol.
Filer is running great, removed the chaeto though. Definitely not an ideal setup for it. I put a chunk of gsp in there instead and will let it take over. The Mangrove roots are growing like crazy too.
I was joined by a not so welcomed guest, good ol aiptasia…yes, my mistake..still don’t have this patience thing fully figured out. I noticed the clove polyps were looking rough/closed up and upon inspection there was an aiptasia right in the middle of the bunch…and one little baby smaller than a pencil eraser next to it. I found two more around the tank so far. One was on a rock I could easily pull out and take care of, the others I left alone and debated my approach. Decided to add a filefish, and peppermint shrimp knowing neither were a guarantee. Today I walked in to the cloves opened up and caught the filefish shoving his face into em…doing its job!
A few of the zoa frags had bubble algae pop up so I dropped two emerald crabs in. Happy to say that they immediately jumped onto the zoas! Was pretty cool to watch one gently pinch onto a polyp and pull it aside to grab a juicy bubble within 5 minutes of being added!!
Having my first real success with sps too so that’s been a moral boost! A green leptoseris that went pretty much brown and had some dead spots from taking a beating in the anemone tank is now back to green, plus new growth! The fruity pebbles is definitely doing stuff, it’s almost doubled in size and gotten a deeper color, but I’m not getting polyp extension. And a yellow tipped Acro I grabbed from AC hasn’t died! Lol
Filer is running great, removed the chaeto though. Definitely not an ideal setup for it. I put a chunk of gsp in there instead and will let it take over. The Mangrove roots are growing like crazy too.
I was joined by a not so welcomed guest, good ol aiptasia…yes, my mistake..still don’t have this patience thing fully figured out. I noticed the clove polyps were looking rough/closed up and upon inspection there was an aiptasia right in the middle of the bunch…and one little baby smaller than a pencil eraser next to it. I found two more around the tank so far. One was on a rock I could easily pull out and take care of, the others I left alone and debated my approach. Decided to add a filefish, and peppermint shrimp knowing neither were a guarantee. Today I walked in to the cloves opened up and caught the filefish shoving his face into em…doing its job!
A few of the zoa frags had bubble algae pop up so I dropped two emerald crabs in. Happy to say that they immediately jumped onto the zoas! Was pretty cool to watch one gently pinch onto a polyp and pull it aside to grab a juicy bubble within 5 minutes of being added!!
Having my first real success with sps too so that’s been a moral boost! A green leptoseris that went pretty much brown and had some dead spots from taking a beating in the anemone tank is now back to green, plus new growth! The fruity pebbles is definitely doing stuff, it’s almost doubled in size and gotten a deeper color, but I’m not getting polyp extension. And a yellow tipped Acro I grabbed from AC hasn’t died! Lol
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PjFish
Supporting Member
Bumper sticker pics? Lol
AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
Stickers are coming along lol
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AndynotDrew
Supporting Member
Baseball season and work are really getting in the way of my reefing time lol. Water changes got a little spaced out, but the pump failed on me yesterday, so I found the time/inspiration to do a 50% change while dealing with that. Pictures were taken just a few minutes after I got everything finished up.
Decided to start using afr, seems like the simplest approach to dosing for me at the moment. Only a few days in so exercising that patience thing. Some mystery acros and a few other things have been added. Happy to say polyps are making an appearance, and things are growing. Algae is also present and couple more aiptasia have popped up, but not letting that kill the vibe. Urchins and the rest of the crew are making progress. Picked up some rubble from Kenny to add some diversity too. I’ll intervene as necessary if it gets too ugly to look at.
Added a black cap basslet to finish off the fish stocking for this tank. After being shy for two days he realized the 1yr old with his face up to the glass is not going to eat him and started to swim about the tank. Everyone else is super active and healthy as well!
Decided to start using afr, seems like the simplest approach to dosing for me at the moment. Only a few days in so exercising that patience thing. Some mystery acros and a few other things have been added. Happy to say polyps are making an appearance, and things are growing. Algae is also present and couple more aiptasia have popped up, but not letting that kill the vibe. Urchins and the rest of the crew are making progress. Picked up some rubble from Kenny to add some diversity too. I’ll intervene as necessary if it gets too ugly to look at.
Added a black cap basslet to finish off the fish stocking for this tank. After being shy for two days he realized the 1yr old with his face up to the glass is not going to eat him and started to swim about the tank. Everyone else is super active and healthy as well!
