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justjohno

justjohno

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I started reefing 20 years ago. I can remember my first skimmer the needed an air stone down in a homemade cylinder. The aquarium was lite with VHO tubes and I thought it was awesome at the time. I used to take my liverock out of the tank every week and scrub the algae because I wanted it white and clean. Times have changed - Needless to say family got in the way and the wifey made me sell the tank. Now that I'm an empty nester as they say, I can bring back something I love to do.

My current tank is a RedSea Reefer 450, 92G DT, with about 30G sump. I removed the stock sump and replaced with a Precision Marine and hard plumbed the entire under carriage. The tank has been up for almost 14 months. and I'm just starting to benefit from time I put into my aquarium. I feel the tank has just started to mature to the point where I can put corals into the tank and watch them grow and with color. Ill try to list below the equipment and parameters and current challenges.

  • Vertex 180i Skimmer - Clean cup twice a week, and the throat every 3 months
  • Echotech return M1 - Clean every 3 months
  • 2 Ecotech Radion Gen3 (non Pro) - I was so upset when I purchased these because the next week they came out with Gen4 and nobody told me, then again blame myself for not researching.
  • Marine Pure block in the sump
  • 2 MP40's on each end of the tank, running in different modes.
  • APEX 2016 to monitor the system
  • 2 APEX DOS units. - I dose Calcium, Alk, MG and NoPox.
Lighting is mounted with EcoTech arms with a distance of 12" from the surface of the water. My lighting is at 60% due to my live rock so low in my tank. PAR at the highest point is about 350. I run Blue, UV, RB at 100%, R and G at 20% and Whites at 65% intensity. Lights stay on for 10 hours, but the whites stay on for 6 hours at peak. I've tried different lighting combinations but think I finally got it right.

Challenges:
I want to add another light (Radion Gen4) to improve shaded areas.
I had a problem with Bryopsis and the fluczonal (Spelled it wrong) really worked.
For the longest time, I had a bunch of brown sticks...just recently the corals are starting to color. I get excellent PE but they were brown and lime green.

I live up in the north bay and as you know we don't have any LFS up here. Its nice to have a community of Reefers in the Bay area to share this experience. As you can tell, I love my glass box.
 

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haha...I thought about that but wanted to get a pump strong enough. I think I'm paying for that now because I have the pump all the way up with no room for growth. Ill take pics tonight and add them.
 
Welcome!
Just wondering, What's the wifey saying now that you have a new tank?
September swap coming, good time to see familiar faces as well as new ones.

*For the record, I still have some VHO bulbs, they might one day be like baseball, pokemon, yugi-o? cards...
 
xcaret said:
Welcome!
Just wondering, What's the wifey saying now that you have a new tank?
September swap coming, good time to see familiar faces as well as new ones.

*For the record, I still have some VHO bulbs, they might one day be like baseball, pokemon, yugi-o? cards...
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Dude you are awesome!
 
Xcaret, good question. The wife and kids love the aquarium. When I was first setting it up, she said "Now I see there is competition in the house, this glass box is your new girl friend", but she said it in good spirit. When I first set the tank up, it was rough. Let me first say, they stopped naming the fish.

I would love to attend the swap, but from an outsider it appears for club members only.

Attached are pic from my aquarium and one of my best corals (Pic1) I have a lot of beginner corals, but I'm starting to trade them in for more delicate pieces. I attended MACNA 2 weeks ago and purchased several pieces and was so bummed due to flight delays i saved maybe 4 pieces out of 15 purchased.
 

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justjohno said:
Xcaret, good question. The wife and kids love the aquarium. When I was first setting it up, she said "Now I see there is competition in the house, this glass box is your new girl friend", but she said it in good spirit. When I first set the tank up, it was rough. Let me first say, they stopped naming the fish.

I would love to attend the swap, but from an outsider it appears for club members only.

Attached are pic from my aquarium and one of my best corals (Pic1) I have a lot of beginner corals, but I'm starting to trade them in for more delicate pieces. I attended MACNA 2 weeks ago and purchased several pieces and was so bummed due to flight delays i saved maybe 4 pieces out of 15 purchased.
Click to expand...

Open to everyone.
I don't have a tank (yet) but will be there for a few hours.
I totally get the glass box as the new gf, been there, I think...
 
justjohno said:
Xcaret, good question. The wife and kids love the aquarium. When I was first setting it up, she said "Now I see there is competition in the house, this glass box is your new girl friend", but she said it in good spirit. When I first set the tank up, it was rough. Let me first say, they stopped naming the fish.

I would love to attend the swap, but from an outsider it appears for club members only.

Attached are pic from my aquarium and one of my best corals (Pic1) I have a lot of beginner corals, but I'm starting to trade them in for more delicate pieces. I attended MACNA 2 weeks ago and purchased several pieces and was so bummed due to flight delays i saved maybe 4 pieces out of 15 purchased.
Click to expand...
Nice work making a journal. Bummer on the flight issues.
Out of curiosity where did you get the impression the swap was for members only? Hopefully we can avoid other people thinking that too.
 
justjohno said:
Xcaret, good question. The wife and kids love the aquarium. When I was first setting it up, she said "Now I see there is competition in the house, this glass box is your new girl friend", but she said it in good spirit. When I first set the tank up, it was rough. Let me first say, they stopped naming the fish.

I would love to attend the swap, but from an outsider it appears for club members only.

Attached are pic from my aquarium and one of my best corals (Pic1) I have a lot of beginner corals, but I'm starting to trade them in for more delicate pieces. I attended MACNA 2 weeks ago and purchased several pieces and was so bummed due to flight delays i saved maybe 4 pieces out of 15 purchased.
Click to expand...
This club has been very welcoming. If you love saltwater fish, reefs, and corals, you'll fit right in. But if you mention anything freshwater, you will be burned alive at the stake! ;)
 
Welcome! Your tank and sump are looking great, thanks for sharing them. You should definitely come to the swap. It's a bit of a drive but hey, you went all the way to MACNA and braved a hurricane already so obviously you are committed!
 
Coral reefer said:
Nice work making a journal. Bummer on the flight issues.
Out of curiosity where did you get the impression the swap was for members only? Hopefully we can avoid other people thinking that too.
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Coral reefer, I was reading the swap rules combined with members conversations about entrance fee. I completely missed "FREE TO SPECTATORS" on the rules page. I've never been to a swap so reading the rules about do's and don'ts is very interesting.

Do members sell coral at these venues? I love to look at nice corals, but also want to take 1 or 2 home with me. Wasn't going to go, but think I'll make the trek down to Castro Valley.
 
Vhuang - Sorry, I wrote Castro Valley because thats what I think about when I hear Lake Chabot. Didn't mean to confuse you.
 
Some members that post corals for sale can bring them there I guess, some others like me, bring equipment for others to picked up there, is a good meeting place.
You will like it
 
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