CAD Lights 46G

[jonmos75]

Especially like that leopard wrasse. Definitely on my list of fish to get in the future, but from what a here they can be a little tricky to keep?

What is tricky about keeping them?

 

[Ibn]

Just noticed your skimmer choice. I'm curious what your thoughts are on that vertex skimmer. I was debating between the two same two skimmers last year but went the other way with the aquamax. Kinda regret going with the Aquamax and wish that I went with the vertex instead because it has a lower return height. Skimming is really good, but the height forces me to run at a higher level in my sump.

Love the vertex skimmer. Pulls out some nasty thick skimmate. I sold the Aquamax to a buddy in Arcadia since he was looking for a skimmer with a very confined chamber in his sump. He has it on his 90G currently and haven't heard him complain about it.

Nice leopard, that is a female right?

Yeah, it's a female Macropharyngodon meleagris. They all start out as females and then transition over to male over time. I actually prefer the female coloration over the male.

Very nice tank, and great pictures! I like the variety of coral and fish that you have so far, and especially like that leopard wrasse. Definitely on my list of fish to get in the future, but from what a here they can be a little tricky to keep?

Not from what I can tell. It's the most common leopard and the easiest to keep from others' experiences on RC. I'm cutting my teeth with this species and already considering the more delicate Australian leopard (M. chaoti) down the line.

 

[Baykes]

Well thats good to hear! When I was researching them after seeing one at Neptune, the thread I saw from RC said they would not classify them as a "beginner" fish, and Live Aquaria lists them as "expert only". Being a beginner, and having only kept clownfish, I figured that meant that I probably have some time to gain experience before I attempt one. Are they really that difficult? They are definitely an attractive fish!

 

[Coral reefer]

I've heard having a nice established, but clean sand bed of appropriate depth is important

 

[Ibn]

My sandbed is pretty deep and ranges from 2.5-3". Pretty easy fish to keep so far as long as you spend some time getting them eating. Mine didn't start eating until day 2 in the tank. Started on LRS nano, Hikari mysis, and reef caviar (capelin roe). The capelin roe got her eating and she eats both the capelin and the mysis once it hits the water now.

 

[Enderturtle]

Will do. Still testing them and trying to get both to sync to each other. The left one has issues and I'm working with support to see if they can solve it or if I have to send it back. The right one, which doesn't have any issues sounds pretty darn good from preliminary testing.



So the Neptune DOS is just one part of the equation. The other part is a wine bottle chiller and the Apex controller itself.

Testing wine bottle chiller

Glass bottle used for testing. Contents are cold enough from what I can tell. Still need to drill the top for a JG fitting and some tubing.

The way it works is that the setup is connected to the DOS doser and controlled by the Apex via programming. The DOS would be programmed to pull water from the tank and into the container to mix the contents of the bottle, then it reverses and doses the tank with the food, and then once that's done, it runs again in reverse to flush the tubing of the food. This works with the DOS doser since the flow can go both ways and it can be controlled via the Apex. The idea isn't a new one and is actually in use by slief on RC.



Thanks! It's actually an orange/multicolor hammer. Once it's fully extended it's showing up as purple, but here it is as it's closer to the light.

Thanks!

Wow dosing frozen food! This is super cool!

Is it already working for you or still in testing phase?

 

[Ibn]

Wow dosing frozen food! This is super cool!

Is it already working for you or still in testing phase?

We just closed our fiscal on Thursday, so it's been a busy month. Haven't had a chance to set up the doser, but will be dosing so once I get a chance to.

Been dealing with high alk in the tank with low Ca and Mg levels. The current bucket of IO produces 12.8 dKH. Been upping Ca and Mg on the doser and cutting all alk to naturally drop it off (tank consumes 1dKH or so daily). I'll be using muriatic acid with the IO going forward.

Took this video of my dwarf golden moray awhile back, but never posted. He eats a silverside once every couple of days.

 

[SLGBlue]

Is that all your heater needs to be submerged?

That is a good question. I have the same heater and figured that I need to have the complete heating section submerged (which is a bit tricky with my chamber). Could I leave some of the heating section above the water line?

 

[Ibn]

That is a good question. I have the same heater and figured that I need to have the complete heating section submerged (which is a bit tricky with my chamber). Could I leave some of the heating section above the water line?

Yes, you can leave some of the heater above the water line, but way more than in the picture that I posted. If you take a look at the ebos, you can see the minimum water line required, which is about 1.5" from the top of the heater (black area).

The heater was too tall to use in my sump, so I swapped them out with a couple of shorter titanium heaters. The ebos are now used in my QT tanks instead.

 

[Ibn]

Aussie pink tip A. sarmentosa from the $10 bin at Neptune.

Another random frag from Cali Reef. This piece is supposed to be all purple. It's starting to get a bright blue/green growing edge, which I've never seen before until recently.

The CRC pink cadillac still hanging in there. Never seen any polyps on this sucker, even on the mother colony at CRC.

Green stag from a local reefer

Setosa is still doing well, even though it's very light in color. Fully encrusted on the bottom growth edge and is growing down into the shady areas.

Little GDM getting his dentals cleaned.

The trio of ventralis cleared QT and went into the tank. Larger of the two females is the boldest of the trio and also the thickest/boldest feeder.

They look amazing under blue lighting after the end of the day.

 

[Ibn]

More acros came in today. This time from Copps. All shot in sunlight, as per usual, prior to dipping.

CITR Red Dragon lineage

Copps' red tabler, A. hyacinthus

Blue staghorn, A. hoeksemai

OG pink lemonade

Copps' blueberry miyagi

Copps' 24k milli

Copp's Bella's acro

John didn't throw in any extras, but with the beefy frags it doesn't really matter.

Lineup in the tank

Not pictured is the turquoise A. hoeksemai stag. Came in with some burnt tips and it's not faring too well currently. Hopefully it pulls through.

 

[Flagg37]

That's a good bunch. I'm curious how yellow that 24k Millie is.

 

[bee505]

Love the old school sps. Can't wait to see them grow out.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Ibn]

Colors are slowly recovering on the corals even though I had to deal with a bacterial bloom within the last couple of weeks. Not everything is all sunshines and rainbow in reefing and for some reason the tank was hit with a pretty serious bacterial bloom, which lasted about a week (couldn't see more than 3-4" into the haze). It started to subside yesterday, but I stuck a 9W UV on it just to clear it up. It's crystal clear as of this morning.

That's a good bunch. I'm curious how yellow that 24k Millie is.

The 24k milli was pretty yellow when it came in from Copps. I'm hoping that it holds its colors in the tank.

I'm also keeping another yellow sps that it's holding its color quite well. Came out of Neptune's $10 frags per usual. However, it doesn't have the rainbow yellow colors of the Copps.

Love the old school sps. Can't wait to see them grow out.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Thanks! Can't wait to see them grow out either.

New composition for the month exactly one month apart from the last comp.

 

[Ibn]

Had buddy visit from SoCal and he brought some frags along.

Pearlberry. Browned out, but looking forward to its recovery.

Copps' turquoise A. hoeksemai. Replacement piece for the one that didn't make it. It's ~4" tall and this is a closeup of it with some decent polyps on it.

Zoas from RR. Forgot what this one is but whatever it is, it's very bright. It's kind of odd w/one of the adult polyps bleached out or different colors. Matter of time until the skirts all looks uniform.

Pink Boobie from buddy

Another of his frags. Hawkins echinata

One of his milli. Haven't seen his mother colony yet, but it's a bright red and centerpiece in his tank.

Micro frag of Shades of Fall

A RR piece from him. Forgot what this one was...

Oregon tort

Meanie of a fish and boss of the tank (chases all the others in the tank). Picked up a trio of these guys from AC and they're in QT. Can't wait to get them altogether in there and build out the harem.

Red bristlestar making an appearance

ASD Margery's Rainbow. Interested in seeing what this one grows into.

Hairiest piece in the tank isn't any of the millis interestingly. It's actually this piece, the pink lemonade.

Copps' King Tut, A. tutielensis tabler. Browned out during shipping, but the purples are coming back.

He also brought along a frogspawn since my one headed has not grown a bit for as long as I've had it. Here's the new one next to the hammer. Clowns are loving it.

 

[Ibn]

Corals are doing well overall, with the increase in bioload (upped ventralis numbers to 5). The increase in nutrients in the water (fish waste and food) is darkening the colors on most of the sps, with the exception of the reds.

Purple cadillac with mesenterial filaments. This piece has one of the smallest polyp for sps.

Copps' King Tut, A. tutielensis, table responding to the feeding as well.

Setosa doesn't seem to skip a beat at all. Lighter branches are where it's growing out from.

Orenji danae. Another piece that's colored up.

Next two are the ones which are having issues with the base colors.
Copp's Bella's Acro. Polyps are keeping their coloration, but as you can see the body is very pale in comparison.

Copp's red table, A. hyacinthus. Same as the Bella's, pale bodied.

Pearlberry. One of the sps that should have the pale body. This one paled out from the stress of being fragged and sitting overnight in a cooler. The colors are slowly beginning to show up though with the pink tips and a very small amount of green.

Hawkin's echinata. Lost a bit of color as the pearlberry, but regained it pretty quickly.

 

[tankguy]

Amazing corals and great pics

 

[Ibn]

Amazing corals and great pics

Thanks! No changes so far other than keeping the tank consistent. Getting some decent colors to show up like this one - ASD Margery's Rainbow. I have no idea what the mother looks like and haven't been able to locate any of the mother colony pics (if they even exist). I'm still wondering what the final color palette will be.

Approximately a month in between pics. This sucker needs to grow.

 

[sfsuphysics]

if anything it looks like it colored up nicely.

 

[Baykes]

Very nice! The new growth on it seems to be very different. Is this what gives it its "rainbow" name?