Mandinga

I dont know where I stand on it. On one hand, you have the "how can it be a decent review if they are getting paid" but on the other hand, YouTube channel takes a lot of effort to grow an audience, the value is in the subscribers, so in one hand, you are paying for advertising which all companies have to do.

The same thing happens in every industry. Have you ever read an honest car review from an auto magazine?

There is an old adage for a reason... you have to spend money to make money. You could have the greatest product in the world...but if nobody knows about it....

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I feel like the next generation of reefers is going to have a mystifyingly difficult time de-bunking all the trash that is published(video or written) online.

Maybe a minor aquascaping change....corals on top are getting HUGE and creating too big of shadows underneath. Good problem to have;)

Thanks for the purty zoas Nate!

I miss my T5 acans and lps! Great light glws.

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I had decided 2-months ago that i was going to make my nano a top down tank, since it had turned into a 21 gallon farm tank...but, it just wasn’t quite what i had hoped...it looked dismal, and had about 80% coralline coverage.

My arm ached just looking at the corraline.

So i broke down and bought the flipper...

15 minutes later my water was cotton candy pink

And today back to normal on the hobby farm:

i was really impressed at how awesome the flipper worked. All my previous tanks were acrylic, so I’m new to the world of metal scrapers hahaha!

Mine looks the same, I will get a pic when the lights turn on

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That looks familiar! If i had a bigger tank I’d be all over this! Undata is a beauty!


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great points monkey. I was a huge fanboy before all my individual components came out with their own controllers. Now I guess I'm in the middle too.  My vortechs are one button on/off/feed/adjust. ATO and backups ran by Tunze controllers...Hydra lights controlled by their own app....

All wired to a DJ Powerstrip($20), so I click them on and off when I want to do maintenance etc. One button on off:)

I agree though that you can do some pretty sick settings with an apex! And by far the greatest thing it has is the mobile warnings to let you know something is off....that right there is worth the money if you have huge money in livestock.  But yeah, if you are just starting out, don't waste your money early. An apex is always something you can buy and add down the road...once you figure more important things out like Nutrient export, light, flow, temp.

You guys still rocking these controllers? Any reliability issues?

Oh, and anything special to know about removing the metal tip?

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It just depends on what you want to do with your tank?

Does an apex make reefing easier? 100% no. Safer, possibly...but they are FAR from bulletproof.


If you’re a techie and like learning all the different apex modules, and installing them on your system, then yeah it can be really fun! If you’re not...you will likely be pulling hair out and searching thousands of online posts for the right answers;)


For me an apex was wonderful for mobile data(viewing pH and temp from anywhere in world is nice)...plus it was pretty cool showing it off;)
It was a nightmare when it decided to quit working and i had to send it back to neptune...yeah...reefs don’t do well when you put them on hold for a couple weeks waiting for a new head unit! And then I have to re-program it all over again! Hahaha i still have one in a box, i may have to toss it up on the classifieds soon.

If you just need it to control your heat/chiller...there are much cheaper ways of doing so.

Can you have a beautiful thriving reef with an apex? Duh yeah! Can you have just as beautiful of a reef without it? Yup!








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Imo the only thing in this hobby that needs a controller is a thermometer. As you know, nothing will nuke a tank faster than temps! Sometimes the complexity of the apex and other controllers outweigh their benefits. The last apex i had decided to just quit one day...luckily i was there, but if i wasn’t...well...yeah.

There is something safer about manually checking things and not relying on a computer...or relying on a human to program or restart said computer.


Best advice i ever heard: KISS your tank! Keep It Stupid Simple.

I’ve got some zoas/palys and a few sticks i’d be happy to help u get re-started. Oh and yeah, ditch the controller-less heaters! Use them for water changes...otherwise they are too risky!


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Whoa yes! This is what every grown man needs after a kitchen remodel. Feel free to post tips on how you baited your wife into coming to that decision on her “own” hahaha. I’d have to work on the honey do list for years to pull that one off! Be sure to post fts with the new kitchen so i can show them to my wife lol.


That aquascaping needs some help, got any plans for that?

This is gonna be a true beauty!!! Subscribed.




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Not sure how a heater would fit in back, that's where the skimmer is, and it's 100 watt since a 50 could not keep it warmer than 72- 74 in the winter. It might fit horizontal under skimmer but what a pain to adjust temp and clean sump

Any clue how to deal with this rbta? Ever since I gave my finger leather away it's been huge. 

Just get a bigger heater. Keeping a tank warm enough is much easier than keeping it cooler!


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Why is your temp swinging? Is it getting too cold? Too hot? Either way...need to keep that steady if you want long term success. Arguably nothing is more paramount to success than correct/stable temperature.

Too cold? Add wattage(get a bigger heater).

Too hot? Add air flow, air flow air flow. Your tank needs to breathe. If that isn’t enough a chiller may be in order.

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15 gallon establishedfuge...oh he’s fine! I’m much more concerned about fish i see in 10 gallon qt’s for a month...or more.


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Last time I measured my skimmate was pretty much the same salinity as my tank. I used to dump sludge skimmate in in all my raised garden beds and it definitely provided an organic compound boost to the gardens! A little Salt to my knowledge doesn’t harm the vegetation at all. May want to fact check that!

I’ve got broken jebaos, busted gyres and a couple vortechs with bad wetsides laying around. Some are just more expensive paperweights than others at this point. They all break eventually.

My best sps tank i ran jebao dc return pump and jebao rw20’s for years.

If you read the big boards you’ll see the exact same responses as here...some people have great success while others experience failures with the knock off pumps.

If your budget allows, buy the good brands...if not, try the imports.

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Vortechs are worth ever penny imo. Most people start off buying a whole bunch of inexpensive powerheads, and then eventually see the value in a more natural flow. It will benefit all corals, not just acros.

Jebao among others make some less expensive controllable units...




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Just supersaturate it with PS, add some hints of color here and there...call it monkey’s stunner...bam you’re in business.

Let’s go monkeyboy, don’t be scared, push your chips out!

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Yeah we’ll see if anyone has chalices large enough to participate:)


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Here let me help -

Nice! Now enjoy the new snapping clownfish! My Picasso is just a nasty you know what now that she hosts about 8 nems:) We regularly face off, she usually wins.