Higher Thinking

Well...I guess I'll get this party started! Thanks for putting this together!

360 gallons.

8'X3' and not nearly enough coral to actually make it look like it isn't empty. 

5 hours ago, reefrun said:

I was out of town taking care of my dying grandma, and then arranging her funeral, so we weren’t able to prepare for the storm. Been without power since we got home Sunday and struggling to keep my tanks at 60 degrees... if anyone has a generator they don’t need let me know. At this point I’m expecting the worst 😔

I would offload what you can to one of the members who have offered to hold things. I can even do that for you. 

Here's Post 58.

Fyi, Manny, you've made too many posts so I'm afraid you've been disqualified. 

Just take them to @ThePremiumAquarium, get whatever credit you can, and call it a day. You are not going to get the retail prices you are asking at a store, but unfortunately it looks like you aren't getting them anyway. That would be my recommendation. 

3 minutes ago, psychofireman said:

11 hours ago, danlu_gt said:

Any other ways to kill flukes? I tried netting  him but without out knocking over everything that isn’t working. 

You need Prazi-Pro. You can actually dose it directly into the tank (one of the very few medications that you can do that). I have some in Scappoose I could give you although it looks like you're in Vancouver. I'm not sure if there is someone or some store that is more local that might have it.

https://www.amazon.com/Hikari-Usa-AHK73254-Prazipro-Aquarium/dp/B004LOBGYA/ref=pd_lpo_199_t_0/136-7387985-0205907?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004LOBGYA&pd_rd_r=93dbcbe2-3777-497e-9c1a-e2c6155186ad&pd_rd_w=ikfOi&pd_rd_wg=aCls3&pf_rd_p=16b28406-aa34-451d-8a2e-b3930ada000c&pf_rd_r=YQXBGTBSH6V8ET9NFKKP&psc=1&refRID=YQXBGTBSH6V8ET9NFKKP

22 hours ago, psychofireman said:

this shows the spots on it’s underbelly better

12 minutes ago, The ReefBox said:

Agreed on too many fish and likely getting aggression issue. I looked closer at those pics.  I think those are flukes on the tail fin. Need to freshwater dip 

Good eye, Brian. Yeah those look like flukes for sure. I'd agree with everyone else. Torn up tail looks like it's being chewed on by some tank mates. My guess would be the sail fin, but could even be the clowns or damsels. 

11 hours ago, SuncrestReef said:

How is everyone faring with the ice storm?  I've read that it's much worse on the east side of Portland, but here in Beaverton it's pretty ugly.  We're lucky we haven't lost power (and I'm glad I have my standby generator if needed), but several nearby friends have been without power for most of the day.  I did lose Internet connectivity for about 2 hours today, and as an Internet nerd, those were the longest 2 hours of my life...

Hopefully all of your tanks are surviving.

Yesterday:

Today:

Here's a candid photo of @SuncrestReef after two hours without internet. Right when he had all but lost hope. Luckily, it was restored just in time!

So what'd y'all do to pass the time this weekend? I got to coach a couple of the guys on my team in a Jiu Jitsu tournament. We drove from Scappoose down to Springfield on Saturday. Wild ride for sure!

This was the weather in Springfield:

This was the weather in Scappoose:

Then I topped Sunday off with some urban snowboarding!

1 minute ago, obrien.david.j said:

We rarely loose power too.   Lost it for 90 minutes, starting at 1:30am today.  Whole house went silent, which woke me up.  very strange feeling.

What'd I do about it... Slept.    Came back on around 3am.  nothing harmed.

Yeah that sound of a deal silent house is really interesting. I almost never hear it because there aren't any situations where I would kill all the outlets, just in those rare outage instances. 

Every year I tell myself to invest in a generator and every year I pass on it. We actually lost power last night for about 90 minutes which is really unusual. We rarely ever lose power because our lines are under ground. After 30 minutes I actually got nervous because I'd been hearing so many horror stories about long term outages this week. I drove to a friend's house and borrowed his generator. I got everything hooked up on my two tanks and 45 minutes later the power was on 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️. Better safe than sorry I guess. I suppose I'll go ahead and finally buy one. 

A big issue asking with temp is flow. It provides oxygen and the necessary gas exchange for coral and fish. I hope you find some help 😢

Yeah the rock thing is always a tough question to ask. It's like asking what kind of salt is best. Everyone has an opinion and there are varying pros and cons with different routes. Opinions change throughout time. For example, BRS has been pushing this whole "negative space aquascape" thing lately and now everyone has been jumping on that bandwagon like it's the coolest thing since sliced bread. Personally, I don't care for it. 

It all depends on what you want. The bulkier base rock does present different issues with flow, but it also offers ample room for coral placement and more places to hide. Additionally, the larger amount of surface area provides more denitrification. 

As long as you like it, run with it!

1 ticket to TPA. 

On 2/11/2021 at 9:29 AM, goldenbasketreef said:

This is another option for those that like to do manual testing

https://www.hannainst.com/multiparameter-photometer-and-ph-meter-hi83300.html

That's quite the piece of equipment. I'm surprised I haven't seen a few of those being talked about. Basically a full on Triton ICP test at your fingertips. 

Yes, fish will pair up again. Just like anything when it comes to reefing, there's no guarantees though. 

Is nobody buying tickets?? Paying club members receive a free ticket, yes, but anyone and everyone can buy some to really up your odds. 

48 minutes ago, ocboat said:

It's good to see someone else that loves clams, yours look great.  I currently have six but three of them are still very small. Did you get most of them local and are you worried that that gigas is going to topple your rock when it gets bigger?

I've gotten every one from CnC. I have 8 currently. And yes, the Gigas toppling that rock structure crosses my mind quite a bit, but I'm not worried about the repercussions. There is rock below that which would (hopefully) cushion the fall of the rocks against the glass. Personally, the thought of growing a clam so large that it crumbles my hardscape is kind of a cool thing. 

Shellfie!

Snapped a couple photos today of most of the clams. They all seem happy as a clam!

Scared this one right when I took it so not much mantle showing. 

The Gigas behemoth continues to impress! It's begun to overshadow a couple acro colonies which is a bit concerning, but it is what it is. 

Crazy patterning on the mantle. I actually thought for a long time that the spots with no color in the mantle were some kind of flaw or deficiency. Turns out those are characteristic of Gigas clams  

I also use Welding Supply. Haven't refilled since the end of October, but it was $26 for a 20lb tank. 

8 hours ago, SuncrestReef said:

Now that's some faith in your plumbing connections to place the reactors on top of a power switch box.

New calcium reactor is online and holding alk steady. 

I'll be honest, it was a freaking nightmare getting this thing operable. For starters, the pump that came with it (Sicce, so it should have reliable) was leaking. Long story short, troubleshooting it took way longer than it should have and I ultimately replaced it with another pump. Same pump model, just a physically different one. 

I then had a serious issue purging the air from the unit. I ultimately cut in a T-Valve in the recirc line to be able to off gas the built up air. Oof! Frustrating to say the least. 

HOWEVER, now that I have it online and figured out, it is awesome. It's dead silent and I can use a markedly lower volume of CO2 gas to maintain the desired pH. 

The thing is freaking massive! The pictures don't do it justice. I was super (still kind of am) nervous about placing it on that stand. That's 3 full containers of ARM media in there!

30 minutes ago, SuncrestReef said:

Have you seen the float switch bracket I use?  It’s pretty convenient and allows easy adjustment.  It comes in different sizes, with or without included float switches.

https://printed3d.parts/product/magnetic-extendable-layered-float-switch-holder/

 

Nice! That might be just what I need. I'll check it out. Thanks!

On 2/4/2021 at 8:44 PM, SuncrestReef said:

Nice!!!  Let me know if you need any programming help.

Appreciate it. I seem to have it dialed in with what I want. I just need to mount a couple float switches differently as I don't like their current locations. Once the 🔱 comes though, that could be a different story!

1 hour ago, TheClark said:

Seriously though, what media you got loaded up in that bad boy?

I am sweating running out of the reborn...

 

I use ARM. I've always used that. I'm honestly not super savvy on the different medias, but when I was actually looking at the parameters levels, it definitely seemed like this stuff carries a good level of magnesium and other trace elements. 

Well... It's been a long time coming.

Finally got myself an Apex a couple months ago. Guess you could say I'm behind on the times. Of course that required re-working all the wiring. I built myself this little console cabinet. 

I also have the Trident coming in pretty soon. That should continue making my life easier.