obrien.david.j

17 hours ago, Bicyclebill said:

Wow, the pic with you for scale really shows just how large a tank that is! That is huge! You need a snorkel and mask to work on that I'll bet. Great looking system. Cool looking stepstool too. I remember seeing something like that from Ryan from BRS on his epic home build. Also interested to learn what that fabric is handing down from your hanging canopy, looks like a brilliant solution. Let's talk her into hosting a meeting group!

The step stool is actually why I took the picture.   And Yes, the first place I'd seen one of these was BRS/Ryan's home tank videos.

37 minutes ago, Krux said:

Let’s just lock in Rainbow Loser as the new name right now.  Will increase the value by heaps.

I think it already goes by at least two names.  Checkout the URL of this page.   Rainbow Loom is a "copy of Aussie Strawberry Shortcake."  

https://reefprostore.com/products/copy-of-aussie-strawberry-shortcake

12 hours ago, Eatfrenchfries said:

No clam was killed. Mantle extraction is viable for culture. 

Currently 4th generation. 

Congratulations and well done.   

17 hours ago, Webbed Feet said:

One question I have, how many inches below the water line of the tank would you recommend keeping the top most part of rock sculptures under? 

I think it depends on what you want to keep, intensity of lights (or lack of intensity) and design style.  I'm an SPS keeper.  They grow, and then they grow tall.   Biggest mistake I've made, building the rocks up high so they look nice without any livestock, planting corals, and then having them all live in the upper 1/4 of the water column.   Tank looked top heavy.

My current setup, the bare rockwork got negative ratings from family and friends for the first year.   25" tall tank, rocks generally didn't go taller than 12-14".   Top half of the tank looked empty.   2yrs later, lots of growth later, tank looks good - to my taste.   While SPS were growing, I added taller gorgonians to fill in and give motion. 

To your original question,  how many inches from top of rocks to water line... Start with, what do you want to plant on top of those rocks?  it will add height too

11 minutes ago, SE PDX Reefer said:

I’d be interested in some ‘trimmings’ if you have extra 👍🏻

PM me in about a week, let's see where I'm at.  Happy to help

I'm going to "trim" some large torts in my tank during January.   I'll PM you with options and timeframe.

How's this picture for scale.  This is a big tank!   Super cool.

Tank looks great.   @Brittany - do you mind if I post the picture of you, with the tank, to show everyone Scale?    All - these photos don't do justice to a 120" long tank.  It looks Awesome in person!

1 hour ago, Lexinverts said:

Looks great!

Rownbow loser is likely rainbow loom....lol.

Thank You!   I just couldn't figure out what was written on this bag.  Now that you spell it out, I can see it.

(There are soo many Rainbow XYZ corals out there, I knew I had to flag to myself - get a more accurate ID)

22 hours ago, Flash21 said:

Happy Holidays to All.  

@Flash21 - Is that two colonies of My Miami chalice I see in the foreground?    Sweet color patterns.

Happy Holidays to all.   We're out of state, so the only picture I have to offer is a rack of the latest frags.

Decoder ring:

I've followed the described BRS method directly.    Thick superglue, then sprayed with Insta-set accelerator.   Then later coated by Marco cement to give long term stability.

Only thing I'd say is make sure these structures get washed thoroughly before going into a tank.  I sprayed a lot of insta set, and want it washed off.   In general, this method worked great.

Which GEO model is this?   (will tell people it's size/capacity)

I get very nervous when there's strong phosphate (your levels), and zero to close to zero Nitrates.  That's how I crashed my tank, Dino's, etc...This fall, I actually hit this situation again, when I got lazy testing my nitrates.   They'd been high for so long, I stopped testing.    

Corals were starting to look off, I mean seriously off.   Checked nitrate, found zero, dosed to bring back up - corals looked better in 24-48hrs.  That quick.

I've been building my own lids, using clear screening mesh from BRS, and window screen framing from home depot.  The challenge for me was to find a way to get them to sit on the edge of the tank.  Although not currently cheap on Amazon, I've been using this hard plastic edging (from bathroom/shower/etc businesses).   it fits very snugly over the window screen frameing, and then sits on the edge of my tank glass.

FYI, I've ordered from two online sites in the past.  Prices seem to vary.

• https://entirelypetspharmacy.com/
• https://www.chewy.com/

I had red bugs in 2019, interceptor handled them fine.   BTW, since then I've dipped Every Single Coral put in my tanks.  It takes an hour+, which isn't fun after being out all day and then having an at home time commit before calling it quits.  But I do it.

Attached are my notes, and three links.  Yes, I had to visit a vet to get a prescription.  I took a picture of full tank photo, and then a close up of one of my corals with Red bugs.  I also printed these articles and brought them with as evidence of what I was asking for.   One vet wouldn't help, another would.

You could even try a walk in to a vet, (with this supporting evidence), and see if they'd just help you on the spot.   

http://www.melevsreef.com/articles/red-bugs-no-more      
https://reefs.com/acropora-red-bug-milbemycin-treatment-calculator/      
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i-have-bugs-will-this-work.352129/      

RED BUGS        
Treatment #1        

• 2/18/2019        
•     Removed Carbon and Poly Pellets.  Removed hermits.  Turned off Skimmer    
•     5:15pm    1 Interceptor-Plus pill, medium size dog, 
•     6pm    Shrimp have not slowed down at all (2 cleaner skunk shrimp, 2 blood shrimp)
•     6:30pm    Shrimp have not slowed down. 
•     7:pm    caught one of the shrimp slow.  Other three slowing, but not much
• 2/19/2019    5am    Turned Skimmer back on, dialed back due to overproduction
•     10pm    Started 6 dixie cups of carbon in reactor

Treatment #2        

• 3/8/2019    5pm    1 Interceptor-Plus pill, medium size dog, 
• 3/9/2019    6am    Turned Skimmer back on, but not as much over production as 1st dose
•     10am    Started 6 dixie cups of carbon in reactor
• 3/10/2019    11am    Changed 25-30 gallons of water

        
Treatment #3        

• 3/13/2019    7pm    1 Interceptor-Plus pill, medium size dog, 
• 3/14/2019    7am    Turned Skimmer back on, but not as much over production as 1st dose
•         Started 6 dixie cups of carbon in reactor
• 3/22/2019        Changed 40 gallons, post Red bug treatment #3.   Changed Carbon to 7 cups of two little fishes.

I've got my pH target set to 6.3.  CO2 goes off, if Alk is >target (of 9.0).

Thanks for the link.  I'll have to watch it later.

Looks like it's getting time for another Reactor media reload.   Will have to be an after Xmas project.

Harvest #43 complete (Dec 17th) 

• Easy Summary, no change to procedures, same good results, including 100% Poseidon Reef Fertilizer.   
• ... But this time it's been basically a month between harvests, with only a 2nd dose of fertilizer after the first week.   This is too long, and the Phyto showed Not-it's-best
• Additionally, attended to Pods
  • Killed the Tisbee culture  ( @Eatfrenchfries - might reach out in January for possible starter culture)
  • Tigri culture insde the house (gallon jar) almost crashed, but restarted it
  • Tigri culture in garage (5 gallons) had adults, but was cold.  Restarted it - with added 50W heater

Before Harvest:

More than normal Evap.  I fill the jars to the top of the arrow.

Tigri adult pods harvest best in my 250um sieve

Tisbe culture didn't make it.   Their home is ready for January restart.  (holidays are busy)

5 gallon garage culture of Tigri now has a 50W heater.  (black cord out of top)

How about a little out of the box option.  If you're not comfortable drilling a 3rd hole so close, on the same pane of glass.  Switch to a different pane.   Can you drill your 3rd hole on the back (or side) of the tank, but still in the overflow box?

I'm growing Nanno and Tetra.   Easy enough for anyone to try.

Thanks for the great time everyone.  Happy Holidays!

(BTW, Andy did NOT get to keep this adidas white elephant package.  It was stolen from him.)

Thanks for donating the frog spawn corals for the raffle.  And driving all the way up from Roseburg, in todays crummy weather.

Someday, Christine might create her own ID/Name on pwnmas.  Maybe her name should be, TheBugerThatGoesWithFries

I'm wrapping white elephant gift this morning.   It IS reefing related, but it's random.    Hopefully someone will be excited.

• When: Sunday Dec 10 12:30 to 3:30
• Where: Lucky Lab Multnomah Village 
• 7675 SW Capitol Highway 97219

3 hours ago, SuncrestReef said:

On the Eighth Day of Giving my reef club gave to @marquee82 ... Auqa Gadget ChaetoMax 2-n-1 Refugium LED!

Congratulations.  That's one sweet looking light.

1 hour ago, reefrun said:

I love mine too! He’s such a fatty and already king of the tank.. the other tangs are following him around like the pied piper lol

My naso is like the big leader of the tank.  But my Chevron Tang acts like the boss.   I've kept 4-5 Chevrons over the years, and this one is the most bossy I've ever had.  He's fully matured almost looks black from his dark coloring.

for reference, from live aquaria.com