John's SPS Shallow 90g Peninsula-Lagoon build

minus9 · Nov 1, 2020

Smite said:
Your tank is looking great!

I swapped from a RO skimmer to a Deltec about 6 months ago and absolutely love it. No fancy dc stuff like my RO but who needs it really?

I need to get some some clams, I've heard they are great for po4 consumption. That 25 lagoon + uns clam mangrove setup sounds cool. If I'm reading right each tank will step down from the next?

One day I WILL keep confetti alive, haha. Very nice colony you have.

Hey, sorry I missed this. I've been off of work since March and finally got a gig, but it's been 24/7 non-stop. When you're ready for the confetti, lmk and I'll cut you a big chunk.
I finally got a couple free days, so I tried to get as much done as possible. First order of business was replacing my Nyos with a used Deltec 1351. From the start this thing rocks in so many ways. Tuning it is so freak'n easy, it just doesn't compare. I've had it in the sump for minutes and it's already pulling junk. The Nyos is a beast of a skimmer and did a great job, but I feel like there are too many moving parts on that thing. It's going up for sale as soon as I clean it. I will most likely buy the 1000i and move the 1351 to my 25g lagoon build. But in the meantime, I'll let it do its thing.
Next week I'm going to make a lot of frags and sell all the stuff I don't want or need.
Hopefully I'll have enough from the skimmer and frags to buy the new Deltec? I also want replace my return pump with either the COR20 or the Varios 6? I would buy the Deltec e flow, but I just don't want to spend $900 on a return pump.

Perry · Nov 1, 2020

Freaking awesome tank, glad to find your journal

absolutely love it!!!

minus9 · Nov 1, 2020

Perry said:
Freaking awesome tank, glad to find your journal absolutely love it!!!

Thank you! I've been following your thread too. We stickheads tend to find each other eventually.

minus9 · Nov 1, 2020

Just a couple FTS pics with a couple semi closeups.

minus9 · Nov 1, 2020

I think I'm going to start dosing diy coral snow again to mitigate the vermitid snails and these darn barnacle/worms that have buried themselves in so many of my sps. They don't bother the coral, but they are an eyesore.

Perry · Nov 1, 2020

minus9 said:
I think I'm going to start dosing diy coral snow again to mitigate the vermitid snails and these darn barnacle/worms that have buried themselves in so many of my sps. They don't bother the coral, but they are an eyesore.

Man,
I gave up on them in my previous system, and really no harm at all. I had so many, I was concerned not to cut myself when doing maintenance, they were everywhere, lol. They did seem to expand after swiping glass or feeding, but a turkey baster is a good tool, lol. Quite sure they are helpful more than harmful

minus9 · Nov 1, 2020

Perry said:
Man,
I gave up on them in my previous system, and really no harm at all. I had so many, I was concerned not to cut myself when doing maintenance, they were everywhere, lol. They did seem to expand after swiping glass or feeding, but a turkey baster is a good tool, lol. Quite sure they are helpful more than harmful

Paletta talked about using diy coral snow daily on a recent live stream and had good results reducing their numbers. I use it occasionally, but never daily, so I might give it a go? My sps don't get bothered by the vermitids that much, but I have a few LPS that seem to suffer a little from them. I usually go in with angled forceps and start crunching away, but not daily. The vermitids are well fed in my tank.

Perry · Nov 1, 2020

minus9 said:
Paletta talked about using diy coral snow daily on a recent live stream and had good results reducing their numbers. I use it occasionally, but never daily, so I might give it a go? My sps don't get bothered by the vermitids that much, but I have a few LPS that seem to suffer a little from them. I usually go in with angled forceps and start crunching away, but not daily. The vermitids are well fed in my tank.

Lol,
I use AF Build, same idea. I use it for ph stabilization, and to also thwart cyano. Anecdotal yes, but no harm after dose, and water clarity improves, could it turn off vermitids, idk...

minus9 · Nov 2, 2020

First 24hrs of service and this Deltec is pulling its weight.

Perry · Nov 2, 2020

Can't go wrong with Deltec! Aquabee pump?

minus9 · Nov 2, 2020

Perry said:
Can't go wrong with Deltec! Aquabee pump?

I don't think it is, but I didn't really look. It's a black pump, but I forget if the aquabee's were white or black?

Perry · Nov 2, 2020

minus9 said:
I don't think it is, but I didn't really look. It's a black pump, but I forget if the aquabee's were white or black?

They are white I believe.. Either way, it appears to be skimming well

minus9 · Nov 2, 2020

Perry said:
They are white I believe.. Either way, it appears to be skimming well

Yeah, I thought they were white too, but agree, it's doing the job.

minus9 · Nov 3, 2020

Day 2 with the Deltec and I'm dumping the skimmate already. Unfortunately there's no way to put a drain line in the cup, as the cup sits below the top of my sump. I may have to get crafty with a new skimmate locker? Also, I need to buy the manual neck cleaner.

minus9 · Nov 5, 2020

So it seems like I have to empty my skimmer cup every two days, so I need to find a way to employ a skimmate locker soon.
In the meantime, here are a few pix.

The ultra violet starting to encrust a little. Courtesy of @Smite.

Pink table wrapping itself around the acid rain table.

Confetti

Tropical dreams

Milli and Florida

Smite · Nov 6, 2020

Man, your tank is on point! That confetti looks great and I'm glad to hear that RP UV is growing well for ya. The contrast of that piece is great.

Edit:
Deltec for the W!

minus9 · Nov 6, 2020

Smite said:
Man, your tank is on point! That confetti looks great and I'm glad to hear that RP UV is growing well for ya. The contrast of that piece is great.

Edit:
Deltec for the W!

Thanks! The ultra violet is a super cool piece. It's funny, cuz I run my lights on the whiter side during peak hours and it seems a little pale, but as soon as it gets a little blue light, you see more color (a hint of green, kinda minty), but those blue polyps are unreal. It's next to my Pearlberry, so there's gonna be a battle for attention at some point. Which is a good thing. I still need to mount your kablowee (shazam), which I'll try to do this weekend.
I would like to trade one of my tropical dreams mini colonies for something, just not sure what?
I'm really kicking myself for not buying a Deltec from the start, but that's the thing about this hobby, you never stop learning.
I just need someone to buy my Nyos so I can buy some others things that I want, like a COR20 and more fish. I want another Tanaka possum wrasse, I really miss my little guy. I want some Fusilier damsels, but they're proving to be elusive at the moment. I thought about some anthias, but I worry about my 3x3 footprint and not having a longer swimming area. But the one cool thing about most anthias, it's their unique ability to just stay in place and ride the current, which brings the food to them. I have plenty of flow and with my heavy feeding hand, they would be well fed.

Smite · Nov 6, 2020

oh and Deltec for the W

minus9 said:
Thanks! The ultra violet is a super cool piece. It's funny, cuz I run my lights on the whiter side during peak hours and it seems a little pale, but as soon as it gets a little blue light, you see more color (a hint of green, kinda minty), but those blue polyps are unreal. It's next to my Pearlberry, so there's gonna be a battle for attention at some point. Which is a good thing. I still need to mount your kablowee (shazam), which I'll try to do this weekend.
I would like to trade one of my tropical dreams mini colonies for something, just not sure what?
I'm really kicking myself for not buying a Deltec from the start, but that's the thing about this hobby, you never stop learning.
I just need someone to buy my Nyos so I can buy some others things that I want, like a COR20 and more fish. I want another Tanaka possum wrasse, I really miss my little guy. I want some Fusilier damsels, but they're proving to be elusive at the moment. I thought about some anthias, but I worry about my 3x3 footprint and not having a longer swimming area. But the one cool thing about most anthias, it's their unique ability to just stay in place and ride the current, which brings the food to them. I have plenty of flow and with my heavy feeding hand, they would be well fed.

I've blown through a few brands of skimmers before landing on Deltec. All did their job but the deltec is solid and straight forward.

That shazam look a like takes some time and size to come alive and start showing more than just blue. It wasn't until i had a nice multibranched little piece that I realized it was gonna be nice. Reef pets UV is pretty unique just off the base color, those polyps are killer too.

Always down for trades

Perry · Nov 6, 2020

Hey John, corals are looking great!!!
Great looking colors, and some nice colonies as well! Sounds like that Deltec is catching up on the system, I imagine it will aettle down at some point

minus9 · Nov 6, 2020

Perry said:
Hey John, corals are looking great!!!
Great looking colors, and some nice colonies as well! Sounds like that Deltec is catching up on the system, I imagine it will aettle down at some point

Thank you! It's been a long road with this tank, but I'm extremely patient and like the direction that reef moonshiners is taking me. I'm glad your tank is moving in the right direction too. It's amazing, all we have to do is provide these animals with the right conditions and they reward us in so many ways.
Happy reefing!