My Big Beautiful Budget Breeder Build

[Fudsey]

That Koran is tiny if I'm seeing it

 

[bubbasguppies]

Bonus points.. anyone spot the Koran Angle in the above retro picture

Above and to the right of the barnacles....almost dead center?

 

[najer]

Just in, it had a good blast in front of the RW 15 to blow any crud off, thinking about polyps!

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Well done! looking good so far great to see bargains and sales on equipments. You can have the state of the art equipment for a great looking tank, but to me you can get similar great looking tanks on a budget

 

[Retro Reefer]

That Koran is tiny if I'm seeing it

Yes.. size of a dime

Above and to the right of the barnacles....almost dead center?

Nice! I didn’t think anyone would ever spot him because he’s so tiny.. he held his own with all those damsels Note the air bubbles rising in the back of tank.. talk about salt creep!

 

[Retro Reefer]

Amazing tank.

Thank you! Welcome to my build thread.

Well done! looking good so far great to see bargains and sales on equipments. You can have the state of the art equipment for a great looking tank, but to me you can get similar great looking tanks on a budget

Thank you.. I agree completely and this has always been my philosophy, all the money or fancy equipment in the world won’t guarantee you a successful tank. IMO research, patients and careful observation are 90% of reefing, the other 10% is luck

 

[Retro Reefer]

Just in, it had a good blast in front of the RW 15 to blow any crud off, thinking about polyps!

Wow.. Love it! Looks very healthy.. Purple is on my list =)

 

[Pedal Dangit]

Eye opening specific gravity readings.. just received my new Hanna salinity tester and after calibration and taking a few measurements Im shocked at the results, I have a old hydrometer and a refractometer that I have been using for years which seemed accurate enough and for the most part they read practically identical however according to the Hanna my tanks are running 2 ppt low with readings around 32.9 ppt not the 35 ppt my other testers had indicated. My first thought was the Hanna had to be wrong but after referring to IO’s weight to volume ratios and carefully weighing salt and measuring out water to produce a 1.022 sg @ 77 deg calibration solution I’m now realizing my other testers are wrong and I have been running my tanks about 2 ppt lower than I thought no wonder I had been struggling to get Mg and calcium up! The Hanna is super easy to use and should simplify keeping my parameters in line.

Just started reading your build again and I had to share my same exact experience. I had TWO different refractometers reading close to the same that I thought were calibrated and trusted. I swore the new Hanna tester was wrong. However, I carefully re-calibrated both refractometers and found I was also WAY off on my salinity. I thought it was 1.026 when actually it was more like 1.022. Things in my tank started looking better after I slowly brought up the salinity.

Great looking tank and love the theme of less expensive thrills. I have also tried to keep a small budget and I shopped used for some items when possible. I traded an old bike for a Radion LED and I found an Apex lite local for $100 in my build.

thumbs up! nice work

 

[Retro Reefer]

Just started reading your build again and I had to share my same exact experience. I had TWO different refractometers reading close to the same that I thought were calibrated and trusted. I swore the new Hanna tester was wrong. However, I carefully re-calibrated both refractometers and found I was also WAY off on my salinity. I thought it was 1.026 when actually it was more like 1.022. Things in my tank started looking better after I slowly brought up the salinity.

Great looking tank and love the theme of less expensive thrills. I have also tried to keep a small budget and I shopped used for some items when possible. I traded an old bike for a Radion LED and I found an Apex lite local for $100 in my build.

thumbs up! nice work

Thank you! This reminds me I haven’t calibrated my Hanna in a while

 

[Retro Reefer]

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Will be 1 year old in October

My LFS has 10 frags of the same magenta goni. And I'm stopping there after work today to grab LRS and Frozen cubes. I think u just sold me on getting one.

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Oh my...

 

[Retro Reefer]

My LFS has 10 frags of the same magenta goni. And I'm stopping there after work today to grab LRS and Frozen cubes. I think u just sold me on getting one.

It’s one of my favorite pieces =) bet your looking forward to a long weekend

 

[Retro Reefer]

Don’t mind algae on back glass..

 

[Retro Reefer]

 

[RichtheReefer21]

It’s one of my favorite pieces =) bet your looking forward to a long weekend

I went yesterday and they all sold they only had a green one left. Passed on it.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I went yesterday and they all sold they only had a green one left. Passed on it.

Murphy’s Law right I had a green one that was doing great until my Mexican turbo pushed my Acan Echinata into it one night, the resulting carnage would have made a homicide detective cringe.. lol

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Murphy’s Law right I had a green one that was doing great until my Mexican turbo pushed my Acan Echinata into it one night, the resulting carnage would have made a homicide detective cringe.. lol

Is that event in this build thread somewhere?

 

[Retro Reefer]

Is that event in this build thread somewhere?

No I didn’t document it, got up one morning and it was just a ball of slime stuck to the side of the Echinata.. said a few choice words, pulled it from tank and moved on.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Another pest crab.. this time I can blame myself :mad:

I have had emerald crabs in just about every tank I have owned and never had any real issues with them, well one of the crabs out of the last batch I just put in has went rogue!

I noticed earlier this week he was feeding near the base of one of my new across and later that day I realized there was flesh missing from around the base of that piece.. I just assumed it was accidental damage from him feed on algae in that area.

Fast forward a couple days and I wake up to damage on my big caulastrea colony and I also noticed what appeared to be a small rip in my scoly and upon closer inspection of the tank I also see a small “ear” off of my pavona laying in the sand :mad:

Caught in the act! Today I get up early and shine my flashlight into tank and one of the new emeralds is on my ASD venom, I was able to quickly reach in and grab it but after removing him and inspecting the tank I see a pea size section of missing flesh right where he was sitting on my venom ;Muted;Rage:mad:

At least I was able to remove it from the tank, the caulastrea healed in a few days and at this point I can’t see any remaining damage on the scoly but I’m worried about my acro’s and if the flesh will regrow or if I will need to cut them