Our Reefing Addiction

Daddy-o · Dec 30, 2019

Busy afternoon. Got the 40 gallon cryptic tank completely running. Added rocks and livestock. I had to remove all the rockwork from the old tank to get the serpent stars out (one is at least 20 inches across) and that released a major storm of old rotten poo into the system. All 4 tanks looked like they were filled with milk. Got the last of the crap siphoned out and the 100 or so frags in the tank laying on the bare bottom. Skimmers are both working overtime. Getting close to adding the second 40 gallon breeder into the system to hold frags.
Cheers! Mark

Daddy-o · Dec 31, 2019

ludnix · Dec 31, 2019

Amazing tanks Mark, your real Steward of the hobby! I'll be following alog, thanks for sharing!

Daddy-o · Dec 31, 2019

ludnix said:
Amazing tanks Mark, your real Steward of the hobby! I'll be following alog, thanks for sharing!

Thanks but I am just a hobbyist with an obsession!

Daddy-o · Dec 31, 2019

On of our little stars:

Daddy-o · Dec 31, 2019

Did a little shopping today:

2 Cleaner Shrimp
Lobster
2 Coral Beauties
Sea Hare
Chalk bass
8 Chromis
And then I got 6,000 pods in the mail - Yay!!
Happy New year!!

Salacious Crumb · Dec 31, 2019

Howdy mark and Peter. Good to see your progress! Coral reefer mike from BAR here.

Daddy-o · Jan 1, 2020

Daddy-o · Jan 2, 2020

Daddy-o · Jan 2, 2020

Looks like the new Cleaner Shrimp is giving Donnie the 4 foot long Moray a dental checkup

Daddy-o · Jan 2, 2020

The reefs are all running good with the exception of the eel tank. Nitrates are back at 100 again. They were at 100 and we added a Tunze 9002 hang on skimmer (no sump on this reef) They dropped to under 40 for a while but that darn skimmer either overflows or produces nothing.
Cheers! Mark

Daddy-o · Jan 3, 2020

Did a little more fish shopping for the tank that we just set up. The reef has large serpent starfish so we wanted some on the not expensive side and we want a lot of fish since this reef is plumbed into the SPS and we need more poo. Ended up getting the first 11 fish for the tank - all Damsels. Got some Talbots, Azures, and a Fiji Devil. I will give the tank a month or so to level out and then add another 10-15 fish to our reefs.
Cheers! Mark

Daddy-o · Jan 5, 2020

Got the old nasty plexiglass frag tank out and a shiny new 40 gallon breeder drilled and installed on the left side of my system. The garage system is now a 40 gallon breeder, 60 gallon display, 58 gallon display, and another 40 gallon breeder all plumbed together into a 30 gallon sump with 2 skimmers.
Cheers! Mark

Daddy-o · Jan 5, 2020

Got the first frags into the tank - Yay!!
Still waiting on new heaters and need to organize a bit.

Daddy-o · Jan 7, 2020

Still waiting on heaters but managed to get more frags into the new tank. I think I have about 70 into the tank so far (and more than 100 that I still have to move) Trying to eradicate the Asterina Stars as I go 'cause they have taking a liking to my Zoas. Using a 165 watt Mars Aqua LED and a 2 bulb - 39 watt actinic T5 to light the tank. Since the LED is a little short for a 36 inch tank, I will try to keep the light hungry corals directly under it.
Cheers! Mark

Daddy-o · Jan 9, 2020

Made good progress on the 100 nitrates on the eel tank. My friend Edgar gave me a nice skimmer that after less than a day is pulling good skimate. I doubled up on the water changes and added a low tech doser for dosing vinegar to feed the bacteria that we are adding. These water bottle drippers are great and it will take all day to drip out the contents of the bottle. And they are CHEAP!!