Red_Beard's 75 Tank Build

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Nice! I need to upgrade my ATO container from the 5gal bucket. Might use one of the 10g or 20g tanks I have sitting around, so I don't have to refill every 3-4 days. Good Idea on the hinges, might have to borrow free that, I know I've got some acrylic laying around.

 

[Red_Beard]

Nice! I need to upgrade my ATO container from the 5gal bucket. Might use one of the 10g or 20g tanks I have sitting around, so I don't have to refill every 3-4 days. Good Idea on the hinges, might have to borrow free that, I know I've got some acrylic laying around.

Lol, I was using a 5 gallon bucket for a while. But, it only held out for 4 days or so. Family vacation was coming up so I just chucked in my sanitized 10 gal QT tank. It has been great only filling up once a week and a half or so. I threw that hinge on Thingiverse for you Hinge.
I used 1/8th inch acrylic and my only beef is it is sagging ever so slightly already. I will probably end up bracing it up somehow... I’ll have to ponder that a bit.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Lol, I was using a 5 gallon bucket for a while. But, it only held out for 4 days or so. Family vacation was coming up so I just chucked in my sanitized 10 gal QT tank. It has been great only filling up once a week and a half or so. I threw that hinge on Thingiverse for you Hinge.
I used 1/8th inch acrylic and my only beef is it is sagging ever so slightly already. I will probably end up bracing it up somehow... I’ll have to ponder that a bit.

Well, sounds like a plan. We're going on a much needed vacation at the end of this month, going to need a bigger ATO sooner rather than later.

We were originally going scuba diving in Malaysia for 12 days.... Then the 'Rona hit, so now we're going to NY/Boston.

 

[Red_Beard]

Well, sounds like a plan. We're going on a much needed vacation at the end of this month, going to need a bigger ATO sooner rather than later.

We were originally going scuba diving in Malaysia for 12 days.... Then the 'Rona hit, so now we're going to NY/Boston.

That would have been awesome, I have been trying to talk my wife into going scuba diving with me for like 5 years now. I can definitely sympathize with the need for some RnR somewhere other than home, hope y’all have a nice relaxing trip!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

That would have been awesome, I have been trying to talk my wife into going scuba diving with me for like 5 years now. I can definitely sympathize with the need for some RnR somewhere other than home, hope y’all have a nice relaxing trip!

Haha, I know the feeling. I've been diving since I was a teenager. Started out using my old man's gear to clean the bottom of the boat in the summer time. Fast forward 20 years, tried getting my wife into it, but after she freaked out over some seaweed in her hair during a snorkeling trip I thought I hope was lost; then we got comped a "snuba" excursion in St Lucia... And she love it.

At that point, I wasted no time and got her certified before she changed her mind. That was 6 years ago; since then we've pretty much foregone birthday/Xmas presents and instead save up and do a dive trip a year. We've done Cozumel, Barbados (meh), Belize Agressor Liveaboard (best trip by far even though Blue Hole was a bit anti-climactic), Little Cayman, Big Cayman, Turks and Caicos. We still have a Sea of Cortez trip planned for 2021....fingera crossed.

 

[Red_Beard]

seaweed. Don’t some people pay extra for that at the spa? Lol. I haven’t been yet, not a lot of diving opportunities in the high desert. But it has always been a dream of mine. The last time we were down by the ocean in Mexico I couldn’t talk her into coming and didn’t want to leave her alone. I did get to do some snorkeling though and loved every minute. You will have to put up some pics if you get to go down to the sea of Cortez!

 

[Red_Beard]

:/ just spent an hour today harassing my female clown. I pulled the pair and put them in the sump last saturday thinking a change of scenery might encourage them to be hosted by my pair of RBTAs. She had other plans. I netted her out of the sump and ever so gingerly released her head first into the bigger of the 2 hoping all she'd have to do was touch it and nature would take over. I then had the thought "why do they live there in the wild? Protection. Maybe i should create some 'danger'." I then chased her and corralled her close to the nem for a solid half hour with my hand. Then used my glass scraper to try and spook her close when ahe wandered away. No dice. Clowns are harder headed than i am!

 

[Red_Beard]

Stick time, first acro went in tonight! I was worried it would streight up melt or something ridiculous but it's been 40 mins and it's already showing polyp extention!

Also on recommendation of the lfs i tried some benereef. Everything just about flipped inside out to get some. Took some pics to see what it does for colors.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Stick time, first acro went in tonight! I was worried it would streight up melt or something ridiculous but it's been 40 mins and it's already showing polyp extention!

Also on recommendation of the lfs i tried some benereef. Everything just about flipped inside out to get some. Took some pics to see what it does for colors.

Dude, that's awesome! What is it?

 

[Red_Beard]

This is a nice little frag of tricolor valadia. There is an LFS i love about 3 hours away and we were in the neighborhood so we stopped by. I asked him what a good starter acro would be and he pointed this one out. It is a frag off his personal colony.

 

[Red_Beard]

Time for another update!

Ive been helping out a friend that lives 5 hours away who has been building a house install his hvac system. Needless to say, ive been pretty busy and out of town a lot lately...
But, it has given me the opportunity to hit up my favorite fish/coral shop
I picked up two female lyretail anthias 3 weeks ago and one has already started turning male! It has been pretty cool to watch the changes. I have been a slacker and dont have any pics. It is blue now, maybe ill try to get some good ones tomorrow.
Cooler news, the wife went with last time and we picked up a few frags:

From left to right: the first one is one i already had the rest are new. tricolor valadia(had a month, still need to move to the rocks). Candycane, pink montipora setosa, dragon eye zoas(still crabby, just put on the rack) and my favorite, an ultra utter-chaos zoa

Again, it is late and bluesville in there but i wanted to share. I will see about getting better pics!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Time for another update!

Ive been helping out a friend that lives 5 hours away who has been building a house install his hvac system. Needless to say, ive been pretty busy and out of town a lot lately...
But, it has given me the opportunity to hit up my favorite fish/coral shop
I picked up two female lyretail anthias 3 weeks ago and one has already started turning male! It has been pretty cool to watch the changes. I have been a slacker and dont have any pics. It is blue now, maybe ill try to get some good ones tomorrow.
Cooler news, the wife went with last time and we picked up a few frags:

From left to right: the first one is one i already had the rest are new. tricolor valadia(had a month, still need to move to the rocks). Candycane, pink montipora setosa, dragon eye zoas(still crabby, just put on the rack) and my favorite, an ultra utter-chaos zoa

Again, it is late and bluesville in there but i wanted to share. I will see about getting better pics!

Love the utter chaos zoas. I just picked some up from a buddy of mine, along with hallucinations and CBs white zombie.

 

[Red_Beard]

Love the utter chaos zoas. I just picked some up from a buddy of mine, along with hallucinations and CBs white zombie.

I think i saw those pics in your build, they looked pretty sweet! Everything still happy and healthy?
Stuff is good here, just needs some tlc because ive been preoccupied lately. Also, had some wrasse drama. My first carpenters wrasse found a hole in my mesh when i added the anthia and ended up as cupboard jerkey. I lucked out and found another, but within an HOUR of adding him it jumped into the overflow and got stuck in the gate valve. I take it as a sign that i am not ment to have a wrasse yet. That or i should cover the overflow....

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Yeah, everything other than cloves seem well. Cloves, for whatever reason, have been closed up pretty much since I got them. I also got 3 torches now, went a little wild, but I think I'm done for now...or so my wife tells me.

As for the fish jerky, I can definitely relate. RiP diamond goby and flame hawkish.

I have a new flame hawkish, a powder brown and a sailfin in QT now and a Niger Trigger was added to DT this weekend... He's a little shy. I think this will be it for the foreseeable future.

 

[Red_Beard]

Yeah, everything other than cloves seem well. Cloves, for whatever reason, have been closed up pretty much since I got them. I also got 3 torches now, went a little wild, but I think I'm done for now...or so my wife tells me.

As for the fish jerky, I can definitely relate. RiP diamond goby and flame hawkish.

I have a new flame hawkish, a powder brown and a sailfin in QT now and a Niger Trigger was added to DT this weekend... He's a little shy. I think this will be it for the foreseeable future.

Sad deal about the goby and flame hawk. Really cool about the Niger Trigger! i would love one of those! need a bigger box though. you will have to post some more full tank shots when everyone is done in QT!

 

[Red_Beard]

Here is a long overdue Friday FTS. Its been a while since i have been home before sunset!

Foxy was visiting the spa getting worked over by the cleaner shrimp.

Got a little cyano popping back up, so i did a big water change. That looks to have helped a ton. Going to retest all my params tonight and see what is going on.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

How's the nem doing?

 

[Red_Beard]

Doing really good! I think the bottom one looks like it is getting ready to split again. I would be happier if the clown fish would pay more attention to it though.

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

Awesome about the split, sucks about the clowns. I've heard how much of a crap-shoot it can be to get them to host, and all that he goofy ways people try to get them to do it.

Think a BTA is the next thing on my list.

 

[Red_Beard]

Awesome about the split, sucks about the clowns. I've heard how much of a crap-shoot it can be to get them to host, and all that he goofy ways people try to get them to do it.

Think a BTA is the next thing on my list.

I love mine, totally recommend it!