Ron Reefman's new 90g build

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I did a 20g water change for my 90g DT and a 50% water change in the RFA tank. But that tank got old DT water because it still has Fluconazole in it (although 3 weeks old). I've had some minor issues with dinos and I'm hoping the Fluconazole will help.

Today I'll do more playing with the dry rocks I have in hopes of designing a rockscape I can live with. Also a friend in the Reef Squad is sending me some 'spare' Marco Rocks he got recently and didn't use.
 
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I got more Marco Shelf Rock from a friend here and today my 'extra' box of salt arrived. I'll do a 2nd 20g water change on Saturday and save the old water to store corals, livestock and rocks in during the rockscape rebuild. That will happen after I know the Tropical Storm Eta is safely out of my way. I wouldn't want to be in the middle of this and have a power outage due to the storm.
 
Today I start the prep work for my rockscape re-build project. Get water in spare tanks and Brutes so I can sort out corals, fish, critters and rock. Get the Dremel, tile saw and a hand grinder with a cutting blade ready. Get the drill batteries charged and masonry drill bits sorted. If all goes well, I might even start the tear down this afternoon.

One last look at what I have now:

20201101_120341 R1.jpg


20201101_120356 R1.jpg


20201101_120416 R1.jpg
 
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Tidal Gardens
SMSREEF said:
Hey Ron,
For some reason the pics you posted are not showing up for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know. I've done them again and hopefully they work now?
 
Tropical Storm/Hurricane Eta has been raising a little stir here. So I waited until things calmed down about 2:30pm. If my wife had gone to painting class she'd just be getting home now. The only bridge to Matlacha Island was closed.

image.png


Here is the causeway/bridge to Sanibel.

image(1).png


This is a 70mph TS/Hurricane that is 120 miles off shore heading north.

I got about 30% of the corals out of my DT. I'll do the rest tomorrow. Here is how I started. The 10g and 5g tanks get smaller rocks with coral.

20201111_094436_resized.jpg


This 20g tank will get the better corals.

20201111_094517_resized.jpg
 
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Wow! Have I ever been neglectful of my Build Thread! My apologies.

The short version is, I have the new shelf rocks in and most of the better (colorful and fluorescing) in along with 30+ Rock Flower Anemones. The old RFA breeding tank has been emptied and cleaned out. I'll probably set it back up as a frag tank.

That's the short story. If you are really interested in the process, I'll look over my photos and notes and start telling it in the next post!
 
Ecoscape Reef Rock
I just had to pull my Copper Banded Butterfly from my DT. I've had it for several months and it's been a good resident and eating frozen food. I've been a happy camper.

Then a few weeks ago I did a new rockscape and moved 30+ RFAs out of a small breeding tank into the DT. I've noticed a few pvc end caps that housed RFAs up partially out of the sand and didn't know why. I assumed they were being pushed up by something under the sand, like a sea cucumber. However, yesterday I saw the CB nipping at a RFA's tentacles and it pulled the end cap up out of the sand.

I hate having to make the decision to keep the CB or the RFAs. But the 30+ RFAs are much more valuable, much more colorful and easier to care for than the CB. Since I don't have any other big tanks, the CB has to go. I'm so disappointed!
 
That’s a hard choice. CBB is my favorite fish. I wish my tank was slightly bigger so I could have one.
but yes, your RFAs are stunning. Tank is stunning because of their color, so I understand why you chose your RFA parents and babies.
 
I had always wanted a CBB. Then a friend in the Reef Squad decided to shut down his tank due to a major remodel in his house. So I got his CBB. And it was fine in my tank for a couple of months. It ate frozen food well and was a good citizen.

But then I did the new rockscape and moved all the RFAs in. At first, no problem. But in time I started noticing a RFA missing from it's end cap and not to be found in the tank! It took a few days to catch the CBB doing the damage. And it was hard to decide to let it go. But the RFAs and a colorful tank are more important to me than fish.

It's too blue and no filter, but here is the current look of the tank. And I have 20+ frags of new corals sitting in the frag tank, growing out and waiting for me to get them mounted and in the tank!

FTS 2 Dec 30 2020.jpg
 
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After a lot of playing with different cameras (Nikon P900, Olympus TG1, Samsung S20 cell phone and a Go Pro) and playing with some different yellow filter material, I just can't seem to get the look I want.

So, yesterday my wife and I were playing around with features on our cameras and I came across a White Balance feature I was unaware of on my P900. It has several white balance levels you can choose from (like most better cameras). And even the ability to pick your own white balance. But there is this Auto Preset Manual White Balance. So I did a test.

This is what my tank looks like to the camera with all the 'normal' settings and no filters and the tank set with all blue leds.
DSCN3465.JPG


And then I did the Auto Preset White Balance setting while the camera was looking mostly at the sand. Then I pulled back and took this photo using all the same original settings except for the new white balance and still NO YELLOW filter and the tank still lit with all blue leds.
DSCN3479 R1.jpg


I think if I do some adjustments to the exposure and the amount of blue led light I can get it even better.

And the reason for wanting to take a good photo is because I'm planning on doing another change to the tank(s).

The stand has the 90g DT at the left end and a 16g frag/holding tank at the other end. I just refurbished the 40g tank I built about 4 years ago. I plan to use that 40g to replace the 16g tank. The new 40g will be both a frag & holding tank, but it will also be a 'local' tank. So the RFAs, gorgonians and a few other local corals will come out of the current 90g DT. The space freed up in the 90g DT will get used by doing some (nothing crazy) changes and additions to the rockscape and doing more sps and lps corals.

The new 40g set up will just use a HOB filter system and a small in-tank skimmer. The local stuff that will go in there is far more accustom to water that isn't high end reef quality.
 
Ron - I always get so inspired by these posts! Thanks for sharing!
 
Today I started to set up the used chiller I bought 2 years ago and just tested last week. But I found I couldn't get the 3/4" threaded pvc plug out of the gate valve in my manifold! So I've ordered a DC return pump that can do up to the max the chiller is rated for and I'll put it in the sump and use it just to feed the chiller and have the return in the sump return pump chamber. The pump is due in 3 days... as always, great service by Reef Breeders.

Tomorrow I'll start prep for moving the little 16g frag/holding tank and replacing it with my old 40g cube. There is way more work to this move than you would think.
 
The chiller project is still in the works but holding.

The 16g tank has been moved to my reef room (a spare bedroom) and replaced with my old 40g DIY cube.

20210407_150757.jpg
 
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