SC Aquariums 50 gallon PNP

[Philipgonzales3]

Few more pics of the tank in no particular order because I'm just doing a batch upload from my phone.

My superman mushroom split or what not. There is two now, my leather hand also did the same AGAIN!

I almost burned the house down also lol. My skimmer got moisture where power plugs into the light. Going to be drilling some holes in the side of the stand near the top and use a dowel to suspend my light before it goes back into use.

I pulled the hydroids and then hit them with aipstasia X. It's a start at least. I pulled out the macro algea frag to get rid of the hydroids.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

So on account of almost burning my house down (not really that close but still), I decided I needed to come up with a better way to mount my light higher.

Started off by visiting all 3 hardware stores near me to get the supplies I needed. I'm not super handy so I don't own a lot of tools yet.

Started to drill the hole for the dowell and this is when I realised my $20 drillmaster drill my fiancee bought me wasn't going to cut it.

Went and bought this bad boy.

This drill made quick work of cutting the hole out. Was like slicing through butter with a hot knife.

I quickly learned that the inside and outside were not 100% the same. The drill didn't seem to care so neither did I. Although my first hole was a little oval but ehh you get what you pay for (talking about my lack of skill and it's free labor after all lol).

Couple of test fits. Everything went pretty smooth.

So now for the finale. Well this is where things went up in smoke...literally. you see my fiancee asked me If the light still worked last night. I said yeah sure, it still works. Well I had never tested it before. When I plugged in the light to the smart plug (which should have been off based on the schedule) the light literally burst into flames. I thought the house was as good as burned to the ground. Thankfully the flame quickly turned itself out and turned to smoke. Only was a flame for a second or two but definetly scary.

I chucked the smart plug and ordered a new light. Fingers crossed for no fires or smoke this time around!

 

[Barrett]

Yikes that is scary, at least it did it while you were right there

 

[DiscGolfRob]

Pfew, glad that you and everything else are alright!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Hopefully this is a little safer. Definetly open to any tips to make my setup safer. Not sure I like having the plug above the water anymore :-( lol.

 

[Barrett]

Hopefully this is a little safe. Definetly open to any tips to make my setup safer. Not sure I like having the plug above the water anymore :-( lol.

Tunze makes a waterproof refugium light.

Eco Chic Waterproof Refugium LED Light 8831.00

Waterproof | Efficient Recommended Spread: 14" x 8" The Tunze LED system is a full spectrum light that is super easy to mount. Mounting the light is done with a magnetic holder that can hold the light in multiple positions and orientations. The innovative design is fully waterproof and is...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Dangit, I found out a little late lol. I may just have to switch over to that though.

 

[Barrett]

Dangit, I found out a little late lol. I may just have to switch over to that though.

For now you could just put a bead of silicone around the plug to seal it up. Keep the end plugged into the light and put the a thin bead around the crack between the plug and the light and smooth with your finger to make the seal. Hot glue also works well for this too.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

A few pre water change pics from today.

 

[Barrett]

Everything is looking good

 

[Philipgonzales3]

So I woke up this morning and looked at the back of the tank first for some reason and said hey my nem moved. That's odd it hasn't moved in months... Oh crap there's two of them! Haha BTA finally split. 5th pic down is the nem a couple of days before it split. My torch is still continuing to grow.

Man with these two darn kids and our new dog (jack russell terrier) I barely have time to do my water changes. We also missed one female in my son's endless tank and are back up to around 30 baby and juvenile fish in there! I've had some die off of a few of the SPS pieces but at this point it is what it is. I don't have the time or the energy to try and keep SPS that are sensitive. At this point I want whatever corals are going to grow to keep growing. I want to get a few other pieces but the tanks going to have to get in line with my girls car maintenance, truck parts (of course), and just life in general lol.

 

[Why-Me]

Glad to see you're doing well and still around.
Reef looks great still.
I'm the same way, just want a nice looking growing reef that isn't high maintenance.
I've given up on sps for quite awhile, which is ok, I see so many on here and through friends' reefs I live vicariously through them.
Great update!!

 

[Hemmdog]

Looks good man!

 

[Sod Buster]

Hey guys! I didn't get buried in corn. I moved & have a newborn baby girl. Glad to see you all still going.

 

[Barrett]

Tank is looking good

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Man so I tried picking out most of the hydroids by hand and smothering the rest with Kalk paste (I even microwaved it to try to get it boiling) and did 2 or 3 applications.

Pics from today.

Pics from when the hydroids looked like just little stems. They were coming back.

After a couple applications. I was letting the green algea grow over it, hoping it would smother the hydroids out. Maybe I didn't wait long enough lol.

Not reef related but Ivan (my Jack Russell Terrier) got his last puppy shots today. This was a pic from his last visit a few weeks ago.

I also had my last cigarette over 24 hours ago. I am now and will continue to be a non-smoker!

Oh yeah also first full parameter check I've done in a while.

 

[Why-Me]

Great update.
Hydroids don't seem to be taking everything over but getting control will help get rid of it eventually.
I'm dealing with cyano currently, almost gone now, today we'll see when the lights turn on.
Sweet looking doggo he's cute.
Congrats on the quitting smoking, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I feel so much better, taste everything again, breathe better and deeper, not to mention the $$ I've saved.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Cheato for days. I should really find out if my LFS would take any. Took out about half after this pic was taken lol.

FTS - cleaned the glass today so used that as an excuse to take some pics. I only find myself cleaning the glass like once every couple of weeks.

Hydroids for days!

Aiptasia for days!

Haven't fed this guy in months. Maybe I should feed him soon. He is also responsible for taking out some of that coral in the background. He does not play well with others lol.

 

[mattzang]

looking good man

i am also being overrun by aptasia. i do aptasia x, they go away, a couple weeks later, there's 4 times as many

i'm working on an upgrade and i have acquired a milletseed butterflyfish and she's hanging out in my observation tank. so i found this tiny rock that had an aptasia on it, figured i'd toss it in the observation tank to see what happens. within a day or two of getting the butterfly the aptasia was gone i also tossed in some trimmings of palys and kenya tree and she has left those alone, so hopefully she'll be a perfect little butterfly and not eat coral, but will demolish aptasia

 

[Philipgonzales3]

looking good man

i am also being overrun by aptasia. i do aptasia x, they go away, a couple weeks later, there's 4 times as many

i'm working on an upgrade and i have acquired a milletseed butterflyfish and she's hanging out in my observation tank. so i found this tiny rock that had an aptasia on it, figured i'd toss it in the observation tank to see what happens. within a day or two of getting the butterfly the aptasia was gone i also tossed in some trimmings of palys and kenya tree and she has left those alone, so hopefully she'll be a perfect little butterfly and not eat coral, but will demolish aptasia

Let me know how that works out. I think the only real solutions involve removing the rocks, which I am too lazy to do. I am also afraid of any damage I may do so to the tank, corals, fish, etc. during this process but maybe that is the route I should go. For now I am going to keep on doing what I've been doing, expecting different results lol.

On another note I am on my 12th day smoke free if I counted correctly. Starting to think this grumpiness is just part of my personality! Oh well, what can you do! lol