The Garden -- Rakies shallow SPS cube

markalot · Dec 19, 2017

Hi Rakie. Sorry to hear about the salinity losses. Mine has creaped up but so far no issues from bringing it slowly back down. Does matt have a thread over here as well?

drawman · Dec 19, 2017

markalot said:
Hi Rakie. Sorry to hear about the salinity losses. Mine has creaped up but so far no issues from bringing it slowly back down. Does matt have a thread over here as well?

I don't think Matt is on here but if I'm wrong I would like to see it as well

Rakie · Dec 19, 2017

markalot said:
Hi Rakie. Sorry to hear about the salinity losses. Mine has creaped up but so far no issues from bringing it slowly back down. Does matt have a thread over here as well?

drawman said:
I don't think Matt is on here but if I'm wrong I would like to see it as well

I don't believe he does -- Wrangy does but he doesn't post much here (or I don't get notifications on his thread for some reason). I have been getting a lot of notification issues. I usually don't see notifications for my own threads, I didn't get one for either of your messages I just checked the thread.

As for the Salinity, not the biggest issue. You're bound to have something happen eventually, I'm lucky I only lost a few pieces, and nothing too valuable.

Rakie · Dec 19, 2017

Just messing with the camera, trying to combat the new LED lighting / photo issues!

Rakie · Dec 23, 2017

Timeline in two pictures

Second Shot · Dec 23, 2017

What’s the timeline Rakie?

najer · Dec 23, 2017

Very nice.

Rakie · Dec 23, 2017

Second Shot said:
What’s the timeline Rakie?

3 months, Oops! Thought I put that.

Mirkus · Dec 23, 2017

Nice growth, that thing will be jam slacked in no time

Katrina71 · Dec 25, 2017

Wow! Nice looking corals.

Rakie · Dec 25, 2017

Mirkus said:
Nice growth, that thing will be jam slacked in no time

Katrina71 said:
Wow! Nice looking corals.

Thanks much! Everything has been coming along slowly. It always feels like time stands still in this hobby.. Awhile back I had some dinos, and it completely stalled everything for a good 6 months so It's pretty great watching things grow the last 4 months.

Rakie · Dec 30, 2017

THE EVIL BANGAII IS GONE

My bangaii has done the following;

- Bit the tail off my lunate (three times)

- Chased a midnight clown out of the tank (carpet surfing)

- Has kept my firefish in her bolt hole for about a year

- Was causing my Sunburst Anthias to not eat (was getting thin)

- Made my neon goby spend the first 2 months of it's life being hunted

- Claimed the middle of the tank -- anybody that came near the center of the tank was her mortal enemy

BUT, on the positive side... She was a beauty, exceptionally long streamers, great colors, etc etc. Guy who came by was positively surprised. The fish in my tank have never been happier. They're all out and about and carefree, and they're not getting chased when I feed the tank now..

I was getting worried about my Sunburst, the guy is pretty timid and he wasn't being allowed to eat.

DSC reef · Dec 30, 2017

Nice build and stunning pics! We had a banghai cardinal that turned ferocious on us too.

teller · Dec 30, 2017

I 100% understand you. I still have my bangai after 4 years, but always chasing my royal gramma, and even my clown couple.
I will never have a bangai, they are like demsels!

Rakie · Jan 1, 2018

Now running Radion for 3 weeks. Some colors improving, others not liking the change. It'll take more than 3 weeks to see the difference. Alk consumption is FINALLY ticking up a hair. While corals were getting used to my radion I had to turn dosing in half as consumption plummeted. It'll get back though.

In other news... I've got another tank in the wings. Not dramatically larger, but a 36x20x20 -- which feels huge to me.

GoVols · Jan 1, 2018

Rakie,
Looking forward to your new tank and Happy New Year!

bubbaque · Jan 1, 2018

Do you like the look of the radion over the t5?

Rakie · Jan 1, 2018

GoVols said:
Rakie,
Looking forward to your new tank and Happy New Year!

Thank you much my friend! I'm excited to watch your progress. it took way too long for you to make a build thread!

bubbaque said:
Do you like the look of the radion over the t5?

I will when I get the diffuser. For now, no.

I will say there's two things with the G4 that I really don't like... The UV and Violet (while awesome for the corals) visually suck. They give the entire tank a sickly purple hue which just.. horrible. Absolutely horrible. I hate it. Turning off the UV/Violet for just a moment everything looked amazing and SHARP. The hue is so over-powering you actually lose definition.

It's like the soft focus you'd see on a soap opera...

The UV and Violet are good, and no doubt useful.. So much so It's probably unwise to turn them down from 100% as every setting from radion has them at max... But... God it's nasty looking. If it doesn't hinder coral growth much I'll have to lower them both to about 50%.

revhtree · Jan 1, 2018

Nice job!

Rakie · Jan 4, 2018

So a quick and dirty cell phone shot -- Look whose out all the time? My first fish, the firefish.

This girl has been through 3 tanks, and a few bullies. Now that the mean bangaii is out, the whole tank is more relaxed.. Before that, the bullying went down hill, everything got picked on, and picked on something in return.

For the first time in about a year -- The firefish is out and about, and happy as a pre-bangaii clam.