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150g Indio-Pacific Biome


Sascha D.

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Sorry, nothing in my bag of tricks to do that with zoas. I have to manually cut and scrape to get them off the rock and I don't see how someone could do that in the tank with a 30" height on it as well. Maybe someone else will chime in with a mind-blowing technique!

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The Strawberry Shortcake is coloring up nicely.

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Rainbow Favia
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The Red Golden Torch is turning gold and losing the red. Where is the disappointed emote?
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It looks like that WP40 has stopped after about 17 months. I pulled off the housing and could not get it to start. From what I've read it is either the motor or the controller. The controller is receiving power, but I had had a problem earlier in the year with switching the modes. My guess is the controller has malfunctioned. I can either buy a completely new pump, or I can try a cable to connect the pump directly to my controller. The cable is about half the price of a new pump, but it isn't guaranteed to work. I think I should use my extra skimmer pump for the time being and think about it.

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It looks like that WP40 has stopped after about 17 months. I pulled off the housing and could not get it to start. From what I've read it is either the motor or the controller. The controller is receiving power, but I had had a problem earlier in the year with switching the modes. My guess is the controller has malfunctioned. I can either buy a completely new pump, or I can try a cable to connect the pump directly to my controller. The cable is about half the price of a new pump, but it isn't guaranteed to work. I think I should use my extra skimmer pump for the time being and think about it.

I run mine via my Apex. Maybe look into using your reefkeeper to run it as well?

I have an extra Jaebo controller you can have if you want it. I've had two pumps go out on me over time about the same way and neither I could get working again. At $60, I'll just keep replacing as I go. [emoji4]

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Reef Angel makes cables specifically for connecting the pump directly to the EB8. The RA can control the pump directly once it's connected to the EB8. I didn't think I had needed it before but I may want to look into it now. The cables aren't very expensive if that is the issue, but I won't know until I try a new controller or just buy the cable.

Thanks Ty! The due date is Friday, so I may just have to rig something temporarily. Life is about to get really busy. I brought up selling the tank the other day but that got shot down faster than I had expected. I'm not very confident that I'll have time for the tank in the coming months. unsure.png

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Congrats bud! It's almost time!!!

I would have gone all softie and LPS until the new baby turned 3. Having SPS is like having another baby!

I bought the reef angel cable and had Victoly modify it for the Apex. Worked well. The cable was of high quality too.

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Now there is an idea that I hadn't thought of yet! If I find that I can't keep up with it then I may have to do that. I already haven't tested my water in two months. I guess I'm still old school and I'm not used to this technology. Fifteen years ago I didn't test for anything. I watched the corals and determine the water quality by their health and reactions. Of course back then I wasn't trying to maintain specific levels above natural seawater. Anyway, we'll see how much time I have. I'm going to be playing it by ear until further notice.

In other news, that shortcake is looking pretty good! I posted an updated picture a few posts up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its been a busy week with the new baby. Things are starting to normalize and I got to get my hands in the tank while everyone was taking a nap.

First, I installed the frag rack into chamber two of the sump. I had originally predicted that I could full the tubes with water to prevent it from floating. Luckily it was a good guess and I didn't have to add sand or rocks to weigh it down.

Next, I installed the light above the frag section. I put one of each kind of frag into the new chamber; Tyree Setosa, Blue Trumpet, Zoas and a leather. I'm going to test these coals before I start to fully use the rack. Several corals are over grown and need trimming.

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Finally, I mounted the EB8 and the controller into the stand and cleaned up the wires. The easiest way I could think to get the wires off the ground was to mount a piece of wire shelving and then tie the cords to it. It may be crude but it worked pretty well.

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Update on the skimmer front. The Reef Octopus 220 that I was using had to be taken back to the owner. The pump was too loud for me and buying a new pump would cost more than buying the skimmer new.

I found a replacement Reef Octopus 220 but the owner mislabeled it and it was actually a lower model. After refusing to give me a refund I had no choice but to take a loss on the deal. A real nightmare that has turned me off of trying to upgrade for a while. I went back to my SCA 302 until further notice.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Week 104 Update:

It's hard to believe that it's already been two years! I've been thinking about this day for the last few weeks. There are so many things that I have learned with this tank; some good and some not so good. New methods, concepts and equipment were tested and put to the test. Likewise, different fish species brought joy into the house for adults and children alike. The important thing is that we learn from the experiences. After nearly a thousand posts and over 20,000 views, my sincerest hope is that someone, anyone, benefited from my trials and tribulations. God knows that I have benefited from the friendship and tutelage of many of you over the years.

Tank Philosophy

Every generation of aquarium hobbyists has a different philosophy and different technology available to them. When I first started in 1994, the "recommended" filtration for saltwater tanks was an undergravel filter. That was later replaced by canister filters and replaced again by wet dry filters. Back then I thought myself clever for using light timers and had never dreamed of the modern aquarium controller. I can control everything from my phone! Being a fan of technology, I had always tried new equipment after it had started to become more popular. I'm not brave enough to try something for the first time. When I arrived in Austin I had decided to try a practice of natural reefkeeping and began creating a lagoon. While I believe it was successful, it just wasn't a style complementary to my personality and I began adding technology to achieve the result I was looking for. I do not regret those early months of natural reefkeeping because it gave me a better understanding of who I am as a hobbyist. Something that we all need to discover in ourselves.

Equipment

A mere eight years ago it was uncommon to see something as simple as a media reactor in the common tank. Needless to say that technology has come a long way with the introduction of controllers, biopellets, LED lighting, and other marine innovations. Perhaps the more savvy hobbyists were using some of this equipment as it was entering the market, but I was happy with my protein skimmer and never ventured beyond that. With this tank I had tried to incorporate media reactors, calcium reactors, innovative lighting and an aquarium controller into the build. Needless to say that a valuable lesson was learned while using CO2 gas! Honestly, the amount of equipment that you can incorporate into a marine aquarium is mind blowing. The salt water mixing station is, without a doubt, much simpler and more efficient than previous methods that I have used mixing saltwater. I don't think I could ever go back to mixing saltwater in a bucket again! Personally, I did not see many tangible benefits to using a GFO media reactor. That could be that the reactor that I am using is less efficient than others or it could mean that my tank is consuming phosphate at a rate equal to the rate of production, but I don't think I will be as quick to add one in the future. The calcium reactor is definitely easier than dosing, but it also comes with it's own separate set of risks. One thing that I had not considered to be a problem, but was, is the space it takes to house a reactor. The body, circulation pump, and gas bottle take up a good amount of space that isn't available in a 48" footprint. Lastly, kalk dosing was much more involved than I had anticipated! I am not sure if I had posted it, but one day the kalk had cracked my plastic bottle and poured a gallon of solution into the tank. That had definitely surprised me!

Corals

I have kept many of the same species of corals in previous tanks. However, as I moved towards keeping a variety of hard corals I found myself in a new territory entirely. I had suspected that the new technology would reduce the amount of monitoring and conditioning, but I believe that I had been mistaken. Every type of coral and each individual colony is different and unique. Some were lost unexpectedly while others, even cousins and sister colonies, thrived. I had found myself gravitating towards hard corals during this tank build and perhaps that is where I found my greatest folly. The equipment failure was an unfortunate event, but I am confident that I would have large, healthy, SPS coral colonies if things had been different. Surprisingly, the LPS and soft coral colonies were largely unaffected and continued to grow despite poor water conditions.

Fish

I can honestly say that some of the best fish I have ever kept were in this tank. Previously, I was all about the large fish breeds, but this build has taught me the joy of some of the smaller specimens. The Powder Blue Tang was the most beautiful and rewarding tang that I have ever kept. This tang was challenging to keep, but help a constant reminder of why I participate in this hobby. One fish that I was on the fence about was the Pearly Jawfish. I had previously thought the tank was too deep and I would have to constantly target feed this fish. I am happy that I was wrong! The Pearly Jawfish became one of my absolute favorites among all marine fish and I hope to keep another one in the future.

Future Plans

With this joyous reflection also comes change. My family and I have decided to move into a new home. I have been faced with a tough decision; move the tank and hope for the best or break down the tank and begin anew. After a long and difficult decision making process I have decided to break down the tank and sell off all of the fish and corals. Personally, I would rather begin from scratch than lose a fish or coral in the move knowing that I could have prevented it. I haven't decided whether I will sell the tank and equipment and it largely depends on the new home and the space available to me. As this build comes to an end I am not saddened by the close of a chapter, but excited as a new chapter begins. I hope that all of you have enjoyed following along as I have enjoyed displaying my journey for the world to see.

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