FarmerTy

Congratulations on your engagement sir! Sometimes I forget there might be some more important things in life besides our reef tanks. [emoji57] Of all the conversations we've had back and forth on reef tanks, I forgot an important lesson I learned over the years that relates here. The magic formula to increase your growth rate on corals... keep your hands out of the tank! [emoji16] Glad everything is still looking good after the vacation. Better get cracking on that eventual upgrade. I know firsthand... once it's "our" house... giant tanks are harder to be had. It's easier to move a giant tank you already have stored in the garage into the house... then it is to go buy a giant tank. You're welcome! [emoji12]

They aren't the most photogenic right now. I ended up doing two Bayer dips over the break on all my acros because I saw what I thought were bitemarks. The dips didn't yield any dead flatworms though so maybe it's just my paranoia. You would be paranoid too if you had that many acros! [emoji40] The dips were well timed anyways as I have pretty much collected the stock of acros I have been wanting and just letting everything grow out now. I just reglued everything back on the rocks yesterday so there is a general ticked off theme right now amongst my acros. Here's the best I could do. I'll shoot some good ones in about a month when everything is back to normal.

It's that time of year... Probes calibrated... check!

No.... Jim! No more SSRs! [emoji30] In the spirit of even more laziness for my new year's resolutions, I took in my old 20# cylinder and swapped it out while I was swapping the 5# one. Might as well supersize my cylinder to match my tank while I'm at it. That's a 75-gallon sump for size reference. Please ignore the jumble of wires. That's still on my to do list. [emoji16] The best part is now I have a 5# tank ready and filled to hold me over when the 20# needs to be swapped... which at this rate is 2 years. [emoji41]

My Apex just told me it's time to swap the CO2 cylinder. Ever get the feeling you work for your tank?

Does that mean our reef tanks are cousins from another ocean? I really just go where my nutrients tell me to go. [emoji6]

Great picture DoMa! What are the two green alien eyes staring back at me?

What a steal! Those are one of my favorite palys!

I was thinking more Back to be Future for a movie reference... my quotable was from Feb of 2014! [emoji12] But if Biff went back in time with the Sports Almanac... and I went back in time just before that to stop him...

I shall forgive thyself lol. Ahhh I call the aquascape you describe... wait for it... "the horseshoe." That was actually my original plan but decided to do the collumns instead. I'm thinking I should have done the horseshoe but oh well what's done is done and I will just have to make it work with coral selection.The "horseshoe"... genius!

Btw, nice work on the resolutions! Who says before/after pictures are only for coral growth shots!

I haven't run a biopellet reactor for awhile now and my nitrates are at a reasonable level... 5ppm. Whether this is because of the block or not is unknown as I have upgraded tanks as well so all the variables have changed. If it helps, the directions say to place it in high flow if you want it to aid in nitrification (conversion of ammonia/nitrite to nitrate) or in a slower flow area for denitrification (nitrate to nitrogen). Mine is currently in a low flow area.

Do the same thing again. I'll ask if you've checked the impeller and you'll poke around it again and presto... it'll work again.

I've never owned a long spine urchin but I find the tuxedo urchins very reef friendly. Maybe not small frag friendly as they tend to walk off with anything not glued down. Glad the tank is doing better!

Alright, the jury is out. Skimmer neck cleaner it is!

Just two sensors on the floor and in my stand that will alert me through the Apex if water is detected. That way I can be notified immediately if there is a leak and the Apex will turn off the appropriate equipment to hopefully stall any issues until I can address them.

Alright! Another upgrade! Tank is looking good bud!

Very nice! It looked a lot like the main colony in the RCA showtank so I was just wondering. Good score!

Is that bright aqua-colored one from RCA?

It's starting to be a runaway train here for the skimmer cleaner. No love for safety here?

That makes me sad Don. Your tank was an inspiration and just shows what good husbandry practices and buying good quality stock can do. If I end up buying some frags from you, you're always welcome to a piece of it when you come back to the hobby.

Man, my wife gives the the frozen tundra of the garage or the sauna... depending on the season. I need to show her the last two posts from you guys.

My build is the epitome of slow. I think they'll start using it as a unit of measurement for time. My dog is about two Jeeperty tank builds old.

There's no exact plan I have. I just defrost it with my frozen food 2-3x a week and kill the pumps. I froze it into sheets in a zip lock bag and usually defrost about a silver dollar size of it to dump in the tank each time. Hope that helps.

I am indeed the laziest of reefers, which is why I'm working on turning my last two weekly tasks (emptying/cleaning the skimmer topping off my ato container) into monthly tasks. My insurance agent happens to be one of my best friends. I'll have to have another conversation with him about my tank. Thanks for the heads up!