Schg
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Posts posted by Schg
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Woof.
To be a baller...
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Just do it....it's only money!
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Nice! Love the little plate coral!
Thanks Isaac! I love it too, they are so cute when they are that small.
Just got back from a work trip, and decided to take some more shots of the tank now that some of those recent pickups opened while I was gone.New FTS, September 20th, 2017
My fire shrimp has begun making more of an appearance lately, instead of hiding in his cave all day:
Picked up some GSP from a local, two different kinds! Not sure if I will keep both together, but it does look kind of cool:
The armor of god-ish palys:
Look like blow pops to me, maybe need to color up a bit more:
And my frogspawn has been growing pretty steadily!
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Picked up a few things from some WAMAS members today, most of which were free!
Tiny little short tentacle plate coral:
Jack-o-Lantern Lepto:
Little purple and blue blasto:
Some pink-zipperish palys?
Some birds nest, we will see who it colors up:
I got more, but they weren't open when I took pictures, so I will post them later!
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This is going to be awesome, can't wait to see it come together!
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That light looks amazing, I'm super excited to see how things grow out under it. Tank's looking great, keep it up!
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Thank you! I can't wait to see either, the colors already look fantastic as it is.
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The light looks good. I agree, the metal plates look sleek. It'll be the top of the light anyways, not a lot of peeking up there.
True, although I will be hanging it about 6" off the surface when all is said and done, so you'll see it a little!
Light came in! I need to figure out my hanging situation, and fine tune the settings a bit, but I am seriously impressed! I am super happy with everything, and definitely feel that it was worth the wait. I'll post better pictures of the whole setup later, but here are two for now:
Also got a little Sunny D frag yesterday, which I've always wanted.
Have a few more goodies coming in this week, as well as some more coral.
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I'm back home!!
We had a great time at the beach, but boy did I miss my kitties and my aquarium! It feels great to be back home.
I didn't get any exciting pictures at the beach, I always forget to bring my camera with me.
The tank survived my absence, although I haven't seen my green banded goby yet, my red hornet zoa seems super pissed, and I lost one of my new palys. Oh well, should have a few new items this coming week.
In other news, my light shipped today! Dave Fason from NanoBox Reef messaged me saying that there was a slight problem with the acrylic for the top panels (not his fault), but he had found these metal ones for me to use temporarily while I waited for replacements. I honestly think they look pretty badass, and don't think I will even want him to send acrylic ones, but we will see!
I LOVE how the raw metal turned out, and how well it contrasts with the black panels. I feel like I have a truly unique light, and can't wait to get it. I don't know if it will make it this weekend due to the storm, but that is obviously way more important than anything I have going on.
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Dave Fason from NanoBox Reef sent me some progress shots of my custom Hybrid fixture. I should have it next weekend, but I wanted a nice raw industrial look, and this is how the body has turned out:
The top covers will be black acrylic, and I went with the 2 T5HO / 2 LED puck setup, although this fixture can support up to 4 of each if I want to expand later. For those unfamiliar with this light, find more info here:
https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/357361-nano-box-hybrid-pricing-pictures-info/ -
Thanks for sharing the pic! IMHO that looks really good. And when the rock in the back middle gets partially reduced per your plan, it'll make it even more assymetric - adding the illusion of even more depth and making it look even better. I think your tank is going to look pretty amazing as the coral starts to grow out.
Agreed! I may just break the rock up a bit and frag some of the oxides off, as no one wants to buy the whole rock lol. I had originally hoped for a kind of upper ledge on the left side to create a nice shelf, but I couldn't make it work how I wanted.
And thank you, I can't wait to stock it up a bit more, then let it grow.
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Really looking forward to the next set of pics of your aquascape too. I though your last pic looked good so am really curious to see the tweaks you made.
Here you go!
There is a fair amount of shadowing with the temporary light I am using, so it was hard to get a decent shot! The rock in the back middle is actually partially going away, once I manage to sell it. I like the oxide zoanthids on it, but there are way too many of them for my sized tank.
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I wanted to reduce shadowing.
It did a really nice job for both my lps and sps (a few pieces of easy stuff - monti cap, stylophora, setosa, digitata, etc.) ... and the Bluefish app is REALLY convenient. However, as expected when I purchased it, the fact that it was only 2 LED clusters set the stage for a fair bit of shadowing. I wasn't really worried about shadowing at the time though and wanted to go with a pure LED setup. Since pretty much all the other top-end LED competition for nanos at the time - Kessils, Radion, ect. - were two clusters as well, I went with the Nanobox because its form-factor appealed to me the most.
Now that I have a stable tank and decent idea of what I'm doing, I decided it's time to try 1 or 2 acros ... but felt I would need a wider spread of light and less shadowing for any new acros additions to all be able to thrive (all the real estate in the central high-PAR field of the Duo M was occupied).
Right around the same time, I saw the new GHL Mitras LX7 series lights and became a bit mesmerized by the idea of being able to have 3 clusters of LEDs running front to back on my tank rather than just one (e.g. 3 rows of 2 clusters rather than 1 row of 2 clusters). So I decided to switch over to a Mitras.
Since you're going with a hybrid model, I'm sure you'll get a fantastic spread of light from the Nanobox and not have to worry about shadowing.
On a separate note, the idea of using the corner braces was genius. Kind of wish I thought of that when I built my plywood stand...
Really looking forward to the next set of pics of your aquascape too. I though your last pic looked good so am really curious to see the tweaks you made.
That is pretty understandable, and the big reason why I started looking into Daves stuff in the first place. I didn't like the idea of LED only, and I started getting worried about what will happen after the Kessil started to fail (friend is going through that now). Once I had begun investigating hybrids, there was only one choice that made sense to me!
Those Mitras lights are badass though, how are you liking it so far? I think if I was going with a different tank layout I would probably consider other options, but I agree that I shouldn't have any shadowing issues here. Worst case scenario, I can always add another two bulbs in later.
And I have plenty of corner braces left over if you need any! I think I have a bag of like 15 leftover lol.
As for my aquascape, there were just a few spots that didn't seem like they would allow for good coral placement or grow out. I'll try to take a picture later today to show the latest iteration!
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I ran a Nanobox Duo Plus M over my 25g (24 x 15.5 x 15.5) for about 18 months. They are nice lights. I'm sure you'll love your hybrid.
Why did you get rid of it, just out of curiosity?
Decided to snap some shots of my recent pickups. I decided I am going to keep things on plugs for a bit while I determine where I want things to go, and while I wait on the light. Sorry some of these pictures aren't great.
Orange Rainbow:
Not sure what these are:
Galaxy People Eaters:
Sopranos:
Red Hornet:
Midas:
Goochster?
Magician:
And just a decent shot of my boring ole shrooms:
The Blue Hornet I bought didn't make it, but they are giving me a replacement. I also have Sunny D's, Blue Agaves, Armor of Gods, Purple People Eaters, Pink Krakatoas, and Utter Chaos coming soon. I'm buying / trading locally for a lot of this, so I haven't been paying a ton.
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So the whole thing is made with plywood? I guess the tank will be light enough that it doesn't need a huge block frame. I'm looking to build something similar, like 42-43" long, 15" or so inches deep, with a lip so I can put a ledge around it, and about 45" tall.
Yeah, I followed the ADA style stand idea, and it is made with Birch plywood leftover from an exhibit at the museum I contract at. It is sturdy as H-E-double hockey sticks, but I included 8 steel corner braces inside for extra stability. If you are going over like 30-35 gallons, I might say building a frame first and then skinning it would be more necessary, but this idea with ply would probably still do very well! Hardwood would be even better, but holy $$$
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Looking good. I'm curious to see how you like your light. I'm thinking about going in that direction, apparently Dave (I think it's Dave) does some good work, however, there's a nice price tag that comes with it.
Tell me more about your stand, did you build it yourself? It looks pretty stellar.
I had heard only good things about his stuff, and the only deterrent was price. I was able to set up a sweet deal with him, so I am definitely looking forward to it, but once I saw one of his lights in person I knew I needed it lol. I'll try to take some accurate photos once I get it, and try to document growth and color change.
As for the stand, I made it with leftover 3/4" plywood, and planned on skinning it with laminate. I am too impatient for some things, and couldn't wait, so I painted it instead. The paint actually turned out terrible, and I will need to redo it soon. I can always help with stand building if anyone needs it!
I have one of Dave's lights. They are awesome. I love the bluefish controller too.
Yeah, they are definitely amazing lights. Plus, supporting American made local businesses always feels good!
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No recent FTS since I am using a crap light for the time being. I ordered a custom NanoBox Reef Hybrid, which should be absolutely stunning!
Had a few recent pickups, including some nice zoas and palys, but I will get pictures of those later. For now, here are the new inhabitants:
The Green Clown Goby is super tiny, so I haven't really been able to get a good shot of him, but he is SUPER cute. He is probably less than 3/4" long.
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Really well done, i like the rockwork and the stand is really nice. Is all the plumbing (if any) above the stand?
Thank you! I have actually painted the stand since then, so it has lost a little bit of its allure, but I still like it overall. And no plumbing, since the tank is an all-in-one!
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Thanks! I have the a160we on my IM10 and I really love it. It has grown SPS for me without any problem. I'm hoping the hydra performs as well, maybe with a little more even spread.
Your quick/no cycle transfer has me questioning my process of starting over with dry rock instead of just transferring everything!
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So far so good with mine, 4 days in without any change in parameters. The tank I transferred from was two years old, and I only added dry rock to fill out what I needed. I have also been using Stability every day, just in case.
The Hydra26 is one of the lights I am considering upgrading to if I do move on from the Kessil, so you'll have to let me know how it is longer term!
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I saw your tank on Nano-Reef, I didn't even notice you were local! Tank (and stand) are looking great so far! I feel like the Hydra26 will be fine, I am running a single Kessil A160WE on my 25 lagoon, and it seems fine so far.
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Very nice! I like the IM tanks. That's a great footprint.
Love lagoons, looking forward to seeing how this goes.
Gorgeous tanks and cat
I've always loved IM tanks.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you everyone! I am very in love with the dimensions and build quality of this tank, I can't wait to see how it grows.
Sweet, I'm upgrading from a ~2 year old IM10 to the 25 lagoon as well!
I'll be following along so keep us posted!
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Are we twins? It sounds like we are twins! I'll have to follow along with yours as well!
I was able to transfer everything over this weekend, but took one last shot under natural sunlight before gutting the IM10:
The aquascape has actually changed a little bit since this shot, and I am much happier with it, but I didn't feel like taking another picture just yet:
I'm going to give the tank a little time to settle in, and make sure everything moved over okay before I bring in any new additions. I do want to start looking at my fish options for this larger tank.
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I was waiting to post a tank thread here, as I knew a (small) upgrade was imminent! For the past two years I have been slightly neglecting an Innovative Marine 10 gallon, partially due to not loving the dimensions, and partially due to an illness I had that kept me incapacitated for about 6 months. Once I was better, I began to tend to my reef again and really feel some love for the hobby, but my tank just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I have always loved nanos, and the dimensions on the new IM 25 lagoon immediately caught my eye, so I pulled the trigger last week!
I wouldn't say my 10 gallon was fully stocked by any means, but it was starting to fill in a little bit with some things I just wasn't that in love with, and a semi-fresh start like this feels like a great way to re-evaluate what I want out of my small reef. Here is the last full tank shot of my old tank:
I don't really have anything else to post yet, as the tank hasn't even gotten wet, but I expect to finish the stand tonight and (hopefully) get it wet tomorrow! The plan is to just do a straight up transfer with new sand and saltwater (mixing since yesterday), throw a little Stability in, and keep a close eye on it. I don't plan on adding anything else until I am sure the transfer went well.
Enjoy!
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The number of reefers in Howard county slowly increases.
Welcome back.
This is very true, hopefully we can find more!
Thank you again for everything yesterday, I really appreciate it more than you know! I was able to give a little bit of almost every frag you gave me to another Howard County reefer, so you kindness has spread even further already!
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I'll probably have extra after fragfest on July 23rd! Also have been meaning to frag up this gorgonian but having trouble drilling frag plugs. Nice to meet you! I'm Mari by the way.
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Nice to meet you as well! Definitely let me know what you have, I haven't had much of a chance to stock this tank yet.
I liked nano-reef for many years. For some reason I stopped visiting. I had been most active in their lighting forum that I found to be the most informative one around.
I know it isn't the biggest forum, but I have always found it to be a great community. I have always owned nano tanks, so it fit my needs very well.
I officially joined WAMAS, so I will see you all at the meeting on Sunday!
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Welcome fellow Nano-Reefer!
Heyyy! Great to see another Nano-Reefer! NR has been my go-to forum for so long, it's always hard branching out!
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Welcome back, Sam. Once you've paid your dues, the system will (should) automatically upgrade you. You'll then have access to the For Sale and other, member forums, where you'll be able to get started in earnest.
We have a meeting coming up in a few weeks, too. Hope to meet you there.
Thank you! I will try to do it this weekend, I've been crazy busy with work, and haven't had much time to get back on here. I definitely want to come to the meeting, though, so I'll have to pay my dues for sure!
schgr.cube's Innovative Marine 25 Lagoon
in Nano Tanks
What could this be?
More to come tomorrow!