Octo Lux 90

[civics14]

Still assuming. I'll give you a hint at how long I've been doing this... CPR refugiums, Iwasaki metal halide bulbs, deep sand beds, 19.99 yellow tangs... Do you remember Fish Store and More? Premier Aquatics? Cappuccino Bay Aquarium? Atlantis Aquarium?

Thats nice and yes I been around a long time back when there was Under the Wave and Aviarium were the hot fish stores in Gwinnett, way before Premier, Nemos, Atlanta Aquarium. So, yeah, I know a thing or two. But just cause you been doing it a long time doesn’t mean you don’t have room to learn.

 

[shimshimshinil]

Wait wow yellow tangs use to be 19.99

 

[mantisshrimp]

Thats nice and yes I been around a long time back when there was Under the Wave and Aviarium were the hot fish stores in Gwinnett, way before Premier, Nemos, Atlanta Aquarium. So, yeah, I know a thing or two. But just cause you been doing it a long time doesn’t mean you don’t have room to learn.

YOU'RE the one who connected years with knowledge. Not me.

 

[mantisshrimp]

Wait wow yellow tangs use to be 19.99

Yessir, for smalls. Most everything used to be much cheaper. Cleaner shrimp were 14.99

 

[shimshimshinil]

I know when cleaner shrimp were 15 but never knew yellow tangs got to 19.99

 

[mantisshrimp]

I know when cleaner shrimp were 15 but never knew yellow tangs got to 19.99

This was in the early 2000s, most all tangs were under $100

 

[civics14]

YOU'RE the one who connected years with knowledge. Not me.
View attachment 88604

It's just funny to me that you constantly trying to prove you are getting real progression by just throwing more and more frags in a tank. You assume polyp extension on a new frag after it settles in as progression. It's quite comical. I assumed you are new because veteran hobbyist knows better than doing some of the things you are doing, like throwing a clown tang in a 48g tank. But yeah, keep up with that flexing, cause its not really the flex you think it is.

 

[shimshimshinil]

This was in the early 2000s, most all tangs were under $100

I remember when tangs were under 100. I was just wondering when Yellow tangs were that cheap at 19.99. I remember when Clownfish were 7 dollars good times

 

[civics14]

I remember when tangs were under 100. I was just wondering when Yellow tangs were that cheap at 19.99. I remember when Clownfish were 7 dollars good times

Yellow tangs were at $19.99 before the Hawaii ban. I picked up 3 at that price when I started my last tank in 2018.

 

[shimshimshinil]

Yellow tangs were at $19.99 before the Hawaii ban. I picked up 3 at that price when I started my last tank in 2018.

dang those must have been heavenly times

 

[mantisshrimp]

It's just funny to me that you constantly trying to prove you are getting real progression by just throwing more and more frags in a tank. You assume polyp extension on a new frag after it settles in as progression. It's quite comical. I assumed you are new because veteran hobbyist knows better than doing some of the things you are doing, like throwing a clown tang in a 48g tank. But yeah, keep up with that flexing, cause its not really the flex you think it is.

Most people can't even avoid hair algae in their tank, I'm just sharing tank updates... Isn't that the point of a build thread? Also how does one measure real progression in a reef tank if not by coral growth? As far as the tang, I can always catch it out they don't grow to 12 inches overnight. The only one flexing is you mister big boy tank

 

[civics14]

Most people can't even avoid hair algae in their tank, I'm just sharing tank updates... Isn't that the point of a build thread? Also how does one measure real progression in a reef tank if not by coral growth? As far as the tang, I can always catch it out they don't grow to 12 inches overnight. The only one flexing is you mister big boy tank

LOL yeah, the big boy tank comment was unnecessary and was just to poke fun. You definitely have proved me wrong. I really didn't think you were going to make it to 6 months, so yeah, I was wrong and clearly you have experience in doing what you're doing.

What I found very insightful in other people's thread when I was starting my tanks was learning what OP's maintenance was like, what lighting & schedule, parameters, and challenges and how you overcame those challenges. I am not sure how you skipped all the ugly stage, but based on your past post you are having some challenges.

 

[Jikkermanccini]

Getting spicy fellers
Both of y'all have me beat by a couple years in hobby seniority (ten years this summer!) and both of you know what you're doing. There are many ways to skin a cat, so they say

 

[mantisshrimp]

LOL yeah, the big boy tank comment was unnecessary and was just to poke fun. You definitely have proved me wrong. I really didn't think you were going to make it to 6 months, so yeah, I was wrong and clearly you have experience in doing what you're doing.

What I found very insightful in other people's thread when I was starting my tanks was learning what OP's maintenance was like, what lighting & schedule, parameters, and challenges and how you overcame those challenges. I am not sure how you skipped all the ugly stage, but based on your past post you are having some challenges.

I don't mind answering whatever questions, but people have to ask me first lol. This tank build section is more of a show and tell type of deal than a Q&A forum I thought. The only challenges I'm dealing with at the moment are various pests I acquired from frags... Oh and the clown tang just started eating finally after a week hunger strike

 

[mantisshrimp]

Getting spicy fellers
Both of y'all have me beat by a couple years in hobby seniority (ten years this summer!) and both of you know what you're doing. There are many ways to skin a cat, so they say

I like spicy food , and yes there's more than one way. I prefer simple and low maintenance. Low fish load, no sand, no controllers, no reactors, no apps... The entire tank runs off one power strip. It's supposed to be a relaxing hobby , I don't want to have to fiddle with tons of equipment and fiddle constantly

 

[civics14]

I like spicy food , and yes there's more than one way. I prefer simple and low maintenance. Low fish load, no sand, no controllers, no reactors, no apps... The entire tank runs off one power strip. It's supposed to be a relaxing hobby , I don't want to have to fiddle with tons of equipment and fiddle constantly

I totally agree with you there regarding low maintenance. I don't use any controllers, but I do require running a reactor due to the fact that I grow a ton of sticks and dosing would add up really quick. Also, water changes aren't enough to cover replacing the amount of alk/calc my tank consumes on a daily basis. I'm assuming you're just doing water changes since you're not doing any dosing. How often are you doing that and wouldn't you consider low maintenance would be dosing something, I would think its easier than doing water changes? I only do a 10% water change a week to vacuum my sand bed.

I don't mind answering whatever questions, but people have to ask me first lol. This tank build section is more of a show and tell type of deal than a Q&A forum I thought. The only challenges I'm dealing with at the moment are various pests I acquired from frags... Oh and the clown tang just started eating finally after a week hunger strike

What kind of pest are you dealing with now? Have you started implementing any prevention method with all the new corals you continue to pick up?

 

[Jikkermanccini]

I like spicy food , and yes there's more than one way. I prefer simple and low maintenance. Low fish load, no sand, no controllers, no reactors, no apps... The entire tank runs off one power strip. It's supposed to be a relaxing hobby , I don't want to have to fiddle with tons of equipment and fiddle constantly

Same method here, though I consider sand as a major part of the filtration IME. I want my tank to be independent if I have to go out of town, no way I'm hiring a tank sitter haha.

 

[mantisshrimp]

I totally agree with you there regarding low maintenance. I don't use any controllers, but I do require running a reactor due to the fact that I grow a ton of sticks and dosing would add up really quick. Also, water changes aren't enough to cover replacing the amount of alk/calc my tank consumes on a daily basis. I'm assuming you're just doing water changes since you're not doing any dosing. How often are you doing that and wouldn't you consider low maintenance would be dosing something, I would think its easier than doing water changes? I only do a 10% water change a week to vacuum my sand bed.


What kind of pest are you dealing with now? Have you started implementing any prevention method with all the new corals you continue to pick up?

Since I didn't start with live rock I was doing 50% water changes weekly until I felt like the bacteria caught up. Since it's just corals , you can add them immediately to the tank. I don't care for fish much so it doesn't bother me to introduce them slowly. This combined with the fact that I'm bare button lets me skip the algae. I had the typical diatom bloom a few weeks in, but that goes away on its own within a week. Now I change 15 gallons every other week, I'm probably gonna start dosing something soon though because I have too many corals growing too fast.

As far as pests - Been manually removing vermetid snails plus added bumblebee snails. Emerald crabs wiped out bubble algae. Manually removing monti nudibranch/eggs, and also the asterina stars. I hate how those look. Pests are under control, smaller tanks are harder to keep but easier to fix.

 

[mantisshrimp]

Same method here, though I consider sand as a major part of the filtration IME. I want my tank to be independent if I have to go out of town, no way I'm hiring a tank sitter haha.

Sand is just a detritus trap imo. Most people put in too much and they don't vacuum it thoroughly either. Plus you have to deal with keep l keeping the flow from kicking it up. My last 4 tanks were all bare bottom and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[civics14]

Since I didn't start with live rock I was doing 50% water changes weekly until I felt like the bacteria caught up. Since it's just corals , you can add them immediately to the tank. I don't care for fish much so it doesn't bother me to introduce them slowly. This combined with the fact that I'm bare button lets me skip the algae. I had the typical diatom bloom a few weeks in, but that goes away on its own within a week. Now I change 15 gallons every other week, I'm probably gonna start dosing something soon though because I have too many corals growing too fast.

As far as pests - Been manually removing vermetid snails plus added bumblebee snails. Emerald crabs wiped out bubble algae. Manually removing monti nudibranch/eggs, and also the asterina stars. I hate how those look. Pests are under control, smaller tanks are harder to keep but easier to fix.

That's not bad as far as pest. You can just go fallow on montis for a bit if anything. I gave up the fight with asterina stars, I was manually removing it but gave up. I thought about adding some harlequin shrimps, but I did that in the past and while they eliminated every one I could see, the moment I sold the shrimps, they all came back. Unfortunately, the shrimps can't get into every nook and cranny the stars can.

I guess water changes aren't too bad on a smaller tank, I do 20g weekly, so 15g isn't bad at all. Long term, dosing is inevitable with a reef tank. I started with 2 part, then eventually got into calcium reactors and never looked back. Maintenance is fairly simple with clean out and refreshing media twice a year. Takes me about an hour now that I got the hang of it.

Sand is just a detritus trap imo. Most people put in too much and they don't vacuum it thoroughly either. Plus you have to deal with keep l keeping the flow from kicking it up. My last 4 tanks were all bare bottom and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I started bare bottom myself for the fact that sand traps a bunch of junk. However, I prefer the sand look and added it in slowly. Now, I do a thorough vacuum of my sandbed every week during my maintenance. As far as kicking up, if you pick the right sand and pump positioning, you will have no issue. I run 6 mp40s in my tank and have no issue with sand kick up.

Well good job on the hard work. Keep sharing!