Etmanning's 90g Build

Haus · Feb 25, 2018

Any concern having that on the sand with Dave the conch trucking around? My fighting conch bulldozes whatever I have on the sand unless I place it on a small rock.

OiA · Feb 25, 2018

Good point! I forgot about that conch... hmm then no go on sand bed for sure, as they can get very delicate once they buff up. I guess no other choice but on a rock, these guys can open up pretty big once they are settled and happy. So aim for a spot thats relatively flat and have plenty of room. Good luck mate.

etmanning1 · Feb 25, 2018

Haus said:
Any concern having that on the sand with Dave the conch trucking around? My fighting conch bulldozes whatever I have on the sand unless I place it on a small rock.

I totally didn't even think of that, Dave backed himself into the left corner today and couldn't get out so I totally forgot that he would run right over this thing given the chance. I did help him get out of that spot so he might even be on top of the coral right now, I wouldn't know

Seems like finding the proper place for this coral could be pretty difficult for me. Maybe placing it in that kind of alcove on the left island that goes into the sand? The one where that new leptoseris is on top of?

@OiA can you/ should you glue these to the rock? I'm not sure it will stay in that spot if not glued down... hmm....

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OiA · Feb 25, 2018

That's a pretty decent spot as long as the flow is low. You can glue them, there a small stem on the underside that could act as an anchor.

Haus · Feb 26, 2018

I set up a small area in the sand where my main rock work blocks the conch from getting to so I can keep some coral on the sand safely. You can consider that-can be a nice contrast to the open sand bed elsewhere.

etmanning1 · Feb 26, 2018

Haus said:
I set up a small area in the sand where my main rock work blocks the conch from getting to so I can keep some coral on the sand safely. You can consider that-can be a nice contrast to the open sand bed elsewhere.

That’s what I was thinking of doing. I looked this morning before the lights came on and the coral was all puffed up & happy and Dave was nowhere to be found (which is pretty impressive considering his size)

The coral seems good there so I think I’ll do just that and make a little barrier that Dave can’t get past.

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Haus · Feb 27, 2018

Yeah, depending on how deep your sand bed is it could have burrowed down to rest. Mine covers itself about 3/4 of his body depth so I can still find it, but it will remain motionless for hours or even a few days at a time. Then I’ll find it out and about sifting the sand again. Cool creature if you plan ahead for the potential bulldozing.

etmanning1 · Mar 1, 2018

Doing a water change right now for the first time in >6 months [emoji35]

I used a bunch of super glue and epoxy to affix my newer frags a few days ago and the skimmer began to go crazy and everything has looked pretty angry for the past 36 hours so I finally gave up and broke out my (very dusty) buckets

While this annoyance is going on however, I’m going to take the time to update everyone on my latest project for my tank : a DIY T5 retrofit and new lighting rack. I tore apart an old quad bulb T5 and took out the internals and will be adding them to a new rack I have designed that will be made of aluminum “L” tubing.

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diana a · Mar 1, 2018

will you be adding the chinese black boxes to the t5 setup?

etmanning1 · Mar 1, 2018

diana a said:
will you be adding the chinese black boxes to the t5 setup?

Yep! I was planning on sandwiching the LEDS between the two sets of lights. I drew a few plans up that better illustrate the design, I'll post them on here when I get a chance.

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DangerDave · Mar 3, 2018

Yeah man, our boy Dave is a one shell wrecking crew ain't he? Can't say I didn't warn ya

etmanning1 · Mar 3, 2018

DangerDave said:
Yeah man, our boy Dave is a one shell wrecking crew ain't he? Can't say I didn't warn ya

Haha he is definitely headstrong. I'm really enjoying having him though, adds a whole other level to the diversity within my system and is quite fun to watch. He's not bothering me for once right now as he's buried himself to presumably grow more shell.

Updates to come tomorrow regarding the lights, Reefcleaners order, and new corals!!!

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etmanning1 · Mar 4, 2018

Updates!

As most of you know, there was a group buy at reefcleaners last week and I managed to pick up a bunch of new CUC members including hermits, ceriths, and some nassarius snails. I also purchased a portion of caulerpa and some pods to start increasing my population for a mandarin eventually.

@JRWholer also got a reefcleaners order and when he came to pick his up was extremely generous and brought me some coral!

Huge monti cap ( and its scrolling!!)

Green stunner chalice

Acropora (don’t remember the name)

And this cool photosynthetic gorgonian

Thanks again James!

Then today I took a trip to absolutely fish in Clifton. The place is huge. Reminds me of trop. And picked up my next two fish additions. They’re going into quarantine (Diana would be proud)

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Mrx7899x · Mar 4, 2018

Tank is starting to fill up with coral looks good. Are you dosing alk, calcium and magnesium

etmanning1 · Mar 4, 2018

Mrx7899x said:
Tank is starting to fill up with coral looks good. Are you dosing alk, calcium and magnesium

I use 1/2 teaspoon of BRS kalk in my ATO to account for CA and ALK losse currently. Need to increase soon though.

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etmanning1 · Mar 4, 2018

BTW, Can anyone tell what those 2 fish are?!?

I also found my old thread from my previous build and oh boy have I improved...

This was in the ugly stages of that tank and it did end up Turining out pretty well but still...

jmags080307 · Mar 4, 2018

etmanning1 said:
BTW, Can anyone tell what those 2 fish are?!?

I also found my old thread from my previous build and oh boy have I improved...

This was in the ugly stages of that tank and it did end up Turining out pretty well but still...

Gonna guess the one on the left is a tang? Tomini maybe.

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freshoffthegrill · Mar 4, 2018

Looking good, nice score on the monti cap and acropora.

etmanning1 · Mar 4, 2018

Updated FTS:

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diana a · Mar 4, 2018

OH MY GOSH on so many levels! Very proud of you on the QT

What a score on that beautiful monti cap! The tank looks so wonderful. Nice cleanup crew.