Cully's Double D's

[Capt_Cully]

Jeremy, 6" from the wall. Just enough room to wedge my fat a$$ between the wall and giver the ole reach-around.

Please ignore the dust. Fall out nuclear waste dust from our floor/kitchen remodel.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

kewl shots

kewl shots

I looped my MP60 cords around a drain line, too.

So... what's your opinion of those Vortechs?

 

[Capt_Cully]

Aesthetically, you can't beat the wireless look. Keeping the wet side clean using vinegar every 6-12 weeks is a must. Logistically that's a nightmare at the back of my tank. It's a 2 man job and one man is going to get wet up to his nipples.

Flow-wise, the gyre is all its cracked up to be. You don't get the same high blast look of powerheads, but moving that whole body of water alleviates detritus build up in dead spots. One of my favorite features of the Vortechs and the gyre they create, is the way it sucks water up the back wall. It's like all that crap that used to come to rest back there levitates up to them and back out into the water collumn.

As always, their lack of aimability becomes their biggest shortcoming. But used properly, they overcome that.

 

[Capt_Cully]

Cool invisible allelopathic chemical coral warfare. Green acro is growing all around the setosa but the setosa clearly holds its own.

 

[Flanders]

that is awesome.

 

[Flanders]

also I like the placement of your stags. I see what you're going for when they're grown out and it's gonna be amazing!

 

[jeremyjoslin]

Thanks, Mark. We redid our kitchen last year and I'm STILL finding sawdust inside of cabinets and drawers on the other side of the house!

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Tiny little frag magically keeping a big monster at bay? I have a new name for it. The Gandalf Setosa. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!!!

Okay time to crawl back into my nerd cave now...

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

double post

 

[oneradtek202]

i loved my vortech but in my tank too much crap in the way for it to work properly. tanks coming along great big guy!

 

[Capt_Cully]

Cool pic

Cool pic

 

[Capt_Cully]

Another one bites the dust....

Weird alkalinity swing, that spiraled out of control. New job. 2 kids. Blewn MH ballast. Kaplewie! Lost 75 % of my Todd's Torch in about 72 hours (about 20 heads, you do the math). Lost about 60% of my SPS.

Forced to make a decision. Tear down! (Sorry Gary)

I need to simplify, downsize. Just going with simple. No tank, is not an option. Thanks to Tim @ABC for agreeing to board my fish and surviving corals, yet again.

BIG thanks to Grant & Christie (450Reef) for agreeing to try to save the remaining TT heads. Had to be a long night getting home after 11 and starting to deal with the carnage. Hope you can save it buddy!

120 is on order....new build to follow :thumbsup:

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

One thing I've learned: hang in there- things will get better.

 

[Capt_Cully]

My days of high end, high maintenance, are temporarily over. I can to that realization gradually, but a comment from a visitor made it sink in.

My 180 was really my crowning achievement. It wowed visitors, hobbiests, and even myself. Once it was gone, I tried to catch that lightning in a bottle, to no avail. Just don't have the time of resources. That frustration lead to neglect.

Anyway, my mother was here with a friend like a week ago. With sll the death and destruction going on, she said, MY GOSH its beautiful! Anyone "in the know" would realize it was like looking at an autopsy of a loved one. BUT, with that, I said enoughs enough. I need to scale back to suit my life. 99% of people would be just as amazed staring at pulsing Xenia (maybe even more so) than dead Stags.

So who do you do it for? Yourself? Others? Do you get caught up in collecting, and designer names? Been there, done that. I need easy. Lower maintenance right now. That will make me happy. Sure I won't get the attention my 180 used to get, but whatever. I'll never be as famous as Gary anyway....why try?

 

[Randrew215]

Sorry to hear that your tank took such a hit. What caused the alk swing? Personally, I think that anyone who stays in the hobby longer than 8 months or so is reefing for their own enjoyment. With that said, you have to do it to your own satisfaction- and it sounds like you can still do that with a dressed down, lower maintenance tank.
When I interviewed in Syracuse last year I would have contacted you and Brandon to check out your tanks in person if I'd been around an extra day. The both of you have had OUTSTANDING tanks. Look forward to seeing whatever you end up putting together next.
Andy

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it's not easy being a responsible reefkeeper... let alone being a responsible FATHER!

Here's another train of thought, Mark: keep the DD and go softie/LPS. You can cut back on the lighting and water changes.

My sincere thought is that the MOST AWESOME reef aquarium will contain softies/LPS/low maintenance corals/critters and lots of fishes.

ANY size SPS aquarium is high maintenance in comparison to a similarly sized FO, FOWLR, LPS/softie display.

As you already know, few non-reefers recognize the difference between a spectacular SPS and spectacular softie display.

In retrospect- your 180 SPS at the old house WAS incredible and what we've seen so far in this thread is, too!

 

[Capt_Cully]

Definitely doing a "mixer" for my next tank. Just some crowd pleasers, some personal SPS collectibles, and lps fillers. As long as I can keep my fish happy, I'll be happy. The Clowns were definitely out of sorts last night. They've been hosting that torch for 5 years. But if I didn't move it, it was toast. So far, reports are, it's stabilized. Taking that first step will serve as the catalyst for moving forward.

 

[Breakbeats2334]

Sorry to hear about your loss im sure you'll be able to make a fantastic mix reef with low maintenance as you desire with out too much trouble.

 

[reefboarder]

Damn Cully, sorry to hear this. Glad to know you are still going to stick with us, when my tank crashed I had seriously considered getting out for a while. I thought long and hard and decided to stick it out, and I have to say that im glad I did. Let me know if you ever need "the hookup"

 

[magdelan]

I was all proud of myself because I managed to fit in a 4g water change on my 5g last night. Life is different with kids. Their idea of helping and your idea of helping are never the same.