Looks great! Adam has some pretty cool sps, a battlebox is in my future once I get back to work. Nothing beats homegrown local frags either. I've been holding out for some Ignitus anthias, but I've decided to pick up a small group of Fusilier damsels instead.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, Adam was great. It was amazing how personal his correspondences were and his packaging was just so adorable, I almost want to order another battlebox just to get more stickers from him! But I agree. Nothing beats trading with local reefers. Can't wait until my frags grow out so I can do that again.
Never seen fusilier damsels before. Did you get them through diver's den? they look large in photos - kinda like if a chromis had babies with an anthias!
Looking good. If you need anymore SPS, let me know.
How are you liking an AIO?
Thanks Mike! Don't know what SPS to ask for when I have no idea what is in your tank. Yes, that's a not so subtle hint that I want to see a FTS from you!
Getting used to the AIO was challenging. I was initially really frustrated with it, but learned to live with its limitations. I do like not having a sump though.
The first issue I had with it was not being able to place my lights in a way to get even coverage. Because one of the compartments housed my skimmer with no room to mount my lights behind it, I couldn't not place my AI light bracket far enough to the left side of the tank. If you look at my FTS, it's a little bit dark on the left side. Wish I could mount my Hydras higher for better coverage, but the AI brackets are not that tall, and I already have them mounted at the maximum height.
Another issue I had was finding a decent skimmer that would fit. I went with the Tunze 9012 DC, which barely fits in the largest compartment. This skimmer is very sensitive, and if I do not align the skimmer cup perfectly with the skimmer body, I'll get microbubbles escaping from the skimmer. Since my tank is tucked away in a corner, it was very difficult to reach over to make that perfect alignment. Basically would have to do a blind mate. I have enough practice now to do this right consistently, but the first few weeks of failed attempts to align the cup perfectly was super frustrating.
A third issue I had with the AIO was that the ATO/AWC optical sensors in the AIO chamber were sensitive to my Hydra LED lights that were running over the tank, so the optical sensor would sometimes not register that the water level had reached a point to turn off the pump. No bueno. Apparently, it's a common problem, and Coralife customer service said that the ATO/AWC system was designed to work in a sump, not in an AIO (apparently, people don't use LEDs in their sumps ever?) Fortunately, my back-up system would turn off the pumps before my tank would overflow, but I certainly didn't want to rely on my back-up system to catch a primary failure on a regular basis. My hubby 3-D printed some nifty brackets to shade the optical sensors so it's not an issue anymore.
The fourth issue I had is that I am acronym challenged and I have to sit and think every now and then to recall what AIO stands for and it hurts my head to think.
All in all though, it's all fine and dandy now. I like not having to worry about leaky plumbing, or not noticing my skimmer overflowing, or finding out days later that my media reactor is offline. Everything is in plain sight!
SHIRLEY!!!!!
WOW....Welcome back. You have always had killer tanks. I'm happy to see this new build. You're off to an awesome start. I'm sending you all the positive vibes that this hobby has to offer because I would really love to see you accomplish this new goal. THAT'S AN AWESOME FTS BTW. Well, keep us all informed. I'm definitely tagging along on this build. Great work.
Larry - SFVR
Thanks Larry! Despite all of my mini-gripes, I am enjoying my journey back into the reefing world. I learned some new things that I never really thought about addressing in my old tank before, so I am glad that I am still learning in this hobby (like my adventure in trying to raise my pH during a time where my house is filled with air breathers 24/7 during this lockdown) - yet at the same time have enough experience to not be overwhelmed when not so great things pop up (e.g, bryopsis outbreaks).
As far as the FTS goes, I'm trying to recreate a mini version of my old tank. It's crazy that my old tank was 3x the size! So to achieve that, I have to be good with making things be the right scale for my tank. That's the main reason why I was so PO'd about getting the large gem tang. Totally threw off the scale in my tank. Yes, my fish will get bigger, but I am sure by then they will grow on me and I will not care as much.
For the SPS frags though, I do plan on trimming them often. The last thing I would want is a large colony to throw perspective off! My goal is for me to take a FTS shot of my tank, compare it to my old 140g, and not be able to tell from photos that the tanks are different sizes. I'll have to photoshop out my MP40, get rid of my YT, and find a new home for my hippotus clam eventually, but you get the idea!
Welcome back
