Soulpatch's 150 SC build

[soulpatch]

Either I'm stupid, or you typed that wrong. :uhoh3:

How did you do it before if you didn't cut above the plug? Cut some of the plug off and glue it to a new plug?

I now have gone to replacing plugs also, but I dip the bare coral before remounting.

I would drag a scapel along the plug to get the full coral and encrustment off of the old plug. Now I will actually frag the coral from the frag if you will. I will leave whatever is touching the plug on the plug and out of my system. So say the frag is an inch tall. I might only take 3/4" of it after I cut off the bottom with the plug.

 

[homer1475]

I got you now, basically frag the frag. It's how I'm doing it now, once I took a course at my LFS on fragging and I'm not afraid to cut the corals.

 

[soulpatch]

Continue to see 1 or 2 berghia at night but that is it. So a friend is ordering in more berghia and I will likely take 1/2 of his order. The fact I continue to see some lets me know that my Wrasse is leaving alone the larger ones at least so I have some chance in them kicking off a bigger population. With more int he tank laying eggs I might be able to get the tank back on track.

 

[cincyjim]

Never got him out huh... sorry. That's one drawback of having a larger tank, you just can't reach in and move a couple of rocks to snag him up.

 

[soulpatch]

no he never came out which stinks as he was going to help offset the cost of the berghia. Ah well. Such is life and I like the fish as he is colorful and active.

 

[cincyjim]

Here's a thought... just a thought. If you have the space and all, maybe you can set up a small tank, place a rock with the aiptasia in it, add some of the Berghia and let them work on it. They might actually breed in the tank as well and you'll have your own supply.

 

[soulpatch]

Here's a thought... just a thought. If you have the space and all, maybe you can set up a small tank, place a rock with the aiptasia in it, add some of the Berghia and let them work on it. They might actually breed in the tank as well and you'll have your own supply.

Tried it and started to lose them.

I had a 10 gal tank and was putting aiptasia in there from the main tank. I am guessing the slightest salinity swings throw them off as I dont have a second ATO for the backup tank.

 

[cincyjim]

Darn. That is about all I can think of at the moment. I do wish you the best on this!

 

[soulpatch]

I will likely try again with the next batch and keep like 2 in there to see if I can breed some.



On a different note I spent my homewrecker money yesterday getting a new golf driver... I cracked my other one that has been with me for 6 years now. Hopefully this one gets as many years of service considering the amount I spent....

 

[cincyjim]

Wow, I never broke or worn out a club but then again I probably don't play as much as most folks do.

 

[soulpatch]

Wow, I never broke or worn out a club but then again I probably don't play as much as most folks do.

I had a small dent in it when I played in winter and the ground was frozen. I topped the drive and the ball came back into the club head denting it slightly. I lived with that for over a year but last fall I went out to play with a friend and had a bad drive. I was cocky and instead of using my rescue wood/iron hybrid I used my driver to punch me up out of the fairway. There was a branch/root I did not notice and the club slammed into it causing my shaft to have a small fracture. I was able to play on but it was a matter of time.

Normally I would have just replaced the shaft but in this instance with the head dented I needed both. Plus this new head seemed to have my hit straighter and longer in the sim so I am good there...

 

[JonezNReef]

Here's a thought... just a thought. If you have the space and all, maybe you can set up a small tank, place a rock with the aiptasia in it, add some of the Berghia and let them work on it. They might actually breed in the tank as well and you'll have your own supply.

I did something similar. I took a small critter cage( maybe a gallon big) and placed a rock with aptasia in it and then placed that in my sump. Added some Berghia and now I just hope that they will breed. Just a thought since salinity would be the same.

 

[soulpatch]

shoot me a pic of what you did jonez.

I get some more berghia in tomorrow so I might try something similar in the sump if I can keep them contained. I had throw in some eggs into my sump to try to have them breed in there but with my macro I cant really see anything.

 

[soulpatch]

Well it has been a bit since i last posted and i still have a minimum of 2 berghia in my tank that I see frequently after lights out. My one rock is now almost aiptasia free so they are working. I figure i need to add some more though to increase population at a faster rate then the aiptasia is spreading.

I did nuke about 30 aiptasia this past weekend. I know the rock that the berghia are around so on the other side of the tank I kalk pasted a batch of the little bastards.

Now i need to cut back a few more corals who are growing into one another and not liking it. This weekend is a big tank cleaning session and setup for my disney trip. I am really hoping I can make it the 11 days or so I will be gone with 25ish gallons of ATO. With it being summer now and the heat I put out I do burn nearly 2 gallons a day.

I will hook up my one wireless camera back inside so I can watch the tank and if needed i will have a friend on call to visit and refill.

 

[cincyjim]

Sounds like progress on the aiptasia That'll be close on the ATO water. Have you thought about hooking two containers together with a pipe between them for even drawdown on the water level. That should be boost your water supply to about 40-45 gallons. Don't forget to check your CO2 tank to be sure it won't run out. I've heard of that happening to others before.

 

[soulpatch]

CO2 tank was recently swapped a couple months ago so should be good to go for a bit longer but great idea to double check.

I could use a rubber made tote I guess to increase my water amount but I worry pumping it into my ATO container might create a siphon since it would be taller. A 20 gal tank is shorter so it breaks any siphon.

Actually looked and while I am off for 11-12 days I am really only gone for 8 so I think I should be ok. I can top off Friday morning and I get back following Saturday night. So 8 days. I should have a couple gallons to spare.



I wouldnt say progress on aiptasia yet but I am nearing even footing I think. If I had like 10 more berghia I might start taking the lead. I need to venture over to my buddies house this weekend to see if he has some spares for me.

 

[cincyjim]

I was trying to say... use two storage containers, drill a hole near the bottom of each, use bulkheads and a pipe to connect them. The water will equal the same level in each container naturally as it is being used. A mute point as it sounds like you should be good to go but I wanted to clarify what I meant.

 

[soulpatch]

oh I got what you were saying. I just have to be careful with the height of the units so that I dont create a siphon into my BAO ATO container.

Yes I could move the pump into the new totes and use that BUT it is a PITA to get the wire to the pump to the ATO where it is connected.

 

[soulpatch]

cleaned the tank and about ready for vacation. Auto feeder is on it now.

Still see the 2 berghia in the tank but no more and have not seen any egg clusters (not that I would as they are tiny and transparent) or young ones roaming around. I need to get in some more and depening on how my vacation spending goes I might grab a few more off of my buddy and still order in another 10 or 20 to really rock my tank back into shape.

I also have to order some more CUC when I get back from vacation. In doing so some of my monster turbos need booted from the tank. They are just knocking crap all over.

My T5 bulbs are also coming up on needing replacement so that will also be part of an order later on.

Finally when I get back some coral trimming needs to happen. There is a frag swap coming up in June so I might try to let things go for near nothing just to offload. I likely have 2 mini colonies of WWC yellow tip to get rid of as well as some SSC... Might try to frag a couple acans as well...

 

[ReefWreak]

cleaned the tank and about ready for vacation. Auto feeder is on it now.

Have a fun vacation! I'm looking forward to getting away for a week... It'll be nice, and with the apex, I'll know how the tank is doing. I still need to get a larger ATO reservoir...

Finally when I get back some coral trimming needs to happen. There is a frag swap coming up in June so I might try to let things go for near nothing just to offload. I likely have 2 mini colonies of WWC yellow tip to get rid of as well as some SSC... Might try to frag a couple acans as well...

For near nothing you say :wavehand: ? Wish I had some stuff to trade

How many hours are you from the City again? There's a CaRx I'd like to pick up that's out that way, it's just an hour each way to get across Manhattan so I haven't made the trek yet. Could kill two birds with one stone (though I'm sure paying shipping would certainly be more efficient).