Soulpatch's 150 SC build

[soulpatch]

Bought more fish. I have a ORA Aptasia eating file fish and a Starry blenny waiting for pickup at one of the LFS I use. I need to QT these guys as they are not from my main source but they are put into copper treated tanks for a bit. I will put them through prazi and TTM then make a decision on what to do.

I also have some Berghia coming to aid in the aptasia battle. I have been hitting what I can see but there are some in rock work I can not get to and I am sure many more I do not see. It is time to fight back biologically. So between the file fish and the berghia I should start to make a dent and then wipe them out over time.

[FLSharkvic]

Here is a pix of my SC-150! I DECIDED TO go with a 20'' Synergy External Overflow box to give me more estate for my Aquascape.

[soulpatch]

That tank setup is what I had sent Steve the measurements for and was going to gt but was too impatient. So you are welcome for Steve having the template to do those holes. LOL


As for my tank I picked up my ORA Aiptasia eating filefish and starry blenny Saturday. They are currently going through TTM for the next 2 weeks and we shall see. They are from a treated system but I ALWAYS at least go through TTM with Prazipro thrown in before they hit my tank from any LFS. Only one guy who I typically get my fish from now goes through a 6 week QT process with copper and such that I trust enough to go directly into my tank.

I do likely have a copperband coming eventually as well... I am just really hoping that my current stock will take these fish ok. The filefish is just so tiny...

[soulpatch]

Finally happened last night where my net got caught on a fish. I was transferring my file fish for TTM and the "blade" on top got caught in my net. I even used a fine mesh net to try to avoid this given how small he is. I cut the net as close as I could at the time to free him but he has a few strands left looped around the blade. So tonight will be surgery night where I take a scapel and am hopefully able to get it off him. I will do it only for a very short period of time and work on it throughout the next few days as needed so as to not overly stress him.

Now I need to break out my specimen container and fight with that to catch him in the tank moving forward. it is a PITA but rather that then further risk stressing him.

[homer1475]

I use of all things, a pampered chef 2 cup measure that doubles as a colander.

Works surprisingly well as its clear lexan and the fish swim right into it.

https://www.pamperedchef.com/shop/Co...+Colander/2324

Specimen containers are large and cumbersome. I bought one a while back and have never used it.

[soulpatch]

hmm maybe I will just drill a bunch of holes in a spare measuring cup I have now and use that. Though then again as small as he is (literally length of a thumb knuckle) a specimen container gives me a ton of lee way...

I have 4 more moves (I move every 2 days so I dont have to worry about being late to the 72 hours). I will try the specimen container tonight to see if I can get him to try to get those last few strands off...

[soulpatch]

Well sad to say my file fish made it till yesterday and perished. He never ate while in my care. I had even put aiptasia from my main tank into the TTM tanks (able to pull them from sand bed so full units for him to munch on).

My starry blenny is doing great. He is done TTM the end of this week and then might go into the DT. I have a replacement file fish coming home Friday so I will need my QT setup. The blenny has shown no sins of ich or velvet which are the scariest for me. He eats like a champ so likely going in after TTM. I do dose prazipro during TTM so that makes me feel a bit better.

As for the tank I have some great news. I have teamed up with a local small LFS to sell some of my frags. I have a shipment going to him Thursday night for him to take to a show down in Virgina this weekend. I have no doubt that they will sell nicely and he will make a decent profit off of it (I keep roughly 60-70% of sale price for most pieces and a bit more on some named pieces). For this go round I get store credit for things like salt, coral, fish, and whatnot (at his prices not retail) and in the future we will do more cash swaps. Pretty exciting as it should start to give me leeway to bring in more goods and especially more corals to put into my tank.

Hopeful this aids me in getting my name out and getting me going a bit more so within the next year I can setup a grow out frag tank. The end goal is by this time next year I am able to start selling and perhaps shipping corals...

[soulpatch]

Some random pics as I cut frags last night. More pics tonight and tomorrow as I really get in there clipping.

You can see my continued bubble algae issues

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[ReefWreak]

Very good progress on the frag sales. Too bad about the filefish, but at least you're getting a replacement (though I know shipping costs more than the fish).

It's great to have a partnership with an LFS. Down in FL they gave closer to 5-10% of retail sale value back to me, and only as credit towards buying at retail price, so I wasn't really motivated to sell much to them. Much easier to have someone come to my house for a few $15-20 frags here or there.

I bet those acans sell really well! That'll help grow the tank fund and frag tank nicely.

Would you plumb the tanks together?

[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by ReefWreak

Very good progress on the frag sales. Too bad about the filefish, but at least you're getting a replacement (though I know shipping costs more than the fish).

local LFS so just need to drive to his shop. Though in my jeep it is about an hour's drive so probably still 20 in gas. LOL

It's great to have a partnership with an LFS. Down in FL they gave closer to 5-10% of retail sale value back to me, and only as credit towards buying at retail price, so I wasn't really motivated to sell much to them. Much easier to have someone come to my house for a few $15-20 frags here or there.

I bet those acans sell really well! That'll help grow the tank fund and frag tank nicely.

Would you plumb the tanks together?

Acans are not currently on the docket. I need to color up a few more. I had a nutrient swing and lost some color in a few of them and they are slowly coming back. I have now sold a few frags locally for an average of $30 a pop with some going for more. This round will net me 150 in store credit for roughly 225 in coral value. The benefit is that I can sell to one person at one shot. Since he orders me in a bunch of stuff for a decent price it makes sense to use him for credit.

For the frag tank when I get one it will be plumbed into my main tank. It will not be a QT tank so I would like it to share the equipment and calrx of the main display. I will likely simply put a mj1200 or something in my sump to push it water and gravity feed back into the fuge portion of the sump. I will actually need to ping a few people here shortly to see what all is available.

This past weekend I just picked up an event horizon and a Joe knows reefs rainbow acro. My named collection is beginning to grow slightly and I have another local guy as into named pieces as I am so we have been trading (hence those additions). I got those 2 for a swap of my superman digii and my JF strawberry shortcake (really UC but JF grows it and sells em)

I have way more named pieces that I really want to get and some are not that expensive to purchase. I will be talking to the guy I am giving my coral to this week to see if he wants to do a Big R coral purchase or perhaps a JF run. Eventually I vie for the day where I can sell enough to buy things I really want like a home wrecker.

For the frag tank a lot of my items in my tank could be cut or relocated to be grown out (especially my acans). My hesitation is that I need a spot to run it AND the initial start up cost. I would need a 24" ATI fixture or might go with a radion since they will stay small frags so shadowing woudl not be as much of a concern.

I need to prove myself to myself first though before I even venture to go down that road. I have only been selling coral for a couple months now and have yet to really make a profit. This month is the first time I will begin netting a return.

[mav3rick478]

I would plumb the tanks separate just in case something strange happens and so only one tank is affected.

If you ever want to do a test run of shipping to CA let me know, I can be your guinea pig. We could try something like an Acan head or a tiny SPS frag or a hermit crab.

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[soulpatch]

I would have shutoffs plumbed so should something happen to one tank I could isolate it. I have enough 10 gallon tanks sitting around to use as emergency sump for frag tank if needed.

I actually have shipping bags coming this week so we might need to look into that here shortly. I will need to figure out what I am selling and post in the for sale section eventually so I dont get yelled at by admins here. LOL

[soulpatch]

So my frag rack is currently full with my clippings for the show this weekend.

I am sending the following:

Pink Milli
WWC Yellow Tip Acro
Strawberry Shortcake
Sunset milli
Teal Tip Acro
Blue/Green Tenious

A few of those have multiple frags.

[mav3rick478]

Originally Posted by soulpatch

I actually have shipping bags coming this week so we might need to look into that here shortly. I will need to figure out what I am selling and post in the for sale section eventually so I dont get yelled at by admins here. LOL

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[soulpatch]

Mav - You have seen pics of a lot of things in my tank in this thread so PM me if you are looking for something in particular.


Today is the end of TTM and Prazi for my starry blenny. He will be going into the tank tonight. I need the QT tanks ready as I have a file fish coming Friday night to start TTM all over again. While a pain it is semi nice for my large tank as I drain from that to fill the QT tanks and pour in fresh NSW back into large tank. Considering I swap every 2 days I do roughly 60 gallons of water in my 150 across 12 days. The large tank enjoys it I believe.

Also grabbed another 2 boxes of IO salt. I had been trying the kent but not been a fan. The levels are a bit more over the place. I like the recloseable 50 gallon bags and that those do actually mix 50 gallons of water to 1.026 vs IO which really only does around 42 gallons or so to 1.026.

I need to order in a potassium test and start testing that as well as many I have spoken to think that is some of my color issues.

[soulpatch]

Well have a few frags that I sold to local lfs at a show in southern VA. I came home with a coral and a fish from the shop (haven't seen the goby since I put him in though) as this is the shop that qts. I got to check out his set up in detail and was impressed.

My bubble algae is decreasing at a steady rate which is awesome. Now I need my filefish in qt to finish and the copperband as well...

I am starting to look into getting more flow for my tank. I think I might either grab 2 mp40s or 2 gyre 250. Also really thinking of pushing up the frag tank setup.

I'm currently interviewing for a few positions both inside and outside my firm so if I get with with enough raise I'll start piecing things together and likely put in a big coral order for some named pieces....

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[mav3rick478]

Good luck on the job front!

I'll PM later about corals, are you gonna frag any Acans soon?

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[soulpatch]

Originally Posted by mav3rick478

Good luck on the job front!

I'll PM later about corals, are you gonna frag any Acans soon?

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I might. I have one colony I can. I have a few others that are mini colonies I could frag as well. Sticks are easier at the moment though

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[soulpatch]

Well I did enough that all 3 positions I interviewed with have decided to bring me back for a second round. I was suprised by 1 as their salary expectation was much lower then I currently make but they came back and said they had a lot of wiggle room for right person so we shall see.

I am hoping that I get the one position here where I work now as it is just easier and gives me a lot more responsibility and pay. So we shall see.


On the tank front I saw the goby I added as he is digging a hole under my one rock. I also have a new filefish going through TTM and he should be ready for the tank next thursday. Can't happen fast enough as the Aiptasia is getting annoying. Thankfully it is not around my corals yet to irritate them but I want it gone.

The copperband going through QT at my LFS should be ready in 2 weeks as well. I got to check it out the other night while there and it is a beauty. It was eating well and has some nice deep coloration.

The LFS also had no issues selling my corals at the show he went to this past weekend. I am pretty stoked about that as we both made some money. I am hopeful though that this leads to more buys from him and aids me in getting a frag tank going. Need to figure out lighting for it as well...

[ReefWreak]

re: career moves.... how is it that you and I are on such similar schedules... I'm sort of in the same boat, except that there's nothing internal to grow into, so I'm moving outside, and shopping and networking opportunities for the next jump.

I'm just hoping I can impress the right people to get in somewhere solid so that I can change my career track and get more to where I want to be (analytics/administration/operations within hospital systems). Private equity sounds good, but its making my resume very hard for anyone in healthcare to understand (despite only doing healthcare operations and not "deal/finance" related activities).

Hopefully the filefish helps with the aiptasia. They'll never be out of the system entirely since i'm sure they're in the sump and plumbing and whatnot now, but at least this way they'll be out of the display. Glad to hear the corals sold easily, nice partnership you'll have there.

[soulpatch]

I am lucky in that I work for a large bank so I can move laterally or up across various veins of business. That said I also have 2 coals on the fire externally. I imagine I should have an answer in the next week or so one way or another.

Should I get a nice pay raise I will be able to set up a small popagation tank to grow out some corals for further sale. I am not overly happy cutting my DT pieces for sale constantly as I would like even more growth there so a frag tank will allow me to frag once more and grow out in that tank to trim as needed. I already do this to a degree in my DT. I have a lot of requests for my sunset milli and my superman digi. Due to this I have fragged it and have a few pieces growing out in the DT on various rocks now BUT that pulls from my ability to add more frags to the tank.

I REALLY want a few choice pieces from Jason Fox and Big R corals (look up the 420 tenuis for instance) to get my tank popping.

I also watched a video from Jason Fox and agree with him on lighting so I will be swapping all of my T5 bulbs to actinic like he does. He makes a valid point in that these are pulled from deeper in the water and as such mainly only see blue light. Considering his growth and color I am good with his explanation.

[soulpatch]

back to the job front my one interview Friday for round 2 is freaking 4 hours long and an hour of that I am supposed to do a project and a 15 minute presentation. ***. Who does that??? I could see perhaps for an IT type role but I am in Marketing.

[homer1475]

All actinic? I would think that would hurt ones eyes to look at too long. For a frag tank I would be ok with it(your not really looking at it for extended periods of time), but for a DT?

I had a 4 hour interview once(4 Michelin star restaurant), it went rather well. It's tough to cook in an unfamiliar kitchen with unfamiliar ingredients. Needless to say I got the job but only lasted a month. The owner/head chef was a d*ck and I ended up quitting.

Good luck on seeking a new job or even just a pay raise.

If and when I eventually get my tank sorted, think I might try some sticks as I have seen some absolutely stunning colors on some.

[soulpatch]

I dont think I will have any issues with the tank running all actinics. I am not staring into my tank for hours on end which is where I start to get eye fatigue at the shows.

I want 2 of the 3 jobs. The third one is sending up red flags for the "project" they are asking me to do. I am in marketing so without knowing the audience you are presenting to, the data you have access to, parameters for creative, and such it can be quite a hassle. The other 2 positions are a bit more relaxed. 1 is in my current firm and would give me a decent raise while not having to worry about bonus schedule or transferring benefits. The other one they brought up their salary band to fit me in but I worry I would not have much room for salary growth. The company is SUPER laid back though which would be a big benefit for my personality and it would be marketing sports gear which would be right up my alley...

[soulpatch]

Pics from this morning

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