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BlindSwordsman's K.I.S.S. 90 Gallon Mixed Reef (1 Viewer)

Well, I think something is out of whack because I think I'm losing the birdsnests. But I usually lose those frequently because they are too sensitive for my tank. Right now, the temperature is a bit high as the chiller is offline. I turned off and disassembled things, and after reconnecting them back, some stopped working (e.g. the Radion light, the temperature controller, ...) so I'm ordering and waiting for a few new things.
 
I took a full tank shot while waiting for the sun to rise and it gets a bit warmer before I head out to prep the yard for winter.

I have moved a few things around, added an orange monti and spongode from @Jposch, a small green pocillopora frag from @Khuong135. What else? Oh! I also got 2 green bubbles, some rainbow stylo, an elegance, 2 small dark pink/red goni. I'm not planning any more major addition, maybe except a bunch of snails next week as the tank is behind in waste export, I believe. I actually killed all of my GSP during the tank swap so I just got a piece of that as well. I also killed a green birdsnest colony that I had gotten as a small frag from @reef junkie and grown to a small colony. It started the RTN and I did not feel like trying to save it so I just let it be. The whole thing died. But I just found a small piece broken out from the sick colony and still alive until now, so I just glued it back and let it grow back again.

And here is the full tank shot.

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What a stunning mixed reef! Very impressive you were able to cover every inch of rock with coral!!
 
So, I was reading through Jonty's build thread and he mentioned his CO2 scrubber. I did a research and found out its use is to increase the pH of the tank. People either do that and/or feeding their systems with outside fresh air. I don't have any idea what my CO2 level inside the house is like and if there's any need to 'scrub' it. I didn't feel like I would want to spend $30 to buy the CO2 reader. And I don't like to spend money on a CO2 scrubber and continue to spend more money on the refilling media, either. But I didn't see anything that would be too bad about supplying the tank with fresh air, so I spent a bit of time after work on Fri and put a few more holes on the house and ran a line from outside to my skimmer. ... Immediately, I could see my fish acting happier, and the corals opening bigger... (Yeah, right!! Right??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣). .. Anyway, here is an ugly side view shot just to change things up a bit.

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reef junkie said:
I just cant get over how colorful your reef is. Looks beautiful. Oh and I can totally tell the fish and corals look happier fTom that fresh air. 🤣
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@reef junkie: Thanks! Keyword: 'Photoshop' 🤣.

And .. Yes, sir! I can swear by it. Fresh air can always do us good!!! 😆😆😆
 
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Now just keep an eye on your neighbors in case they start spraying Roundup on their weeds on a windy day...
 
paparoof said:
Now just keep an eye on your neighbors in case they start spraying Roundup on their weeds on a windy day...
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I honesty don't pay attention to what my neighbors do, but the one next door is probably not the sort who would spend money on things like Roundup, I don't think. It will be more likely me who does that and sabotage my own tank. Are you saying that I should regret that I put a few holes on my house for no good?? 😂😂 ... I wonder if there's a way to add in some sort of filter to filter whatever that out? And then there comes the question if that will block the airflow ... Maybe I'm fixing things that are not broken again. It's easy to disconnect it though 😄.
 
Oh I still think the airline to outdoors is a good idea - the only reason I don't do it is cause I don't run a skimmer. Just mentioning the roundup cause it's yet another thing to keep in mind.

I bet you do see a PH boost though eh?
 
Mister @paparoof ! You know who I am! I am the 'blind swordsman' 😂😂😂. I did say that I did it 'blindly'! I have no idea if my pH changed or not, but ... everything looks fine!!! 🤣🤣🤣

I'm looking for some more pictures for a website project that I need to create, so I just took some photos. They didn't turn out very good but .. Yeah, things look okay!!! 😁 ... Not sure what's wrong with me, but my shots have been pretty dark lately? 😕

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I don't have the numbers to back it up, but I think the outside air connecting thing might be working. Just from mere observation, there is less algae build up and less glass cleaning for me. Things look fine even though I haven't made any other changes and I might have been over feeding a bit daily. There has also been a new load of fish also. But these are small fish so they might not make much impact to the tank. This might not go too well with some people so I probably shouldn't share this :p, but I recently added 11 royal grammas in, in an attempt to create a harem of royal grammas in the tank. I added the first batch of 6 grammas last week. I added them to the left side and they all stayed on that side of the tank and they don't venture far from that area (probably due to traffic). So, I did a fish fund drive (i.e. I sold my frags) and bought 5 more. This time, I added them to the right of the tank. Including the orchid dottyback that was added a few weeks ago, I have a total of 12 of these small fish. The orchid dottyback has been going around the tank and it has not shown any aggression toward the others. I might be asking for trouble, but so far, beside a few flare up here and there, there is no violence .. yet 😁.
 
reef junkie said:
I’ve never seen that many royal grammas housed in one tank. I bet that looks awesome having all that bright color swimming together.
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The royal grammas usually just 'hang' out somewhere near their homes, not travelling around like some other fish. So, it's a bit different style, but they are still pretty. The important thing is I hope it'll work. People also usually say they couldn't keep more than 1 chromis in their tank but I was able to keep about 15 of them for a few years. But I don't like the chromis' behavior as they are still a sort of damsel regardless. I read online that some people can keep more than 1 royal gramma in their tank and someone saw a harem of these fish in nature. So, we'll see. I might have trouble having them spreading out in the tank because I think the male anthias was chasing most of them to the left 😄.
 
Happy Thursday! There isn't anything dramatic going on with my tank lately. To recap:

1) I ran a tube to the outside and connected the outside air to my skimmer. The results of that are: I see less film algae on the glass, and my chaeto seems to be dying.

2) I added 11 royal grammas to my tank last time to create a harem. They are still alive. Except a few push and shove here and there, there's no 'chase to the death' aggression. So, including my orchid dottyback, that makes 12 of these little fish. I removed the cleaner wrasse from the tank as it was being aggressive to my 2 firefish when I first added them in, and I'm still reluctant in adding it back. Beside that, the other one fish that I start to think will be out of my list next time around is the flame hawkfish. It's a tail nipper, and occasionally darting out to take a bite at others.

Other than those, the tank is doing OK. I 'feel' there is still something off because the goni's are still not fully happy. But, the rest is .. OK :cool:. I had to move a few things around and trimmed something off as they were killing each other. I didn't get a single thing from Black Friday, and also planning to buy nothing for Christmas and New Year :D.

And, here are some quick top down shots.

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11 GRAMMAS?? You’re crazy! Where did you even get that many?
 
spsick said:
11 GRAMMAS?? You’re crazy! Where did you even get that many?
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Who says we are normal???!!! 🤣🤣🤣

I order all of my fish and corals online usually. .. And since that's already out, there are people probably shaking their heads, rolling their eyes, I might as well give the whole list of my current fish in my main tank :p:

1 yellow tang
1 hippo tang
3 anthias
1 hawkfish
1 solar fairy wrasse
1 Carpenter flasher wrasse
1 green dragonet
1 red scooter blenny
1 lawnmower blenny
2 firefish
3 cardinals
1 orchid dottyback
11 royal grammas

I think that's it. I initially did not buy 11 grammas. I first bought 5. I added them to the tank but I dropped them to the left, and they all stuck to the left side of the tank. I looked at it for a while and thought: Oh geez! ... So, I bought 6 more and added to the right, thinking those would stay to the right of the tank. (Somebody on here probably remember the time I posted a classified that said: 'Anyone wants to pay for my new fish (by buying my frags)??' 😂😂😂). But, my male anthias chased some of them to the left anyway 😂. They have grown in the last few months but they are pretty much living in harmony and staying out of each other's way. I think my tank has a lot of places for them to hide out and that helps.
 
Happy Friday!

Here's my just taken, uncensored, full tank shot. Kind of a hot mess! :D

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