Stay at home grow out part dux (((Official Contest thread)))

five.five-six

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#1
This thread is for $25 buy in Linear grow out contest. During the month of March only paid participants may post in this thread. If you didn't buy into the contest and feel there is something that needs to be addressed in the last month, PM me directly. Do not post in this thread.

If you are not a participant, Post until March, I think you are going to see some pretty awesome looking corals. Feel free to "like" posts but let's keep this thread to the participants in the last month.


At this point there are at least 10 paid participants and the prize payout is over $150. There is the possibility of adding participant(s) up until midnight October 17 2020.




You must use either a ruler from the previous contest or purchase this ruler from Amazon If you can not purchase through Amazon you must: A) Move out of that cave and into a house & B) Contact me via PM and we'll work something out.

Final submission must be made during the 7 days before April 1 2021 and will be judged by me. in the case of a tie I, as the malevolent dictator, will chose the person I like best. Just kidding, I will compare with first post and judge on girth and branching. If that is a tie we will go to best color. If it's still a tie, you can suck it and it's a chop pot.

Linear contestants will be measured but the overall length that has living tissue, if you start to STN or RTN, you get credit for what part is alive at the end of the contest,

Progress submissions: You must take a and post a starting photo on or before October 17 and a progress photo in the last 7 days of each month. The photo must have your contest ruler positioned parallel to your coral in close proximity with the MM scale closest to the coral and the 1CM mark close to the lowest portion of live tissue. Just for fun, we used a ruler and calipers and cut each frag to within a few tenthousanths of an inch.

You must position their frag in the same location for the duration of the contest, progress photos must be taken from the same perspective as the starting photo. I will decide the winner on overall length.

If you need to change positions or tanks, post 1 photo within 2 days prior of the move with an explanation of why you need to move it and another photo of it’s new position within 2 days of having placed it. New and old photos should be no more than 4 days apart and both with the ruler.

Guideline: I don't want this to be a giant headache when I'm judging this and we need to make sure everyone is using the same frag that was issued.




Introduction: You must post one introduction post describing yourself and your system in each contest thread for which you are entered during October.

Guideline: Tell us who you are and what you are doing, let other reefers know what's working well for you. spend some time and make a nice post with FTS.


Happy grow out Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor
 
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Tom7434

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#2
Hi,
I am excited to be part of this contest! I started my first reef tank 20+ years ago with an early 32g AIO using compact fluorescents. I was happy to grow mushrooms and GPS . I then took about 10 years off when work got in the way (lots of travel). I re-entered the hobby with an impulse buy of a Waterbox 75.2 I found on Amazon. I ran the tank about year or so before I decided to go all in and build my dream tank a CD 180 which I will be using for this contest.

- Crystal Dynamics 72x24x24 Starfire with Stand
- Trigger CR44 Sump
- Lighting is a T5 Hybrid using five XR15 G4 Pros running modified AB+ and four T5s (B+ Actinic, C+ B+) 10” above waterline
- WaveEngine with four Octo Pulse 4s at opposite ends
- Bashsea 8-24 Twisted Skimmer
- Geo CaRX with Kamoer Dosing pump
- Full Apex (I am a gadget geek)
- Alkatronic (love this!)

The tanks cycled started on April 15, 2020 using 100 pounds of Marco rock and 50 pounds of live rock bought from a local reefer. I am Running complete Zeovit ULN system using a Avast Marine Vibe reactor for the stones. My target parameters are dKH 7.5, Ca 420, Mg 1400. Nitrates run < 3 and Phosphate <.02.



The tank is still young, but the coral is growing well and coloring up nicely. I don’t have a lot of fish. It has always been about the coral for me.

1 Powder Brown Tang
1 Yellow Eye Kole Tang
2 Yellow Tang
1 Purple Tang
2 Squareback Anthias (male and female)
5 Blue and Yellow Damsels
1 Maroon Yellow Stripe Clownfish Yellow Hosting an RBTA

I am looking forward to this contest since I am working from home and have a lot of tank time. Watching coral grow is like watching paint dry , but what do you do during this pandemic?

Lastly, I want to give Mark a shout out for putting this together. Thank you.

Let the games begin!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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unchin

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#3
Hey guys,

I'm joining the contest since I've always been curious how my growth rates compared to others. Going to do my best to win though!

I've been in the reefing hobby since 2012, and before that in freshwater planted since I was a kid starting around 1990.

My aquarium is a Waterbox Peninsula 7225, which I recently upgraded from a Cadlights custom peninsula. Still need to work on my aquascape.

I run a variety of lights, Maxspect, Radeons, and AI's. I don't do anything special or have anything too fancy in terms of equipment Jebao wavemakers, Genio CaRx, Simplicity Skimmer.

Keeping parameters stable works well for me. It's when I go through a busy time or lose interest and neglect my tank that I lose a lot of stuff. But whenever I'm on top of maintenance and parameters, things tend to do better.

For me, something a bit different about me is I really like to run my lights whiter and enjoy viewing corals under white lighting rather than blue.

I have a really light fish load right now, a blue tang, a clown, a pink streaked wrasse, 2 black bar chromis, a threadfin cardinal, and a firefish.
 

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Smite

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#4
Looking forward to this one, best of luck to everyone. I'm glad we are keeping these going, big thanks to Mark for chopping up 2 of his colonies.

Current system:

180g 6x2x2 Mode
-Calcium reactor TLF rebourne course media
-I've just been dosing daily traces from moonshiners, trying to save on cost of the tank right now
- recently swapped to 3 x g5 xr30 blues running ab+ @ 80% with diffusers, from MH/t5. Uptake increased, so I'm happy
-I'm a big believer in tons of flow - tunze stream 3, 2 mp40s and a gyre 150/250 combo. All pumps max out at some point during the day
-I run a chaeto reactor 12 hours and refugium opposite 12 hours
- UV 24/7 aside for a few hours after dosing MB7 or other bacterias
- no water changes except for selling corals
-Carbon and filter floss for water clarity
- oversized skimmer

Alk - 9
Calcium 410-420
Magnesium 1350
Sg 1.025
Temp 77.5-79F night/day
Nitrate 20-25ppm
Phosphate .3-.45 (started to try to bring it down but seemed to cause instability, now i say screw it)

180g .jpg
180g side.jpg


The tip of my piece was airborne. it peeled away so I've glued the tip and it appears to be holding strong.

Best of luck to you all, gonna need it! ;)
 
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#5
I started into saltwater around 5 years ago. Until a recent move a year ago I had 5 tanks from 75 to 180 gallons. I have been retired for 17 years and this hobby has been a great learning experience. My current setup of 2 tanks was made possible with the help of Jimmy 007, of which I could not have made the move to my new home. My frag tank is 77.5 gallons includeing the refugium. It is 24x12x60 with a custom refugium built by Jimmy007. I do a daily doseing of Coral Essentials Trace A,B,C,Amino and Gro.My lighting is 60in ATI Hybrid with 8 T5's and 4 LED pucks.
Here is my coral taken this morning.
IMG_4914.jpeg
 

r20crazy

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#7
Hello everyone,

Many of you that have been around for a while have at least seen me (Robert aka Rob) at some point, as I have been around for about 20 years now. I'm on all the popular (and not so) forums under the same SN. I was part of SCNRS, and I worked most of the local shows with Miguel and then Brian at FraggleReef until it closed. I have also been staff/volunteer at MAX and RAP in the past. Have had a tank (or several) for about 17 years continuous. I look like I'm about 28, but i'm 43.

the tank being used for this contest I aquired about 14 years ago used from SCNRS member and NR mod Adinsxq and has been running since (36L x 24W x 11H glass). originally it had a sump and was not drilled. Because tank is upstairs and hardwood floors I eliminated the sump and minimized any external plumbing. I made dual corner overflow boxes (not drilled) to hide pumps for the HOB Aqua c remora skimmer and ato floats on one side and pump to the chiller and temp probe on other. Chiller eliminated this year as we got central ac so its just a loop atm and as needed inline UV. I have an OG Hydor koralia k2 and k3 pumps that I got when were 1st released (and still not rusted), mj 1200 for skimmer, mj900 for looped former chiller line, and a hob nextreef mini reactor with floss and carbon 24/7 with mj400. Lighting 4, 39w t5's in supended canopy i made with led lunarlight. (blue plus x2, purple plus, super actinic) Controller is a DJ power strip and reefkeeper lite with single pc4 and temp probe. Kalk mix in JBJ ato. no other suplements/dosing. 5g WC weekly mix of red sea blue and coral pro. Mostly LPS coral only tank except for cuc, pep shrimp, and clown pair.

Keeping it simple is my plan always, as it eliminates sketchy technology/apps and reduces human errors. I only test about once a year (if that) or if things look off as I'm not a number chaser. Simple setup for a simple man.

Only sps I have ever been able to keep alive in this setup is monti caps, so we will see what happens.

I only cleaned the glass area for the ruler shot, may update fts on weekend when clean glass. (and don't mind the bubble algae, its a love/hate situation I'm ignoring atm) stick on the sand in left front atm next to the only other stick that grows.

20201015_145628.jpg


20201015_150000.jpg
 
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#10
Hi Hi!

My name is Tommy and have been in the hobby for 10 years. I have a mixed reef system.

Tank: 75G Leemar (36x24x20)
Skimmer: RSK 600
Return pump: Vectra M1
Circulation pump: (2) MP40 and (1) Tunze nano
Light: (2) Radion XR30 Gen 5 Blue ( a little over kill)
Light schedule: Modified AB+
Dosing: 2 parts ESV and Acropower
Controller: ME! (Apex too $$$ and complicate)
UV: None
Chiller: JBJ 1/4 hp (use mainly as a temperature phobe and backup for those triple digits heat)
Salt: Brightwell Neomarine
Fishes: (1) clown tang and (2)clown fishes
Clams: (2) Maxima

Parameters:
Alk 8-9
Cal 400-450
Mag 1375-1400
Those are the only 3 that I do. Nitrate and Phosphate I don’t test at all.
 

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#11
Hello everyone and thank you to Mark for putting this together and Steve for making it so easy to pick up the coral.
I would say I am still new to reef tanks. But have had fish for my whole life. Never anything exciting. But got into coral about 5 years ago and and man I shouldn't have. So here we are and I love it!
Can't wait to see the progress of everyone!

Current system:

Red sea 250
- doing B-Ionic 2 part and magnesium
-red sea AB+
- ai hydra 32 (3) one is acting up.
- jebao gyres
- simplicity skimmer

Alk - 8 ish
Calcium 410-420
Magnesium 1350
Sg 1.026

My little guy also got exposed to some air on the tip when driving home. Hopefully she will be fine though!

First one is when I got him.
Second is today when I got my ruler.
Also taking a photo with a ruler is way harder than I thought it would be lol.

Let me know if the pictures are alright.
Photo taken from pixel 2 with orange clip on filter


Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 

Smite

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#12
Just for clarity I noticed some 'from above picts' but in looking thru the rules for this contest I don't see it required. The color up one does but not this one?
This one is strictly a growout so I think just the vertical measurement is required. I think in the past top downs could be used for tie breakers based off color or encrustment but I'm not sure that's the case here.
 
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My Tank Build
#14
Hey all. My name is Darren. Been keeping saltwater fish tanks off and on since circa 1998. I’m a full time food photographer and I also do lifestyle and portrait work as well.

This is my baby. This tank is only 6 weeks old but it was an upgrade during a move from a very mature smaller cube.

This is a Mode Aquariums Infinity 100G. The cabinet is from adaptive reef. Our new condo is small so I’m really going all out with making my build nice and clean.

My first frag for the contest was DOA but my new one is looking much better. Let’s do this!











The Darkness is my Dagger. The Shadows are My Security.
 
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#16
Helllo Reefers

Here is my entry pic.

My name is Hugo I’ve been keeping corals (mostly soft coral) since 2015.

My new system is a Waterbox 100.3 and it’s a 99.9% sps tank. I recently added a couple clams .
It’s powered by a G3 radion .A couple MP40’s . System is about 7 months
old.Im currently dosing the triton method. I’m also running an Apex trident which has helped a lot on my sps journey.













Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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#18
Hello everyone!

. need I say more? 🤤 I can’t wait to see how different everyone’s colors will be at the end of this competition. High stakes and high reward! This one is gonna be fun! Hoping to learn a lot.

My Specs:

RB will be colored in my 70 gallons DT. Like Smite I’m also running a no WC system. This tank is connected to a 100 gallon frag tank and a 100 gallon sump. Total water volume is about 200 gallons.

fishes in dt - 2 Chromis, 1 Mandarin, 1 PBT, 1 Clarki Delux, Fire fish

I use Tropic Marin Pro, but no WC

DT is lit by AP700 with 6/6/6/6 schedule.

Flow: 1 modified Tunze 6015 and 1 Jebao OW25

I dose BRS 2 part and color program

For Nutrient export, I use 7” filter sock, sand bed, live rock, Matrix, Curve 7 skimmer, macro algae.

Salinity: 1.026

Alk: 8.7
Calc: 460
Mag: 1560
5B63918F-39A0-4477-BBAE-FD9970B45D5F.jpeg
3C2B1BD5-4177-46E2-907D-7B84132F41D9.jpeg
DDB0846B-9C12-4BA7-B99D-FE402B41B484.jpeg
 
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#19
Hello everyone!

A definite shoutout to Mark for putting these awesome events together! I thought I was losing my mind being cooped up in the house this year, but these fun events Have really made the difference. Good luck and let the games begin!

My Specs:

My grow out piece will be colored in my 100 gallons frag tank. As usual this is a no WC system as it is connected to my 70 gallon DT and 100 gallon sump. Total water volume is about 200 gallons.

fishes in dt - 1 purple tang, 1 yellow tank, a pair of clowns, 1 Melanurus, 1 Talbots damsel and 1 pink smith damsel.

I use Tropic Marin Pro, but no WC

Frag tank is lit by AP700 and T5 with 6/6/6/6 schedule.

Flow: 1 modified Tunze 6015 and 4 Nero 5

I dose BRS 2 part and Red Sea color program

For Nutrient export, I use 7” filter sock, sand bed, live rock, Matrix, Curve 7 skimmer, macro algae.

Salinity: 1.026

Alk: 8.7
Calc: 460
Mag: 1560
1AA2B9EB-1C9F-45E6-A64A-7145E1DADA22.jpeg
6C6E2959-D443-40F6-83E2-E5DF6535D73A.jpeg
8F1911E3-3141-4D35-BB71-D9EE758DCFEE.jpeg
 
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#20
Sorry for the double post. Not sure why the first one had the wrong content.
 
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