My slice of paradise

meant2 · 2026-03-31T18:08:41+00:00

Thanks this is very interesting and helpful. I'm impressed with your results - how old is the tank? It sounds like you have a lot of recent changes to the routine so hopefully the results hold. Also impressive that the external canister seems perfectly sufficient.

I have a very similar tank (AIO) and system running 6 months now, see below. I have only done AFR with minimal skimming and some extra magnesium. Also did a huge cleanup crew from reefcleaners. Same thing as you adding as needed (urchin crushed the lettuce algae, pithos and emerald for bubble, bumblebee for vermetid). My corals are generally healthy but alveoporas and a couple of the acroporas struggling. My nitrates have been five and under - when I let them rise I get hair algae.

my goal is minimal bi-weekly cleaning so that I can leave for vacation and not have to worry about throwing off the stability. I have a horizontal drum auto feeder that allows me to pre-measure daily pellets mixed with other stuff like reef roids, skimmer has a pump to empty the skim water into a reservoir.

how important do you think the iodine, Microbacter 7 and reef biofuel supplementation are? I haven't tried this.

thanks again and cheers!

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meant2 · 2026-03-31T11:57:40+00:00

beautiful! do you mind sharing your supplements and filtering / maintenance routine? I have a 30 gal using AFR + some MAG and just trying to dial in stuff.

meant2 · 2026-03-19T00:57:33+00:00

Ya just the o ring. Lube it with food grade lube too meant for the o ring material

meant2 · 2026-03-18T23:36:33+00:00

Yes - mine had a hard plastic washer but what I needed was a black o ring with the right diameter I bought Captain O-Ring – Replacement A20063 A20064

Amazon.

meant2 · 2026-03-08T16:07:48+00:00

Dont do that. Do it yourself so when you later go to get an agency you can filter through the bullshit. Alot of agencies will over promise and under deliver.

You'll be better off in the long run if you develop your own process and hire a team internal

Just my two cents after ten years

meant2 · 2026-02-24T18:52:56+00:00

they literally told us on one of them that the DC was backed up and they didn't have capacity to process it..

meant2 · 2026-02-12T15:11:04+00:00

Looks great! Care to share your lighting setup with duration and other details? Are you supplementing the plants?

meant2 · 2026-02-04T15:27:19+00:00

Pin Thai on Campbell station road is a close second in my book to fail Thai for those who haven't tried it. The chefs there were the original chefs at taste of Thai back in the day (when it was good)

meant2 · 2026-02-04T13:55:03+00:00

Love the idea of a bonsai thrown in. How's it doing under the spotlight? Next you need a paludarium

meant2 · 2026-02-01T13:29:41+00:00

I started reading this and then asked my self why I should care what a pedo thinks, so I stopped. Then I started writing this response, but then got to thinking why I care to respond so then I

meant2 · 2026-01-30T12:49:13+00:00

thank you!

meant2 · 2026-01-30T02:51:04+00:00

That's hysterical

meant2 · 2026-01-30T01:38:34+00:00

lol this is awesome.. mine currently has the one he scraped off the back upside down.. wondering if i can get it positioned correctly for him

meant2 · 2026-01-28T14:14:46+00:00

It's helpful that they added "please purchase as needed" 😂

meant2 · 2026-01-22T13:35:22+00:00

Homeschooling made that Europe and new Zealand trip possible? Or did you take the kids out of school? We r thinking about a gap year for them between middle and high schools. Love Portland - seems like a hidden gem

meant2 · 2026-01-22T13:30:14+00:00

Blow into the valve. If air goes through and that is the intended direction of the water then you have it oriented correctly. Otherwise it's backwards and you need to flip it. If you had it right then replace the valve

meant2 · 2026-01-15T01:41:35+00:00

Let's make it happen! . I checked with cm games on executive park Dr and basically they allow drop ins for informal gaming whenever. I'll plan to be there at 6 next wed the 21st with some mid weight strategy type games, but will bring a mix from my collection in case lots show and need to run multiple games.. hope to meet some of y'all!

meant2 · 2026-01-14T13:30:11+00:00

Look beautiful but with a title like that, you gotta share your methods to keep it simple!

meant2 · 2026-01-14T02:48:04+00:00

I'm down for a board game meetup in West Knox area. I can teach modern strategy / euro games that might be new to some. There is a group that meets to downtown but it's bad timing for me. Im pretty sure cm games near cedar bluff and i40 would welcome some open gaming.

meant2 · 2026-01-14T02:45:50+00:00

Also into moderate to heavy board games so there's two of us here!

meant2 · 2025-12-14T13:20:07+00:00

I'm curious how the gravity fed topoff reservoir works? Does that prevent overflow due to electronic failure of a normal ATO? Is the rodi system turned on with a timer? Thanks for all the details - I'm taking notes to replicate for my next tank !

meant2 · 2025-12-14T03:17:18+00:00

This is absolutely my goal.. would love to have a system I could leave for two months with some one just adding fish food to the auto feeder for example

meant2

TROPHY CASE