Johns first coral adventure RSR 425xl

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
The guys on the forum have been excellent and cant thank them enough but im not tech savvy, I use my phone to call and text and use a couple of apps, my pc is basically for the internet, I never heard of a snipping tool and such.
So when I heard how easy the ghl was it swayed me to buy it, and im so pissed off that its not easy unless you have a degree in computers so at this moment in time im thinking of packing it in and getting another Discus tank, I don't want spend £1000's for it to crash, you hear stories all the time 'if only I had a controller this wouldn't have happened'.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
The guys on the forum have been excellent and cant thank them enough but im not tech savvy, I use my phone to call and text and use a couple of apps, my pc is basically for the internet, I never heard of a snipping tool and such.
So when I heard how easy the ghl was it swayed me to buy it, and im so pissed off that its not easy unless you have a degree in computers so at this moment in time im thinking of packing it in and getting another Discus tank, I don't want spend £1000's for it to crash, you hear stories all the time 'if only I had a controller this wouldn't have happened'.
I don’t think the GHL is easy to, certainly when I looked into them and other options, but keep at it.

It’s the user interface that makes all the difference in the end, but of course you have to set it up in the first place
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
Well after all that it was the easiest solution possible, I phoned a mate this morning who works in IT, explained everything, he said to ping the ip address which I did and it did as he said would happen, he then said 'restart your pc' which I did and hey presto connected straight away.
I work in IT and when it comes to stuff in the home the 'technical re-set' (switch off, switch on) is the most common method of solving problems.
There is a programme on tele at the moment following the progress of the new 100 million quid each F-35 planes. Last week the techies were trying to fix a problem, and in the end they switched the plane off/on to fix it. If you have to do that to something that cost 100 million, what chance do you have to get your little box to work?
Don't get stressed out with the controller. I don't have one and in reality I have no plans to buy one. I have had a look at them, but for the money the interfaces are just prehistoric (in my humble opinion). If you have one and it does what you want, then great, but there are many successful tanks out there that run with no controller.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
I work in IT and when it comes to stuff in the home the 'technical re-set' (switch off, switch on) is the most common method of solving problems.
There is a programme on tele at the moment following the progress of the new 100 million quid each F-35 planes. Last week the techies were trying to fix a problem, and in the end they switched the plane off/on to fix it. If you have to do that to something that cost 100 million, what chance do you have to get your little box to work?
Don't get stressed out with the controller. I don't have one and in reality I have no plans to buy one. I have had a look at them, but for the money the interfaces are just prehistoric (in my humble opinion). If you have one and it does what you want, then great, but there are many successful tanks out there that run with no controller.
To be honest Nobby I didn't really want one until Pancho had his crash, then I read more and more about other peoples crashes, most could have been avoided with a controller, so I decided to buy the ghl over the apex, one of the reasons been 'how easy it is to use' which is simply not the case, especially if like me you have no computer literacy.
Yet nowhere in all the manuals, instructions, videos etc does it say to restart your pc.
If this machine stops me from losing £1000's of stock at some point in the future then its worth every penny but at least have the decency to provide precise instructions.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
Anyway ive got a long weekend off so im going to concentrate on the fish tanks, got the Discus tank to clean and clean the filters, got the 2 little tanks to clean and spruce up a bit, do some more tests and water change on the reef tank and then Sunday might consider another day out at the seaside and 'de-stress' a bit.
 

Pancho75

Well-Known Member
The guys on the forum have been excellent and cant thank them enough but im not tech savvy, I use my phone to call and text and use a couple of apps, my pc is basically for the internet, I never heard of a snipping tool and such.
So when I heard how easy the ghl was it swayed me to buy it, and im so pissed off that its not easy unless you have a degree in computers so at this moment in time im thinking of packing it in and getting another Discus tank, I don't want spend £1000's for it to crash, you hear stories all the time 'if only I had a controller this wouldn't have happened'.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
Just a little update, waiting for icp test to come back before adding corals.
Just found my purple firefish dead in qt tank, only sign of anything wrong is its mouth seemed to have rotted away a bit and left with a sort of brown hard crust, so trying to find out what it could have possibly been but qt has had a complete clean out and scrub, freshwater and fresh sponges in filter so going to lfs this afternoon to see what he has got in and take fish to see if he has any idea what was wrong with fish.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
Lfs said its probably something internal but he didn't know what could have caused the mouth to be rotted like that especially as no other creatures or rough or sharp objects in qt tank.
So will add it to the millions of worldwide fish deaths which we will never know why.
On a plus note ive just bought another Purple Firefish to put in qt tank.
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I think this is the No.1 problem with out hobby. We just don't know enough about the causes of fish death. We all lose fish. Sometimes we know why, but most of the time we have no idea why. Basically, I inspect my fish every single day, and yet I still sometimes find that a fish has 'disappeared' without trace.
Plus, unless it is tank bred, we have no idea as to what the fish has gone through to get to our tank. Was it caught using cyanide? If so, then it will die pretty soon after we buy it.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
I think this is the No.1 problem with out hobby. We just don't know enough about the causes of fish death. We all lose fish. Sometimes we know why, but most of the time we have no idea why. Basically, I inspect my fish every single day, and yet I still sometimes find that a fish has 'disappeared' without trace.
Plus, unless it is tank bred, we have no idea as to what the fish has gone through to get to our tank. Was it caught using cyanide? If so, then it will die pretty soon after we buy it.
It still saddens me whenever I lose a fish because even though a lot of people say 'its just a fish' its still an animal in my care which has died.
Another 'problem' is we cant just put a fish in a cage and take it to the vet. Just because a fish has a few white spots on it doesn't mean its Ich, so all we can do is presume an illness and hope for the best, a fish might be gasping for air at the top of the tank, it doesn't mean the fish is ill but we normally presume its because of some disease, its one of those most unfortunate things that fish will die and we will never know why, maybe if we diagnosed a fish correctly in the first place then we could treat it and probably save it but unless we are all fish vetenarians then its impossible so unfortunately its something we have to live with.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
The time has come for some corals (About time I hear people shout in the distance).
Any way im going to the lfs either Saturday or Sunday to see what he has got, is there any tips from you experts I should know about picking corals? such as what to look for in a coral, don't buy it if its this that or the other, things like that, all tips and tricks gratefully received.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
The time has come for some corals (About time I hear people shout in the distance).
Any way im going to the lfs either Saturday or Sunday to see what he has got, is there any tips from you experts I should know about picking corals? such as what to look for in a coral, don't buy it if its this that or the other, things like that, all tips and tricks gratefully received.

I don’t believe you. You need to wait at least 2 more years before it will be ready man!

My advice from my personal experience is:

Don’t buy Montipora as it spreads and mummifies anything it touches
Don’t by Pulsing Xenia as it’s like a weed
I won’t buy anymore palythoa polyps as they spread all over once they take hold

I quiet like green star polyps but again it spreads and I don’t think I will have it in my new tank

Really choose whatever takes your fancy and just fill your bag up!

I can also recommend Mail Order Corals online. I got loads of frags from them at very reasonable prices with no problems at all.
 
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Pancho75

Well-Known Member
I would say take some nice LPS such as duncans, frogspawns, torchs or hammers. Those corals would bring color and movement to your tank. Acros need more stability in my opinion so I would wait a little more time before trying them.

I agree with Shaun assessment about montiporas they are headache to contain and kill every other SPS on their way.

I like my GSP a lot but I would place it on an “island” to avoid massive invasion.
 

Nobbygas

Well-Known Member
I can't grow GSP or Leathers, so I'm not qualified to speak about them, to my everlasting shame.
I would avoid Mushrooms. Pulsing Xenia is fantastic in the wild, but not really suitable for an aquarium. I agree with Pancho about things like Frogspawn, Hammers, Duncan's and Torches. I also like Florida Ricordia and Zoas. Also, if you are going to get Clowns then you just have to have an Anemone. If so, get that early so it can zoom around the tank until it finds a happy place, then put your other corals around it appropriately.
Galaxia is another slow growing moving coral that I like.
An easy SPS is Stylophora, which you can easily get in a nice Blue colour. It's also one of the cheapest SPS :)
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys
Its going to be all sps as mushrooms and softies don't really float my boat, I do like the plating lps but means trying to get different flows in the tank so I believe you can get plating sps? correct me if im wrong.
So when I go to the lfs I might just say point me to the sps tank and ill have whatever I like the look of at first until I can get my head around all the names and whats easy and what isn't.
 

chickenjohn

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys,
Bit of help needed
Ive just been given the chance of some frags of the following,
1x green digi
1x red digi
1 x purple plate
1x green plate
1x blue stylo
1x green gutattus
The guy has asked for £10 each, my question is is that a good deal or not?
 
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