-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
20 Nano in Maplewood
- Thread starter Maplewood20
- Start date
Gee, those pics look like crap. They are very clear on my phone. How do I upload a clearer pic?
Not sure why but it happens to my pictures as well. Looking good.
Hello NJ Reefers!
Been two weeks since I posted. Tank is starting to look better. My corals are actually growing!!! It is very exciting. Seems like suddenly my Zoas have decided to multiply - one went from 6 heads to about 15 in a week. My birds nest had a bunch of brown hairy stuff growing out of it, so I pulled it out and scrubbed it off with a toothbrush - only scrubbed the areas without polyps. But a piece fell off so I made my first frag!! Glued it nearby and we'll see what comes of it.
Oh - I am still suffering from aiptasia. I can't keep up with the Aiptaisia-X stuff. It seem like I nail a few and twice as many show up in other places. Absolutely Fish as having a 20% off weekend, so I went and got a peppermint shrimp (Pattie) yesterday. Too soon to see if it works, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. While I was there, I got two clown gobies - a green one (Victor) and a purple one (Murray). The green one seems to be hosting with my yuma, which is kind of fun, but no sign of the purple one since last night. Hopefully he is just being shy and Murray will show up soon. Cory and Topanga (the clown fish) are doing well.
And, I changed by canister filter last week for the first time since July. It was three months and time to change the Chemipure. Filter looked pretty clean, so not much to do except a quick rinse and the new pillow.
That is all. Keeping up with the water changes and watching the stuff grow. I hope I stay on this track for awhile.
That's all for now.
Steven
Been two weeks since I posted. Tank is starting to look better. My corals are actually growing!!! It is very exciting. Seems like suddenly my Zoas have decided to multiply - one went from 6 heads to about 15 in a week. My birds nest had a bunch of brown hairy stuff growing out of it, so I pulled it out and scrubbed it off with a toothbrush - only scrubbed the areas without polyps. But a piece fell off so I made my first frag!! Glued it nearby and we'll see what comes of it.
Oh - I am still suffering from aiptasia. I can't keep up with the Aiptaisia-X stuff. It seem like I nail a few and twice as many show up in other places. Absolutely Fish as having a 20% off weekend, so I went and got a peppermint shrimp (Pattie) yesterday. Too soon to see if it works, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. While I was there, I got two clown gobies - a green one (Victor) and a purple one (Murray). The green one seems to be hosting with my yuma, which is kind of fun, but no sign of the purple one since last night. Hopefully he is just being shy and Murray will show up soon. Cory and Topanga (the clown fish) are doing well.
And, I changed by canister filter last week for the first time since July. It was three months and time to change the Chemipure. Filter looked pretty clean, so not much to do except a quick rinse and the new pillow.
That is all. Keeping up with the water changes and watching the stuff grow. I hope I stay on this track for awhile.
That's all for now.
Steven
Sad news today. Came home from dinner last night and only saw one clown fish. Took awhile, but finally located Topanga dried up under the tank. So this morning I pulled out the old top and an no longer running an open top tank. Kind of sad because I like the view from the top. I guess it is a trade off, but I cannot afford to keep replacing my jumpers.
Here is a question - the surviving clown is an ocellaris. Can I mix another type? I figure I am safe getting a color variant, but what about a different type? I am asking under the assumption that I need to limit myself to 2 clowns in the tank.
So far the Patty the peppermint shrimp is still swimming around, but so are my aiptaisa. It has only been a week, so I won't pass judgement yet.
Here is a question - the surviving clown is an ocellaris. Can I mix another type? I figure I am safe getting a color variant, but what about a different type? I am asking under the assumption that I need to limit myself to 2 clowns in the tank.
So far the Patty the peppermint shrimp is still swimming around, but so are my aiptaisa. It has only been a week, so I won't pass judgement yet.
Did my weekly water change today. If you remember, I got about a million snails from Florida and as expected, quite a number of them have died, leaving their shells scattered around the tank. Decided to clean up the foreground and started picking up the empties to throw behind the rocks. I guess I don't often touch the sand bed, but when I did, no noticed that it was 'crusty'. I was able to pull out a quarter-sized pieced that had bonded together - well more likely was bound together by something. As I ran my fingers in the sand, you could see the little clusters. This was fresh white sand when I got it (forgot the brand). I did not expect it to be pristine, but I also was not anticipating these chunks. I suppose they are nothing to worry about since I don't seem to be having any other problems, but I was interested to see if anyone else in NJ knows what is going on? I have sand sifting snails so the sand does get 'churned' by them. I forget the name - the ones with the little unicorn-horn-feeler that sticks up until you put food in the tank - then they appear like magic.
And, some good news since yesterday's post. Patty the peppermint shrimp has been busy. Many, if not most, of the aiptaisa is gone! And so far, no corals have been bothered. As a bonus, she is coming out more now and is kind of fun to watch - she does a little left-right jig when she is standing still that is kind of goofy.
Next up is a replacement clown fish. I am still interested in people's opinions on mixing different types.
Steven
And, some good news since yesterday's post. Patty the peppermint shrimp has been busy. Many, if not most, of the aiptaisa is gone! And so far, no corals have been bothered. As a bonus, she is coming out more now and is kind of fun to watch - she does a little left-right jig when she is standing still that is kind of goofy.
Next up is a replacement clown fish. I am still interested in people's opinions on mixing different types.
Steven
I've never had 2 different types of clowns so I can't really comment on that. As far the peppermint shrimp, they always sway side to side Lol I had 2 that always did it. Kinda seems like theyre drunk haha
I wouldn't mix two different species of clowns. It would most likely end up with the most aggressive beating up the other.
It is do able in a larger tank. In a 20, I wouldn't try it. But, I've seen crazier things happen before (For example, cross breeding between clown species)
Been keeping a low profile here for the past few weeks. Tank has been cranking along, so nothing really to report - things are growing nicely and everyone seems happy. I have a question for my fellow NJ Reefers:
I got a 'bargain' on a Yuma a few months ago at the local store. Guy said he didn't plan on selling it since it had been bleached out by their lights. But I saw a cool neon green glow on parts of it, and with the one next to it commanding $45, I offered $15, figuring I would take a chance and see what happened. Store told me to keep it out of the light and spot feed it. I originally had it under a rock 'bridge' in the shade, but it did not like that and released from the rock it was mounted to and floated away. So all these weeks later, it has settled into a spot behind a few rocks, I have never spot fed it, and it has tripled in size, probably about 4 inches across. Here, finally, is my question. While it is gigantic, it still has not regained any color, just has the faint green glow in some spots, otherwise, it is white to beige in color. Will it ever grow back the color? Any suggestions that might make it color up?
Thanks in advance.
I got a 'bargain' on a Yuma a few months ago at the local store. Guy said he didn't plan on selling it since it had been bleached out by their lights. But I saw a cool neon green glow on parts of it, and with the one next to it commanding $45, I offered $15, figuring I would take a chance and see what happened. Store told me to keep it out of the light and spot feed it. I originally had it under a rock 'bridge' in the shade, but it did not like that and released from the rock it was mounted to and floated away. So all these weeks later, it has settled into a spot behind a few rocks, I have never spot fed it, and it has tripled in size, probably about 4 inches across. Here, finally, is my question. While it is gigantic, it still has not regained any color, just has the faint green glow in some spots, otherwise, it is white to beige in color. Will it ever grow back the color? Any suggestions that might make it color up?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Reefers! Been about a month since i posted. Tank is running. I would say it was running great, but I am starting to have some issues. I will list them below and ask the community for advice.
First - Algae is growing. Have some green slime that is taking coating my star polyps (which had been doing great - see below). This stuff siphons off pretty well, but grows back right away. Also have what I originally was guessing is hair algae, but not so sure anymore. This stuff is tough and looks kind of feathery - it almost has a bluish tint to it. For a few weeks, I was pulling it when as I siphoned - it is very, very well anchored to the rocks and actually hard to pull - - you can almost lift the rock before it lets go. So last week, I yanked two of the rocks that it was growing on and scrubbed it off with a tooth brush. That seems to have worked on the rocks, but now it is growing on my sand bed. So here is what I tried.... Bought an emerald crab thinking it was hair algae. Love the crab, but it is not interested in eating it. also threw in a few more hermit crabs. Also with no luck. Finally, I changed my Chemi-pure thinking by chems were out of balance. I think that might be helping somewhat, but it is still flourishing. I also have about 100 snails of different types (got from they guy in Florida as noted earlier in my tank tale). Nothing seems to be working. Keep in mind it is only a 20 gallon tank, so I don't think an urchin will work. Any other thoughts?
Second issue - - Some corals are browning out. I am pretty sure it is a birdsnest frag - it is a small SPS of some sort - that has been growing like crazy. Last week when I was scrubbing my rocks with a toothbrush, I pulled this one out since its base was a hairy mess with algae. Now some of the tips that were growing nicely are turning brown. I am most worried since it was just a small spot at one tip initially, but is now spreading down towards the base.
Third issue - My star polyps which have spread and now cover about a third of one my rocks have suddenly stopped opening. They used to be swaying all day long, but now are closed more than half the day.
Last issue - My clown goby has two small brown spots on its side. Otherwise, he seems healthy swimming around and eating, just these little spots.
OK, looking for some crowd sourced solutions. Thanks!
First - Algae is growing. Have some green slime that is taking coating my star polyps (which had been doing great - see below). This stuff siphons off pretty well, but grows back right away. Also have what I originally was guessing is hair algae, but not so sure anymore. This stuff is tough and looks kind of feathery - it almost has a bluish tint to it. For a few weeks, I was pulling it when as I siphoned - it is very, very well anchored to the rocks and actually hard to pull - - you can almost lift the rock before it lets go. So last week, I yanked two of the rocks that it was growing on and scrubbed it off with a tooth brush. That seems to have worked on the rocks, but now it is growing on my sand bed. So here is what I tried.... Bought an emerald crab thinking it was hair algae. Love the crab, but it is not interested in eating it. also threw in a few more hermit crabs. Also with no luck. Finally, I changed my Chemi-pure thinking by chems were out of balance. I think that might be helping somewhat, but it is still flourishing. I also have about 100 snails of different types (got from they guy in Florida as noted earlier in my tank tale). Nothing seems to be working. Keep in mind it is only a 20 gallon tank, so I don't think an urchin will work. Any other thoughts?
Second issue - - Some corals are browning out. I am pretty sure it is a birdsnest frag - it is a small SPS of some sort - that has been growing like crazy. Last week when I was scrubbing my rocks with a toothbrush, I pulled this one out since its base was a hairy mess with algae. Now some of the tips that were growing nicely are turning brown. I am most worried since it was just a small spot at one tip initially, but is now spreading down towards the base.
Third issue - My star polyps which have spread and now cover about a third of one my rocks have suddenly stopped opening. They used to be swaying all day long, but now are closed more than half the day.
Last issue - My clown goby has two small brown spots on its side. Otherwise, he seems healthy swimming around and eating, just these little spots.
OK, looking for some crowd sourced solutions. Thanks!
1800-2100 Mag will wipe the bryopsis out in no time flat. Just remember to raise it slowly per day till you achieve the desired number. Also, never mess with something you can't test for! So, if you don't have a mag test kit, get one!
Life has been busy and just realized that I had made an update in a long time. Things have been chugging along. My bryopsis issue has passed. Thanks to everyone for the magnesium suggestion, it seems to have worked. The birds nest that I noted seemed to be dying in a post above, has indeed died. My first real loss since I started, still stings, especially since I really liked it and it was growing like mad. Oh well. Other stuff is doing great and I have picked up a few new things in the past few months including my first leather, pipe organs, some new zoa colors, and a cool blue mushroom.
I am starting the think my tank is too small since I am running out of room to put things (and what I have is growing nicely). So either I have to be a careful curator and keep within my confines or a larger tank? I am going to stick with curating for now since I don't have time or room for my dream tank (200 DD).
Glad I don't have any real problems to ask about, but one quick question. How often do you replenish your clean up crew?
Happy reefing!
Steven
I also had to replace my clown fish again since the last ones jumped even with a cover.
I am starting the think my tank is too small since I am running out of room to put things (and what I have is growing nicely). So either I have to be a careful curator and keep within my confines or a larger tank? I am going to stick with curating for now since I don't have time or room for my dream tank (200 DD).
Glad I don't have any real problems to ask about, but one quick question. How often do you replenish your clean up crew?
Happy reefing!
Steven
I also had to replace my clown fish again since the last ones jumped even with a cover.
I can't believe it has been a year since I posted. The tank is still running. Wish I could say everything was running great, but I have been struggling with algae for the last 4 or 6 months. I have made some changes to my set up to try to get it under control. I gave up on my canister filter about 3 months ago and replaced it with a Bubble Magus QQ1 HOB skimmer. This is my first skimmer and I have to say I am impressed. I had hoped it would clear the algae, but it has not. There is an improvement, but not a fix. So today I installed another first, a CPR Mini Tumbler which I am running with biomedia. Hopefully this will be the second punch that will knock out the algae forever. Reading the web, it says it make take up to six weeks before I see any change, so we will know at the end of the summer.
I will probably be posting an opportunity for some Hollywood Stunner Chalice once my algae issue clears. My tiny one-inch frag has grown into a 12-inch beauty, but it is too large for my tank. So keep a lookout in that free to good home thread, or PM me if you can't wait.
Any comments or thoughts on my changes are welcome - advice is never bad.
Steven
I will probably be posting an opportunity for some Hollywood Stunner Chalice once my algae issue clears. My tiny one-inch frag has grown into a 12-inch beauty, but it is too large for my tank. So keep a lookout in that free to good home thread, or PM me if you can't wait.
Any comments or thoughts on my changes are welcome - advice is never bad.
Steven