DTC Build - Mark Shelly

[Mark Shelly]

Here are the red mushrooms. I still want a pink one or a pink stripe. Ultimate corals had a great pink ricordea, but it is way to expensive for a tank this small.
The first shows the common rust red mushrooms. You also see a red with blue spot baby mushroom in the picture. It detached from its spot. I do have one bright red baby mushroom.

 

[Mark Shelly]

Here are the 2 oranges. Lighting does make a difference how these look. In the first, there is enough green in each bubble to make it look green in some lighting. It does fluoresce orange. It is in the process of dividing. I will take a few of the smaller mushrooms and keep them in the tank while transferring the larger ones into the main tank. The second can look from a lighter orange to almost a dark red-orange. There are several small Zumas to spread around the tank, while putting the larger ones back into the main display tank.

 

[Mark Shelly]

I notched the lid to fit over the top spigot. Flow was too high that it dislodged many of the mushrooms. I tried bubbles, but everything in the tank became covered in bubbles and evaporation skyrocketed. And that is with the smallest pump I could find and a valve to limit air flow. I wanted to put the air stone in the chamber, but with no slots on top, I didn't think I would get any flow and I didn't want to drill the curved panel with corals in the tank. So I disconnected the pump from the return and tried that first with the pump on and pointing near the return. I get a small flow out the return which I could increase if needed so I will leave it like this and not use the air stone. I broke up the dark orange zuma ricordea rock. After placing 2 at the top, one dislodged, the other appears to be bleaching. These were in my October photo of the month submission as it was the most Halloween-like coral I had. I am moving the light higher and reducing the on time. There are several small mushrooms from the fragging in the tank, but I don't see them in the picture. Also my blue mushroom is no longer in its place and I haven't seen it. I am changing a gallon of water a week. With high evaporation, keeping salt levels even will be a major challenge. Truthfully, if it wasn't a club activity, I would have changed to a larger tank with less vertical difference in the rock rubble, with none near the glass. Keeping the tank clean is a nightmare. In addition, I have pulled out close to 25 bristle worms. They had to have come over with the frags. This just shows that even dipping doesn't get rid of everything. I just noted a paly growing in the tank as well. I do have a few pods as well.

 

[Mark Shelly]

Well, I still have my drink tank aquarium. It just isn't doing well. First, the water surface level is high enough to get salt creep on the corners and cover. I loose a 1/2" of water a day. To keep under $100, there is no auto top off. The high spigot is in the back only allows for semi-skimming of the back chamber. The material above is cracked. I partially disconnected the pump piping as the flow knocked off all my mushrooms. Only a half dozen or so remain. The best mushroom I have blocks the lower spigot when I try to replace water, which I do a half gallon a week. My ricordea is bleached even though the lights are not on very long each day. I get aiptasia anemones all over the glass. The pod population and algae have dwindled, but I still have lots of worms. I would like to move these corals to a larger aquarium and shut down this tank. I would not recommend anyone do a reef tank this small.