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Jimroth's Big Ol' Tank
- Thread starter jimroth
- Start date
I think either Ca or Alk are out of whack. I had a problem a while back where I could tell when the Monti Caps stopped growing. I upped the Ca reactor effluent and it started growing again, but you can see where it stopped, like rings on a tree. My gfreen slimer has slowed way down now, and the tips look like crap. I'm thinking about just clipping them so the coral will make new axial polyps on the branches. The red planet is growing at a great rate though, it has those fading-to-white tips you get when there's fast growth.
I really need to finish my Kalk Reactor redesign. That thing was key to my past success. I'm about halfway done and I have almost all the parts. I forgot how to drill and tap stuff, apparently, need to do some research...
I really need to finish my Kalk Reactor redesign. That thing was key to my past success. I'm about halfway done and I have almost all the parts. I forgot how to drill and tap stuff, apparently, need to do some research...
Yeah and the neck wiper helps consistency. There's almost nothing to clog on that skimmer, unlike all my other ones!
Took a ten day vacation and once again things looked better when I got back! My tank sitter refuses to wash the frozen food cubes, that may be the secret! New skimmer worked flawlessly, but the calcium reactor clogged and was half full of gas when I got home . When I went to readjust it, I found I was j-u-s-t about out of CO2. Great timing. I got out my second CO2 tank. Empty. I took them to the place that fills them. One of the tanks went over deadline and needs to be tested. $60 later I head home with the remaining tank. I looked at the media in the reactor, and it was halfway down and at least some of it had turned to mud. Took the whole thing apart, cleaned it (the sponge under the media was filthy) and refilled it, and set it all back up, a good feeling.
My emperor angel has HLLE and it has now progressed to the point that I want to remove it and euthanize it. But I have to catch it first. A sad chore.
Xenia is getting out of control and will need to be sold or flushed down the can. Didn't think I would get to this point so quickly.
My emperor angel has HLLE and it has now progressed to the point that I want to remove it and euthanize it. But I have to catch it first. A sad chore.
Xenia is getting out of control and will need to be sold or flushed down the can. Didn't think I would get to this point so quickly.
Thanks for the link, Paul. I don't need ANY more xenia, but if you have any recipes for cooking it, I'd like those!
Kind of funny story: I have a soft spot for acro crabs and other bycatch, so it makes me sad that you don't often get them these days, now that responsible sellers dip all their acros before sale for bugs and flatworms. Diver's Den often has what they call Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crabs for sale. Now if you've watched as many underwater documentaries as I have, you can tell these are pocillopora crabs, with great big pincers, not the cute li'l acro crabs with the black mask, Tetralia. I added one to an order a while back, and when it arrived I placed it on my nice big wild acro colony. And I never saw it again. Elsewhere in the tank, I have been growing a frag of the purple stylo from AO, I think it's a big moneymaker for them, since they produce it in the store. It's a pretty bulletproof coral, and I bought it when I was just starting to get things back on track, to see if I could get coral to grow again. It did grow, although only the most optimistic seller would call it a mini-colony. Anyway, you see where this is going, the other day I look at the little colony of maybe six branches and there's Mr. Pocillopora Crab, hanging on for dear life, defending the purple stylo to the end, madly waving his big claws. I guess in this world, you like the coral what you likes! I wonder if DD will have the other kind of acro crab anytime soon...
Nikki loves acro crabs so we are always on the hunt for them as well. Trop will actually get them off the corals before they dip and then add them back after they are done so we have gotten them in the past from them. We have a bunch of the purple stylo as well and it is a very nice and very hardy acro. We actually have nice backup frags as well which I think are going to start going to meetings.
Water chemistry looking pretty good today. Ca 526, Alk 10.9, Phosphate .004. I was going to change out the GFO but it looks like there's no need. I think I'll change the carbon, that's got to be exhausted at this point.
I really want to order a couple of new shrimp gobies for the nano, and maybe some anthias for the big tank, but the 0 degree weather makes me nervous about fish shipments!
I really want to order a couple of new shrimp gobies for the nano, and maybe some anthias for the big tank, but the 0 degree weather makes me nervous about fish shipments!
Well I had to be in the area of AB Fish, so I picked up a couple of Hi Fin Red Banded Gobies (Stonogobiops nematodes). These are so similar to the Dracula Goby, I don't know what that one is 10X as much. They were listed as "assorted watchmen gobies," which is a head scratcher, but never mind.
I'm always amazed how much these gobies want the hookup. They were able to tell a shrimp burrow before the little critters even showed. I wonder if they do it by smell. They both disappeared into the shrimp's burrow, and I didn't see them until today. Unfairly, they both teamed up with the big Tiger Pistol, leaving the candy cane lonely again. Score one for a Pimp among Shrimp. They both eagerly ate some frozen mega marine formula. By the way, I seem to have successfully killed the ugly brown murder pistol shrimp who killed so many things in the nano. I dumped a lot of soda water on the rock, that must have done the trick!
I'm always amazed how much these gobies want the hookup. They were able to tell a shrimp burrow before the little critters even showed. I wonder if they do it by smell. They both disappeared into the shrimp's burrow, and I didn't see them until today. Unfairly, they both teamed up with the big Tiger Pistol, leaving the candy cane lonely again. Score one for a Pimp among Shrimp. They both eagerly ate some frozen mega marine formula. By the way, I seem to have successfully killed the ugly brown murder pistol shrimp who killed so many things in the nano. I dumped a lot of soda water on the rock, that must have done the trick!
I had to remove one of the gobies from the nano. Some gobies get along with conspecifics, some don't. These guys were getting along sometimes and fighting the rest of the time. I found one of the gobies exhausted and lying against the drain screen. I quickly scooped him up and moved him to the big reef. Maybe I'll throw a pistol shrimp in there at some point. Better than the other goby being dead. I think if I buy another similar sized goby of a different species they will get along. In the meantime the slutty goby is going back and forth between the two pistol shrimp!
The other day I saw one of the flame angels getting a serious cleaning from one of the skunk cleaners, that was cool.
The other day I saw one of the flame angels getting a serious cleaning from one of the skunk cleaners, that was cool.
I have occasionally mentioned cool gadgets I have found at the hardware store. My HW store had a thing called a jar funnel or cannning funnel. If you have to refill reactors, this thing is the bomb because I hate to get the GFO or carbon on the rim of the reactor where it interferes with the seal of the top. http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-607-Ex...TF8&qid=1425422015&sr=8-1&keywords=norpro+607
The goby in the shrimp tank is great. I haven't seen the goby in the big reef. I hope I spot him. The Rainford goby in the big tank is a great tiny fish for a big tank, because he stands out and has a lot of personality. Other small fish can disappear for a long time.
Recently did this myself with the same pissed off sps. It is amazing that such a quick impatient decision can effect months of stability and effort. This is exactly what makes this hobby so frustrating yet so rewarding....
Amen to the frustrating part! And the rewarding part always seems so fleeting. I correlate this hobby to the output graph of a heart monitor.....your up and your down, your up and your down, your up and your down.....just as long as you don't flat-line, you're ahead of the game.