Who's Into Saltwater?
- Thread starter Tony
- Start date
Tony
Staff member
2 weeks, it's time for an update.
My female clown finally went into the anemone and is liking it. She is actually beating the crap out of it lmao. But, that is what it's there for.
One week ago, I noticed that my zooanthids were not opening up. I didnt' think much of it, the urchin could have climbed on them. It wasn't until I saw something glowing (under blue light) heading towards my acro. I sucked it up and put it in a cup to inspect. It was a zooanthid eating nudibranch. I looked closer, and there were quite a few of them, and thousands of eggs on the zoos. That was it, I had to do something drastic. I filled a bowl up with warm water 90-110ºF (fresh water) and put the plate it in with all of the zoo's on it. I shook the ever loving crap out of it and the things that came off were amazing. Thousands of eggs and quite a few nudibranches. To my surprise, a few days later, the zoo's opened back up and they look as they do in the photo which I took today. The first picture is the little pest, and the second one is the zoo colony.
The green stars are LOVING it in the tank. They have started to spread to the rock to the right of them. If I was to pick up the star colony now, it would require tearing off the piece that is attached to the rock. No, it wouldn't hurt them.
The Colt is doing okay, but is still really picky. He is not always opened up and I can't figure out why...
My acro is not doing so well though. On the bottom you can see that it's turning white. This is called "Bleaching Out". But, I have no where else to move it.
The little frag that I took off the acro that was also bleaching out is doing quite well though. In the above picture you can see it just to the left of the mother colony. In the below picture, it's a rather close up look which looks very grainy.
This next picture is a before and after on my Montipora. This is a plate coral and as you can see, it's more than doubled in size in just two months. For a hard SPS coral, this thing is growing like MAD!!!
And finally, here is a complete tank shot. What you can see here is that the purple Coraline algae is starting to take over the back glass. I can assure you in a month, you will see it back there lol. It will cover the entire back of the tank as well as all of the rock giving this tank a totally different look.
My female clown finally went into the anemone and is liking it. She is actually beating the crap out of it lmao. But, that is what it's there for.
One week ago, I noticed that my zooanthids were not opening up. I didnt' think much of it, the urchin could have climbed on them. It wasn't until I saw something glowing (under blue light) heading towards my acro. I sucked it up and put it in a cup to inspect. It was a zooanthid eating nudibranch. I looked closer, and there were quite a few of them, and thousands of eggs on the zoos. That was it, I had to do something drastic. I filled a bowl up with warm water 90-110ºF (fresh water) and put the plate it in with all of the zoo's on it. I shook the ever loving crap out of it and the things that came off were amazing. Thousands of eggs and quite a few nudibranches. To my surprise, a few days later, the zoo's opened back up and they look as they do in the photo which I took today. The first picture is the little pest, and the second one is the zoo colony.
The green stars are LOVING it in the tank. They have started to spread to the rock to the right of them. If I was to pick up the star colony now, it would require tearing off the piece that is attached to the rock. No, it wouldn't hurt them.
The Colt is doing okay, but is still really picky. He is not always opened up and I can't figure out why...
My acro is not doing so well though. On the bottom you can see that it's turning white. This is called "Bleaching Out". But, I have no where else to move it.
The little frag that I took off the acro that was also bleaching out is doing quite well though. In the above picture you can see it just to the left of the mother colony. In the below picture, it's a rather close up look which looks very grainy.
This next picture is a before and after on my Montipora. This is a plate coral and as you can see, it's more than doubled in size in just two months. For a hard SPS coral, this thing is growing like MAD!!!
And finally, here is a complete tank shot. What you can see here is that the purple Coraline algae is starting to take over the back glass. I can assure you in a month, you will see it back there lol. It will cover the entire back of the tank as well as all of the rock giving this tank a totally different look.
Karubah
Member
This is fascinating stuff. Living so far inland it's just amazing to me what lives in the sea. Too have something like that in your living room must give you a lot of pleasure watching things grow and interact. Keep up the reports on your ( Fourty Thousand Leagues Beneath The Sea )..
Tony
Staff member
You are right, it's pretty amazing at what goes on under the surface. And this is just a glimpse at what is down there. The wife and I are pretty happy at the way this has turned out. The sump that I built is doing great, the refugium is growing things like crazy, the skimmer is keeping the water clean and the ATO is keeping my calcium levels where they need to be. All but that acro is doing great. Well, adn the colt but it's still pushing along.
And you know I will keep updating this.
And you know I will keep updating this.
Tony
Staff member
I can not believe it's been almost 4 months since an update to this thread.
As you all know, I have moved and the tank went with me. Everything but one of my peppermint shrimp survived the move. Not a big loss. However, when I set the tank back up, I more or less just tossed the rock in the tank to keep it in water rather than placing it like I wanted to. so the tank looks like crap in that aspect. But, everything is doing great.
In the move, the coraline algae that was growing on the back of the tank all died off since it was exposed to air for quite a while. But now, it's all starting to grow back. There are hundreds of little dots of pink and purple algae back there, it's even starting to grow on the plastic pieces quite well.
We did have a tragedy though. Something happened about a week ago to one of my blue/green chromis. I came into the living room and saw that my urchin was eating something. I looked closer, and it was only the front half of one of my chromis'. Nothing I could do about it by that point. I checked out all of the other fish, they all looked fine. I put some food in there, and every one of them attacked it.
The only thing that i can think of is that something spooked him, and he went flying into the urchin which killed him, then the urchin ate him. That is the ONLY thing that I can see that could happen in a situation like this. Everything else is fine.
I did have another tragedy though, I lost my display module on my tank controller. It's still under warranty so it's going to go back for repair.
So that is the update. Sorry, no pictures ATM, but I will try to get some when we get our new house and get everything in it's permanent home.
As you all know, I have moved and the tank went with me. Everything but one of my peppermint shrimp survived the move. Not a big loss. However, when I set the tank back up, I more or less just tossed the rock in the tank to keep it in water rather than placing it like I wanted to. so the tank looks like crap in that aspect. But, everything is doing great.
In the move, the coraline algae that was growing on the back of the tank all died off since it was exposed to air for quite a while. But now, it's all starting to grow back. There are hundreds of little dots of pink and purple algae back there, it's even starting to grow on the plastic pieces quite well.
We did have a tragedy though. Something happened about a week ago to one of my blue/green chromis. I came into the living room and saw that my urchin was eating something. I looked closer, and it was only the front half of one of my chromis'. Nothing I could do about it by that point. I checked out all of the other fish, they all looked fine. I put some food in there, and every one of them attacked it.
The only thing that i can think of is that something spooked him, and he went flying into the urchin which killed him, then the urchin ate him. That is the ONLY thing that I can see that could happen in a situation like this. Everything else is fine.
I did have another tragedy though, I lost my display module on my tank controller. It's still under warranty so it's going to go back for repair.
So that is the update. Sorry, no pictures ATM, but I will try to get some when we get our new house and get everything in it's permanent home.
Tony
Staff member
Oh yeah, it started off with a lot of issues, but they were all my fault. Same lesson that I have on here, NEVER BUY USED! lol. That had to be the cause to all of the infections and such. Once I bleached everything, thus killing everything in the rock and sand and starting completely over, things started doing what they should have in teh beginning. Just goes to show, if you try to save money by cheaping out, you will ultimately cost yourself more money in the long run. Lesson learned.
Hey Tony...I just stumbled in on this thread. I had a pretty elaborate 120 setup and got out of it a couple of years ago. Just interesting to see someone going through the same process. I used to call it my hole in the floor where I dumped all my money. Now I'm dumping it in a hole in the sky...haha.
Tony
Staff member
Yeah, I have a lot of money in this tank. From the grand I have in the LED lights, and need more, to the hundreds I have in the tank controller, then all fo the rock, fish and coral, it's definitely a money pit that you can never get a return on. It's nice to think you can with frags and whatnot, but it's never going to really happen. I just like having it in the house. Doubt I will ever go with anything bigger than a 90 just because if I get something bigger, then I can have bigger fish and bigger fish cost more money lmao. It's a horrible circle lmao.
Let's see...how many light fixtures did I go through...3? Including one 2500 led fixture that I ended up returning for a refund (that's when they first came out). Profilux controller....3 or 4 different skimmers. I expanded the sump/refugium into another room. My laundry room looked like the back room of a fish store. I used to catalogue on a spreadsheet how much money was going into my ongoing project. I quit counting at $10k. I guesstimate 14 or 15k in that tank.
But I'll tell ya...I don't regret any of it. My tank really peaked out when it was 4 years old. It was stricly SPS corals and fish of course. Things started turning south...slowly. My anenome was shrinking and polyps started hiding. I realized when I finally broke it down to sell it....it was the sand bed. The guy that got me started told me to use the wrong sand. It wasn't crushed coral but it wasn't 'sugar' grain sand either. It had a very foul odor like rotten eggs and hard as cement in some places. That's where my cyano patch came from. I battled that issue for a couple of years and was actually told to replace the sandbed. But by the time I was spending too much on electric already, I just figured it was time to move on. It's a great hobby. And when things are looking good, there is nothing else like it. I used to like the challenge.
I'm an instrument guy by trade and the plumbing and instrumentation was fun to do here at home. It was a serious setup.
But I'll tell ya...I don't regret any of it. My tank really peaked out when it was 4 years old. It was stricly SPS corals and fish of course. Things started turning south...slowly. My anenome was shrinking and polyps started hiding. I realized when I finally broke it down to sell it....it was the sand bed. The guy that got me started told me to use the wrong sand. It wasn't crushed coral but it wasn't 'sugar' grain sand either. It had a very foul odor like rotten eggs and hard as cement in some places. That's where my cyano patch came from. I battled that issue for a couple of years and was actually told to replace the sandbed. But by the time I was spending too much on electric already, I just figured it was time to move on. It's a great hobby. And when things are looking good, there is nothing else like it. I used to like the challenge.
I'm an instrument guy by trade and the plumbing and instrumentation was fun to do here at home. It was a serious setup.
Tony
Staff member
Yeah, i"m doing something like that, but then I'm doing what "some" will call bad. I have a DSB (Deep Sand Bed for those that don't know) of about 4", BUT, I have a diamond goby, 3 convict gobies, and we are going to get some nassarius snails to help keep the sand turning. I believe in a LOT of sand, but I also believe it needs water to flow through it to stay the way it's supposed to. I"m really thinking about removing the sand from my refugium just for this reason. There is nothing in there that can keep it turning, it's just sitting there. Now that I think about it, I have not looked at the fuge in a few months. Guess I should do that lmao.
I just hope we can get this house so that I have a dedicated place for my tank that is close to the utility room where I can setup quarntine tanks as well as a tank to cure dry rock. Yes, I plan on replacing ALL of the rock in my tank with dry rock. Yea, it's a step back, but I HATE the shapes of the rock that I have in this tank. I doubt I will use anything other than a few select pieces. More than likely just sell teh rest before it dies at $6/lb. I think I have somewhere around 120lbs of rock in this tank.
Okay, I have to stop thinking how much I have in it. It's depressing, like when I think about how much I have in Rc lmao.
I just hope we can get this house so that I have a dedicated place for my tank that is close to the utility room where I can setup quarntine tanks as well as a tank to cure dry rock. Yes, I plan on replacing ALL of the rock in my tank with dry rock. Yea, it's a step back, but I HATE the shapes of the rock that I have in this tank. I doubt I will use anything other than a few select pieces. More than likely just sell teh rest before it dies at $6/lb. I think I have somewhere around 120lbs of rock in this tank.
Okay, I have to stop thinking how much I have in it. It's depressing, like when I think about how much I have in Rc lmao.
Tony
Staff member
Oh, and the lights that I have used in the past are pretty much T5's that were a retro kit and did great. But on this tank, I wanted that shimmer and intensity of Halides, but didn't want that electric bill, so I decided on the AI SOL Blues. I did have a retro LED kit installed, but didn't like the color. I thought about adding some different colors, but decided to just get the AI's. I'm glad I did, but I need 4 of them and only have 2. And at $400 each, that is not going to happen for a while lmao.
I had a Euroreef skimmer that would randomly overflow for no 'apparent' reason. I used to have a network cam pointed on it so I could watch it remotely. I ended up getting an octopus skimmer and the problem went away. Oh god...I haven't thought about this stuff in a long time.
I used to have a little pump circulating in my fuge. It kept the macro algae ball rolling around. Personally, I don't think you can have too much sand. But we won't get into that because this ain't Reef Central and I ain't in the hobby no mo.
I used to have a little pump circulating in my fuge. It kept the macro algae ball rolling around. Personally, I don't think you can have too much sand. But we won't get into that because this ain't Reef Central and I ain't in the hobby no mo.
Tony
Staff member
hahaha, yeah, debating the thickness of the sand is like talking politics hehe. It gets nasty. But, it is what it is. And I may raise the flow in my fuge. Right now, it's very slow and gentle, but I had it that way so that things could grow a little easier. Now that it's crawling with critters, there is no reason to keep the flow down. Will try this if I get the new house. If not, I will do it when I move the next time. And that had BETTER be soon lmao.