Ben's SPS Dominated 120

declanisadog · Sep 24, 2018

Nothing major to report. I had a little die back on my Pink Caddy frag. It subsided, but I went ahead and cut it just to be on the safe side. It's recovering nicely, though only half it's original size...oh well. Everything else is starting to grow, and I'm starting to pull some great colors on most everything. The BM of a Bill Murray has changed from tannish to the nice light green it is supposed to be, and it is starting to develop some pinks. One of my anthias got into the over flow a couple days ago. I didn't have the necessary tools to get her out, so there she remains until I get off work tonight. I can get my arm all the way in the other one, but this side of the tank is too close to the wall for my fat body to squeeze by. I should probably do something to prevent this happening in the future...

declanisadog · Sep 24, 2018

Green BM
Crazy how much of a difference two weeks can make

PB starting to sparkle

declanisadog · Oct 1, 2018

This thing turned completely green about a month ago. Not so much anymore...

I never thought I’d care enough to buy a fancy camera, but I’ve been seriously considering it lately.

declanisadog · Oct 15, 2018

This weekend brought pests. Flatworms. the red kind. they were a plague in my boss's tank, and I brought some with the corals I put in the office tank. The six line in there completely eradicated them...or so I thought. Hopefully my mystery wrasse develops a taste for them. They're only in one spot at the moment, but if I see them spread, I have flatworm exit on hand.

Aptasia. I haven't seen one in any of my tanks in several years. I found three in my office tank, and I've seen one so far at home. Only explanation I can think of is snails. I recently put a bunch from the same place in both tanks, and that's the only constant between the two. Oh well.

On a brighter note, every one seems to be happy. Corals are growing, fish are pooping. I added a large frag of JKR rainbow, and pink lemonade this weekend. I'll work on getting pics this evening.

declanisadog · Oct 17, 2018

A couple of zoas

Blue Hornets

Utter chaos. I had like a thousand polyps of these in my old tank at one point. They use to detach, and blow around only to start a new patch somewhere else. I broke the colony in half, and the half I kept dwindled away over the years. Now I'm down to like thirty

declanisadog · Oct 19, 2018

Joes rainbow

Pink lemonade
It was a little shaded so it’s pretty green, but it’s pretty huge for what I paid for it. I’m not complaining...

declanisadog · Oct 25, 2018

I got tired of retrieving broken rubber bands, and couldn't justify spending money on an algae clip so I fashioned something to attach to my algae scraper. I think it turned out pretty slick.

NY_Caveman · Oct 26, 2018

declanisadog said:
I got tired of retrieving broken rubber bands, and couldn't justify spending money on an algae clip so I fashioned something to attach to my algae scraper. I think it turned out pretty slick.

That is very cool!

declanisadog · Oct 26, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
That is very cool!

Thanks! I have access to an injection molding machine at work. I may try to improve upon it in the future, but for now, I am happy with it..

declanisadog · Oct 30, 2018

Added a couple new fish!

Flame hawk came out of QT last night, and was in the overflow within minutes... I went to get him out this morning, and he had already found his way back into the tank. There is a little gap where the return line runs that i guess he is finding his way through. I added a target mandarin this morning to perhaps help with the flatworms. He went through an extra long freshwater dip. It's crazy to me how some fish seem unfazed, and others go ballistic (I'm talking to you tangs) the second they hit the water.

declanisadog · Oct 30, 2018

I received a couple of fish this morning, and unfortunately the hooded fairy was DOA. I also got an orange back fairy. He is in QT, and seems to be loving life. Really cool fish. I am considering reordering the dead one, but may wait until my QT is empty.

declanisadog · Nov 2, 2018

Quick feeding video of the new wrasse. Once he’s out of QT, I think I’m going to replace the hooded fairy, and get a labouti. I have a couple suppliers on the hunt for a trio of red tail tamarins, but I’m not holding my breath.

declanisadog · Nov 2, 2018

Some not so happy news, Declan is no longer a dog. After battling some undiagnosable cancer (probably) for the past several months, I came home to him not being able to stand. I took him to the vet, and a tumor on his spleen had burst. He was the best boy, and he will be sorely missed in my house. Here is the last picture I took of him.

declanisadog · Nov 9, 2018

Moved a couple of frags from the work tank last week. The ASD rainbow grew a good bit, but never had any PE and the colors were way off. Within a couple of days in my tank, it had max PE, and is starting to pick up the colors you’d expect. The fox flame encrusted a good bit, but never really did much. It lost the yellow tips, but is otheise looking ok. We’ll see how it fares in its new home.

declanisadog · Nov 13, 2018

Slightly better pic of the ASD mille. It’s crazy how quickly corals coLor up when they’re happy

NY_Caveman · Nov 13, 2018

declanisadog said:
Some not so happy news, Declan is no longer a dog. After battling some undiagnosable cancer (probably) for the past several months, I came home to him not being able to stand. I took him to the vet, and a tumor on his spleen had burst. He was the best boy, and he will be sorely missed in my house. Here is the last picture I took of him.

A little late, but very sad for your loss. Sounds like it was not unexpected, but still tough.

declanisadog · Nov 14, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
A little late, but very sad for your loss. Sounds like it was not unexpected, but still tough.

Thanks. He was given a week, and last almost six months. Unfortunately he was still pretty young for the breed. What can you do though...

NY_Caveman · Nov 14, 2018

Weird that your fish could live longer than your dog, but it is usually true.

declanisadog · Nov 15, 2018

I had been dealing with some turf algae in a few spots, and it really started taking hold a couple weeks back. My nutrients are already lower than I'd like(N-0.25 P<.02) so lowering them any more seems risky. I've been dosing vibrant for the last couple of weeks more so because it helps keep my glass clean than anything else. I used it in the past for the same type of algae in my other tank, and wasn't very happy with the results. After upping my dosage in my personal tank last week, I started noticing some cyano (expected, and not a big deal). no change in appearance to the green stuff. Last night i decided to stick my hands in the tank to see what I could pull out. It came off the rocks much easier than I was expecting, and the color seems to have faded in the spots that I touched. I guess it's working? only time will tell... I am going to hit it full force this weekend, and do a water change. This will be only the third I've done since the tank has been running.

On a positive note, all of my acros are encrusting nicely, and a couple look like they are about to start taking off.

declanisadog · Dec 6, 2018

Acros are all growing nicely (except the Oregon Tort in the pic above), unfortunately the turf algae is also... I added a bunch of emerald crabs, and they seem to be eating it. Too little too late though.I am thinking about giving fluconazole a shot.