15g Anemone Cube

[iamacat]

Decided to visit a new local shop and of course given them some of my money. If I did ignore the red stuff that makes us all sad, everyone is happy in the tank.

A local shop keep gave me those sliders for free, he was going to cull them since they didn’t colour up nice.

Sorry took the pics late in the light cycle and didn’t want to crank the whites.

Torch is up at the top getting blasted by flow because I realized they love it after seeing them in the local shops getting typhooned.

Nice selects! Cool to have multiple stores
near.

your torch sure does love that flow. I plan to move mine up higher soon.

what are you trying to fill up with?

 

[Lebowski_]

what are you trying to fill up with?

Do you mean stocking plan?

So this tank was just to get my feet back in the reefing world and to introduce my wife to the hobby. She loves it, and probably loves how it gets my butt out the door when I go shop hopping! The long term plan is:

Office tank (this one) - high flow, encrusting corals, SPS, etc. Maybe only a CB Flametail Blenny for fish, or maybe fishless.

Living room tank (30g or 40B) - Anemone tank, move all of the Clowns, the Zoas, the mushrooms, the finger leather all to this tank.

Right now we're spending all our time redoing the side area of our house which was basically just a mud pit when we bought, but once some funds are freed up, I'm going to get the living room tank rolling.


I honestly can't decide if going Waterbox or IM is worth it for the next tank....is $900-1000 CAD really worth it compared to getting an old school rimmed tank for $180, especially if it's just going to have an LTA and some softies? Gotta think on that one.

 

[iamacat]

Do you mean stocking plan?

So this tank was just to get my feet back in the reefing world and to introduce my wife to the hobby. She loves it, and probably loves how it gets my butt out the door when I go shop hopping! The long term plan is:

Office tank (this one) - high flow, encrusting corals, SPS, etc. Maybe only a CB Flametail Blenny for fish, or maybe fishless.

Living room tank (30g or 40B) - Anemone tank, move all of the Clowns, the Zoas, the mushrooms, the finger leather all to this tank.

Right now we're spending all our time redoing the side area of our house which was basically just a mud pit when we bought, but once some funds are freed up, I'm going to get the living room tank rolling.


I honestly can't decide if going Waterbox or IM is worth it for the next tank....is $900-1000 CAD really worth it compared to getting an old school rimmed tank for $180, especially if it's just going to have an LTA and some softies? Gotta think on that one.

Awesome plans, I dig it.

weird, we are also having an excavation of our side yard mud pit. Dog loves it

 

[Lebowski_]

Awesome plans, I dig it.

weird, we are also having an excavation of our side yard mud pit. Dog loves it

The dog getting muddy was honestly the biggest reason I am 100% dead set on having it done!

Step 1 was to remove an old garbage deck that wasn't built well, and it was COVID CRAZY wood pricing season when we made the decision. DONE!

Step 2 was to regrade the entire thing since it basically was sending water directly against the house. DONE!

Step 3 was to replace the fence. DONE!

Step 4 was to lay down some river rock to help with water drainage and to stop the rain from eroding the clay underneath it. DONE!

Step 5 is what we are working on now - installing a walkway of stones, and putting some garden boxes down the side. We built a 12ft garden box this weekend, soil delivery some time today. Also put some cedars in for privacy. A lot of hard labour but my soft office worker body probably needs it

We had to do it slowly because houses are just such a money pit and there were many, many things requiring intervention lol.

Before:

After:

Almost there....just a few more hours this week, and then clean up and wait for the nights to stay warm so we can get planting.

In the meantime, I will just enjoy my little Dino growing aquarium...wow such growth...

 

[iamacat]

The dog getting muddy was honest the biggest reason I am 100% dead set on having it done!

Step 1 was to remove an old garbage deck that wasn't built well, and it was COVID CRAZY wood pricing season when we made the decision. DONE!

Step 2 was to regrade the entire thing since it basically was sending water directly against the house. DONE!

Step 3 was to replace the fence. DONE!

Step 4 was to lay down some river rock to help with water drainage and to stop the rain from eroding the clay underneath it. DONE!

Step 5 is what we are working on now - installing a walkway of stones, and putting some garden boxes down the side. We built a 12ft garden box this weekend, soil delivery some time today. Also put some cedars in for privacy. A lot of hard labour but my soft office worker body probably needs it

We had to do it slowly because houses are just such a money pit and there were many, many things requiring intervention lol.

Before:

After:

Almost there....just a few more hours this week, and then clean up and wait for the nights to stay warm so we can get planting.

In the meantime, I will just enjoy my little Dino growing aquarium...wow such growth...

That’s looking awesome! We’ve gotta install a couple French drains to help with the wetness. Spring and fall it’s always waterlogged including our main walkway to the house. Summer time it’s just black dirt and the dog goes swimming to promptly showcase his speed through the dirty. He’s just a Golden mud mixer May-October.

so now he goes to jail after swimming

we had a ton of projects through COVID and it was a disaster from all angles. The yard is the last of our projects thankfully

 

[Lebowski_]

That’s looking awesome! We’ve gotta install a couple French drains to help with the wetness. Spring and fall it’s always waterlogged including our main walkway to the house. Summer time it’s just black dirt and the dog goes swimming to promptly showcase his speed through the dirty. He’s just a Golden mud mixer May-October.

so now he goes to jail after swimming

we had a ton of projects through COVID and it was a disaster from all angles. The yard is the last of our projects thankfully

What a good lookin trouble maker!
Here’s our girl

 

[iamacat]

What a good lookin trouble maker!
Here’s our girl

Beautiful girl!

i am now sitting here wondering if I have any control over my life or it is just directed by animals. The walkway and side yard are 100% because of the dog and his muddy feet. We even bought ruggable rugs to wash due to the condition of the property. These animals are costing me thousands!

 

[Lebowski_]

Beautiful girl!

i am now sitting here wondering if I have any control over my life or it is just directed by animals. The walkway and side yard are 100% because of the dog and his muddy feet. We even bought ruggable rugs to wash due to the condition of the property. These animals are costing me thousands!

Worth every penny. Nothing feels better than having a happy, tired dog and a thriving aquarium. I'll take that over a luxury car or a bigger house any day.

 

[Lebowski_]

Big Bertha is feeling happy today - fully extended, she’s about 5” in diameter.

 

[Lebowski_]

Went ahead and updated the thread name to better portray the current state of the tank lol

Got some green film algae on the glass now.

Ordered a Hanna ULR Phopshate test kit as mine isn’t cutting it.

Also ordered some MicroBak7 based on someone’s post in another thread about it helping outcompete the non-water column Dino’s. I don’t really believe in these bottled bacteria’s but going for the Hail Mary on this one.

Tonight I’m going to pick up a turkey baster and do a little removal, maybe pass it through a brine shrimp net then return the water (wouldn’t want clean water added back, after all…).

No dead coral yet. The mushrooms seem to be holding their own even with this stuff all around them…makes me wonder if it’s non-toxic.

Reef Roids 3 times a week. The unwanted SPS actually are opening up for me! Hard to see below but they all had their polyps extended for a while today. Officially survived 2 weeks.

Just going to clean the front panel and skip the WC this weekend.

Mostly journaling this in case I win the war so I can share what worked for me later.

 

[Lebowski_]

My Clowns being divas while I try to get a vid of the torch in the flow.

 

[Lebowski_]

Finally got my Hanna ULR Phosphate kit in. 0.02...Nitrates somewhere between 0-5.

I was starting to think I might have Cyano instead of Dinos, but I feel like this confirms it's Dinos.

Dosed MicroBak7, and have upped my feeding regiment - got a target feeder for the Roids and mysis, just for fun really. Manually removed as much slime as a I can and hoping other bacteria or algae will start to outcompete it. Had to move some mushrooms and zoas off the bottom as they seemed to finally be getting annoyed with the slime.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

My Clowns being divas while I try to get a vid of the torch in the flow.

Neat video!!

 

[Lebowski_]

Thread with a new picture - kind of looks like Cyano to me? But my nutrients are so low.Gotta love this hobby

 

[Lebowski_]

Cranked up the whites to share my shame. Vacuumed the sandbed through a brine net which caught most of the slime.

She is looking ugly, but the coral all look healthy except for one mushroom.

Letting the film algae continue to grow on the sides. Still dosing MicroBak7. No water changes in over a week, heavy feeding.

 

[iamacat]

Cranked up the whites to share my shame. Vacuumed the sandbed through a brine net which caught most of the slime.

She is looking ugly, but the coral all look healthy except for one mushroom.

Letting the film algae continue to grow on the sides. Still dosing MicroBak7. No water changes in over a week, heavy feeding.

As bad as you label it, it still looks like it’s going well. You’re doing it right. Better to over nutrient than to bottom out IMO. I also used MB7 for the first 6m with what I thought was great results.

tonight my battle vs the vermetid snails begin.

 

[Lebowski_]

Did my daily mechanics removal. Wasn’t as much today as most days, but I did find the Cyano or Dinos on the side of some Palys. Gave them a blast of water and now they are ticked but clean.

Phosphates are rising - 0.04 today.

Nitrates are still 0. Attached pic shows the reference solution of 10ppm, my water is on the right…no detectable Nitrates at all, apparently.

Also put some of my mushrooms in a little safe room as they have been very unsettled by all the vacuuming and slime.

 

[Lebowski_]

Good news unrelated to the tank - got the side yard just about finished:

Bad news related to the tank - starting to see Cyano on the stalks of some of my extended Palys, and it’s now showing up in higher flow areas just less thick.

Still no Nitrates despite feeding very heavily. Phosphates fluctuating between 0.02 and 0.04.
Gaaaaaah!

I do have some good news, though. One of the local Canadian shops had a sale on and I picked up an IM 25 Lagoon! This tank will eventually become an anemone/softy tank just for the clowns and CuC.

Need to figure out this slime though, don’t want to import it into the new tank when I move some rocks over.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Good news unrelated to the tank - got the side yard just about finished:

Bad news related to the tank - starting to see Cyano on the stalks of some of my extended Palys, and it’s now showing up in higher flow areas just less thick.

Still no Nitrates despite feeding very heavily. Phosphates fluctuating between 0.02 and 0.04.
Gaaaaaah!

I do have some good news, though. One of the local Canadian shops had a sale on and I picked up an IM 25 Lagoon! This tank will eventually become an anemone/softy tank just for the clowns and CuC.

Need to figure out this slime though, don’t want to import it into the new tank when I move some rocks over.

Nice job on the yard!

 

[Lebowski_]

Based on some input from @iamacat and @vetteguy53081 , I am going to be trying a new 5 day regimen. I’ll post an update pic each day (60% whites, 20% everything else so I can’t hide my shame), we will see how it goes.

You can find the 5 day plan here. I will be using a turkey baster to manually remove as much as I can and changing the floss daily. I will also be dosing Microbaktor7. Skimmer will be running and I will be doing a small w/c once as it’s been 2 weeks. Let’s hope science prevails!

Day 1: