First 8.5G cube tank, ocean water, learning curve.

[MikeCRK]

The jar looks like this at the moment:

Palys are waking up nicely:

 

[brandon429]

hey those green palys are considered the most dangerous coral in all reefing.

I'm not sure I agree, we survived the 90s tossing them around like softballs/didn't ever wash hands

but seriously there are now about 20+ news stories of people dying, dogs dying, household trips to the hospital associated with exclusively those lol above.

also of note

every 40 or so years, on rotation apparently mass hysteresys kicks in and all kinds of things are blamed for events. little waves hit in the public where a given scapegoat is ridden and pushed well in the media and by word of mouth



I'm not exactly sure that gas chromatography was ran on patient samples before producing all those new entries (was it truly palytoxin from palythoids sitting in a bucket in stilled water that somehow gassed people upstairs via aerosol) but it's a darn fact to state that about fifty thousand people are currently freaking out over those very corals. I have kept some in my gallon bowl for years on end, they're not treated differently than any other coral in my circles, currently they're gone simply because I want the space for more challenging species/sps

 

[MikeCRK]

@brandon429 I learnt AFTER I put them in... They stay I love the depth of their greens and after all I think even hermit crabs from that tank want to kill me so just another on the list but yeah, I read those guys are really bad boys.

 

[brandon429]

I feel like I would be promulgating internet liability if I didn't tell you to mask up, then duct tape the mask to the cheek skin via 1/2 inch overhang to ensure vacuum seal, always keep windows vented when raising the lid and sequester all pets in a highly oxygenated room away from the risk zone anytime you even think about them.

I could also settle with just we might should wash our hands after handling and please do not directly rub their slime into an open wound


it feels some portion of those two sets of preventative would reduce 90% of tv reports on the matter


I know the aerosolization is a new painted risk, but reef vases are ran via airstones. i had literally an aerosolizer pump station with fifty of those polyps running in my home for a decade

 

[MikeCRK]

I feel like I would be promulgating internet liability if I didn't tell you to mask up, then duct tape the mask to the cheek skin via 1/2 inch overhang to ensure vacuum seal, always keep windows vented when raising the lid and sequester all pets in a highly oxygenated room away from the risk zone anytime you even think about them.

I could also settle with just we might should wash our hands after handling and please do not directly rub their slime into an open wound


it feels some portion of those two sets of preventative would reduce 90% of tv reports on the matter


I know the aerosolization is a new painted risk, but reef vases are ran via airstones. i had literally an aerosolizer pump station with fifty of those polyps running in my home for a decade

Ignorance is bliss - somee say haha in my case with these palys this must be true, I was in a rush... like really in a rush and that plug overgrown at the bottom so I had problems mounting it. Maybe I will not write what I did and how to not cause some TV headlines and heart attacks amongst the experienced reefers

PS. thanks for checking on my thread!

 

[MikeCRK]

I took some real color pictures for the first time! Yoohoo! After over a week trying I think I know what are the settings.

Here are the results for some of the little babies:


Zoa, I have no idea what is the name of it:

Paly from yesterday, also do not know the name!

Some beautiful baby zoas I got this Sunday

and here for the test... the tank is 26 days old, I was given this SPS to see if it will be good in it and three days later it looks this (mr mushroomio in the background is bit crossed on me since I had to correct its glue):

Does anyone can share their thoughts on this 26-days-old tank? I think it is actually going amazing!
The Bryo attack probably was a storm in the glass of water. Today there is maybe half of what was there yesterday snails and hermits are hungry!

 

[MikeCRK]

Big Bob:

Together with Little Bob and snails are doing great work cleaning the jar

 

[MikeCRK]

Day 30 from start. A quick photo for documentation purposes. All good. 20% water change (straight from the ocean), scrubbing glass, a bit of cleaning the rock and voila sorted.

 

[MikeCRK]

 

[MikeCRK]

I think all is going OK. Time to think on what to add.

New zoas are growing nicely, so will add much color to the above. I will add more colors for sure! The frags I got are actually more into splitting now, so it seems they like it.

 

[brandon429]

The water is feeding them constantly without overpolluting the water its a perfect balance

 

[MikeCRK]

The water is feeding them constantly without overpolluting the water its a perfect balance

Thanks!

Today I did a weekly water change of 10-15%, ocean's water and did some tests:

pH: 8.1
kH: 7.5
NH3/4: 0.2
NO2: 0
NO3: 7.5

Thursday I am planning to add:

- Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (bottom right section)
- War Coral Favites Pentagone (on the rock, separated at front-right, the first semi-aggressive coral for the tank)
- Duncan (the beginner I am! it will go somewhere in the middle-low part))
- Tequila Sunrise Zoa
- Rasta Zoa
- Summer Breeze Zoa
- Jungle Juice Zoa
- Fire Ice Zoa

and that would be it for zoas, then I will try to find some interesting intermediate corals

The plan is also to get:
- Orange Cheek Blenny
- Six-Lined Wrasse (the smallest I can get)
and some shells for hermits.

So far I cannot complaint too much. I had dios, then bryosis which is now almost completely gone), now dios are messing with the glass again but nothing dramatic. I put some SPS for the test into the tank and one was all good until the bryosis got it... the other one which is some green/red digitata is doing OK in a shadow at the back.

the new arrivals acclimatized quite well I believe, what is a bit frustrating is the fact they decided to split first before opening fully, but well... there is like double the number of the heads now.

On Friday I am off to collect some fresh water.

 

[L0L_Z]

Thanks!

Today I did a weekly water change of 10-15%, ocean's water and did some tests:

pH: 8.1
kH: 7.5
NH3/4: 0.2
NO2: 0
NO3: 7.5

Thursday I am planning to add:

- Meteor Shower Cyphastrea (bottom right section)
- War Coral Favites Pentagone (on the rock, separated at front-right, the first semi-aggressive coral for the tank)
- Duncan (the beginner I am! it will go somewhere in the middle-low part))
- Tequila Sunrise Zoa
- Rasta Zoa
- Summer Breeze Zoa
- Jungle Juice Zoa
- Fire Ice Zoa

and that would be it for zoas, then I will try to find some interesting intermediate corals

The plan is also to get:
- Orange Cheek Blenny
- Six-Lined Wrasse (the smallest I can get)
and some shells for hermits.

So far I cannot complaint too much. I had dios, then bryosis which is now almost completely gone), now dios are messing with the glass again but nothing dramatic. I put some SPS for the test into the tank and one was all good until the bryosis got it... the other one which is some green/red digitata is doing OK in a shadow at the back.

the new arrivals acclimatized quite well I believe, what is a bit frustrating is the fact they decided to split first before opening fully, but well... there is like double the number of the heads now.

On Friday I am off to collect some fresh water.

Again, six line wrasses are unfit for your tank. Look into possum wrasses.

 

[MikeCRK]

Again, six line wrasses are unfit for your tank. Look into possum wrasses.

I remember your advice. There are no possum wrasse available in Ireland. I have no option to get it. I might get lucky ordering it from the continent but would have to build a special shipment for it and then the cost for that fish would be astronomical.

Any alternatives?

 

[L0L_Z]

I remember your advice. There are no possum wrasse available in Ireland. I have no option to get it. I might get lucky ordering it from the continent but would have to build a special shipment for it and then the cost for that fish would be astronomical.

Any alternatives?

Oh. Pink streak wrasse? Look into clowns, dartfish, blennies, royal grammas and basslets

 

[MikeCRK]

Oh. Pink streak wrasse? Look into clowns, dartfish, blennies, royal grammas and basslets

Thanks! I will have a look at the LFS (which is 200 miles away) on Thursday and stick to blenny you suggested.

One clown would be ok? They usually go in pairs and might need some polyps coral to hide, am I right?

 

[CoastalTownLayabout]

Cool little tank Mike, I like your style.

Ireland sure has some beautiful, rugged and remote coastlines. I’ve been watching a bit of surfing from up around the Derry / Sligo area lately. Amazing reef breaks, got to get up there one day and have a crack at ‘em.

Looks like the natural sea water is treating your system well. I’ve been using it for decades and never had any problems.

 

[L0L_Z]

Thanks! I will have a look at the LFS (which is 200 miles away) on Thursday and stick to blenny you suggested.

One clown would be ok? They usually go in pairs and might need some polyps coral to hide, am I right?

A common misconception-
-Clowns dont NEED pairs
-Clowns dont need coral polyps/anemones
-Id only get a tailspot blenny in that tank.

 

[MikeCRK]

A common misconception-
-Clowns dont NEED pairs
-Clowns dont need coral polyps/anemones
-Id only get a tailspot blenny in that tank.

much appreciated!

The whole thing with clown is... my little daughter (Nemo syndrome... she is asking for it since I started the cube...), I might have no option, I am hoping really that tomorrow there are going to be the big ones only, so I will tell her no option... but I might have no heart... blenny is coming for sure thanks once again for the advice on it!

from good news I found missing kenia tree! So apparently it was same place all the time, but got unglue and hide deeper in the rock. So this beginners cube is starting to have some shape!

from bad news I have to pick some corals from the main rock which I accidentally pushed towards the main rock piece while cleaning, I forgot about it and it touched the main rock... yup it started to spread there.

The frags in last two week split like mad, zoas are fat

Last photo before new arrivals tomorrow (taken just before the sunset, so most of the inhabitants already preparing for the night):

edit: I need some worm hunter really, I have noticed one coming out from the rock, inch long I believe from Eurythoe species.

 

[MikeCRK]

Here is my first Duncan. He is like Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.
I was getting the temp equal for acclimatization and the zip bag must have not been fully closed. So it sank to the bottom of my 182L freshwater tank...

This baby is sound after that adventure

Photo from under blues only.