fishkeepinginasia
Active Member
Coral—Youtube—Long Spine—More Coral
A tank watched won't cycle. It felt like forever, but my cube finally readied itself for livestock. I rushed off to see Mr. Li. Before this build, I had always scraped together pennies for the cheapest coral and the smallest frags. I started the hobby in high school when all I had was a part-time job. Later, I worked as a youth minister before I came to Asia. These days, I'm a bit more comfortable financially. Walking into the fish store with the freedom to buy whatever I wanted (within reason) felt so strange.
I've continued to document my progress in my youtube series. Before youtube, I never used social media. I didn't have Facebook, Instagram, or Chatsnap. So I reactivated my Instagram and made a Reddit. (I'm still staying clear of Facebook.) Day one on Reddit, I watched the mob tear into a guy for keeping a betta in a 1.5 gallon instead of the recommended 5 gallons. Horrifying. However, my youtube journey also helped me find reef2reef. And I love it here. Except for my best friend, I've never been connected with others in the hobby before. We weren't meant to reef in a bubble.
I started with some GSP, a green hydra, and a red mushroom coral. I'm a man of simple taste. The shroom grew quickly and is my favorite coral. I also purchased a long spine urchin. I'd seen them while snorkeling in Borneo and thought they were fascinating. I bought it without doing any research—or even thinking. Later, I read that they tend to strip small tanks clean of algae and starve, so I began feeding it. It quickly became a problem, but Mr. Li couldn't take it back.
The long spine bulldozed coral, scared the star polyps, and no matter where it was, it was in my way. I wrote about this in another post, but if I needed to adjust the powerhead, it was curled up next to it like a porcupine. If I needed to set straight a coral it had knocked flat, it moved toward me. Thankfully, Mr. Li helped me find it a new home. (After I'd filmed this video and the next.)
I wanted more coral, but this time I went to Honghu. I was in the mood to browse, and the vendors keep more in stock than Mr. Li. I went a little overboard and purchased a green goniopora, a green toadstool, a hammer coral, and some polyps. When I took the photos, some of the corals hadn't fully opened, but now they're thriving. Some of them—especially the red mushroom coral—seem to have doubled in size.
I'm delighted by the coral, but frustrated with the liverock. It's still not stacked to my satisfaction. Before putting coral in, I piddled with it constantly. Even now, I can't get happy with it. For my next build, I'll use a mold. I'd never seen one stateside, but here, they sell molded dry rock with little ledges for your coral. Once you fill them out, they look like perfected nature. I'll try to snag a photo of one next time I go to the fish store.
When I got rid of the long spine, I felt I'd gotten my house in order. I'm still dissatisfied with the liverock formation, but I'm not sure I've ever been happy with a saltwater aquascape. I've always wished you could scape salt into the well-manicured perfection of a freshwater display. But liverock tumbles, corals grow in the wrong direction, and anemones never settle where you'd hoped. However, my coral is happy, which is what's most important.
A tank watched won't cycle. It felt like forever, but my cube finally readied itself for livestock. I rushed off to see Mr. Li. Before this build, I had always scraped together pennies for the cheapest coral and the smallest frags. I started the hobby in high school when all I had was a part-time job. Later, I worked as a youth minister before I came to Asia. These days, I'm a bit more comfortable financially. Walking into the fish store with the freedom to buy whatever I wanted (within reason) felt so strange.
I've continued to document my progress in my youtube series. Before youtube, I never used social media. I didn't have Facebook, Instagram, or Chatsnap. So I reactivated my Instagram and made a Reddit. (I'm still staying clear of Facebook.) Day one on Reddit, I watched the mob tear into a guy for keeping a betta in a 1.5 gallon instead of the recommended 5 gallons. Horrifying. However, my youtube journey also helped me find reef2reef. And I love it here. Except for my best friend, I've never been connected with others in the hobby before. We weren't meant to reef in a bubble.
I started with some GSP, a green hydra, and a red mushroom coral. I'm a man of simple taste. The shroom grew quickly and is my favorite coral. I also purchased a long spine urchin. I'd seen them while snorkeling in Borneo and thought they were fascinating. I bought it without doing any research—or even thinking. Later, I read that they tend to strip small tanks clean of algae and starve, so I began feeding it. It quickly became a problem, but Mr. Li couldn't take it back.
The long spine bulldozed coral, scared the star polyps, and no matter where it was, it was in my way. I wrote about this in another post, but if I needed to adjust the powerhead, it was curled up next to it like a porcupine. If I needed to set straight a coral it had knocked flat, it moved toward me. Thankfully, Mr. Li helped me find it a new home. (After I'd filmed this video and the next.)
I wanted more coral, but this time I went to Honghu. I was in the mood to browse, and the vendors keep more in stock than Mr. Li. I went a little overboard and purchased a green goniopora, a green toadstool, a hammer coral, and some polyps. When I took the photos, some of the corals hadn't fully opened, but now they're thriving. Some of them—especially the red mushroom coral—seem to have doubled in size.
I'm delighted by the coral, but frustrated with the liverock. It's still not stacked to my satisfaction. Before putting coral in, I piddled with it constantly. Even now, I can't get happy with it. For my next build, I'll use a mold. I'd never seen one stateside, but here, they sell molded dry rock with little ledges for your coral. Once you fill them out, they look like perfected nature. I'll try to snag a photo of one next time I go to the fish store.
When I got rid of the long spine, I felt I'd gotten my house in order. I'm still dissatisfied with the liverock formation, but I'm not sure I've ever been happy with a saltwater aquascape. I've always wished you could scape salt into the well-manicured perfection of a freshwater display. But liverock tumbles, corals grow in the wrong direction, and anemones never settle where you'd hoped. However, my coral is happy, which is what's most important.
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