I received a box of rocks today.

[NY_Caveman]

I received the results of my ATI ICP-OES tests. I wanted a baseline at the beginning of the system’s life and wanted to see if there was anything unusual off the top. Everything was just about where I expected it, but Zinc was high. I was more concerned though that the RO/DI water analysis also showed measurable Zinc levels.

If you are interested in reading the reports, or have any thoughts on Zinc, I started a separate thread here

Zinc in RO/DI water

 

[Fudsey]

I didn't realize you lived in White Plains. I used to go there every week for 2 years for a pick up at the paper press in town Granted this was 20 years ago

 

[NY_Caveman]

I didn't realize you lived in White Plains. I used to go there every week for 2 years for a pick up at the paper press in town Granted this was 20 years ago

That is pretty funny. I have lived here for about 20 years. Just missed you . Moved here in 1999 when I returned to NY from living in San Francisco for a few years.

 

[NY_Caveman]

We finally made a movie of my daughters videos from Manhattan Aquariums (sister shop to UniqueCorals.com). It is pretty cool and my daughter makes everything fun. She is a little shaky sometimes, and we used no filters, but it is still a nice overview of several of their tanks. Enjoy!

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I’m jealous two places I want to try and live San Fran and New York lol. I told my parents I was gonna move to nyc and they about flipped. Then I asked if sf was okay and said even with my job I’d need five more to live just in a loft room. Are they that super expensive to live there, I was thinking Boise is expensive.

 

[GoVols]

Caveman,
That just made my day.

Gotta love your girls and they sure are Reef 2 Reef... movie stars ;Singing

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Hello,

I’m jealous two places I want to try and live San Fran and New York lol. I told my parents I was gonna move to nyc and they about flipped. Then I asked if sf was okay and said even with my job I’d need five more to live just in a loft room. Are they that super expensive to live there, I was thinking Boise is expensive.

Everywhere is expensive. That said, a lot of folks who work in Manhattan live in Westchester (where I live), NJ and CT. There are definitely reasonable options and lots of commuting choices. I have not lived right in Manhattan since the mid 1990s.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Caveman,
That just made my day.

Gotta love your girls and they sure are Reef 2 Reef... movie stars ;Singing

Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks Freddie! She loved the “movie stars” comment.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Maybe she will be a movie director or a producer she is really talented.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Test results
08/13/18
dKH = 10.0
NH3 = 0 ppm
NO3 = 3 ppm
PO4 = 0.32 ppm
pH = 7.8

I note I usually test at night which is when pH is lowest. During the day it usually tests around 8.0-8.1. PO4 has continued to drop and I am slowing down Lanthanum Chloride addition. I will probably wean it off and see which direction the level goes from there.

I reaquascaped the right rock structure. I feel it is much more sturdy now for an eventual anemone to plant its foot. Aesthetically I am much happier with the form and feel the shape and angle are more complimentary to the left structure.

(iPhone 7 Plus with flash after lights out).

My inhabitants will be happy to know I consider the aquascape done. Now it can just mature. As I add corals I will likely only use the shelf and rubble rock to attach and position them (I will always remove the plugs they come with).

Tomorrow I have a small, live order coming in from LiveAquaria and I am glad to get the aquascape finalized before then. I am adding two more Caulastrea furcata with different colors to complement my current piece which was part of my original planning. I am also adding a second fish which I will announce tomorrow.

 

[Dj City]

It's coming along real nice.

I agree. The scape looks more of a natural flow now.
Nothing wrong with it before, just better now.

Keep up the good work.

 

[NY_Caveman]

TIME IN: 10.5 Months
ROCKS WET: 8 Months
TANK WET: 1.5 Months

Today we received our LiveAquaria shipment. The shipment came in two parcels. They came in together, one from California and one from Wisconsin.

Meet our new fish!
Midas Blenny
(Ecsenius midas)

We also added two Caulastrea corals

Everything came shipped well and acclimated fine. The Blue Spruce that I was hoping would be blue is actually quite green (left). That is okay, but I would still like to add a real blue one to the group. The other is red specimen with a green mouth. Sorry for posting more “lights out” pictures, but my new work schedule is not great for the tank’s light schedule. It figures, I finally get the tank up and running and my hours change to 10pm to 6am. Thanks Murphy! I will try to get some better pictures of everything tomorrow.

Also, I realized never followed up as I intended about Ruby, our Pink Streaked Wrasse. This was the first fish I ever had shipped. It came from BlueZooAquatics Collector’s Choice (their version of Diver’s Den). The fish has been healthy and is an overall beautiful specimen. The fish was packed well enough to survive a 24 hour FedEx delay.

I am very satisfied with both LiveAquaria and BlueZooAquatics.

 

[Dj City]

The tank and inhabitants are really coming together very nicely.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Here is the video my daughter Katie shot yesterday as we added our new Midas Blenny and Caulastrea corals.

 

[Raege]

Awesome! Sharing a love of the hobby and doing it together makes it so much more rewarding and exciting.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Awesome! Sharing a love of the hobby and doing it together makes it so much more rewarding and exciting.

Absolutely. My kids got in a big argument about naming the new fish. It was kind of cute actually. I liked a celestial name because of his bright colors. I was thinking Quasar or Eärendil (Eärendil is a Tolkein reference to a character representing a star and light). Those names proved too challenging for the kids to say, so they wanted something more simple.

So what were they arguing? The older one liked Sky and the younger one liked Skyler. LOL. Finally I walked into the room and said “Why don’t we name him Skyler and call him Sky for short?” They looked at me with minds blown. Everyone is now in agreement.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Let me introduce you all to Skyler the Midas Blenny!



Sorry for another lights out video, but I wanted to show off our new friend. He quickly found a great hole to live in right in the front of the main rock. He was out a lot as long as we were not moving around too much. The kids were absolutely fascinated by his colors and movement as was I. In the video you can also see Ruby, the Pink Streaked Wrasse, is out a lot more these days as well. The oldest and I sat in front of the tank for about an hour in the early morning just watching, shooting videos.

EDIT: almost forgot to mention, the Midas Blenny was eating well this morning!

 

[najer]

Loving the videos.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Wow it looks amazing and it sure seems that your kiddos will grow up to be movie directorsz, they have a huge desire for film. It’s funny one day they may make a video of this and post it on you tube and whoosh, they are the newest sensation kinda like the chiplunks.

The tank is coming along really nicely and either your water is super super super clear or it looks like you drained the tank water lol and moved the rock. I am like how does he do that with his iPhone, my iPhone camera is just terrible. But I love the videos and I really feel your pain when it comes to the night shift. Graves are horrible shift, but the 24 hour shift seems awesome because I’m theory you only work two days roughly, well except my profession. We seem to work (Well the newbies at least) around the clock.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Nice new additions to your tank! Those are some big boxes for one little fish.. lol