I received a box of rocks today.

Flippers4pups

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Sorry for the shrimp loss. They typically don't live real long. I get maybe a couple years out of them before they give up the ghost.

I wouldn't put peppermints in my system, I seen them decimate hammers and torches. Evil sons of a gun.
 
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NY_Caveman

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Looking GREAT ! ! !

I want that Nem :)

I made it mad blowing off the rocks yesterday. Maybe it will split :)

I wouldn't put peppermints in my system, I seen them decimate hammers and torches. Evil sons of a gun.

I added one for Aiptasia on a new build with live rock. I had eradicated all the ones I could see and felt it was insurance. I have never seen another Aiptasia. He put himself on the watch list for bugging the battered anemone upon introduction. Overall, more aggressive than I expected.

Keep it up bub... coming along great. That coraline purple looks so sexy!

I love it. The Alkalinity drop I was expecting finally came. About 0.1 dKH per day this week. Unfortunately I did not have my doser. I wanted to dose Kalkwasser separate from the ATO, but had to mix some and add it to stop the drop.

That tank is coming along very, very nicely ... becoming a truly magnificent environment!

~Bruce, sad to hear about the shrimp . . .

Thank you, Bruce! Very kind. I will have shrimp again. I mean, all of my fresh and marine tanks ever have had shrimp. Just need to be patient and give it some time.

 
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NY_Caveman

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TIME IN: 12 Months
ROCKS WET: 9.5 Months
TANK WET: 3 Months

It has been one year since the planning began for this tank. It was a heck of a year with much practice of patience and a lot of the waiting time spent refreshing my marine memory on R2R. The tank has been up for three months and yesterday marked the final, major stage in stocking the tank.

The Addition of SPS Corals

Yesterday our SPS corals arrived. My plan was to add 5-6 SPS all at once and start the little nubs growing. Of course, being a reefer I went a little overboard. Between what I purchased and freebies, I ended up with 10 SPS corals total.

The corals were shipped very well by @FraghouseCorals and came individually wrapped and labeled. They were temperature and water acclimated, then dipped for 5 minutes in a dense Bayer solution and lastly super glued right into their final destination. LEDs set the average PAR for the SPS rock around 140 PAR and this will be slowly raised over the next month to an average of around 250 PAR.

About half of the SPS were showing great color and some polyp extension. The rest are looking healthy, but are still “waking up.”

List of SPS

  • Twisted Sister
  • Candy Flame
  • Space Invader Millepora
  • Myagi Tortuosa
  • Shimmer and Shine
  • BC Battle Juice
  • Purple Bonsai
  • Fire Weed
  • Bug Out Stylophora
  • Green Goblin Anacropora
2A93B4EC-E425-465B-A088-5C056A1DAF5A.jpeg

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2C45EE54-E7A3-45B9-AD09-AAED7DEEEDDD.jpeg



 
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hdsoftail1065

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Tank is looking great! Its going to look amazing when all those corals take off!

What kind of nem is that? I looked in your build but might have missed it? Green bubble under the blues?
 
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NY_Caveman

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Thanks all!


What kind of nem is that? I looked in your build but might have missed it? Green bubble under the blues?

It is a green Bubble Tip Anemone with pink tips. It often looks very blue under my lighting (EDIT: and from my iPhone camera)..

no filter
C9DF0835-4C88-4A4B-ADDD-4DAD36B26249.jpeg


amber filter
2FDB446C-9D95-4301-9F9F-1A8BF197F6F0.jpeg


 
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hdsoftail1065

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Thanks all!



It is a green Bubble Tip Anemone with pink tips. It often looks very blue under my lighting (EDIT: and from my iPhone camera)..

no filter
C9DF0835-4C88-4A4B-ADDD-4DAD36B26249.jpeg


amber filter
2FDB446C-9D95-4301-9F9F-1A8BF197F6F0.jpeg

Looks nice! My wife has it's brother!
 

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It is a green Bubble Tip Anemone with pink tips.

Used to call those Jolly Rancher bts's.

Can't believe your 12 months in... ;Wideyed

(lol)
Longest live rock soak, in man kind, but waiting on the right tank was worth it.

:)
 
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NY_Caveman

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Can't believe your 12 months in... ;Wideyed

(lol)
Longest live rock soak, in man kind, but waiting on the right tank was worth it.

:)

Agreed. I like this tank a lot better than the other two. I am not sure I love the stand long term (have some options in mind).

A year later and I feel like the tank is just set now. In other words, it is stocked to the point where I do not see making any major additions. Just keep up the maintenance and watch for growth.

 
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NY_Caveman

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That would be wise.

Is the stand too glossy for your taste?

Yes glossy, and not as sturdy feeling as I would like. I do not worry about it holding the tank up, but I feel I could bring it down too easily. I am not so coordinated.


 

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Agreed. I like this tank a lot better than the other two. I am not sure I love the stand long term (have some options in mind).

A year later and I feel like the tank is just set now. In other words, it is stocked to the point where I do not see making any major additions. Just keep up the maintenance and watch for growth.
famous last words of every reefer everywhere. lol. We are all as excited as you are to see eveything grow in.
 
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NY_Caveman

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Three Month Real Update

Fish
Our fish all seem happy and are getting along well. The Pink Streaked Wrasse, the most timid of the group, has really fattened up. I have to assume he is finding pods to supplement his diet although I am not seeing as many pods as in the beginning (um, related methinks!). The Midas will munch them too, so maybe it is time to replenish.

I am having mixed feelings about the ocellaris we added. I debated long and hard about getting a Clownfish that was a natural match for our BTA host. I considered an A. Clarkii or a Spotcinctus (A. bicinctus), but in the end I felt they may get too large and aggressive for our tank. I kind of wish I had taken the chance. We love the ocellaris we have, mind you, he is very cute and plays well with others. I admit though, it bothers me more than I expected that its natural host anemone is not a Bubble Tipped Anemone. I realize now, I consider it a forced relationship.

To get the best of both worlds, I have strongly been considering acquiring a crab to live in the anemone. I love Porcelain crabs and seeing @Katrina71 ’s yesterday may have clinched it for me. I think our kids would love that too.
(see crab here)

Corals
Our corals are looking great. I have been adding Kalkwasser recently as my Alkalinity began to fall off a cliff. The Kalk does seem to be having a beneficial effect. I also have “two part” mixes at the ready too for adjustments.

LPS Row
3BF5AAD8-7410-4117-959A-9C69AACAC756.jpeg


SPS Island
83E17771-3627-4EF2-9D8A-E8B765379793.jpeg


The Not So Good
The only real negative right now is I am getting some nuisance algae. It came in a little, then seemed to slow down with the help of manual removal, but is now coming back with some vengeance. I need to get in there with a toothbrush today. I do a 10% water change every week. Right now, NO3 is at 5 ppm and PO4 is at 0.1 ppm. Not as low as some reefers maintain, but not an extreme level either.

I only feed once a day and it is usually about 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon of either tiny coral pellets and 0.5 mm mysis pellets, or frozen squid and frozen mysis (I feed the frozen every third day). I may start feeding every other day and see if that has any effect. Lighting could be a factor, but my white levels are peaking at only 8% for three hours a day. Blues peak at 35%.

The only other thing to note is my skimmer is due for a full cleaning, so maybe that will help. Honestly, my system is only three months old, so maybe I just need to let it catch up with all of the life we have added. I am not doing anything drastic.

I was getting excellent coralline growth until the Alkalinity drop. Some of the new coralline immediately bleached which surprised me a little. Since I started Kalkwasser I am seeing new growth resume.

Ha! Every time I think I will write a quick post, it is a novel. Keeping this tank thread though has been a great way for me to organize my thoughts and patiently consider what is happening in my system. I am glad there are some who enjoy it.

:)

 
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