IM Fusion Pro 2 40L AIO Build

[Ghostweim]

Duncans are one of my favorites! I want some other varieties of them!

I bought all three of mine from Tidal Gardens. I keep watching for their different varieties and have lucked out. :) The smaller of the three is supposed to be branching - can't wait for it to grow bigger.

 

[Ghostweim]

Happy New Year all!

Update on my chalk bass that has/had popeye... I am happy to report that he is so very close to being back to normal. Yay!

He ended up getting popeye in both eyes, so I don't think it was due to an injury. I contemplated pulling him, but thought it would stress him more, so rode it out. I also saw that he was feeding (except for two days) and when he was out, there were no other spots or issues with him, so was keeping my fingers crossed that we could ride this out and have him recover. And we did!

I have to admit that I really did not have high hopes. His eyes were pretty bad - they looked like you took a glob of glue and stuck his eye in the middle. The gel looking stuff around them remained clear - and that is really the one thing that gave me a little bit of hope through this.

He is a bit skittish now - where before he really interacted with me. I am hoping this goes away since he is out and about a lot more than he has been in the last two weeks.

I did notice one interesting thing when he was "down and out". He would go over to the corner where the fire shrimp hangs out - and I saw that he was letting the fire shrimp clean him. No one else in the tank has let the shrimp do that so far. Maybe that helped? Who knows...

 

[Ghostweim]

As far as inverts go, I think urchins have to be my favorite. My purple pin cushion is always entertaining with the things he finds to drag around. This is a new one though! :grinning-squinting-face:

 

[Ghostweim]

I added the cutest little tailspot blenny to my tank today. Picked him up from Jeff over at FisHotel (does an amazing job with quarantining fish). He is settling in and the other fish could care less that he is around.

 

[Ghostweim]

A FTS for Friday and a shot of Benny the blenny in his new barnacle.

 

[Fishy Guy]

Love it! My tailspot is Benny too ha.

 

[JoJosReef]

My tailspot is also Benny.

 

[Fishy Guy]

My tailspot is also Benny.

We’re all obviously very creative ha.

 

[Ghostweim]

So... I bought some rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater in December. Today this shows up... Good or bad? Hidden cup?

 

[SkagitValleyReefer]

So... I bought some rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater in December. Today this shows up... Good or bad? Hidden cup?

Looks like aptasia

 

[Ghostweim]

Wish me luck... Found way more than that one... :face-with-open-mouth:

 

[Ghostweim]

So, I bought something... It was delivered today... And holy cow is this the most fricking awesome lid ever!!! @Kraken Reef knocked it out of the park. Just look at that beauty!

 

[Fishy Guy]

So, I bought something... It was delivered today... And holy cow is this the most fricking awesome lid ever!!! @Kraken Reef knocked it out of the park. Just look at that beauty!

Looks great! I've come close to ordering one for my 25g a few times.

 

[Ghostweim]

Ran some errands and could not resist stopping at the LFS. Mine happens to be a PetCo - but I have to say that I have picked up some nice inverts there! Today's find was a small female emerald crab. She is settling into the tank nicely. I had an emerald before (male) and he just got old and died. I think they are fun to have. :)

 

[Ghostweim]

Not sure what happened to my leptastrea. This thing is always fluffed up and lush. When I cleaned the tank today, I noticed some white filmy gunk waving in the current on one side - the side that was fairly close to my acan echinata. I think maybe they were too close and some warfare took place?

I tried to play it safe and pulled it out while I was working on the tank and dipped it. I scrubbed the side that had all of the white filmy gunk on it and it looks like this now. I think it will bounce back - this is one coral that has been very resilient in my tank. I moved it away from the acan too - so hopefully it is in a better spot now.

 

[Ghostweim]

It has been a long time since I have done an update - life got in the way...

Our Weimaraner got ill and we had to put him down in June - he was a huge part of our lives and it is still hard to talk about him. We had always discussed getting chickens, so at the end of June, we bought 4 little chicks (we call them the Chickie Girls) and then designed and built them a very nice coop and run area (this took quite a while we did all of building). They are so much fun and have partially filled the hole that Cooper created when he left.

My aging father had an episode in the fall that landed him in a long term care facility. It was actually a huge relief since my mom was his sole care taker and he was getting harder to care for.

Fast forward to now and my tank is trucking along nicely. But...
~The aptasia never went away and multiplied, so I picked up some bergia - they have been in the tank for about a month and I am still waiting to see results. Am thinking maybe they died... But I have read that I need to have patience with these...
~Bennie the blenny got pop eye and I thought he battled it only to find him dead at the bottom of the tank 3 days ago.

I am not planning for any huge tank changes, however am contemplating a skimmer since I cannot seem to get my nitrates and phosphates to come down. Part of me wonders if this is just what my tank likes since all of the corals are doing amazing?

 

[Mas0n]

It has been a long time since I have done an update - life got in the way...

Our Weimaraner got ill and we had to put him down in June - he was a huge part of our lives and it is still hard to talk about him. We had always discussed getting chickens, so at the end of June, we bought 4 little chicks (we call them the Chickie Girls) and then designed and built them a very nice coop and run area (this took quite a while we did all of building). They are so much fun and have partially filled the hole that Cooper created when he left.

My aging father had an episode in the fall that landed him in a long term care facility. It was actually a huge relief since my mom was his sole care taker and he was getting harder to care for.

Fast forward to now and my tank is trucking along nicely. But...
~The aptasia never went away and multiplied, so I picked up some bergia - they have been in the tank for about a month and I am still waiting to see results. Am thinking maybe they died... But I have read that I need to have patience with these...
~Bennie the blenny got pop eye and I thought he battled it only to find him dead at the bottom of the tank 3 days ago.

I am not planning for any huge tank changes, however am contemplating a skimmer since I cannot seem to get my nitrates and phosphates to come down. Part of me wonders if this is just what my tank likes since all of the corals are doing amazing?

How high are your nutrients?

 

[Ghostweim]

How high are your nutrients?

Nitrate runs a consistent 25 ppm and phosphate runs at 1 ppm. I use Salifert to test.

 

[Mas0n]

Nitrate runs a consistent 25 ppm and phosphate runs at 1 ppm. I use Salifert to test.

Gotcha! My phosphate and nitrates are out of wack right now too.

I have low nitrates (3-5ppm) and high phosphate at .5ppm. Everything is happy with good extension like you said above, but I’ve read a few articles/studies about high phosphate preventing calcification or leading to less dense coral skeletons. I recently picked up some Lanthanum to help reduce my phosphate, since water changes will drop my nitrates even further.

Are you still getting good growth at 1ppm?

 

[Ghostweim]

Gotcha! My phosphate and nitrates are out of wack right now too.

I have low nitrates (3-5ppm) and high phosphate at .5ppm. Everything is happy with good extension like you said above, but I’ve read a few articles/studies about high phosphate preventing calcification or leading to less dense coral skeletons. I recently picked up some Lanthanum to help reduce my phosphate, since water changes will drop my nitrates even further.

Are you still getting good growth at 1ppm?

I am getting very good growth - some are growing crazy fast. But, I have to say that the corals I have are not difficult ones. I will have to do a FTS when the lights are on. Funny thing was that when I first set this tank up, my nutrients were super low and the corals were not happy. I had to dose for a short while. I know that consistency is the key, and my tank numbers are always consistent- so maybe just leave them be?