Innovative Marine EXT 200 Peninsula Build...

[Sean Clark]

From July 22, 2022


Please, I really want to see the happy outcome. I tried so hard to play it cool and “nonchalant”…but I really want to see pictures of your tank because 1) I waited since July 4th
and 2) Because I really want an update picture since the whole velvet thing. I feel like this will make us very happy.

I want to see how much the corals have grown out since over a year, I want to see the work of art that’s in your house.

This is the build thread of the century, let’s make this thread sparkle. We are all fish/reef lovers and we all had unfortunate moments in this hobby.

So, what do ya say? Do you think we deserve a few photos of your hard work?

I'll get the camera out... I did just clean the glass earlier today.

 

[Sean Clark]

I feel like a Flemish Giant springing in the air, reaching for the carrot that is held by the hand of my owner.

I can’t reach said carrot.

Just...A little...Closer.…

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'll get the camera out... I did just clean the glass earlier today.

Now you're just gettin' fancy

 

[Miami Reef]

Now you're just gettin' fancy

That is the way.

 

[rmorris_14]

 

[Sean Clark]

FYI ^^^ This person saved me about 4k today. Who needs a pony tank anyway?

 

[Miami Reef]

FYI ^^^ This person saved me about 4k today. Who need a pony tank anyway?

How did she save you that?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

FYI ^^^ This person saved me about 4k today. Who need a pony tank anyway?

Ponies are a fast track to heartbreak... If you have the patience and time to keep them properly from the start, that's great but I lost mine 1 by 1 by 1 etc even doing what I thought was right.

 

[Miami Reef]

How did she save you that?

Ignore that. I misinterpreted. I didn’t realize you literally meant sea horses when you said pony.

 

[Projects with Sam]

Ignore that. I misinterpreted. I didn’t realize you literally meant sea horses when you said pony.

lol. I was totally lost too.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Ponies are a fast track to heartbreak... If you have the patience and time to keep them properly from the start, that's great but I lost mine 1 by 1 by 1 etc even doing what I thought was right.

FWIW, to anyone thinking of starting a seahorse tank, do your research... They're not necessarily harder than a regular reef tank but seahorses have different requirements and if you just try to apply what you already know from running successful reefs, you will likely run into problems.

They certainly are captivating creatures!

 

[rmorris_14]

FWIW, to anyone thinking of starting a seahorse tank, do your research... They're not necessarily harder than a regular reef tank but seahorses have different requirements and if you just try to apply what you already know from running successful reefs, you will likely run into problems.

They certainly are captivating creatures!

I can say with almost all certainty, that Sean is definitely taking the pony research to a geek level.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I can say with almost all certainty, that Sean is definitely taking the pony research to a geek level.

I would expect nothing less!

 

[rmorris_14]

I would expect nothing less!

He is one smart cookie. The amount of times I have asked him to dumb something down for me is more than I care to admit

 

[Sean Clark]

The dreaded velvet update:

I got too excited for my own good and it quickly caught up with me.
After my foolish acts I needed to quickly assemble more QT tanks and get all of the fish into treatment. I only had the original six fish in the tank so that was actually one positive aspect.
Dory and Neon each went into their own tanks, Jorge and Nemo shared a tank. Elana and Jeff both succumb to the velvet along with the lemonpeel angel that the velvet came in on. I have had Elena and Jeff since 2016.
With the tank now sitting fallow, I performed a 100% water change which required making a whole lot of water so I needed to pick up some more containers just to be able to change all that water in one go, then came the waiting…
I kept the fish in treatment for 80 days which felt like forever.
Once I changed all of the water and had no fish in the tank I ran into some cyano which was predictable as there were no nutrients in the system. So I started feeding the tank to get the nutrients up… then came the green hair algae… I was feeling pretty defeated at this point. It felt like one problem would just lead to the next and so on.
I tackled the GHA with hydrogen peroxide which I was fairly aggressive with. Then the tank fell back into a nice place and stopped beating me down with some new problem each week. Finally!
I spent my days working on wire management and optimizing my stand. I did a little bit each day which kept me engaged throughout the fallow period.
I ditched the EcoTech Versa pump that was giving me constant trouble and went back to my tried and true Kamoer FX-STP pump which was a much welcomed upgrade.

So after all of that self inflicted drama it was time to put the fish back in!

This felt really good and really bad at the same time. I didn’t want to have done all of this for nothing because I screwed something up. I put everyone back in and crossed my fingers. I have been observing them all closely and so far so good. Everyone looks nice and healthy.

I took a bunch of photos earlier today. I was trying to get a few angles of each of them to better show their overall condition. There were some floaties in the water so some of the photos may look like there is a spot or two, which is why I tried to get multiple photos of each. Nemo was being shy and wouldn’t let me get any good ones that were actually in focus. It also doesn't help that I know nothing about all of the buttons on my camera or how to use it. I did not edit these in any way other than cropping them to make the file size more R2R friendly. I also did not use any filters. WISWYG.

Nemo:

Jorge:

Neon:

Dory:

TLDR:
Don’t be an idiot like me and always QT EVERY fish that comes into your system. Treating velvet sucks!


Edit: Here is a link to the photos including the ones that didn't load.

Post Velvet Treatment Photos

23 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Sean Clark]

And of course half of the pictures didn't post...
Here is a link to the photos... Silly R2R...

Post Velvet Treatment Photos

23 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[rmorris_14]

And of course half of the pictures didn't post...

Was a FTS in any of those photos that “didn’t post”?

 

[Miami Reef]

Yeah, Sean, I’m more of a coral guy. I was honestly expecting a before and after shot of the corals lol.

But I’m glad the fish that are alive, are living.

I’ll stop pestering you for photos.

Also, I think you should get seahorse’s. They don’t seem to require much and they would be a very interesting pet. Imagine how attached you‘d get to a pet seahorse. It’ll be like a little aquatic pet horse.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Also, I think you should get a seahorse’s. They don’t seem to require much...

??????

 

[Miami Reef]

??????

relllllaaaax. I’m just trying to be the bad influence of temptation here.