jcolliii's IM25 Lagoon journey - MASTERTRONIC up and running!

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Quick question, are you using a dosing pump for your AFR or are you dosing by hand? And at 12ml is that spread out over the day or just everyone in the pool?

 

[jcolliii]

I was doing it by hand after the timer on my DIY doser crapped out. But I recently bought a Kamoer x1, and now I dose with that. Since I have broken down my scape pending the new one, ALK use has fallen a bit - only dosing 8ml per day now, but it's spread over 5 total additions of 1.6ml. Liking that little x1 so far... it was super easy t set up, it calculates the doses based on your total and the number of additions, and once it was calibrated, it is remarkably accurate.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I was doing it by hand after the timer on my DIY doser crapped out. But I recently bought a Kamoer x1, and now I dose with that. Since I have broken down my scape pending the new one, ALK use has fallen a bit - only dosing 8ml per day now, but it's spread over 5 total additions of 1.6ml. Liking that little x1 so far... it was super easy t set up, it calculates the doses based on your total and the number of additions, and once it was calibrated, it is remarkably accurate.

Nice, this is actually the pump I was considering since my needs are relatively simple. Glad to hear it handles the job!

 

[jcolliii]

So, I think I've found the last coral to go in (as a clown house). I think I've found a fairly nice 2 head branching hammer with bright orange tips. It's 4-5" wide when fully expanded, and I might add another head from the same fragstock so it will be large enough for the clown - assuming it'll take to it. Doesn't have the green base color like I would have liked, but the tips are super bright orange.

Things that will need new homes thus far:

Green slimer (just never really found that combo that clicked for this coral. Grows, but very slowly. Think it might be flow-related.
Both of my encrusting cyphastreas - I have a 'goldmember' and WWC 'firestorm'. Might put a small piece of the goldmember on one of the cross branches as it does look pretty ******. Purple base with gold polyps.
My dark red cap broke in half, so half of that needs a home.
A 3-4 polyp incidental frag of those greatbig green Paly grandis
And, I think a pretty big hunk of lemon-lime favites.

That will get me down to around 18 colonies or so.

The cornbred speckled Kraks I have to sell to recoup the cost of the frogspawn (and maybe get a return pump).

 

[TheWB]

So, I think I've found the last coral to go in (as a clown house). I think I've found a fairly nice 2 head branching hammer with bright orange tips. It's 4-5" wide when fully expanded, and I might add another head from the same fragstock so it will be large enough for the clown - assuming it'll take to it. Doesn't have the green base color like I would have liked, but the tips are super bright orange.

Things that will need new homes thus far:

Green slimer (just never really found that combo that clicked for this coral. Grows, but very slowly. Think it might be flow-related.
Both of my encrusting cyphastreas - I have a 'goldmember' and WWC 'firestorm'. Might put a small piece of the goldmember on one of the cross branches as it does look pretty ******. Purple base with gold polyps.
My dark red cap broke in half, so half of that needs a home.
A 3-4 polyp incidental frag of those greatbig green Paly grandis
And, I think a pretty big hunk of lemon-lime favites.

That will get me down to around 18 colonies or so.

The cornbred speckled Kraks I have to sell to recoup the cost of the frogspawn (and maybe get a return pump).

You gotta find a way to keep those cyphastreas, they’re both really nice looking, especially the Goldmember. Are they growing well for you?

 

[jcolliii]

They grow well when they have low light and I literally do nothing to them. I give them more light, they shrivel up and die. Throw them in the corner because I think they're goners - 3 months later they are back and happy. Weird corals.

I did finally order a (hopefully) new home for my clown. Bought 3 big heads of this yellow octospawn.

Purchased from a new store in San Diego that had it for a good price. Seem to be a Euphyllia specialist - Kung Fu corals. Dunno when this will ship, but I asked it to be sent hold for pickup to my fedex place. I have quite a bit of green, some orange, and quite a bit of red and pink, but not so much yellow. So when I found this one, it was just a question about the inflated polyp size and a quick purchase.

 

[TheWB]

They grow well when they have low light and I literally do nothing to them. I give them more light, they shrivel up and die. Throw them in the corner because I think they're goners - 3 months later they are back and happy. Weird corals.

I did finally order a (hopefully) new home for my clown. Bought 3 big heads of this yellow octospawn.

Purchased from a new store in San Diego that had it for a good price. Seem to be a Euphyllia specialist - Kung Fu corals. Dunno when this will ship, but I asked it to be sent hold for pickup to my fedex place. I have quite a bit of green, some orange, and quite a bit of red and pink, but not so much yellow. So when I found this one, it was just a question about the inflated polyp size and a quick purchase.

Good to hear you’ve found the right spot for those cyphastrea. Hopefully the clown will take to the octospawn but who knows with clowns. I never would have thought mine would live where they live but they apparently really like it. They don’t go anywhere near the anemone. That yellow is interesting, Don’t think I’ve seen one like that before.

 

[jcolliii]

This is a tough fish to get decent photos of. SOOOOO active. Great citizen of my little mixed reef though.

A bit out of focus, but this may just be the best photo I have yet managed.

This one is just kinda funny.

 

[jcolliii]

And the baby torch. Wish more of the larvae had settled. Still going to be a challenge to cut this off of the rock where it is without damaging it. Fed it last night for the first time. It is actually close to three-quarters of an inch across when fully inflated now. Lights had just come on, so it's mostly closed below.

Tentacle tips are definitely gold or orange, so I am thinking it's the cristata's progeny.

Spongebob Favia. This this is belligerently vivid in person. I can never get the color right, ever. The green is much more yellow in person - not quite highlighter yellow, but close. An oldie but goodie for sure. Not so easy to find these days. I think this was a Steve Tyree limited edition back in the day. I visited Steve's 'raceway' system way back in the day with my reef buddy Mike. Man, did Steve like to talk. I think we left his place with only having bought like $30 bucks worth of stuff each and we were there for like 3 hours.

These guys are something special too. The color only ever looks right from the top down, which this photo was not. Bloodshot Krakatoa palys (aka speckled kraks). One of my favorite palys for sure.

And then there is the brain. Seems to always be saying 'FEED ME!!!' This was sold from WWC as a lavender platy. It's at least 4 colors, and looks like it's starting to get more red along the corallite ridges. This thing eats like a beast, and grows like one too. Sides of the corallites are metallic green, polyp centers are pink where it gets the most light and baby blue on the less lit sides. Ridges are usually a sort of orangy-purple, but overhead they look dirty red. Love this coral.

 

[jcolliii]

Also an interesting observation on the orange Lithyphyllon - I think it produces small nubbins of coral - like little 'coral pebbles' that detach from the main colony and fall down around the base of the coral. I find these little nubbins around the base of this coral all the time - 1-2mm in diameter or so. Usually, they just end up getting blown around and lost, but I managed to suck 3 of them up and glue them onto the margins of the colony. We'll see how they do. I had always wondered if some corals might self-frag like this. Will have to try and document this every time I see one and see how frequently it happens. It's definitely not out to the edge of its rock yet though. Dunno, litho's are probably plating types though - I believe they are a chalice.

 

[TheWB]

This is a tough fish to get decent photos of. SOOOOO active. Great citizen of my little mixed reef though.

A bit out of focus, but this may just be the best photo I have yet managed.

This one is just kinda funny.

I absolutely love this fish. I need to get one at some point, maybe after I figure out what to do with my clowns. Those speckled Kraks are really nice too, don’t think I’ve seen them before. You’ve got a lot of good stuff in that tank.

 

[jcolliii]

Super busy day, but the new octospawn from Kung Fu Corals in San Diego arrived today via UPS. It was 60 here today, so it was a good day to receive corals - but it showed up and the box was in decent shape for a package smashers delivery. The coral looked like it was in pretty good shape initially, so unbagged it and put it in a container for acclimation and dip. That's when I saw the damage to one of the three heads. Exposed skeleton and tissue sloughing away from the polyp on the outside. So I acclimated, and then did a five minute dip in coral rx, and then found a nice spot in the tank for the coral. The other two polyps look great and it was beginning to expand in just a few minutes. Lights are just about out now, but the two polyps look good, but that smokey-slimey stuff that euphyllias do when they are on the way out is occasionally visible near the wounded area. It's a fairly small area, and my hope is that it will be okay, but just documenting.

K-Fu Corals sent an email reply within minutes of my letting them know that they would cover any damage or deaths from shipping. Seem like a pretty stand-up group so far. Anyhow, will try to get a pic in the morning before I head out. Color is pretty fantastic so far - the typical purple-brown inside but vibrant yellow-green tentacles. It will be a great addition and the clown has already been eyeballing it.

In other news, PO4 is down to 0.3, so I have been adding the remaining dyed pieces into the tank and continue to monitor closely, but looks good so far. Have mounted up a couple more of my colonies, and the finished re-scape will probably be Saturday. I will take everything completely out, scrape the back and bottom, siphon and filter all of the debris on the bottom, then figure out which pieces go where. I am going to try to make one big grouping and a smaller one on the opposite side with the new frogspawn on a very short nub to keep it close to the bottom so the clown will be more likely to see it as a possibility. I will try to make decisions on coral placement based on height, texture, and as much as possible, color. I want to keep primary and secondary complimentary color combinations as much as possible for color, design, and negative space considerations.

I've always tried to consider color when making placements, but it's not easy when adding new things. But, when you have everything on its own tile, the possibilities to help ensure good composition and color compliment may be easier (at least that is the hope). One of the photos I have always had in my morgue is the one below. It uses cross complimentaries and split cross complimentaries to achieve a very zen-like composition that just feels right.

Anyhow, we'll see what I can pull off.

 

[jazzfisher]

Would be interested in how the Kung Fu octo works out. They just opened recently and I haven’t been there as it is on the other end of the county to where we live.

 

[TheWB]

Super busy day, but the new octospawn from Kung Fu Corals in San Diego arrived today via UPS. It was 60 here today, so it was a good day to receive corals - but it showed up and the box was in decent shape for a package smashers delivery. The coral looked like it was in pretty good shape initially, so unbagged it and put it in a container for acclimation and dip. That's when I saw the damage to one of the three heads. Exposed skeleton and tissue sloughing away from the polyp on the outside. So I acclimated, and then did a five minute dip in coral rx, and then found a nice spot in the tank for the coral. The other two polyps look great and it was beginning to expand in just a few minutes. Lights are just about out now, but the two polyps look good, but that smokey-slimey stuff that euphyllias do when they are on the way out is occasionally visible near the wounded area. It's a fairly small area, and my hope is that it will be okay, but just documenting.

K-Fu Corals sent an email reply within minutes of my letting them know that they would cover any damage or deaths from shipping. Seem like a pretty stand-up group so far. Anyhow, will try to get a pic in the morning before I head out. Color is pretty fantastic so far - the typical purple-brown inside but vibrant yellow-green tentacles. It will be a great addition and the clown has already been eyeballing it.

In other news, PO4 is down to 0.3, so I have been adding the remaining dyed pieces into the tank and continue to monitor closely, but looks good so far. Have mounted up a couple more of my colonies, and the finished re-scape will probably be Saturday. I will take everything completely out, scrape the back and bottom, siphon and filter all of the debris on the bottom, then figure out which pieces go where. I am going to try to make one big grouping and a smaller one on the opposite side with the new frogspawn on a very short nub to keep it close to the bottom so the clown will be more likely to see it as a possibility. I will try to make decisions on coral placement based on height, texture, and as much as possible, color. I want to keep primary and secondary complimentary color combinations as much as possible for color, design, and negative space considerations.

I've always tried to consider color when making placements, but it's not easy when adding new things. But, when you have everything on its own tile, the possibilities to help ensure good composition and color compliment may be easier (at least that is the hope). One of the photos I have always had in my morgue is the one below. It uses cross complimentaries and split cross complimentaries to achieve a very zen-like composition that just feels right.

Anyhow, we'll see what I can pull off.

Shipping damage is always a bummer. Hopefully it recovers and the clown takes to it. Can’t wait to see your vision come alive. You’ve actually given me an idea for a way to rescape my tank. I’m waiting to see if my green slimer decides to color back up. If I can keep some basic SPS alive I’ll probably do it.

 

[jcolliii]

Well, a second head had started to slough off tissue this morning with exposed septae. So I let K-F Corals know and they said not to worry that they'd take care of me. I HATE to kill things, but I had to cut the tissue connecting the last uneffected head and frag off the two effected heads and toss them. I felt so bad.

It was just a really tough day today for a lot of other reasons. At the end of the day, Kung Fu Corals sent me a text with a bunch of photos of different frogspawns they had, and to pick whichever I wanted. I picked one and told them how they had literally just made my day. They said they couldn't refund shipping (which I understand), but said they were going to throw in a head of gold hammer to cover the shipping cost, and that the replacement coral is substantially larger than the original one I'd ordered. And they shipped today via Fedex this time at my request. Even if a bomb falls on these corals in transit and I never receive them, I will not stop saying good things about these guys. They made my day after one of the worst days I've had, and they didn't do it because I threatened to go public, nor because I complained, or said I was going to leave them a bad review. They literally sent me 15 emails and at least as many texts today. They did it because that's the kind of folks they are.

I can't recommend Kung-Fu Corals enough.

 

[jcolliii]

Would be interested in how the Kung Fu octo works out. They just opened recently and I haven’t been there as it is on the other end of the county to where we live.

I'd think it would be worth the drive. Their online prices are pretty darn good (for the normal stuff, high like everyone else for the double-delux pieces), and see above how they treated me.

Encinitas, huh? I love Solana Beach. I led a couple fieldtrips there when I was at UCR, and that's the first place I take my students when I do a SoCal geology trip from up here in ND. The cliff walls there have lots of trace fossil burrows (mostly from shrimp and crabs), and the tide pools right there are some of my favorite even though they aren't the biggest or most popular. I miss SoCal a LOT.

One of my last fieldtrips there, we stopped at Torrey Pines first because a lot of our ND students have never been to the Pacific and the view from the cliffs is amazing. We stepped out of the van and the first thing we saw was a couple of whales spouting offshore. Amazing.

 

[jcolliii]

Shipping damage is always a bummer. Hopefully it recovers and the clown takes to it. Can’t wait to see your vision come alive. You’ve actually given me an idea for a way to rescape my tank. I’m waiting to see if my green slimer decides to color back up. If I can keep some basic SPS alive I’ll probably do it.

Well, I got some Anacropora with your name on it along with some other stuff.

 

[jazzfisher]

I'd think it would be worth the drive. Their online prices are pretty darn good (for the normal stuff, high like everyone else for the double-delux pieces), and see above how they treated me.

Encinitas, huh? I love Solana Beach. I led a couple fieldtrips there when I was at UCR, and that's the first place I take my students when I do a SoCal geology trip from up here in ND. The cliff walls there have lots of trace fossil burrows (mostly from shrimp and crabs), and the tide pools right there are some of my favorite even though they aren't the biggest or most popular. I miss SoCal a LOT.

One of my last fieldtrips there, we stopped at Torrey Pines first because a lot of our ND students have never been to the Pacific and the view from the cliffs is amazing. We stepped out of the van and the first thing we saw was a couple of whales spouting offshore. Amazing.

I’m lucky that San Diego is my hometown for sure! Good to hear about Kung Fu. Come & visit.

 

[TheWB]

Well, I got some Anacropora with your name on it along with some other stuff.

Awesome, pm me when you are ready and we can work out the details.

 

[jcolliii]

Replacement coral(s) came in today from Kung Fu Corals, and all I can say is not only did they replace the damaged and dead coral, but what they sent was well beyond doing the right thing. No exposed skeleton, no damage, just as carefully packed as the first shipment was.

When damage happens due to shipping (and I believe that was what happened) and not due to packaging and the care folks use in packing it always just sucks. You almost don't want to even say anything because it's not the fault of the packager/seller. But, at the same time you ordered something and you didn't get it... just a sucky situation.

These guys sent me a bunch of pictures and told me to just pick what I wanted. I chose the one that was closest in appearance to the original purchased coral. They said that it was three heads, just like the original one, and although they couldn't refund shipping, they were throwing in a hammer frag to basically cover the shipping cost of the replacements.

I had them send it Fedex this time and had it held for pickup, so it did arrive safely, picked it up, shot home to acclimate, and this is what they sent.

Yep, technically three heads, but you can see one of them is almost divided into two heads, and that big head is nearly divided into three. So, essentially, they sent me a six head coral to replace a three head one. AND a polyp of gold hammer to cover shipping.

I've had stuff arrive that was not what I have ordered from other vendors in the past, and stuff arrive dead (again, because of UPS), and all sorts of other issues, but I have never had this kind of a positive experience come out of a negative one. WWC sent me a wrong coral once after an auction, and they refunded the purchase and I kept the coral, but I didn't get the coral I wanted and that was never an offer from them. I had a shipment from ASD die, and they gave me credit but no longer had that same torch, so I had to kick in extra to get something else. Neither of these was ideal, but both were acceptable.

What these guys did was ideal for me, but certainly not for them. They went way out of their way - they sent me at least 15 emails, and a bevy of texts to make sure I was happy. And I cannot recommend them strongly enough. In the rare event that something is wrong with an order, they *will* make it right.

These. Guys. Rock.

Awful color from a quick cell phone snap, but this "three head" yellow octospawn is probably 6" long and 5" wide and isn't even fully inflated yet. I would be embarrased to tell you how little I paid for it. If you're in the SoCal area, you should check them out in person. And please post some pictures for the rest of us to see if you do. Will be doing a vendor review on them soon with more details.

Stay tuned. Tomorrow is rescape day. Everything out, tank total scrape and clean, and then playing with the lego bricks that are my coral tiles until I get it right.