Lurking danger 75g Dragon Lair

[vlangel]

I like the macroalgae and feather dusters in there. I think you should throw an Undulate Trigger in there and watch what happens to the balance between the serenity and menacing. (Haha, just kidding!)

Here is a video where serenity still rules!

 

[kevgib67]

Here is a video where serenity still rules!

Beautiful Dawn, great choice of fish!

 

[vlangel]

Beautiful Dawn, great choice of fish!

Thanks Kevin! I feel like my tank has a good assortment of working fish but varying in size and color. I am really happy how well they get along with each other as it stresses me to see a fish being bullied.
I'd really love a purple tang and a small harem of chalk bass and then I think I will put the no vacancy sign up.

Here are some still shots:

 

[Tahoe61]

Here is a video where serenity still rules!

Not sure serenity is how I would describe it. Active and colorful definitely.

 

[vlangel]

Not sure serenity is how I would describe it. Active and colorful definitely.

Ha ha, you have a point there! They were hungry and couldn't figure out why their chow wasn't forth coming!

 

[kevgib67]

Thanks Kevin! I feel like my tank has a good assortment of working fish but varying in size and color. I am really happy how well they get along with each other as it stresses me to see a fish being bullied.
I'd really love a purple tang and a small harem of chalk bass and then I think I will put the no vacancy sign up.

Here are some still shots:

Beautiful Dawn!

 

[vlangel]

Well folks, I have some very sad news, my clam is dying. I noticed something seemed wrong right after I treated the tank with coral snow. The clam never fully opened up after that and I am really sad if my treatment of coral snow caused this because I didn't need to use the coral snow. The uglies on the sandbed were going away on their own.

 

[kevgib67]

Well folks, I have some very sad news, my clam is dying. I noticed something seemed wrong right after I treated the tank with coral snow. The clam never fully opened up after that and I am really sad if my treatment of coral snow caused this because I didn't need to use the coral snow. The uglies on the sandbed were going away on their own.

So sorry to hear this Dawn, I’m hoping it turns around for you!

 

[vlangel]

So sorry to hear this Dawn, I’m hoping it turns around for you!

Thanks Kevin but I don't think that its going to. It is shrinking down into its shell more every day.

 

[kevgib67]

Thanks Kevin but I don't think that its going to. It is shrinking down into its shell more every day.

@OrionN , any suggestions?

 

[tbrown]

Try a freshwater dip. I don't think it can hurt.

 

[vlangel]

Sorry folks, I know that I have been MIA. We've been helping an elderly aunt with moving into assisted living and getting her house ready for sale. It's all I could do to keep up with my tank's daily needs but no time to be on R2R. Things are slowing a little now so here is a quick update.
Everything is about the same with the tank; most of the coral look very well except the pulsing xenia. The fish are doing great and the parameters seem fairly stable. The clam is still alive but is so retracted in its shell that I don't have much hope for it. I am feeding it phyto and coral food every other day but I suspect that its only a matter of time.

 

[vlangel]

Well, the clam died and I am not really sure why. Maybe it was the coral snow or maybe I wasn't feeding it enough? I feel very bad. One condition very different from the Crocea that I was so successful with years ago, is that I had a T5 quad back then that was only 3" from the surface of the water. Now I have a ReefBreeder Photon that is 14" from the surface of the water and I have never measured par so that may be the big difference. Anyway, I think I am done with clams for now.

Also my pulsing xenia are all closed up. My nutrients are high (NO3 20 and PO4 .8) but I did not think that would bother xenia. The sps are encrusting and have great color. The trumpets are making more heads and the torches and frog spawn all look great. All the zoas/palys are spreading so in general the tank is doing quite well. And the 'uglies' on the sandbed seem to have run their course and are mostly done, which looks so much better.

I bought a Jabao dosing pump. I am hand dosing 40ml of AFR daily and I need a plan for an upcoming vacation in August. It should arrive Monday and hopefully I can figure out how to use it!

 

[kevgib67]

Well, the clam died and I am not really sure why. Maybe it was the coral snow or maybe I wasn't feeding it enough? I feel very bad. One condition very different from the Crocea that I was so successful with years ago, is that I had a T5 quad back then that was only 3" from the surface of the water. Now I have a ReefBreeder Photon that is 14" from the surface of the water and I have never measured par so that may be the big difference. Anyway, I think I am done with clams for now.

Also my pulsing xenia are all closed up. My nutrients are high (NO3 20 and PO4 .8) but I did not think that would bother xenia. The sps are encrusting and have great color. The trumpets are making more heads and the torches and frog spawn all look great. All the zoas/palys are spreading so in general the tank is doing quite well. And the 'uglies' on the sandbed seem to have run their course and are mostly done, which looks so much better.

I bought a Jabao dosing pump. I am hand dosing 40ml of AFR daily and I need a plan for an upcoming vacation in August. It should arrive Monday and hopefully I can figure out how to use it!

You got this Dawn!

 

[vlangel]

Bummer, Tinkerbell my Solon fairy wrasse jumped out the small hole i have cut for the auto fish feeder. That makes me feel so bad but it seemed almost inevitable eventually. Tinkerbell regularly hit the glass tops. For that reason I kept the water line down almost 2" (just above the bottom of the rim) to deter such an incident. Still nothing is sure proof if there are holes that a fish can fit through.

 

[kevgib67]

Bummer, Tinkerbell my Solon fairy wrasse jumped out the small hole i have cut for the auto fish feeder. That makes me feel so bad but it seemed almost inevitable eventually. Tinkerbell regularly hit the glass tops. For that reason I kept the water line down almost 2" (just above the bottom of the rim) to deter such an incident. Still nothing is sure proof if there are holes that a fish can fit through.

So sorry Dawn my blue head is always test my screen top often splashing water on me when I’m sitting in my recliner nest to the tank. I think he thinks he’s a flying fish and wouldn’t last a second in a lidless tank.

 

[vlangel]

So sorry Dawn my blue head is always test my screen top often splashing water on me when I’m sitting in my recliner nest to the tank. I think he thinks he’s a flying fish and wouldn’t last a second in a lidless tank.

Yes, it seemed doomed to happen eventually.

 

[vlangel]

Today was a full out cleaning of the tank. I removed 10 gallons of water and then I started with the BioMaster canister filter. I cleaned the pre-filter and then I removed the top of the canister to check on the impeller. It looked pretty clean as did the area it is housed in. It's probably been 4-5 months since I cleaned that so the pre-filter is doing a good job. For the first time ever I removed the baskets of rubble rock inside the canister. There were fan worms and sponges but sadly I did not see any pods. There was some detritus but it wasn't bad for 10 months of not getting in there. I just submerged each basket in a bucket of tank water and shook out the detritus.

Next I cleaned the glass and washed the glass tops. Then I siphoned some of the sandbed.

Lastly I worked on greatly reducing the amount of yellow palys that are in the tank. I really like them but they have gotten out of control. First they had nearly covered my sabre tooth tiger skull so I used a razor to scrape them off. They also were taking over a large rock on the left side so I removed the rock. It is now soaking in a bucket of fresh water.

I moved the war coral and placed it on the sabre tooth tiger skull to discourage the palys from coming back. It looks amazing there, like it was made for that spot. I also moved the neon green trumpets and the frogspawns.

I will be doing some testing later.
I am still working the bugs out of programming the doser. I said it was a Jebao but its a Jecod. It's instructions are very unclear when it comes to the interval day. It's says to program 1 if you want it to dose every day but it seems that actually doses every other day. Someone in one of my other threads said that you have to program a 0 if you want it to dose every day. I am testing it out on my kitchen counter with 2 jars and a container of water. I programmed the 1st pump programming the interval with 1, and I programmed the 2nd pump with 0. I am keeping records of what happens. When I figure out how to program the doser to do what I want I will move it to the aquarium and dose AFR.

 

[kevgib67]

Today was a full out cleaning of the tank. I removed 10 gallons of water and then I started with the BioMaster canister filter. I cleaned the pre-filter and then I removed the top of the canister to check on the impeller. It looked pretty clean as did the area it is housed in. It's probably been 4-5 months since I cleaned that so the pre-filter is doing a good job. For the first time ever I removed the baskets of rubble rock inside the canister. There were fan worms and sponges but sadly I did not see any pods. There was some detritus but it wasn't bad for 10 months of not getting in there. I just submerged each basket in a bucket of tank water and shook out the detritus.

Next I cleaned the glass and washed the glass tops. Then I siphoned some of the sandbed.

Lastly I worked on greatly reducing the amount of yellow palys that are in the tank. I really like them but they have gotten out of control. First they had nearly covered my sabre tooth tiger skull so I used a razor to scrape them off. They also were taking over a large rock on the left side so I removed the rock. It is now soaking in a bucket of fresh water.

I moved the war coral and placed it on the sabre tooth tiger skull to discourage the palys from coming back. It looks amazing there, like it was made for that spot. I also moved the neon green trumpets and the frogspawns.

I will be doing some testing later.
I am still working the bugs out of programming the doser. I said it was a Jebao but its a Jecod. It's instructions are very unclear when it comes to the interval day. It's says to program 1 if you want it to dose every day but it seems that actually doses every other day. Someone in one of my other threads said that you have to program a 0 if you want it to dose every day. I am testing it out on my kitchen counter with 2 jars and a container of water. I programmed the 1st pump programming the interval with 1, and I programmed the 2nd pump with 0. I am keeping records of what happens. When I figure out how to program the doser to do what I want I will move it to the aquarium and dose AFR.

Well, hasn’t someone been a busy bee! Pictures?

 

[vlangel]

Well, hasn’t someone been a busy bee! Pictures?

Ha ha, yeah I was busy with the tank today. The sad thing is that is really the only thing I did today and I feel like I put in a day's work! The lights are going down now so hopefully tomorrow I will get a few pics.