Matt's natural reef

[Matt Carden]

I'm going on vacation for a week to Siesta key FL. I don't have a babysitter for my tank. We have someone who is going to check on our cat and feed the fish but not even gonna try to explain anything about the tank. I just have to have faith that when we get back, the tank will be ok. My auto top off is broken so my plan for that is to fill the sump as full as it will go. Lower the salinity so that as the water evaporates it won't climb too high. I figured to lower the salinity to around 30 ppt so that the salinity will be around 40 ppt when I get home. I lose about 1/2 a gallon per day so I should lose around 4 gallons to evaporation. My salinity has been going up by about 1 ppt between top offs so I hope it'll be good.

 

[crusso1993]

I'm going on vacation for a week to Siesta key FL. I don't have a babysitter for my tank. We have someone who is going to check on our cat and feed the fish but not even gonna try to explain anything about the tank. I just have to have faith that when we get back, the tank will be ok. My auto top off is broken so my plan for that is to fill the sump as full as it will go. Lower the salinity so that as the water evaporates it won't climb too high. I figured to lower the salinity to around 30 ppt so that the salinity will be around 40 ppt when I get home. I lose about 1/2 a gallon per day so I should lose around 4 gallons to evaporation. My salinity has been going up by about 1 ppt between top offs so I hope it'll be good.

Have a great vacation!

 

[Matt Carden]

Have a great vacation!

Thanks

 

[Matt Carden]

So I had my hand in the tank this morning to right a frag that had been flipped over last night and I see something scurrying near my hand. I only got about 20 seconds to check it out but it was definitely a crab and it was hairy. If my suspicion is right, that is a Gorilla Crab. He is probably who killed my Hammer. I still feel more comfortable with Peppermints in the sump and the Gorilla will join them when I catch them. This means no replacement Hammer for awhile.

 

[crusso1993]

Hope you're having a great vacation!

 

[Matt Carden]

Thank you! Trying not to think about my tank and the fish feeder who wouldn't even recognize if something were wrong. Here's hoping for the best when I get home

 

[Matt Carden]

So just a small update tonight because I have to go to sleep, I believe my CB Angels are doing a courtship dance! They're swimming around each other among the activities that leads me to believe they are at least trying to mate. I will get a video of it soon.

 

[crusso1993]

I'm guessing everything was good upon your return from vacation.

 

[Matt Carden]

Yeah just dirty glass. Nothing dead!

 

[Matt Carden]

I got some intercostal mud and NSW with about a dozen live clams and some Macros and a large Mussel and some crab that Kaylee found while we were on a boat on Wednesday. On Sunday I shut off the return pump and dumped all that into my sump. I stirred up my sand to break up some unsightly algae/ diatoms/cyano or whatever while the pump was off and got the glass all cleaned up. I turned the return back on after about an hour of letting the mud settle. The water was very cloudy for the rest of Sunday but by Monday when I got home the water was as clear as normal. I didn't do any tests for ammonia or nitrates but everything seemed fine. Just a little more diversity for my natural biologically filtered reef tank.

 

[Matt Carden]

I looked in my tank when I got home which my wife had fed maybe 15 minutes prior and saw something I didn't think was possible.
That piece of food in the left polyp was 3/8" to 1/2". That one on the right was swallowed within 15 minutes.
This was 2 hours later with most of the meaty portion swallowed. It looked kinda like it was chewing it up. The whole body was pulsing like this next pic.

 

[Matt Carden]

Well I found this in my sump today. I found it on the beach and added to the container with the mud and NSW. I had no idea what it was cause it only looked like a blob but I thought what the heck. I believe it is a Ragged Sea Hare.

 

[crusso1993]

Well I found this in my sump today. I found it on the beach and added to the container with the mud and NSW. I had no idea what it was cause it only looked like a blob but I thought what the heck. I believe it is a Ragged Sea Hare.

Pretty cool!

 

[crusso1993]

Hey there, Matt... Any updates? Anything new and different?

 

[Matt Carden]

Thanks for asking. Nothing new with the tank. I had to take a job last minute out of town for 3 months. My wife is feeding the fish and topping off the water every 2-3 days. Hopefully by now my tank can run on autopilot while I'm gone because if there is a problem she won't be able to handle it.

 

[crusso1993]

Wow, that had to come has a surprise! Hopefully, the job is in some far away, exotic place. If you do not mind me asking, what do you do that would take you away for 3 months at a moments notice? If your comfortable with sharing but not comfortable on the open forum just PM me. If you're uncomfortable with sharing, at all, no worries.

Have you considered getting to know some other reefers in your area? I mean, Augusta is pretty big and there have to be others there that are worth getting to know.

 

[Matt Carden]

Well.....I got fired from my job in Augusta so I had to take a traveling job in Detroit for 90 days til they'll let me come back. I work as a Union Industrial Pipefitter. I was working at a new construction nuclear power plant. I took a job at GM proving grounds where the next gen mid engine Corvette is driving around all day. I wish I could afford to get one of them when they come out they are ******!

 

[crusso1993]

Well.....I got fired from my job in Augusta so I had to take a traveling job in Detroit for 90 days til they'll let me come back. I work as a Union Industrial Pipefitter. I was working at a new construction nuclear power plant. I took a job at GM proving grounds where the next gen mid engine Corvette is driving around all day. I wish I could afford to get one of them when they come out they are ******!

Sorry to hear you were fired. I hope it was for good cause. I have a couple friends who are union industrial pipefitters here, in Chicago. One friend, Craig, has been doing it 40 years. He's getting close to retirement.

 

[Matt Carden]

Not for good cause. I had a conflict of interest with my General Foreman and he got me for being out of my work area without informing anyone, going to the bathroom!

 

[crusso1993]

Not for good cause. I had a conflict of interest with my General Foreman and he got me for being out of my work area without informing anyone, going to the bathroom!

That simply would not fly here. Sorry you have to put up with it.