So the Colini went into the tank last Thursday night. As I left the tank to head off to bed the Colini had found the surge tank outlet (2" bulkhead in end of tank) and had made that her little den. However, when the surge isn't surging that pipe is also the home for a giant lawnmower blenny, who takes turns with an Obese Orange tail damsel.
With the Colini in the pipe, the Orange Tail Damsel, was backing into the pipe and kind of keeping the Colini corralled inside.
Last weekend I diligently watched the tank for a glimpse of the Colini. Flashlights were brought out angled at any opening in the rock work trying to catch a glimpse of this fish. Golden angels were spotted, Pipefish were spotted, Anthias in crevices were found. And a Rosy Solon Wrasse, which went into the tank 6-8 months ago and was never seen again, was found hanging out underneath my Monti cap colony. But no signs of the colini, not a glimpse, a fin, or a carcass.
I kept up my peering and prying into the tank all week. On 2 nights my wife said, 'Just start pulling out the rock so you will feel better." My wife loves the fish tank, but has no idea what it takes to start pulling rock out of it. And I'm not pulling rock out of my tank to find a fish for my own conscious.
Last night I fed the tank just about everything I had in the house, and went flashlight searching.... Zip Zero Nada.
Today Lawrence/Bullitr came over to pick up some Xenia, and while we are looking at the tank the little Colini comes out of a cave and makes an appearance. And then sits in the cave 1/2 visible with 2 Venustus, then with the Golden Angel and then with some Dispar anthias.
She doesn't look skinny, and I saw her picking at the roof of the cave.
I added a bunch of food to see if there was any interest, but once the fish in the tank got excited over food, she vanished into the darkness again.
But the first week has passed, now with a couple of good visual sightings, and seeing the fish moving calmly and slowly I have some confidence in the fish.
Would love to see more pics and hear about the plumbing situation on the outside tanks. Very interesting to hear about the growth and coloring of the frag tank under natural sunlight. Awesome job and amazing story. Just outstanding work and dedication. Im in all
Been busy and the tank has been doing great. Awhile back out of the blue my full size Goldflake angel just vanished. I looked all over in the tank, around, under, overflow but the fish vanished. I'm thinking it jumped out and either the housekeeper tossed it or the dogs grabbed it and took it out in the yard. Either way, very bummed to have lost the fish, and not having any luck finding a replacement.
Corals have been growing really well. I started dosing Triton Base and Trace elements. Been dosing the elements for about 3 months now. I haven't noticed any difference in the colors of the corals. But the growth of some of the corals has just taken off. I have several corals that have been consistent slow growers for up to 2 years which have just taken off in all directions since adding the Triton to the mix.
After over a decade of great service I finally replaced some of my Tunze pumps. One of my original 6200's is still running. I had replaced my aging 6200's with Tunze 6155, and 6255. I have been really disappointed with the reliability of the newer pumps. I'm on my second 6255 in the past 18 months and as of this week it has quit running. The 6155's spend half their time spinning in reverse. So I opted for the 4 of the Neptune WAV pumps running off my Apex. I am running 2 as upflow pumps (in the middle of the tank pointed at the surface). The volume these smaller pumps move is outstanding. I have to dial them back to 60% when I am home because the move so much water that the boiling water has gotten too noisy.
And here is what we are looking like
My Grafted
Middle of the tank
Pink Lemonade
Blue Stag -- Had this Aussie Blue Stag for over a year, all the new growth tips are since starting the Triton Elementz
Some of you that have followed the thread know my love for my Bellus Angels. Having kept Bellus Angels as individuals, pairs and harems in the past 15 years I have always enjoyed these fish. However I have always waited patiently and purchased Male Bellus angels.
Well for the first time I have a Bellus angel changing gender on me. And boy is this happening quickly. The changes in the photos have take place in the past week.
And here is my misbar Bellus that is growing up nicely
I also built a new Regulator for the Calcium Reactor
And here is some video of the tank from October 2015
Maroun.c - If you are asking about the Oregon tort, I indeed grew it from a frag. In fact it was purchased about 22 months ago as just a partiall encrusted glass plug. It did not have a single branch when I got it.
Just read the whole thread. And wow just wow. Thank you for sharing. The tank looks beautiful. And I can only imagine the stress the fish journey alone has been. I am a tang lover as well and you can't just throw them in there and have perfect harmony. My hats goes off to you sir.
Thanks for the info, in love with that coral. I scored a frag years back (live across the globe so we don't get it) and it only grew an inch in 1.5 year and then I lost it. Got another from a trip to US months back and it STNd except for a tiny couple of coralites so I hope I'll manage to turnip into a colony!
So great to see this tank thriving again! Love the videos and ad the updates are great. I replaced all my Tunze pumps as well but went with Gyres.
That new regulator is sweet, you will love it. I made one months ago too and there is a pretty big differecne bewteen the one I made and the old one that I had bought, DIY one is super stable.
Are you using just the trace elements of the triton system? I have been dosing trace elements too for the last month and a half but not triton's version.
So far I am liking the regulator. The only issue I have is the dang thing is so heavy and with the valves sticking out to the side, it topples my 5lb bottles... Fortunately I have acquired so many CO2 tanks, when I get to the 5lb bottles it means I need to go get the big ones filled.
I started dosing the Base elementz, and did that for about 2.5 months and then started adding trace elements. Look into whose trace elements you are dosing. You definitely want something that covers a wide range of elements, and not just a couple of the 'popular' ones.
5lb! you've got to be filling them all the time. Yeah those regulators are heavier, but once you put it on a 10lb tank you shouldn't have any problems.
I am currently using Brightwell Replenish, I had been using their Koralle-VM for about 2 months and just switched to Replenish which is the same as Koralle-VM just without the extra vitamins. I'll probably give the triton one a try too.
So are you not doing water changes or are you just trying those two aspects of their line?
Joe,
I stopped doing water changes quite awhile ago. I go for very aggressive evaporative cooling. And I have 2/3 of my system outside uncovered and exposed to the elements. I replace all my evaporated water with Kalkwasser. On a rainy day I go thru 5-8 gallons. On a hot summer day I go thru 30+. The combination of Calc Rx and Kalkwasser and then random pouring in of Mag, Potass and Iodine has brought me great success. Then I switched over the Dastaco calc media to give it a try, as it is 99.9% pure calcium and alkalinity. I ran that for 4-5 months and didn't notice much of a chance. And my Triton ICP results didn't change much either.
So now I started with the elementz to see if it would help a system that was already doing well. And I would say it has really increased the growth rate.
How high does your ph get with dosing all that Kalkwasser. I have backed off on my Kalkwasser due to the ph climbing so high. I have never noticed any ill effects from the high ph.
Keith.