Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

My female saltwater molly had her first set of fry today. I was able to save six of them at least.

I wasn’t expecting it this soon, especially since she never had a “gravid spot”, and her belly was only slightly squared. She’s a gold nugget molly so you’d think I’d have seen her belly darken or something.

Now that I know she’s delivering fry, I’ll be watching out for them early in the morning. Eventually I’ll add a couple of adults to the reef, and maybe to the sump. It’s the first time I’ve had mollies deliver in saltwater.

After this initial batch, any fry will be live food for the reef. I’m looking to level up their nutrition game big time. My DIY frozen mix is pretty nutritious as is the nori I feed them, but live foods stimulate hunting behavior, and are mentally enriching.

My corals, nems, shrimp, fish etc are doing great. They look awesome. One of my RBTAs is getting ready to split. It’s the largest of the nems. It’s developing a second mouth and if all goes perfectly well, I might be able to record the split when it happens.

I’m starting to get measurable day to day ALK consumption. It’s the price of having a ton of coralline; it’s definitely a price I’m willing to pay. I also have encrusting acros but they’re not pulling 0.1 dKh by themselves. I have plans to add more acros within the next 2 weeks so that consumption will only increase.

In the meantime I’m going to keep measuring day to day consumption. I’ll purchase some all for reef powder (the 800 gram container). I have a gram scale now so it’ll be easy to get right, and the 800 gram container will last for months. Maybe even a year.

I’m not going to buy it until March at the earliest. I need to watch consumption for a few weeks. I have baked baking soda (soda ash) and can get pickling lime if need be. I’m not looking to chase numbers so much as I’m chasing stability. I’m going to take it slowly and methodically.

 

[Fishy888]

I know I’m famous (infamous?) for writing entire books while calling them build thread entries, but this is different. I’ll be writing an encyclopedia. A big change is on the horizon. One we didn’t think would come, but it’s very good news!

It turns out that I’ll have to wait another month to get those acros I’m after. That’s because we’re moving across town. It’s a much better place, and it’s near Walmart, a mall, and other places we typically go.

I’ll have my work cut out for me as far as the tank goes. I’ll have my work cut out for me with moving the furniture and other stuff too, but that’s half of the work as far as the move goes.

The new apartment is about 3ish miles away. That’ll help things. The tank will be the last thing to leave and it’s the first thing I’ll be setting up in the new apartment.

The plan as of now is to buy either two or three 55 gallon food grade drums to store tank water in. I’ll also need totes to keep live rock in for transport. I’ll probably keep the smaller fish in a 5 gallon bucket. The tangs and the damsels will probably go in a tote.

I’ll have to figure out a way to keep water from splashing out from the area where the lid closes since the roads around here aren’t exactly smooth. There are gaps where water can easily escape if jostled too much. They don’t make totes to be watertight exactly.

Of course, we all know that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. I may well have to rethink my plans, but as far as transporting the livestock, rock, and water, this is the plan.

I’ll have to take down the canopy and its supports in order to be able to get the stand out the door.

I’m thinking that if all goes well, I can take down the canopy the night before we move. That will take several hours off of the time it’ll take from tear down to setup. I’m thinking it’ll take 4 hours to pack up the livestock, rock and sand. It’ll take about 2 hours max to move the tank and stand from here to there. Setup will be another 4 hours. Throw in 2 more hours in case Murphy decides to show up at the housewarming party and we’re talking 12 hours.

By the same token, the move would let me make some improvements to the stand and might give me the opportunity to buff the inside and outside of the tank.

The tank had a ton of scratches when I bought it, and I’ve accidentally added a few myself. I’ve read that you could sand out the scratches under water and it’s supposedly safe for our critters, but I don’t buy it.

I’ve also read that it’s safe to use buffing compound inside the tank once everything is out of it. That’s more believable at least, however I question whether using the compound would be like using a medication containing copper in a hospital tank. That’s is, would there be enough heavy metals in the compound that even after rinsing it out really good you’d never be able to use that tank again for inverts?

I might keep an eye out for an upgrade too. Fortunately, there’s no limit to how big a tank I bring to the new place. I asked them that today. That would eliminate the need to buff out my current system. I’m not sure if I want to do that or not though. I like my current build a lot, but then again I’d love a taller system with a similar footprint. The same footprint would be preferable.

No doubt I’ll have other ideas, and I’ll post them here as I think of them. If any of my ideas are bad ones, please tell me. If you have experience moving tanks with acroporas please share them here. I’m more than happy to accept any good advice.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

I know I’m famous (infamous?) for writing entire books while calling them build thread entries, but this is different. I’ll be writing an encyclopedia. A big change is on the horizon. One we didn’t think would come, but it’s very good news!

It turns out that I’ll have to wait another month to get those acros I’m after. That’s because we’re moving across town. It’s a much better place, and it’s near Walmart, a mall, and other places we typically go.

I’ll have my work cut out for me as far as the tank goes. I’ll have my work cut out for me with moving the furniture and other stuff too, but that’s half of the work as far as the move goes.

The new apartment is about 3ish miles away. That’ll help things. The tank will be the last thing to leave and it’s the first thing I’ll be setting up in the new apartment.

The plan as of now is to buy either two or three 55 gallon food grade drums to store tank water in. I’ll also need totes to keep live rock in for transport. I’ll probably keep the smaller fish in a 5 gallon bucket. The tangs and the damsels will probably go in a tote.

I’ll have to figure out a way to keep water from splashing out from the area where the lid closes since the roads around here aren’t exactly smooth. There are gaps where water can easily escape if jostled too much. They don’t make totes to be watertight exactly.

Of course, we all know that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. I may well have to rethink my plans, but as far as transporting the livestock, rock, and water, this is the plan.

I’ll have to take down the canopy and its supports in order to be able to get the stand out the door.

I’m thinking that if all goes well, I can take down the canopy the night before we move. That will take several hours off of the time it’ll take from tear down to setup. I’m thinking it’ll take 4 hours to pack up the livestock, rock and sand. It’ll take about 2 hours max to move the tank and stand from here to there. Setup will be another 4 hours. Throw in 2 more hours in case Murphy decides to show up at the housewarming party and we’re talking 12 hours.

By the same token, the move would let me make some improvements to the stand and might give me the opportunity to buff the inside and outside of the tank.

The tank had a ton of scratches when I bought it, and I’ve accidentally added a few myself. I’ve read that you could sand out the scratches under water and it’s supposedly safe for our critters, but I don’t buy it.

I’ve also read that it’s safe to use buffing compound inside the tank once everything is out of it. That’s more believable at least, however I question whether using the compound would be like using a medication containing copper in a hospital tank. That’s is, would there be enough heavy metals in the compound that even after rinsing it out really good you’d never be able to use that tank again for inverts?

I might keep an eye out for an upgrade too. Fortunately, there’s no limit to how big a tank I bring to the new place. I asked them that today. That would eliminate the need to buff out my current system. I’m not sure if I want to do that or not though. I like my current build a lot, but then again I’d love a taller system with a similar footprint. The same footprint would be preferable.

No doubt I’ll have other ideas, and I’ll post them here as I think of them. If any of my ideas are bad ones, please tell me. If you have experience moving tanks with acroporas please share them here. I’m more than happy to accept any good advice.

Congrats!

 

[tbrown]

 

[Fishy888]

Then there’s that…

 

[Fishy888]

Congrats!

Thanks my friend!

The thing is, we found out that the management company that owns the complex is changing hands as of tomorrow. We found out the name of the company and I researched them. They’re shady as anything according to the reviews I read, with the overwhelming majority being one star! There were two reviews that praised them, likely being shills.

After thinking it over, we decided to just stay put. As nice as having a dishwasher is and a slightly bigger living room, we could only keep one of our dogs at the new place. There are trade offs wherever you go, especially these days.

If the management company in question wasn’t such a chocolate covered horse poop, we’d have figured out a way to keep a dog and let the other go to someone close that would let us visit the dog. We’d have made it work.

It also means not having to worry about having to move the tank. That’s a huge relief in a way. My acros are starting to take off now. I’m just beginning to get an average consumption rate for ALK and CAL.

I was low key worried that moving the tank would majorly destabilize my parameters. It likely wouldn’t have, although at least half of my coralline would have died off. That might well have destabilized the system, at least enough as to allow cyano to creep back into the picture. As it is I have it in some dead spots but that’s another story for another time.

It looks like I’ll get to go on my acropora spending spree after all!!

 

[tbrown]

But... But...

 

[That Crusso Kid]

Then there’s that…

This is easily the shortest post you have ever posted.

 

[Fishy888]

But... But...

Typical Walmart.

 

[Fishy888]

This is easily the shortest post you have ever posted.

I agree.

 

[Fishy888]

^
|

That’s the new shortest post I ever made.

 

[That Crusso Kid]

I agree.

 

[tbrown]

 

[Reefering1]

^
|

That’s the new shortest post I ever made.

It was...


Until you explained it.

 

[Fishy888]

It was...


Until you explained it.

Technically though, the explanation WAS in another post soooo…..

RECORD STILL STANDS!!!

 

[Fishy888]

January 26th

Valentine’s Day (today)

January 26th

Valentine’s Day (today)

They’re putting on some mass. Not bad for 3 weeks give or take.

Cyano is trying to come back a bit. My nitrates are still far too high. I know of a great way to drop them though.

Hint: It doesn’t involve water changes. It starts with an “X”. It also has nothing to do with Aiptasia.

I’m hoping to go coral hunting at a not so local LFS that has a great coral selection. I’m mainly after some other types of beginner acros, but there’s a soft coral I’m after.

It’s the one and only pulsing Xenia. They’ll soak up your nitrates quicker than Bounty! I’m mainly looking to cultivate them in the sump, but I wouldn’t mind some in the display.

 

[Fishy888]

The LFS where I’m getting my next acropora from is relocating to a new place. It was supposed to open tomorrow but they’re still working on things. As of now, they’ expect to open next Friday instead. I’m looking forward to seeing the new place.

I’ve also reserved two juvenile hippo tangs. A “mini shoal” of three will look awesome. It’s too good a deal to pass up. It’s possible I come back with some other fish too, but that remains to be seen.

My stomatella was out again last night, on the opposite side of the tank from where I found it the first time. I keep looking for evidence of others. They don’t exactly live forever, but they breed readily. I’m going to try to buy some more just in case there aren’t anymore.

All fishes, corals and other invertebrates are doing great. There’s more cyano than I’d like but it hasn’t reached apocalyptic proportions exactly either.

If anyone who normally watches my channel wonders where I disappeared to, I’ve been dealing with self confidence issues and what I thought initially was just a head cold. It might be something else entirely. They’re going to do a scan of my sinuses within the next two weeks. As for the self confidence issue, it’s something I’m working on. I have an upgraded phone and some other items that will help me take better quality videos. I’ll hopefully get a video posted this weekend.

 

[Fishy888]

Whelp….
It looks like a ghost from the past has come back to haunt me. Dinos. I’ve been noticing them on the sand bed and rocks. They enter the water column at night. Hopefully a UV sterilizer will be enough to end them, especially since they’re not too bad yet.

The good news is that on Friday, I’ll be getting a copperband butterfly as well as the two hippo tangs, plus whatever acropora I leave the LFS with. All three fish are juveniles. I’m getting them for a very good price.

The CBB is eating currently. I’m going to find out what it’s eating and hopefully get it to take my frozen food. It’ll also have live earthworms and white worms every now and again. I understand CBBs go after bristle worms too. My Aiptasias will likely get eaten but that’s fine. They won’t go for the BTAs thankfully. They might go for any clams I get. They’re less likely to go for Derasa and Squamosa clams though, especially bigger ones.

I’m excited to welcome the newcomers to Perseverance Reef!

 

[Fishy888]

I tested my parameters about 30 minutes ago.

NO3 - 40 ppm
PO4 - 0.128 ppm
ALK - 8 dKh
CAL - 475 ppm

My salinity is high, at 1.028. As a result the numbers are slightly higher than they’d be at 1.026.

To be fair, I’ve been slowly adding ALK. Last week I was at 6.9 dKh. With my nutrients being high, I wanted to get my ALK up to around 8. I might raise it a bit higher eventually but for now I’m happy with where I am.

The nitrates are definitely better than the 60 to 70 ppm I was getting. My macro is growing nicely so that helps a ton.

With these parameters though, I don’t understand why I have dinos. I mean, I do and I don’t.

My thoughts are that in my bid to get rid of cyano, the dinos took over. While I really expected to see a difference the last time I used MB7, I was kind of underwhelmed with its performance. I can’t say it didn’t help, but I can’t say it did either.

My acros haven’t been opening since the dinos came back. While not severe, there are definitely more than there were. I’m going to try and dig out my UV sterilizer tonight. It’ll take care of the sand dinos at least. Hopefully there aren’t any other types waiting in the wings.

For what it’s worth, there’s still some cyano. I’d rather deal with cyano than dinos any day! Hopefully it’ll outcompete the dinos soon.

 

[tbrown]

Just remember that if you raise your alk and phosphates start decreasing due to increased uptake by corals etc, you risk Acro "tip burns".