Reef Safe With Caution

[pcon]

That's so cool!! Awesome they work so well and the corals are loving them!

Thanks @Wrangy puting the 3d printer to good use. The tech is pretty simple fast moving water from the return pump sucks water from the gap in the back adding to the net flow, and the flutes add turbulence to the flow.

 

[pcon]

whelp some bad news update. corona coral casualties. I clearly was not prepared for this sort of unexpected incident, I hope to remedy that in the coming months. I get my water from a friend in a neighboring town that has much better source water than I do, an elaborate RODI system, and a large mixing station that can pump directly into my car. Unfortunately right as the lockdowns started he got sick which we initially presumed was corona. Luckily I had some saltwater already, so I slowed down my water change schedule for him to recover. He recovered after a few weeks. Unfortunately in this time I must have mistaken my RO and my salt water, and had been topping off with salt for a week or two my salinity spiked to 40ppt (1.030sg) unfortunately this caused the large monti caps to bleach, and the blue tort acro to RTN. I corrected the salinity, getting RO from another friend. however after improving for a day the corals continued to deteriorate in health with more corals showing signs of bleaching. Luckily the friend had recovered and tested negative for corona so I was able to get salt water to perform a large water change. Corals improved for about 24 hours, then the next day the mystic sunset monti was bleaching in spots. A friend suggested that when he had seen things like this it was usually low iodine. I figured this was worth a shot and dosed approximately 1ml of aquavitro vibrance two nights in a row. This had a near immediate effect of reversing the bleaching of the mystic sunset monti, and stopping the tissue necrosis on the rest of the acros. Couple more days and another large water change, and the tank seems back on track. Unfortunately there are only a couple small sections left alive on the large monti caps, and the blue tort is completely gone. Most of the rest of the corals made it through relatively unharmed some burnt tips on a couple of the acros. and the fish are continuing to do well so that's good.

 

[pcon]

It was anual salt buy day for the friend and I, I use his mixing station so we split a half pallet of salt about once a year. was a joy to lugg down into his basement.

Home Reef restoration plan, I really don't want to remove the large monticap from the left of the tank as it is a nice large structure. So as an alternative I am going to take the small trimmings from the mystic sunset and seed them across the dead skeleton of the large monti cap.

I am fighting an algae battle on the right monti cap, not sure what I will do over there yet, I doubt I will win the algae war there so I am considering what could go on top of that right rock tower. I had bad luck with seriatopora there. I am guessing for flow reasons. so I suspect acropora would not do well there. so High light medium-low flow corals. One thought I had was perhaps some more rock flower nems, though I don't love what I have heard about their collection. I am not sure, perhaps chalices. Suggestions welcome.

In other news I have a new fish hopefully arriving later this morning, they don't commonly come in to the united states so I was quite surprised to see one available and at a price I could afford. had to snag it up, first time using this retailer and first time getting a fish through fedex. so we will see how that goes. I suspect this one is going to be a larger conditioning effort than most of the previous fish, but the friend and I who share QT system are prepared for it. I am excited to share as I get it in and settled, hope it arrives on time and in good condition.

 

[pcon]

Fish box always exciting!

 

[Wrangy]

Not that I have a secret insight or anything but I am so excited for this new friend I really like your idea for the monti cap too, I think that'll look really cool!

 

[pcon]

Acclimation of new fish is always a hectic proces. This was my first time buying from NY aquatics and I must say I am really impressed with the shipping, the fish came in a large bag with a lot of water. They were also quite responsive to my questions before I purchased the fish. All in all an excellent experience. Shipping costs were higher than I expected but when the fish arrived I understood why. NY aquatics has made my shortlist of recommended online retailers.

The box is a normal size box that a wholesaler would ship 10-20 fish in and it contained a single butterfly in a huge bag.

Handsome butterflyfish immediately checked me out while still in the bag. It was significantly larger than I expected it to be, and thick. It didn't show any of the usual pinched stomach or back which is so common in butterflyfishes when they first come in.

My first good look at a Roa Modesta drip acclimating in a bucket. I think this is the first species I have purchased without seeing one in person first. I saw a different Roa species at the Cal Academy but don't believe I saw a roa modesta anywhere else.

After a drip put the modesta in the QT tank, with the lights out. after a few minutes it was already picking at the rocks and decorations.



So happy to have been able to acquire a roa butterfly I didn't think it would happen for years to come. Now the always tricky process of conditioning them to prepared foods and captive conditions.

 

[mattzang]

looks nice and calm!

 

[pcon]

Not that I have a secret insight or anything but I am so excited for this new friend I really like your idea for the monti cap too, I think that'll look really cool!

haha I am glad you like the monti idea, I am optimistic that it will work out, we shall see. Thank you for your advice on most of my butterfly acquisitions, good to be able to reach out to people on here with similar interests.

looks nice and calm!

yeah I was amazed how bold it was, I was scooping water out of the acclimation bucket, and it went right up to my hand and was like doing an aggression display. that and checking me out through the bag when most fish are freaking out when you hold them up in the bag. was quite amazing.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Sooooo cool

 

[Wrangy]

How's the little guy going today?

 

[pcon]

Sooooo cool

thank you! it's exciting

How's the little guy going today?

Doing well, didn't take prepared foods last night but not shocking day one after being shipped, going to be trying again here soon.

 

[Wrangy]

Doing well, didn't take prepared foods last night but not shocking day one after being shipped, going to be trying again here soon.

Yeah a cross-country haul would do that to most people haha fingers crossed At least you've got a little chonky boi though

 

[pcon]

Roa suddenly started eating last night. chowing down food well now.

 

[pcon]

Looks like the Roa has a touch of lympho on its dorsal spines. not uncommon with the butterflies, hopefully goes away with some time in QT. It is quite interactive so that is a good sign. and eating well, overall I am still quite happy.

 

[Wrangy]

Looks like the Roa has a touch of lympho on its dorsal spines. not uncommon with the butterflies, hopefully goes away with some time in QT. It is quite interactive so that is a good sign. and eating well, overall I am still quite happy.

Look how curious the little one is I'm sure with time in QT it'll go away quick enough

 

[pcon]

So back to the coral front, the mystic sunset needed pruning badly. I of course forgot to take a before pic of it, but this first pic is from a few weeks ago. by the time I actually got to trimming the front edge had grown about a quarter inch thick attached to the glass.

After fragging:

The mystic sunset had grown so much to the glass and adjacent rock that when I went to lift the colony out of the tank to frag it, it broke off a large section on the front left side.

I took the small frags from this colony, and from trimming a frag I made a while ago, and glued them across the dead monti cap skeleton. Hopefully the frags adapt to higher light and begin to cover the dead skeleton, otherwise I will need a new plan. for this section of tank.

 

[mattzang]

are encrusting montis easy to cut/break? i have a sunset monti on the back wall of my tank i'm gonna have to remove sooner than later..

 

[pcon]

are encrusting montis easy to cut/break? i have a sunset monti on the back wall of my tank i'm gonna have to remove sooner than later..

depends on the species, monti cap crumbles easily, like tap it wrong while working in the tank and a chunk breaks off, the mystic sunset is a bit harder to break, but it breaks somewhat unpredictable sized pieces, I often get smaller pieces than I intend when trimming mine.

 

[Wrangy]

Dang, that's going to look so cool!!! Such an ingenious idea man!!

 

[pcon]

Dang, that's going to look so cool!!! Such an ingenious idea man!!

thanks! happy to report they have not bleached overnight in the higher light so I am beginning to be optimistic. Figure the easiest way to make something from the bad situation of loosing that monti cap.