Sorry for the delay, I took a break from posting to start the new year away from distractions and a lot of time in prayer. I will start giving some updates. All is well in Fraggle land! Here is a teaser of what's been going on!
This month has been full of awesomeness! I have great levels, have tuned in my ghost skimmer, done tons of water changes and added some coral, a goby pistol shrimp pair and an ato. Please enjoy the pictures! So far, my favorite corals have been my LPS hammer and torch. They have nearly doubled in size. I placed some zoa and a paly on one rock that are reproducing like crazy. I made acan valley and currently have 3 new heads on my red acan. I added a ricordia Florida that has grown exponentially. Just recently, I purchased an orange ricordia yuma to go next to it. I surprisingly have some acropora that seem to be thriving as well as a montipora cap. My future plans are letting everything settle until the February 24th frag swap and then adding a rainbow acan and some other acropora. I am also hoping for one more fish, something that swims regularly to add some regular movement to the tank! Just last night, Frank the clown was feasting on a Pod bloom! Please excuse the photo quality as I am still learning to filter out some blues! Let me know tour thoughts!
Heading to a frag swap! Going out to the LEAR frag swap one month from now. I'm like a kid before Christmas. I've already reserved coral and can't wait to place it. Spending the next month dialing it all in. Super pumped!
Changing over to the 80° lens on my Halo today. I'm sick of spill over/wasted light. I changed my lighting to reflect the additional Par for now... May ramp up in the future.
Kudos to Aquatic Life and Apex. I didnt like the mixing of colors and dead spots. It wasn't bright enough. These two companies made it super simple and fast to change the lens back, remount the light and reprogram the schedule! Plus side: tank is clean hahaha. Water change and algae scrape.
Acans are currently my favorite. They are constantly changing and their colors and textures are awesome. I can't wait for my neptune crowns and yuki perfect 10!
Every one meet Betsy! She is a red tuxedo urchin. Put her down in the treasure area (extra sea shell area) and she immediately started picking out her accessories. She settled on a sleek white shell and a dead hermit (for scent I imagine). This is so entertaining. If you don't have one, get one.
Also got a great deal on this acro. No idea what it is but it's dark blue with night green growth tips and dark brown polyps. Super high light where it is so the color is not true. Had some decent polyp extention today already. My BRS 2 part is 40 miles away and hasn't moved since Saturday. That's discouraging as my alk is dropping 1 dkh per day and my calcium is falling. Time to dose!
Love this tank. I think you can see all the Fraggles in these pictures. Thinking about the next fish. I need something for a 30 gal that will be out and active. Frank the clown stays in the back... Gramps the goby and Levi the pistol shrimp dig and hide behind the rocks. At least I have Betsy the red Urchin running around to entertain.
What active fish (not a chromis or damsel) would be a good fit? Suggestions please!
It's been about a month and a half, give or take. Frank the fish has decided to sleep in the sand digging a fresh hole each night and using sea shells as his pillow! I'm absolutely in love with this hobby, albeit still working on the patience end. I can't wait to round out my under water garden at the LEAR frag swap. Take a look at the new additions and enjoy! I hope you have as much fun with this hobby as I do!
Counting the days until LEAR. Dosing is dialed in. Got my magnesium to where it should be. Fish are active and fed regularly with great parameters. Polyps are out in the acros in the tank. Everyone is great down on Fraggle Rock. By far my favorites are the acans. I have a new found obsession with ricordea Florida's but am having a rough time finding any in Pittsburgh. Any ideas?