I hope it all goes well. Best of luck!
Zoey's Reef - For the Joy that Should Have Been . . .
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OP
OP
Thanks, DeniseAndy!
So far, so good . . . I'll probably be kind of jittery for a while. "This one's skin looks ... odd ... under the reeflights - is it coming down with something?!" "The blenny's twisting 'round to nip at his tail, or he just flashed - ich?! And on a starry blenny - how can you tell?!!"
But so far, everyone seems to be getting along . . . swimmingly! (Click below for full-tank video!)
~Bruce
So far, so good . . . I'll probably be kind of jittery for a while. "This one's skin looks ... odd ... under the reeflights - is it coming down with something?!" "The blenny's twisting 'round to nip at his tail, or he just flashed - ich?! And on a starry blenny - how can you tell?!!"
But so far, everyone seems to be getting along . . . swimmingly! (Click below for full-tank video!)
~Bruce
OP
OP
Just a quick update from Zoey's Reef!
I've tried re-introducing a few Acropora corals; though their polyps don't come out to play often, or extend very far when they do, they didn't die. I consider this a step forward!
The elkhorn Montipora seems to be surviving, though again, I rarely see polyps. Several Stylophora and Seriatopora are doing well and growing!
All of the fish in the display are strong, healthy and getting along beautifully - I've got several more fish in QT which will be ready to introduce to the display fairly soon, and they also seem to be in good health - even the multibar angelfish, who is happily popping away at frozen, pellets (though he finds them a bit hard to the bite, I think...) and flake.
Here's another bad cellphone video of life on Zoey's Reef!
I've tried re-introducing a few Acropora corals; though their polyps don't come out to play often, or extend very far when they do, they didn't die. I consider this a step forward!
The elkhorn Montipora seems to be surviving, though again, I rarely see polyps. Several Stylophora and Seriatopora are doing well and growing!
All of the fish in the display are strong, healthy and getting along beautifully - I've got several more fish in QT which will be ready to introduce to the display fairly soon, and they also seem to be in good health - even the multibar angelfish, who is happily popping away at frozen, pellets (though he finds them a bit hard to the bite, I think...) and flake.
Here's another bad cellphone video of life on Zoey's Reef!
OP
OP
Got a new toy.
I've got a Vivitar "action camera", the sort that can be used when swimming with sharks in the open Atlantic.
Here's a FTV that I shot yesterday, just playing around. You can spot three of the new denizens of Zoey's Reef; a Bali exquisite wrasse, Naoko's wrasse, and a young linespot flasher wrasse. (The gobies are too small/hidden to see in the vid . . . )
Also picked up a couple dozen snails and a dozen Philipine hermit crabs, along with a bottle of No3Po4X to try to help the hair algae and Bryopsis go away. (I've been dosing Tech-M, and am now at about 2400 Mag, but still have little ferns . . . )
~Bruce
I've got a Vivitar "action camera", the sort that can be used when swimming with sharks in the open Atlantic.
Here's a FTV that I shot yesterday, just playing around. You can spot three of the new denizens of Zoey's Reef; a Bali exquisite wrasse, Naoko's wrasse, and a young linespot flasher wrasse. (The gobies are too small/hidden to see in the vid . . . )
Also picked up a couple dozen snails and a dozen Philipine hermit crabs, along with a bottle of No3Po4X to try to help the hair algae and Bryopsis go away. (I've been dosing Tech-M, and am now at about 2400 Mag, but still have little ferns . . . )
~Bruce
OP
OP
Come on a "sunrise dive" with me, on Zoey's Reef - using my Vivitar action camera to record the reef as the blue lights of morning give way to the full-spectrum "white" LEDs that light the tank during the midday hours.
Tank is pretty well stocked now, with both fish and corals. (Well, OK ... there are still a few I'd like to add - probably should have a bigger tank . . . )
Fairy wrasses, blennies, damsels, a coral beauty and a kole . . . and a few others . . . zoanthids, LPS, rock-flower and mini-carpet 'nems, a few struggling SPS - and still fussing with algae and parameters . . .
~Bruce
Tank is pretty well stocked now, with both fish and corals. (Well, OK ... there are still a few I'd like to add - probably should have a bigger tank . . . )
Fairy wrasses, blennies, damsels, a coral beauty and a kole . . . and a few others . . . zoanthids, LPS, rock-flower and mini-carpet 'nems, a few struggling SPS - and still fussing with algae and parameters . . .
~Bruce
OP
OP
Chemical snapshot . . .
Kh: 2.5/7 (Want to bring this up . . . )
Mg: 2,000+ (No surprise - I've been battling Bryopsis with Tech-M for several months, and recently treated a wrasse for popeye with epsom salts)
Ca: 450
Po4: .08
No3: 48
Needless to say, I've got a barrel of RO/DI coming up to salinity in the kitchen, and will complete a 20 gallon water change tomorrow night. The danged nitrates are beginning to drive me nutzo, and I've really got to remember to dose Alk more often than I do . . . Most zoas and LPS seem to be ... ok ..., though they're not as beamingly happy as I think they could be. My few SPS are clearly struggling; Stylophoras and birdsnests are (with one purple stylo exception) gone or going fast. I've got a couple of acros holding on, but their polyps never come out. My Hollywood Stunner (my only chalice) RTN'ed, after having grown from silver-dollar to baseball in circumference. (That thing was starting to scare me!)
I've been dosing about 2.5ml of No3-Po4-X each day (down from 5ml) to try and bring the nitrates and hair algae under control. Hair algae and Bryopsis do seem weaker, and there's a lot less of it ... but there's also less Chaetomorpha and Caulerpa in my 'fuge. There's also quite a bit _more_ cyanobacteria. Everywhere. Even with a Gyre on one side of the tank and one of the Chinese knock-offs on the other side. Skimmer's pulling plenty of gunk, though!
I'm open to suggestions . . .
Kh: 2.5/7 (Want to bring this up . . . )
Mg: 2,000+ (No surprise - I've been battling Bryopsis with Tech-M for several months, and recently treated a wrasse for popeye with epsom salts)
Ca: 450
Po4: .08
No3: 48
Needless to say, I've got a barrel of RO/DI coming up to salinity in the kitchen, and will complete a 20 gallon water change tomorrow night. The danged nitrates are beginning to drive me nutzo, and I've really got to remember to dose Alk more often than I do . . . Most zoas and LPS seem to be ... ok ..., though they're not as beamingly happy as I think they could be. My few SPS are clearly struggling; Stylophoras and birdsnests are (with one purple stylo exception) gone or going fast. I've got a couple of acros holding on, but their polyps never come out. My Hollywood Stunner (my only chalice) RTN'ed, after having grown from silver-dollar to baseball in circumference. (That thing was starting to scare me!)
I've been dosing about 2.5ml of No3-Po4-X each day (down from 5ml) to try and bring the nitrates and hair algae under control. Hair algae and Bryopsis do seem weaker, and there's a lot less of it ... but there's also less Chaetomorpha and Caulerpa in my 'fuge. There's also quite a bit _more_ cyanobacteria. Everywhere. Even with a Gyre on one side of the tank and one of the Chinese knock-offs on the other side. Skimmer's pulling plenty of gunk, though!
I'm open to suggestions . . .
OP
OP
Well . . .
I suppose that I am well and truly addicted, possibly to the point of insanity. My fave local reef shop posted a few tanks for sale (turns out they're closing - Waahh!), and I've just been told that the one I purchased is ready for me to pick up.
Not the frag tank.
Not the mid-sized rimless.
The 220 gallon tang sales tank.
Am I crazy? Probably. Do I think that thing's going to be easy to bring home? Oh, heavens no. Will I need to reinforce my first-level floor? Yes, I think that I will. Will the existing equipment powering Zoey's Reef (soon to become Kingston & Zoey's reef, snif...) port over to the larger vessel? Wellll ... maybe _some_ of it.
I'm open to suggestions for sump, refugium, skimming, returns, floor-support, liverock, and anything else that can help a guy forced to be at least somewhat budget-conscious create an oasis of beauty and joy - in family-size!
~Bruce
I suppose that I am well and truly addicted, possibly to the point of insanity. My fave local reef shop posted a few tanks for sale (turns out they're closing - Waahh!), and I've just been told that the one I purchased is ready for me to pick up.
Not the frag tank.
Not the mid-sized rimless.
The 220 gallon tang sales tank.
Am I crazy? Probably. Do I think that thing's going to be easy to bring home? Oh, heavens no. Will I need to reinforce my first-level floor? Yes, I think that I will. Will the existing equipment powering Zoey's Reef (soon to become Kingston & Zoey's reef, snif...) port over to the larger vessel? Wellll ... maybe _some_ of it.
I'm open to suggestions for sump, refugium, skimming, returns, floor-support, liverock, and anything else that can help a guy forced to be at least somewhat budget-conscious create an oasis of beauty and joy - in family-size!
~Bruce
We built our house and when we added the 210 to our main level, we were able to call the flooring people to find out whether we needed reinforcement. I would make sure to do this research before needing to go through the expense of reinforcement.
Other than that, take is slow and plan out. Of course, as we all do, things change, but try to go in with a good set up and equipment plan. Equipment can depend on animals kept, so think this through too. (for instance, if you want to keep sps or gorgs and softies or nps or lps) all take different needs.
Other than that, take is slow and plan out. Of course, as we all do, things change, but try to go in with a good set up and equipment plan. Equipment can depend on animals kept, so think this through too. (for instance, if you want to keep sps or gorgs and softies or nps or lps) all take different needs.
OP
OP
Thanks, DeniseAndy!
The builder of my house is probably long dead by now, I'm afraid - but that's a great idea! This place is post-war, IIRC.
This is a pretty tall tank (72 x 24 x 30"), so I'll probably keep zoas & LPS in the lower ranges, with SPS on the higher rocks, allowing them to grow up into the water column. Most fish will be smaller, up to zebra dart / fairy wrasse / dwarf angel sizes, but I am considering adding a regal angel and maybe a powder-blue tang. Already have a small blue-jaw trigger, who will be the biggest fish in my current group. Those other two have ... challenging reputations ... though, so we'll see about that . . .
~Bruce
The builder of my house is probably long dead by now, I'm afraid - but that's a great idea! This place is post-war, IIRC.
This is a pretty tall tank (72 x 24 x 30"), so I'll probably keep zoas & LPS in the lower ranges, with SPS on the higher rocks, allowing them to grow up into the water column. Most fish will be smaller, up to zebra dart / fairy wrasse / dwarf angel sizes, but I am considering adding a regal angel and maybe a powder-blue tang. Already have a small blue-jaw trigger, who will be the biggest fish in my current group. Those other two have ... challenging reputations ... though, so we'll see about that . . .
~Bruce
Yep, that may need reinforcement. My 210 is longer, not taller. Better spread. Keep us updated on the build, sounds like fun!
OP
OP
Rather safe than sorry, after all . . . (>__<)!
~Bruce
~Bruce
OP
OP
There's something ... odd ... on Zoey's Reef . . .
They're all over the inside of CPR overflow, and I just pulled about ten of them out of the HOB skimmer's return. They range from pinhead size to the size of a baby's pinky fingernail. They cling to the glass like Stomatellas, but have a shell that covers their foot completely. They're almost impossible to move, unless they want to move.
Seems that the single limpet I had in there (which passed away a few weeks ago...) was a girl.
There are ball sponges growing in the sump, too!
~Bruce, still battling nitrates and Bryopsis - and just possibly winning against the Bryopsis . . .
They're all over the inside of CPR overflow, and I just pulled about ten of them out of the HOB skimmer's return. They range from pinhead size to the size of a baby's pinky fingernail. They cling to the glass like Stomatellas, but have a shell that covers their foot completely. They're almost impossible to move, unless they want to move.
Seems that the single limpet I had in there (which passed away a few weeks ago...) was a girl.
There are ball sponges growing in the sump, too!
~Bruce, still battling nitrates and Bryopsis - and just possibly winning against the Bryopsis . . .
OP
OP
Hi from Zoey's Reef!
The reef has kind of been in neutral gear for a few months, while I'm (Oh! So slowly!) preparing a larger glass box for the inhabitants to move into. Bryopsis is gone, defeated, it seems by the combination of manual removal and Vibrant. Not all corals are doing well, but the Slimer I bought at the 2016 Frag Farmers' Market is hanging in, and most of my zoanthids and Euphyllias are positively thriving, as are all of the Maxi-Mini carpets and _some_ of the rock flower 'nems. (The prettiest rockflowers seem to have fallen to peppermint shrimp, and the pepps seem to have fallen to my blue-jaw trigger - Aiptasia and Majanos are making an appearance in the display . . . gotta get some kalk powder . . . ) There are some great fish in my QT, all of whom seem to be thriving, and waiting to move into the 220 gallon - but as of now, my plan is to move all of the finned residents of Zoey's Reef into the QT so that things in the big tank can get settled in, corals can relax and get under way, 'pods and smaller organisms can get their populations up and running - and I can add an additional hundred pounds or so of liverock. I'll probably stock some more peppermint shrimp, as well. (Maybe a filefish or copperband later? One of the fish in QT is a yellow longnose, so ... maybe.)
The original Pukani rock came with bacteria, but no other life as far as I could tell - everything since seems to have arrived with coral frags and chaetomorpha - so I'm thinking about having some rock with interesting stuff in and on it shipped up from the Gulf of Mexico. (I want some biodiversity here!!)
FTV:
Enjoy!
~Bruce
The reef has kind of been in neutral gear for a few months, while I'm (Oh! So slowly!) preparing a larger glass box for the inhabitants to move into. Bryopsis is gone, defeated, it seems by the combination of manual removal and Vibrant. Not all corals are doing well, but the Slimer I bought at the 2016 Frag Farmers' Market is hanging in, and most of my zoanthids and Euphyllias are positively thriving, as are all of the Maxi-Mini carpets and _some_ of the rock flower 'nems. (The prettiest rockflowers seem to have fallen to peppermint shrimp, and the pepps seem to have fallen to my blue-jaw trigger - Aiptasia and Majanos are making an appearance in the display . . . gotta get some kalk powder . . . ) There are some great fish in my QT, all of whom seem to be thriving, and waiting to move into the 220 gallon - but as of now, my plan is to move all of the finned residents of Zoey's Reef into the QT so that things in the big tank can get settled in, corals can relax and get under way, 'pods and smaller organisms can get their populations up and running - and I can add an additional hundred pounds or so of liverock. I'll probably stock some more peppermint shrimp, as well. (Maybe a filefish or copperband later? One of the fish in QT is a yellow longnose, so ... maybe.)
The original Pukani rock came with bacteria, but no other life as far as I could tell - everything since seems to have arrived with coral frags and chaetomorpha - so I'm thinking about having some rock with interesting stuff in and on it shipped up from the Gulf of Mexico. (I want some biodiversity here!!)
FTV:
Enjoy!
~Bruce
OP
OP
I started out with three (and two blue gudgeons), but lost two (and the gudgeons) during a bout of ich followed by a fallow period just over a year ago. The one I have is out most of the time - I think it helped that he had buddies to get started. They were all out and playing in the current from the beginning. I might get some more for the big tank.
~Bruce
~Bruce
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