OP
OP
Thank you, Bronc!
Glad you've enjoyed the journey to date.
~Bruce
Glad you've enjoyed the journey to date.
~Bruce
Zoey's Reef is Growing Up . . .
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OP
OP
Thank you, Najer.
That one hurt, I'll admit - but I'll get through it.
Dropped the Chaetomorpha colony from the 65's sump into the basement of the big tank, moved some of the sand over as well. (I wanna keep my worms & 'pods!)
I've also dialed the Gyres back to 50% in forward mode, as they were just doing a bit too much earthmoving on the sandbed. Ocean Direct is a mixed-grade sand, and all the fine, pretty stuff is getting pushed under the rock! They're also scouring the front corners.
Even at 50%, when they push a vortex into one of the returns, there's still a blast of bubbles that's reminiscent of a crashing wave. Not unsurprising to the viewer, not uncool to see. Happens ... maybe a few times an hour? Not all the time.
~Bruce
That one hurt, I'll admit - but I'll get through it.
Dropped the Chaetomorpha colony from the 65's sump into the basement of the big tank, moved some of the sand over as well. (I wanna keep my worms & 'pods!)
I've also dialed the Gyres back to 50% in forward mode, as they were just doing a bit too much earthmoving on the sandbed. Ocean Direct is a mixed-grade sand, and all the fine, pretty stuff is getting pushed under the rock! They're also scouring the front corners.
Even at 50%, when they push a vortex into one of the returns, there's still a blast of bubbles that's reminiscent of a crashing wave. Not unsurprising to the viewer, not uncool to see. Happens ... maybe a few times an hour? Not all the time.
~Bruce
OP
OP
Hi, Najer - The light for the chaeto is a Marineland "Hidden LED". It's not really intended as a grow light, more of an accent light - but it gets the job done - or at least the chaeto doesn't die under it . . . It was something I had laying around, and may eventually be replaced.
In other news, Kingston and Zoey's younger sister was born today. Welcome the newest frag from our colony . . .
My granddaughter Harper Lily!
~Bruce
In other news, Kingston and Zoey's younger sister was born today. Welcome the newest frag from our colony . . .
My granddaughter Harper Lily!
~Bruce
OP
OP
I may have been premature in stopping the Vibrant dose ... the tank is beginning to cloud up again.
Doesn't look as though this (admittedly both inexpensive and undersized, but intended for temporary use) UV unit is going to finish the job on the phytoplankton all by itself. Dosing Vibrant again, as of three days ago.
~Bruce
Doesn't look as though this (admittedly both inexpensive and undersized, but intended for temporary use) UV unit is going to finish the job on the phytoplankton all by itself. Dosing Vibrant again, as of three days ago.
~Bruce
OP
OP
I have used it in the past, against Bryopsis - and it worked for me.
Had been dosing twice a week before the UV arrived, then stopped. Have resumed dosing 2x weekly, and will continue until the bottle runs dry or I can read a research paper at the other end of the tank, whichever comes first!
And thanks! (Gotta love autocorrect . . . )
~Bruce
Had been dosing twice a week before the UV arrived, then stopped. Have resumed dosing 2x weekly, and will continue until the bottle runs dry or I can read a research paper at the other end of the tank, whichever comes first!
And thanks! (Gotta love autocorrect . . . )
~Bruce
jsker
Reefing is all about the adventure
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Good tidings, and congratulation BruceHi, Najer - The light for the chaeto is a Marineland "Hidden LED". It's not really intended as a grow light, more of an accent light - but it gets the job done - or at least the chaeto doesn't die under it . . . It was something I had laying around, and may eventually be replaced.
In other news, Kingston and Zoey's younger sister was born today. Welcome the newest frag from our colony . . .
My granddaughter Harper Lily!
~Bruce
OP
OP
Thanks, Jsker!
~Bruce
~Bruce
OP
OP
Emptied my last dose of Vibrant last Thursday, and no visible change in the tank, so on Friday morning, shut off the lights before they came on. The tank remained dark (ambient light only) through Friday, Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday night, I could see that some clearing had taken place, but not how much until Monday midday, under the daylights. Looks as though about 1/2 to 2/3 of the phyto got knocked out.
The Gyres and return move a lot of water - Gyres are currently in fwd / reverse mode, but with different timings, so that over the course of a few hours, there are several different flow patterns throughout the tank. Reverse settings are both at 100%, forward settings are at 50% - and the sand has still been blown away from the front of the tank! When both Gyres are in forward mode, vortices are created at the center of the tank, and occasionally one of those will be thrown in front of a return. The resulting burst of silvery bubbles throughout the center of the tank is reminiscent of a crashing wave on the reef. Most corals seem to be hanging on - including a couple of acros / millies which are somewhat improved over what they looked like a few weeks ago.
Below is about a minute and a half of flowing water ... and a hermit crab or two:
In other reefing news, I somehow managed to lose both of my remaining fairy wrasses (solor and exquisite) and my regal angel in the 75 during re-quarantine / fallow. Beyond annoyed, but determined to replace those fish - at a more "stately" pace, more appropriate to their elegance, beauty and preciousness.
~Bruce
The Gyres and return move a lot of water - Gyres are currently in fwd / reverse mode, but with different timings, so that over the course of a few hours, there are several different flow patterns throughout the tank. Reverse settings are both at 100%, forward settings are at 50% - and the sand has still been blown away from the front of the tank! When both Gyres are in forward mode, vortices are created at the center of the tank, and occasionally one of those will be thrown in front of a return. The resulting burst of silvery bubbles throughout the center of the tank is reminiscent of a crashing wave on the reef. Most corals seem to be hanging on - including a couple of acros / millies which are somewhat improved over what they looked like a few weeks ago.
Below is about a minute and a half of flowing water ... and a hermit crab or two:
In other reefing news, I somehow managed to lose both of my remaining fairy wrasses (solor and exquisite) and my regal angel in the 75 during re-quarantine / fallow. Beyond annoyed, but determined to replace those fish - at a more "stately" pace, more appropriate to their elegance, beauty and preciousness.
~Bruce
OP
OP
Today's view is much improved, even over yesterday's - Looking from the left end, I could pretty well make out the Montipora setosa colony about two thirds of the way across last night - today, I can spot the Stylophora frag at the top of the right-hand formation, and see things outside the far end of the tank.
The Millepora colony has its polyps out (not very far, but I can see their little tentacles) and has all but covered the end where it was broken off its base. The green stag I bought at Frag Farmers' a year and a half ago (slimer? It's the only acro I've been able to keep for very long) is turning from dark and dingy brown to green once again.
Not all of the zoanthids look happy though, and the Pavona looks half-bleached. (The other half looks great!?) The maxi-mini carpet garden all seem healthy, except for the two pink ones - why just those? - which have been bleaching and shrinking since they were in the 65. The rock-flowers seem to have settled in as well - hopefully, they'll start dropping babies again. (They've only ever dropped one, but still . . . )
Oh, and Harper came over for her first visit today!
~Bruce
The Millepora colony has its polyps out (not very far, but I can see their little tentacles) and has all but covered the end where it was broken off its base. The green stag I bought at Frag Farmers' a year and a half ago (slimer? It's the only acro I've been able to keep for very long) is turning from dark and dingy brown to green once again.
Not all of the zoanthids look happy though, and the Pavona looks half-bleached. (The other half looks great!?) The maxi-mini carpet garden all seem healthy, except for the two pink ones - why just those? - which have been bleaching and shrinking since they were in the 65. The rock-flowers seem to have settled in as well - hopefully, they'll start dropping babies again. (They've only ever dropped one, but still . . . )
Oh, and Harper came over for her first visit today!
~Bruce
Radman73
Valuable Member
Sorry for your losses but glad to see some improvement in your tank. Definitely one of those head scratchers that could drive some people away from the hobby out of frustration. Glad to see you've stuck with it!
OP
OP
Thanks, Radman73!
It's an endlessly fascinating hobby, for sure. If the point of a hobby is to stave off boredom . . . well, this is a pretty good one.
Here's a look at the current state of Kingston & Zoey's Reef, on a Labor Day afternoon, when a sunbeam came in through the window to play:
~Bruce
It's an endlessly fascinating hobby, for sure. If the point of a hobby is to stave off boredom . . . well, this is a pretty good one.
Here's a look at the current state of Kingston & Zoey's Reef, on a Labor Day afternoon, when a sunbeam came in through the window to play:
~Bruce
OP
OP
Thank you, Jasonw!
~Bruce
~Bruce
OP
OP
Kingston & Zoey's Reef appears to be clear. (I daren't say that too loudly, lest the phyto come roaring back!)
I'm getting a brownish film algae on the glass that _has_ to be cleaned at least once a week, and really should be cleaned twice. It's cool, though, to be able to check the tracks of snails in the morning, where the Cerithus and Trochus have climbed to the top and back down. Corals seem to be thriving, and are certainly growing! Go back a page or three to find the first shot of the birdsnest in the background of the video below - it may have nearly doubled in mass, in spite of everything!
Chaetomorpha, however, isn't doing well - I'm seeing fragments of it blowing about in the tank, and they're white. The stuff seems to be falling apart in this lower-nutrient environment. If I lose the chaeto colony, I'll fill that pond basket with liverock rubble as a 'pod hotel, and call it a day.
There are three big reef events in my neighborhood that I know of - the CTARS Frag-Farmer's Market in the early Spring, Reef-A-Palooza in the Summer and a new one I've not yet been to; CTARS' "Fragtoberfest", which is coming up in mid-October. I think I'll trundle on up there . . .
I'm also planning to add maybe 60 or so pounds of liverock to the left end of the tank. My initial liverock wasn't very lively, though I suppose it came with colonies of bacteria. Sold as "Pukani Air Rock", but there was _nothing_ visibly alive on it.A few red foram skeletons, that's it. Additional rock came from LFS systems and (dead) from BRS. My plan was to get some from a supplier in the Florida Keys, but then Irma happened. They're hoping to resume shipping by the end of September, so I'm hoping that I can import some cool diversity into the reef. I'm the kind of wide-eyed weirdo who gets excited about hitchhikers!
I did add a couple of Macrodactylus doreensis anemones - a little dark purple guy and a larger green one. The green didn't seem terribly happy where I planted her, so she went ballooning, and settled into the rocks at the right end of the tank. She's not really getting as much light as I'd like, but she's also not trying to run away. The purple one stayed right where I put him for a week and a half, eating anything that touched a tentacle - and then went walkies as well. _No_idea_ where that guy has ended up. <sigh>
Fish are nearly ready to return to the reef, and the reef is ready to receive them. I've been feeding the reef whenever I feed the fish, which is a couple to several times a day. All of the existing fish are in the 75 gallon QT, and seem to be OK, though not thrilled about it. Another two weeks or so, and I hope to give them a thrill.
Having lost all of my wrasses except the sixline really was bugging me, so when I dropped by LiveAquaria the other day and saw three different fairies on sale, I just couldn't resist. I've got the 40-B up and running, and ready to receive guests; an orange-backed (Cirrhilabrus aurantidorsalis) fairy to replace the one that was killed by the striped parrotfish, a Micronesian "hooded" (C. bathyphilus or C. efatensis? Have to see what it looks like when it grows up.) fairy, and a fish I never thought I'd be able to justify - a Laboute's (C. laboutei) fairy wrasse. Happy Birthday to me! (>_<) Will have to do some juggling with the sixline . . .
This is the first time I've ordered fish online - corals, liverock, drygoods, sure - but not fish. LiveAquaria tells me that they're shipping (from CA) in 1.020-1.025, and that they _never_ treat their specimens with copper. I've read how such acclimations should be done, but this'll be my first time - and I _really_ want it to be successful!
Below, a minute and a half of water swirling around an Acropora. This was shot during a period when the two Gyres were nearly perfectly anti-synced, but since their timings are slightly different, flow patterns change throughout the day - and this happened to be a moment with minimal "crashing". This colony is somewhere between purple and old-rose, a really lovely color that my phone just refuses to pick up well, with speckles of yellowish fluorescence:
~Bruce
I'm getting a brownish film algae on the glass that _has_ to be cleaned at least once a week, and really should be cleaned twice. It's cool, though, to be able to check the tracks of snails in the morning, where the Cerithus and Trochus have climbed to the top and back down. Corals seem to be thriving, and are certainly growing! Go back a page or three to find the first shot of the birdsnest in the background of the video below - it may have nearly doubled in mass, in spite of everything!
Chaetomorpha, however, isn't doing well - I'm seeing fragments of it blowing about in the tank, and they're white. The stuff seems to be falling apart in this lower-nutrient environment. If I lose the chaeto colony, I'll fill that pond basket with liverock rubble as a 'pod hotel, and call it a day.
There are three big reef events in my neighborhood that I know of - the CTARS Frag-Farmer's Market in the early Spring, Reef-A-Palooza in the Summer and a new one I've not yet been to; CTARS' "Fragtoberfest", which is coming up in mid-October. I think I'll trundle on up there . . .
I'm also planning to add maybe 60 or so pounds of liverock to the left end of the tank. My initial liverock wasn't very lively, though I suppose it came with colonies of bacteria. Sold as "Pukani Air Rock", but there was _nothing_ visibly alive on it.A few red foram skeletons, that's it. Additional rock came from LFS systems and (dead) from BRS. My plan was to get some from a supplier in the Florida Keys, but then Irma happened. They're hoping to resume shipping by the end of September, so I'm hoping that I can import some cool diversity into the reef. I'm the kind of wide-eyed weirdo who gets excited about hitchhikers!
I did add a couple of Macrodactylus doreensis anemones - a little dark purple guy and a larger green one. The green didn't seem terribly happy where I planted her, so she went ballooning, and settled into the rocks at the right end of the tank. She's not really getting as much light as I'd like, but she's also not trying to run away. The purple one stayed right where I put him for a week and a half, eating anything that touched a tentacle - and then went walkies as well. _No_idea_ where that guy has ended up. <sigh>
Fish are nearly ready to return to the reef, and the reef is ready to receive them. I've been feeding the reef whenever I feed the fish, which is a couple to several times a day. All of the existing fish are in the 75 gallon QT, and seem to be OK, though not thrilled about it. Another two weeks or so, and I hope to give them a thrill.
Having lost all of my wrasses except the sixline really was bugging me, so when I dropped by LiveAquaria the other day and saw three different fairies on sale, I just couldn't resist. I've got the 40-B up and running, and ready to receive guests; an orange-backed (Cirrhilabrus aurantidorsalis) fairy to replace the one that was killed by the striped parrotfish, a Micronesian "hooded" (C. bathyphilus or C. efatensis? Have to see what it looks like when it grows up.) fairy, and a fish I never thought I'd be able to justify - a Laboute's (C. laboutei) fairy wrasse. Happy Birthday to me! (>_<) Will have to do some juggling with the sixline . . .
This is the first time I've ordered fish online - corals, liverock, drygoods, sure - but not fish. LiveAquaria tells me that they're shipping (from CA) in 1.020-1.025, and that they _never_ treat their specimens with copper. I've read how such acclimations should be done, but this'll be my first time - and I _really_ want it to be successful!
Below, a minute and a half of water swirling around an Acropora. This was shot during a period when the two Gyres were nearly perfectly anti-synced, but since their timings are slightly different, flow patterns change throughout the day - and this happened to be a moment with minimal "crashing". This colony is somewhere between purple and old-rose, a really lovely color that my phone just refuses to pick up well, with speckles of yellowish fluorescence:
~Bruce
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OP
OP
Sooooo . . . those three wrasses mentioned in the post above are here for nearly a week now, and seem to be doing well.
They were acclimated using the method of adjusting the salinity of the QT to match the transport water, and it worked a charm. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get them through Praziquantel and copper without incident. The hooded's a bit shy in this video:
~Bruce
They were acclimated using the method of adjusting the salinity of the QT to match the transport water, and it worked a charm. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get them through Praziquantel and copper without incident. The hooded's a bit shy in this video:
~Bruce
fabutahoun
Angels and Acros
Nice Wrasses , it is nice to see that your reef is doing good.
OP
OP
Thank you, Fabutahoun!
I'm thinking to introduce the fish to the big tank for this weekend.
The hooded wrasse (being shy in the video above) had been giving me some concern - s/he'll pick up pellets, but more or less ignores frozen, while the orange-back and Laboute's snarf it up. Then I spotted this on the back wall of the QT:
The fish thinks s/he's a blinkin' tang!
~Bruce
I'm thinking to introduce the fish to the big tank for this weekend.
The hooded wrasse (being shy in the video above) had been giving me some concern - s/he'll pick up pellets, but more or less ignores frozen, while the orange-back and Laboute's snarf it up. Then I spotted this on the back wall of the QT:
The fish thinks s/he's a blinkin' tang!
~Bruce
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