Zoey's Reef is Growing Up . . .

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As I write this, one of the first shipments of liverock to leave the Florida Keys since hurricane "Irma" is on its way here. Got a fresh charge of carbon in the tank, and will be (at least temporarily) removing my filter socks to allow any small creatures that come loose to circulate through the system. Photos and my thoughts on the experience will follow . . . but you can have a peek at _these_ photos now.

Saturday was the day for the second iteration of CTARS' annual "Fragtoberfest". Though her schedule wouldn't allow her a lot of time at the show, I attended with my seven-year-old granddaughter, and returned with a significantly lighter wallet and some lovely new corals ... and a clam!

These zoanthids ("Daisy Dukes") were given to my granddaughter by Joe at RTMA, who is also the President of our local reefing club. Pretty in pink!
20171016_131131.jpg


Sadly, I don't remember who I picked up this acro from - it's a Jason Fox descendant called "Barney" - I'm sure that's for its brilliant blue-violet coloring, which reminded someone of the world's friendliest T. rex.
20171016_131204.jpg


Brilliant blue T. maxima! This guy's 2.5 - 3" long, tucked in a quiet corner to give him an opportunity to attach to a bit of Pukani rubble. As of now, he's well attached, and extends his shimmering mantle every day. Will be moving him to a brighter and more central spot, and allowing him the space to grow into a real centerpiece. Under my white lights, he's just a bit brighter and bluer than the azure damsels.
20171016_131241.jpg


I wish I remembered what kind of "tort" that blue one up top is ... it's a lovely, smoky color, with hints of yellow fluorescence between the corallites. The bonsai is from the charming young man @Sheltered Reef AC. Had a fun time at his table, exploring the awesome little display he had set up!
20171016_131310.jpg


Indonesian (but I'm told it's been fragged from a long-term legal resident of the U.S.) elegance coral, from @CherryCorals. So far, at least, it's doing very well - providing a lovely yellow fluorescence and flow to its corner of the reef.
20171016_131331.jpg


If any of you caught the "Facebook Live" video from the event, that's my granddaughter and I at the check-in table ... and being inexorably drawn to the bowl of free candy at the end of the vid!

~Bruce
 

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One of the best memories I have from this hobby was taking my then 10yo daughter to an Atlanta Reef Club even at the Georgia World Congress center. She absolutely LOVED walking around looking at frag tables and picking some out to take home. She also walked around as people were tearing down asking if there was anything they'd just give her lol! She actually got a few free frags that way. She even sat and paid attention to a presentation on sumps of all things.

Glad your grand-daughter had a great time! And nice frags!
 
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Thanks, Radman!

There's not really much more worthwhile than sharing yourself and the things you value with future generations. You live for as long as your memory is carried in their hearts . . .

Spent most of this evening driving to the airport, picking up styros, and making space in the tank for 60# of fresh Florida Keys liverock. At least one pistol shrimp and a trio of red Mithrax crabs didn't make it, but I suspect that many other things did... Two gorilla crabs were relocated to the pond basket in the sump, where they are welcome to clean out detritus and all the Aiptasia they can eat.

Full review tomorrow, when I'm less exhausted - for now, you get to enjoy one FTS, under the blues, through salty glass.
20171018_205019.jpg


~Bruce, wishing he could find his magnifying glass . . .
 

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The bonsai is from the charming young man @Sheltered Reef AC. Had a fun time at his table, exploring the awesome little display he had set up!
20171016_131310.jpg

~Bruce
Thanks for the kind words Bruce! I had a good time chatting with you as well. That little 6 gallon edge has been my pride and joy since my sophomore year at Binghamton. I'm glad to see that bonsai frag is doing well for you. My colony actually started out as a frag in the 6 gallon.
 
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Liverock.

Once upon a time, that word meant that someone had gone down to the sea, returning with a fragment broken from some long-ago reef, which had lain on the bottom for decades, collecting a corona of living things. That's a limited resource, though, and we've learned to work around that. We've learned to seed fossil reef skeletons with bacteria, and even to make our own "rock" from various forms of cement.

To me, "liverock" still means life I can see, not just bacteria. When Zoey's Reef began, I ordered a couple of boxes of "Pukani Air Rock" from a major vendor, expecting instant marine life. What I got was dull grey rock, full of holes but with not one living macro-life-form in sight. Over the years, I was able to add a few things - micro brittlestars, Stomatella snails, spaghetti worms, purple coralline ... but never really got that experience of looking into the tank and just _not_really_knowing_ what I might see.

Went out across the 'net, looking for the real stuff. Decided pretty much right away that Pacific rock is coming too far, too many handlers, too much aviation fuel to be affordable for what's likely to reach the journey's end alive. Sadness, 'cause the Pacific has got some cool stuff. Took a look South, to Florida. There's rock coming from three general areas; The Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Florida Straits off of the Keys.

What kind of rock did I want? What kind of habitat did I want to create?

I looked at rock from the Atlantic - pretty in pink, but as far as I could tell from the site's images, the coralline algae coverage was the only selling point. Meh. <shrug>

I looked at rock from the Gulf of Mexico. _Much_ more diversity of life on the rock from here, and Tampa Bay Saltwater has _amazing_ reviews, a welcome presence in the reefing community, and great videos of his site out there on the 'net. The water there is clear with a green tint to it, perfect for cultivating sponges and a few hardy corals, and there are plenty of happy-looking fish there - but it's not a reef. I looked at the Keys, too - and the water there is a different color. It's blue, like the water around reefs. It's not as nutrient-rich as the Gulf, which might indicate that the animals bathed in it won't be looking for big plankton meals I can't easily provide.

I chose rock from KP Aquatics, and near the end of Summer, was just about ready to pull the trigger on 60 pounds of the stuff ... when the Atlantic hurricane season kicked into high gear. Hurricane Irma would slam into the Florida Keys as a Category 4, and rage up the length of the Florida peninsula.

It took almost two weeks for Kara and Phillipp (KP) to get a decent look at their home. It was a couple more weeks before they could announce that they were back in business, and two more before they were going to make the trip to Ft. Lauderdale Airport with boxes of rocks. On Monday, they dived to their aquaculture site and chose 60 pounds of Miami Oolite which had been simmering at the bottom for at least a couple of years. They rinsed off the loose items, wrapped each piece in salt-wet newsprint, bagged it, boxed it in two styro shippers, and by Tuesday evening, the rock was transferred into the care of Delta Airlines. Overnight to Atlanta, through the morning to Westchester County Airport in New York State, it arrived at about two-thirty . . . . and I couldn't break away from the print shop where I work during the week. Everyone seemed to be having a prepress crisis. End of day, and I'm off to the airport ... which was uneventful, save for the traffic to and from.

Home at last, and the light above the left side of the reef switches to blues ... I'm going to have to move quickly to get this stuff placed!

Open the boxes...
20171018_192716.jpg


Only the barest hints of what treasures might lie within! My son and I quickly unwrapped the rock and placed it into the tank ... sixty pounds adds up to a pretty decent amount of rock, on top of what's already there, now ... how can I make this look decent?!

While placing rock, we found two gorilla crabs - lords of the sump, these two. We also found three red Mithrax and a small pistol shrimp, which hadn't survived the journey - they would have been welcome residents. Additionally, a couple of tiny (<3") eunicid worms were spotted, along with another gorilla which probably hopes someday to be as big around as a small pea. They're in there somewhere . . . (Well, I know where one of the eunicids is ... it lost a battle with the elegance coral.) There are a few plants of Pencillus - "Merman's shaving brush", though they're looking pretty rough,
20171019_175227.jpg


and a couple of very small Halimeda, and there are several specimens of what I believe to be Sargassum hystrix:
20171019_175056.jpg


The rock is about 40% covered with coralline, and I could feel sponges under my fingers as I placed it. Two large worm tubes were found while placing the rock, one may hold a decent sized peanut worm ... or a feather duster who's lost his crown, the other holds only a surprise. Several smaller dusters are also evident. Most of the coralline is an orangey-pink color, and fluoresces nicely in a true pink, but there's a little wine-red and a few splashes of taxicab yellow coralline. The fish seem happy with natural things to nip at.

20171019_175256.jpg


This morning, peeking in the predawn with a flashlight ... I spotted a tiny dark shape, zooming and looping across the sand; a small mysid.

So far, at least, I am well pleased. Come along on a three-minute tour of the newly enhanced Kingston & Zoey's Reef:

~Bruce
 

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just like Kinder surprise eggs (Easter Edition ) lol

I always enjoy getting live rock directly from the ocean, 50% of my rock are picked from the red sea and you can imagine the life that came with it
 
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Two things I wish we could get in the U.S. - Red Sea liverock, and Kinder Surprise eggs. Both should be a constant delight!

Most of the pink which I had assumed was coralline has vanished while I wasn't looking (23 hour shift at the Aquarium...), leaving behind white rock. <sadness> I don't know whether it died on its own, or became particularly tasty snacks for the kole and blennies, but I still hold hope for the things that might hide in holes and hidden recesses!

~Bruce
 
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Oops.

I did it again...

Gone and went overboard, overstocking my QT ... but there are some opportunities that are hard to pass up.

A couple-three-four times a year, one of my favorite LFS (ahh, let's face it ... pretty much my go-to these days, and a CTARS sponsor) has an awesome sale. I got off work a bit earlier than I'd expected on Saturday, and shot up there, because I knew I needed some LRS, and this place carries three great blends. (They don't carry Rod's though ... bummer.) They were about to close by the time I got there, but I got a quick look through the tanks. Almost bought a brace of Genicanthus watanabei, but something about the way they were swimming put me off - and also caught sight of a very pretty terminal phase Cirrhilabrus isosceles. Went home, put the flat-packs in the freezer, and slept on it.

Yeah, you already know what happened on Sunday morning, don't you.

Went and took another look at the Watanabe angels, but they were still swimming like a shark with two barrels on 'im, so figured I'd scoop up the pintail wrasse to add to the three fairies already in QT, as the price was _half_ what some of my fave online places would ask for the fish. One more look around the shop and ... wait.

What's that in with the slingjaw wrasse and snowflake eel? Pale greens and pinks. Sky blues and teals in its face and ultramarine trim on orange fins. Purple atop his nose . . . and he's swimming. Confidently. In the center of the tank, surrounded by those bruisers, rowing the water with cobalt pectorals . . .

Quoy's parrotfish. Scarus quoyi. My obsession.

There was never a question.

And then, back to the wrasse ... aww, look - there's a copperband butterfly. Another fish I'd love to have in my tank. Is it eating? "Don't know" says the young man assisting me - and feeds both the wrasse and the copperband, brine shrimp rubbed from a frozen bit. The wrasse responds greedily, and the copperband considers the offering . . . moves forward . . . <slurp> ... <slurp>. Sold.

Of course, ammonia shot up in QT - used Prime as a band-aid over Sunday night, then executed a planned 30 gallon water change on the display on Monday. The water from the display replaced water from QT, and I've added a second sponge to the Aqua-Clear 110, and a half-bottle of Bio-Spira. It seems to be holding its own, but the test is still half a tint greener than I'd prefer to see. (Another 30 gallons of RO/DI is running as I type this.)

All of the fish in QT are eating - including the Quoy's! Woohoo!! It's funny to watch him, though, as he daintily selects the very tiniest morsels. "This whole brine shrimp is just too much", says he - "I'll have this swimmeret from the tail of a mysis, instead." I think the copperband may be the more aggressive eater of the two.

I am a bit concerned by the odd "shimmy" that he's displaying - plan on Prazi-Pro tonight, water-change tomorrow, and a very slow ramp-up of Coppersafe over the next couple of days. I'm also planning a course of General Cure (Praziquantel & Metronidazole) bound to food with Seachem Focus - just in case any of these guys are carrying gut parasites.

QT video below:

~Bruce
 
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Aaaaannnd the Quoy's has discovered the joys of surfing powerheads. <sigh>

Prazi-Pro last night seems to have somewhat calmed the fin-flicking and shimmying behavior, but this is worrisome indeed. First 5ml of Coppersafe is in. Big water change mixing for tonight, going to try to add 15-20ml of Coppersafe each day (dosing 5ml each in the morning, noontime, late afternoon and night) until therapeutic levels are reached.

Surf's up . . . dangit.

~Bruce
 
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Thanks, Radman73 ... Don't know about anybody else, but I seem to learn more from living my mistakes and trials than from reading about others' successes! (I could wish for a few less "learning opportunities" though!)

~Bruce
 

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Thanks, Radman73 ... Don't know about anybody else, but I seem to learn more from living my mistakes and trials than from reading about others' successes! (I could wish for a few less "learning opportunities" though!)

~Bruce

Just reading thru your thread and enjoying the ups and downs. Relatable and informative. I too would rather have less learning opportunities, but its what lets us do better next go round. I especially relate to your joy of the mystery of what came with the LR.

Thanks for sharing
 

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It's others willingness to share their trials that helps all of us learn. How many wrasses would be lost to CP if nobody ever shared that it killed nearly every wrasse they treated with it? Showing QT in progress helps everyone learn from hopefully your successes but the occasional failure as well.
 
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Thank you both, and welcome to the thread, DeepBlueSomething!

Another 70% water change for the QT (maybe 20% for the display - "cascade" style water changing isn't recommended, but I'm pretty sure my display is -mostly- disease-free.), and that should knock the ammonia back where I want it to be. Everyone came through a dose of Prazi-Pro just fine, and between the medication and the water change, there's much less shimmying going on. The parrot is still surfing the powerhead from time to time, so copper is ramping up. Three doses of 5ml (ten should get me close to therapeutic in a 40B) each are in, and nobody's looking the worse for wear. (I once tried to use ionic copper with an orange-back fairy ... didn't end well, so close observation is the order of the day.) Everybody's eating - even if the parrotfish still prefers pieces too small to attract the attention of the much smaller fairy wrasses! - so "Steady as she goes..."

~Bruce
 
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Well, the parrotfish has discovered that there's more to meals than calanus and capelin eggs. Not only does he eat well (if slowly and deliberately) on both frozen and pellets, he's discovered the algae growing on surfaces in QT:
20171103_204635.jpg


The butterfly, however, is still only taking brine shrimp - which isn't generally a major component of my feedings. I've had to go out and get some HUFA and spirulina enhanced brine for her, and hope I can get her turned around . . . she's lost some weight already. All of the fairy wrasses are fat and sassy.

Brought a couple of sturdy lads (friends of my son's) a couple of towns over the other day, to assist a fellow reefer in moving big transparent boxes around, for which he generously offered to donate a couple of frags to Kingston & Zoey's Reef. Hm. Frags. At what point does one have to stop calling them that? Marble size? Golf-ball size? These range from hand-size to grapefruit-sized. I'm pretty sure they're not frags any more . . .

So this is what it looked like on the reef the other day:

And it's already changed again. Popped out to my fave LFS for some fish food and CUC, and they had frags for $15, including several that I believe may be maricultured "brownie" colonies. (Some pretty big ones - golf-ball to softball-sized!) Scooped up a couple (one came with acro crabs!) and am dangerously tempted to return for more.

~Bruce
 
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