BAYMAC
Supporting Member
They're awesome additions. They eat algae, and breed in your tank (so they are a tool, and a feed)
7.5 Gallon Bookshelf Nano
- Thread starter SeanMc
- Start date
October 13, 2023
I picked up a Cali Tort at Hide Tide Aquatics. They had a really nice Walt Disney acro that I nearly got. Although it looked nice in the blue lights, it wasn’t quite as striking in the white light. My partner prefers the white light so I have a long stretch in the middle of the day with white lights. Also, I wanted something extra hardy. The Cali Tort looked good in both lights and - like most classics - my assumption is that it’s pretty tough. Now that it’s in my tank, it may not be the final choice for this spot. It’s not bright like everything else and it’s a little harder to see against the black background of the skimmer and ATO sensor. Bright is a theme of this tank, and I wonder if @Darkxerox was right to suggest a yellow anacropora. I’m still pretty committed to trying an acro in this tank and I already have an anacropora (which I love and highly recommend btw), but I could see myself ultimately getting a goldenrod. Even if I don’t keep the cali long term, imo, it’s definitely an upgrade from the pink Cadillac. The blue color is the touch of class I was looking for.
For a couple weeks, I started my water changes by using a turkey baster. I was surprised how much detritus it kicked up and it was, in some ways, satisfying to pursue a “clean” tank. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake. I’m curious to hear from other people, but I felt like I got a nutrient spike and algae bloom. I think using the turkey baster may have upset some bacteria or other critters. I was doing more frequent and larger water changes and the algae just kept coming – getting worse even. I think I let “clean” overpower “stability” in my thinking. I’m going to prioritize stability for a little bit. Having stopped the baster for about a week, it already seems to be making a difference but it’s hard to say. There’s a lot of lag with these things sometimes.
The watermelon chalice has two new eyes. The digitata is growing into a star occupant. The skin has grown in some spots that had died back (before my time) and reclaimed it from some algae. It’s getting thicker and growing in multiple places, not just the two main tips.
A piece of a torch tentacle came off. It’s happened a couple other times. I think there’s some sort of bivalve shell or something on its stem where the tentacles get trapped and cut off. Anyways, a little piece of the torch was floating around the tank – which you notice because it’s neon green – but then I later saw the piece sitting on the ricordia. At first, it seemed as if the ricordia was trying to eat it, but I then realized it was being stung. It was there overnight and although the ricordia is probably just fine, it was definitely not happy about it. I worry that these torches are way too tough for a crammed tank. I would love to get recommendations on what can withstand them. Zoas maybe?
I picked up a Cali Tort at Hide Tide Aquatics. They had a really nice Walt Disney acro that I nearly got. Although it looked nice in the blue lights, it wasn’t quite as striking in the white light. My partner prefers the white light so I have a long stretch in the middle of the day with white lights. Also, I wanted something extra hardy. The Cali Tort looked good in both lights and - like most classics - my assumption is that it’s pretty tough. Now that it’s in my tank, it may not be the final choice for this spot. It’s not bright like everything else and it’s a little harder to see against the black background of the skimmer and ATO sensor. Bright is a theme of this tank, and I wonder if @Darkxerox was right to suggest a yellow anacropora. I’m still pretty committed to trying an acro in this tank and I already have an anacropora (which I love and highly recommend btw), but I could see myself ultimately getting a goldenrod. Even if I don’t keep the cali long term, imo, it’s definitely an upgrade from the pink Cadillac. The blue color is the touch of class I was looking for.
For a couple weeks, I started my water changes by using a turkey baster. I was surprised how much detritus it kicked up and it was, in some ways, satisfying to pursue a “clean” tank. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake. I’m curious to hear from other people, but I felt like I got a nutrient spike and algae bloom. I think using the turkey baster may have upset some bacteria or other critters. I was doing more frequent and larger water changes and the algae just kept coming – getting worse even. I think I let “clean” overpower “stability” in my thinking. I’m going to prioritize stability for a little bit. Having stopped the baster for about a week, it already seems to be making a difference but it’s hard to say. There’s a lot of lag with these things sometimes.
The watermelon chalice has two new eyes. The digitata is growing into a star occupant. The skin has grown in some spots that had died back (before my time) and reclaimed it from some algae. It’s getting thicker and growing in multiple places, not just the two main tips.
A piece of a torch tentacle came off. It’s happened a couple other times. I think there’s some sort of bivalve shell or something on its stem where the tentacles get trapped and cut off. Anyways, a little piece of the torch was floating around the tank – which you notice because it’s neon green – but then I later saw the piece sitting on the ricordia. At first, it seemed as if the ricordia was trying to eat it, but I then realized it was being stung. It was there overnight and although the ricordia is probably just fine, it was definitely not happy about it. I worry that these torches are way too tough for a crammed tank. I would love to get recommendations on what can withstand them. Zoas maybe?
Torches can lose a tentacle here than there from getting bumped or tangled in strong water flow. And yes your want to remove them ASAP if you see them cause it can sting lots of other animals as it floats around. I've pretty much kept them out of range of other corals but haven't seen many other corals that can take sustained stings from them @thephoreefer would know best about things torches can touch.
I would keep using the baster but just be sure you're not blasting corals, just live rock. You can also run a piece of filter floss on your pump intake after doing then then pulling that after the water clears and you finish your water change.
What sort of inputs are going into the tank? Given that you don't have fish, there really shouldn't be much adding nutrients right?
I would keep using the baster but just be sure you're not blasting corals, just live rock. You can also run a piece of filter floss on your pump intake after doing then then pulling that after the water clears and you finish your water change.
What sort of inputs are going into the tank? Given that you don't have fish, there really shouldn't be much adding nutrients right?
Inputs at this point are only for the blood shrimp. About 10 "small" pellets about every other day. I try not to feed it more than it can eat in a sitting. I'm not doing AB+ or phyto right now. There's usually a lag between my posts and the present (e.g. this post was written a few weeks ago) and it's possible I was still doing a drop of phyto twice a week at that time.
I was careful not to blast the corals. If I'm understanding you correctly about the filter floss, I'd have to fit it in front of the powerhead intake grill. I'm not sure how gracefully that will stay in place.
What do you see as the advantage of the blasting the rockwork? It could have been a total coincidence, but it struck me as weird to have a sudden, moderate algae bloom when the only changes were more frequent and larger water changes and the turkey baster technique. I'm doing fewer, smaller changes now and the algae hasn't come back yet. The baster also more work for me. It was fun for a while, but I don't want to be obligated to do it.
I'd love to hear @thephoreefer chime in on who can handle a torch sting. It's possible the only solution is isolation. But the reason I suggested a zoa is their defense mechanism usually is to close up and hold its ground, whereas some fleshier LPS corals get their skeletons exposed and don't recover well.
I was careful not to blast the corals. If I'm understanding you correctly about the filter floss, I'd have to fit it in front of the powerhead intake grill. I'm not sure how gracefully that will stay in place.
What do you see as the advantage of the blasting the rockwork? It could have been a total coincidence, but it struck me as weird to have a sudden, moderate algae bloom when the only changes were more frequent and larger water changes and the turkey baster technique. I'm doing fewer, smaller changes now and the algae hasn't come back yet. The baster also more work for me. It was fun for a while, but I don't want to be obligated to do it.
I'd love to hear @thephoreefer chime in on who can handle a torch sting. It's possible the only solution is isolation. But the reason I suggested a zoa is their defense mechanism usually is to close up and hold its ground, whereas some fleshier LPS corals get their skeletons exposed and don't recover well.
October 20, 2024
I borrowed the club’s PAR meter.
Obviously, I do not have the light mounted in the way the manufacturer prescribes. The gooseneck wants to pull away from the aquarium. I can’t pull it any closer. Nearly all tanks have the lights perpendicular, but the bookshelf here prevents me from doing that.
My schedule peeks at 80% for two hours on a 12 hour cycle.
I thought that my acro spot would be the brightest because it’s closest to the surface. Even though it’s not in the center of the light, it is not filtered by the glass. I thought of it as a high-light, high-flow spot – hence the acro. It turns out that spot is not especially high light, or at least there are many other spots that are brighter. The digi is getting blasted. Over 500 PAR. Many corals are getting way more light than most online sources recommend. 300 sounds very high for a chalice, trumpet, and acan, for example.
With one exception, everyone seems happy so I’m reluctant to change anything. In orchid world, many people say to give them as much light as the plant can stand - which makes a lot of sense to me. Since most everyone is growing, it seems like they can stand it. But, that principle may not apply to corals.
That said, the measurements did make me wonder if the problem with the orange zoas is too much light and that they’re trying to run away from it. It would explain why it isn’t just dying and is instead shrinking in the front and growing towards the back – most happy corals reach for the lights, like plants.
Here are some readings at 100% on the Kessil a360 wide angle, fyi.
I don’t want to turn the light up because it already seems very high and the small bump to the acro spot doesn’t seem worth the risk to the rest of the tank. It’s also too early to tell if the light is inadequate for that spot, so a bump up may not even help.
One thing I noticed is that penetrating the glass causes a large decrease in PAR. No surprise there in principle, but places that looked to me like they were getting blasted just aren’t. The energy roll off in the bottom front half of the tank is steep.
The acans are starting to grow down the old skeleton. It has about four new, very small mouths. That’s the first visible growth I’ve seen on those. Everyone else seems good. No growth on the yellow brick road zoas (near the orange ones) but they are almost always open and otherwise healthy seeming. There are early signs of the GSP growing off the plug and onto the epoxy.
I borrowed the club’s PAR meter.
Obviously, I do not have the light mounted in the way the manufacturer prescribes. The gooseneck wants to pull away from the aquarium. I can’t pull it any closer. Nearly all tanks have the lights perpendicular, but the bookshelf here prevents me from doing that.
My schedule peeks at 80% for two hours on a 12 hour cycle.
I thought that my acro spot would be the brightest because it’s closest to the surface. Even though it’s not in the center of the light, it is not filtered by the glass. I thought of it as a high-light, high-flow spot – hence the acro. It turns out that spot is not especially high light, or at least there are many other spots that are brighter. The digi is getting blasted. Over 500 PAR. Many corals are getting way more light than most online sources recommend. 300 sounds very high for a chalice, trumpet, and acan, for example.
With one exception, everyone seems happy so I’m reluctant to change anything. In orchid world, many people say to give them as much light as the plant can stand - which makes a lot of sense to me. Since most everyone is growing, it seems like they can stand it. But, that principle may not apply to corals.
That said, the measurements did make me wonder if the problem with the orange zoas is too much light and that they’re trying to run away from it. It would explain why it isn’t just dying and is instead shrinking in the front and growing towards the back – most happy corals reach for the lights, like plants.
Here are some readings at 100% on the Kessil a360 wide angle, fyi.
I don’t want to turn the light up because it already seems very high and the small bump to the acro spot doesn’t seem worth the risk to the rest of the tank. It’s also too early to tell if the light is inadequate for that spot, so a bump up may not even help.
One thing I noticed is that penetrating the glass causes a large decrease in PAR. No surprise there in principle, but places that looked to me like they were getting blasted just aren’t. The energy roll off in the bottom front half of the tank is steep.
The acans are starting to grow down the old skeleton. It has about four new, very small mouths. That’s the first visible growth I’ve seen on those. Everyone else seems good. No growth on the yellow brick road zoas (near the orange ones) but they are almost always open and otherwise healthy seeming. There are early signs of the GSP growing off the plug and onto the epoxy.
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May 30, 2024, pt.1
TLDR; Tank is almost one year old. The torch is dying. Giving up on the plating montipora for now. Fewer, bigger corals in year 2.
The tank is approaching one year.
I went out of town twice and had total novices take care of the tank.
The first time was for about six or seven weeks around the winter holidays. The second time was more recently for about two months (8 weeks). Both times were pet sitters from trustedhousesitters.com. One came over beforehand and I gave a hands-on demo of how to do water changes. For the second person, I just made a video and did a few phone calls.
The house sitters both did a very good job. Nobody died.
When I came back in January, the tank had algae blooms but everyone was definitely alive. Only the torch was visibly worse for wear. Overall, the house sitters were real rule followers and they did not have the same temptations to tinker with the tank. I said 1-2 gallons for water changes, but both of them consistently did exactly 1 gallon. The cali tort certainly liked whatever they were doing. I was impressed by its growth and color while I was gone.
Pics of when I returned in mid-January:
When I got back in January, I went on a water changing campaign, upping the frequency to twice a week. Unlike the house sitters, I occasionally pulled out a couple gallons. I was home for a couple months from January through February and then left again in mid-March.
Some pics before I left in mid-March:
A few takeaways from the house sitter experience: One is that it is possible to have a total novice take care of a tank, even one this small. Two months is a long time. There was some damage, which I accepted as inevitable, but it was minimal. Second is one of my goals was to make this tank very simple and easy to maintain. The fact that totally notices were able to keep it going feels like it says something about the ease of maintenance. The house sitters were an interesting experiment. On the one hand, they were real consistency queens, which I think the tank really liked. But on the other hand, they wouldn’t really react to anything, which could be bad. I honestly respect their mechanical consistency, especially since I’ve been making some changes to the tank lately and keep putting my hands in it.
Since getting back, I again implemented a more aggressive water changing schedule and started feeding the tank AB+ again. I did not ask the house sitters to do any dosing because the whole thing was already annoying enough.
I think the torch is doomed.
The torch hadn’t been fully opening for a few weeks when I left in December. It opened a little in the morning, but then spent the rest of the afternoon looking a little shriveled. I thought this was part of the process of splitting the live fleshy part from the new branches. Something about moving from one big organism to two smaller ones, IDK. I had hoped that the situation would get better when the heads were fully detached and could be safely put through a bandsaw. When I got back in January, however, it was clear that didn’t happen. There was visible tissue loss and just a few days later, the flesh rapidly washed out of the skeleton over the course of a couple days. The separated original head, however, survived. Fast forward to May now and it doesn’t look good. It’s quite the reversal from October when it was dividing quickly and beating on its neighbors because it was getting so big. I don’t have a good theory of what happened. Water quality or nutrients or just one of those things? IDK. I’m definitely not ready to give up on torches, so I’ll be getting another one. I’ll try to rehab this one but, honestly, it’s probably doomed. The tissue loss has already started.
Going to get rid of the orange monti cap.
The plating monti has been fighting with the chalice and losing. The dead rim of the monti is black and dead looking. I also noticed what looked like some nudibranchs right before I left in the spring for two months. They seem to have picked at parts of it, but given that they had two months to munch unmolested, they didn’t actually do that much damage. When I got back in May, I picked off about four or five. I worry that I can’t in good conscience give away a coral that I suspect had nudibranchs. Orange monti caps also seem to be a nuisance in some tanks, so I don’t feel too bad about just tossing it. Would still love to give it away if possible. It also never really cupped like I wanted it to. It mostly continued to table out on a flat plane. Getting rid of the monti, will also make the GSP more visible, and that one is finally growing the way that I want.
Anacropora going through a rough patch.
The anacropora also showed some signs of trouble before I left in the spring. The polyps weren’t as extended and bushy, and they’d turned a lighter brown color. This happened once or twice before but it always eventually snapped back with water changes. When I got back in May, some parts were bleaching and some were even dead. I might end up cutting off the front branch or fragging and starting over. I don’t know if it’s going to grow back over the part that died. Some corals and plants only grow out of the tip, so any dead pieces remain dead. Not being able to fix past mistakes can result in some stringy and unattractive corals/plants. I’m also getting the impression that this coral doesn’t want to grow into the high-flow powerhead stream, so I don’t know how it’s supposed to mature into the position it’s in. Will try to rehab and see how it goes.
Other updates.
The orange zoas in the back have continued moving and shrinking. I’m not optimistic, but hopefully they’ll find a spot they like and take over that area.
The trumpet seems to be splitting, but it doesn’t seem very happy. It doesn’t have as much flesh as I think it should. It's less trumpet and more nub now. It has a faint white hue that feels like an LPS getting blasted by too much light. If I get around to it, I’ll move it further back and see how it does.
Everyone else looks good and has clear signs of growth.
The salinity dropped to 1.021. I buy salt water, so I can’t really make a really salty batch. It’ll probably take a few days to bring the salinity back up. It’s possible the anacropora and torch don’t like that.
Year two goals.
In year two, I’d like to dial down the number of corals and keep the ones that seem to be working best in the spaces they’re in. I’m going to get rid of a piece of live rock that is small, but is probably a significant percentage of live rock surface area in a tank this small. I’m hoping it’ll free up some space and make it feel less crowded.
The new tank arrangement would have a little more negative space and the monti digi would replace the plating monti. A little triangle of sticks. I’m going out of town for a couple weeks in July and I might be moving soon, but I still dreaming of something like an OG bounce in the lower left corner once I’m not traveling anymore and my living situation is firmer.
TLDR; Tank is almost one year old. The torch is dying. Giving up on the plating montipora for now. Fewer, bigger corals in year 2.
The tank is approaching one year.
I went out of town twice and had total novices take care of the tank.
The first time was for about six or seven weeks around the winter holidays. The second time was more recently for about two months (8 weeks). Both times were pet sitters from trustedhousesitters.com. One came over beforehand and I gave a hands-on demo of how to do water changes. For the second person, I just made a video and did a few phone calls.
The house sitters both did a very good job. Nobody died.
When I came back in January, the tank had algae blooms but everyone was definitely alive. Only the torch was visibly worse for wear. Overall, the house sitters were real rule followers and they did not have the same temptations to tinker with the tank. I said 1-2 gallons for water changes, but both of them consistently did exactly 1 gallon. The cali tort certainly liked whatever they were doing. I was impressed by its growth and color while I was gone.
Pics of when I returned in mid-January:
When I got back in January, I went on a water changing campaign, upping the frequency to twice a week. Unlike the house sitters, I occasionally pulled out a couple gallons. I was home for a couple months from January through February and then left again in mid-March.
Some pics before I left in mid-March:
A few takeaways from the house sitter experience: One is that it is possible to have a total novice take care of a tank, even one this small. Two months is a long time. There was some damage, which I accepted as inevitable, but it was minimal. Second is one of my goals was to make this tank very simple and easy to maintain. The fact that totally notices were able to keep it going feels like it says something about the ease of maintenance. The house sitters were an interesting experiment. On the one hand, they were real consistency queens, which I think the tank really liked. But on the other hand, they wouldn’t really react to anything, which could be bad. I honestly respect their mechanical consistency, especially since I’ve been making some changes to the tank lately and keep putting my hands in it.
Since getting back, I again implemented a more aggressive water changing schedule and started feeding the tank AB+ again. I did not ask the house sitters to do any dosing because the whole thing was already annoying enough.
I think the torch is doomed.
The torch hadn’t been fully opening for a few weeks when I left in December. It opened a little in the morning, but then spent the rest of the afternoon looking a little shriveled. I thought this was part of the process of splitting the live fleshy part from the new branches. Something about moving from one big organism to two smaller ones, IDK. I had hoped that the situation would get better when the heads were fully detached and could be safely put through a bandsaw. When I got back in January, however, it was clear that didn’t happen. There was visible tissue loss and just a few days later, the flesh rapidly washed out of the skeleton over the course of a couple days. The separated original head, however, survived. Fast forward to May now and it doesn’t look good. It’s quite the reversal from October when it was dividing quickly and beating on its neighbors because it was getting so big. I don’t have a good theory of what happened. Water quality or nutrients or just one of those things? IDK. I’m definitely not ready to give up on torches, so I’ll be getting another one. I’ll try to rehab this one but, honestly, it’s probably doomed. The tissue loss has already started.
Going to get rid of the orange monti cap.
The plating monti has been fighting with the chalice and losing. The dead rim of the monti is black and dead looking. I also noticed what looked like some nudibranchs right before I left in the spring for two months. They seem to have picked at parts of it, but given that they had two months to munch unmolested, they didn’t actually do that much damage. When I got back in May, I picked off about four or five. I worry that I can’t in good conscience give away a coral that I suspect had nudibranchs. Orange monti caps also seem to be a nuisance in some tanks, so I don’t feel too bad about just tossing it. Would still love to give it away if possible. It also never really cupped like I wanted it to. It mostly continued to table out on a flat plane. Getting rid of the monti, will also make the GSP more visible, and that one is finally growing the way that I want.
Anacropora going through a rough patch.
The anacropora also showed some signs of trouble before I left in the spring. The polyps weren’t as extended and bushy, and they’d turned a lighter brown color. This happened once or twice before but it always eventually snapped back with water changes. When I got back in May, some parts were bleaching and some were even dead. I might end up cutting off the front branch or fragging and starting over. I don’t know if it’s going to grow back over the part that died. Some corals and plants only grow out of the tip, so any dead pieces remain dead. Not being able to fix past mistakes can result in some stringy and unattractive corals/plants. I’m also getting the impression that this coral doesn’t want to grow into the high-flow powerhead stream, so I don’t know how it’s supposed to mature into the position it’s in. Will try to rehab and see how it goes.
Other updates.
The orange zoas in the back have continued moving and shrinking. I’m not optimistic, but hopefully they’ll find a spot they like and take over that area.
The trumpet seems to be splitting, but it doesn’t seem very happy. It doesn’t have as much flesh as I think it should. It's less trumpet and more nub now. It has a faint white hue that feels like an LPS getting blasted by too much light. If I get around to it, I’ll move it further back and see how it does.
Everyone else looks good and has clear signs of growth.
The salinity dropped to 1.021. I buy salt water, so I can’t really make a really salty batch. It’ll probably take a few days to bring the salinity back up. It’s possible the anacropora and torch don’t like that.
Year two goals.
In year two, I’d like to dial down the number of corals and keep the ones that seem to be working best in the spaces they’re in. I’m going to get rid of a piece of live rock that is small, but is probably a significant percentage of live rock surface area in a tank this small. I’m hoping it’ll free up some space and make it feel less crowded.
The new tank arrangement would have a little more negative space and the monti digi would replace the plating monti. A little triangle of sticks. I’m going out of town for a couple weeks in July and I might be moving soon, but I still dreaming of something like an OG bounce in the lower left corner once I’m not traveling anymore and my living situation is firmer.
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June 4, 2024
Anacoropora and Nudibranchs
After my last post, I realized that monti eating nudibranchs also attack the anacropora. I had even seen one on the anacropora before. I didn't think anything of it. I’d seen them in other places before, like on the glass. Once I made the connection, I started seeing them more, especially at night. There were also some on the plating monti. I retired the plating monti at night, which ended up working out, because there were maybe 5-8 nudibranchs munching on it, including one that was at least twice as big as the others.
I don’t know how people deal with these in big or even normal sized tanks. The nudibranchs are so incredibly small. Very hard to see. It took at least two diligent weeks with the tweezers – real tweezers not the long aquarium kind – to remove them all. They weren’t at all interested in my digi monti. That made the removal a little easier, since I really just had to keep a close one colony of anacropora. I haven’t seen any in the last ten days, so I’m cautiously optimistic that they’re gone.
I saw online that you are supposed to scrape the eggs, but the nudis themselves are already so incredibly small that it seems truly impossible to ID the eggs and remove them. They are very fragile, however. For the ones I couldn’t reach well, I was able to scrape at them with a sharpened chop stick and they kind of broke up. They have no instinct for self-preservation. They wouldn’t flee. It often took multiple tries with the tweezers, but they didn’t run. Not saying the tweezers are the weapon of choice, but it seems to have worked for me. It’s true they mostly come out at night, but I saw some during the day. I’d estimate I probably removed over a dozen, maybe two dozen at most, including the ones that got carried out on the plating monti when I retired it.
I have no idea where they came from. I first noticed one in mid-September 2023. I think I killed it out of an abundance of caution, even though I didn’t know what it was. I have a vague memory of seeing one some months later and thinking “I should kill that.” But I got distracted and it got away. I didn’t really notice them again until I left for two months in March. By then it was too late to really do anything. I certainly wasn’t going to instruct the house sitter to kill these nearly microscopic creatures with a pair of tweezers every night.
The last thing I introduced to my tank was the blasto, which was probably in late November, but the nudis were already there in mid-September. Kind of strange that they didn’t metastasize into a problem until months later.
It's hard to say if they munched on my anacropora because it was weak or if it was weak because it was being munched on. A tough enemy to be sure.
The anacropora polyps are coming again. They’re bigger. Some of them have recovered their brown color. The real question is whether it will recolonize its old skeleton. If it’s going to retain a big scar, maybe anacroporas are not the coral for me.
Other Updates
The favia seems to sloughing off a piece of itself. My guess is it’s reproducing. I could be wrong.
I removed the smallest piece of live rock that the ricordia and torch were attached to. No ill affect on the tank, even though it’s a significant percentage of the live rock in the system.
The GSP is spreading a little too well. I won’t be able to put off the maintenance question much longer. I’m not thrilled at the idea of it growing over my ATO sensor. It’s also quite close to the side wall. I’m going to let it grow wild a little longer and see how I feel, but a decision about its maintenance is coming.
Replaced the plating monti with the digitata. Retired the monti cap.
Moved the acan to a shadier spot down low. It seemed happy up high, I just thought it was too crowded visually. It was also stinging the anacro, which was already stressed.
I also moved the kryptonite trumpet to the back. It was too crowded in the center and I didn’t think it liked the high-light location.
We moved – Dreaming of a New Tank
We moved to bigger unit in the building. Obviously, every move has the potential to be leveraged into a new tank. I’ve negotiated a nice spot in the living room next to my work desk (I work from home). I’ll probably make a separate thread for my musings but in short, I’m trying to chose between a 50 gal lagoon square or a smaller peninsula tank. The main requirement is the cabinet has to be nice wood, which I think puts me in custom territory. My partner hates the white or black Ikea style cabinets. Her brother and dad are carpenters. If anyone has recommendations for really nice custom cabinets and tanks, I’d love to hear them. I’m in Oakland. Willing to spend painful amounts of money.
The new spot for the current tank is a lot like the last one. The main functional difference is the light sits further out. The result is that nearly all light is filtered by the glass now. I’m in line for the PAR meter, but I strongly suspect the tank is getting less light overall. The spread must be different too.
Anacoropora and Nudibranchs
After my last post, I realized that monti eating nudibranchs also attack the anacropora. I had even seen one on the anacropora before. I didn't think anything of it. I’d seen them in other places before, like on the glass. Once I made the connection, I started seeing them more, especially at night. There were also some on the plating monti. I retired the plating monti at night, which ended up working out, because there were maybe 5-8 nudibranchs munching on it, including one that was at least twice as big as the others.
I don’t know how people deal with these in big or even normal sized tanks. The nudibranchs are so incredibly small. Very hard to see. It took at least two diligent weeks with the tweezers – real tweezers not the long aquarium kind – to remove them all. They weren’t at all interested in my digi monti. That made the removal a little easier, since I really just had to keep a close one colony of anacropora. I haven’t seen any in the last ten days, so I’m cautiously optimistic that they’re gone.
I saw online that you are supposed to scrape the eggs, but the nudis themselves are already so incredibly small that it seems truly impossible to ID the eggs and remove them. They are very fragile, however. For the ones I couldn’t reach well, I was able to scrape at them with a sharpened chop stick and they kind of broke up. They have no instinct for self-preservation. They wouldn’t flee. It often took multiple tries with the tweezers, but they didn’t run. Not saying the tweezers are the weapon of choice, but it seems to have worked for me. It’s true they mostly come out at night, but I saw some during the day. I’d estimate I probably removed over a dozen, maybe two dozen at most, including the ones that got carried out on the plating monti when I retired it.
I have no idea where they came from. I first noticed one in mid-September 2023. I think I killed it out of an abundance of caution, even though I didn’t know what it was. I have a vague memory of seeing one some months later and thinking “I should kill that.” But I got distracted and it got away. I didn’t really notice them again until I left for two months in March. By then it was too late to really do anything. I certainly wasn’t going to instruct the house sitter to kill these nearly microscopic creatures with a pair of tweezers every night.
The last thing I introduced to my tank was the blasto, which was probably in late November, but the nudis were already there in mid-September. Kind of strange that they didn’t metastasize into a problem until months later.
It's hard to say if they munched on my anacropora because it was weak or if it was weak because it was being munched on. A tough enemy to be sure.
The anacropora polyps are coming again. They’re bigger. Some of them have recovered their brown color. The real question is whether it will recolonize its old skeleton. If it’s going to retain a big scar, maybe anacroporas are not the coral for me.
Other Updates
The favia seems to sloughing off a piece of itself. My guess is it’s reproducing. I could be wrong.
I removed the smallest piece of live rock that the ricordia and torch were attached to. No ill affect on the tank, even though it’s a significant percentage of the live rock in the system.
The GSP is spreading a little too well. I won’t be able to put off the maintenance question much longer. I’m not thrilled at the idea of it growing over my ATO sensor. It’s also quite close to the side wall. I’m going to let it grow wild a little longer and see how I feel, but a decision about its maintenance is coming.
Replaced the plating monti with the digitata. Retired the monti cap.
Moved the acan to a shadier spot down low. It seemed happy up high, I just thought it was too crowded visually. It was also stinging the anacro, which was already stressed.
I also moved the kryptonite trumpet to the back. It was too crowded in the center and I didn’t think it liked the high-light location.
We moved – Dreaming of a New Tank
We moved to bigger unit in the building. Obviously, every move has the potential to be leveraged into a new tank. I’ve negotiated a nice spot in the living room next to my work desk (I work from home). I’ll probably make a separate thread for my musings but in short, I’m trying to chose between a 50 gal lagoon square or a smaller peninsula tank. The main requirement is the cabinet has to be nice wood, which I think puts me in custom territory. My partner hates the white or black Ikea style cabinets. Her brother and dad are carpenters. If anyone has recommendations for really nice custom cabinets and tanks, I’d love to hear them. I’m in Oakland. Willing to spend painful amounts of money.
The new spot for the current tank is a lot like the last one. The main functional difference is the light sits further out. The result is that nearly all light is filtered by the glass now. I’m in line for the PAR meter, but I strongly suspect the tank is getting less light overall. The spread must be different too.
September 18, 2024
Nudibranchs
Obviously, it was wrong of me to declare victory over the nudis so quickly. I checked diligently at night for two weeks and didn’t see anything, so I stopped. Maybe a month after that, I noticed a few at night again. The coral was visibly fine. Maybe the nudis need time or a critical mass or maybe the corals just react slowly, IDK. I seriously don’t know what you would do about these if you had a normal sized tank. They are so incredibly small. I could imagine some nightmarish scenarios. It did reinforce an old lesson in dealing with pests, which is that half measures are useless. You really have to keep up the pressure way longer than seems reasonable to really snuff them out. I’m still checking about five times a week and it’s been clear for the last month. Feeling hopeful I got em this time.
Orange Digitatas
I went into High Tide for some water and ended up with a Jason Fox favia and a forest fire digi. I’ve been feeling I made the wrong choice a year ago when I picked the bubblegum over the forest fire. I was talking to Kenny about it and he gave me this tiny frag for a song. It’s a little banged up but I think it’ll bounce back. I wasn’t planning on adding anything in that spot again, but it’s really small, and it does technically fit. Having it in my tank has only reinforced that I prefer the FF. Ideally, I’d trade someone the bubblegum for a roughly equal sized forest fire. Basically, replacing one type of orange digi for another.
Favia
That piece of the favia eventually sloughed off. I glued it on a plug and it grew pretty quick. Was about nickel-sized after a few weeks. I gave it to Kenny at High Tide. We were talking about how we’re into both in favias lately. I’ve really come around on them. Nice spreading coral. The patterns are interesting. I also like how they heal well. I’m Interested in some of the expensive yellow favias (favia of the gods, yellow submarine, wolverine, etc.), but haven’t seen any IRL. Anyways, Kenny ended up giving me a favia he got straight from Jason Fox! Looks like a “glow stick” favia from his online shop. Not sure. The green is intense, even in the white light. The dark spots are really dark, which I wouldn’t have expected to like, but IRL the contrast is nice. Still trying to decide where this should ultimately live. Probably on the tiny patch to the left of the hammer. Very nice of Kenny. He didn't need to do that. Another plus for High Tide Aquatics.
Trumpet, Torch, and Hammer
The torch finally gave up and died sometime in July. I picked up a splatter hammer from High Tide in August. I was really missing that euphyllia movement, but I'm not ready yet for another torch. It was also just too big and aggressive for a tank this small and full.
I nearly killed the trumpet. I feel like I deserve an award for this. Turns out you can kill them if you scorch them long enough. The skeleton is exposed and it's down to a nub. I'd be very very surprised if it pulls out of this even though it's in a spot I suspect it would otherwise like.
Pump Behind the Rock Work
I placed a really small pump behind the rock work. The theory was it would stir up some detritus into the water column and the skimmer would pull it out. It didn’t really work. The natural detritus eddy just moved somewhere else. It created another, worse detritus trap. Bubble algae that I’d poked free, but didn’t remove, would get stuck on the intake grill. I let it run for a while – maybe a month and a half – grew tired of the experiment and pulled it out. It seems really hard to get flow to stir up everything, even in a bare bottom tank.
Fire Shrimp is Out More
When I was fumbling with the rear pump I messed up the rockwork. When I finally got the rocks back in the approximate original positions, one of the front corners had actually been was raised about and inch. Reluctant, to put my hands back in the tank and make another, even more annoying mess, I let it sit for a few days while I thought about it. I’m glad I did. It turns out the shrimp, whom I basically never saw except to feed – liked to hang out under that newly created ledge. I put a frag plug there because the glass is slick and it seemed to want something to grab on to.
It's really increased my enjoyment of the tank. I was seriously considering swapping it for another inhabitant with a little more life to it. Now the shrimp regularly spends several hours during the day hanging out right at the front. I’ve been feeding it more as a result. Very unexpectedly nice development.
Water Testing and Potential Dosing
I got Hanna checkers for alk and calcium but I’ve only done two tests so far. The calcium test in particular has a lot of steps.
June 24, 2024:
Alk: 4.8
Calcium: 388
September 17, 2024:
Phosphate: 0.04
Alk: 5.2
Calcium: 406
FWIW the September test is a couple days after I changed 4 of 5 gallons (80%) in the tank.
Hard to draw firm conclusions from that, but calcium and alk are low. There’s also not a scrap of coraline in the tank, which strikes me as odd. Possibly it's a sign that calcium is chronically low?
It does make me a little curious about dosing. I don’t want to go chasing numbers and I obviously hate testing, but maybe some light dosing would be beneficial? I’ve never done any dosing and I’m very afraid of poisoning the tank. The upside seems minor, but the consequences of a disaster seem severe. My problems don’t seem to have been water quality related. I’m also reluctant to tinker with the water chemistry when what I’m doing is technically working.
Another House Sitter
I left the tank with yet a third house sitter for two weeks in late July. I didn’t ask her to do anything except feed the shrimp. No water changes. No skimmer cup cleaning. She did a good job. The corals looked great when I got back. There were a pair of alternating an algae outbreaks afterwards – first bubble, then some type of stringy algae. I conducted a few short-lived water change campaigns and I attacked the bubble algae with a sharpened chop stick – my weapon of choice for a lot of tank pokings and proddings. After about six weeks, it’s at a level that feels manageable and not distracting.
Still dreaming of a new tank. Need to make separate thread. I’m leaning towards a very nice, over-built nano peninsula.
Nudibranchs
Obviously, it was wrong of me to declare victory over the nudis so quickly. I checked diligently at night for two weeks and didn’t see anything, so I stopped. Maybe a month after that, I noticed a few at night again. The coral was visibly fine. Maybe the nudis need time or a critical mass or maybe the corals just react slowly, IDK. I seriously don’t know what you would do about these if you had a normal sized tank. They are so incredibly small. I could imagine some nightmarish scenarios. It did reinforce an old lesson in dealing with pests, which is that half measures are useless. You really have to keep up the pressure way longer than seems reasonable to really snuff them out. I’m still checking about five times a week and it’s been clear for the last month. Feeling hopeful I got em this time.
Orange Digitatas
I went into High Tide for some water and ended up with a Jason Fox favia and a forest fire digi. I’ve been feeling I made the wrong choice a year ago when I picked the bubblegum over the forest fire. I was talking to Kenny about it and he gave me this tiny frag for a song. It’s a little banged up but I think it’ll bounce back. I wasn’t planning on adding anything in that spot again, but it’s really small, and it does technically fit. Having it in my tank has only reinforced that I prefer the FF. Ideally, I’d trade someone the bubblegum for a roughly equal sized forest fire. Basically, replacing one type of orange digi for another.
Favia
That piece of the favia eventually sloughed off. I glued it on a plug and it grew pretty quick. Was about nickel-sized after a few weeks. I gave it to Kenny at High Tide. We were talking about how we’re into both in favias lately. I’ve really come around on them. Nice spreading coral. The patterns are interesting. I also like how they heal well. I’m Interested in some of the expensive yellow favias (favia of the gods, yellow submarine, wolverine, etc.), but haven’t seen any IRL. Anyways, Kenny ended up giving me a favia he got straight from Jason Fox! Looks like a “glow stick” favia from his online shop. Not sure. The green is intense, even in the white light. The dark spots are really dark, which I wouldn’t have expected to like, but IRL the contrast is nice. Still trying to decide where this should ultimately live. Probably on the tiny patch to the left of the hammer. Very nice of Kenny. He didn't need to do that. Another plus for High Tide Aquatics.
Trumpet, Torch, and Hammer
The torch finally gave up and died sometime in July. I picked up a splatter hammer from High Tide in August. I was really missing that euphyllia movement, but I'm not ready yet for another torch. It was also just too big and aggressive for a tank this small and full.
I nearly killed the trumpet. I feel like I deserve an award for this. Turns out you can kill them if you scorch them long enough. The skeleton is exposed and it's down to a nub. I'd be very very surprised if it pulls out of this even though it's in a spot I suspect it would otherwise like.
Pump Behind the Rock Work
I placed a really small pump behind the rock work. The theory was it would stir up some detritus into the water column and the skimmer would pull it out. It didn’t really work. The natural detritus eddy just moved somewhere else. It created another, worse detritus trap. Bubble algae that I’d poked free, but didn’t remove, would get stuck on the intake grill. I let it run for a while – maybe a month and a half – grew tired of the experiment and pulled it out. It seems really hard to get flow to stir up everything, even in a bare bottom tank.
Fire Shrimp is Out More
When I was fumbling with the rear pump I messed up the rockwork. When I finally got the rocks back in the approximate original positions, one of the front corners had actually been was raised about and inch. Reluctant, to put my hands back in the tank and make another, even more annoying mess, I let it sit for a few days while I thought about it. I’m glad I did. It turns out the shrimp, whom I basically never saw except to feed – liked to hang out under that newly created ledge. I put a frag plug there because the glass is slick and it seemed to want something to grab on to.
It's really increased my enjoyment of the tank. I was seriously considering swapping it for another inhabitant with a little more life to it. Now the shrimp regularly spends several hours during the day hanging out right at the front. I’ve been feeding it more as a result. Very unexpectedly nice development.
Water Testing and Potential Dosing
I got Hanna checkers for alk and calcium but I’ve only done two tests so far. The calcium test in particular has a lot of steps.
June 24, 2024:
Alk: 4.8
Calcium: 388
September 17, 2024:
Phosphate: 0.04
Alk: 5.2
Calcium: 406
FWIW the September test is a couple days after I changed 4 of 5 gallons (80%) in the tank.
Hard to draw firm conclusions from that, but calcium and alk are low. There’s also not a scrap of coraline in the tank, which strikes me as odd. Possibly it's a sign that calcium is chronically low?
It does make me a little curious about dosing. I don’t want to go chasing numbers and I obviously hate testing, but maybe some light dosing would be beneficial? I’ve never done any dosing and I’m very afraid of poisoning the tank. The upside seems minor, but the consequences of a disaster seem severe. My problems don’t seem to have been water quality related. I’m also reluctant to tinker with the water chemistry when what I’m doing is technically working.
Another House Sitter
I left the tank with yet a third house sitter for two weeks in late July. I didn’t ask her to do anything except feed the shrimp. No water changes. No skimmer cup cleaning. She did a good job. The corals looked great when I got back. There were a pair of alternating an algae outbreaks afterwards – first bubble, then some type of stringy algae. I conducted a few short-lived water change campaigns and I attacked the bubble algae with a sharpened chop stick – my weapon of choice for a lot of tank pokings and proddings. After about six weeks, it’s at a level that feels manageable and not distracting.
Still dreaming of a new tank. Need to make separate thread. I’m leaning towards a very nice, over-built nano peninsula.
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