In the beginning...

[Gablami]

What is that? A zoanthid eating spider?


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[Flagg37]

What is that? A zoanthid eating spider?


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It's an aptasia. I covered it in kalkwasser paste and waited a few minutes then scraped it off and siphoned it out. Let's see how it goes.

 

[Gablami]

Oh I see it now. Yeah hopefully it's a single and that's the end of it.


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[Flagg37]

I checked the ammonia and also the nitrites and nitrates while I was at it.

I don't think I've ever seen the nitrates so low. I was worried that I might be over feeding too. I guess not.

The smell has subsided a bit and it's looking less cloudy but still has room for improvement.

 

[rygh]

Looks like good news. You just have to wait. Hopefully only a week or two.

Let me know if you want some Majanos to go with your Aptasia.

 

[Flagg37]

Looks like good news. You just have to wait. Hopefully only a week or two.

Let me know if you want some Majanos to go with your Aptasia.

Man, don't even joke. Majanos, Aptasia, and vermetid snails are probably my top 3 unwanted pests.

 

[rygh]

Man, don't even joke. Majanos, Aptasia, and vermetid snails are probably my top 3 unwanted pests.

You need a bigger list.
Monti eating Nudis
Acro eating flatworms
Bryopsis

Quarantine of corals is as important as quarantine of fish.

 

[Flagg37]

I went to work this morning and the tank was cloudy like usual and I came home and it's nearly crystal clear. The diatoms are almost gone and the algae is taking off. I just put in 3 chestnut turbo snails last night to help ward off the GHA until my tangs get in there.

The first death occurred too. I found my tuxedo urchin on my sandbed. His little tentacles were dangling in the flow and when I tried to put him back down he floated.

 

[Flagg37]

I just did a full work up on my water quality. This is the first time I've actually tested for some of these things.

Alk - 9.3
Ca - 380
Mg - 1180
NO3 - 0 undetectable
PO4 - 0.05
pH - 8.2 average (8.1 low, 8.3 high)
Salinity - 33

Overall I think it's pretty decent. I think my Ca and Mg could be a little higher but it's not too bad.

 

[Coral reefer]

Bump up salinity a touch will help those numbers a bit too. Looks pretty darn good to me? You got corals in there? They happy?

 

[Flagg37]

Bump up salinity a touch will help those numbers a bit too. Looks pretty darn good to me? You got corals in there? They happy?

For the most part I would say yes. My 30 gallon had nitrates consistently in the 20-40 range but everything was thriving so I didn't do anything to change it. In this tank nitrates have always been undetectable. I think the combination of low nutrients and strong light has been something they are adjusting to. I've been seeing some colors pale and few white tips but still good polyp extension. I lessened my peak light schedule by an hour and switched to a little more blue light instead of white to hopefully help cut back on some of the algae production.

Speaking of algae, I just finished the TTM with my Achilles and white tail bristletooth tangs and added them and my yellow tang and coral beauty to the tank. There's been no aggression and everyone is swimming around peacefully. I've already seen them picking at the algae too.

The first thing my wife said about the white tail is that it had big lips so we named it Jolie (Angelina). Then we got really creative and named the Achilles tang Achilles.

 

[Coral reefer]

Play him zeppelins achiles last stand. Loudly!

 

[Flagg37]

Here's a video of them too (and my son scaring them).

 

[Flagg37]

This was actually the video with my son scaring the fish.

 

[sfsuphysics]

go tangs go!

 

[MolaMola]

Nice tank! What beautiful fish! Will they hide in the rocks and sleep at night? I wonder how they interact once they've all been in there awhile, like if some will hang out together. How do tangs feel about eels?

 

[Flagg37]

Nice tank! What beautiful fish! Will they hide in the rocks and sleep at night? I wonder how they interact once they've all been in there awhile, like if some will hang out together. How do tangs feel about eels?

They don't seem to be phased by Maury (the eel). In fact, Jolie (white tail) spent most of her time in TTM in the pvc pipe and as soon as I put her in the tank she swam into Maury's cave. She came out like it was nothing all in one piece.

I wonder the same thing about their temperament over time once they've had a time to settle into their areas of the tank and decide a pecking order.

 

[Flagg37]

I'll see if I can snap a picture tomorrow but the tangs have efficiently eaten almost all the algae that was making the tank ugly.

Some updates. Mandy, our mandarin jumped out of the tank . My wife said she was really sad about it so we'll likely get one or two more. It just means I need to get on making that lid :/. Also for some reason many of my snails and my short spine urchin have died. I'm wondering if it had something to do with the bacteria bloom or lack of nutrients or what.

Here's some of the new additions from the swap.

Unknown tabling acro from @iCon

Rainbow acan from @Gablami (I think).

Vamps in drag from @RandyC (this one's technically a DBTC but I received it at the swap).

 

[iCon]

Here's some of the new additions from the swap. View attachment 6671
Unknown tabling acro from @iCon

@yellojello got that piece too. There's suspicion that it's tricolor valida from @boun11 circa 2013 and earlier.

 

[Flagg37]

@yellojello got that piece too. There's suspicion that it's tricolor valida from @boun11 circa 2013 and earlier.

How would that be confirmed? It would be nice to know what it is.