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kinetic Reefer 170

I decided to put the mocha gladiators into a breeder box for a few hours to see what would happen. They happily swam into my net and didn't really care so much in the breeder box. In fact they were just wiggle dancing with each other the whole time. So dumb, it's great.

Three of the 4 remaining males eventually found themselves back into the anemone, but the fighting was pretty rough, and eventually only one was in the anemone, chasing everyone else out. Weirdly, he is one of the smaller guys. Big attitude. Anyway, they had their play time, and I let the mochas out. They swam back and reclaimed the mag. The winner of the small guys tried to wiggle dance his way to staying, but eventually he swam a few inches away and is still hovering there now.

Aggression back to normal. The pair just chases anyone out, and the rest just hover close by.

Not sure if I should feel bad for the small males, since they were perfectly fine without a mag. But watching how happy they were and how happy the female/alpha are makes me a bit sad. Let's hope the small males will take to the BTAs at some point.

The whole point of putting the pair into isolation was to see if the smaller males would all share the nem like they did in the beginning. It seems like that was just them as newbies to that world getting acquainted, then their innate aggression of territory kicked in. I probably could've given it some more time, but the breeder box isn't the biggest and the lights were starting to dim.

I'm enjoying experimenting a bit as long as it doesn't seem harmful, but I think I'll change gears soon and just let everything settle over time and mature a bit more. It's still early.
 
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Tested water params today, strangely phosphates at 0ppb and nitrates at 0ppm.

Skimmer is the only export right now, and I guess it's working well. Chaeto is growing slowly now, and plenty of film algae. Not sure what's consuming / exporting the nitrates though. I do have a Marineland plate in my sump. I've heard that it can house some bacteria that'll deal with nitrates? I used to dose No3Po4-x, so it could be remnants of that whole thing.
 
Just turned around and one of the small males finally found his way into the bubbletip. He only stayed for a little while, and left. I think the flow is too strong. I'm thinking of turning down the flow just a tad. Though maybe I should just leave it and see if he returns.

He seemed to be pretty happy in it, but struggled to stay in when the gyre kicked in.

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A further away system shot with the magnifica in full vase mode:

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Pretty bright in the home office today! Decided to take a quick photo with my Zeiss 21 to show you where the tank is in relation to where I'm typing this now =)

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Used the Apogee PAR meter today!

AquaIlluminations Hydra 52 HD using a SPS AB+ w/ High Peaks program, modified with a lot more whites. 9" above the water.

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Flagg37 said:
those are perfect numbers.
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Good to know! First time I've used a PAR meter, and I think the numbers are pretty good. The fact that the magnifica hasn't moved at all from where I put it, is a good sign.

Once I've had a few months with just nems, I'm thinking about getting just a few SPS as far away from the nems as possible. The idea is that, after a few months, the nems probably won't move very much (as long as I can keep things stable in the tank). I'm probably going to only get 3 pieces of SPS total, and let them grow out as much as possible without needing to frag to make space. I'll probably try dosing by hand at first, but ultimately might be fun to get a dosing pump setup.

I'm thinking the rocks up front (284, 290) would be good places to start. The three SPS I'm thinking are: a digitata, stag, and probably a tenius or tabling acro. enough variation to give the tank diversity, and the shapes of them will look great.

Digitata first, just because they've always been the hardiest for me to keep! For the stag, I'm thinking Tyree Ultimate Stag. And for the last acro, maybe one of those fancy Walt Disneys or that Vivid Confetti looks pretty cool too. I've always wanted a Hawkins Echinata, but out of the three pieces I've tried, none ever made it in my last systems =P Anyway, we'll see. Digitata first! I'm going to find a piece of the Bubblegum Digitata. Those look pretty awesome.
 
I’ve had to move a couple corals not because the anemone has walked but just because it grew. Not all my corals seem to be effected by the sting though. My sponge is fine with it right up on it. My orange digitata is not though.
 
Flagg37 said:
I’ve had to move a couple corals not because the anemone has walked but just because it grew. Not all my corals seem to be effected by the sting though. My sponge is fine with it right up on it. My orange digitata is not though.
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Ah yes, definitely something to plan for. I think the mag will be mostly out of the way, but the BTAs will be problematic on the lower rockwork.

I'll try to find some isolated areas! Might have to just stick with two SPS colonies, and skip on a stag.
 
Do you think the mocha ocellaris is desperately trying to kill the fancy white extreme? Or is this just love?



I isolated the fancy white because he was sticking to the top left corner of the tank for days, barely eating. Once I isolated him, the mocha ocellaris will not leave his side. Is this behavior pure rage or do they just miss each other?
 
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