Well, no one asked!

Actually, I'm still waiting to find out myself. I was going to go out with the bakery girl, but she told me last night that the party we were going to has been essentially canceled because the guys hosting it decided to join the nearby block party.

The vet school girl has to work this evening, and then go back to work tomorrow at 7, so she has an early night. Plus, she already had plans to hang out a bit with friends.

However, I've got plans in the works with her for this weekend.



Yeah, I think I'm just not meant to have Chromis. I'm looking forward to the chalk bass though! Oh, and I found out a local reefer has a starry blenny to sell in the next month or so! For $10!



You too!

Well, I'm thinking about a new RODI unit. I've been using a GE undersink type, but I think part of my cyano problem in the 20L is from it just not doing the job, especially since I don't feed that tank. Right now, I'm looking at either:


Coralife Pure-Flo II RO Units (50GPD, 4 Stage - $143.99)

OR

SpectraPure® ProPLUS System (90GPD, 4 Stage - $149.00)

Obviously the Spectrapure produces more GPD, but then again, the most I'd need in a day would be 10g or so for WCs. It would be nice for a new tank down the road though. I've never used any unit other than the GE RO unit I've got, so I'd greatly appreciate input!

Another big question:

The guy with the starry blenny is clearing out SOON because of his landlord, so the fish is ready to go now. Do ya'll think I can handle the blenny in my tank? I've got a bit of micro-algae growing on the rock, and I've also got plenty of algae sheets for it to eat. The guy also says that goes after nori right out of his hand. Am I good to go? These blennies are hard to find, so I'd hate to pass it up!

Go for it. Especially if it will eat nori right out of the guys hand then you shouldn't have any issues with not being able to provide something for it to eat.

Would love to see one of those in your tank.

(ps.. i think your monkey for ur pic is funny...looks like George Burns.. makes me laugh all the time).

That's what I'm thinking too. He's also got a mandarin that eats frozen, so it sounds like he's done well with raising fish.



Me too!





I think you're on to something! I'm debating how to dress him up for the new year.

I agree with nebthet, if the starry blenny is known to eat algae sheets, go get 'im!

Is bakery girl blowing you off, or will the two of you go for a quiet ringing in the New Year together?


Oops, I've got to stir my risotto, I'll be back.

I think that settles it. Looks like I'll have myself a new addition on Saturday morning!



Nah, knowing the guys that were hosting the party, I'm not surprised. They are always after bigger and better. Plus, the bakery girl is more a quiet and subdued partier, rather than wild and crazy. I think she's working tonight, so I'm expecting a text saying "meet me here." If it doesn't work out, I'm not going to be upset about it, since it looks like things are going to work out (other than for tonight ) with the vet school girl. I'll just find myself other plans for tonight. I'm good like that.



I've got food in the crock pot, so it cooks itself! I forgot to turn it on at the right time for a proper dinner, so instead I've got another hour to wait.

I say go for it with the Blenny.

I'm also getting a few corals from the guy as well. I'm getting a Orange Monti Cap (6-7" across- $10.00), a Green Monti Digita (3" across, 5" high. $10.00) and a Frogspawn (green with pink tips, 5 heads - $10.00). I have to find some containers to take to pick it all up. I think I've got something for the digi and the frog, but I might have to get creative for the monti cap and the blenny. It's a 4" blenny, and about a 10 minute drive. I'm thinking one of those tubs they use at the grocery store for a tall container of potato salad ought to do the trick.

nice deals! I wish I could find deals that good locally. there is only one person I know in my area.

Yeah, I've started buying almost all of my coral from local reefers. Columbus has a great reefing club, and the members are always posting frags or colonies for sale at GREAT prices like this.

I know what u mean about buying off of local reefers.
You get better quality and price than most stores.

Me, I have no luck ordering SPS online through vendors. They always arrive DOA for one reason or another. The shipment I received yestarday arrived with the heat pad being stone cold and the water being below 60 degrees. Can you say toast??

So I am in full support of buying from local reefers where I can see what I get before money changes hands.

It also helps them out too.

Plus, buying locally sets up a good network for you. Some day (hopefully) you'll be in a position to be fragging and selling coral, and through local contacts, you'll have a market! I've only ordered corals online once, but they were from an in-state vendor, so it wasn't all that bad.

Well, I'm off for the night. Talk to you all next year!














Oh, and Anne, I'm going out with the bakery girl tonight. Now you don't have to leave disappointed.

Nice that you've got a solid local club.

My risotto was a bust, though the rest of my crew ate the pot roast (I'm a vegetarian). I hope your crock pot meal turned out way better. Though I'm more than a bit surprised you cook.

I just dragged hubby for a tipsy shuffle through whole foods to find me something to eat. Olives, anyone? Aged gouda?

PS Pinot Grigio is yummy.

Happy New Years MJ.

Bummer about the risotto. Ya win some, ya lose some, I suppose. My crock pot meal was indeed excellent! A lot of people are surprised by how much I cook. I've had to make meals for myself since I was 12, and I've been living by myself for about 6 years, so I've had time to get good.

Oh, and my favorite kind of wine is actually a concord wine. I've got them growing in my back yard, so I'm thinking of making my own wine this year!



Happy New Years!

So I was thinking about it this morning, and I realized that I have no clue where to put the 6 to 7" monti cap!


Here's the most recent FTS and side shot:





Suggestions?

The only thing I've come up with is to move the war coral and place the cap between (and behind) the mili and yellow scroll. This thing sounds like it's a monster!

It might help if you could give us a closer up pic of each island.
It's too hard to see details of where everything is in the FTS.

Good point. I'll take a few close-ups now!

Ok, here's some pictures for placement suggestions:









Here's some other photos.

Too think, this was dry rock not too long ago:


Awful picture, great coral:




So cool....


Finally, some good PE out of the scroll:

I would put it on the far right; upper, but not the highest. In your third of the possible placement pics, just below and to the right of your sticks, but the same rock. Make sense?

And I'm very impressed with the polyp extension you've got on your yellow scroll. Nice.

Yeah, I see what you mean. I was initially planning on all acros for that area, but I think the few I've got will grow into it well over time. I think the cap could look great there! I'll know better once I actually see this thing. I could be one big plate like my caps, or it could be a nice cup, like Tigah's red cap. That's what I'm hoping for.

Either Right Central portion of the Right Island or Right Central portion of Left Island.
Looks like you have plenty of room in both spots.
You'd have to attach it to the rock, I'm sure.

I'll probably hold it in both positions, and see how it looks. Then I'll use some aquamend and superglue to put it in place.


Looks like I've got another thing to add to my Lowes list for tomorrow morning. I'm also building a couple of frames for some tin signs to hang in the house, and go figure, I need two more short pieces of wood.

I think the ladies have it T. Good spots for growth.

Partial to the right side myself. Think it would look cool in that cove area with a nice ric garden below



My scroll was knocked off its perch into an acan and now both are STNing on me.

Grrrr..... it looks like the cap might have been sold out from under me. I guess I'll have to find an alternate when I go for the rest in the AM.



Sorry to hear about that Richie. Hopefully they pull through.


Oh, and for the WL folks who have been tagging along, it looks like my decision between the bakery and the vet just got a lot easier. The bakery is apparently now off the market, and the vet is looking like a good thing. [/cryptic]

I think I'll put the frogspawn in the place of the blasto stick and the green digi on the porite skeleton I've got in the bank:


This tank has a lot of green, so I wanted to balance it out, instead of being heavily green on the right.

Oh, and Richie, I think I like the ric garden idea! I was going to have the whole sand bed harbor as an acan garden, but I think that the cave in the middle of the right island would be a great place for rics. I've got two or three in my 20L that I think I'll move down to this tank. I'd love to get rid of the mushie in the 20L, so that I've got more room for SPS.

Well, sorry the bakery was closed, but the vet can take care of all your animal needs [/cryptic]

Yeah, I knew that I was definitely going to vet, once I realized that it didn't bother me that the bakery had another buyer.

Well, in reef-related news, I got the digi colony (and several frags from breakage), a 7 head frogspawn colony, and the starry blenny in the tank! The guy also gave me an encrusting monti for free (because of the broken colony and the fact that it was rather slimed up because he removed almost all of his LR from the teardown). The monti is a bit bleached from falling down in his rockwork, but it was free, and I think I can rehab it.

Everything is in the tank and in place, and they've got an hour to get accustomed to their new home before lights up. And then, the picture taking begins!

Digi colony:


Digi frags:


Frogspawn colony:


Encrusting monti:


Starry's cave:


FTS:

The blenny finally cooperated:


Top-side view:

I also put in the order today for a new RO/DI unit. I've never had DI, and I'm thinking that the RO under the sink is the cause of my cyano problems. Hopefully the new unit will take care of that!

Here's what I got:

'Grats on the RO/DI unit T!!! I was hesitant when I bought mine... But man, I sure glad I got one!!! From what I hear that unit is sweet!!!

^^^ I like this!!!
Frogspawn and Blenny look cool too.

Thanks! I finally pulled the trigger on this one. With the trouble in the 20L and the cost (and low availability) of the filters and membrane for my existing setup, I thought the upgrade was more than in order. I'm glad to hear that others have been pleased with it! I think the DI will make my water very wet.



Thanks!

The chalice (other than the one frag that made it) is incredibly pissed right now, between the chop job from the dremel and the cyano. I'm thinking that I might not be able to frag again before the swap. As long as the frags from the digi encrust to their bases, I might send one of those along in addition to the small surviving chalice frag, to make up for it. How does that sound, Weetie?

Oh, and to those tagging along with (and understanding) the cryptic messages:

Wow, lots of action around here yesterday huh?

Sweet new stuff Tyler!



The vet sounded like the way to go anyway, ya know, being a monkey and all.

Indeed! I felt bad for the guy I got everything from, because he was having a fire sale. The city cops stopped at his house because they thought he was growing weed with his three MH in the living room. Then, the landlord found out, and made him get rid of his two tanks. He was a good guy, so hopefully a new house will be in his future with a new tank. I can't believe how much I got for $30.



Thanks! I'm really pleased with everything. I've found out which of my other corals weren't securely fastened, thanks to the testing from the blenny. Looks like the war coral needs secured, and the monti cap has fallen over. The war coral is now hopefully secure, and the monti cap got a new (hopefully more secure) home.



Indeed! She's got a bit of a smart ass side, and I really enjoy that. Most people try to get me to shut up when I get on a roll, but we could (and did) talk for hours without even realizing the time. Doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

Sounds good to me!
I said this to Richie, but you might wanna check out that stuff kmitch used to get rid of her cyano.
Also, feed the chalice/s if you can, it will help with their recovery.
My one chalice in the tank gets insanely long feeder tentacles after the lights have been off a couple of hours.

Great! One of the zoas I was going to send fragged itself apparently, so it will be a good sized one! All I have left to do is frag the gooberz. That's on today's agenda.



I'll check out the stuff for the cyano. I'm hoping the new RODI + phosban will do the trick, but if it's not better in a few days, I'll go to bigger weapons.

I'm keeping an eye out for the chalice feeders. I've never had luck with feeding it. In all of the time I've had it, it's eaten maybe one or two pieces of mysis. Today's feeding day for the corals, so I think I'll try killing the flow in the tank and laying the mysis right on the chalice.

You can also try cutting a small water or soda bottle in half and putting it over the chalice to keep the food from being stolen til it's eaten.

That just might do the trick! The few times I've had the chalice get started, one of the nass snails always comes over for a raid. Looks like I need to down a bottle of water!

Seems like LiveAquaria is continuing the same sale as last week. I guess I'll wait another week before placing an order with them for the chalk bass pair. I'd really like to get either a cool fish or invert to go along with them, since I'm paying for shipping anyways.

inorite? It actually started off bigger than that, but the original owner broke a few branches, and then I broke a few branches, resulting in the stick garden on the sand bed. It's still fantastic though.

The digi colony is looking even better today:

Yesterday:


Today:


Oh, and any idea what kind of encrusting monti I've got up above?

I started a ric garden today. Of course, I cheated by moving one down from the 20L. The green rics weren't going to come off easy, so I just went with the multi-colored ric instead. Once it's a little less pissed, I'll take a picture of the new garden plot.

Didn't even have to twist yur arm did I?


Digi looks cool now. I bet it will be really sweet once it takes off!

Lol nope! I've decided that I want the 29g to be more of a mixed reef, and the 20L to be more of an SPS dominated tank. The rics won't take off like other shrooms, so I could deviate from my no shrooms rule. I'm also thinking about moving the trumpet colony down as well. Something happened to it last night that hurt the tissue of one of the heads. I'm thinking about either fragging off the rest and moving it, or dipping it in Lugols, and then moving the whole thing. I'm not sure which option is better.



Thanks! I think so too. It's going to be a very random pattern I think. Even the frags are looking better today, although not as much improvement as the colony.

and I thought my digi was crazy. That thing is wacked!

Man, it feels like I havent posted in here since... last year