natalia_la_loca Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Love all these little pops of color. When you figure out how to photograph them well with the actinics, let me know. It's frustrating that I can't get good shots of them aglow. I'm all about the pops of color from what I've gathered, getting good pics with actinics is all about adjusting the white balance--whether in the camera settings, during post-production, with a filter over the camera lens, or in changing the white balance of the light fixture itself. I've gotten interesting (not great, but interesting) iphone pics of my damsel tank when the afternoon sun shines on it (it's next to a window); the sunlight contrasts with, balances out the blue of the actinics. Unfortunately my zoa tank only gets sunlight in early morning before the lights go on. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Wow, that sunlight shot is fantastic! Sorry to hear about the jumping gobies, I learned the same lesson the hard way. I used tulle for the cover on my 4g tank and it works great. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Wow, that sunlight shot is fantastic! Sorry to hear about the jumping gobies, I learned the same lesson the hard way. I used tulle for the cover on my 4g tank and it works great. thanks oooh, if you're using tulle then I'll definitely have to give it a try! I really want to have at least two GBGs in there, I just love how active they are. And of course the green stripey sweaters. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Well, I've about given up on the Coral Snow (maybe I'm being impatient, I've only been using it for about 3 weeks), it wasn't putting a dent in the little patch of hair algae and cyano at all. My next tactic is to cut back feedings of my greenbanded goby and peppermint shrimp to once a day instead of twice a day. Judging from how perfectly fine the one GBG was after 2 weeks in the filter chamber with very sporadic feedings, I think she will be OK on a single feeding a day, but if anyone thinks otherwise please let me know! I started a couple days ago and it already seems to be making a difference in the hair algae and cyano. Re: new screen top: I'm thinking about having a frame for the screen custom cut from clear acrylic, then gluing on the tulle with transparent super glue. I hope to do it soon, I'd really like to get another GBG! Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 just a few pics a lonely girl in a zoa world rings of fire continue to recover from mystery infection. The two rastas that had it are recovering now too!!! ultra rastas, blondies and specters lookin happy vice zoas, eagle eyes and watermelons lookin shmexy YR peachy blues have 3 heads now this is johnny rotten. (no he's not eating the zoas, they're just his furniture) Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Sorry about the little Goby. I also have tulle for the lid. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 thanks Tulle it will be then! Link to comment
teenyreef Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 They look great! And I love that pic of johnny rotten Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 yup, johnny's a cutie isn't he? I got him because I was hoping he'd go to town on my little patch of hair algae and I've also heard a shaky anecdote or two that halloweens eat vermetid snails (alas wrong on both counts)...at least he looks nice and isn't killing anything desirable. I dunno, I feel like generally the tank is doing fine, but I haven't reached that sweet spot where all the zoas are happy most of the time. Now my oompas are mad at me for reasons unknown. O the mysteries of the zoa. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 quick update: My last greenbanded goby disappeared last week before I could get a lid on the tank. Not in back chamber. I searched everywhere around the tank--no fish jerky, nothing, nothing, nothing. No sign of illness; one day she was just gone. Maybe they get sick THAT fast? Maybe one of our cats ate the body? No idea. Because I'm not sure how she died, I'm very hesitant about getting more fish. I think I'll just stick to zoas and inverts in this tank for now. Things are better on the zoa front. I've been dosing the probiotic Sanolife MIC-F daily for the past week and the zoas seem to like it. The oompas have gotten the same bacterial malady but are starting to recover. The Peachy Blues sprouted a fourth head, the Petroglyphs a seventh, the Fruit Loops have 12 heads now! I must be doing something right! continued recovery of rings of fire blondies looking happy latest FTS--that little patch of cyano isn't going away but isn't spreading either and now for something completely different...this is exactly one month's worth of "dry" skimmate from my pic0 skim 2.0--just a bit more than one cup or 200 ml. The skimmate reservoir is a quart mason jar. I put a hole in the lid to insert the skimmate tube so as to prevent evaporation and get a sense of how much the skimmer is pulling out. Not very dark, but it sure does stink. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I have decided that the sanolife-mic F is good for more than seahorse health a while ago. I bet a lot of reefers could benefit from it. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Totally agree. It's a little mysterious, but it really does seem to do good things! Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 OK...I think zoas like probiotics. Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 they really are This in spite of the fact that I've been very lax about trying to get the vermetid worms out. Really loving how the vice zoas eat!!! Link to comment
Mirya Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Such happy zoas! I may have to look into this Sanolife stuff. : ) Link to comment
DocReef Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 OK...I think zoas like probiotics. You've convinced me to try out the probiotics. I've been having trouble with zoas melting away on me. My Palys are doing fine though. I don't see Zoa pox, so not sure what is killing them. In my previous tank all my Zoas grew like weeds. I am definitely more diligent with my maintenance this time around and I'm getting worse results. Go figure. Your tank is looking awesome. Link to comment
vlangel Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 OK...I think zoas like probiotics. The tank is looking really great! Maybe if you continue to have such good results while using the sanolife-mic F I will try some zoas in the pony tank where I use the probiotic anyway. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Dang! Very nice! I'm tempted to try the probiotics too, but I think I need to go slow and only change one thing at a time Link to comment
oldskoolwayz Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 wow awesome zoa garden! Link to comment
Sunstar Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Sounds great. My zoas have been doing okay, in-spite of the issues I have had. Pox, spidarghs!! Gorgeous little garden. You use tuel? Is there anything else that could be used? I would love to get a small blenny. Link to comment
metrokat Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 OK...I think zoas like probiotics. What are you using? Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 thanks guys sorry about the delay in responding, I was busy getting ready for an art show. whats probiotics? Probiotics are dried or bottled, dormant bacteria cultures. They are used to establish populations of beneficial bacteria in the aquarium and in the guts of livestock. They are used in commercial food aquaculture to help process waste and boost livestock immune systems. The tank is looking really great! Maybe if you continue to have such good results while using the sanolife-mic F I will try some zoas in the pony tank where I use the probiotic anyway. Yesssss try it!!! Dang! Very nice! I'm tempted to try the probiotics too, but I think I need to go slow and only change one thing at a time One thing at a time is definitely good, helps you know what's working! (now if only I were better at following that guideline myself...) You've convinced me to try out the probiotics. I've been having trouble with zoas melting away on me. My Palys are doing fine though. I don't see Zoa pox, so not sure what is killing them. In my previous tank all my Zoas grew like weeds. I am definitely more diligent with my maintenance this time around and I'm getting worse results. Go figure. Your tank is looking awesome. Your diligent maintenance might be partially responsible. Zoas really do seem to respond well to relatively high organics, although they can also be choked/outcompeted by nuisance algae. It's hard to get that balance. wow awesome zoa garden! thank you Sounds great. My zoas have been doing okay, in-spite of the issues I have had. Pox, spidarghs!! Gorgeous little garden. You use tuel? Is there anything else that could be used? I would love to get a small blenny. In addition to the probiotic, I'm dosing one drop of KZ Amino Acid LPS daily. I dose one drop of Sponge Power and one drop of Coral Vitalizer on alternating days. Each day I feed my pepperming shrimp a chunk of mysis, and each day I target feed Rod's Food Coral Blend to the zoas that respond to it (mainly the vice zoas and the Petroglyphs). Finally, once a week before the water change, I broadcast feed the tank with Fauna Marin Ultra Ricordea/Zoanthus food, mixed with Fauna Marin Ultra Min D. I don't dose Fuel anymore. Every time I dose it I get cyano. What are you using? I'm using Sanolife MIC-F, a probiotic mostly used only in industrial-scale aquaculture. I believe Seahorse Source is the only supplier in the US. It's been on back order for a while, but Dan just told me that the shipment is finally cleared and should be reaching him next week. BTW the tank is still doing well. The little cyano/hair algae patch went away, probably because there are no more fish. I think I'll keep it fishless for now. Link to comment
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