Mr. Fosi Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Yeah, the guy who has managed that tank (and others) for the past couple years. He was servicing the pump for the OceansMotions closed loop and somehow managed to nudge the heater controller. The tank is in a lab but anyone passing down the hallway can see it (and a 90g) through a wire-reinforced window. The really sad thing is that I noticed a stench in the hallway on my way out on the day of the accident and I also noticed that the tank was really cloudy and I thought, "Hmm... that's odd." Then I went home. I have walked by in the evening and seen the tank cloudy before but it was always because they had done some re-scaping or something. I should have taken 2 min and checked on the tank... I do have keys afterall. I could have called Joey (the undergrad in charge) and he might have been able to save more of the livestock. Link to comment
121a Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 seems like we are both having problems your is the sps and mine is the algae. well i hope your sps come back good luck. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 New systems always come with their own unique issues, I suppose. Anyway, quick update. The GSP is popping back out after hiding away for weeks. And a new algae is sprouting up. Never seen it before, not sure what it is. Looks like an inverted umbrella. Link to comment
Diatome Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 The algae looks like Mermaid's Wine Glass. There is a green variety Acetabularia calyculus and a white Acetabularia crenulata. Your's definitely looks like the Green Mermaid's Glass. It can be quite beutiful. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I think someone called it mermaid's cup algae. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Thanks for the quick ID guys. It certainly looks like a Acetabularia; not sure what species though. I hope that it continues to grow and do well since it is an algae I would like to see more of in the display. I hope it develops a cluster like I have seen in most of the pics online. I wonder how easily it spreads; my Halimeda is a plague. Only good news for now: Things are turning around for this system. I don't see the irritation that I was seeing in everything from the baby rics to the Madracis. I think this comes from me finally getting my temp under control by tinkering with the two 150W Theos and changing to the 20W halogen fuge light. The temp is steady and I don't see an increase of more than 1 or 2 degrees between MH on and MH off. I need to figure something out for the halogen light though... Right now I have it attached to a wood block that spans the 10g and I like how localized it keeps the light but I am having a problem with salt spray getting onto/into the light. Not sure what I am going to do about it yet because the fixture needs at least some airflow to help dissipate the heat it generates. Link to comment
bdare Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Yo Fosi, What's up with the tank man? You forget about us? How about some new pics? Ben Link to comment
clownfish1124 Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 fosi posted today... Link to comment
bdare Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 where? not here? I want to see pics of the tank! Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted October 30, 2008 Author Share Posted October 30, 2008 Hey guys. I've been really swamped with school, family and other issues. I'll see if I can snap some pics of the tank this weekend while I am doing a waterchange. Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I was just about to search for your thread to look at what pumps you are using, and then you post. Things have been going my way today. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 Almost a week late, but here they are. The full system shot including the sump. Closeup of the sump. That massive chaeto ball is after I sold off several sandwich bags of chaeto. The wood block is used to suspend a 20W halogen under-cabinet fixture. The original 2x15W NO fluorescent lights are in there but I just couldn't get growth using them but the halogen light has been great. The FTS. I have been deliberately overfeeding because I have seen a lot of organisms that I never saw in the 20L even though it is the same rock. As a result, there are a lot of worms and the coralline is starting to spread even though I haven't been dosing or doing regular waterchanges. No algae issues, the credit for which is likely due to the massive chaeto ball and proliferating filter feeders. The Madracis rock. Note that the lower colony is half bleached. Something caused it to completely bleach and it has been gradually recovering. The upper, larger colony never batted a polyp. You can see an old mermaid's cup in the back and the mystery macro that died back at first but has finally gotten used to the light. The ric babies. They are well colored and growing. You can also see that the sargassum that came in on the rock has also gotten used to the light and is starting to grow. The skimmer was working really well... Perhaps too well, so I removed it. I am not posting pics of my GSP which didn't like this tank and croaked! Can you believe it? I am also leaving off some brown zoas that I thought were goners but are making a great comeback. I just can't get a good shot of them. Ditto for the green palys. They haven't grown or split but they are still extending. The lower cabbage leather has been pulled in for weeks but there is a frag on the upper-most rock that is doing well but again, I can't get a good pic of it. In my next tank, I need to put more thought into where things need to be in order to get good pics. If I can remember, I will bring the camera into the lab on Monday and I'll upload some pics of the Zero-Maintenance 20H. That tank is doing great. Each of the frogspawn heads are splitting, one of them looks like it might turn into three heads. One day I'll stop being lazy and will dremel off a head and bring it home. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Hey, quick question. Does the mystery macro recover well after it has bouts where it starts to die off? A part of what I got from you has been in my contest tank and is really not doing well at all. I'm trying to decide whether to just toss it or give it more time to recover. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 It has been my experience that this macro can't be killed. It was on that rock when I first bought it, got stripped off by hermits and snails, spent more than a year in my 5.5 during which it never sprouted, then suddenly sprang forth when I put it in the 20L under the 130W PC. Since then it has waxed and waned when I have changed lighting or added/subtracted snails and hermits but it has never really turned south. Even when I put it under this much more powerful MH, it didn't die back, it just sat still... Until it was ready to start growing again. I would suggest that you hang onto it unless it is causing problems in the tank. Has it ever attached to your rock? Link to comment
travisurfer Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 Tank looks great Fosi. Looks like you don't need any more sargasso either Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 No, hasn't attached to the rock. I actually have it in two tanks, and in one it is doing fine, just loosely sitting in a corner/crevice. In my contest tank I have one strand tucked into a crevice in the rock to anchor it, but it hasn't attached. Different portions of it are turning first lighter and then white. It really doesn't look good. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 I have seen it turn white in my tanks as well when I have changed lighting. Stems will turn white/translucent and just fall apart and others won't. Then it'll sit tight for another couple weeks or month, then it will slowly start sprouting new stems and begin to grow. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted November 8, 2008 Share Posted November 8, 2008 I have seen it turn white in my tanks as well when I have changed lighting. Stems will turn white/translucent and just fall apart and others won't. Then it'll sit tight for another couple weeks or month, then it will slowly start sprouting new stems and begin to grow. Hmm, that's interesting, that's exactly what's happening here. It also happened after I changed my PC bulb, so maybe that has something to do with it. Since you've seen it come back from that kind of condition, mebbe I'll hang onto it for another month or so and see what happens. Thanks for the input and sorry for sidetracking things! Things really are looking good in this tank now, certainly better than before. I enjoyed reading your update. How is your magnesium level now? How do you like the circulation in this system? Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted November 8, 2008 Author Share Posted November 8, 2008 I haven't checked the Mg levels for months... I was borrowing a kit from a friend and I gave it back. I really like the circulation and the animals/plants seem to as well. I haven't had a problem with detritus in the display, it seems to gather very well in the sump. I cleaned out the MJ1200 last night for the first time since I set the tank up and I only did it because it wasn't pumping enough water to keep the stockman silent. I haven't serviced the Q1300 or SCWD yet but I don't have a reason to either. I guess modding a SCWD in the way I did really decreases it's propensity for seizing. When finally get enough initiative, I'll pull off all the closed loop plumbing and clean it all out but for now, things are working flawlessly. Since I pulled the skimmer out, I have taken a hands-off approach to this system. No new equipment, no dosing, no hands in the tank, etc. Of course, this approach has also included not doing regular waterchanges, but the tank has responded well to my non-interference. The only problem I have is that I didn't glue all of the drain plumbing and I should have. I am getting significant salt creep at several joints and that is contributing to a slow decline in salinity between waterchanges and a pile of salt scale behind the stand. When I finally get that aforementioned initiative, I will also fix this unglued joint problem as well. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted December 6, 2008 Author Share Posted December 6, 2008 I have been more than a little busy but I bought a new handheld off ebay a couple weeks ago and I have been playing with the camera. Certainly not a quality camera and the pics are all that great but I figured some pics where better than none. The toad. Hasn't grown but hasn't shrunk either. I think it needs more light. The frogspawn from yardboy. The heads are finally beginning to split, as you can see in the left foreground. The head in the back will split within the week and the head on the right is poised to split into three. The sunset as I was walking to the car. It was a lot prettier than this picture seems to indicate. I used to see a lot of very pretty sunsets on Lake Erie back home... I guess I kinda forgot what a nice sunset looked like. Edit: I almost forgot to add that johnmalony from ReefCleaners says that the mystery macro that weet and I have is Acanthophora spicifera. I think he is right and it's nice to be able to put a name to those red stalks. Link to comment
Lalani Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 I like that toadstool! Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Couple things. I've got a green cyano outbreak going one and one of my heaters malfunctioned and killed about half of my chaeto. Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Umm, thanks for the update, and sorry about the troubles. Link to comment
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