The 20H Atoll

[IMaNoob]

thanks

[schaferfred]

Like your rock as well. Tagging along

[Duncan]

yup, that's really a nice scape.

[Kraylen]

bump for lak

[lakshwadeep]

Thanks for the comments.

 

updates (I'll get pictures tomorrow):

 

Well, lalani was wiser than me about keeping the firefish. When I moved my tank, I foolishly took off one of the cardstock flaps on my "canopy" because it got wet. A couple of weeks later, the firefish jumped. :/

 

With my bad luck with jumpers, I've decided to just wait and get some nano gobies. After searching around, I've decided to try and get a pair of greenbanded gobies (reminds me of Diane/c est ma).

 

The two peppermints have done their job with the aiptasia. One of them had many legs missing, but those are starting to grow within two moltings.

 

Meanwhile, the immobile frag rack is growing and is developing two stubby branches. I've also found that there is some encrusting SPS on the "big" rock. Other hitchhikers I noticed recently: fire worms, dorvilleid worms, a tiny snail with a long shell, and tiny halimeda/neomeris growths.

 

I got my API calcium and alkalinity tests, and both are in the high side. So, I haven't started dosing B-Ionic until I get more calcifying organisms.

 

I got a $15 credit for the pistol, and recently I bought two frags for $10, a rock with two different zoas and a yellow cup coral (Turbinaria sp.). While the zoas are probably not a big bargain, I was surprised to see a turbinaria frag for that price. The LFS employee called it a leather, but I knew it was a stony coral.

[lakshwadeep]

The $10 zoas I got from returning my pistol:

 

Sadly, they seem to be melting/dying away in the past week:

 

In addition to the zoas, here is the Turbinaria:

 

I recently visited Zoanuts (also in Oklahoma City) after learning that they have "store hours". It was amazing to see all the (expensive) frags like acans and chalices and meet the owner. He's in the process of expanding with plans for a new type of website ! Anyway, it was a nice change to see clean and healthy tanks compared to those from my local LFSs. The only disappointment came from the owner claiming that SPS shouldn't be kept in nano reefs because they are too unstable. Anyway, I got these zoas, perhaps at a "consolation" price of $10.

 

 

Random tank shots:

 

flash:

Sponges (with flash):

[clifford513]

Definitely digging your scape and nice lr

[Lalani]

Ooooh, some life in there now.

 

Wonder why the zoas aren't happy.. have you tried a freshwater bath or similar?

[rufousreefer]

I want to see an fts of the tank from the side since you changed it's orientation. Looks cool and I have been thinking of doing the same with a 20 long.

 

I love your aquascape and the sand too. I assume that is seachem tidal. Love the stuff.

[lakshwadeep]

I'll get a pic by the weekend because a few days ago, I moved some pieces. But for now, here's a pic of a new "frag" I got:

 

[lakshwadeep]

2 additions: a blue neon goby and a porcelain crab. I'll get pics of them, my halymenia's growth rate, and a FTS within a fortnight.

[lakshwadeep]

I removed the turbo because it was biting off my halymenia "frags" that were stuck into holes in the rock. I also bought an Eviota pellucida goby and a shaving brush macroalgae. The neon goby hasn't eaten pellets yet, so I'm going to try cyclopeeze.

[Lalani]

So where's that FTS?

Pretty macro algae, and so cool to hear you've added fish! Hope you can get the goby to eat..

[Codeman]

I removed the turbo because it was biting off my halymenia "frags" that were stuck into holes in the rock. I also bought an Eviota pellucida goby and a shaving brush macroalgae. The neon goby hasn't eaten pellets yet, so I'm going to try cyclopeeze.

 

Nice tank, and what a coincidence, I just got a pair of Neon Gobies myself. They won't take pellets yet either, but I did have luck with mysis, but only after I turned the pumps back on and it blew around in the current.

[lakshwadeep]

As you can see, my rock structure hasn't changed a lot, but now I have effectively two islands. The small bridge by the feather duster rock in the middle can be remove.

 

FTS viewed from right

FTS from center/front

FTS from left

 

 

Turbinaria frag (right then center/front shot)

 

The neon goby is odd. Sometimes it is skittish and hides into a tunnel in the rock. Other times it is darting in the water column.

 

Neon goby (the stripe really is a neon blue in the tank)

 

The eviota is very calm and kind of like my old six line wrasse, except without the aggression. It will sometimes hover or just perch. The hovering is cool to watch since its fins are transparent. The body is also semi-transparent (the streaks and colors you see behind the head appear to be beneath the skin). I was kind of nervous that it wasn't getting food (it often picks at pods), but today I finally saw it eating cyclopeeze in the water column.

 

Eviota goby

pondering the mysteries of life

 

Halymenia- dragon's breath (I'm still deciding where to place it)

 

Pencillus?- shaving brush (it turned green in only a few days)

 

Pocillopora hitchhiker and zoas from zoanuts (pocillo growth is kind of hard to see)

[Jake42393]

nice stuff man, sorry about the goby =[

do u know how many lbs. of LR u have in there?

[Lalani]

Looks good, lak. I really like that red macro.

[Mr. Fosi]

You should sell me some of that Halymenia.

[lakshwadeep]

You should sell me some of that Halymenia.

 

not my precioussss.... My LFS said something about it being hard to ship or hard to get, but I just like its bright red color.

 

jake: there is roughly 20 pounds of rock. I'm not sure since the owner I got it from basically let me pay 60 dollars for a rough estimate of 20 pounds.

[Mr. Fosi]

Well, when it grows enough for you to want to sell some off, I would like to be at the top of the list, please.

[lakshwadeep]

Well, when it grows enough for you to want to sell some off, I would like to be at the top of the list, please.

 

For a few days, I was worried with it not growing, but recently I can finally see new branches forming. I never thought about fragging, but if it gets large enough to require pruning, you will be the first to know. In the meantime, check with john maloney also since he sometimes offers halymenia.

[lakshwadeep]

So, like I said the only corals I've been crazy for are acroporas. The coral bug has really been itching, but I couldn't bring myself to actually buying them from a store. I finally decided that I was going to buy a lot of frags at once to save money, and then I would let them grow. After waiting a long time to see if local reefers were offering frags, I decided to check reefcentral to see if people with ridiculously packed SPS tanks would have something to offer . . . and so I just paid $240 for 12 frags.

 

Here's a link with pics of the mother colonies:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1587020

 

The cost without shipping/packing was $180, which comes out to $15 per frag. I did a quick search of each "name" (as much as I resist nonscientific branding), and it looks like most of the frags are a bargain compared to their prices as individuals.

 

The frags will come in two weeks, and so it gives me some time to consider getting a skimmer. I've never had one, but it is influential to see many nano tank owners state that keeping acros is an exception to the skimmerless method. If I get a skimmer, I'll probably get the AquaC remora since it appears that there isn't much difference between a simple airstone skimmer or a more "advanced" model in performance. I'm kind of worried if my filter feeders, especially the sponges, would be starved out of nutrients. Since I usually do 25% weekly water changes, I may just increase it to 50% while the frags are getting settled.

 

Also, as much as I tolerate my hydroids, I'm probably going to avoid putting the frags immediately on the rocks until I decide they will be safe from stinging.

[Mr. Fosi]

Some ramblings:

 

It seems to me that a venturi or injection skimmer would be more problem-free than an air-stone skimmer... You wouldn't have to worry about the diffuser clogging over time and requiring adjustment.

 

Also, I find it interesting that the skimmers tested in that article removed only about 30% of the TOC. I'm not sure if that is a bad thing, especially since I haven't seen a mechanistic explanation regarding why TOC should be minimized. I know that reducing the concentration of polar organics makes it easier to grow SPS but I haven't seen much about why that might be the case.

 

I have heard that removing the comparatively larger organic compounds, such as coral slime, removes nutrients before they can be released by bacterial action. If that is indeed the case, it seems as though skimming may also play a role in limiting bacterial populations and activity in the tank.

 

I didn't look too closely but was the water they were using artificial and was it mixed up for the tests or was it taken from a running tank? If it was from a running tank it wouldn't be surprising to see the pool of strongly polar DOC decline rapidly, especially if the DOC that was added was a labile substrate for bacteria. In that case, a 30% removal rate might be enforced by microbial transformation of DOC.

[TriggerHappyDude]

Dude did you end up buying some Totoka rock?

I think I'm going to buy some from a local reefer, he said its cured or cooked? Basically its been in the dark for a while and no pests etc...might get an algae break out but not much he said. He is giving me a good deal on the price...so just wondering how you like the rock?

[lakshwadeep]

Dude did you end up buying some Totoka rock?

I think I'm going to buy some from a local reefer, he said its cured or cooked? Basically its been in the dark for a while and no pests etc...might get an algae break out but not much he said. He is giving me a good deal on the price...so just wondering how you like the rock?

 

See my other thread about totoka rock for info. If it is in the dark, your rock may look lifeless at first, but it will be okay.