Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[metrokat]

I think the hermit and the squat were having a hand signal conversations there.

Yo, whassup

'Sup dog

Just chillin, yoo?

Naw nothing much, just checking out some mushrooms

Hoo dat guy filming us

Dunno, some guy

Peace out bro

[Nano sapiens]

I think the hermit and the squat were having a hand signal conversations there.

Yo, whassup

'Sup dog

Just chillin, yoo?

Naw nothing much, just checking out some mushrooms

Hoo dat guy filming us

Dunno, some guy

Peace out bro

 

LOL, yeah, I was thinking along those lines, too My fav is the one where food gets on the SL's elbow. She's like, "I know this food is here somewhere behind this joint, but darn if it isn't hard to reach!"

 

They are both together because I loaded the green Ric with food. The SLs are not all that good at holding onto food (ok, they are downright clumsy!), so I let the Ric hold onto it for her.

[vlangel]

I think the hermit and the squat were having a hand signal conversations there.

Yo, whassup

'Sup dog

Just chillin, yoo?

Naw nothing much, just checking out some mushrooms

Hoo dat guy filming us

Dunno, some guy

Peace out bro

Ha ha, I was thinking something like that as well. It reminded me of a rare frog's mating ritual I saw a month or so ago on a nature program.

[teenyreef]

March 2016 FTS:

 

I love this picture - the tank looks so clean. You would never know it's been running for years and years. It looks like someone just took a brand new tank and dropped in some fresh sand. But then there's all those beautiful mature corals and you can't just drop those in

[Nano sapiens]

I love this picture - the tank looks so clean. You would never know it's been running for years and years. It looks like someone just took a brand new tank and dropped in some fresh sand. But then there's all those beautiful mature corals and you can't just drop those in

 

Thanks. I wonder what the FTS would look like using a DSLR camera

 

Once I started paying more attention to the sand bed condition and regular detritus removal the tank has stayed relatively clean for years, even with the chow-hound Clownfish in there. With the new Goby/Blenny/Squat Lobster community, it's now even easier to keep clean as the back wall doesn't get the thick layer of algae/biofilm that it used to with the Clowns. Oddly enough, the NO3 (barely detectable - Elos) and PO4 levels ('0' - Salifert) have not changed, so it may be that the amount of algae growth on the back wall (which is removed weekly) is what keeps the levels so stable. My only problem algae is what I believe is Cladophora. Every week or two I get out the old tweezers and start picking away since nothing likes to eat it. Another thing I noticed is that I have virtually no coralline algae on the glass/back wall with LEDs vs. when I used the old stock T5s which seems to be quite a common observation on the forums. I've also cut my bi-weekly WCs in half to 1/4g, 2x/wk due to the decreased bio-load. So far, this simple change has resulted in very happy corals (especially the Rhodactis).

 

I did remove most of the over-zealous silicone holding in the back wall just to clean up the look a bit. Every little bit helps

[Nano sapiens]

Caught one of the Crinoid Squat Lobsters pretending to be an Anemone Porcelain Crab on a Ric at night:

 

 

 

...and the sand spitting antics of the female Yellow Line Goby (spitting head down might be a better idea???)

 

http://vid230.photobucket.com/albums/ee141/Back2dubs/Yellow%20Line%20Goby%20Sand%20Spit_030916_zpsrkdpxxw9.mp4

[vlangel]

Caught one of the Crinoid Squat Lobsters pretending to be an Anemone Porcelain Crab on a Ric at night:

 

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee141/Back2dubs/SL%20on%20Ric_030616_zpsi7igm4je.jpg

 

 

...and the sand spitting antics of the female Yellow Line Goby (spitting head down might be a better idea???)

 

http://vid230.photobucket.com/albums/ee141/Back2dubs/Yellow%20Line%20Goby%20Sand%20Spit_030916_zpsrkdpxxw9.mp4

My midas blenny used to spit with his head up and into the flow, ha ha. He was trying to remove the sand from a conch shell but most of it just floated back in.

[Nano sapiens]

My midas blenny used to spit with his head up and into the flow, ha ha. He was trying to remove the sand from a conch shell but most of it just floated back in.

 

It's quite amusing, but eventually they get the job done

[Nano sapiens]

Mini Frag Rack:

 

 

I'm sure the Tunze folks never would have thought that their German engineered scraper would end up as a frag holder

 

The clear acrylic piece was some kind of holder thing the plastics store had for $1.99 and it is just the right size for holding a few frags. Couple holes drilled, and there it is

 

Local club frag swap coming up so these stony coral frags (Ultra Purple Digi, Tyree Setosa and Mint Green Pavona) plus a bunch of R. floridas might be welcome.

[teenyreef]

Nice job! What's the green frag on the far right?

[Nano sapiens]

Nice job! What's the green frag on the far right?

 

Thanks. That's a Mint Green Pavona (species undetermined, possibly P. varians or

P. decussata). It develops verticlal fronds and that's what these chips are from. Fast grower, aggressive with 1" sweepers.

 

Mother colony:

 

[Sk8n Reefer]

That's a nice Pavona colony- does it send out stingers? My little frag is sending out about 1/2 stingers - much like an LPS coral. I've never seen an sps do this ?

[Nano sapiens]

That's a nice Pavona colony- does it send out stingers? My little frag is sending out about 1/2 stingers - much like an LPS coral. I've never seen an sps do this

 

When a Pavona colony really gets reved up it can send out dozens to hundreds of 1" to 1-1/2" sweepers, but at least they aren't 6" long like Euphylia or Galaxia. However, they are potent and can kill just about anything around them. Suprisingly, this Pavona has had no reaction to it's A. granulosa neighbor, but any other stony coral gets zapped. Pavona does present a bit of a challenge in a small nano, but it's such a cool genus IMO that it's worth a bit of extra effort.

 

Another favorite of mine is is the hyper aggressive Hydnophora species, but I've managed to resist adding them in such a small system.

[Sk8n Reefer]

When a Pavona colony really gets reved up it can send out dozens to hundreds of 1" to 1-1/2" sweepers, but at least they aren't 6" long like Euphylia or Galaxia. However, they are potent and can kill just about anything around them. Suprisingly, this Pavona has had no reaction to it's A. granulosa neighbor, but anything else gets zapped. Pavona does present a bit of a challenge in a small nano, but it's such a cool genus IMO that it's worth a bit of extra effort.

 

Another favorite of mine is is the hyper aggressive Hydnophora species, but I've managed to resist adding them...

Ya, I also like ten Hydno's. I would add Pocillopora's to that list too- very aggressive and killed my tabling Mille colony in a few days by sending long stingers over ?

[Nano sapiens]

This poor Red Monti is permanently stuck between two Pavonas and takes a beating regularly:

 

 

Being a Monti, it oozes out somewhere else until it gets overtaken again...

[Felicia]

Mini Frag Rack:

 

 

I'm sure the Tunze folks never would have thought that their German engineered scraper would end up as a frag holder

 

The clear acrylic piece was some kind of holder thing the plastics store had for $1.99 and it is just the right size for holding a few frags. Couple holes drilled, and there it is

 

Local club frag swap coming up so these stony coral frags (Ultra Purple Digi, Tyree Setosa and Mint Green Pavona) plus a bunch of R. floridas might be welcome.

I'm planning to attend the BAR members frag swap too! Gotta drag myself outta the house and get back to some BAR events. That reminds me that I absolutely need to frag up one more thing this week so it has time to heal. Luckily softies need way less recovery time than SPS after fragging. I'm bringing Tyree neon green toadstools and blue sponge frags that I already have all healed up. I also need to trim some pieces off of the green nepthea and get those attached to plugs.

[Sk8n Reefer]

My little friends made it over to the 50- I found 3 so far ?

 

[Nano sapiens]

My little friends made it over to the 50- I found 3 so far

 

 

Nice! I'm sure they'll be happy

[Nano sapiens]

I'm planning to attend the BAR members frag swap too! Gotta drag myself outta the house and get back to some BAR events. That reminds me that I absolutely need to frag up one more thing this week so it has time to heal. Luckily softies need way less recovery time than SPS after fragging. I'm bringing Tyree neon green toadstools and blue sponge frags that I already have all healed up. I also need to trim some pieces off of the green nepthea and get those attached to plugs.

 

I see you've been doing some fragging (pics over on the BAR website). Just one more week away

[Felicia]

 

I see you've been doing some fragging (pics over on the BAR website). Just one more week away

Yep! I've had frags of tyree toadstool and the blue sponge ready for a couple months but I needed one more variety so I did some fragging of the green nepthea. One of its branches had grown out over the derasa anyway, so it was due to be chopped off. Itll be nice to see you at the swap! I haven't been to a BAR event in ages.

[Nano sapiens]

Yep! I've had frags of tyree toadstool and the blue sponge ready for a couple months but I needed one more variety so I did some fragging of the green nepthea. One of its branches had grown out over the derasa anyway, so it was due to be chopped off. Itll be nice to see you at the swap! I haven't been to a BAR event in ages.

 

Speaking of a long time, I have participated in a proper Frag Swap in over 7 years. We can catch up on 'fishie/coralie' stories )

 

Funny thing, but the Mint Green Pavona I have a frag of here was one of two or three left over corals that no one wanted at a SAC frag swap, but this poor unwanted 'stepchild-of-another-mother' has developed into a really nice colony. Ya just never know...

[Laybackk]

That black clown looks like a grouper from the front haha caught me off guard at first.

[Nano sapiens]

That black clown looks like a grouper from the front haha caught me off guard at first.

 

She wasa chubby-wubby and closing in on 4". Clowns have moved on to a much larger home

[Felicia]

 

Speaking of a long time, I have participated in a proper Frag Swap in over 7 years. We can catch up on 'fishie/coralie' stories )

 

Funny thing, but the Mint Green Pavona I have a frag of here was one of two or three left over corals that no one wanted at a SAC frag swap, but this poor unwanted 'stepchild-of-another-mother' has developed into a really nice colony. Ya just never know...

Wow! That's a long time. I haven't been to a swap in like a year and a half and I thought that was a long time haha. Leftover frag swap corals can be great! My Tyree toadstool was a leftover "unwanted weed" coral at my first ever BAR swap when I was just starting out in the hobby. They were like here, give the noobie all the leftover unwanted corals and I was thrilled. Funny enough now those Tyree toadstools are somewhat hard to find and worth money. You really do never know!

[Nano sapiens]

Wow! That's a long time. I haven't been to a swap in like a year and a half and I thought that was a long time haha. Leftover frag swap corals can be great! My Tyree toadstool was a leftover "unwanted weed" coral at my first ever BAR swap when I was just starting out in the hobby. They were like here, give the noobie all the leftover unwanted corals and I was thrilled. Funny enough now those Tyree toadstools are somewhat hard to find and worth money. You really do never know!

 

"They were like here, give the noobie all the leftover unwanted corals and I was thrilled" That's funny

 

I did hang out at one BAR swap a while back, but didn't participate in the swapping.