Ribbies Rimless 15G Reef

[ribbie]

I noticed that my salinity is a little high (1.026 or 1.027) so I'm going to do a waterchange and try and bring that down. They're all still closed up. I have some pics I'll update later.

[ribbie]

massive water change was done today, cleaned all the tank, scrubbed some snails who had some gha, hand plucked my two zoa frags that had bryopsis, dosed magnesium and also removed the emerald crab from my tank.

 

little bastard almost killed a nassarius right in front of me! pulled its "foot" and flipped it over. I blasted him with a baster just in time. Now he's in the local want ads looking for a new home.

[BlueAbyss]

That's too bad, I love my emerald and he's been a model citizen. Mind you, I don't have any snails and there's lots of meaty food available in my tank from the feeding

[ribbie]

So the waterchange seems to have made a big difference. All of my zoa frags were open again! Including the greenberries who've never really opened before now. I cleaned phyto off the glass and fed mysis. While I was feeding, I noticed a HUGE bristol worm come out of the rock.

 

I also saw a bunch of rock dust get ejected from one side of my tank.... no clue what could have done that but I'll assume a bristol worm. Today after work I'm going to go purchase some food for my tank. I just have pellets and mysis right now but I'm going to pick up some stuff for my acan and candy cane. I'm worried they aren't eating enough.

 

The plate coral is a pig though. I watched it eat 6 whole mysis shrimp yesterday.

 

That's too bad, I love my emerald and he's been a model citizen. Mind you, I don't have any snails and there's lots of meaty food available in my tank from the feeding

 

 

That's what makes zero sense. I feed mysis on a regular basis and there's still tons of gha that the bastard seems to overlook. So I'll just buy some more magnesium and get rid of him. I've already found a few members on the WFF who are interested.

 

Now the question becomes... do I trade him for a green ricordea or do I trade him for more zoanthids.

[BlueAbyss]

Hmm. I was under the impression that Mg will only affect Bryopsis, rather than GHA? Don't get me wrong, having elevated Mg levels if you run a higher than NSW Ca and Alk level (as is pretty common) makes sense, I just thought it only affected Bryopsis.

 

I don't normally make suggestions like this because it feels preachy, but if your GHA is out of control, try cutting out the pellets. Though your test kit may not register it pellets and flake apparently contain phosphates.

 

P.S. Your candy cane may not seem to eat, apparently they eat pods... try chopping the mysis finely. Upon reading some articles, I've started feeding my open brain a mixture of finely minced PE mysis, scallop, and white shrimp... and it doesn't seem to be being regurgitated at night (a common problem with Trachyphyllia if the food is too big). I'm not sure if this matters to other LPS, but it's worth keeping in mind.

[ribbie]

Hmm. I was under the impression that Mg will only affect Bryopsis, rather than GHA? Don't get me wrong, having elevated Mg levels if you run a higher than NSW Ca and Alk level (as is pretty common) makes sense, I just thought it only affected Bryopsis.

 

I don't normally make suggestions like this because it feels preachy, but if your GHA is out of control, try cutting out the pellets. Though your test kit may not register it pellets and flake apparently contain phosphates.

 

Well I'm not sure if it's GHA or not. I thought Bryopsis was a specific type of GHA. I'm picking up some different food after work today. Might also add some clowns if they have some in.

[BlueAbyss]

I think GHA is a specific type of filamentous algae, as is Bryopsis. GHA has single, unbranched strands... Bryopsis grows with a sort of 'foxtail', ferny look to the fronds.

[ribbie]

So I went to the store today to buy food and ended up coming home with fish. Allow me to introduce "becks" and "posh" affectionately named by my girlfriend after Victoria and David Beckham.

 

 

 

 

 

and a shot of my acan. I love it. Bought some Marine Snow today for feeding them.

 

[1337TANKHAX]

Nice clowns. I checked "Watch Beckham bend it" off of my list of things to die at the FC Barcelona Vs Galaxy game this summer. SO EPIC. Anyway, great start on your tank!

[BlueAbyss]

Nice fishes! It'll be great when / if they host in your frogspawn.

[ribbie]

The fish are doing well. I'm feeding marine snow, mysis and pellets on a varied schedule. I also moved the frogspawn off the sand bed but I think my koralia 1 is too much flow for my tank. I might have to look at getting a nano.

[opy01]

Sorry about your emerald crab, mine attacked my nassarius once and I almost got rid of it. I think the snail had grabbed some food and the crab wanted it. He hasnt done it since thank goodness.

 

My trumpets seem to like pods and brine shrimp and small pieces of mysis. I also like your clowns, they are cute. It's always nice to see then do well, it just shows that you are taking good care of them.

[nibs]

Ribbie: awesome tank!

 

I was looking for a 15G with these exact dimensions and I chanced upon this thread. I'm trying to decide between buying a commercially available 15G or building my own (24"L x 12"H x 10"W). I'm not sure if we're in the same town but mind PMing me the name of the guy who made your tank?

 

Approx. how much LR do you have in your display?

 

I'm definitely tracking this thread!

[ribbie]

Ribbie: awesome tank!

 

I was looking for a 15G with these exact dimensions and I chanced upon this thread. I'm trying to decide between buying a commercially available 15G or building my own (24"L x 12"H x 10"W). I'm not sure if we're in the same town but mind PMing me the name of the guy who made your tank?

 

Approx. how much LR do you have in your display?

 

I'm definitely tracking this thread!

 

 

There's about 18lbs of live rock in my display. Maybe a little too much but it's ok.

 

pm sent and thx for the comments.

[ribbie]

So Im a huge bonehead. I noticed that my frogspawn doesnt like the high flow at the front of my tank so I decided rather than move it I'll redirect the flow! DO NOT REDUCE FLOW EVER! lol that's what I learned.

 

So now I have a cyano outbreak in my tank and it's basically consumed my entire front left of the tank. I've pinpointed the root cause to two issues. First, I was using antibacterial handsoap prior to managing the tank. NO NO NO! NEVER USE ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP! BIODEGRADABLE ONLY!. Soooo in addition to me using antibacterial soap it was also scented. BAD! Now I'm using no name biodegradable dish soap (as recommended by my local mentor) and treating with a red slime remover made by chemiclean.

 

And I just attempted to glue some of my frags in place and think I might have killed my trumpet/candy cane.... I know I'm not supposed to touch the fleshy part of him but the spot I glued him to wasn't as secure as I thought and the "shaft" fell inside a hole in my rock that was big enough for the fleshy heads to fall into. I had to literally grab both heads with my fingers and pluck it out. It doesnt look healthy but I stuck it in the sandbed and am praying for recovery.... I also glued my acan in place alone with a zoa frag.

 

Up until this point I've been using the frag tile and gluing that to the rock. I decided to try scrape my pink panthers off the frag tile so i could glue them directly to the rock. Not sure if this will work, but I was prepared to lose a couple polyps trying for experiments sake. I left 3 on the frag tile undisturbed in case the scraped bit doesnt survive.

 

Here's a pick of my sick tank :

 

 

Also, purchased 6 more nass snails and a gravel syphon to help maintain the sand bed after I beat this slime.

 

 

Aside from all that the tank is running nicely.

[ribbie]

Chemiclean is doing well. Did a water change today and redosed. I think it's making a difference already.

 

 

[BlueAbyss]

I just realized the scale of that plate coral... that's a tiny coral (looks to be a little bigger than a toonie)! Sweet though... it eats mysis I assume?

[1337TANKHAX]

Woah your scape is off the chain.

[ribbie]

I just realized the scale of that plate coral... that's a tiny coral (looks to be a little bigger than a toonie)! Sweet though... it eats mysis I assume?

 

Yeah it's pretty tiny, about the size of the top of a pop can. It eats mysis when it can get some... my clowns and goby are pretty aggressive.

 

Woah your scape is off the chain.

 

Thanks I just wish I had some bigger coral.

 

Oh, I almost forgot to post about this thing I saw in my tank. I've seen it once before in the same spot so I guess it lives near by. Anyways, today I got him on camera:

 

 

It came out during feeding tonight and went after some mysis

 

Any ideas on what that thing is? And if it's good or bad? Is it a bristol worm?

 

Also, I noticed that two of my snails have what appear to be children growing off them. I have one astrea that has a baby and this trochus snail (i think):

 

[nibs]

Do you find that the 4 bulb T5 fixture is too much light? I've got the same sized tank, and I can't decide between 2x24W T5's or 4X24W T5's. I don't want to end up with algae blooms and what not. I plan on running a fuge modded AC110 (my tank has a rim) as well as another filter to act as a filter.

[BlueAbyss]

That's definitely a bristle worm, I have a few of them. not something you want to brush up against.

[opraider36]

Hey, im considering buying some frags from reefgate in a few weeks, how do you like the ones that you got?

[nanoreefnate]

Update Pleash!

[ribbie]

Hey, im considering buying some frags from reefgate in a few weeks, how do you like the ones that you got?

 

They're pretty good. I've had decent growth out of the candy cane and a few new zoas. I'd recommend them for sure. I was a little surprised at how small the acan was but it's growing slowly but surely. I feel like a dad lol

[ribbie]

Good shot of my emerald:

 

My green clown goby has taken to the frog spawn. I don't know if you can see him but he's in there! Sorry for the bad photo and no editing I dont have the tools just a P+S...

 

 

FTS:

 

 

I think my plate coral is dying though it hasnt been eating lately and it's turning white. I tried target feeding it mysis and nothing.