timdanger Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 oh, really? they actually had a canary and two midas blennies when i was in there on Tuesday night. one midas was in the same tank as the canary -- i hope he didn't get sold already! the other was in a tank with a bunch of anthia, with which he blended in so well that i couldn't tell them apart from a distance. i got antsy on that Midas, so I went and bought him Friday and he's coming home with me today. i'm going back and forth on whether to pick up a bicolor they have over there as well, but i feel like i'd just be asking for trouble (despite the fact that there is plenty of rockwork to hide in). Link to comment
Markushka Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Nice! I hear midas blennies have great personalities. Link to comment
timdanger Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 they are such nice-looking fish, and very interesting. my last one picked on my bluespotted jawfish, though, so i had to trade him out. they've been known to get aggressive, so that's why i'm a little shy about adding the bicolor as well. plus they midas and bicolor are from the same genus. they're in a tank together at the LFS and seemed to get along well enough, and they don't really share territory (the midas mimics anthias/etc. and swims in open water while the bicolor is more of a small-territory rock-dweller). my last Midas Link to comment
tundrashaul Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I got the same about the canary Blenny, went and bought him on Saturday!! Did you get the Midas in the Anthia tank? His personality almost made me change my mind and get him!! Link to comment
timdanger Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 I got the same about the canary Blenny, went and bought him on Saturday!! Did you get the Midas in the Anthia tank? His personality almost made me change my mind and get him!! nah, I liked him, but I was concerned that I wasn't getting a real idea of what he would be like in my tank because I don't have any anthia. I got the one that was in with the canary blenny + purple firefish and the bicolor blenny. He seems like a good guy! the canary blenny is interesting, but i have my hand poking around in the tank enough (picking algae, mostly) that it would only be a matter of time before he got me with that venomous bite. i read it's not as bad as a lionfish or stonefish, at least... good luck with him! Link to comment
tundrashaul Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 nah, I liked him, but I was concerned that I wasn't getting a real idea of what he would be like in my tank because I don't have any anthia. I got the one that was in with the canary blenny + purple firefish and the bicolor blenny. He seems like a good guy! the canary blenny is interesting, but i have my hand poking around in the tank enough (picking algae, mostly) that it would only be a matter of time before he got me with that venomous bite. i read it's not as bad as a lionfish or stonefish, at least... good luck with him! I went the same route with the canary and got the one that was in that tank also because of the two large (er) clowns were like mine and I figured it would be somewhat familiar to him. From what I read the venom is just irritating to other fish so the effects are probably minimal to most. Doing construction God knows my hands go through much worse . Link to comment
timdanger Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 From what I read the venom is just irritating to other fish so the effects are probably minimal to most. Doing construction God knows my hands go through much worse . eeeeeeh maybe. Conscientious Marine Aquarist says the canary blenny venom is very painful to humans. maybe like a bee sting? i dunno. anyway, i'm sure it's fine. if you get bitten, you'll have to let us all know how it goes! Link to comment
timdanger Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 things have been busy around here, so i haven't had an opportunity to switch over to my new lighting setup yet. new midas blenny is doing very well, eating and getting along with the rest of the tank. however, i had a problem with my tunze 6025 -- the propeller just stopped turning. it was pretty clogged up with garbage, so i thought i'd take the opportunity to clean both it and the vortech. the mp10 was pretty bad off -- the rotor assembly was seemingly GLUED to the base so much that i couldn't even separate them. rather than risk breakage by prying them apart, i figured i'd just let them soak and see if that dissolved whatever was holding the two pieces together. made up a solution of ~10:1 water:muriatic acid, soaked for 20 minutes... most everything came clean. but, the two pieces of the vortech were still stuck together. i pried at them a little bit, swished the solution around with it, let it soak some more, and it still didn't come clean. i start working at it a little more, still being careful not to break the plastic.... and suddenly, one of the fins of the propeller just folds clean off the rotor assembly. unbelievable. and, the two parts are still stuck together. that makes me a little less hesitant, and i finally am able to pop the two pieces apart. they sounded like they were suctioned together.there was a little plastic ring that was just open, and another plastic piece(?) that fits around the ceramic rod of the base was just loose. i have no idea what is going on there. looks like a little bit of rust? not sure. anyway, let it soak in the acid solution for another 10 minutes and then cleaned it off and let it dry. expecting bad results, i took some regular cyanoacrylite superglue gel, applied it along the broken blade and stuck it right back on the rotor assembly. i then ran a line of it around the blade to help reinforce the bond. i let it dry for about half an hour, re-assembled everything, and tested it out. started it on a low speed, and it was fine. turned it up to about 50%, still perfect. i've ramped it up to about 80-90% lagoon mode, and i have noticed no problems with my fix yet. kind of amazing that this worked, but i don't know how long i can trust this repair. if/when this breaks, at least ecotech sells individual parts for the vortech, so the most i'll be out of pocket is $20 for the rotor assembly (and maybe another $20 for the base, if it turns out i need to replace it). still, though -- it's pretty annoying, because i don't think i did anything abnormal to cause it to break. even assuming it was my fault that the propeller fin folded off, the issues with the other pieces seemingly rusting(?) and breaking apart is just from normal use. i last cleaned it in a similar muriatic acid solution back when i removed my DSB (around August?), and i've given it a quick scrub-cleaning with some tap water once since then. i originally installed the mp10 in january of 2010, and i replaced the wet side a few months after that, so this is hardly a year old if that. the good news was that at least the tunze worked fine after i set it back up. this story could've had a much more irritating ending. Link to comment
timdanger Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 picture time (for the people)! midas blenny photo shoot? midas blenny photo shoot. he LOVES the camera. Clown! FTS FTS, from below. kind of weird colors here (lights in the room are on, makes it look kind of interesting) the sump. tidy, organized. Link to comment
tundrashaul Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Great pics. I too like #3. Link to comment
timdanger Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 new inhabitant added last night. letting him acclimate for a few days... then pictures! Mg has been sitting around 1700 for 4-5 weeks or so. not killing algae, but it's certainly making it easier to pull off the rocks. i'll take small victories! Link to comment
tundrashaul Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 new inhabitant added last night. letting him acclimate for a few days... then pictures! Mg has been sitting around 1700 for 4-5 weeks or so. not killing algae, but it's certainly making it easier to pull off the rocks. i'll take small victories! Any pics. of the new addition Tim? Link to comment
timdanger Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 still getting settled in -- he was a little finnicky about eating for the first couple days, but he's doing much better now. so, i'm going to give him a couple more days before i start bothering him with the camera. Link to comment
timdanger Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 on an unrelated note, i noticed that my BRS reactor had mysteriously turned opaque black in the GFO canister. come to find out, no water was getting pumped through the reactor. so, i unplugged the maxijet 1200 and pulled it out, removed the intake strainer, and it started literally STEAMING from the impeller and the hole in which the impeller sits. the thing was HOT. the impeller and the hole that it sits in was just CAKED with calcium carbonate buildup. I knew I shouldn't have been dosing into the same chamber that the pump was running in. anyway, i took it out and tried to clean it, but the impeller still wouldn't spin properly. so, i took my other maxijet 1200 that i use for salt water mixing and switched out impellers. and, the pump started working fine with the new impeller. i then took out both canisters from the dual reactor and tried to give them a good scrub-down. i was able to get most of the carbon markings out after some effort, but some of it was just stuck in there. i figured it was good enough, but just in case, i'm running the reactor output through my filter sock to catch any fines that might end up running out. everything still looked good this morning. my impeller has been sitting overnight in a cup of vinegar. once again, it could've been worse. it hasn't even been that long since i've cleaned that pump. just goes to show, you can't neglect this kind of maintenance very long before it catches up to you. Link to comment
timdanger Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Probably a reasonable time for an update! Everything's chugging along following the 250w halide upgrade. my new inhabitant from back in April has been doing well (and I've decided I'm not scared of "la polizia"). Definitely had some photoshock on a couple corals following the lighting upgrade, despite my best efforts to avoid it (multiple window screen/raised light/shortened photo period acclimation still didn't help). I've also installed an RO/DI unit from Spectrapure. I got a refurb maxcap that does 90gpd - pretty awesome to have been able to cut LFS trips out of my weekly life. My current theory for my crappy colors: not enough nutrients? so, i've been increasing my feeding, considering adding another fish (green coris wrasse to eat pyramid snails that never go away despite the fact that i have no clams and nothing but leftover baby turbos), and I'm seriously considering taking my GFO/carbon reactor offline, or just running it a few hours a day, or drastically reducing the amount of GFO i'm using. I've always had 0 detectable phosphates and nitrates, but figuring they must be bound up in nuisance algae, i've continued to work hard to keep the water clean. i think it's too clean, though, because i just can't grow chaeto anymore. and, although i continue to struggle with cotton candy algae in my display (i've stopped lighting my sump at night, which has dramatically reduced algae there -- still on the fence on whether i will continue this though. not bad to have algae in a sump/fuge, right?). Anyway.. on to the pictures! FTS ATL Idaho Grape Cap and Bali Green Slimer (photoshock victim -- a lot of white still on this guy, even months later -- but, the polyps are still there, though they are not well-extended) and some of its neighbors, the blue-polyped green cap (ugh), the ATL Ocean Blue Papilla, and a blue staghorn acro ATL Blueberry-tipped Raspberry Prostrata (actually showing a little bit of blue on the tips.... but the color just sucks) orange digitata, ATL Pink Flamingo Selago Acro, and others... Aquaholics Tommyknockers -- grows really fast, neat fluorescent green polyps, but.... not exactly getting the color i want here advertised by Aquaholics like this (shows just how far away i am still.. depressing): pink cap (my best colored coral by far), ORA Red Planet (uuuuugh, just terrible color here -- i don't get the shaggy polyps on this guy, either. it's growing, but mostly just basing out) another shot of the ATL Pink Flamingo Selago (left) next to a pink millipora this yellow tang has been behaving and eating well for 6 months now some kind of blue acro -- bottlebrush? anyway, it came to me browned out, and now it's pale, but it's a very nice blue on its growth tips. i have hopes for this one. orange digitata... lousy polyp extension. purple digitata (left)... another photoshock victim, but grows very fast still. shown next to the ATL blueberry-tipped raspberry prostrata Link to comment
Rehype Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Dude ive been wondering where you been!The tank looks beautiful! Link to comment
timdanger Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 and more....! Side shot of the tank... blue staghorn acro ATL Pink Flamingo Selago... not very pink. i think it might have suffered a bit of a setback with the new light in terms of color. it's pretty pale these days. That's a pretty reasonable update, yes? Who has comments and/or suggestions? Link to comment
timdanger Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Dude ive been wondering where you been!The tank looks beautiful! thanks, i appreciate the compliment! it's been a busy summer -- so, while I've been able to keep up with the tank pretty well, I haven't had any time to keep up with the forums. I'm hoping that I'm past it now and can start participating a bit again. By the way, big congrats on your Advanced Aquarist feature! Well-deserved! Link to comment
Kylebeano Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 At leaste you havnt completely lost your corals to whatever it is that's draining them. Tank still looks good! Could you have any stray voltage in the tank? What are you dosing, and what are your parameters? Link to comment
timdanger Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 holy gsp... no joke! it came in as an ugly brown hitchhiker, and look at it now! in September of 2009, it looked like this: on a related note, can i interest anyone in some GSP? Link to comment
timdanger Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 At leaste you havnt completely lost your corals to whatever it is that's draining them. Tank still looks good!Could you have any stray voltage in the tank? What are you dosing, and what are your parameters? Used to think it might be stray voltage, and I did in fact have stray voltage in the tank, but I added a grounding probe probably over a year ago (i'd have to go back to look when I added it). Hasn't seemed to make a real difference (though I do feel safer). Dosing BRS 2-part recipe #1, 18ml/day for Ca/Alk parts, dosed with BRS dosing pumps controlled by Apex Lite. Beyond that, I'm just feeding the fish, and I'll occasionally add some amino acids (Aquavitro Fuel) or some oyster feast (which I'm imagining is not the best option available to me from reef nutrition, but i got some for free, so i'm just using what i have. I also run a BRS dual reactor with rox 0.8 carbon and SmartReef (TB Aquatics' brand) granular GFO. skimming 24/7 with Bubble-Magus NAC-3+. Ca: 410 Alk: 8.5 Mg: haven't tested in a few months, but my last test showed 1400, and I continue to dose it proportionally to my the other components of my 2-part dosing (i.e., for every gallon of Ca/Alk solution, I dose ~20oz of Mg solution). salinity: 35ppt, using spectrapure maxcap rodi and d-d h2ocean salt pH: fluctuates between 8.2-8.35 per Apex monitoring Temp: fluctuates between 78.5-79.5 per Apex monitoring nitrates: 0 per Elos test kit, never been detectable since day 1. phosphates: 0.00 per Hanna colorimeter. again, never been detectable since day 1. Link to comment
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