pbjelly's 14g biocube

[msscha]

On a different note, I've dipped and re-dipped the new zoas, and hopefully have nipped the nudibranch infestation in the bud.

Those things are scary.

Their color-changing sacs remind me of a cannibal's necklace of shrunken heads - proof positive that they've killed and eaten something (someone) you liked.

Hey -- I just read an interesting blurb on killing zoa-eating nudibranches in a copy of reef-keeping. It was in the same issue as the trimma gobies -- here. The guy used Flatworm Exit to get at flatworms and happened to notice is killed off the nudibranches, too. He then did some experiments comparing dosages, and got good effects. Sorry I don't remember the page number! But he did seem to think it was far less stressful on the zoas then whatever the normal nudibranch treatment is. I checked and re-checked my new piece of LR for hitchhikers -- I got a few large copepod looking things, one thing that looked like a tiny mantis shrimp (but probably wasn't) and a small orange-ish bristle worm (the large one found a way to hide in the rock crevices). The worms look just like the picture of potential harmless hitchhikers in the beginner's discussion thread, so I didn't panic . But given the horror of the crabs, I was waaay more cautious than when I first just added everything to the tank without a second thought!

[pbjelly]

That was a really good article. Thanks msscha!

 

I feel a little better knowing that if I haven't managed to get them all, I can dose the tank with FWE. I'm still kicking myself for buying the pico as a QT and then setting it up as a pico instead.

[pbjelly]

I came home today to this -

 

My Flame Algae has gotten so big that it's hold-fast broke away some time today and it was swirling in the current. It would have been kind of pretty except for the part where it was brushing against everything in the tank and knocked some tiny zoas off their perch. The zoas were practically the first corals I got and they were a freebie from a really nice reefer who was helping me out when I was first starting, so I feel really bad.

 

I don't know if they've melted, or they're stuck somewhere, but I can't find them anywhere.

[gena]

That flame algae is a really pretty color!

[RedStang]

Just read through your thread. Nice tank! Sorry about the zoa's. Maybe they'll still turn up.

[metrokat]

Are you sure that's flame algae? Looks like gracilaria? Flame algae is very rigid. Check this link

[pbjelly]

That flame algae is a really pretty color!

Thanks gena! I love it, although this tank is really too small for it. It takes up a whole side and annoys anything it brushes up against. But the color was so beautiful, I couldn't resist.

Not that I have that much in here, but with the new lights I'm fantasizing about a possible SPS in the future. (Is there an emoticon for fingers crossed?)

I have a little piece of Violet Dream in here that's a beautiful color as well. I have no idea if it grows quickly or slowly, so it will be a while before I have a piece of that that's anywhere near as dramatic as this one.

 

Just read through your thread. Nice tank! Sorry about the zoa's. Maybe they'll still turn up.

Thanks RedStang. Still no zoa's today They weren't all that fabulous, but I'm sad that I wasn't able to take better care of them.

 

Are you sure that's flame algae? Looks like gracilaria? Flame algae is very rigid. Check this link

Hey Kat, could be gracilaria, although I feel like it looks different from the macros in that thread. It's got wider stalks that then branch and narrow. It's not brittle, but doesn't really bend and flow. It's density is similar to those fake plastic plants some people stick in their aquariums.

 

 

I'd love a positive ID on it, if the close-up pic helps.

[metrokat]

dragons breath! you got the awesomest of macros Jelly!

 

I'm begging for a $5 frag!

[gena]

That does look like dragons breath with the orange tips. Mine just broke away as well and floated to the back of my tank. Because of the position, I'm unable to get a hold of it without removing rocks. I'm hoping it thrives in it's new spot because I do love it a lot. It's a beautiful macro for sure.

 

BTW... (there is an emoticon) for SPS in your future

[pbjelly]

dragons breath! you got the awesomest of macros Jelly!

 

I'm begging for a $5 frag!

I suppose I could have just READ MY OWN TANK DESCRIPTION

Sometimes I really am not the brightest bulb. I'll bring a piece for you at the next not-just-lady-reefers brunch.

 

BTW... (there is an emoticon) for SPS in your future

You know, sometimes I amaze myself. Again, proof that I have lost more brain cells than I can afford...

Thanks gena

 

( I just got this message the first time I tried to post - THE FOLLOWING ERROR(S) WERE FOUND

You have posted a message with more emoticons that this board allows. Please reduce the number of emoticons you've added to the message) LOL

 

Do Asterinas propagate by splitting? I think I just spotted two halves of an asterina in my tank. I'll try to grab a pic later.

Just for kicks - I'll post one of my favorite views of the tank.

This is one of the clowns hanging out in the 'tunnel' that goes through the giga rock. It's fun to watch the tank denizens do the rounds - around, over, though, back...

 

[RedStang]

Check out the top down view as well. It's become one of my favorite views but those of us with tops don't usually get to see it often. Pumps have to be off of course...

[gena]

That's adorable

 

I've gotten that same error message about emoticons I love to use too many, I guess

 

I had one asterina and now I have a few. I do think they propagate by splitting. I don't think any of mine are complete.

[louy99]

i just saw your tank and it looks great! i just bought 2 Panorama LED's too (1 blue and 1 blue/white). i should have gotten a dimmer cuz my zoa's all close when the blue/white turns on. im sure they'll get use to it soon but when i have just the blue on for the morning and evening, they are all open and happy.

[pbjelly]

i just saw your tank and it looks great! i just bought 2 Panorama LED's too (1 blue and 1 blue/white). i should have gotten a dimmer cuz my zoa's all close when the blue/white turns on. im sure they'll get use to it soon but when i have just the blue on for the morning and evening, they are all open and happy.

Hey louy99, thanks for looking. The blue and blue/white combo sounds really nice. I'd love to be able to jam one more stunner strip under there for extra color, but I don't think I can fit anything else under the hood.

 

On the note of happy/not happy with the upgrade... I'm finally almost up to full power on the LED's. I've been slowly, slowly raising the light levels, and the current state is interesting.

 

 

The Candy Canes LOVE the light. They've split once in my tank already, but they've never looked better or happier and I can see a new split forming just since the light install.

The Palys which have split from three heads to five prior to the upgrade, were happy for a while and now are struggling a little with the light levels.

The poor Hammer (I got it in a classic newbie move already rtn'ing and have been trying to 'save' it ever since) it looks ok, but hard to tell. I've moved it higher in the tank and into a location where it doesn't get the crap blown out of it, but who knows.

The Frogspawn looks ok - no real change. (I've been trying to figure out how to spot feed this guy, but it never seems to work. I can get food near his mouth, but never really see him 'swallow' it. I think I need something easy to spot feed him with - any suggestions of something you've had luck with?

The Fiji Yellow leather and Green Mushroom leather look ok, no real change.

The Ricordeas are miserable. Really, really unhappy. They are splitting and hiding in holes in the rock. I tried moving one little one to the shade, but it just looks mad all the time. I can see the escapees down in the rock. I think I'm going to end up with the first underground, invisible ricordea garden. - Wasn't really my goal at the outset.

The Mushrooms look fine, but before the upgrade, they had been splitting and multiplying, since the new lights, no new little mushrooms.

My snails, which have been laying hundreds of egg cases all over the tank every day since the day I got them, have stopped. I've still got tons of snails, but no egg cases. Hmm...

By far the weirdest effect has been on the fish. The two clowns are more active and seem to use more of the tank now. The male's behavior is a comedy routine that even my non-fish friends comment on because it's so bizarre. Depending on what shape his pile of Chaeto is like on a given day, he's either flopping on it, sticking himself to the side of it, or playing dead in it. The female has started acting possessive about the Candy Cane, and I'm a bit afraid she's going to choose it as a host. I don't know if CC's can take that kind of abuse.

 

(BTW, how does anyone embed video on this site? Is it only possible with picasa?)

 

And here's a pic of what I think is an Asterina splitting under my 'shrooms. I just thought this was cool.

 

[pbjelly]

Just for fun - Three months of mushrooms multiplying.

 

 

[msscha]

(BTW, how does anyone embed video on this site? Is it only possible with picasa?)

Love the clown video! My clown has never shown the least interest in anything but open water. Maybe if I added a second, she'd get interested, but right now, she's doing her "we'll just be friends" thing with Rain.

[pbjelly]

The long overdue update about my battle with Red Slime Algae (insert creepy sound effect here...)

 

So I went out of town on business and when I came back I noticed that there seemed to be a bit of a haze growing on the little clown's pile of Chaeto.

 

 

It turned out that this was the beginning of a nasty-ass red slime algae infestation that I've been battling ever since. It dies off every night and regrows on anything it can get a grip on every day.

First I tried water changes and adding some carbon. Then I decreased my photo period and added some purigen. That was nice, but didn't seem to do much. So I tried rinsing all of my macros and ditching 75% of them.

 

 

That didn't do much.

 

 

So I got rid of all of the Chaeto (sorry little clown...) and 90% of my macros

 

 

And I started using chemicals. Hopefully they will help and not kill anything.

 

In the interim since I posted last, all of my Ricordeas have decided that they hate my tank and hate the LED's and are trying to shrink and run away under a rock - except for one - which has multiplied. ???

 

 

The candy cane has gone absolutely bananas - I think it's got eight heads now. Apparently hosting a clownfish really is a positive symbiotic relationship. huh.

 

 

... and the frogspawn has split.

 

The tank looks a bit sad without all the nice bushy, colorful macros, but they were an algae trap. I'm also having issues with finding a good location for the Fiji Leather now that it has grown. It gets picked up by the current in the tank or knocked over by the gargantuan hermit crab and ends up on the sand every other day. I know I need to glue it down, but exactly where is the question. Right now it's jammed into a natural crevice in the giga rock, but it's shading the toadstool so it has to move.

 

Slowly, slowly. My tiny little frags are growing.

 

[msscha]

The long overdue update about my battle with Red Slime Algae (insert creepy sound effect here...)

 

Slowly, slowly. My tiny little frags are growing.

I am so glad your frags are growing! It's time for me to replace bulbs -- I thought of going the LED route, but maybe not, since my tank is full of ricordea? Hmm.

 

Any chance the red slime was cyanobacteria? I had a nasty outbreak of the stuff -- used chem pure elite to gradually pull out the phosphate. Seemed to have done it's job, so I removed it. So far so good.

 

Good to hear you back on the forum !

[pbjelly]

I am so glad your frags are growing! It's time for me to replace bulbs -- I thought of going the LED route, but maybe not, since my tank is full of ricordea? Hmm.

 

Any chance the red slime was cyanobacteria? I had a nasty outbreak of the stuff -- used chem pure elite to gradually pull out the phosphate. Seemed to have done it's job, so I removed it. So far so good.

 

Good to hear you back on the forum !

 

Thanks msscha - I'm glad to be back.

 

I think there are a lot of tanks doing great with Led's and rics - I just happen to have a couple that got mad. That one that's splitting shows that it's not even all the all ricordeas in my tank. I think it's just a little too bright and the one that's flourishing is slightly shaded - and very happy. The sad thing is that rock that they are sitting on now has little rics hiding in the holes. I can barely see them once they runaway and hide.

 

It is very possible that the red slime is cyanobacteria. The thing is, I have been running chemi-pure elite and as part of my attempt to cure the problem, I added purigen as well. Neither of these seemed to help, and the macros were just acting like a giant net, catching all the little strands of slime every day, so I ditched them and am trying a regime of chemi-clean.

 

So far the only loss to the slime/chemicals has been a baby bud that I had growing on the frogspawn. Very sad. I've been watching it develop over the last two months - and then poof - gone.

 

This is he first real issue I've had to deal with in terms of this tank other than my killer hermit crab, and I hope I manage it before anything dies.

[msscha]

I really don't know if its cyano or not -- I had red slime algae when my tank went through its initial cycling, but it cleared up when I dosed with 1/2 capful of microbacter every day. That stuff worked really well, and sometimes if there are excess nutrients, dosing with vodka or with microbacter works better than trying to remove the nutrients from the water. It's worth a try! Have there been any deaths? It seems that I got a phosphate spike after a string of tank deaths.

[pbjelly]

No deaths. I've been lucky so far (knock on wood).

 

Although it's been like Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians in my tank when it comes to the giant hermit and snails.

 

I feel like chanting "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum" whenever I see this guy. He didn't get to be this size eating Wheaties...

 

 

The microbacter and/or vodka dosing sounds like it may be my next stop if my current process doesn't clear it up.

I'm going to give it another week before I change direction just so I don't confuse myself.

 

And now... just for fun, a fish picture.

 

[metrokat]

What are you params? I just discovered I have phosphates thanks to the bottle of water I brought to brunch for Marc to test for me.

[msscha]

What a beauty!!

[gena]

What a beauty!!

+1

 

Fantastic growth on the candy cane too!!!! I love the color of those and it looks great in your tank

[pbjelly]

What are you params? I just discovered I have phosphates thanks to the bottle of water I brought to brunch for Marc to test for me.

 

I haven't tested for phosphates - that could be part of it. Are you getting elevated phosphate readings from RODI water that you are making yourself?

I should be getting my new RODI in the mail any day now, so hopefully that will solve part of my problem. Unless the RODI system IS part of the problem...

Although - where I'm going to hook the thing up in my 180 year old Brooklyn brownstone apartment - I have yet to work out. I'm thinking it's going to have to go in the guest bathroom along with all the other aquarium related paraphernalia.

A friend of mine has taken to calling it my "meth lab" because of all the glass tubes and plastic hoses I have drying in racks and hanging from the showerhead.

At least it should end the misery of buying and hauling water via the lovely NYC subway system.

 

 

What a beauty!!

 

Thanks! She's a cutie. Bossy, but cute. I haven't officially named my fish, but I waffle between Pooh and Piglet because of what little pigs they are, Pebbles and Bam Bam, because of how silly they are, and Bossy Pants and Mouse because of their relationship.

It's a day to day mood kind of a thing.

 

+1

 

Fantastic growth on the candy cane too!!!! I love the color of those and it looks great in your tank

 

Woot! Visit from the reigning TOTM goddess!

 

Thanks gena - I've been so hesitant to add to the tank because I feel like I'm still sort of winging it and I really don't want unhappy fish or coral, so the Candy Canes have given me a little boost of self confidence that some things are actually flourishing.

 

It's funny how pets, gardens and aquariums end up reflecting their owner's personalities in odd ways. I'm the same when I garden. I take little cuttings and enjoy watching them spread from year to year. In contrast, my best friend always has a beautiful, lush garden within a year of moving anywhere because she loves putting in mature plants and landscaping on a broad scale.

 

Given how much I love her garden, I could probably learn something from her...