pbjelly's 14g biocube

[metrokat]

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.

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

He tested tank water made from distilled. I only started the RODI Monday. I wonder if distilled is the problem! But I've been lax with water changes and I feed heavy. I have no bad algae because my macros eat up all the nitrates and nutrients. Why I still have phos I don't know but I ordered a reactor and GFO.

Yay to no more lugging. As for a install location for the RODI, consider inside the sink cabinet if all else fails.

[pbjelly]

He tested tank water made from distilled. I only started the RODI Monday. I wonder if distilled is the problem! But I've been lax with water changes and I feed heavy. I have no bad algae because my macros eat up all the nitrates and nutrients. Why I still have phos I don't know but I ordered a reactor and GFO.

Yay to no more lugging. As for a install location for the RODI, consider inside the sink cabinet if all else fails.

I've been using distilled as well recently... Poland Springs. Maybe that's at the heart of my Red Slime outbreak?

 

Unfortunately, there's no sink cabinet. It's an old porcelain freestanding sink - not quite pedestal. Very 1940's NYC, so there's no place to hide ANYTHING. Ergo, 'meth lab'.

[gena]

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...

haaahaa I'm still just the same old me....but I'll graciously take that compliment

 

I agree about the reflection of our personalities. In theory I love and prefer your method, but I have a tendency to be like your best friend. Actually, I think I fall in the middle

[PinkDamsel]

I seriously doubt phosphates are coming from the distilled water. You can always test the water in the jub before using it, just to make sure.

 

When you got the leds, did you replace the stock lights, or add these on? If the old lights are still there that could be a factor: an old bulb can have a spectral shift toward the green/yellow wavelengths that favor cyano.

 

Incidentally, my ric never adjusted to the led no matter where I put him. You're not the only one!

[pbjelly]

When you got the leds, did you replace the stock lights, or add these on? If the old lights are still there that could be a factor: an old bulb can have a spectral shift toward the green/yellow wavelengths that favor cyano.

 

Incidentally, my ric never adjusted to the led no matter where I put him. You're not the only one!

 

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that's had ric issues. Other than the one that's split, the others are just sliding down into the rocks.

 

I didn't leave the stock lights in - I ripped the whole assembly out and replaced them with the Led's.

 

If there are any NYer's here with a BC14 that want my extra parts, let me know and I'll bring them to the upcoming MR frag swap.

 

I just swapped the position of my MP10 trying to get flow across the top of the rock and less across the face. I hadn't done this before because of the small clown hosting the hidden clump of Chaeto in the back which was held in place by the direction of the current, but now that I've had to ditch almost all of the macros, I figured I'd give it a shot. This opens up space for the Fiji Leather to rest in the middle of the rock without being picked up by the current and blown away. That thing is like a giant sail.

 

One unintended side effect is that I've created a little calm spot in the shadow of the big clown's candy cane, and she's taken full advantage of it.

 

 

She can't figure out how to sit inside of it yet, but given some time, I'm sure she'll work it out.

[metrokat]

[pbjelly]

One small step for Zoa, one giant leap for Zoanthid-kind

 

 

 

 

Derby-Day Fascinator

 

[msscha]

One small step for Zoa, one giant leap for Zoanthid-kind

 

What a great shot!

[metrokat]

Add me to the can't-keep-a=florida-ric-happy club

[pbjelly]

Add me to the can't-keep-a=florida-ric-happy club

I'm sorry to hear that.

 

I now have the first underground ric garden. All my rics except one, have slipped into holes in the rock. If I squint and tilt my head, I can see the colors peeking out. The one anomaly is that big pink one which is fat and splitting. It gets stepped on by the hermits all day long and generally tormented - and yet, it's doing great. I have no idea...

 

What a great shot!

Thanks msscha - that one polyp looks so adventurous, going out into the wild blue yonder all on it's own.

[pbjelly]

NEW FTS - 05.16.12

 

 

The macros do better with less light, so I'm trying to give them some shade. I'm still struggling a bit with the red slime outbreak, but I only see it on the tips of the hairy mushroom. The poor thing ends up catching a few strands of red slime by the EOD and looks sad. It may be getting too much light there as well - I'm not sure. It gets quite squat after the lights come on, sort of squishing itself. The blue cloves also seem to be getting too much light.

I'll have to do some experiments.

 

Also - I'm going to need to start figuring out the chiller issue. It's getting warm in NYC, and even with the new fans and the LEDs, the tank is heating up.

[msscha]

Wow, the FTS looks beautiful! Are both of the "things" at the bottom of the rock macros -- I LOVE the purple one!

[RedStang]

Add me to the can't-keep-a=florida-ric-happy club

 

Mine was dying a slow death before my pistol put it out of its misery by burying it while we were out on vacation. So, add me to the club.

 

pbj, tank is looking great.

[kidninja]

nice tank! gotta get me some of that dragon's breath

[pbjelly]

Wow, the FTS looks beautiful! Are both of the "things" at the bottom of the rock macros -- I LOVE the purple one!

Thanks guys!

 

msscha - the purple one is violet dream. It needs light to grow, but not too much light or it starts to bleach. I have another frag of it in the pico and you can really see the difference in growth between the one in there under those sad lights, and this one. This one is now comparatively huge, but the other is much more deeply colored.

 

 

Mine was dying a slow death before my pistol put it out of its misery by burying it while we were out on vacation. So, add me to the club.

 

pbj, tank is looking great.

Thanks RedStang. My ricordeas running and hiding has been my first real 'tank issue' and I'm at a loss as to what to do. Inside that rock in the front are all of my rics. You can see where I've started to pry off the putty now that the corals are gone.

I hoped that once they shaded themselves, they'd do better, but they seem just as anemic in their new holes.

 

 

nice tank! gotta get me some of that dragon's breath

Thanks kidninja. The dragon's breath is really beautiful up close as well. I was going to say that I got mine from a guy on MR and I know I've seen you there, but then I realized where you're located. Somehow I don't think it's as easy for you to meet up with a dude in Astoria, Queens, NY as it was for me.

[RedStang]

I've lost a few zoa's that just slowly disappeared for some reason. Even while others were growing. For the most part though I've only managed to kill snails. I've since got my salinity under better control. Thankfully no "real" livestock has been lost yet. My wife was VERY worried when we didn't see our YWG, Goober, for several days. She snagged a pic of her when I was at work and sent to me and later that night commented she couldn't believe that she was so worried over a fish.

 

Anyway, I'll quit rambling. Eventually we'll all be expert reefers.

 

That doesn't sound exactly right but oh well, I'll run with it!

[msscha]

Eventually we'll all be expert reefers.

 

That doesn't sound exactly right but oh well, I'll run with it!

LOL!! That got a genuine, out loud chuckle. Thanks for making me smile on a Friday morning when I am so freaking tired I just want to drink a beer and go back to bed .

[pbjelly]

 

OMG!

 

So I helped set up for the Manhattan Reefs Frag Swap last night and this is just the tip of the fragalicious iceberg. So many vendors, so many beautiful corals and fish. It's amazing how quickly these guys can build an entire display. I swear Jason Fox was in and done in under a half hour.

Pac East, Cherry Corals, Coral Theory, Unique Corals, Acan Lighting, TLF - our local LED guru Wingo, Pablo who specializes in softies (I got my fiji and my toadstool leather from him) - the list goes on...

 

The raffle is stocked to the gills as well. Wish me luck, by this evening, I could be the proud owner of a kessil 350, a year's supply of B-Ionic, or a 65 gallon Hagen Reef-Ready System, Stand Included! Do I sound like an ad? I was working with KathyC all evening, who is in charge of the raffle every year.

 

It's days like this that I understand why people have 200 gallon tanks. (It's days like yesterday, which was water change day, that I'm glad I've got a 14 gallon )

[metrokat]

Did ya win?!????

[ZephNYC]

 

OMG!

 

aawesomeeeeeeee!! I think i see the two i got. lol

[pbjelly]

Lights are out so no pix yet of the new tank denizens.

I've already had one nasty surprise where I turned over one of my new frags (a spur of the moment purchase from a vendor I don't know) and I discovered MASSIVE green bubble algae! Like I don't have enough going on! So that frag got hosed down with Coral RX and H2O2 and put in the pico. We'll see if it survives

The other corals are sitting in the sand getting themselves settled in for the night.

 

I am very excited about my other spur-of-the-moment purchase - we'll have to see how it acclimates to the tank and I'll post pix of everything tomorrow.

 

It was great seeing all you guys there! You didn't miss much by leaving early - just me giving the evil eye to the guy who won the NanoScope, and all of us sympathizing with Scott for not winning the RKL+, which he really wanted.

 

Did ya win?!????

I DID!

Not the 65 gallon tank (I didn't even try), not the Kessil (I did try, and I was bummed) - I won some chemicals from Marine Depot, and some B-Ionic 2part from ESV. I wish I'd thought about it a little better and I would have just thrown $20 worth of tickets into the bucket for the 50 gallon ESV salt mix and gone home with that instead of the 200 Gallon boxes I lugged home yesterday - Yikes!

The thing I'm most bummed about not winning was the NanoScope - totally useless and fun looking. I really really wanted it

The woman who won that bio-bubble thing was the most excited person there. She put in about 30 tickets to win it. I didn't have the heart to tell her it probably only would have taken one - I mean, you can't put anything alive in there (regardless of the fantasy packaging which has two clownfish a tang and a school of something swimming in a 2 gallon enclosed plastic bubble).

 

 

aawesomeeeeeeee!! I think i see the two i got. lol

LOL - I think you're wrong - they aren't those two, they're the other two.

[pbjelly]

Manhattan Reefs Spring Frag Swap 2012

 

 

My new Cherry Mata Anemone from the Long Island Aquarium!

 

I wish I'd taken a good picture of the tank this came out of. Folks from the Long Island Aquarium showed up at the swap with a tank full of Captive Bred tiny baby clowns and the smallest little black fish I'd ever seen. They were baby Monos, and they looked like someone had a carbon accident in the tank - TINY. They also came with these little anemones, which were curled up to about the size of a nickel.

Apparently, the aquarium is starting an aquaculture facility out of the South Fork of Long Island where they will be breeding and selling fish and corals - WOOT!

 

 

This one puffed up to about three inches across after it acclimated in my tank and is now walking around looking for a place to be comfy. Apparently, these don't grow bigger than 4" across and they are supposedly 'hardy'. We'll see. It does look super happy today though this may be the last we see of it as it appears to like shade and may head to the back of the tank

 

Other acquisitions include the requisite Jason Fox monti - who can resist his colors, or his daughter?! - She looks to be about 2 years old and just smiles at you!!

 

 

An orange/pink digi and a pink stylophora that I picked up from another reefer on MR

 

 

 

And... my one real disaster of the day...

 

 

This will teach me about buying from vendors that I don't know. This will also teach me that I should check ALL around the frag before I buy it - not just the top.

 

This guy has been doused in H2O2 and relegated to the pico. I don't know if it will survive, but it ain't comin' in the nano looking like that!

[metrokat]

Fabulous buys, that nem has me drooling! they were quite pissed off in their tank.

Congrats on the winnings!!!!!!!

The pocillopora colony I first posted a picture of had bubble algae on it too. After a dip in coral RX I took a fresh blade and carefully sliced them off. Peroxide works if you pop the algae and then dip, that bubble is very strong otherwise. Hope the frag makes it.

[msscha]

Wow -- just gorgeous -- the colors are awesome!!

[cuber14]

I've lost a few zoa's that just slowly disappeared for some reason. Even while others were growing. For the most part though I've only managed to kill snails. I've since got my salinity under better control. Thankfully no "real" livestock has been lost yet. My wife was VERY worried when we didn't see our YWG, Goober, for several days. She snagged a pic of her when I was at work and sent to me and later that night commented she couldn't believe that she was so worried over a fish.

 

Anyway, I'll quit rambling. Eventually we'll all be expert reefers.

 

That doesn't sound exactly right but oh well, I'll run with it!

Those zoas look like radioactive dragon eyes and from my experience prone to just melting,the dreaded zoa pox and just not that hardy. My LFS did tell me that they are not the hardiest but they looked so cool I just HAD TO HAVE. Of all my zoas (8 diff kinds) they are my only total loss,they grew like crazy then gone.

Your tank looks great looking forward to keeping an eye on it and stealing your ideas haha.