matt frizz Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Think I'm losing that blue acro colony and my tyree staghorn. The move was rough on them and it seems like RTN is effecting them. Might try to frag it out if it doesn't clear up. I don't have my car anymore so I can't drive to the store for a turkey baster. Still praying that it's not too late. Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Who loves poccillopora as much as I do??? 1 Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Nice tank, did you manage to save the acros? 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 Nice tank, did you manage to save the acros? They're actually coming around. I finally got a turkey baster (lost my old one somehow) and started blasting the dead tissue off of them. Polyps are still extended as of now and they seem to be ok. The Tyree Staghorn I'm still not sure on. hoping it pulls through. It's lost a lot of coloration but I'm still hopeful. Thanks for asking. Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Post pictures of your fat Mandarin, the avatar is too small. 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 I've been waiting to catch him chilling in the corner so I can post a video of him eating pellets. It's incredible, after 7 months of eating no prepared foods (pods only) in my old tank he just started fighting for pellets. He actually eats quite a bit of them throughout the day. I just got to catch him in the corner. Edit: got the video, uploading now Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 http://s277.beta.photobucket.com/user/underoathlog1234/media/4D687D3E-0922-44B9-B678-A1098510C10D-1060-0000031D93FB670C.mp4.html 1 Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Matt, he's so cute! I love it. 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 He's my favorite fish by far! If only the video looked as good as it actually does on the iPhone itself. I wish I had a good camera. Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Hurry up and grow dammit!! I'm trying to see that green rim all around you!! 1 Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Hi Matt. You know I was so excited to see your chubby boy fish eating pellets that I tried them on Draco. Well whadayaknow! He ate pellets!! I used the 1mm size new life spectrum that my whole tank loves. My mandarin is really picky about the size of the foods he wants to eat and these pellets were just right. Can I say it again? I have a pellet eating mandarin! 1 Link to comment
mcarroll Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 They're actually coming around. I finally got a turkey baster (lost my old one somehow) and started blasting the dead tissue off of them. Polyps are still extended as of now and they seem to be ok. The Tyree Staghorn I'm still not sure on. hoping it pulls through. It's lost a lot of coloration but I'm still hopeful. Thanks for asking. Sounds like they may not have been getting enough flow (or not how they like it) if the turkey baster had that big of an effect. There should be enough flow for them to adequately shed when needed. Periodic 180º change of flow direction (i.e. tides) is a usually-simple-to-implement way to help this. If you're already doing this, then it's also possible you may have a "soft spot" in your flow (most likely due to turbulence induced by all the big corals) and you may need to add yet another pump. You have relatively few placement options with a Vortech (if that's still what you're using) but you might still experiment a bit with placement to see if you can improve flow for these corals. Anyway, keep an eye on them and if they don't continue perking back up keep what I said about flow in mind. Also, if you're equipped to properly tend to them, I'd highly recommend fragging a piece off of each mother while they are still mostly healthy. You only need a little piece - 1/2" or whatever is practical to remove with the tools you have. -Matt 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Sounds like they may not have been getting enough flow (or not how they like it) if the turkey baster had that big of an effect. There should be enough flow for them to adequately shed when needed. Periodic 180º change of flow direction (i.e. tides) is a usually-simple-to-implement way to help this. If you're already doing this, then it's also possible you may have a "soft spot" in your flow (most likely due to turbulence induced by all the big corals) and you may need to add yet another pump. You have relatively few placement options with a Vortech (if that's still what you're using) but you might still experiment a bit with placement to see if you can improve flow for these corals. Anyway, keep an eye on them and if they don't continue perking back up keep what I said about flow in mind. Also, if you're equipped to properly tend to them, I'd highly recommend fragging a piece off of each mother while they are still mostly healthy. You only need a little piece - 1/2" or whatever is practical to remove with the tools you have. -Matt Hey Matt, Thanks for your replies in both of my threads. I hope you're doing well and that your tanks are also prospering. Here's a small update: The die-off on my bottlebrush acro colony seems to have stopped. The coral is no longer receding and I expect a full recovery. The Staghorns also seem to have stopped dying and seem to be regaining quite a bit of color. These corals have all had really good flow, they are all between 5-8" from my MP40 and that's only in a 30 breeder so they get plenty of flow so that wasn't the issue. I think I have the issue under control. I have performed two 5% water changes (once per week) since the move and I believe that there was a slight die-off from the move and also a mini cycle in the tank that is now coming to an end. Everything is stabilizing quite nicely and my corals are looking happier than ever. I also got my alk up (a little too high, but I'm SURE that it will drop quickly lol). I'm just going to keep my tank log in this thread now and disregard that alk thread I made before. Current Params: Alk: 9.7 dKH Calc: 440ppm (havn't dosed at all since the move) Mg: 1560ppm (still high but I will allow it to drop on it's own) I figure I'll just keep up with my water tests and weekly water changes and then move more towards a bi-weekly WC schedule after I'm sure the tank has stabilized. Thanks for all the great info in my other thread (both you and kat!) I truly appreciate your continued help. You always gave me great advice at the Marine Scene. What are you up to these days? -Matt Frizz Hi Matt. You know I was so excited to see your chubby boy fish eating pellets that I tried them on Draco. Well whadayaknow! He ate pellets!! I used the 1mm size new life spectrum that my whole tank loves. My mandarin is really picky about the size of the foods he wants to eat and these pellets were just right. Can I say it again? I have a pellet eating mandarin! Congrats Kat! I have a feeling that it gets increasingly easier to get them to eat the pellets the longer you keep the mandarin on pods alone. Like I said before, mine used to eat nothing but pods in the tank. Now he literally sits in the corner waiting for pellets! It's awesome, my fish all get along great in the new tank now that the aggressors are out. XD Link to comment
matt frizz Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 FTS: Just a little pick of one of my favorite areas of the tank. 2 Link to comment
eitallent Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Your tank looks amazing. I love the black sand with your colorful fish and corals. The Mandarin is too cute! I hate the way photobucket degrades the quality of pictures and video. I have started posting videos to YouTube because the quality is so much better! 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Thanks for the tip! Photo bucket really did ruin that video, probably because it was uploaded from my iphone directly. On another note: I got all my parameters in check now and have been focusing on a daily dosing schedule. Seems like 2-3 caps a day of code a/code b (or the baked baking soda i made since I'm low on code B anyways) will keep my alk and calc in check. Mg likes to stay high in my tank, still waiting for it to drop down from 1560ppm or so. Corals are growing and coloring up more so everyday. Such a rewarding hobby. Link to comment
matt frizz Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Also, I'm a picture whore. Here's some new interesting angles of my tank. Even the back side is filled with coral lol. I cannot wait for everything to grow out. I'm really looking forward to the mature look of a tank where the corals have been allowed to grow out to large sizes and the rock slowly disappears. Here's my massive Sunset Montipora colony. I originally bought a 1/2" frag of this (if even 1/2") for $50 at an LFS. I bet I could do ok if I fragged it. Too bad I don't want to frag anything yet . A little of it recently died off when my old bulbs went. I needed a few months for new funds so it suffered. It's making a full recovery though. I'm starting to get really proud of this tank BTW. Bi-weekly water changes now and daily dosing for Calc and Alk as needed is my regiment. I don't want to post detailed pics of the corals because my acans are starting to acquire their original amazing coloration. I got them all from mr. coral 2 years ago and they were constantly being messed with by different factors in my 50 breeder. I no longer keep shrimp as well as clownfish for Acan stability reasons. They seriously need to not be messed with or their growth is stunted like crazy. I believe that alk also contributes a lot to acan growth. I've always had low alk and possibly too high of lighting for them.Acans are that one problem coral for me but now that my tank is smaller and more controlled (because of the learning process) they are starting to flourish! I'll post acan pics in a few months because by then they should look seriously incredible, they were quality acan lords that I bought as 1 or 1 1/2 heads originally in a frag pack. The echinata is huge but at one point wiped out 1/2 of my pink colony because I didn't realize how close they were to each other. The Echinata sprayed the pink colony and covered half of it with some sort of stinging slime. I was livid. It's taken like a year but it's finally coming back. 2 Link to comment
metrokat Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Good lord what happened to your thread title Matt! Echinatas are lethal, those stinging slime thingees are mesenterial filaments. They are basically the guts of the coral, they are sticky and start to digest the neighbor. 1 Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 5, 2013 Share Posted February 5, 2013 Haha, funny thread title. Unfortunately photobucket is blocked at work, but as soon as I get home I'll look at the recent pics! I'm setting up my 40b again (was down for a year due to room remodel) and I'm thinking of starting some SPS colonies. 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Haha, funny thread title. Unfortunately photobucket is blocked at work, but as soon as I get home I'll look at the recent pics! I'm setting up my 40b again (was down for a year due to room remodel) and I'm thinking of starting some SPS colonies. Aww that's too bad. SPS is my new obsession. Good thing I don't have any money to buy any more! Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 So I came home and saw the pictures! That looks awesome! Question: What's your favorite SPS? Also, if you could only choose 1 sps to grow out into a "centerpiece" which would it be? Link to comment
MGDMIRAGE Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 You had me at "Dirty Whore". Your tank looks great and SPS are terribly addictive Once you go hard it is hard to go soft. 2 Link to comment
kismetsh Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Wow what a gorgeous tank! 1 Link to comment
SeahawkReefer Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Very nice... tank is jammed full... almost looks like you have 50gal of coral in a 30gal lol... It looks great now, can't wait to see it grown out! 1 Link to comment
matt frizz Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 Guys! Thanks so much for your positive words! I truly appreciate it. So I came home and saw the pictures! That looks awesome! Question: What's your favorite SPS? Also, if you could only choose 1 sps to grow out into a "centerpiece" which would it be? My favorite SPS in my tank has got to be my tri-color acro. It's starting to get bushy now and the coloration is just outstanding! I want to give it a few more weeks before I take a close picture. Same with some of the other acros. I'm super partial to pocillopora though. I have a huge tree of it in the tank and I think that as far as SPS go it's going to make itself the centerpiece. It's on the left side of the tank at the top of the rock. The smaller colony of pink and green pocillopora is a baby colony that landed from that large one. It's on the complete other side of the tank. Now if I had my choice for centerpieces I would have both of the ORA Stylophoras. Purple and Green and let them grow close to each other. They're so fuzzy looking I love it. Link to comment
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