Herptile Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 Those were my goals when I first started, except Kat wasn't so famous back then........ I've been lurking for over a year before I actually registered and her thread was constantly on the top threads. Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 This month's photodump and video: Still loving all the textures and colors in your tank! Everything looks really happy and healthy. Happen to know the name of the bright green SPS near the clown and the teal SPS bottom left? Link to comment
Herptile Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 Still loving all the textures and colors in your tank! Everything looks really happy and healthy. Happen to know the name of the bright green SPS near the clown and the teal SPS bottom left? Thank you! Actually everyone's a little pale right now. The closest ID I have on the green sps near the clown is a green Montipora digitata. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/detailed_image.cfm?pCatId=1275 The teal sps on the bottom left is actually just green. Only my very old digicam makes it look like it's teal. Truth is I don't really know any of my sps. The one in the middle looks like an Acropora valida and I have another one that looks like a BOP birdsnest. Link to comment
Polarcollision Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Thank you! Actually everyone's a little pale right now. The closest ID I have on the green sps near the clown is a green Montipora digitata. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/detailed_image.cfm?pCatId=1275 The teal sps on the bottom left is actually just green. Only my very old digicam makes it look like it's teal. Truth is I don't really know any of my sps. The one in the middle looks like an Acropora valida and I have another one that looks like a BOP birdsnest. Yeah, I wrote all my purchases in a little notepad so I'd remember the names. Easy to forget them. After installing dosing pumps and an osmolator I finally got water quality under control and my tiny little 1" SPS frags are finally growing!!! Of course that means I'm bitten by the bug and want more... like those green ones you have. :-) Link to comment
Herptile Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Yeah, I wrote all my purchases in a little notepad so I'd remember the names. Easy to forget them. After installing dosing pumps and an osmolator I finally got water quality under control and my tiny little 1" SPS frags are finally growing!!! Of course that means I'm bitten by the bug and want more... like those green ones you have. :-) I remember when I started out, I said I'll only have softies so that when they die they'll just melt away and it's like they were never there, unlike hard corals who leave a skeleton behind for me to see and always be reminded. But I couldn't resist a blasto I saw, followed eventually by acans and a goniopora. When my friend gave me 2 sps frags to try out, I was pretty sure they'd kick the bucket. One of them was the valida-looking sps. I did lose a plating montipora (rtn in less than 24 h), rose milli and green tabling acro frags though. Yeah, this tank doesn't have space for ATOs, dosers and pretty much anything else anymore so I do everything manually. It's OK though. That green sps is actually the best sps grower in my tank. It does feel good when you see your sps encrusting and putting out growth tips. The sps bug has well and truly bitten me. Glad yours are growing now. Link to comment
markalot Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I love the acros mounted on snail shells. Link to comment
Herptile Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 I love the acros mounted on snail shells. Thanks. Waste not, want not. Calling the detritus police. In other news, looks like Tiny is going to be a mom again. New pet! Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Pic update, please! Thanks! Well, bad news first. The tank has seen better days. I lost all my xeniid corals, including my beloved Cespitularia that I've had for over a year. In fact, the Anthelia withered even faster than the Xenias I had before. What they had in common was they both did well and grew for a while. After reading Zeph's Batman cave thread, I most likely starved out my corals (even the sps) due to too much (?) detritus removal, water changes and carbon use. Some of the zoas shrunk and I even lost some nass snails in the process. I also think that the hot summer had something to do with it. My temps climbed to mid 80'sF despite having the fan and a room fan directed at the surface. It wasn't like this last year. Here's my bleached birdnest. Here's what the tank looks like now right after a water change. You can see it was a lot nicer looking before. I've thought about addressing these problems by: 1. increased feeding, 2. removing the carbon or 3. less frequent and/or less volume water changes (maybe just enough to get the detritus out). I think I'll go with number 3, unless anyone has a better idea. I'd appreciate any and all tips. Thanks. For non-tank related good news, Tiny laid her third clutch a month ago. Then her daughter Three had her first clutch last week. Link to comment
markalot Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 TAnk still looks good, even with the issues. Do you have any algae growth. That might be a good indicator for water changes. Link to comment
The Salt Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Nice job! Everyone looks healthy and happy. Keep up the great work. Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 TAnk still looks good, even with the issues. Do you have any algae growth. That might be a good indicator for water changes. Thanks. No nuisance algae growth that I can see. Nice job! Everyone looks healthy and happy. Keep up the great work. Thanks. That was certainly true a couple of months ago. I need to get it back on track now. Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 looks great Thank you. Making belts I hope Nah, it's far cheaper and easier to just buy belts at the department store. Link to comment
metrokat Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Sorry to hear about heat and nutrient related issues in the tank. When temperatures are high, you can maintain coral health by feeding excessively. Corals will metabolize faster and in order to keep up with the demand you have to feed them much more than your normal routine. You can keep up with the water changes to make yourself feel better, do a heavy feeding and change the water the next day. But reducing the % you change out each time is important. No more than 10 %. Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 Sorry to hear about heat and nutrient related issues in the tank. When temperatures are high, you can maintain coral health by feeding excessively. Corals will metabolize faster and in order to keep up with the demand you have to feed them much more than your normal routine. You can keep up with the water changes to make yourself feel better, do a heavy feeding and change the water the next day. But reducing the % you change out each time is important. No more than 10 %. Thank you Kat. I'll try that. I'm just stumped at why doing a normally good thing (like siphoning detritus) would have negative effects. I didn't start to remove detritus from the main tank until recently (there's a pic of what I got from the main display a few posts up), only what was in the HOB filter and fuge. I was also doing large water changes (2-4 gallons) before. Everything was happy. It's not like I'm removing all the gunk. I'll bet there are still lots in those nooks and crannies and under the rocks that I can't reach. I figured if I didn't start removing them, I'd run into the opposite problem sooner or later (excess nutrients). I just didn't think something like this would happen. Link to comment
mejamis Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 I think it is the heat, What is the highest temp reading you got? Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 I think it is the heat, What is the highest temp reading you got? Yep, I think the heat also contributed to these issues. Highest I got was 85-86F with the fans on. Right now, during a night of rain, it's 81F. Link to comment
markalot Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 As I understand it 85 is really the limit before stress starts showing up, and that's just a general limit. Some corals will stress at lower temps, some higher. Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 26, 2013 Author Share Posted May 26, 2013 As I understand it 85 is really the limit before stress starts showing up, and that's just a general limit. Some corals will stress at lower temps, some higher. That's also what I got from the threads I've been reading here. Believe me, it wasn't just the corals that were stressing out. Link to comment
1.0reef Posted May 26, 2013 Share Posted May 26, 2013 Looks great, maybe get some more fans, also try and see if the temp fluctuates a lot from night to day. Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 Looks great, maybe get some more fans, also try and see if the temp fluctuates a lot from night to day. It was around 82-83F at night. Link to comment
metrokat Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I didn't start to remove detritus from the main tank until recently (there's a pic of what I got from the main display a few posts up), Pfft. That's not detritus, this is detritus, when you're afraid it's going to clog the toilet: Link to comment
Herptile Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 Pfft. That's not detritus, this is detritus, when you're afraid it's going to clog the toilet: Buuuuuuuut you have a bigger tank. How many months' worth of detritus is that? Link to comment
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