Gentlemen Prefer Cubes

[owenj]

 

Jaime!!!!!! OMG!!!!! I think about you quite often. So happy to see you posting again . How are you feeling? Thank you for the compliment!!!! What tank are you running? You'll love the Apex. I have my Razor hooked up to the Apex but it's just always in the ON position and I use the Razor's control system. It's fantastic!

 

Aww, thanks Feeling much better these days, hence the foray back into the saltwater world. Kneeling/crouching is rough, but I've been able to do simple water changes on my freshwater 20G so I think little water changes on a nano reef should be ok. After the accident I got rid of the cube but kept my Razor and custom 14L acrylic tank from Micro-reefs (I had just set that tank up before the accident, maybe a week or two used) so I'm planning on setting that up.

 

That's exactly what I was hoping to do with my light & an Apex! Good to know it'll work

[gena]

Corals are looking amazing

 

BTW your sand would be fine for a leopard.... so as long as you have a 1/4" mesh lid you (or don't mind adding one) you should be good to begin to search for a healthy specimen

Thanks, Chris! I do have a 1/4" mesh screen top on mine so I'm all set .

Gena, My Purple FF frowny too. Never really thought about until I read your post?! Damn fish is whimp! Only comes out of his cave to eat. My son wants to return him to the LFS. David

My purple FF would hide all the time in my 12g tank. I forget how many gallons you have?

I saw one once. Very pretty. VERY expensive! On a side note, we're making chicken spaghetti with a fresh chicken tomorrow. Can't wait!

Do tell!!!!! Fresh chickens? From a local farmer? Chicken is my favorite so I'd love to hear how you make this .

Wow I've known about this thread but never followed or posted so I've not been getting updates on this tank opsey

Welcome

Aww, thanks Feeling much better these days, hence the foray back into the saltwater world. Kneeling/crouching is rough, but I've been able to do simple water changes on my freshwater 20G so I think little water changes on a nano reef should be ok. After the accident I got rid of the cube but kept my Razor and custom 14L acrylic tank from Micro-reefs (I had just set that tank up before the accident, maybe a week or two used) so I'm planning on setting that up.

 

That's exactly what I was hoping to do with my light & an Apex! Good to know it'll work

So glad you are feeling better! Are you still going to concentrate on blastos? You had such an amazing collection. They are kind of my obsession right now .

 

 

 

 

Interesting observation this afternoon. Just went to feed the tank and noticed my pink BTA was more bubbly than it's been in a long time. What's changed? Well, no more kalk drip and I've been testing a lot and reconfiguring my dosing to get levels in the normal/average range. Before my alk was running in the 10-11 dKH range, but now I'm in the 9-10 dKH range. I wonder if that's the difference between bubbles and no bubbles??????

 

I've now got all the pieces to setup the doser. I'll probably do it on Friday when I do my water change.

 

Here are some pictures of the more bubbly pink BTA today The thing is getting huge! Today I had to move the plates over to the right more and move the vice zoas over to the clam area because the BTA was touching them. Interestingly the zoas did not close up and the orange plate made the BTA retract when they touched. I was very surprised.

 

Pictures.....

 

 

 

[Zia]

^ Mmmmm that's some serious coral porn G

[Chris!]

Thanks, Chris! I do have a 1/4" mesh screen top on mine so I'm all set .

 

Great!!! Goodluck finding a healthy one, be sure to try to inspect its face/mouth to be sure there are no injuries and you will improve your odds of success greatly

[nevermore1701]

 

Do tell!!!!! Fresh chickens? From a local farmer? Chicken is my favorite so I'd love to hear how you make this .

 

 

One of ours, ended up with an extra rooster

[Pancetta]

"My purple FF would hide all the time in my 12g tank. I forget how many gallons you have?"

 

14 gallon Biocube. Might consider another FF if that would help him come out more. But, I am at 3 fish

now and 4 might be pushing it in terms of bioload. I do not have a skimmer. Just do a 2 or 3 gallon water

change once a week.

 

 

[gena]

^ Mmmmm that's some serious coral porn G

Uh huh

 

Great!!! Goodluck finding a healthy one, be sure to try to inspect its face/mouth to be sure there are no injuries and you will improve your odds of success greatly

Thanks! If I do get one I'll order it from LA.

 

One of ours, ended up with an extra rooster

Was he delicious?

"My purple FF would hide all the time in my 12g tank. I forget how many gallons you have?"

 

14 gallon Biocube. Might consider another FF if that would help him come out more. But, I am at 3 fish

now and 4 might be pushing it in terms of bioload. I do not have a skimmer. Just do a 2 or 3 gallon water

change once a week.

 

 

I thought it was a 12 or 14. I wouldn't get another in that size tank. I think mine did poorly because the tank was too small. I have to agree with your son...trade it in for something that you can enjoy .

 

 

So.....the BTA that is more bubbly today decided to walk. Maybe THAT'S why it got all bubbly . Anyways, I didn't like where it was going...too close to the monticaps and my gold maxima. So I reconfigured those rocks. Hopefully this will keep it at least away from the gold maxima .

 

Got my BRS additives all mixed up today. Easy peasy . Can't wait to get this doser online!

[nevermore1701]

Was indeed delicious!

[gena]

Was indeed delicious!

So how do you serve it? Chicken meat, pasta, what kind of sauce?

[ninjamyst]

my eyes....blinded by all the sparkles on that nem

[gena]

my eyes....blinded by all the sparkles on that nem

 

Well that anemone is now two. It split in the night. Unfortunately it detached and floated to the monticap rocks. It won't stay there because it's too shaded. I just need to wait for it to start walking up the glass so I can retrieve it LOL. I'm such an anemone noob. I sent Lawnman a PM for advice on the new baby .

 

I just hope it doesn't move too much during the day today. We're headed to the beach so I won't be here to keep an eye on it . I'm a bit worried about what it's going to do. I have the foam cover on my mp10 so we're good there. I just hope it doesn't cover my overflow thingy and disaster happens. Ugh...bad timing here.

[owenj]

So glad you are feeling better! Are you still going to concentrate on blastos? You had such an amazing collection. They are kind of my obsession right now .

 

You know it, lady! Happy to see that they're a bit more plentiful at better prices than they were 18 months ago too Hoping to get one of the pygmy wrasses and a firefish instead of clowns this time around too. Ultimate goal would be a clam sometime in 2015.

 

& those BTAs look awesome! Love the fluorescent bits you can see on the last pic.

[gena]

You know it, lady! Happy to see that they're a bit more plentiful at better prices than they were 18 months ago too Hoping to get one of the pygmy wrasses and a firefish instead of clowns this time around too. Ultimate goal would be a clam sometime in 2015.

Woohoo . Can't wait to see you build that collection again .

[nevermore1701]

So how do you serve it? Chicken meat, pasta, what kind of sauce?

 

Used this recipe:

 

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

[got2envy]

Came in for pix and leaves satisfied

[markalot]

Love the pics.

 

I have PH envy, can't get mine much above 8 but I will re-calibrate the probe this afternoon. The Apex is nice ... I like turning things off and on from a web page.

[gena]

Used this recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

That sounds sooooo good! I still have to figure out what to make for dinner, not an easy task when exhausted. Spent the day at the beach today and the sun and sea air wore me out . I just want to crash on the couch and watch Seinfeld. That's our thing lately. My son is watching for the first time and we're enjoying them again just like the first time. We bought the whole collection on Amazon when they had a huge discount on it.

Came in for pix and leaves satisfied

Love the pics.

 

I have PH envy, can't get mine much above 8 but I will re-calibrate the probe this afternoon. The Apex is nice ... I like turning things off and on from a web page.

Thanks, Mark!

 

 

The split anemone didn't move much from this morning. Still on that rock and in the shade. Not sure how this is going to turn out. I can't remove the rocks without destroying the monticaps and that isn't going to happen .

[Chris!]

Thanks! If I do get one I'll order it from LA.

 

Personally, I would buy one you can see in person. LA has the guarantee and all that is nice but they have to be shipped again (And I know a local that had somethin like 17 out of 21 show up doa, and one died a couple days later from mouth injuries that prevented it from eating...). If you have a good LFS available to you, that would be my 1st choice.... then you can look it over/observe it and watch it eat or if your crazy like me atleast peck the glass/rocks constantly (If it is pecking it likely doesn't have mouth injuries, and doing some natural hunting)

[gena]

 

Personally, I would buy one you can see in person. LA has the guarantee and all that is nice but they have to be shipped again (And I know a local that had somethin like 17 out of 21 show up doa, and one died a couple days later from mouth injuries that prevented it from eating...). If you have a good LFS available to you, that would be my 1st choice.... then you can look it over/observe it and watch it eat or if your crazy like me atleast peck the glass/rocks constantly (If it is pecking it likely doesn't have mouth injuries, and doing some natural hunting)

My LFS down the street can get me pretty much any fish I ask for. It just might take a few weeks/months before he gets it. I'll tell him to keep an eye out for me .

[jedimasterben]

Personally, I would buy one you can see in person. LA has the guarantee and all that is nice but they have to be shipped again (And I know a local that had somethin like 17 out of 21 show up doa, and one died a couple days later from mouth injuries that prevented it from eating...). If you have a good LFS available to you, that would be my 1st choice.... then you can look it over/observe it and watch it eat or if your crazy like me atleast peck the glass/rocks constantly (If it is pecking it likely doesn't have mouth injuries, and doing some natural hunting)

All of this. I've never heard of a leopard wrasse coming in that will eat prepared foods, so it absolutely needs to be watched for at least a week to make sure it's not gonna croak from shipping stress, and then it usually takes a few weeks more for them to even think about prepared foods, so be forewarned.

 

But once they do, they'll literally eat anything you put in the tank.

 

 

Mine when I first got her May of last year:

 

 

And from early June this year:

[Cameron6796]

Such gorgeous fish, like a mandarin lol so Purrdy but if you can't feed it its gonna die. Lucky that both are piglets once eating.

[Chris!]

All of this. I've never heard of a leopard wrasse coming in that will eat prepared foods, so it absolutely needs to be watched for at least a week to make sure it's not gonna croak from shipping stress, and then it usually takes a few weeks more for them to even think about prepared foods, so be forewarned.

 

+100 And don't go messing around in the sand looking for it, even if you don't see it for a week +.

 

 

But once they do, they'll literally eat anything you put in the tank.

 

And quite vigorously as well, my potters male would dart in front of my 6+" Passer Angel (which are known to be pretty aggressive lol) and steal food pretty much out of its mouth as he was sucking it in lol

 

 

Beautiful fish BTW Ben

[gena]

All of this. I've never heard of a leopard wrasse coming in that will eat prepared foods, so it absolutely needs to be watched for at least a week to make sure it's not gonna croak from shipping stress, and then it usually takes a few weeks more for them to even think about prepared foods, so be forewarned.

 

 

But once they do, they'll literally eat anything you put in the tank.

 

 

Mine when I first got her May of last year:

 

And from early June this year:

Looks like the colors change as they get older? I see yellow on the fins in the more recent photo. I'm wondering if I want to take on another challenging fish????

 

 

Anemone update.....nada. Still in the same spot .

 

I have to brag about my deal today. Did some online shopping before coming on NR. I bought 2 cardigan sweaters, a sweatshirt, a tank top, and a t-shirt for a grand total of $18.44, from Gap. 30% off the sale price and I had a $40 rewards credit. Not too shabby . Couldn't have done better at a thrift store .

 

Ok...back to tank stuff. Today is cleaning day. I didn't do my water change on Tuesday like normal because I'm trying to figure out my consumption of alk, ca, and mg in a 24 hour period. I've got the Alk figured out. I need to dose 40ml over a 24 hour period. Calcium has me confused though. It rises and falls without me dosing. How is that possible? The only thing I can think of is some of the kalk residue is still on the side of the sump and maybe it's coming from that? I have no clue at all. It fluctuates between 415 and 425 without my dosing anything at all this whole week. It's a new test kit too. Anyone have any ideas? Magnesium isn't fluctuating at all either. It seems stuck at 1500. But I know magnesium doesn't drop like alk and calcium does.

 

Gonna hook up the doser today .

 

Oh...and I'm going back to one water change a week. I'll see how the tank reacts to that.

 

 

One more thing. I need suggestions. Which model Dyson is the best? My Hoover died on me yesterday and my husband told to research the Dyson. I haven't started researching them yet but I'm looking for reviews from anyone that already has one here????? Looks like I'll be getting that instead of a Roomba .

[nevermore1701]

 

One more thing. I need suggestions. Which model Dyson is the best? My Hoover died on me yesterday and my husband told to research the Dyson. I haven't started researching them yet but I'm looking for reviews from anyone that already has one here????? Looks like I'll be getting that instead of a Roomba .

 

We have the DC65 Multifloor. Fantastic vacuum that rarely gets used now that we have the Roomba

 

Also, apparently my Cardinal is an asshole, killed the firefish. Maybe I'll try a bigger clown or a six-line, they're fairly feisty.

[jedimasterben]

+100 And don't go messing around in the sand looking for it, even if you don't see it for a week +.

What I had forgotten to mention is that this fish has survived when all others haven't. I lost basically all of my fish and pulled the couple that were left out and into a holding tank, drained my 80 until there was only about 6" of water in it, and pretty much just left it to see what corals would survive. Well, about a month later, I am walking past the tank and holy shitballs, there she is, cruisin the few rocks I left in there, fat and happy as ever.

 

And quite vigorously as well, my potters male would dart in front of my 6+" Passer Angel (which are known to be pretty aggressive lol) and steal food pretty much out of its mouth as he was sucking it in lol

Mine will pick pellets out of the smaller fish's mouths, I have some 1mm pellets that my smaller fish have to kinda chew on to eat them, and she'll just swim by and swipe it. The other fish are left there like dafuq just happened!

 

Beautiful fish BTW Ben

thanks

 

Looks like the colors change as they get older? I see yellow on the fins in the more recent photo. I'm wondering if I want to take on another challenging fish????

Yes, she appears to be starting the initial phase of sex change.