Cream City Reef: New Macro Photos!

January 5, 2014

Hey Sooch! It's so cool that you work at Discovery World. What happened to the frag swap they used to have? I was at one I think October of 2012 (or maybe it was 11?). It was a really good scene. I wish it would happen again. (I'm from Milwaukee BTW )

The last frag swap was in 2011 and I'm sorry to say I don't see it in the near future. The main organizer of the swap no longer has much of an interest in reefing and I'm not even positive he has a tank any more. He was not one of the aquarists and the aquarists that presently do work there, along with the curator, aren't avid keepers either and have plenty of other things to keep themselves busy around here. Im trying to work my way into an aquarist position and have been talking more and more with the curator. Hopefully I can convince them to change their view on the subject at some point. Although I can guarantee it wouldn't be in the next year or two I can make an effort to stress the public interest. Hopefully sooner rather than later Ill make it to an aquarist position and have a little more sway around here.

January 7, 2014

5 new frags. 3 favids which will need ID, what I think is a rhodactis mushroom, and an atlantic gorgonian. Also, if anyone can ID the morphs of the zoas or species of acropora above Id be grateful. Boat loads of pictures before the weekend, subscribe naow!

January 7, 2014

Mexican Turbo Snails.. they are amazing.... all other snails are near useless comparatively.

January 7, 2014

The last frag swap was in 2011 and I'm sorry to say I don't see it in the near future. The main organizer of the swap no longer has much of an interest in reefing and I'm not even positive he has a tank any more. He was not one of the aquarists and the aquarists that presently do work there, along with the curator, aren't avid keepers either and have plenty of other things to keep themselves busy around here. Im trying to work my way into an aquarist position and have been talking more and more with the curator. Hopefully I can convince them to change their view on the subject at some point. Although I can guarantee it wouldn't be in the next year or two I can make an effort to stress the public interest. Hopefully sooner rather than later Ill make it to an aquarist position and have a little more sway around here.

Thanks for the update. You've got my testimony if you need it. I'd say there's definitely some public interest and would bring great publicity to the facility.

5 new frags. 3 favids which will need ID, what I think is a rhodactis mushroom, and an atlantic gorgonian. Also, if anyone can ID the morphs of the zoas or species of acropora above Id be grateful. Boat loads of pictures before the weekend, subscribe naow!

I'm not sure about the acro, but the green zoas are called Radioactive Dragon Eyes, and the orange ones are Bam Bams. Check out coralpedia for all your zoa identification needs.

http://zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=15

January 7, 2014

Me too me too!

The discovery world swap was the first one I ever went to. It was great, plus I got to see Discovery world for the first time. Which was also really cool. I found the entrance fee to be a bit high to go again. With the swap I got a discount.

January 7, 2014

Mexican Turbo Snails.. they are amazing.... all other snails are near useless comparatively.

I have one... hahaha probably not enough to really take care of the GHA problem. Albeit slowly, my hand removal and sole turbo methods are working and I am very patient. I'm confident I can beat this with what I have, I have a feeling that there really isn't much phosphate left in the wall and rock work and that it's only a matter of water changes at this point. I would like to add some decorative macrophyte but can't find any locally and don't want to ship anything when the low temp this week is -17... Might add a santamonica drop.2 algea scrubber but I still need to read more to justify another hardware purchase.

I'm not sure about the acro, but the green zoas are called Radioactive Dragon Eyes, and the orange ones are Bam Bams. Check out coralpedia for all your zoa identification needs.

http://zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=15

Thank you, I had thought that's what they were but wanted an experts opinion and some thread attention

Me too me too!

The discovery world swap was the first one I ever went to. It was great, plus I got to see Discovery world for the first time. Which was also really cool. I found the entrance fee to be a bit high to go again. With the swap I got a discount.

Wish I could do more about the swap, I'm definitely going to start bringing it up more in conversation. Admission is rather high, this is done in order to make the $85 family membership appealing. Year long membership to DW and like 500 other museums across the US for $85 is worth it in my opinion. Now that I'm done with the sales pitch... hahaha.

I'm allowed to let any friends or family in for free. If a NR member with whom I have regular contact with were to PM me the day before they wanted to go and I happened to be working I would definitely consider getting them in for free and giving a "behind the scenes" tour of the aquarium. You'd be surprised to hear how often I say this and how few people take me up on the offer, don't be shy!

January 7, 2014

I'm allowed to let any friends or family in for free. If a NR member with whom I have regular contact with were to PM me the day before they wanted to go and I happened to be working I would definitely consider getting them in for free and giving a "behind the scenes" tour of the aquarium. You'd be surprised to hear how often I say this and how few people take me up on the offer, don't be shy!

Wow! That's awesome! I'd love to get a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium. I'll be sure to PM you sometime. Thanks for the offer.

January 9, 2014

Got some new stuff from work for a fantastic deal. Need some help IDing them. Again, sorry ahead of time about the lack of quality. I'm planning on investing in a camera when funds are sufficient.

First and foremost, new FTS.

2 new frags. I believe the one on the left is in the Faviidae family and next to it is what I believe to be a Ricordea but was told is a Rhodactis mushroom?

Faviid from above next to zoas for size comparison.

Another Faviid of some sort.

Here's a closer shot of a piece which broke off the frag. Going to see what light/flow it likes better.

3rd Faviid. This is glued to the back glass in hopes that it will encrust. Has an awesome streak of teal right down the middle, hope more of this bicolor stuff pops up.

Same from above, it was Faviid giveaway day I guess. By far my favourite of the Faviids I now own.

Beautiful little gorgonian addition.

Top down. Expanding maxi mini, relocated Rhodactis?, and splitting caulastrea.

Side shot.

Center shot.

Right half where you can see the Faviid on the glass.

New orange spotted shrimp goby that I couldn't get a picture of last week. S/he's not shy at all now.

You may have heard its cold up here in WI...

January 9, 2014

I think the mushroom is a Yuma. It is very pretty!

January 9, 2014

Nice frags!

January 9, 2014

2 new frags. I believe the one on the left is in the Faviidae family and next to it is what I believe to be a Ricordea but was told is a Rhodactis mushroom?

That is not favia, but leptastrea. The other is a Yuma. I used to have a whole colony of that exact kind. Very nice yumas. It's a fast grower.

The top one here is a favia.

I believe this is referred to as a war coral favia.

BTW, give those favia plenty of room as they sting corals within 4+ inches.

February 5, 2014

February Update

I really wasn't liking the spotlight effect of the par38s I had on the tank so I decided to jump on a deal and upgrade the lighting. I bought Chadf's Coralife 4-bulb t5 fixture. I really like the improvement in coverage and I'm hoping I'll see an improvement in color.

Also changed my filtration. Live rock, small algae scrubber (just now breaking in), and purigen. I use a sponge for no more than 24hrs after feeding and an hour or two after basting detritus. I have carbon on hand just in case but have taken it out for now.

Livestock additions: 2 acropora, pink seriatopora, purple stylophora, 'meteor shower' cyphastrea, black urchin, and halimedia macro.

Lost the shrimp goby, probably to the sixline as she was seen being harrassed...

February 10, 2014

Today I woke up and my juvenille sixline wrasse was stuck to the side of my mp10. I turned it off and she sunk to the bottom hardly able to breathe. The only visible sign of stress was some flesh missing from her tail, which I think was from the powerhead. She had no redness of gills and her color wasn't abnormal in any way I could tell. I gave her 30 min on the tank bottom before I had to leave for work at which point I put her out of her misery.

I tested a sample of tank water for ammonia today at work with a spectrophotometer and it resulted in a reading of 0. I didn't have time to test for any other parameters there. NO3 and NO2 were undetectable with my seachem tests at home. Temp was 78 and standard gravity was 1.026 as usual. Corals looked great this morning and even better after work. My snails, sole hermit, and urchin are fine.

This past Monday I added 4 sps corals (glued with BSI cyanoacrylate), a branch of halimedia, and a black urchin. I also dosed the tank twice with 5mL acropower for the first time ever on Monday and Friday. New T-5s were added not too long ago. Carbon and mechanical filtration was removed a while ago as well. I also moved the rock work around recently and the wrasse lost what I had noticed was her sleeping crevice.

So far I have killed 2 clowns, an orange spotted shrimp goby, and now the wrasse. 1 clown and the goby were mysterious deaths as well. Not going further with fish until I figure out what I'm doing wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

February 10, 2014

Sorry to hear about the wrasse. Could quite possibly have been a parasitic infection for the wrasse causing it to loose strength and not being able to fight the current allowing it to get sucked against the pump. Could possibly even have been a sting from an urchin with similar results. I know a lot of urchins are quoted as being safe but can still pack a mighty punch with their sting.

February 10, 2014

Hmm...the continuous fish deaths seems more like a series of mishaps. But for precaution's sake, you can leave your tank fishless for a month or two (if you suspect disease as the prime cause), before trying out a small nano fish like a clown goby or TSB. If the nano-fish makes it for a month, then go ahead and add another fish. You might have to change your LFS - some LFS have poor shipping stock or diseased stock. It's always best to pick a fish that has been in an established tank at the LFS for a while. All of my present fish came from established tanks or were the last fish to be sold. I always had a habit of picking out the fish that I knew others wouldn't buy, and I would observe them for a week or two at the store frequently. I will also usually get a worker to feed them in front of me, to make sure they have a healthy appetite.

February 12, 2014

Sorry to hear about the wrasse. Could quite possibly have been a parasitic infection for the wrasse causing it to loose strength and not being able to fight the current allowing it to get sucked against the pump. Could possibly even have been a sting from an urchin with similar results. I know a lot of urchins are quoted as being safe but can still pack a mighty punch with their sting.

I've considered this. I've heard that wrasses go after urchins some times but she never bothered my scarlet hermit and the urchin is twice as big.

Hmm...the continuous fish deaths seems more like a series of mishaps. But for precaution's sake, you can leave your tank fishless for a month or two (if you suspect disease as the prime cause), before trying out a small nano fish like a clown goby or TSB. If the nano-fish makes it for a month, then go ahead and add another fish. You might have to change your LFS - some LFS have poor shipping stock or diseased stock. It's always best to pick a fish that has been in an established tank at the LFS for a while. All of my present fish came from established tanks or were the last fish to be sold. I always had a habit of picking out the fish that I knew others wouldn't buy, and I would observe them for a week or two at the store frequently. I will also usually get a worker to feed them in front of me, to make sure they have a healthy appetite.

Glad to hear someone thinks it might not be all my fault. Definitely going to go fishless for a while here. Going to try some inverts since those seem to do fine. (I'm thinking sexy shrimp and rbta?) One of the past clown deaths was my fault as I added dead cerith snails in the infancy of my biofilter. Mystery deaths came from 2 separate stores.

Right now I'm blaming the carpet nem or internal parasite/infection but that's not a satisfying conclusion. I plan on holding out on fish for a while and when I do purchase again I'm going to change feeding from every 3rd day to every day and possibly add selcon or other food varieties to enhance health.

Thanks for the suggestions and help Shadow n Rolla :grouphug:

April 29, 2014

Havent updated this in quite some time and a lot has changed indeed. I bought a plain old ORA ocellaris (personally think those designer mutants are an abomination) and found out why I've had missing fish. Came home one day to the new clown stuck in my carpet nem. Pulled the clown out and he survived and I removed the nem. This guy was in rough shape at the lfs and even worse after this near death encounter but has recovered almost perfectly. Caught my black spined urchin eating an acro and he had to go as well. Added a green Monti cap, a crazy green/purple favia I believe, and a new acan. Things are finally starting to grow too, New branch starting on the stylo and all the acropiras have encrusted. Brought one home brown and now it's fluorescent green with blue tips.

Placed an ORA order today for another clown, 2 neon gobies (fingers crossed), and a german blue monti digitata which will all come in on Friday. Kicking myself for not adding an orange setosa...

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