Mirya's Floridian Flower Garden - All kinds of new things!

[spectra]

 

We are completely on the same wavelength on the DOS! Too bad Apex only has sales once in a blue moon.

 

Mmmm all those wings...

 

On the left in my photo, that is a gorgonian. If I remember correctly, it is a Eunicea sp I got from Aquascapers. Even if I have the genus wrong, it is a photosynthetic Caribbean coral.

 

Your GSP are really cool! 15 years ago when I had a tank, I had a bit of GSP that after I fragged it, one of the edges curled and formed a tube. Never got anywhere as long as your tube though. That's really neat!

 

Incidentally, Reefbuilders just did a story today on a new species of GSP. (It is a species that probably is in aquaria already, just newly recognized as being its own species.) In the picture they showed of this new species, the mats can take on a cylinder form:

 

FYI the DOS is not on sale.....I messaged Marine Depot and that is the price now. I asked how long it would be on sale and they said they thought it was a price drop and then confirmed it to me in a message.

 

Yes after looking I figured it might be a Gorgonian as I think I actually have that one in my tank now....

 

Thanks for the article.

[Spenseriana]

So ... are you still going to make a PDF vivarium out of that Solana? It's such a great shape for it.

[Mirya]

So ... are you still going to make a PDF vivarium out of that Solana? It's such a great shape for it.

 

Yup, just dealing with the getting settled in to NC. We are going to be house hunting this spring too. But ya, frooooooooooogggggggggssss by summer hopefully.

[gena]

Did you get the blastos today????

[Spenseriana]

I'm just going to leave this here.

[Mirya]

Did you get the blastos today????

 

Too cold for Cherry Corals to ship! They think next week. I do have a picture of the frag I'm getting though now though!

 

I'm just going to leave this here.

 

Oh man...

 

Sploosh.

[vlangel]

I love frogggggggssssss! That should be fun.

[FlowerMama]

Oooh, that's a dandy!!! P-R-E T-T-Y!!

[jedimasterben]

Too cold for Cherry Corals to ship!

Was that their excuse or did the temperatures make you nervous and postpone? Cold weather is the best time to ship, as heat packs get the box hot and can keep it there for 72 hours. A cold pack will last about 8 hours at best when the weather is warm. Corals also tolerate cold far better than they do hot.

 

Ask LiveAquaria and Bluezoo what the best time of year to ship is and both say winter, hands down.

[Slowtwitch]

Was that their excuse or did the temperatures make you nervous and postpone? Cold weather is the best time to ship, as heat packs get the box hot and can keep it there for 72 hours. A cold pack will last about 8 hours at best when the weather is warm. Corals also tolerate cold far better than they do hot.

Ask LiveAquaria and Bluezoo what the best time of year to ship is and both say winter, hands down.

well since temps where Cherry is located have been in the teens the past several days with single digits at night, I wouldn't want them to ship my stuff either. Hard to fight those temps.

[Mirya]

Was that their excuse or did the temperatures make you nervous and postpone? Cold weather is the best time to ship, as heat packs get the box hot and can keep it there for 72 hours. A cold pack will last about 8 hours at best when the weather is warm. Corals also tolerate cold far better than they do hot.

 

Ask LiveAquaria and Bluezoo what the best time of year to ship is and both say winter, hands down.

 

It was Cherry's call to postpone. They want their temps to be over 20 to ship. I've certainly gotten winter shipments in the past and agree it is better than summer shipping, but given the arctic blast descending upon the Midwest...

[gena]

Too cold for Cherry Corals to ship! They think next week. I do have a picture of the frag I'm getting though now though!

Wow

 

It is very similar to mine. Mine is darker but similar color arrangement. Very nice .

[FlowerMama]

So we need an update on your corals!! and how's the big tank doing? How've you both been adjusting? All I can tell you is when I moved from Indiana/Chicago to here, I had to slooow my rate of speech down and at the same time reallly listen in so I could try to understand what people were saying with their southern accent.. Maybe it's not so bad in Raleigh, but I didn't know any more ways to say,what? pardon me, excuse me, say that again, come again, I missed that last part.

[Mirya]

So we need an update on your corals!! and how's the big tank doing? How've you both been adjusting? All I can tell you is when I moved from Indiana/Chicago to here, I had to slooow my rate of speech down and at the same time reallly listen in so I could try to understand what people were saying with their southern accent.. Maybe it's not so bad in Raleigh, but I didn't know any more ways to say,what? pardon me, excuse me, say that again, come again, I missed that last part.

 

I plan on cleaning the tank tomorrow, so I'll have to tank pictures afterwards! I did get my shipment from Cherry Corals this week which had the Bleeding Heart Blastos. I'm very happy with them! My Blasto collection is getting ridiculous though! In addition I bought a small Goni to try. I've always liked Gonis, but hadn't tried them before so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It's an aquacultured strain, so I think it should do well. Finally the last piece I got from CC is a frag of Space Invader Pectinia. I've always been intrigued by that coral, so decided to snap up a piece during their sale.

 

In other tank news, I decided to spring for the fancy doser and ordered a DOS. I'm taking advantage of BRS' N-R Group Buy this weekend and so am getting 10x point on it. Also, I chatted with Dave about my plans once I eventually get the Florida tank re-established. He is going to take my Quad light and convert it to a Hybrid! I'm very excited about this!

 

I did rehome one of my emerald crabs today. They did a fantastic job on the annoying algaes growing on the live rock. But once that was gone, they completely ignored some of the hair algae on the frag rack and started stealing food from corals. I thought I was keeping the crabs occupied by giving them their own meals at feeding time, but I realized last night it wasn't enough. The biggest one was eating a RFA. I had noticed a few RFA go MIA in the past few weeks. I assumed the RFAs had just crawled around on the rock to an area I couldn't see. Nope. Big crab has been eating them. Last night he was walking around with an RFA in one pincer, ripping chunks out of it with his other pincer. Not gunna lie, I debated smashing him when I saw it. Instead I threw him in jail and took him to a LFS today.

 

Work is going well. I'm settling in. Still pinching myself that this is real! Living on 3-6 month contracts for so many years at OSU, essentially being told I wasn't worthy of a permanent faculty position did a number on my professional self-esteem. As a woman in a science field, there is a tendency for imposter syndrome anyway, but after OSU I have it in spades. Everyone at NCSU keeps insisting that they really like me though.

 

In other big news we have been pre-approved for a home loan, so we are going to start house hunting. Been browsing Zillow all week and even dropped in on an open house today. The house was very adorable, but my husband looked at me and said, "This won't work, I don't see a good space for the fish tanks!"

[FlowerMama]

Ah yes, fish tank walls must be considered! Smart man. Definitely a keeper! I don' t know how it is there but at least here the market is rough, definitely a seller's market. My friend is having same issue I had, so many people looking at few things. She offered full price on her 3 br condo last weekend but she got the contract though. How is the market there?

 

Wow, I've never heard of an emerald eating rfa. That's horrible. I think I would have chucked it and then made sure Hagen didn't pick it up or thrown it against a wall or something and I don't consider myself violent by any means, I just love my rfa.

 

The pics I've seen of some pectinia recently are gorgeous! Can't wait to see it. That's awesome that he can mod the light.

[teenyreef]

Wow, I'm glad everything is going so well! My emerald did exactly the same thing after he cleaned up all the algae, too. He went to live at the LFS and I don't miss him a bit

[Mirya]

I cleaned the tank yesterday and took some pictures tonight. It is getting late though, so I'll work on cleaning up and uplodaing the pictures tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a teaser:

[Felicia]

How wonderfully pouffy!

[ReefWeeds]

I think that there are branching strains of GSP. I want some of yours! PM me if you want to cut it at some point

 

Back off, Jedi i called dibs

Those blastos lOoking good, Mirya!

[Subsea]

I plan on cleaning the tank tomorrow, so I'll have to tank pictures afterwards! I did get my shipment from Cherry Corals this week which had the Bleeding Heart Blastos. I'm very happy with them! My Blasto collection is getting ridiculous though! In addition I bought a small Goni to try. I've always liked Gonis, but hadn't tried them before so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It's an aquacultured strain, so I think it should do well. Finally the last piece I got from CC is a frag of Space Invader Pectinia. I've always been intrigued by that coral, so decided to snap up a piece during their sale.

 

In other tank news, I decided to spring for the fancy doser and ordered a DOS. I'm taking advantage of BRS' N-R Group Buy this weekend and so am getting 10x point on it. Also, I chatted with Dave about my plans once I eventually get the Florida tank re-established. He is going to take my Quad light and convert it to a Hybrid! I'm very excited about this!

 

I did rehome one of my emerald crabs today. They did a fantastic job on the annoying algaes growing on the live rock. But once that was gone, they completely ignored some of the hair algae on the frag rack and started stealing food from corals. I thought I was keeping the crabs occupied by giving them their own meals at feeding time, but I realized last night it wasn't enough. The biggest one was eating a RFA. I had noticed a few RFA go MIA in the past few weeks. I assumed the RFAs had just crawled around on the rock to an area I couldn't see. Nope. Big crab has been eating them. Last night he was walking around with an RFA in one pincer, ripping chunks out of it with his other pincer. Not gunna lie, I debated smashing him when I saw it. Instead I threw him in jail and took him to a LFS today.

 

Work is going well. I'm settling in. Still pinching myself that this is real! Living on 3-6 month contracts for so many years at OSU, essentially being told I wasn't worthy of a permanent faculty position did a number on my professional self-esteem. As a woman in a science field, there is a tendency for imposter syndrome anyway, but after OSU I have it in spades. Everyone at NCSU keeps insisting that they really like me though.

 

In other big news we have been pre-approved for a home loan, so we are going to start house hunting. Been browsing Zillow all week and even dropped in on an open house today. The house was very adorable, but my husband looked at me and said, "This won't work, I don't see a good space for the fish tanks!"

Your tank aquascaping is gorgeous. I keep a 55G lagoon/patch reef that is heavy with gorgonians. You made me laugh when you put your Emerald Crab in jail. I have a FRA for several years. What do you feed it? Mine is 6" across. I had no idea they had seperate sexes. Go figure. Lifting the skirt of an anemone to determine the sex. We have a risky hobby here.

[metrokat]

BRS dosers can be controlled via Apex too, mine are.

[Mirya]

How wonderfully pouffy!

 

Inorite?!?

 

Sticks are kinda cool, but I"m such a sucker for poofy LPS! Just look at them!

 

Those blastos lOoking good, Mirya!

 

Here's my whole current Blasto obsession collection, newest ones are middle of the bottom row:

 

Your tank aquascaping is gorgeous. I keep a 55G lagoon/patch reef that is heavy with gorgonians. You made me laugh when you put your Emerald Crab in jail. I have a FRA for several years. What do you feed it? Mine is 6" across. I had no idea they had seperate sexes. Go figure. Lifting the skirt of an anemone to determine the sex. We have a risky hobby here.

 

Awe thanks! My aquascaping isn't much of anything while things are holding in this frag tank, but I can't wait til we buy a house and I set up the new tank and play with the scape!

 

I feed my RFA some of the same food I feed my fish a few times a week. I feed frozen to my fish, Mainly LRS Fish Frenzy. In fact, I feed LRS Fish Frenzy to my Blastos and other LPS too!

 

Here's pictures of everything that is currently chillin' in the frag tank. I swear I had just cleaned the tank the day before I took these pictures, but it never ceases to amaze me how quickly detritus will reaccumulate. And yes, even though my emerald crabs did great on most of my nuisance algae, they never touch the GHA (jerks) so I do have some of that, mostly on the racks.

 

So first off, some top down shots of the tank to give you a general lay of the land. Top down towards the left, this is the brighter side of the tank:

 

Top down towards the right is the dimmer side of the tank. There is the corner for filtration equipment and my NPS corals live in the darkest side.

 

Speaking of NPS, here they are along with a photobombing Basslet! They include Hidden Cup Corals, a fathead Dendro, and a Balano. The Balano gets amazing when lights are out. When I took the pictures he was all retracted.

 

I have a row of Acans (although I suppose I should call them Micromussas now, their taxonomy was just changed) along the front of the tank:

 

Top down showing the pinkish Acan as well as my button Scolies. The red button is pretty new. I got it from AquaSD last month:

 

After I had fed the fish, the red button definitely was "smelling" food and hungry!

 

I plunked the Elegance in my old wrasse den, so it isn't stinging anything nearby. My favia collection is down below and RFA rock and Ricordea rock are behind it:

 

Top down:

 

Close up on some of my favorite favias:

 

My popular P grandis, trumpet collection, Duncans, and baby plate coral:

 

And finally, my green banded serpent who lives in the dark corner back by the skimmer comes out when I feed. Here he is mooning you!

[gena]

I cleaned the tank yesterday and took some pictures tonight. It is getting late though, so I'll work on cleaning up and uplodaing the pictures tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a teaser:

Yummy .

 

This is the most eye candy I've seen in one thread......like EVER .

[ReefWeeds]

 

Inorite?!?

 

Sticks are kinda cool, but I"m such a sucker for poofy LPS! Just look at them!

 

 

Here's my whole current Blasto obsession collection, newest ones are middle of the bottom row:

 

 

Awe thanks! My aquascaping isn't much of anything while things are holding in this frag tank, but I can't wait til we buy a house and I set up the new tank and play with the scape!

 

I feed my RFA some of the same food I feed my fish a few times a week. I feed frozen to my fish, Mainly LRS Fish Frenzy. In fact, I feed LRS Fish Frenzy to my Blastos and other LPS too!

 

Here's pictures of everything that is currently chillin' in the frag tank. I swear I had just cleaned the tank the day before I took these pictures, but it never ceases to amaze me how quickly detritus will reaccumulate. And yes, even though my emerald crabs did great on most of my nuisance algae, they never touch the GHA (jerks) so I do have some of that, mostly on the racks.

 

So first off, some top down shots of the tank to give you a general lay of the land. Top down towards the left, this is the brighter side of the tank:

 

Top down towards the right is the dimmer side of the tank. There is the corner for filtration equipment and my NPS corals live in the darkest side.

 

Speaking of NPS, here they are along with a photobombing Basslet! They include Hidden Cup Corals, a fathead Dendro, and a Balano. The Balano gets amazing when lights are out. When I took the pictures he was all retracted.

 

I have a row of Acans (although I suppose I should call them Micromussas now, their taxonomy was just changed) along the front of the tank:

 

Top down showing the pinkish Acan as well as my button Scolies. The red button is pretty new. I got it from AquaSD last month:

 

After I had fed the fish, the red button definitely was "smelling" food and hungry!

 

I plunked the Elegance in my old wrasse den, so it isn't stinging anything nearby. My favia collection is down below and RFA rock and Ricordea rock are behind it:

 

Top down:

 

Close up on some of my favorite favias:

 

My popular P grandis, trumpet collection, Duncans, and baby plate coral:

 

And finally, my green banded serpent who lives in the dark corner back by the skimmer comes out when I feed. Here he is mooning you!

 

Those blastos. All of it. Amazing, Mirya!

Yummy .

 

This is the most eye candy I've seen in one thread......like EVER .

I know! I was thinking the same thing. If I was gonna start burgling, I would start with Mirya's house

[ReefWeeds]

hey is that a little baby RFA in with the grandis palys???