Steaming Pile of Spec - Carnage Edition

[Cameron6796]

Looking good also new page lol

[Kalanianaole]

Had to sell the clown pair since they are pooping machines. Miss the movement, but the nitrate battle was too involving since the tank will be skimmerless. The dragon breath algae looks nice, but doesn't grow near fast enough to capture enough nutrients to justify keeping the clowns.

 

Not happy with the color I'm getting, I also started dosing some Zeovit additives that work outside of the ZV system. Starting to see better coloration after two weeks, with the acros not being completly browned out and the stylos getting some shimmer. Fingers crossed this keeps up.

 

Went to a local reefer on Sunday to pick up five frags, went home with ten for the same price. DC has a great community here with generous people who enjoy sharing frags. I've updated stocking the list and will try to carve out the time to do a final(ish) glue down of the new frags plus last months batch which are still on plugs in the sand. More and better are forthcoming too.

 

Till then, here's a FTS from a few weeks ago (the viewer is invited to ignore messy kitchen in the background):

[lecroj]

What Zeovit additives are you using. I may want to try that.

[ninjamyst]

yea, clowns are pigs. what fish will you get next?

[Kalanianaole]

What Zeovit additives are you using. I may want to try that.

I'm using the Nano Pack which has four different kinds. While I feel all are helping, I will say Sponge Power is visibly working. I didn't have any visible sponges and now there's two kinds growing. As expensive as things in this hobby can be, so far I'm not regretting the $50 experiment.

 

yea, clowns are pigs. what fish will you get next?

Well. Reeeeally want to do a Tanaka wrasse. Their swiming habits and are mellow enough it might work in the Spec since it's so long. But I don't want to be cruel, so it might just be a pair of firefish. Kinda disappointed with the blenny, he doesn't have as much personality as everyone says. Might also trade out the blenny for another shrimp goby, the hi-fin goby. Had one paired with a pistol about 8 years ago in a 2.5 and loved the thing.

[ninjamyst]

Well. Reeeeally want to do a Tanaka wrasse. Their swiming habits and are mellow enough it might work in the Spec since it's so long. But I don't want to be cruel, so it might just be a pair of firefish. Kinda disappointed with the blenny, he doesn't have as much personality as everyone says. Might also trade out the blenny for another shrimp goby, the hi-fin goby. Had one paired with a pistol about 8 years ago in a 2.5 and loved the thing.

 

firefish gets pretty big too and may hide a lot. the tanaka wrasse looks awesome though. have you looked into a hector's goby? my LFS had one and looks pretty nice in person.

[justinmb]

Looks great! Like your gorg

[Kalanianaole]

Just got back after two days away and my very juvenile Pygmy Angelfish is nowhere to be found. After feeding, checking the floor, overflow, under rocks, and being completely baffled I notice my 3" fungia is sporting a bump that was about the size of the fish. The fish was in good health and eating fine Thursday afternoon when I left. No way it starves by Saturday evening, right?

 

The problem is, I can't diagnose what the heck happened. It's a 5 gallon* and the list of predators is down to two shrimp gobies, a porcelain crab, and a small pistol shrimp. Since I got him from LiveAquaria a month ago, he's been eating and gaining weight. Temp was at 76.8 when I got back, so I had to tweak the heater, but that's not about to kill a fish with everything else being just fine.

 

Pretty confused right now.

 

*Not a forever home for the pygmy, but he was under 1.5" and the tank was ample for him right now. No signs of glass pacing or anything.

 

So did my fungia just prey on it? I've never heard of this but am I'm thinking something else had to have done it in, then the fungia just got a meal of opportunity. Thoughts?

Otherwise, tank's going pretty well. Pics incoming this weekend.

[Kalanianaole]

 

Otherwise, tank's going pretty well. Pics incoming this weekend.

 

Is it the weekend yet?

 

On the way from ERC's live sale this weekend:

 

Teal Branching Hammer!

Reg $40

Sale $26

 

Orange Fungia

Regular $65

Sale $39

 

Lobo

Regular $20

Sale $8

 

Favia

Regular $15

Sale $1

 

Baby Blue Acan

Regular $30

Sale $22

[Kalanianaole]

Almost five months in the books for this tank. Tons of additions since the last post. There are some final arrangements to do and frags to glue, but it's finally in a place where I'm not embarassed to show it off. Looking forward to watching things grow out and hopefully color up based on some new dosing.

 

11/5/14 FTS

https://flic.kr/p/pFiALQ'>

 

New ERC orange fungia + $8(!) lobo

https://flic.kr/p/pXG14D'>

 

New ERC teal hammer making friends with frogspawn from the FFE (which has already split heads 1 1/2 times)

https://flic.kr/p/pFiAHJ'>

[erinwillett]

Love that teal hammer. Any decision on fish? Almost ready to decide for my spec V as well. Thought about two small clowns, but your thread has me thinking otherwise.

[Kalanianaole]

I have a Wheeler's watchman goby paired with a Randall's pistol and a hi-fin goby that I hoped would hang out with the others, but instead is lonely in the corner with no burrow to call his own. He did much better when the juvenile pygmy angel was alive, as they pretty much paired up and hung out quite a bit. Still don't know exactly what happened to the angel (new theory is cleaning lady got a sloppy with her ammonia spray - if it spiked just a bit the angel might have been affected while the hardier gobies weren't), so both the hi-fin and I are lamenting the loss.

 

I'm thinking about a Tanaka wrasse since they stay small and the length of the Spec V could justify the swimming pattern/room (same reasoning for having the pygmy), but the slit in the top of the lid makes me nervous since they're jumpers. Also looking at a yellow assessor, but they get too big. I really miss the movement in the middle of the water column, so will probably get another pygmy angel after Christmas.

 

Phew. So long-term is to sell the watchman goby so the hi-fin will pair up with the pistol and also to reduce bioload, then stock a juvenile pygmy angel (to be moved once it outgrows the tank), and maybe an eviota or trimma goby pair to add a little more movement. If not the pair of gobies, then a fire shrimp, though they get kinda big for a 5 gallon.

 

While I did enjoy the pair of clowns, they are absolute poop machines. Plus, small clowns don't stay small for long.

[Allathlete5]

Love your tank! I'll be setting up my first nano in the next month and your thread has given me a ton of information and inspiration! I may have missed this but I didn't see an ATO in your equipment section.... Whats your top off schedule looking like?

[kimberbee]

That teal hammer...

[Kalanianaole]

Love your tank! I'll be setting up my first nano in the next month and your thread has given me a ton of information and inspiration! I may have missed this but I didn't see an ATO in your equipment section.... Whats your top off schedule looking like?

 

Thanks! Glad my over-sharing was actually useful. No ATO - haven't found a solid pre-made one for this size tank (can anyone steer me in the right direction?) that will fit in the back chamber and too anxious to do a DIY since just a little overflow can ruin things pretty quickly. Salinity gets a little bouncy, unfortunately, since I'll loose up to 1/4 cup of water a day. So I top off a little in the morning and a little in the evening. Looking for a good-looking, steady drip bottle to gravity feed the top off when I'm out of town.

 

That teal hammer...

 

That was from the ERC live sale. The second it posted it was in my cart

[MrSexyShrimp]

Almost black friday. Time to get a DSLR and macro lens

[Kalanianaole]

Almost black friday. Time to get a DSLR and macro lens

 

You sneaky sneaker. Hi.

 

I did have DSLR + macro at one point, though it's a bit out of reach right now.

 

Unless your post meant you're getting the toys...

[MrSexyShrimp]

You sneaky sneaker. Hi.

 

sneaker stalker tomato tomahto.

 

I do have a Nikon DSLR. It's an entry level one but very good. D3300 I think. No macro lens yet.

 

I bought a ~$10 accessory to reverse mount a lens to make it into a pseudo-macro but it didn't work very well. And by that I mean I don't know enough yet about my non-automatic camera settings to get it to work well. http://digital-photography-school.com/reverse-mounting-your-prime-lenses-for-affordable-macro-photography/

[teenyreef]

Your tank is beautiful. Good call on removing that small white rock. It makes it look more balanced and gives room for corals to grow.

 

For ATO, I had the same problem with limited space in the back chamber. I used a Hydor Smart Level ATO with a picnic tablecloth clip to hold the sensor. There's a picture in my build thread. The only thing I didn't like about it is that the water level has to drop about 3/8" before it kicks off, so you still get some minor swings in salinity. But it's way better than no ATO at all.

[Kalanianaole]

Your tank is beautiful. Good call on removing that small white rock. It makes it look more balanced and gives room for corals to grow.

 

For ATO, I had the same problem with limited space in the back chamber. I used a Hydor Smart Level ATO with a picnic tablecloth clip to hold the sensor. There's a picture in my build thread. The only thing I didn't like about it is that the water level has to drop about 3/8" before it kicks off, so you still get some minor swings in salinity. But it's way better than no ATO at all.

 

Thanks!

 

New FTS from last week. While the Spec V may not have the best glass or very useful overflow space, I do love the proportions. It sits on my kitchen island, separating the kitchen from the living room, and makes a great little centerpiece in the middle of everything.

 

https://flic.kr/p/pL2cns'>

[Kalanianaole]

Got a great new order with silly prices on livestock from KP Aquatics. Their shipping is $40(!), but everything arrived happy and healthy.

 

Full disclosure, I now have six fish in a five gallon: juvenile pygmy angel, Wheeler's goby, hi-fin goby, masked goby, and 2 rusty gobies. The Wheeler's gonna go to make room soon, but I plan to keep the remaining five for a while. KPA says the strain of pygmies they sell don't get above 2". We'll see and I'll be monitoring how it's doing as it gets bigger. It's a long tank and not very tall, so the five gallons is stretched compared to a cube. Combined with an open aquascape, there are good swimming lanes that ideally will provide a medium to long-term home for the angel.

 

That still leaves four gobies, all of which stay 1"-2" and simply don't need to stretch their legs since they're hoverers or rock-huggers. Again, we'll see how it goes. I'm fairly convinced that for fishes that don't burn a lot of calories, such as gobies, they're simply not going to need to eat as much and thus won't produce as much waste as say clowns or wrasses (or angels).

 

Past the fish, I got a orange spiny gorg, a bunch of dwarf cerith, a Pederson's anemone shrimp, and a tiny urchin. Algae was starting to become a thing, so this is a welcome boost to the CUC.

 

Bagged goods

 

Little man likes the Pederson's anemone shrimp

 

Ordered a mated pair of rusty gobies - this is the brave one

 

 

 

Here's a link to my first video - couldn't figure out how to post directly here if it's hosted on Flikr

 

 

Last weekend I picked up two new corals from a local grower - love the new blue/orange fungia

 

And the Japanese toadstool with pencil urchin and Wheeler's goby photobombing

[Kalanianaole]

Here's what glueing down frags looks like in a five gallon. Just take the water level down to where the lowest frag will be placed, then fill it back up. Total exposure time under five minutes if it's planned right.

 

 

And as you can see, colors in my SPS are pretty lacking, the acros especially. Blues, purples, and pinks are just absent, with brown the color du jour. Here is my "brownout" thread in the coral forum detailing everything. Would appreciate feedback any of you might have as well.

[OCNcheffy]

Here's what glueing down frags looks like in a five gallon. Just take the water level down to where the lowest frag will be placed, then fill it back up. Total exposure time under five minutes if it's planned right.

 

 

 

And as you can see, colors in my SPS are pretty lacking, the acros especially. Blues, purples, and pinks are just absent, with brown the color du jour. Here is my "brownout" thread in the coral forum detailing everything. Would appreciate feedback any of you might have as well.

I've heard that you're never supposed to expose corals to direct light like in your pic when not under the water.. I could be incorrect though if it's done in under 5 minutes. If they are above the water level, shouldn't you have all direct sources of light turned off?

[Kalanianaole]

I've heard that you're never supposed to expose corals to direct light like in your pic when not under the water.. I could be incorrect though if it's done in under 5 minutes. If they are above the water level, shouldn't you have all direct sources of light turned off?

I hadn't heard of that. I thought that since SPS in particular can be exposed at low-low tide to midday sun, it wouldn't be an issue in the home tank. Temp is more of a concern as far as I know. Still, you have me spooked so during last night's water change, I lifted the light up.

[SgtBhaji]

Love the tank... it's marvelous!

 

I'd keep that NanoMag out of the tank when you're not using it though as they have a tendency to rust.