Jaime's IM Fusion 20- June update

[owenj]

sorry to hear about the blastos problems! I just got a new red blasto from Ebay. Now you have me worried...was yours from Woo's Aquatic?

Happily, the blastos are looking better today. Not fully extended, but way better than yesterday. Looks like the feeding helped out.

 

No, not Woo's Aquatic. Never ordered from them but I've heard good things. Looking forward to seeing your new blasto

 

awesome firefish!

Thanks! He's pretty cool. I'm so glad I paid the extra money to get a helfrichi.

 

Nope, Donovan's reef. I don't wanna bash them, what I got looked good when it arrived but I agree that his pics are over saturated or something. I haven't bought from Woo's myself, but I've heard good things.

+1. This is my second time ordering from Donovan & both times one blasto lived & one died. Imo they're not worth getting into bidding wars over.

 

I had no idea blastos came in so many color morphs. The huge speckled ones on the sand are my favorites. I have a small colony of solid red ones that I like better than acans because they don't turn orange. Cool theme for a tank - they're going to keep looking better and better as they grow in too.

Yea, blastos are pretty awesome. I'd love to get a true yellow (my old ones weren't super yellow) or blue one to round out the family. Can't wait to see how they grow out too! Too bad the wellsis don't grow as fast as the merlettis

[Mr. Microscope]

So many Blastos!!! Drool....

 

That garden should fill in nicely. Looking forward to more.

[gena]

Ironic...I lost my speckled colony from Morgan!!!! It did the same thing you described with your yellow. Just receded and gaped, etc. Money down the drain . I have no idea why it didn't do well. It was a different type of blasto...didn't puff up like a pillow (like the others). Always flat. Maybe it wasn't well from the get-go. Or maybe it's a fussier type. Either way...so frustrating!

 

Glad to hear the others are perking up for you .

[cindyp]

gorgeous tank! good luck with everything!

[owenj]

So many Blastos!!! Drool....

 

That garden should fill in nicely. Looking forward to more.

Erm..I may have a few more coming Can't wait for the new tanks to get here so I can actually aquascape. I've got more of a blasto pile than a garden going on right now

 

Ironic...I lost my speckled colony from Morgan!!!! It did the same thing you described with your yellow. Just receded and gaped, etc. Money down the drain . I have no idea why it didn't do well. It was a different type of blasto...didn't puff up like a pillow (like the others). Always flat. Maybe it wasn't well from the get-go. Or maybe it's a fussier type. Either way...so frustrating!

 

Glad to hear the others are perking up for you .

Oh, Gena, that sucks I know my yellows didn't appear to eat much/well, so I'm wondering if that contributed to it. Do you have any pictures that show the flat extension versus pillowy? The other blastos are back to normal so that's a relief.

 

gorgeous tank! good luck with everything!

Thanks! Off to check your build thread as I'm intrigued by the CADlights.

 

No pics yet as everyone's getting settled in, but I got my first rics and zoas for the tank! Well, I'm not sure who will be staying in this tank & who will go to the cube when it's ready, but anywho...

 

Need some advice from those of you who have had shrooms in the past/present; one of my new ric yumas came with a couple of other things attached to its rock, and I'm sure that one of them is a non-ric shroom. How invasive do they get? Not sure if it's something I want to keep or not. Although, it may be a moot point because this yuma keeps expanding bigger and bigger every time I look at it and I can't see the rock it's on anymore, so that little shroom may be smothered. But, as for the other things on the rock, would supergluing over them be preferable to trying to get the yuma to detach?

[gena]

 

Oh, Gena, that sucks I know my yellows didn't appear to eat much/well, so I'm wondering if that contributed to it. Do you have any pictures that show the flat extension versus pillowy? The other blastos are back to normal so that's a relief.

This is the fluffiest I ever saw them. And they didn't have a stalk like all the others. Maybe they weren't getting enough light? They did eat for me so it wasn't a food issue. I have no clue .

 

[owenj]

This is the fluffiest I ever saw them. And they didn't have a stalk like all the others. Maybe they weren't getting enough light? They did eat for me so it wasn't a food issue. I have no clue .

 

Weird. Maybe light, but they aren't known to be light needy. My yellows initially inflated as much as they seemed able, but just didn't work out. Ahh well.

[cindyp]

Weird. Maybe light, but they aren't known to be light needy. My yellows initially inflated as much as they seemed able, but just didn't work out. Ahh well.

 

hello! i popped in in hopes of seeing your flower

nem? but i just bought a neon yellow blasto myself,

with red skirt (?) from ASD. am reading with interest.

i don't see him "fluffy" much at all. he is all spread out with

a cap like an umbrella or mushroom top? he has been

eating well and not receding as far as i can tell.

 

my first blasto so not sure how it's supposed to look.

but i will say, it looks different than how it looked at the store

usually. (fluffy) when it eats, it closes like a mushroom too.

*insert unsure look here* ha

 

GENA, bummer you lost yours. never fun.

[owenj]

hello! i popped in in hopes of seeing your flower

nem? but i just bought a neon yellow blasto myself,

with red skirt (?) from ASD. am reading with interest.

i don't see him "fluffy" much at all. he is all spread out with

a cap like an umbrella or mushroom top? he has been

eating well and not receding as far as i can tell.

 

my first blasto so not sure how it's supposed to look.

but i will say, it looks different than how it looked at the store

usually. (fluffy) when it eats, it closes like a mushroom too.

*insert unsure look here* ha

 

GENA, bummer you lost yours. never fun.

Been holding off on updating this thread partially due to tank woes & partially due to waiting for the tank situations to settle. If your blasto isn't receded or gaping I wouldn't worry; let it settle into your tank. They don't like high light or high flow. My red-green blastos completely close up when they eat too, but most of the others just funnel the food to their mouths and stay open while they eat.

 

About the tank woes: I had a spike in water params when a torch I got brown jellied, & then over the following day & a half as I tried to save it. I lost the diablos despite it looking like they were going to pull through. Also in the process of losing the red-bluish center single polyp I got from the same ebay seller as the yellow blastos, which is really upsetting because it went from being open and eating to receded back to the skeleton and gaping overnight . The single polyp with the white ring that gaped for almost an entire week is still receded slightly, but the mouth is closed and it has eaten a little bit since. Feeling cautiously optimistic for it.

 

Fortunately, despite losing at least a head each on the orange/blue rims and red mini-colonies, it looks like they're going to make it as each has 3-4 heads and they're fluffing out after 12hrs in the new tank. All the other blastos (and other corals for that matter) weathered the mishap just fine.

 

New tank! The PicO 20g is here and all of the blasto wellsis were moved over last night. Feeling a bit downhearted after the tank woes so I may focus on other corals instead of building the blasto collection (we'll see how long this train of thought lasts). The cube will be getting its own thread soon.

 

STILL WAITING for my IM Fusion 20 to arrive at the LFS. Here are some quickie pics of the 14g as it stands now. Forgive the keyed up blue lights and the awful reflections; the glare from the windows up above the tank is out of whack.

 

FTS. Things are a bit scattered after the moving shenanigans. One of my RFAs keeps shuffling around and it came into contact with my purple yuma. Fortunately, I was home when it happened & I don't think they were touching for more than an hour or so. Yuman wasn't happy about it, and I've moved it away up on the rock until the new tank gets here and everything can get "permanently" settled.

 

Left side. The scoly doesn't like to eat during the day, and probably needs to get into a lower light spot. Also slowly recovering from a boiling water-aiptasia incident a few weeks ago.

 

Right side

 

Was so jelly of Mr. Microscope's ghost acans that I couldn't resist when Cherry Corals put up their "ghost peppers." Not looking very ghostly atm, but they've only been in the tank an hour.

 

Rest of the acan family, sorry for the lack of focus. Probably should've put the ghosts with them

 

Little pink-yellow torch not showing its true colors under my blue lighting and poor camera skills.

 

Little plate! Love this thing. It's a pale lavender-pink, and the tentacles go dark purple when it gets jostled or disturbed by something.

Here it is next to the blue-green plate. That one is really slow to recover from being disturbed. It's not quite over all the mess from moving stuff around yesterday.

 

RFAs minus the one that migrated to the other side of the tank. They've all been shuffling around a bit on this rock. The original green skirt is out of sight on the back side of the rock, and the little orange-grey is up there but too small to see over the others! Newest ones are the greenish ones up front, but the grey skirt is getting smooshed around by my zebra.

 

Gratuitous helfrichi shot.

 

Might be going more rics, RFAs, plates in the future.

[cindyp]

great fotos, jaime! and i see my RFA twin! so cute!

 

sorry about the tank issues, that sucks big time.

 

i hope things get settled quickly.

 

and as of now, i think my biggest concern is the

goby. my blasto seems to be doing okay, though

he's not sheltered as far as lighting and getting blown

a bit whenever the pump turns to him. seems happy so far.

*fingers crossed*

[wildbill79]

You tank is looking great! Acans and Plates are sweet but those Ghosts are going to be awesome!

[cindyp]

oh and my fungia looks different than

your. the finger feelers on mine are much

shorter, like large tear drops.

[gena]

For having issues it still looks great!!!!!! And healthy .

 

I can't believe you are still waiting for the Fusion 20...how aggravating!

[owenj]

You tank is looking great! Acans and Plates are sweet but those Ghosts are going to be awesome!

I can't wait for them to get settled and the contrast in colors to perk up. They only like to eat at night right now though which is a pain.

 

oh and my fungia looks different than your. the finger feelers on mine are much shorter, like large tear drops.

Yea, the little plate has really long tentacles. I'm wondering if it might be a heliofungia, but I always thought they had really long tentacles. The blue plate's tentacles aren't as long or thick, and they're more pointy than the little white/purple one.

 

Intermittent flow's probably fine for your blasto. Some seem to like more flow than others.

 

For having issues it still looks great!!!!!! And healthy .

 

I can't believe you are still waiting for the Fusion 20...how aggravating!

I went by the LFS on Friday and they just got word that the tanks have cleared customs, so I should be getting mine in around a week. Finally! Thanks, the tank overall is doing alright.

\What kind of light do you have your candy canes in? Mine keep fluctuating between being open or not.

 

Lost another head on the orange/blue rim blastos . Moved them and the single polyp white rim back into the 14 because there's a more sheltered spot for them in there than in the cube. The single polyp ate in the cube two days ago, but the nasty discoloration around the mouth seems to be spreading. Here's a crappy cell phone pic. You can see the two heads of the orange/blues trying to hang on.

[cindyp]

 

sympathies. i'm dealing with

a stressed ultra nem myself.

[gena]

 

I went by the LFS on Friday and they just got word that the tanks have cleared customs, so I should be getting mine in around a week. Finally! Thanks, the tank overall is doing alright.

\What kind of light do you have your candy canes in? Mine keep fluctuating between being open or not.

 

That's great news about the tank!!!! Lighting for my candy canes would be the nanobox mini tide. They LOVE it! The heads are super fat and juicy .

[owenj]

No pics yet, maybe tomorrow. Two days after I was at the LFS, got a call saying the tanks had arrived . I moved everything not attached to a rock into the cube (except the fish) the night before while I leak-tested the Fusion. Did the big tank switcheroo the next evening. Pretty happy with the tank overall, except for the mesh lid. I may cut most of it out and put a glass lid inside of it to cut dow on evap. Switched out the stock pump for a Sicce 1.5, opted to keep the Y-split in for now. I may put another powerhead in to up flow a little, but I don't keep SPS or high flow stuff in here.

 

I'm imposing a new rule on myself re: the blastos--no more status updates everytime I say that they or a particular one is looking well, it craps out on me. No more jinxing myself.

 

In sad news, the plates really didn't like the tank move. Not sure why; they're the only corals that didn't like it. The duncans did fine and they were attached to a rock & just had to deal with being stuck in a rubbermaid without light, flow, or a heater for several hours. The little one might make it; it's being really tempermental. The blue plate has a huge amount of tissue loss and the new mithrax crab has been eating pieces of it. Debating putting it in a back corner of the PicO & hoping it does the polyp bailout. Thoughts?

[gena]

No pics yet, maybe tomorrow. Two days after I was at the LFS, got a call saying the tanks had arrived . I moved everything not attached to a rock into the cube (except the fish) the night before while I leak-tested the Fusion. Did the big tank switcheroo the next evening. Pretty happy with the tank overall, except for the mesh lid. I may cut most of it out and put a glass lid inside of it to cut dow on evap. Switched out the stock pump for a Sicce 1.5, opted to keep the Y-split in for now. I may put another powerhead in to up flow a little, but I don't keep SPS or high flow stuff in here.

 

I'm imposing a new rule on myself re: the blastos--no more status updates everytime I say that they or a particular one is looking well, it craps out on me. No more jinxing myself.

 

In sad news, the plates really didn't like the tank move. Not sure why; they're the only corals that didn't like it. The duncans did fine and they were attached to a rock & just had to deal with being stuck in a rubbermaid without light, flow, or a heater for several hours. The little one might make it; it's being really tempermental. The blue plate has a huge amount of tissue loss and the new mithrax crab has been eating pieces of it. Debating putting it in a back corner of the PicO & hoping it does the polyp bailout. Thoughts?

What the heck...we are having the same bad luck with the same type of corals . At least we can commiserate on our losses . My orange plate continues to recede .

[ninjamyst]

sorry to hear about all the blasto issues. a new one i got has been receding too =(.

[owenj]

What the heck...we are having the same bad luck with the same type of corals . At least we can commiserate on our losses . My orange plate continues to recede .

Ugh, seriously. My little plate might make it, though now that I've said it I'm sure I've cursed it. Sucks that your plate is still being poopy. I'm hoping my blue one does polyp bailout, but I already ordered another one to replace it . Well, I hope the new one is close in color, kinda hard to tell from the pictures. The dead one is in a back corner of my cube in hopes that a miracle happens.

 

sorry to hear about all the blasto issues. a new one i got has been receding too =(.

Bleh, what is up with the blasto troubles? I can understand my initial problems, but having them seem to recover only to completely crap out again is so frustrating. Hope yours turn around for you.

[owenj]

Alrighty, a small photo update with the new IM NUVO Fusion 20g. I replaced the stock pump with a Sicce 1.5, but for now I'm leaving the Y-split in place. Hoping to put the new Maxspect Gyre small version in at a later date.

 

I cut most of the mesh screen out and will probably put one of those All-Glass hinged lids to cut down on evap.

 

FTS 10-30-2014

 

Left side:

Need to feed the scoly. most of the acans will only put their feeding tentacles out at night which is a bit annoying. Trying to coax them to eat during the day too.

 

Mid-ish:

The blue-green plate with the orange mouth didn't flinch during the tank transfer, where the original two didn't fare well. The blue-green is dead, but I'm hoping for polyp bailout and stuck it in a corner of the PicO 20g. The little plate is so-so.

Didn't have a good spot for these orange rim (they look more red in this pic) blastos in the PicO, hopefully they fare well. And I finally have zoas! Didn't get a good shot of them, but the mini-colony are Pink Constellations and I have a two polyp frag of White Velvets from LC in the front. The White Velvets are tiny.

 

Right side:

Not sure if the turquoise candy canes are going to get enough light. That side of the tank is on the low-light end. They put feeder tentacles out a lot though, but my green ones in the cube never do.

 

RFAs:

New reddish skirt one is way bigger than I was expecting. Liveaquaria said 2" but I'd say it's more like 3 when fully fluffed. Not sure where my orange one went after the move, but I'm guessing somewhere on the backside of the rocks.

 

New orange plate

 

New acans

 

Red mithrax crab. KP Aquatics sent me a green mithrax too, little worried if I have enough algae for both of them. I may try to take the green one in to the LFS if they'll take him and if I can catch him

[cindyp]

jaime, WOW! so much space! and everything

looks happy! you'll have so much fun picking out new

corals for all this great real estate! i look forward to seeing

how it evolves!!

 

also, how's the writing going?

 

i am doing copyedits on my next novel

out in september 2015, but i've got its sequel

to write, due in february. so SOON.

 

[gena]

soooo awesome!!!!!

 

I love that orange mouth plate so much!!!! Where did you get that one? The blastos really look vibrant too . If I lose my orange plate I want to get another. I'm still hoping to save it. Going to do a coralrx dip on it tomorrow when I do my water change. Maybe that will help. I'm actually going to dip both of them.

 

Oh shoot...just remembered I need to go carve a pumpkin. Random thought LOL.

[owenj]

jaime, WOW! so much space! and everything

looks happy! you'll have so much fun picking out new

corals for all this great real estate! i look forward to seeing

how it evolves!!

 

also, how's the writing going?

 

i am doing copyedits on my next novel

out in september 2015, but i've got its sequel

to write, due in february. so SOON.

 

Thank Cindy! I'm paranoid now about what to place where because I keep thinking everything will get bleached. Then I remind myself that my lights aren't going above I think 35% right now . I don't want SPS, so I'm not sure what to put on the upper levels of the rocks. I'd wanted a clam for this tank, but I'm not comfortable putting one on the rock next to the RFAs because that rock isn't very big, but I don't know if I could light a clam enough on the sandbed without bleaching something else.

 

The writing is...going. I'm slated to turn something in for my critique group on Monday and have been hacking away at a revision. I'm going through phases of being motivated to get the story into shape and completely deflated and unmotivated .

 

Yes, February is going to be here before you know it! I can't believe we're two days from November already, WTF? Wait, why do you have copyedits for a novel in September, but its sequel is due in February? Did I misinterpret that?

 

soooo awesome!!!!!

 

I love that orange mouth plate so much!!!! Where did you get that one? The blastos really look vibrant too . If I lose my orange plate I want to get another. I'm still hoping to save it. Going to do a coralrx dip on it tomorrow when I do my water change. Maybe that will help. I'm actually going to dip both of them.

 

Oh shoot...just remembered I need to go carve a pumpkin. Random thought LOL.

Got the orange mouth plate at my LFS. They'd just gotten a big shipment of plates in, & that one was $70. I wish I'd gotten the neon green one they had too, but at the time I didn't think I'd have the floor space. I may toddle over there tomorrow & see if it's still there.

 

Oh, good thinking on trying the Coralrx dip. Wish I'd done that. Hope your orange plate pulls through. I'm scared to stress my little plate any more. It partially inflates during the day, but keeps wavering between being completely receded to the skeleton, and sticking out just a little bit of flesh. I can see the tips of its polyps wiggling in the flow.

 

And your pumpkin turned out awesome

[gena]

 

Got the orange mouth plate at my LFS. They'd just gotten a big shipment of plates in, & that one was $70. I wish I'd gotten the neon green one they had too, but at the time I didn't think I'd have the floor space. I may toddle over there tomorrow & see if it's still there.

 

Oh, good thinking on trying the Coralrx dip. Wish I'd done that. Hope your orange plate pulls through. I'm scared to stress my little plate any more. It partially inflates during the day, but keeps wavering between being completely receded to the skeleton, and sticking out just a little bit of flesh. I can see the tips of its polyps wiggling in the flow.

 

And your pumpkin turned out awesome

I wish my LFS down the street would get some awesome plates like that in stock. I may have to ask him to be on the lookout for me. As well as the fathead anthias .

 

Yeah, I read online about people dipping their plates in coralrx, and it works. So hopefully mine isn't too far gone. Both still stick their tentacles out and puff up a little, but they won't eat anything . Plus the orange is losing more flesh daily starting from the mouth. Just have to see what happens. So far the green hasn't lost any flesh. But it's definitely not well.

 

I hope your LFS still has the green .

 

Thanks about the pumpkin .