Kimberbee's First Tank - RETIRED!

[kimberbee]

Nothing particularly fun going on this weekend.

 

Grumpleupagus (it has been decided!!) has been out and about swimming and eating with his new friends.

 

My acans are happy in their new home too, they've been super puffy all the time.

 

Water change happening Tuesday.

 

Hoping to snag a nice priced RFA on a Black Friday sale at Insane Coral. Maybe I'll pick out another acan while I'm at it.

[kimberbee]

Yesterday, before, during, and even after my water change, my acans were the biggest and puffiest I have ever seen them. I'm so happy they are happy!

 

All my fish hang out together and swim out in the open more and more. Even though Grumpleupagus sleeps in the back, bottom, left corner, he swims around in the front right area of the tank.

 

I've adjusted my feeding a little now that Grumple is eating more and more. I'm using 1/2 cube of spirulina brine every day. One day, it's just to feed the fish (and yeah, they eat it all), and the second day it's used to spot feed any corals as well as feed the fish. I'll be out in another week, so I'm thinking of alternating between spirulina brine and Larry's Reef Frenzy so they get a little variety.

 

I tested my water Sunday and again a few hours after my water change. Here's a summary of how my parameters have been the past few weeks doing water changes every 2 weeks:

 

Temp: Holding steady at 78.5-79.0 (Eheim Jager heater FTW!)

Alk: Stays between 8-9

Nitrates: Hover around 6-7 right before water change, and drop to 3-4 after

Calcium: Dips down to 390 before water change, back up to 410 after

BF suggested that I bump my water changes back up to once a week and start dosing 5ml of calcium every other day.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Those are pretty good numbers - not a huge swing with Ca. Have you checked your Alk. A few times during the 2 weeks In between w/c. Alk is the one that can have the largest swings in my experience. If it stays around 8-9 and Ca. Only dips to 390- I would say your still fine with just w/c. If you do see a swing in Alk. Maybe bump w/c up to once a week.

[kimberbee]

Those are pretty good numbers - not a huge swing with Ca. Have you checked your Alk. A few times during the 2 weeks In between w/c. Alk is the one that can have the largest swings in my experience. If it stays around 8-9 and Ca. Only dips to 390- I would say your still fine with just w/c. If you do see a swing in Alk. Maybe bump w/c up to once a week.

 

I sorta thought the same thing but he services reef tanks for a living so who am I to argue? He's brought a number of tanks back from the brink so I generally go with his advice, even if I'm skeptical. When I was doing weekly water changes my Alk jumped up to 10-11, which is why I went down to every 2 weeks. But I had a few less fish/corals then too.

 

I'm figuring that this is the stabilization phase and it will just take a little adjusting with wc's and dosing for a month or two before it's on auto pilot again.

[Sk8n Reefer]

 

I sorta thought the same thing but he services reef tanks for a living so who am I to argue? He's brought a number of tanks back from the brink so I generally go with his advice, even if I'm skeptical. When I was doing weekly water changes my Alk jumped up to 10-11, which is why I went down to every 2 weeks. But I had a few less fish/corals then too.

 

I'm figuring that this is the stabilization phase and it will just take a little adjusting with wc's and dosing for a month or two before it's on auto pilot again.

Ya - you can always do better with water it seems but sometimes it's nice just handling it with w/c's. Not trying to trump your bf- sounds like he knows what he is doing for sure-just once you start down the dosing road it's hard to stop. I really enjoyed handling things with a w/c but now I am full blown dosing - got the doser coming Friday so that will make life easier again?

[kimberbee]

Ya - you can always do better with water it seems but sometimes it's nice just handling it with w/c's. Not trying to trump your bf- sounds like he knows what he is doing for sure-just once you start down the dosing road it's hard to stop. I really enjoyed handling things with a w/c but now I am full blown dosing - got the doser coming Friday so that will make life easier again

 

Agreed. Dosing scares me! I have resisted for a while, but he's persistent. "You want your corals to be happy, right??"

[kimberbee]

I almost bought one of the IM 40 gallon tanks on sale, but realized it would be very difficult for me to accept a UPS package weighing almost 100lbs. And I really don't have anywhere to store it until I can use it. Then I contemplated a PicO 20, but same thing - I really can't use it right away.

 

I was really looking forward to a live sale being held by a local coral vendor today, but their website was extremely slow loading. I was hopeful for another RFA, but they only had one listed and it was a red rock nem represented by a stock photo. I was pretty disappointed and didn't end up with anything.

 

BF brought me home a gorgonian though, so that cheered me up! I can't wait for it to feel at home and open up. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow while everything is open before I do a little arranging and piss all my corals off.

[cindyp]

my acans are dying, i think. i don't spot feed

them as they aren't as fun as the mushrooms or

nems to feed. and they've lost their colors as well.

aiiii. so very cool yours are doing well.

[kimberbee]

my acans are dying, i think. i don't spot feed

them as they aren't as fun as the mushrooms or

nems to feed. and they've lost their colors as well.

aiiii. so very cool yours are doing well.

 

YIKES!!

 

Mine are doing GREAT and are really puffy most of the time. I'll be taking pics a little later today before I feed my fish and rearrange some things now that I have a gorgonian. I'll snap a few of my Acans before, during, and after feeding. I don't really spot feed them big pieces. But they get the leftover "juice" from when I feed my fish.

 

Maybe yours need a different spot? Mine are in a low-medium flow area.

[kimberbee]

I sucked it up and purchased the RFA even though it's represented by a stock photo. Where else can I get one for $25? Even if other places have sales, I've not seen RFA's locally and I will not ship when temps have been below freezing.

 

Picked out another acan as long as I was placing the order. Likely I'll pick both up next weekend.

 

Current pics to come in a few hours...

[kimberbee]

Here are my happy acans just before feeding. Like little pillows:

IMG_5495 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

I spot feed them with the brine "juice" left from when I feed my fish. Here's what they look like slurping up dinner:

IMG_5499 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

And here's a few minutes later - I think they want MORE!!

IMG_5513 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

This is the gorg my BF brought home for me yesterday. I LOVE its color, just what I was looking for!

IMG_5491 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

Everything is a little closed and pissed from my re-arranging. I need to find something for low flow, low light to put in the upper right, on that rock next to the powerhead.

IMG_5512 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

I sad that my sun coral isn't front and center now, but he's happy and loving life!

IMG_5515 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

Every few days, Pinky the nem squeezes up into the rock. Hopefully she'll come out in another day or two - she usually does.

IMG_5516 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

Peek-a-boo!

IMG_5490 by kimothy182, on Flickr

 

Noticed this spot on Grumple's tail. Time to monitor...

IMG_5506 by kimothy182, on Flickr

[cindyp]

happy acans! i see mine actually have

a glow in the new mini tide blues light.

but i don't think they even extend tiny sweepers

any more? poor things. i do put in some food

for those who filter feed, so i don't know why

it's doing so poorly. it's in a pretty sheltered part

of tank. boo.

[gena]

The new gorg is so pretty! Have your hermits tried climbing it yet???

[TigerLily]

Everything looks great! I love the new gorg.

[kimberbee]

The new gorg is so pretty! Have your hermits tried climbing it yet???

 

I like it so far, can't wait to see it open all the way. And no, hermits haven't tried climbing it... YET!!

 

Everything looks great! I love the new gorg.

 

Thanks! It's starting to come together!

[teenyreef]

Looks great! And yes, your acans do want more When they slurp up the juice they are opening up hoping for something more solid. If you try giving them a little bit of solid food like Mysis you'll be amazed how quickly they swallow it up. They you'll see them close back up while they digest their dinner.

[FishFrog]

Great pictures!

[Pinner Reef]

Noice update kimberbee! As for the spot on the tail it looks like he probably just scratched himself on the rocks. As long as no secondary infection sets in he'll be just fine. His tail is a little "nipped" looking so you might also watch for aggression from his tankmates.

[HVani]

Love the gorg!

[kimberbee]

Looks great! And yes, your acans do want more When they slurp up the juice they are opening up hoping for something more solid. If you try giving them a little bit of solid food like Mysis you'll be amazed how quickly they swallow it up. They you'll see them close back up while they digest their dinner.

 

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind today, casue it's coral feeding day! Had to drop down to spot feeding corals only every other day, otherwise I think I'd be feeding the tank too much!

 

Noice update kimberbee! As for the spot on the tail it looks like he probably just scratched himself on the rocks. As long as no secondary infection sets in he'll be just fine. His tail is a little "nipped" looking so you might also watch for aggression from his tankmates.

 

Thank you! Grumple does like to hide and dart into the rocks, so I'm hoping that's what the mark is. I just wanted to photo document in case it gets worse. Thank for noticing the tail too, though I don't think his tank mates have been aggressive towards him, at least not that I've seen. I will definitely keep my eye out for any aggression though!

[ninjamyst]

awesome looking gorg! where did your bf get it from??

 

as for the live sale, i was pretty disappointed too. the prices weren't all that great and the website is horrible to navigate.

[kimberbee]

awesome looking gorg! where did your bf get it from??

 

as for the live sale, i was pretty disappointed too. the prices weren't all that great and the website is horrible to navigate.

 

What I really liked was that 3 hours after I placed my order, they posted a 20% off "sorry" code on all corals...

[gena]

What live sale are you guys talking about?

[kimberbee]

What live sale are you guys talking about?

 

Insane Coral.

 

I like it cause it's local so I can pickup for free.

[kimberbee]

Spot on Grumple has moved... BF says I should do a freshwater dip cause it's probably a fluke.

Poor guy...

 

Yesterday - It was in the middle of his body more towards the purple-y end of his tail:

https://flic.kr/p/pXgQ5m'>https://flic.kr/p/pXgQ5m'>IMG_5506 by https://www.flickr.com/people/33693274@N00/'>kimothy182, on Flickr

 

Today - Moved up and forward:

https://flic.kr/p/qfCcYM'>https://flic.kr/p/qfCcYM'>WP_20141130_004 by https://www.flickr.com/people/33693274@N00/'>kimothy182, on Flickr

 

Trying not to flip my sh!t about my poor, poor fish. He'll be ok, till a freshwater dip tomorrow after work right?

 

He's eating and socializing as normal. Actually, he's out more and more every day. Hoping this is a good sign despite the little f-er attached to his side!