Kijho Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Things are looking great in your reef! Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 I was only able to leave everything alone for 3 days... I noticed that my xenia is doing really well (yay!) but that also means it's starting to grow off my little frag plugs (boo) so I moved them a bit. My frogspawn was being weird so it got placed back down on the sand. That's where it was for a few days when I first got. It was really puffy and happy back then, so that might be his new home. I'm really, really, REALLY hating on my skimmer lately. I've always had problems with it "sinking" down into my rear chamber because the magnet seems really weak. I stopped running it for about a week when I added my epoxy plugs to try to avoid any further headaches, but this thing is just a piece o crap. Every time I turn my pumps off (which is every day for feeding) it have to readjust the skimmer. It's too high, it's too low, it's a PAIN!! I usually plug it in, spend an hour checking and adjusting, and if it's not cooperating, I unplug it and go on with my life. I really haven't used it much for the past two weeks. What a waste of money... Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Lookit who decided to come out of hiding! WP_20141012_001 by kimothy182, on Flickr WP_20141012_003 by kimothy182, on Flickr Link to comment
IzzyTheFool Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Any suggestions on placement or flow? I have an extra spinstream you can have. Looks like I won't be needing them. I'm not sure it would be the end all solution for you, but it might be a cheap one until you decide on another route? And I love your plate coral. The whole tank is amazing, but that one just catches my eye in every picture it's in. Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 It may not be the most be the most aesthetically pleasing location, but I believe if you can position the powerhead opposite your return pump, facing it, it should produce more random flow. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 I have an extra spinstream you can have. Looks like I won't be needing them. I'm not sure it would be the end all solution for you, but it might be a cheap one until you decide on another route? And I love your plate coral. The whole tank is amazing, but that one just catches my eye in every picture it's in. I love my plate coral, and I feed it pretty much every day! A spinstream is a good idea, however, that's the corner that my clowns host in, so I don't want to disturb them. It may not be the most be the most aesthetically pleasing location, but I believe if you can position the powerhead opposite your return pump, facing it, it should produce more random flow. I think I might have to suck it up and upgrade some of my equipment even though I wasn't planning on it. I wanted to let it the corals grow out and upgrade everything to a new tank with better equipment in a year. But I should get an ATO to help with my skimmer issues, and probably a new powerhead too (one with variable speeds). Another "problem" I discovered is that my alk is slowly rising because I was doing weekly water changes to get my nitrates down! What a hobby!! Link to comment
IzzyTheFool Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I love my plate coral, and I feed it pretty much every day! A spinstream is a good idea, however, that's the corner that my clowns host in, so I don't want to disturb them. I think I might have to suck it up and upgrade some of my equipment even though I wasn't planning on it. I wanted to let it the corals grow out and upgrade everything to a new tank with better equipment in a year. But I should get an ATO to help with my skimmer issues, and probably a new powerhead too (one with variable speeds). Another "problem" I discovered is that my alk is slowly rising because I was doing weekly water changes to get my nitrates down! What a hobby!! I took the expensive route and nabbed a Vortech. It does a great job, but it also left a nice sized hole in my wallet. Obviously if you grow into a new tank, a piece of equipment like that will grow with you. But you know all this already... I'm not sure the Spinstream would disturb your clowns, it still extends out a bit from the wall a bit. There's a few videos on youtube that show it up close, if you want to eyeball it. Most concerns are about flow reduction. Still, a cheap alternative (free if you want one of mine) while you save up for whatever you have planned. You know your tank better then anyone else though. Admit it... you love this hobby. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 I took the expensive route and nabbed a Vortech. It does a great job, but it also left a nice sized hole in my wallet. Obviously if you grow into a new tank, a piece of equipment like that will grow with you. But you know all this already... I'm not sure the Spinstream would disturb your clowns, it still extends out a bit from the wall a bit. There's a few videos on youtube that show it up close, if you want to eyeball it. Most concerns are about flow reduction. Still, a cheap alternative (free if you want one of mine) while you save up for whatever you have planned. You know your tank better then anyone else though. Admit it... you love this hobby. Vortech... Don't think I'm ready for a piece of equipment that expensive! It's time for a water change tomorrow or Wednesday, and I'll be adding a few pieces of coral over the weekend. Thinking about trying a chalice... Luckily I have the opportunity to work overtime at the end of the month. I was thinking about getting a Jebao Wavemaker for variable flow. It looks way more adjustable than the poo one I have in my tank now. I just have to decide what size is best! Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 chalice are easy corals but most are sloooow growers Link to comment
D Z Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 As Ninja said, chalices can be beautiful pieces, but they don't grow much, or at least not very fast. If you are going with a Jebao, get the RW-4. I really don't think you would need much more that that and you want to take up as little space as possible. I run the rw-4 on 40% in my 34 Mini-II, for reference. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 As Ninja said, chalices can be beautiful pieces, but they don't grow much, or at least not very fast. If you are going with a Jebao, get the RW-4. I really don't think you would need much more that that and you want to take up as little space as possible. I run the rw-4 on 40% in my 34 Mini-II, for reference. Thanks! I was looking at the RW-4 and RW-8 and trying to figure out which might be better! Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 I just finished a water change, it's been two weeks since my last one. The good: I think my sun coral is growing another tiny head! The bad: My frogspawn hasn't opened up in about a week, and my hermit crabs know that dinner time means my sun coral and nem get spot fed tasty shrimps Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Was checking out my tank and saw a tiny bubble of algae floating around! I have no idea where it came from, but I sucked that guy out right away!! Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I think I might have to suck it up and upgrade some of my equipment even though I wasn't planning on it. I wanted to let it the corals grow out and upgrade everything to a new tank with better equipment in a year. But I should get an ATO to help with my skimmer issues, and probably a new powerhead too (one with variable speeds). Another "problem" I discovered is that my alk is slowly rising because I was doing weekly water changes to get my nitrates down! What a hobby!! The Jebao WP-10 is pretty affordable if you want something to mix up your currents a little. It's about the right size for your tank. Variable speeds from 50, 75, and 100% plus a few modes. Doesn't stand up to the MP-10, but definitely a nice way to fill in some gaps. I like mine. Link to comment
cindyp Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 i love your flower nem, kimber!!! i love how it's stripey. i got another one too. the orange faced one with a white skirt i wanted was bought, but i got a neon green one. and i like him too. will share a foto tomorrow. i've never seen my plate coral eat. i think it's doing okay though. i keep dropping food on it, and i think it might eat it? Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 i love your flower nem, kimber!!! i love how it's stripey. i got another one too. the orange faced one with a white skirt i wanted was bought, but i got a neon green one. and i like him too. will share a foto tomorrow. i've never seen my plate coral eat. i think it's doing okay though. i keep dropping food on it, and i think it might eat it? I love love love my nem! So mad that my hermit keeps harassing it! Looking forward to seeing your green one! My plate visibly eats, but its a slow process, I didn't even realize until I had it a few days that it was eating! It will s l o w l y pull the food towards its mouth in the middle. Then s l o w l y open up and s l o w l y shove the food in. Its cute! Give yours some time and maybe dont feed everyday. My BF never spot feeds his and its quite happy! Link to comment
D Z Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I love love love my nem! So mad that my hermit keeps harassing it! Looking forward to seeing your green one! My plate visibly eats, but its a slow process, I didn't even realize until I had it a few days that it was eating! It will s l o w l y pull the food towards its mouth in the middle. Then s l o w l y open up and s l o w l y shove the food in. Its cute! Give yours some time and maybe dont feed everyday. My BF never spot feeds his and its quite happy! Sounds like my plate coral. It and my duncan will pretty much eat every time I spot feed. It is a slow process, though. I have to turn off my pumps or it will loose the food before it can get it into its mouth. It helps to try to drop the food as close to or on top of the mouth, if possible. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 The good: I moved my trumpet up to where my frogspawn used to be - front and center on the rocks. When I came home from work it was HUGE and puffy. Nice! Hopefully he likes it there long term. The bad: Herbie the Hermit was harassing my RFA for a while yesterday evening. My FRA still has a few sand particles stuck on it's base/foot from when I placed it on the sand bed. I'm sure that Herbie was trying to be a good tank-make and keep things clean, but still... Picture dump should happen tomorrow since my tank hits 3 months over the weekend. I'll be getting a few corals Saturday and will probably be organizing all weekend making things look perfect, so I want to get some pics in before I make everyone mad! Plans for the near future include: New corals this weekend I'd like to try acans, gorgonians, or duncans soon Add more rics, mushrooms, and another RFA Swap out my whatever-it-is powerhead for a Jebao-something-or-other Add an ATO Link to comment
cindyp Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 can't wait to see kimber! and i definitely don't feed daily. probably 2x a week? i have a feeling i'm not watching long enough for slow progress of fungia eating? ha! but honestly, he seems to be doing great. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 17, 2014 Author Share Posted October 17, 2014 Well I WAS gonna post some awesome pics of my RFA under my blue LEDs... But apparently there's been a Comcast outage in my area since 9pm last night... I can not begin to explain my frustration. I tried for a MONTH to get service back in May, went 4 months without internet because of the hassle, and have only had internet up and running for 3 weeks but already experienced two outages!! I'm seriously considering canceling and going without again. What am I paying $50/mo for?!? Well I WAS gonna post some awesome pics of my RFA under my blue LEDs... But apparently there's been a Comcast outage in my area since 9pm last night... I can not begin to explain my frustration. I tried for a MONTH to get service back in May, went 4 months without internet because of the hassle, and have only had internet up and running for 3 weeks but already experienced two outages!! I'm seriously considering canceling and going without again. What am I paying $50/mo for?!? Link to comment
cindyp Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 kimber, the actual worst. i can go without just about anything but not without internet! Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 From last night, my beautiful nem IMG_5004 by kimothy182, on Flickr IMG_4998 by kimothy182, on Flickr Lookit them polyps!! IMG_5011 by kimothy182, on Flickr For Cindy, my plate coral shoving it's mouth full IMG_5015 by kimothy182, on Flickr Sun coral - 3 heads plus a tiny baby growing on the right!! IMG_5010 by kimothy182, on Flickr 3 Months! IMG_5008 by kimothy182, on Flickr Link to comment
cindyp Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 looks fabulous kimber!! thanks for update. love the fungia chowing foto and your nemmie especially. VIPReefs have some great RFA again! but i can't stomach thay $50 shipping. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 I added THREE new corals today!! Thanks Mr. Microscope for a little frag of red setosa! Plus I bought a gold torch and some random green acro - didn't even ask what it was, so I'll give it my own name when I post pictures later tonight. Gonna cool it on corals for a few weeks cause 1. money and 2. want to make sure not to overload my tank too fast. Next step is too work on my lighting a little: Half of my blues are on 24/7, the other half I turn off and on manually during the day (usually on from 6am - 11pm), and my whites are on 3pm - 10pm. Whites are also on a dimmer. Manually switching on one set of blues is kind of annoying. Sometimes I forget, and I do feel that my corals/fish might benefit from some time with no lights on at all. Ideally: Blues 1: 6am - 2am Blues 2: 10am - 12am Whites: 3pm - 10pm I will likely have to add another timer, meaning I may have to add another power strip, and move some cords around. But this would leave complete darkness from 2am-6am. Sound like a good schedule? Also want to start feeding different types of food to see what the best combo is. From the beginning all I have been feeding is spirulina brine shrimp. I'd like to start switching it up, maybe something like LRF and another something just for corals. Any ideas on that end? Edit: No pics tonight. The red setosa has polyps out, but it's in a very awkward place. I'm not happy with torch placement, as it seems to ether get too much or not enough flow. And the acro hasn't extended polyps yet. Bad news: Frogspawn has receding flesh at the base... Really need to find it's happy place. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 I forgot I had taken this super close up of my RFA the other night. I really, really like that little guy and will definitely have more! IMG_5017 by kimothy182, on Flickr And here’s a close up of Herbie Hancock. I think it’s pretty cute that the tips of his claws are black, like he’s got nail polish on! IMG_5019 by kimothy182, on Flickr I remember way back when, 4 whole months ago, I was telling my BF That I didn’t really like SPS. But sometimes their little polyps are so cute. IMG_5042 by kimothy182, on Flickr Especially this one – I love the contrast of red and green. IMG_5041 by kimothy182, on Flickr And finally my frogspawn is happy again! It had pooped a bunch this afternoon and is finally opening up a little. It was either “constipated” or I finally got it in a happy place where it can feel comfortable again. IMG_5032 by kimothy182, on Flickr You can see that it started to recede a tiny bit. This is what my trumpet did too, when it was on the sand. My trumpet has grown back, so I’m confident my frogspawn will too as long as it stays happy. IMG_5048 by kimothy182, on Flickr Ugh… Getting this guy is gonna be on my to do list this week!! IMG_5040 by kimothy182, on Flickr Here’s a new, front on tank shot. IMG_5020 by kimothy182, on Flickr And from the left side… IMG_5029 by kimothy182, on Flickr Also the right side… IMG_5031 by kimothy182, on Flickr The little setosa from Mr. Microscope has polyps out. It’s kind of in the back-ish, so getting a good pic is difficult, May have to move this one later. IMG_5026 by kimothy182, on Flickr I also go an acro at the Reefwise meetup. IMG_5033 by kimothy182, on Flickr Finally saw polyps out today on it. IMG_5043 by kimothy182, on Flickr And I’m trying another torch. A little adjustment to my return nozzle and powerhead mean that it’s getting a little variable flow. Hopefully it’s happy there, as I also noticed some receding on the base of this guy as well. IMG_5022 by kimothy182, on Flickr Link to comment
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