jeremycee Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 this is what happens when you leave town. your fish have separation anxiety haha Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Houdini did his miracle escape thing again last night and he's sitting in the back chamber looking up at me There's got to be some kind of hole or gap in the tank that's out of sight that he's using. I could believe one miracle jump from one chamber to another, but not four Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 That is one determined fish! Link to comment
owenj Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Houdini did his miracle escape thing again last night and he's sitting in the back chamber looking up at me There's got to be some kind of hole or gap in the tank that's out of sight that he's using. I could believe one miracle jump from one chamber to another, but not four Time to set up the video camera Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Time to set up the video camera Not a bad idea. I might actually get that desperate Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 So back to the Evil Favites...I thought that moving the acans out of range would buy me at least a month or two while they grew out some more. But tonight I saw the stingers reaching all the way up to the yellow scroll coral, a good two inches away Less than a month ago, those tentacles never got more than half an inch long. So the rock that they've encrusted is going to have to come out. I may put it in the 10g tank in a timeout corner, and see what happens after that. Since the favia rock is at the very bottom of the pile, pretty much every rock in the tank has to come out, and I'll have to put in a new rock to replace the old one. Fortunately, I've got some leftover rocks from the live rock shipment I got for the 10g tank. This is a project that will probably have to wait for the weekend. I'm going to take the time while the rocks are out to try and crush or chip off as many of the vermetid worms as I can, and give the sand a good vacuum. And as a bonus, while everything is out, maybe I can figure out how Houdini keeps getting in the back chamber Since I may never get the rocks back in the way they come out, I took one last FTS for memories. Since the last FTS, I've moved the acans to the sand floor tight at the base of the center rock, and moved the GSP up to the back wall. I also moved the Favia from the sand bed back to the top rock. That let me move the cyphastrea over a little bit to get them away from the red monster acans. Of course Houdini is front and center for the picture. Who knows how long before he escapes again? 4g CADLights FTS-02-05-2015 by TeenyReef, on Flickr Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 This pico is so nice! If there's ever a frag swap in the VA/MD/NC area, we should meet up. You can shed some of your amazingness on me Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 This pico is so nice! If there's ever a frag swap in the VA/MD/NC area, we should meet up. You can shed some of your amazingness on me Thanks, and for sure! If nothing else, there's MAMAX2015 coming in my neck of the woods, but that's not until this fall. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Those red acans have gotten huge, with most of the growth coming in the last two months or so. They really seem to like the high flow they get in their corner. I used to target feed them at least once a week, but those bad boys need to go on a diet Here's last August. Note where the radioactive dragon eyes are, well above the acans: Red Acans - 08/16/2014 by TeenyReef, on Flickr November (with Rockstar). They're about as big as the cyphastrea now (in the background). Red Acans and Rockstar - 11/01/2014 by TeenyReef, on Flickr And here's today (with Houdini). You can see they've grown so big they're almost completely covered up the radioactive dragon eyes Monster Red Acans and Houdini - 02/05/2015 by TeenyReef, on Flickr Link to comment
kylhcky Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 i love those red acans so much. Link to comment
gena Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Good luck with the switcheroo!!!!! I bet it turns out even better than before. Seems to always happen to me LOL. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Those scans are lovely!! Good luck moving your rock around! Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 OK, I've got five gallons of freshly mixed water in a bucket with a powerhead and a heater. My plan is use about half of that to keep the rocks in it while I clean off the vermetid snails using some old tank water. The other half of the new water will go into the tank when I'm done, so I'll end up with a 50% water change. I'm going to use a small flathead screwdriver the crunch of the bases of the vermetid snails. That's the only way I've found to reliably kill them. I'll get as many as I can while the rocks are out. In the meantime, I'll also use some old tank water to scrub the new rock. It's leftover from my live rock shipment for my 10g tank, but it's been dry for a couple months. I'm just going to clean off whatever is left on it. I expect to get a small mini cycle, between the new piece of rock and cleaning off the vermetid snails. When I'm done, the vermetid snails should be mostly gone, and the favites will be out of the tank. I'll either put it in the 10g temporarily, or keep it in the bucket with the powerhead and heater until I can see if the LFS wants it. Wish me luck! Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 O bummer about having to remove the evil favites. Like Gena said, hope your tank is even better than ever. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Well, the deed is done! Everything's back in the tank and I was able to get things arranged reasonably well with the new rock in place. The Evil Favites are now in the departure lounge bucket with a heater and power head. I'll figure out what to do with them tomorrow I spend a solid hour and a half chipping a couple hundred vermetid snails off the rocks. And of course two minutes after the water cleared after putting the rocks back in, I spotted some more I had a few corals pop off their superglue mounts but I was able to get them back in place without too much trouble, and I was able to take advantage of some space freed up by the new rock to move a few corals around into a better arrangement. I'll post pictures later Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Buckets are ready to go. The new rock is in the little plastic bowl, ready to get scrubbed. Let's Do This by TeenyReef, on Flickr Over an hour later, most of the rocks have been removed and anti-vermetid snail measures enacted. You can see the rock that the Evil Favites live on now. And if you look closely you can see lots of vermetid snails on that rock. They look like little sticks on the rock. Halfway Done by TeenyReef, on Flickr Here's the remains of about 200 vermetid snails. Can you tell that I hate those things? Vermetid Snail Remains by TeenyReef, on Flickr Top down view after all the rocks are out. It's hard to tell but the Harlequin Serpent Star is hiding behind the purple mushroom in the corner. The pom pom crab is hiding in the other back corner. Sadly, pom pom crab #2 was nowhere to be found Top Down - No Rocks by TeenyReef, on Flickr Here's a rare picture of the Harlequin Serpent Star out in the open: Harlequin Serpent Star by TeenyReef, on Flickr I moved the big purple mushroom over to the other back corner where it's darker. That way I'll be able to move the red portieria algae out of the dark corner and into the light. After I moved the mushroom, practically everybody dived for cover in, around, and under the duncans Everybody's Hiding by TeenyReef, on Flickr Water's back in now and I'm regluing coral frags. It's a messy job It's a Messy Job by TeenyReef, on Flickr FTS after the water cleared and things started opening back up a little. There's a lot more open sand in front of the new rock on the right corner, so I moved the cyphastrea back behind the duncans, right against the new rock. Maybe it will start to encrust the rock eventually. I also moved the red acan to the new rock. There's a lot more room for the duncans now, even with the cyphastrea behind it. All Done by TeenyReef, on Flickr Link to comment
DaveFason Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Best 4G tank out there. Awesome stuff John! -Dave Link to comment
kimberbee Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Phew! How's everything doing this morning? Link to comment
Dryland Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Hey Tiny, I'm curious as why you chose to go with a mesh top instead of the glass one. Also, killer tank. Link to comment
owenj Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Whew. Quite the ordeal but tank looks good! Great up-close shot of Flash Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 So wait, why are you breaking it down?? Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Best 4G tank out there. Awesome stuff John! -Dave Thanks, Dave! Phew! How's everything doing this morning? Everything looks pretty good so far. The lights are still coming up all the way but everything is open and puffing up/extending Hey Tiny, I'm curious as why you chose to go with a mesh top instead of the glass one. Also, killer tank. Thanks! Two reasons for the mesh top: I could make it myself, and to improve gas exchange at the surface of the water. I have an ATO so I'm not worried about the rate of evaporation. Oh, and I guess there's a third reason - in the summer when things warm up, a glass cover can keep things too warm in the tank. Whew. Quite the ordeal but tank looks good! Great up-close shot of Flash Thanks! I think this will probably be the last clear shot of Flash unless I take things apart again So wait, why are you breaking it down?? The favites, which were encrusted on one of the rocks at the very bottom of the pile, had to go. They were stinging everything within three or four inches and getting worse by the day. So the only way to get them out was to take everything apart, take out the favites rock, and put in a new rock. I really lucked out because the favites were the only thing on that rock, plus I had an old dry rock that was the perfect size and shape to replace it. I was so relieved I didn't have to completely redo the scape Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Oh, like 4" sweepers? Ouch. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Yeah. I thought this was bad (2" sweepers) but I moved the acans and figured I was OK for a while: Favites feeder tentacles by TeenyReef, on Flickr But three days later it was reaching all the way up to the yellow scroll coral. And it wasn't just grazing it as it blew around, it was actually stuck on and not letting go: Evil Favites Eating the Yellow Scroll Coral by TeenyReef, on Flickr Link to comment
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