reefernanoman Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Got back from my trip last night and everything was still alive, so I'm declaring success The zoas are just doing OK. They sometimes close up for a day but then open back up. I don't think they're really thriving yet. I did a water change tonight so we'll see how they are in the morning. Everything else seems to be thriving. Acans are getting puffy, montis are spreading, the rics are growing and aren't bleached any more, and even the Morgonian Gorgonian is getting fluffier. I took a quick and dirty shot of the acans under blue light tonight. It turned out OK, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get decent pics under the blues. And then, I realized there was a snail on the glass right in the middle of everything. Stupid snail Acans in the Evening by TeenyReef, on Flickr So I settled for a cropped macro of one of the rainbow acans. I've finally gotten the lighting intensity up enough that everything is starting to color up Rainbow Acan by TeenyReef, on Flickr Rainbow acans right Teeny? I think I'm going to pick one up next week. Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Great shots! I think I nipped whatever was causing my acans to melt in the bud . Hopefully they'll start coloring up super awesome like yours. I miss my rainbow one. What did you start your Tide settings at v. where you are now? My Tide finally arrived (!) and I'm planning on setting it up today. I think Dave recommends something like 120B-60W? Thanks, and that's fantastic news about your acans! I'll ask about what you did to fix it over in your thread. I think I started my lights at 160/100, increased over time to 190/115, but backed down to 160/80 when the rics got bleached. Over the last two months, I've increased it to 210/85 (as of today). The acans were mostly just plain red until I got the blues up around 180 or 190. Btw if you want to see some crazy acan growth, I'm getting ready to post some growth pics of my red acans in my 4g thread 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Man those Acans are so sick !! Kudos to that lol. This thing is coming together nicely thiugj,I really wish I got one of these tanks when my LFS had their sale.. Fml. Oh well,I'll live live thru your tank lol. Those Acans are looking great. Hope I can get something half as good as this once mine is up and running! Col Those acans and merlettis are niiice. I like your style. Teeny where are you picking up these beautiful corals?? Rainbow acans right Teeny? I think I'm going to pick one up next week. Thanks, everyone! Yes, those are rainbow acans. Most of these acans, including the rainbows in the last picture, came from NR sponsor and fellow reefer GlennR1978 (Coral Gardens Aquaculture). He had an awesome acan frag pack that I jumped on right away. I posted about it back on page 8 or 9. 2 Quote Link to comment
owenj Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Thanks, and that's fantastic news about your acans! I'll ask about what you did to fix it over in your thread. I think I started my lights at 160/100, increased over time to 190/115, but backed down to 160/80 when the rics got bleached. Over the last two months, I've increased it to 210/85 (as of today). The acans were mostly just plain red until I got the blues up around 180 or 190. Btw if you want to see some crazy acan growth, I'm getting ready to post some growth pics of my red acans in my 4g thread Good to know. I'm writing your numbers down I've got mine at 120-60 right now and will bump up every week or so. I think the zoas want lots of light but I'm worried about shocking the blastos even though they're on a low rock. It just seems so bright compared to the Razor! 1 Quote Link to comment
moores38 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Those acans are gorgeous, I'm jealous! I'm happy to hear everything is going well! Have you had better luck with the skimmer recently? You might need to write a short tutorial for me on how you got rid of your micro bubbles! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Good to know. I'm writing your numbers down I've got mine at 120-60 right now and will bump up every week or so. I think the zoas want lots of light but I'm worried about shocking the blastos even though they're on a low rock. It just seems so bright compared to the Razor! It IS very bright I've tried to be careful about not raising the intensity to much or too fast. Right now my zoas are having trouble staying open all the time and I'm a little worried it may be too much for them. I may try bringing it back down for a few days to see how they do. Those acans are gorgeous, I'm jealous! I'm happy to hear everything is going well! Have you had better luck with the skimmer recently? You might need to write a short tutorial for me on how you got rid of your micro bubbles! Thanks! I think the key step for the Desktop Ghost skimmer was to start it with the cup as high as it will go and with the venturii all the way open and let it break in that way. Also, make sure the pump is properly seated. 2 Quote Link to comment
da1001 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Nice teeny. Take a look at your most recent FTS shot bro, its being a pain and not showing for you haha 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Oops. Here it is - all fixed IM10 FTS 2015-01-30 by TeenyReef, on Flickr 5 Quote Link to comment
Spiderguardnano Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 how is the rock looking algae under control? i might order 5lbs just to kick start my cycle and introduce some cool things in my tank Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Thanks to the crabs and snails, there isn't the slightest trace of any kind of algae. All I have left is coralline The emerald crab has gotten huge, though, and he raids the corals whenever I try to spot feed them. He doesn't actually hurt the corals, just extracts every tiny fragment of food he can from their mouths. I plan to take him to the LFS tomorrow and see if I can trade him for something. 4 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Thanks to the crabs and snails, there isn't the slightest trace of any kind of algae. All I have left is coralline The emerald crab has gotten huge, though, and he raids the corals whenever I try to spot feed them. He doesn't actually hurt the corals, just extracts every tiny fragment of food he can from their mouths. I plan to take him to the LFS tomorrow and see if I can trade him for something. Good luck on the trade. 1 Quote Link to comment
joecoastie Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I am trying to decide if I want to add my MP10 or not? So far the MJ900 as a return pump is moving water around pretty good. Do you feel your MP10 makes a big difference? I just feel it will take up space and be too much umph for the little tank... I wish they made MP5 Your tank is looking awesome TeenyReef! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 I am trying to decide if I want to add my MP10 or not? So far the MJ900 as a return pump is moving water around pretty good. Do you feel your MP10 makes a big difference? I just feel it will take up space and be too much umph for the little tank... I wish they made MP5 Your tank is looking awesome TeenyReef! Thanks! I really like having the MP10 but it's not really necessary, especially if you've already upgraded your return pump. There are some advantages, though: - You can turn off the filter pump and the MP10 will keep the water moving when you broadcast feed. - The MP10 gives a much more random and laminar flow. - You can reduce the flow rate through your filter chamber, which is good for doing GFO and growing macroalgae in a refugium. 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Things have been busy in the other tank lately, but I finally got the new zoas glued onto the rocks. So of course they were mostly all closed up when I started taking pictures. But these guys did open up in time: Blue Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr I had to pull the favites out of my 4g tank because they were stinging everything and just generally being evil. After taking them out I was able to get them off their rock and fragged them into a couple pieces. I put the frags in this tank since there's room on the sand bed. Once they get established I'll probably take them to the LFS or see if I can find someone that could use them in a bigger tank. They haven't opened back up yet but the color is good: Favites by TeenyReef, on Flickr The morgonian gorgonian is growing well. The polyps are always well extended and he seems to be getting bushier. But I think he needs more light as the there's not much color in the polyps yet. Morgonian Gorgonian by TeenyReef, on Flickr Here's a shot of one of the other zoas, under the blues. They are really hard to photograph - this was the best I could get. Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr Finally, a macro shot of GSP, because, well, just because GSP by TeenyReef, on Flickr 5 Quote Link to comment
Lauraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Things have been busy in the other tank lately, but I finally got the new zoas glued onto the rocks. So of course they were mostly all closed up when I started taking pictures. But these guys did open up in time: Blue Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr I had to pull the favites out of my 4g tank because they were stinging everything and just generally being evil. After taking them out I was able to get them off their rock and fragged them into a couple pieces. I put the frags in this tank since there's room on the sand bed. Once they get established I'll probably take them to the LFS or see if I can find someone that could use them in a bigger tank. They haven't opened back up yet but the color is good: Favites by TeenyReef, on Flickr Wow that shot of the GSP looks amazing! The morgonian gorgonian is growing well. The polyps are always well extended and he seems to be getting bushier. But I think he needs more light as the there's not much color in the polyps yet. Morgonian Gorgonian by TeenyReef, on Flickr Here's a shot of one of the other zoas, under the blues. They are really hard to photograph - this was the best I could get. Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr Finally, a macro shot of GSP, because, well, just because GSP by TeenyReef, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment
da1001 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Sweet, pics teeny. I need to work on my photography some more before I get to your level. 1 Quote Link to comment
owenj Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I'm in no ways a gorg expert, but I think your "Morgonian" looks more like the ReefGen Legacy Eunicea I just got than the Tracy Morgonian. Hard to be sure when it's that small. I love how green those favites are. 1 Quote Link to comment
Dryland Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Sweet, pics teeny. I need to work on my photography some more before I get to your level. +1, the photography in your threads is great. 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Wow that shot of the GSP looks amazing! Thanks! GSP is so common but it's really cool how it looks in a macro shot Sweet, pics teeny. I need to work on my photography some more before I get to your level. +1, the photography in your threads is great. Thanks The new macro lens is really sweet. It took me a while to learn how to use it. A remote trigger for the shutter release turned out to be absolutely critical I'm in no ways a gorg expert, but I think your "Morgonian" looks more like the ReefGen Legacy Eunicea I just got than the Tracy Morgonian. Hard to be sure when it's that small. I love how green those favites are. Thanks! I love those favites, even if they are evil I'm not sure about the gorgs. I looked in the tank today and the polyps are actually a lot more purple than they show in the picture. Something happened with the white balance under the blues. But from the pictures I've seen of the Eunicea, those polyps seem to be more separated than mine. Honestly, I think mine looks a little more like the Reefgen Plexaura...but the polyps do seem to resemble the morgonian. I'll just have to wait and see what it grows up to be 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 I got a few more zoa pics. I'd like to get a few more kinds of zoas but I'm still waiting to see how the ones I've got do over the next week or so. These are similar to the ones I posted last night, but a little bit different shade of blue. Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr I think these are my favorite so far. I took this picture a few days ago, and since then they've been closed up/melting. I tried a peroxide dip yesterday, so we'll see if the come back Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr Hello, hermit! Hermit with Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr The rics have pretty much completely recovered from getting bleached out: Ricordea by TeenyReef, on Flickr And finally, here's a top down shot of the front half of the tank. The morgonian (or whatever it is) is much more purple in this shot IM10 Top Down by TeenyReef, on Flickr Hmmm...you can't really see the gorgonian in the top down shot. Here's a close up. It's a little blurry but the color is fairly true to life. Gorgonian with Zoas by TeenyReef, on Flickr 5 Quote Link to comment
moores38 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Look at those Acans! 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 Thank you! I can't wait till they get big and puffy and colored up Quote Link to comment
walnuts24 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Just picked up a 10G fusion. How do you like the skimmer? Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 The skimmer's not bad, but it's tricky to get broken in and running properly. Once you get it dialed in it works great, though. If I had to buy a new skimmer I'd probably try something else just to compare. Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 So, trading in the emerald crab at the LFS didn't happen this past weekend. I tried a couple times to lure him out with a piece of algae wafer, but while he'd hold on to the wafer in the tongs for dear life, as soon as I'd pull hard enough to get him off his rock he would let go. And then he got the wafer out of the tongs anyway, and we were done So tonight I set up a crab trap with a water bottle: Crab Trap by TeenyReef, on Flickr I used an algae wafer for bait because the crabs really like them and everything else in the tank could care less. Fingers crossed! Crab Bait by TeenyReef, on Flickr 4 Quote Link to comment
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