A gravity run system by 2 cats.

[Basile]

[/font][/center][/size]

I though they deserve their shot they after all are quite usefull.

My sand working for me

My fuge working for me

Teaming with life

[/img]

[metrokat]

When I see the updates on this thread I imagine public aquariums must come together like this. Large and overwhelming, fascinating, simple and complex all rolled into one. I have questions along the way but I get lost in your narrative and pictures.

 

Are you planning on adding SPS, if yes, then how long into the tank setup will these be added?

 

Which parts of the tank husbandry are automated?

 

Thanks

[Basile]

babylonian snails egg trail

Cerith snail egg trail, main tank.

Nassarius egg trail main tank

A nice cuke ; Pentacta anceps

A Colochirus robustus

[/center][/font][/size]

Well lost a few this month. My dwaft fuzzy lionfish disapeared. Stopped eating for 6 weeks and never saw it again in my angler pen. Then my angler finally arrived he did 3 days and he died , i gave him since i had a body this time to my carpet purple nem , she grabbed him with both hands. I though he deserved that more than the toilet bowl really. A more fitting and natural way to go. My Fary wrass decided to take a jump into space and landed in my cats lap , well you can imagine the rest , the tail is just what left about $ 89 lunch for the cat. So i replaced the wrass which i would of kicked in the rear end if she was here now with a nice square Anthias

Sorry for the fuzzy picture fist day lights out and out of focus very nervous and can get to close yet.

What else oh yes well we need women shelter in my neighborhood because the male seahorses are *******s. mine beat up my female and broke her back she died from it. I whent to see my LFS and told him that and he said i was the third persone to come with this issue that week about the Hyppocampus Erectus. The male seems to harras the female and plays rough for some reason. Those are for non couples seahorses. My other couple is very happy and treat each others right. So i lost one female to that brute, this one i wanted to put in the toilet but nature deal with it right lol. My yellow tang is coping with my convic tang and he's now have to deal with a 4 1/2 " Square Anthias so he's busy lol. The rest of the tank is doing fine. I've cleaned up my fuge , got to reajust the powerheads so it doesn't become a cesspool. cranked up the flow to max did a good clean up of corners and dead spots . never let things go. Fuge are and needs attention. I've started dosing just Alk because my other parameters were too hight cal was 560 and alk was 6 so to balanced out . Overfeeding my tank with ultramin led too cloudy waters so i stopped for a week and it did good. it cleared up . My sponges didn't mind they're starting to branch out lol. So now i'll feed only 1/3 of what i was feeding. Or what the instruction was saying. I had cut down to 1/2 but still too high. If it becomes cloudy again i'll reduce to 1/4 the amount suggested .

Live and learn i guess. But no serious damage but some lost tissues on my hammers due to low alk and strontium. the rest of the corals are doing great , so is the macroalgaes. The CUC is fine although the urchins have been chewing my serpent and brittle stars, only one leg and a disc remain and from my reading , urchins are omnivore that will sometimes eat meaty food, so beware of it. When i say urchins i'm actually talking more about the Black Hatpin long spine urchin they move fast really too fast for the slow serpent star. If that occurs take you serpent star and put it in the sump to regenerate his limbs . But in the mean tim i need a night crawler so i bought 2 new stars . but making sure that my hatpin has more to eat i put dry algaes at night.

My day at Aquamania , Un bonne journée à Aquamania.

Great organisation it was the 60th anniversary of OVAS make us look a bit insignificant when you think about it how long this society's been going on while we've been in the hobby for just a few ....

What i've learned from are main guest Albert Thiel Author and Expert on Nano reef tanks ; details and set up.

Well

- Things are more immediate in a nano and happens faster than in a big system.

- It takes more dedication to run a nano you can't let things go or you can loose the tank.

- You have to be proactive and not reactive , you have to stay in control of the tank and not the tank in control of youl.

-We are not chemist, do not over react to chemical parameters by over dosing or you will fail.

- Do not disturb the sand bed in nano nor in big system because your asking your sandbed to constantly cycle and loosing bacteria by syphoning it . You actually provoque cycle spikes . You render your sanbed useless by disturbing it constantly and you dont permit the establishment of vital crustacious and other organism that will help you.

- What kind of anemone is possible in a nano tank a flower anemone; because its small and doesn't wander too much.

on that , questions being allowed....

- Q ** My question i asked him; "i have Premium Picasso clowns that wont host my purple carpet anemone , is there a chance they will?

Answer ; Designer clowns are genetically unaware of the symbiotic relationship between them and the anemone, however some do , some don't.

** He asked how long it had been since they were together fish and nem. 2 months i replied.

Answer ; Its been maybe to long for them to acclimated the ( then he used technical terms lol about slime acclimation to the nem sting) But said also that one may host, and the could chase the other out of the nem . Very compllex behavior from designed clowns.

returning to what i've learned from his lecture;

- About Bioloads in nanos, the difference between , over stocking and over crowding.

- Over stocking is the amount of speciment put in the tank for the amount of water and the filtering capacity.

- Over crowding is the space between individuals that may sting eachother and cause chemical warfare and at the same time polute the water.

- Fish size also is an issue; territorial fish are not a good idea because even a small territorial fish will grow and let say a clown will claim the whole tank for himself anyway. Contrairy to a cardinal who just stay there very quiet with no claim.

- The choices of coral is important because you don't want corals that can propagate themselve without your knowledge, like a kenya tree who split and settle somewhere else and then you find yourself with multiple or undesireble coral in the wrong places .

-Do nanos need sump; it a personal choice but anytime you can augment the water volume of any system you help maintain the system more stable.

- Elegant corals never win at chemical warfare and never put them near rockwork because they're so fragile just a smal tear will get infected and they'll die from it. Even when its her who retracts at night .

Those were all his answers and points of the lecture. very nice man t talk too.

American Belgium descent who brought the mangrove growing concept to America into are refigiums and other ideas i'm sure.

Thank to OVAS for bringing this man to are city.

Meeting of the minds, no thats not me on the right lol, but a buddy of mine who has a store.

Publiée le 9 avr. 2013

In this interview I have the absolute pleasure to talk with Albert Thiel (Aquarium Hobby Legend). Albert was one of the pioneers for the aquarium hobby here in the United States starting in the early 1980's. But he started in the hobby way before that as he is originally from Belgium and had traveled the world from France to Asia learning about how the hobby was practiced there. Mr. Thiel is known for his expertise in the marine hobby, especially in nano aquariums.

To learn more about Mr. Thiel and his incredible book please visit his site and learn more about his book "The Nano Aquarium" http://nano.athiel.net/

Buy "The Nano Aquarium" World Wide here -

http://thomasvisionreef.spreadshirt.com/

Website http://thomasvisionreef.weebly.com/

twitter @thomasreef

Personal Facebook (new) https://www.facebook.com/theultimatehobby

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Thomasvisionreef

[metrokat]

Edit: I see one SPS frag in the recent posts. Is that a tester?

[Basile]

When I see the updates on this thread I imagine public aquariums must come together like this. Large and overwhelming, fascinating, simple and complex all rolled into one. I have questions along the way but I get lost in your narrative and pictures.

 

Are you planning on adding SPS, if yes, then how long into the tank setup will these be added?

 

Which parts of the tank husbandry are automated?

 

Thanks

 

 

I've designed the main tank actually for mostly soft coral i did sps and i'm not patient enought, lol. I also enjoy the swaying of long tentacles in the water, hence the wavebox. I'll have some but the hardier ones, capable of enduring a high nutrient tank.

 

The whole system is geared up for it, with a huge refugium to pick up the nitrates and phosphates input. The 2 external coast to coast overflows on each tank will help the skimming effect and the skimmer to remove quickly the excess nutrients but i'll need some of it, because some of my inhabitant will have a demand for it.

 

Skimmers are far more efficient these days and don't always need to be on, specially for softies in a high nutrient tank or for rich waters.

 

And you don't need to ask all your questions at once lol . I'm here for a while, lol.

[Basile]

Edit: I see one SPS frag in the recent posts. Is that a tester?

 

 

Yes, lol. Most of the automation with my Apex will be for the primairy stuff; pumps, skimmers, heaters, fans. My lights are independant as they're not connected, but manual, but $400 cheaper. Maxspect had in my view the right idea, less frills with useless programs like storms, and cloudy days and disco nights, lol that are useless to corals , but expensive programs to input , so i passed, and whent for basic but efficient stuff.

 

I invested in a good pump systems and controllable one The Tunze was bar none the best, And so is the services. I used the MP's before. I find that you hear the tank before you see it lol. So i pass, plus it become very hot even if outside, i don't understand why. My skimmer is top notch in my view Octopus has for value the best of both worlds, middle of the road easy to operate, really efficient, long life span.

[metrokat]

Rich waters are great for SPS. My nano and the acropora it grew with fantastic colors is proof. The same colonies are necrosing in my new tank. Filled water in it on Nov 10th, moved colonies over far too soon. I've been adding phosphate, biodigest, bioptim, other bacteria, feeding a lot. I see algae now, and my nitrates and phosphates have come up. The tank never had a cycle, I used new sand, seeded with some of the old and used only my old rock colonies, no new rock. Just hoping for the SPS to stop feeling so bad.

[Basile]

Some shopping for new additions and oldies with a new angle.

Dendronephthya

Pterogorgia anceps

Plerogyra sinuosa

Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata

The new guy, makes everything pop ; Squareback Anthias ;Pseudoanthias pleurotaenia

Has finaly set up roots and clam down

Right side view of the tank under wavebox side

She's voraciousm Purple carpet nem.

Side to side left to right

having trouble with that one. Sun coral, he's not that bright.....

Here's Mulder

A nice blue haliclona sponge

The underworld

A little critter

"Z" saying hello

Mellow yellow

Early morning before the artificial lights the natural lights hits.

[Basile]

[/center][/font][/size]

I've enter a log blog very useful site , detailled and mainely for data on your tank and your actions taken so you can backtrack and see what you've done . Its also a reminder of what needs to be done on your tank, daily, weekly , monthy etc . You have to enter your parameters of course but doing so make you contemplate what you have and helps you manage your system more efficiently. You get points doing your chores and you can follow your progress. You can follow using your Iphones , Androids, and Apex controllers. A very usefull tool . Graph are availables even if you don't have controlers so very cool for those without the hardware to keep track of progress.

http://www.aquaticlog.com/?page=home

First i lost my dwaf fuzzy lion fish for 2 months in my refugium , so presume dead. Never saw a body so the snail and critter got him i think.

I lost my sailfin blenny in the same refugium on the seahorse side never saw a body.

Lost my spoted manderin never saw a body either,

Saw a fight between a male seahorse and a female seahorse and the male end up breaking the female's back. Saw her lying on a cheato bed the next morning gasping for air the poor thing. She died soon after. Spoke to my LFS where i bought it and he said i was the second person who brought him the same story. Dan; the owner is actually a biologist and knows his stuff. So he says it maybe one of their behaviors we're not familior with.

Started dosing Alk because i was at 6.0 and my hammers were starting to shrivel and loose tissues. Got a dosing kit with Fauna Marine really good deal everything comes with it , dosing pump for 3 possibly 4 with 3 gallons, and all the powders and additives.

This will be going on my stalactite, you have to isolate those because they can overtake a tank Yellow polyps, are easy and on the stalactite they can't go over the main rocks and will be stopped by the lack of light on the other side, wich will be populated by something else.

After listening to Alber Thiel i got myself a little flower anemone to diversify my my nem population i'm not lucky with nem so i'm carefull with my choice so a little one will do.

A lucky shot of my little designer picasso clowns which according to Albert Thiel may never host my carper anemone because they lack the genetic disposition to do so, a trait missing in most designed clows fish. But like he said they may and if so one may the other not. It all very complicated genetics he said.

Oh yes almost forgot this one . I lost this guy about two months ago along with his pistol shrimp , they both disapeared never to be seen again. Until i bought another pair, a yellow watchman and another bigger tiger pistol shrimp. They where both evicted from there cave lol. So now i have 2 pairs, not to worry lots of room in a 150G This is the orange spot goby never saw the shrimp just heard it.

Now this is the other pair i bought to replace the firs who had dispeared on me now i can hear both shrimps lol each at both ends of the tank with their goby. I can see only one pair actually , the new commers.

This is the watchman kicking butt, he kicked everybody out of that cave , serpent star, the other goby, whent after the tangs , foxface very bullyish he's 5" and mouth wide open and he means business.

A clear shot of the new pistol shrimp in a 2 second pass boy these guys are fast.

The two of them in their cave

Here she is carying a load of sand ; i'm on the side of the right panel and she has to pass along the panel very good angle to see this.

My only shots of my sailfim Blenny , too fast for the camera.

The thinker; fish style

I did some skin graphting ; GSP skin that is. and its turning out very well. This guy had it on his glass so i cut it up and glued it on the branches.

I decided to glue my main red ball to the main rock right where the main water flow passes. This way she's no longer on the sand and has the flow all around her.

As you can see fully extended and very happy. My nutritional supplement seems to be working. Very please with that.

I have trouble with this guy, the sun coral so a bit of intence dipping everyday will do the trick and it actually did , i don't have the picture now but last night it finally opened . You do that all day , no harm done , agitate the water once and a while i add some garlic , one drop only and it will eventually open. I put it back in the tank for the night, and start over in the morning. 2-3 days of this and she'll open. Then you can feed her properly.

Missing a few corals yet.

 

Rich waters are great for SPS. My nano and the acropora it grew with fantastic colors is proof. The same colonies are necrosing in my new tank. Filled water in it on Nov 10th, moved colonies over far too soon. I've been adding phosphate, biodigest, bioptim, other bacteria, feeding a lot. I see algae now, and my nitrates and phosphates have come up. The tank never had a cycle, I used new sand, seeded with some of the old and used only my old rock colonies, no new rock. Just hoping for the SPS to stop feeling so bad.

I was always under the impression that my nitrates at 25ppm and phosphates at 0.5ppm would be catastrophic for them those are my average parameters, for my tanks and they're needed to feed and my corals and my macro algaes or the macroalgaes will die of starvation.

[Basile]

I'm not sure but i think my clam could be in trouble do you see those filament comming out of her left vent ; 2 brown filaments could it be a worm of some kind?

My small flower nem doing her kegle excersises

My carpet has tripple since i got her

My suncoral is comming out more and more

And what about my chrismass tree

Found this stomalia snail in the fuge at first didn't know what it was, back it whent in the fuge.

Got this little guy for the top of my stalactite very shallow waters, favia brain.

 

 

Your font has always been super tiny on my PC.....

Ok well now i've reset to big sorry about that guys.

One of my best contributer of my refugium. When you have a huge refugium like mine its impossible i found to escape certain algaes, like hair algaes that cling to other algaes because of laminar flow thats occurs because of the nature of a refugium. I have my powerheads at MAX; 2 XTunze 6055

1,450 USgal./h and i still get some.

So i got a little critter a seahare that does a great job without harming my macroalgaes. Here's a little vid about him.

Well i heard their was seahorses at MLFS so i got a replacement female for my tank. Hopefully this one wont be beat up by the male and my couples will mate, don't know why it hasn't happened yet, maybe i'm playing the wrong music....

My new Video

5 months 18 days ago

The Refugium

 

[CatfishSoupFTW]

this is one crazy build log ! love it. Hopefully later on in my life I can build something like this. Really dig it. the price on the starfire tank is pretty amazing. never heard of the supplier you mentioned. And you are in Ottawa yeah? Im from Toronto, and usually I find things on the starfire world get hella expensive.

 

Also love the cats hahaa - I recently built a 21 gal starfire cube with 10 gal sump, and while I was testing my plumbing for leaks with fresh water, one day I came home... and well long story short, curiosity bathed the cat. -__- he learned his lesson.

 

do you plan on making a lid? noticed I havent seen any. I have ran top less tanks, my 55 freshwater has spent most of its life topless, with only a handful of jumpers over the years. But going into reefs, I have lost clownfish, and gobies within hours of buying them as they jumped. So after losing some money there, I learned my lesson, and saw a user here make a lid out of a window screen kit. I decided to build one. Super easy, and cheap to make. You do lose a bit of light due to diffusion, but its way better than using a glass or acrylic top. I had an acylic one I made earlier, but I found out A. acrylic is expensive, and B, cleaning salt off of it all the time was annoyyyiinngg. With the screen, I have yet to mess around with it. And it looks sleek as well on a rimless tank.

 

I will be following this log. Cant wait to see coral growth.

[Basile]

 

this is one crazy build log ! love it. Hopefully later on in my life I can build something like this. Really dig it. the price on the starfire tank is pretty amazing. never heard of the supplier you mentioned. And you are in Ottawa yeah? Im from Toronto, and usually I find things on the starfire world get hella expensive.

Also love the cats hahaa - I recently built a 21 gal starfire cube with 10 gal sump, and while I was testing my plumbing for leaks with fresh water, one day I came home... and well long story short, curiosity bathed the cat. -__- he learned his lesson.

do you plan on making a lid? noticed I havent seen any. I have ran top less tanks, my 55 freshwater has spent most of its life topless, with only a handful of jumpers over the years. But going into reefs, I have lost clownfish, and gobies within hours of buying them as they jumped. So after losing some money there, I learned my lesson, and saw a user here make a lid out of a window screen kit. I decided to build one. Super easy, and cheap to make. You do lose a bit of light due to diffusion, but its way better than using a glass or acrylic top. I had an acylic one I made earlier, but I found out A. acrylic is expensive, and B, cleaning salt off of it all the time was annoyyyiinngg. With the screen, I have yet to mess around with it. And it looks sleek as well on a rimless tank.

I will be following this log. Cant wait to see coral growth.

Thanks for the kind words. I first dealth with Miracle Aquariums from Toronto but that was hell. I don't know what was their problem but because i used a middle man i had to use him for everything and couldn't change things the way i wanted and even for paying i had my credit card in hand and they wanted me to pay him instead and well tey lost the sale, I went with Concept Aquarium from Calgary ; which not only that they resolved my issues but they also gave me 10% OFF for having problems with miracles..... They took the account and they came up with great solutions with some of my issues, they're problem solvers.

I was told later that Miracle Aquariums likes big clients ( in the millions) so if its when they're very busy they're not really interested in small contracts. Apparently they have huge business like shopping malls i the USA and all over the world so small private guys......

Anyway concepte were very nice guys and professionals. As for a top no never had any real problem , Just one who jumped thats all.

I also have the benefit of having a coast to coast overflow behind the tank, so if they jump backwards like one did he fell into the overflow and i put him back into the tank the next day lol.

As for screen they're good , yes but i don't bother with one.

 

I finally have clowns that host my carpet Nem, the pictures are not the best because its the end of the photoperiod but here they are.It took 5 min for them to jump in the nem lol enought to tell other fish BITE ME LOL.

New pictures of my new guys in their nem, lol

My nem was healthy, but since they moved in she seem to have perked up up even more, they've cleaned her up , even under her mantle as well

Rough month ; the carpet nem took my Yellow tang , and i lost my yellow wrasse to a somersault outside fluidic space and it dried up on the newly installed terracotta from Italia..... very pissed....on both counts. The latter was doing a bang up job with the flatworms in my fuge grrrrr.

Anyway, got new recruits;

Helmo here;Yellow tang, very skinny....

Harry the second to replace Harry the first ;Yellow wrasse again....

and the Red dwarf, in the main tank, he was so funny and cute and needed a home.Flame hawfish great personnality.

.

Also i build up the cats walkway a bit further this week.

and rescued a bubble tip nem, now she's actually much better, she's deep orange with pink and green tips really nice;

Finally finish renovating the condo, floors, ceilings and walls, without moving and without killing my back in the process, which i have a displace disk, by the way.

The hallway when i was building up lol

I had never touched terracotta before just tried my hand with it. The secret i was told by the handyman at Rona was not to try to put things straight, because all the tiles are handmade in Italie by different company so they're not all the same sizes , so you go crazy if you try. So a rustic look is innevitable and thats was my aim anyway. Looks very cool and very clean easy to take care too. Broom or vaccumm, and a wet mop. has a 7 year coating on it, can't be stained or chiped very hard and resistant.

[Basile]

 

The time tunnel CAT STYLE;

Now they have access to the whole upper room level.

 

Got the brow jelly syndrome which i treated with Furan-2 from API after loosing 8 corals i was ready to try anything. It seem to have stopped for now.

I used on pack in one gallos of water; usually its one pack per 10 gallons, but i used it as a dippy dooda so for 30 min all my corals were in a yellow solution and then in clear salt water to rince for another 30 min and back to the tank.

Zoos, bubble coral, gorgonian, the whole thing whent in and they all opened up 10 min back into the tank and sang kumbaya.

Here's a few updated picture of the tank in its 7 months;

I've got more gorgonians comming for the NPS zone, now that i know i can keep them alive lol.

Trying to put more stuff on the stalactite is tuff.

A new comer

I transfered some caulerpa profilata in the main tank for the urchins see if they go for it. Plus i've got some new macro's going into the refugium later in the week, need some room. The tangs should also enjoy some too, we'll see.

The nem is behaving, just lost one fish and hopping its the last........i know , i know.....

Somme gorgonians and kenya trees .

 

Brown jelly article you might find interesting since i whent through it;

http://reefdreams.de/lang_eng/info_13_eng.html

http://www.coralscience.org/main/articles/pathology-2/ciliates

[Basile]

Some dammage done by the jelly on the top

This is all taken after the dipping in Furan-2 from API

Of course those on the rocks??? can't do anything about that.

Oh yes buddy that i usually can't see during the day , we talked about him earlier; he came to say hi at noon the other day. Its a Dendrochirus barberi thanks to a good buddy of mine, :beer: lol, we've been able to ID him finally after 5 months. He survived on pods all that time , because he never ever took any food i gave him, gosh shrimps, just one molly and when on hiding for 4 months after that.

She keeps falling from the ledge and at the other end my clarkii keep pushing her.

One of my night crawlers day time rare .....

My seahare

Flower nem

This is API furan-2 i used , the instruction is one pack per 10 gallons,to be used in your tank, but i used it as a dip. So i've put one pack in one gallon; 10 times the strenght for a 30min dip in a bucket and a 30 min rince in a bucket of salt water and then return to the tank.

It contains an active ingredient to kill bacteria ; an anti-biotic . Thats why i didn't put it in the tank. I used it as a dip instead. You don't want to nuke your bacterial count in your tank do you lol.

[/center][/font][/size]

Yep it was time for new macroalgaes and gorgonians, let start with the refugium;

Caulerpa Mexicana ,

Botryocladia sp

Caulerpa sertularioides

Caulerpa Cupressoide

Caulerpa Mexicana

Ok this time i got myself some new NPS stuff ; new Gorgonians.

A Diodogorgia nodulifera

I haven't decided of her permanent place yet until i know she's happy.

Species Name: Diodogorgia nodulifera

Authority: Hargitt, 1901

Common Name: Orange/Red/Yellow Tree Gorgonian

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Southern Florida, Bahamas, Caribbean

Natural Environment: Inhabits moderate depths under overhangs

General Husbandry: Common names also include Yellow Finger Sea Rod/Gorgonian, Red Finger Sea Rod/Gorgonian, Orange Finger Sea Rod/Gorgonian, or Tree (whatever color) Gorgonian. Lacks symbiotic algae. Has a temperature range of 68 to 75°F (23.89°C) (20 - 24°C). Requires a shaded area and daily feedings with plankton-like foodstuffs.

Aquarium Suitability: Difficult to maintain long term.

This my yellow one from before 5 months old now;

Muricea laxa

Species Name: Muricea laxa

Authority: Verrill, 1864

Common Name: Silver Sea Whip

Range: Western Atlantic Ocean: Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean

Natural Environment: Found at various depths on coral fragments and rocky rubble

General Husbandry: Has a temperature range of 68 to 79°F (26.11°C) (20 - 26°C). Requires moderate light, very good water quality, (no algae) and moderate water movement. Seen here in my aquarium where it was maintained for two years.

very bad shipper got dammaged she was fine in the bag but during the night in the tank she did loose some spots the flow , i don't think anything ate her because it stopped , its the shipment that affected her most.

[Basile]

Leptogorgia virgulata

Muricea muricata

I got a Acalycigorgia sp but so small one of the urchin pick it up and God knows where it is now....... $14 gone grrrrrr they advertised a 1" speciment i'm not even sure it was that. Reef2Go they also substituted some caulerpa for Codium i've ordered twice now.....not happy.

This is a mystery can't find the name and it doesn't corespond to any of their pictures..... go figure.

Got a new yellow sponge

And a nice red one too

OOps upside down

They still have nice items but you get surprises sometimes.

Not sure what this one is doing there, and you try to get explanation or contact them its a waste of time.

Makes a cool looking area i think

From the fuge point of view

from the top of the fuge

 

Well tried to clean my powerheads specially my bubblemaster on my octopus skimmer with vinegar and baking soda.......what a waste of my time!!!!!!!!!!!

The good old fashion way;

Hot water , soap and javex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the time this coffee pot was empty i had all my powerheads (6) done and clean and repositioned, 45 min.

While one was brewing in soap in the presto, the other was rincing in the toperware for 2 min, thats it, you brush wipe all the cracks take out the empellers and rinse, then make it run in the clean water before puting it back in the tank. Plastic don't absorb soap or javex.

here a few tank shots taken today, i've permanently position them now, since they've seem to open and be happy right away where i've put them almost at the same place as before.

Same type of gorgone but yellow

Such a nice current there i decided to put them both there side by side ; their polyps opens up right away. The waterflow more than the nutrient count seem to mater most from my observations, i got that from the day i've cleaned my powerhead one time. having not dosed phytoplacton for a week the polyps extended anyway because the powerhead that i was attempting to put back in place slipped and got into their area by accident and flushed directly at them, for a few seconds. that was an eye opener.

The dark side of the cave

Chrismass tree

The top of the stalactite, i've got a favia there it doing so so.

A new Blue Xenia

Maximes on the right......

Funny it looks like 2 pictures but only one; its the way the rocks are cut and the cave gives a look behind and the corals distribution, now i know how camera trick are done lol.

He was directing me the whole time.........

 

[michaelrzachmann]

amazing thats all

[Basile]

Boxing day specials so i went for the emerald crabs to help control my bubble algaes that seem to grow a bit too much, not that i mind so because the tangs, foxface and other are eating it but just the same.

This was given to me to put back to health with my super rich waters and nutrients.

Pretty little thing it has blue centers that starting to show after only 4 days in my tank.

This one is a bit more fragile , goniaporas are hard to keep indeed.

My basket seastar has been ok but i have no idea if she's feeding enough yet.

She deploys at night , catches her prey and suppose to be eating during the day.

Oh yes Christmas dinner;

1 salmon filet

half and half coars salt and brown sugar (1/4 cup each)

Dill weed

Peppercorn

Plastic wrap

2 wooden boards

A heavy pot for weight

2-3 days in the fridg turn everyday baste with liquid.

Decoration melon balls

The Gravlax is ready

Can serve up to 8 people

Served with basamic rasberry vinegar bread and olive oil , good wine rosé or white. I like red.....

After this Entré we ate some Bison Royale . Were sick of turkey up here!!

amazing thats all

 

 

Thanks , much appreciated.

[Rehype]

Outstanding

[Basile]

Ok well let see what's what and where i am right now.

- The system works as anticipated with very few ajustments

- I couldn't clean up my wires better thats seem impossible for me.

-The prodibiotic method to start a tank worked very well, 24h after i've put the water in i was able to put my first fish in and corals.

- The sexy LED's lights bought from Ebay for the mixing drum and sump lasted one month only.

- The fuge is a huge success , both with my club , selling the extras and general appeal.

- My iron depletion is unreal who knew that so much iron was consume by macroalgaes, i guess i know now.i have to dose every 3 days to keep it at low levels. Of course i have a huge stock of algaes......

- The seperation in the fuge can be overcomed by both the inverts and fishes, where's the hole , no idea, how do they do it no idea, did i build it i'm starting to wonder.

- The seahorses feeding box works great and no problem feeding them, no pregnent ones so far, not sure why maybe a moon cycle is missing?

- Flat worm problem still there in the fuge , but in the main tank its gone, thanks to the wrasse.

- My ALK problem is still a problem now i`m dosing 2ml per hour, i have no idea why its still at 6.1 after a month of dosing.

- All my corals are doing good except the hamers i lost 90% due to brown jelly 12 hammers worth $ 700 .

- I lost only one fish to my carpet nem so far, thank God.

- Exchanged my picasso clowns for clowns that hosted my nem i rather have that symbiotic relationship than those two idiots who swam only in the top corner.

-My undisturbed sand is full of critters at night , but i had a pod crash due to my wrass in the fuge. The same wrasse that was suppose to get those worms under control but didn`t. i may have to use a chemical solution, but fear for the seahorses.

- In my maintenance i found that 2 months for cleaning the powerheads was a bit soon , practically no particule accumulation other than outside the casing.

- The Apex controller is a charm

- The Tunze powerheads are extremely silent and the best , and i've used the MP's before.

- Little fishies reactor so simple to use no problem.

- My Super Reef Octopus 3000 Internal Protein Skimmer , sooooo good and silent, easy to clean , even a bit too efficient; if i dose my phytoplancton i have to take it OFF line otherwise he syphon`s it out of the tank and i waste it down the drain. I wait 6 h at least.

- Tunze ATO is Good , but its one of those you have to pay and keep a close eye on. Clean that optic eye when doing your WC.

- Lighting period, very important, its the difference between having an algae bloom, cyano bacteria or having no issue at al. Specially if your running a high nutrient tank like i do, because of my Gorgonians , sponges , clams, (phytoplancton dosage) and my display refugium that requires a bit more nitrates actually and uses phosphates of the water columb. So adding one too many hours started an algae bloom for weeks at one point. So 7 h of white is enough for my refugium at 100% , 11 h total.

-The lighting for my main tank is less intensive for many reason, but still only 8h white and 12 h total. Its enough for my corals and no algaes bloom. They also get the natural light all morning since the lights don't come on till 11am.

- My clean up crew selection process worked like a charm and i have no problem what so ever with the results and i haven't bought a single extra cleaner since because of that plan. It worked perfectly as predicted. I fraken love science!!!! LOL.

Well that about i really enjoy my project and my tank system thanks for watching, please if you have any suggestions or questions.

Ok well its been a while ; the brown jelly did finally stopped, with 12 casualty;

$700 worth of corals, i've learned from a LFS that you siphon each affected heads before you cut them and then you can dip them if you want. Crushing the tissues is what causes the necrosis and eventually the brown jelly.

So when moving your coral its you who usually causes it or me..... not enough flow also causes it, or too much, go figure, its bruises the tissues. Quite the info after the fact but still useful. In any case i've replace the corals because a big hole was left on my rock.

I found a nice Glove polyp, something i never had or actually saw, easy they say, I love easy, don't you? Easy,Lazy nice rhyme, their's so much hard stuff in are hobby if i can find beautiful and easy coral i'll take it!!

And i found this nice sarcophyton sp to be perfect to become a show piece on the ledge with his nice shape.

Some Alveopora Coral

My carpet nem started to move and she ate my second yellow tang

The whole tank is being disturbed by this the clowns territory has shifted and everybody is mad.

She use to be at the far end of the tank now she's in the middle right in the Foxface garage

Every bodie's running away from the feuding foxface clowns and tang the tux are in hiding mode

These have grown really good

I got these buttons to decorate my stalactite.

I had trouble finding stuff to put on the stalactite and someone suggested theses button polyps.

While moving around the nem is stigning everything on its way grrrrr

She's so sticky unreal

The killer

One that suffered the most was my clam she was attacked several time by the clowns because she was in their territory, but she's fine now that i moved her away from harm.

The rest of the cast are also doing fine.

Well i'm in the moon for love.....LOL dada..dee deedahhh ddadeedade:banana::dance:

[Basile]

The gritty mix of home made food

Well today did some cooking, some fish cooking. 1 Octopus, baby calamaries, a bag of squids, some calamary tubes, 4 bags of shrimps, one bag of sardines, mysis shrimp, some red plankton, Krill, spirulina brine shrimp, Garlic, selcon vitamins, and spirulina powder. Thank God for the food processors and ziplock bags.

LOL it smelled fine it was fresh stuff lol , of course after an hour of prep and fidleling with this stuff my hands where marinated in that juice i just washed them in my main tank.

Well its my first try so i'll see how this work first. I followed chef Rogers YouTube video, although he didn't have all the gritty process details because the food processor phase is not that bad but if not well handled it can become messy.

Being a cook myself did help and i know how to minimise the smell too.Keep your ingredients in the water until you need them, is one trick. Have all your ingredients stil half thaw is another, and have all your utensil ready not to lose time on getting them and spending time and let the smell which is not that bad spread is another.

The most important wash everything right away and get rid of the garbage instantly as well. Celaphopods and seafoods in general have a specific oil that stays and stick to skin and anything that it touches. You'll have to wash your hands several times, lemon juice does a good job, but don't wonder if the cat or dog if following you for a few hours, you hands will still look good to them.

Just used the new formula. WOW. its very concentrated. it doesn't take much; by the way most of my bags are 750g to 800g. So its very concentrated and its like dropping a nuke in the tank. I noticed its best to stop all pumps so it doesn't sink to fast so the upper eaters have a chance to nip at it, then the bigger fish, middle tank get their share and then the bottom dwellers have it. The first piece when to fast in the bottom and the smaller chromis didn't have a chance to nibble at it too much. Another observation; Since its natural and not raffined and rewashed and re-rewashed a dozen times, it comes with certain natural oils i would imagine and it makes your skimmer go a bit crazy.

Make sure when you process your squids , calamary or octopuss, you've removed the inch sacs, theirs 2,in some cases yes, because i missed one and one batch in the food processor became totally black and i mean black. When they call it inck, its not an expression. My hands were stain and i rinsed them in the water where the others where soaking , lol well i could find them the inch camouflaged them lol. So its joke that thing.

But you have to take in consideration that its not commercial foods where everything has been drained from it, so you get the good stuff. So i think the natural oils and liquids must contribute to the health of your fish all the same with the bottom critters who are going to eat the left overs. The bacterias will consume these oils as part of their regime and be healthier i would imagine. Just something to bare in mind when you make your own food. Its not a process product,its the real DEAL, " i had to use that word", but you know what i mean LOL.:funny:

WOW all my snails are out the suncoral is open that food really make thing go nuts. The gorgonians are in full bloom, I've taken a piece and rubbed it againts , acans,large polyps , Xenias, candy canne they all took a piece and closed up with a mouth full , Look like the 4th of july in there lol. Well its more than mysis thats for sure , very consistant food, lots of protein and good stuff. Not sure if i'll use it every day. will have to read about that a bit more. Jesus all the snails are making out , i swear i didn't put viagra in there. Their enought aphrodisiac in there for Vatican city, lol

Ok enough with the stupid remarks but i observe a very intense activity since i've put that food in there.Thats for sure and the snails are reproducing now and the fish are actually taking food from each others mouth , steeling food hihi funny .

Everybody is out too , my emerald crabs that usually stay hidden during the day are out and my peppermint shrimp as well, its like a banquet for them .

The cost was $132 Canadian , it made 7 Ziplock bags of 850g+thats $18,95 each . Considering its potency each bag should last at least a month so 7 months worth of food.

Now your prices wil varie , but suffice to say for an hours work it worth it.

I've put;

one whole octopus

A bag of baby cuttlefish

A bag of cuttlefish tubes

A bag of calamary whole

A bag of Sardines whole(heads and all)

A bag of Mysis shrimp

A bag of brine mysis spirulina shrimp

A bag of red plankton

A bag of krill

one tableSpoon of Spirulina powder, no more

6 drop of garlic juice ( your not doing this for taste just for its properties)

6 drop of selcon vitamins ( too much can be detrimental to liver and kidneys)

Largest bags og Ziplock 3 cups of mixture per bag.

*****One small note if you put clam or any kind of mussel your fish might be tempted or develop a taste for YOUR clam or start nipping at it ; its known to happen just saying thats why i stay away from it.

*****Make sure when you process your squids , calamary or octopuss, you've removed the inch sacs, theirs 2,in some cases yes, because i missed one and one batch in the food processor became totally black and i mean black. When they call it inck, its not an expression. My hands were stain and i rinsed them in the water where the others where soaking , lol well i could find them the inch camouflaged them lol. So its no joke that thing.

*****Their's also a transparent cartilage in a squid it looks like a long nail its part of the squid body , take it out before processing.

I write big for my iphone friends.

Feeding my fish with the home made fish food, lost of particule in that food mix make every coral expand as well, i rub the frozen piece on many on them and they catch pieces of the food and its really something. The camera unfortunately doesn't catch all that ; its not close and precise enough for that. And i'm not a pro at this like i said before i'm also awkward at doing videos even clumsy , specially since i'm french and i have to do this all at the same time , not at all easy for me, but i hope i give enough info so you can make your own foods and start saving. Hey Its better than bad music, LOL.

The refugium update, New species , i lost a few but not too many, i've sold a lot , enough to finance this new batch and put some in a smaller tank, for now. I've experimented with food for plant and algaes , made observations every day, took notes in my log book and measurements, time and samples. i found out a few thing about most of my algaes, and like i said lost just a few 5 in all really in the second batch, i lost the first batch almost completely to snails eating algaes, so no snails in this fuge except stomatella and nassarius for detritus, a few hermits , but most of all my seahare; just that he ate all the ulva, lol. As for hermith goes, no halloween, or big ones they grab seahorses , but the seahorses by the way kick their butts lol. Seastars are good specially because seahorses can be messy , however if you have a little feeder box like mine it doesn't really matter , its stays in the box and they don't waste too much. By the way the new food the seahorses loves it. If you have any question specially about the dosing, of the iron which is paramount in this case for big complex refugium like this one , please don't hesitate , because this is how i lost my algaes in the first place(this has nothing to do with caulerpa or chaeto) i'm talking about the more savy speciments , in a complex refugium, not a 6X6 under the tank refugium.

My main reef tank lots of changes, i had an brown jelly outbreak, lost 12 hammers, saved 2, but for the most par the tank is well and progressing nicely. My gorgonian collection is very healthy for now, By the way i made a mistake in my presentation i named one of my corals acropora, when its goniopora, which i use to call it gonorrhea so i wouldn't forget, lol.Sorry about that; i always mix these two up don't know why.

A bit of gore lol a dying sponge someone gave me , i had one previously and i did the same as this video. After research on how to propagate sponge and how this animal is constituted. University biology projects are at the base of this experiment or method of doing things.

 

[Basile]

 

Here some of my data i've colllected to base my course of action regarding my iron dosing for my refugium, their are others but its one that after i had started confirmed i was in the right direction.

Article Citation:

Y. Suzuki, K. Kuma, I. Kudo, and K. Matsunaga (1995) Iron requirement of the brown macroalgae Laminaria japonica, Undaria pinnatifida (Phaeophyta) and the crustose coralline alga Lithophyllum yessoense (Rhodophyta), and their competition in the northern Japan Sea. Phycologia: May 1995, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 201-205.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2216/i0031-8884-34-3-201.1

Iron requirement of the brown macroalgae Laminaria japonica, Undaria pinnatifida (Phaeophyta) and the crustose coralline alga Lithophyllum yessoense (Rhodophyta), and their competition in the northern Japan Sea

Y. Suzuki*, K. Kuma, I. Kudo, and K. Matsunaga

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, 041 Japan

Abstract

The iron uptake rates of the brown macroalga Laminaria japonica Areschoug and the coralline alga Lithophyllum yessoense Foslie were determined using 59F (15°C)e as a tracer. The uptake rates of Laminaria were saturated at a higher level of iron than Lithophyllum. Furthermore, the saturated uptake rate of Laminaria was approximately 50 times higher than that of Lithophyllum. The growth of Laminaria, the brown macroalga Undaria pinnatifidaHarvey (Suringar) and Lithophyllum was compared in iron-rich and iron-limited media. A medium enriched with iron promotes the growth of Laminaria and Undaria. In contrast, Lithophyllum grew even in an iron-limited medium <1 nM Fe). The iron concentration in coastal seawater collected from the Japan Sea, where rocks or rock beds are covered with coralline algae, is extremely low <2 nM Fe). This may explain why coralline algae (Lithophyllum) dominate, whereas growth of brown macroalgae is severely limited.

Accepted: November 10, 1994 ;Published Online: May 1995

* Present address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Miyazaki University, Miyazaki, 889-21 Japan.

Source;

http://www.phycologia.org/doi/abs/10.2216/i0031-8884-34-3-201.1

Undaria pinnatifida

Laminaria japonica Areschoug

Lithophyllum yessoense Foslie

 

Most literature say are test are ineffective at detecting precisely the amount of iron in are tank and blah , well i rather and all my base are covered. I also can see a difference in growth almost within 12 hours and testing prove within 24h that a change occurs in the ppm of nitrates and phosphates depletions, or in this case absobtion. In the ocean, its the reverse.

The iron is there, its the amount of nitrates and phosphate that is missing. So its the two(nitrates and phosphates) that are the determining factors of growth , for macroalgaes. Certain big cities find that out in a hard way when a macro gets a hold and start getting the rich phosphates waters from the urban areas well its a mess in those ocean parts.

 

I had a new shipment of macros, last weekend so here are some new shot. Some of the macro's didn't travel so well. 3 days is too long for some and they where damaged, i contacted the seller who reimbursed me. thats was honest . However i'm trying to have them ship them via fedex so i can place another order , because they have exquisite speciment. Its a very responsible shipper and when you get one try to do business with them instead of throwing the book at them. He's trying to make a living and your trying to get rare speciment, a deal can be done here. meeting half way is usually the best way.

So some pictures you'll see have speciment a bit out of shape, but at the end i have a surprise.

CYMOPOLIA BARBATA

CAULERPA ASHMEADII

One thing i like about that company they have a good botanist that knows his specimen and don't invent names out of a box when he doesn't know, the name are right on the spot, so you know exactly what you have, Reef2Go are terrible for that,some of their stuff is absolutely wrong.I still order from them they have incredible speciment but you have to know your stuff or you could be easely fooled.

SARGASSUM SP.

NEOMERIS ANNULATA

HALYMENIA SP. when it arrived 3 days in the dark, the water was pink she had lost all her pigmentation almost died.

3 days later under my care same algae. HALYMENIA SP.

The rest of the tank;

Got this two little gorgonians on the way for the main reef , photosynthetic

RUSTY GORGONIAN (muricea elongata)

TAN SPINY GORGONIAN (muricea Sp)

 

[Basile]

I have a lots of caulerpa right no and lots of extra growths for many types, and throwing them away after paying through the nose make me GRRRRRRR. So i've collected them in a small tank and having lots, i want to put that in my main tank. Lots of people are nay sayers.

For one they say i've got a good formula that work, yes it does.Then they say it wont work because the tangs will devour everything before it grows again. Then they say if it invades, well make up your mind, if the tangs and fox face eats it before it takes root it wont invades. As a matter a fact they do eat it and i'll put only stuff that they eat.

Some are asking why, AHH thats the question!!

I've turned my GFO OFF, and the macro's are picking up very nicely, but in the main tank i have bubble algae growing. Althoug tang eats it and my emeral crabs do i'd like to replace it with nicer algaes and, i'm very fond of those tanks looks;

I like the very natural look and less planed or artificial .

My tank;

Has a lot of room and potential, you see that tonga branch where nothing will ever grow, i'll be strapping a couple of mangrove half way, the roots will grow downwards while the shoot upwards will be taken care of by another light above the razors when the time comes. I'll also have a few of those mangroves on the backwall and from the external overflow. the result should be like this;

The rest of the tank has lots of backwall and space for the macro to grow and the grazers to graze. ;

Anyway i think its worth a try.

 

 

I'm causing quite a stir with my question about shutting down my skimmer afew hours a day; http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/would-you-turn-off-your-skimmer-223617.html

LOL, anyway , i have a few new things this weekend, pick that up at the 25 anniversary of are local store, 3 corals for $99 no taxes,

I'll have better pictures today will update

Chili coral or sponge;

its better than it looks it only opened last night sorry,

I'll replace the picture later ....lol

And a nice little The Valentini Puffer or Canthigaster valentini; a species of Pufferfish that has the amazing ability to inflate its body to almost twice its size when threatened.

Valentini Pufferfish go by a couple different names including the Saddle Valentini Puffer, Saddled Toby, Black Saddle Pufferfish, Valentini Toby and the Black Saddled Toby. They are a beautiful mix of Blacks, Blues, Oranges, Tans and Yellows. Like other Pufferfish, they lack pelvic fins which make them quite interesting to watch swimming. They actually use their pectoral fins to maneuver themselves around. Growing to about 4" maximum, they are not particularly large for a Puffer.

He's in my refugium , so he wont harm my corals.I'll feed him some krill, shrimp with the shells,and clams with the shell as well when he's bigger.

My dwarf lion fish made an appearance after 8 months not eating , i put a moly in there.

This my new frogfish on the other side of the refugium;

He's 5 inch long, can you see him?Look for a rock its easier.

My sea cucumber and nassarius snail on a race on the glass , i didn't know cucumber could race.......lol

This my new Filefish in my reef, i don't understand people who say its an ugly fish , i find him adorable, and cute, nice little blue eyes.

He's already started to peck at the bottom, of course 10 % never eat aptaisias, i don't have an epidemic yet but i'm proactive... got my team of peppermint shrimps there too, he may eat them instaed lol hihihi.

One of my new sponges with golden polyps ;trying to find her scientific name its Parazoanthus puertoricense its actually a form of parasite , growing on the sponge but its beneficial to both. Its in the zoantid family and its one individual all interconnected with chanels under the sponge, wow.

I've lost 2 sponges, a big one that i cut in 4 pieces to regenerate and one of the pieces died, i had seeded it in the tank and it took, some sponges are growing in the tank on my GSP of all places.

Which i conclude that sponges are not susceptible to stinging either by corals or nem , lol and the sponge don't seem to interfear with the GSP either , the polyps are comming out each morning on top of the sponge very weird and fun to see. Will try to get a shot of that. Funny the seeded sponge is white and the other yellow. Not red.

I've also changed my suppliment 0007 batch to 0008 Batch, which now is;

1 tb Spoon(15ml) Acropower,Ultramin S,kent stronium& Molybden, Iron& manganese,Ultra Orgnic, Reef Roids, 1 teaSpoon(5ml) Ultramin F, Ultra clam,Ultra seafan, 1 drop of Iodine, mixed in a 160ml bottle and dosed daily for a week . Each batch is monitored and changed accordingely to results.

Richer it should keep my filter feeders up and running.

 

 

[Basile]

 

Well when i made my Stalactite; I made sure i could remove it for the cleaning of my glass in front and beside.

Early in the morning before the polyps are deployed i unscrew my bolt and take the stalactite out of its support.

And i put it on its side to clean it takes 5 min.

Under the ledge

One of the urchins, he lost most of his spine they are useless too cramp in there lol.

When the lights are on, some green polyps

On the dark side lol

My new Chili coral NPS

When at rest it shrinks

But when the lights go down the polyps emerges

Flash photography, not very good....

Really dark

 

 

Acclimation (All Animals)-Long shipping.

1. Float the bag in your tank to get them used to the temperature in your aquarium.

2. Wait 15 minutes.

3. Add contents to tank. Discard Water and Paper towels if any.

Important: Snails may go through shock during shipping, and be closed when they arrive. You should give them plenty of time to come out of their shells and move around before deciding they didn't make the trip. Ceriths may go dormant for up to 3 days.

You may find this to be different than the acclimation procedure you are used to carrying out. Snails and crabs live intertidally, and can handle drastic swings in ph/salinity without a problem. However, what they can't handle is toxic levels of ammonia. During the shipping process, ammonia levels in the shipping bags build, while the ph level goes down.

As the ph goes down the toxicity of ammonia also goes down. However, when your tank water with normal ph is introduced to the shipping bags, and the ph rises, so does the toxicity of the ammonia, and you will be poisoning the livestock. Please don't do this.

 

 

Some updates and adds on;

i've been tweaking with the camera too , the skimmer, a new DC 5500 pump , my salt and my after shave.

A man's den with no appologies, i did my tank for me myself and I. Its not a show piece for a boudoir, or a fancy living room, i live inside a Borg Cube, welcome to the Assimilation Chamber.

The tripod is for my new photo shoot practice.

I was shooting this little guy before the sun and the lights came on he's a chili coral NPS filter feeder, swells up for the evening till early mornings, about 3 times its day size, like a sponge he pumps water inside his body and opens up his polyps to feed.

here he is retracted

My new salt and its ingredients all marked down for convenience so i can test it and compare .

A tiresome cleaner Fromia seastar has been on that glove coral for the past week, you can see the abundance of "getgo" its an algae term used by some. An algae that is also very popular with pods, amphipods , its their food. Nothing to worry about. Actually if it disapear from your tank, your in trouble.

She's got such a nice complexion

Can you see the fish, the frogfish look for a rock you'll se the fish.lol

I had to force feed this guy. First when i put the live fish in his mouth he let it go. Then i push it in with my pincers i guess you call them . He finally swallowed one and i gave him another.

I'm finally starting to understand this dwarf lionfish a little better. These guys have such a low methabolism that they don't need much food per month. I mean they never move. I'm serious the frogfish never bouge. The lion fish a bit more, so i know now how he was able to survive on pods alone.

I've got mangrove pods comming for that soon.

 

[Basile]

 

Got a new teacher on lighting and contrast

This guy has decided to stick GSP on his back......gues what its growing there and its stuck.....i'm letting it grow there and making a record of this, Coral Magazine here i come LOL. Not only will i have the first GSP that moves, but one that actually gets rid of nuisance algae.....How's that for genetic manipulation, actually , its a cover up LOL.

I started to decorate my stalactite with the easiest things really.

My new moon

Made an experiment, i've put some new rocks in the drain compartment of the sump for a week. Then i did a water change. My God.... the junk that was stuck in and between those rocks and the filt..... that didn't make it into those filter sock added to my nitrate count that was way up. Conclusion, keep the socks in to trap and remove as much matter as possible, dont ever put any oblastacles in your sump to trap these particules of food or debris. So SAND, ROCKS, anything that can cause a trap. i'm actually . activly looking for an alternative to my skimmer support that has a debris trap. With all the picture i take you'd think i'd take a picture of that mess.....not:nuts:

A few natural sponges are growing in my tank as well. Must be all that good food i put in lol.

Nerites snails making out, living only a year if they reproduces they're excellent cyano and diatom eaters. Good diversity to have in.

A rare one in the hobby, Plexaura flexuosa.

I bough 7 new ones after my urchin have taken out a few. Since these guys feast only a fews days per weeks you can add ots in a tank to make sure the vaccum is passed all over becausr they don't come out every night , not all at the same time, and they rarely go after the same areas. So at present for my 150G i have 12 and its not too much, and i at least see one and i'm satisfied. And i don't say , **** it i never see one, thats because yours is digesting for days what you have in fact months ahead for it to eat. So add on they wont compete.

She's a pole dancer, nice hairdoo too, i got to stop taking those pills man ...

She's daylight delight to see

 

I like diversity and from the mouth of Albert Thiel ; too many tanks are devoided of it, its hermiths and snails and corals , and most of the little guys are forgoten .

People are so obsessed with their parameters, low nutrients and cleaning their tank, that they remove everything from the bottom, including the living creatures from their sandbed who help in the natual cleaning of the tank itself.

He said to me , he ask's people at night what do you see on your sandbed? And most say nothing. And that's sad because in the ocean its full of crawling things and a good sanbed contains that , and have crawling things at night for you to see.

But most of these people have are prize winning corals with artificial colors and a dead tank. And they think they have a great system..... lol

That was one of my exchange with him as we where setting up the venue for the next day event in Ottawa.

[Basile]

Any how these are my addition to my little world.

Its called a Fuzzy chitton algae eater, snail

The big ones are nassarius Vibex very small nassarius in fact, and the minuscule ones are Zig Zag periwingkles

Those are limpets flat snails with a hole at the center of the shell, i've put them there to see if they move in the next 3 days they hybernate when transported like this apparently.

That little periwinkle made it all the way to the top of the sculpture and his nearing the fromia seastar on the right, lol

Got a new nice fox coral

A nice Auzi scolie lol

My elegant is recoop from some flat worms grrr

My leather stool is very happy there it seems

AH HA!! My mangrove shoots, you can see the bottom part that i've strapped on the tonga branch, with a zip tie

The surface tips of 2 of them

I have 3 more near the return and on the ceramic backwall so when all the roots grow, some will be on the wall some on the tonga sculptures.

You can see the root of one near the return in the background on the wall.

One of my very few sps

An escapee

 

One of my favorite sport, some like watching birds i like watching my sand and rocks for new critters, lol .

By the way enjoy my lastes video taken on the run with my little canon powershot it was happening too fast didn't have time to reah for the big one.

 

 

My continuing learning curb about sponges.

]

So slow he can't find his food, sorry the angle of the camera , it was on the far side of the tank

Observation is key don't you agree?