MatthewDVM's Fluval Edge - Happy Birth-tank-day

[Matthewdvm]

I'd almost bet it's a mantis. Any luck seeing anything after dark?

Not last night. I need to get some meaty seafood to act as a lure.

[Matthewdvm]

Got up a little early this morning to go looking. No luck in finding Gollum (yes, I decided to name the as of yet unseen hider in caves and killer of fishes). Gonna get something meaty to try to tempt him out today.

 

But even if I do see him, I don't suppose there is much I could do, is there? The tank open is too small and the scape too intricate to have any chance of catching it.

[Slowtwitch]

A bottle trap will likely work. Might take some time, but they generally do work.

[Matthewdvm]

Didn't have time last night to set up a trap, or even a feeding/viewing area to try to catch sight of Gollum - I was to busy watching both the Blue Jays and the election!

 

This morning I looked again before the lights went on, and all I saw was the pom-pom crab waving her arms around like a boss. It couldn't be her, could it???

[Matthewdvm]

I haven't had a chance to go hunting for the presumptuous Mantis Shrimp yet, but I am slowly making headway on the Planaria (though I feel it is 1.5 steps forward, 1.25 steps back). I am slowly increasing the amount of Blue Vet Flatworm Treatment (the LFS didn't have Flatworm Exit) I use, and monitoring for any ill effects. So far the corals and inverts are tolerating it well, so I will keep going. I might hold off on feeding while I do this if I don't see the desired progress, as I think the backwards steps might be due to lots of available food, so they can divide each day after I kill off the weak.

 

In the meantime, though, here are some updated pictures. This (very) brittle star came out tonight and was wandering over the toadstool during the flatworm treatment. In my tank at least it is rare to see them all out and cruising around - Usually you just see a leg or two...

 

Duncan continues to thrive. I'd love some more bony growth to see some separation of polyps, but I suppose that will come with time. I really can't complain though, because both of the original heads have grown new heads and are doing really well. One of my first, and still favourite corals:

 

The Tubb's blue are recovering nicely with better lighting (yay!) and the Purple and Green Yuma is growing nicely, and even has a little baby (upper left):

 

A nice mixed Zoa colony. I really like the purple ones a lot:

 

My Clove Polyps and an unknown Zoa (one that thrives under my Monti Cap)

 

The leopard Disco (which has sent off a couple of offspring that I am trying to encourage to grow) was in a bit of a cup shape:

 

I can't accuse the micromusa of thriving, but it is off to the side and holding it's own. I think it is growing a little...

 

Green Zoas in my Zoa Garden:

 

I "accidentally" fraggged off a bit of my Forest Fire Digitata a while back, and put the frag in the highest, brightest, heaviest flow area of the tank. It really seems to like it there and has a nice mixture of color and good growth:

 

And here is the mother colony, competing with the Monti Cap for space:

[Slowtwitch]

Looking good Doc. I really like that Forest fire digi.

[Matthewdvm]

Looking good Doc. I really like that Forest fire digi.

Thanks. It is really liking the bright light and aggressive feeding/water changes I'm doing these days

For the longest time it was not growing well and was a dull brown, but the green tips appeared with the new light and just keep getting better

[Slowtwitch]

Thanks. It is really liking the bright light and aggressive feeding/water changes I'm doing these days

For the longest time it was not growing well and was a dull brown, but the green tips appeared with the new light and just keep getting better

Any time you want to send me a frag....

I'm starting to collect monti's for my big tank. I really love the variety of shapes and colors they provide. They will be the bulk of the SPS put into the new tank.

[Matthewdvm]

It's been a few weeks since I posted. Been a busy couple of weeks. My wife and I spent a great weekend on Fogo Island, in the North Atlantic, off the north-east coast of Newfoundland. Amazing scenery, amazing people. Can't recommend it more highly (it was cold, windy and snowy, but just amazing). Unfortunately, one of the dogs (Toby, the rescue Golden) stopped eating while we were away, and when I got home, I discovered a huge splenic tumour in the old guy. So we took that out (the whole spleen) last wednesday. He's doing well, but we're waiting on the pathology report to know if we need to do chemo or any further treatments. Then I ordered some Flatworm eXit, which arrived at the end of last week, so I am battling that in the tank, and battling some hair algae in the planted freshwater tank, too! Anyway, here's a huge photo dump:

First, Newfoundland:

The View from our room:

 

Some rocks on the "beach"

 

Typical sub-arctic scenery:

 

The village of Tilting (hard to believe this is current day North America):

 

 

 

The island has Caribou:

 

The north-eastern most herd in North America :

 

They are more curious and tame than the Northwestern-most Herd in NA, which I saw earlier this summer

 

 

And the only birds of note at this time of year were Snow Buntings:

 

Here's Toby recovering in the ICU after his surgery.

 

 

And now some coral pics:

The flower-pot Goniopora is doing great:

 

As is the GSP encrusted rock (I think there might still be a bit of the grey spongey thing on the rock, but it is not too visible)

 

The Monti-cap and one of the Hairy Green Mushrooms are battling it out for supremacy in one spot:

 

Don't think I can do a photo dump without a picture of Duncan

 

My birds nest is doing well, growing slowly and surviving!

 

Another Close-up of the Hairy Green Mushroom

 

Love this guy! And as Slowtwitch promised, he is moving around and multiplying

 

A couple of discos that are neither thriving nor dying, just sort of hanging out

 

Nuclear green people eaters are happy in their location

 

 

And I'll leave you with a few more Fogo Island pictures:

 

 

[Slowtwitch]

Beautiful photos Doc. I hope the old pooch recovers. Breaks my heart when they get sick.

[Matthewdvm]

Beautiful photos Doc. I hope the old pooch recovers. Breaks my heart when they get sick.

Thanks! He's doing OK, but not 100% yet.

[vlangel]

I loved the photos. Poor Toby, how old is he? He still has that 'zest for life' look in his eyes so he must not feel too bad. I am sure his life with you has been a good one. Here's hoping the test reveal that its not too bad. Whatever the results I hope he is comfortable for how ever long he has left.

[markalot]

Stunningly beautiful landscape and pictures. Corals look good too.

 

Hope your dog gets well soon!

[Matthewdvm]

Any time you want to send me a frag....

I'm starting to collect monti's for my big tank. I really love the variety of shapes and colors they provide. They will be the bulk of the SPS put into the new tank.

Never replied to you on this one. Not sure it is worth getting a frag of it right now - it has some hair algae growing on it (I'm spot peroxiding it) and the green colour is gone right now.

I loved the photos. Poor Toby, how old is he? He still has that 'zest for life' look in his eyes so he must not feel too bad. I am sure his life with you has been a good one. Here's hoping the test reveal that its not too bad. Whatever the results I hope he is comfortable for how ever long he has left.

Toby is about 9. We're his 3rd home, and have had him for 2.5 years. The zesty look comes and goes with him. He has burst of energy, but is clearly still a bit under the weather. Once I have the results back, we'll know what the next step is. With a vet for a dad, he'll get the treatment he needs that's for sure!

 

Stunningly beautiful landscape and pictures. Corals look good too.

 

Hope your dog gets well soon!

Thanks, Mark!

[Matthewdvm]

Been too busy with life to post much here recently. Tank is going g well, green and purple Yuma has 2 babies, Duncan is continuing to grow out. I shortened the photoperiod from 12 to 10 hours to battle some algae, and it seems to halved improved growth a lot. Also cut down on feeding and water changes (feeding due to the algae, water changes due to time constraints).

 

The golden retriever, Toby, unfortunately lost his battle with a nasty nasty cancer, which has also been difficult on the family.

 

In happier news, I'm contemplating pulling the trigger on a 120 g peninsula tank. It's sort of a huge step up, and the complexity and cost are sort of scaring me a bit, but it is pretty tempting...

[teenyreef]

I'm glad things are going well, but I'm so sorry about Toby

That 120g sounds exciting. And scary. I know exactly what you mean, I've been thinking about converting my 90g FW tank to SW but the expense is pretty scary.

[Slowtwitch]

DOOO IIIT!

I'm working on the logistics of a 260. You can handle a 120. I'll be anxiously awaiting pics of the tank going in.

[Matthewdvm]

I'm glad things are going well, but I'm so sorry about Toby

That 120g sounds exciting. And scary. I know exactly what you mean, I've been thinking about converting my 90g FW tank to SW but the expense is pretty scary.

Yeah, sumps and skimmers and plumbing and hundreds of pounds of live rock, and the corals needed and all that sounds daunting. But also soooooo cool and fun.

 

I think I have a line on some used gear which will save some cash, but even so, it ain't cheap (of course, it doesn't help that I only want high end equipment)!

DOOO IIIT!

I'm working on the logistics of a 260. You can handle a 120. I'll be anxiously awaiting pics of the tank going in.

The basement renos are going slowly, so it will be a while before anything gets done even if I buy the gear. But part of me thinks that if I have the tank in advance, I can make sure I have just the perfect space for it, right? But your post makes me realize I better make sure I can get a 120 g tank into the basement!!!

[Matthewdvm]

The 120 tank didn't work out - too tall for my taste! I'm still looking for something bigger, but not sure exactly what (I think ideal would be 36x24 and 18 inches tall...)

Anyway, in the meantime, I tackles some of the bubble algae last night, and took some top-down pics:

The Tubb's Blues have finally recovered and are doing well:

 

I love how light the tips of the baby Supernova zoas are:

 

The Purple and Green Yuma has 2 babies. I think I'll try moving the adult and see if the babies grow up!

 

Leopard Disco with one of its two babies:

 

An my micromusa just chilling, not really growing much. Might need to move it because the forest fire digi is threatening it, as is the hair algae in the top left corner of the picture...

[Slowtwitch]

NIce shots Doc. Glad your Tubbs are doing well. I got a small frag a while back and have to say they are 'Meh' in my tank. Not melting, but really not thriving. What's your secret?

[Matthewdvm]

NIce shots Doc. Glad your Tubbs are doing well. I got a small frag a while back and have to say they are 'Meh' in my tank. Not melting, but really not thriving. What's your secret?

Mine melted for about the first 10 months I had them. Was a terrific frag when I bought it, then slowly fizzled. Only started coming back when I put it low down, but in good light.

I always find it a gamble when a frag isn't doing well. Keep it in the same location and hope it acclimates, or move it around and risk pissing it off...

[jabeuy]

Where'd you get the tubbs blues? Those look really cool

[Matthewdvm]

Where'd you get the tubbs blues? Those look really cool

 

Hmm. I bought it almost a year ago. I think I got it at Mad Jelly Corals (are they still around? - their website is up, but I can't see any frags on their site), but it might have been FragBox.

[Matthewdvm]

So I realized that yesterday was a year since I got the tank wet! I've been busy with work, holiday planning, home renovations, and family birthdays, so I haven't had a chance to do a good cleaning recently, but I did take a few pictures of the tank tonight. Taking inspiration from Sk8n Reefer, I threw on the 12-24 mm lens and did some close up, wide angle photos, which gives a much different view of the tank.

 

And in other news, the basement/home office rents are coming along. I've done some preliminary sketches of the desk area, and told my contractor that the cabinets need to hold up to about 1500 lbs of weight on the top and an additional 500 in the under level for a 100 gallon or so peninsula tank and a sump underneath. I've been watching used tanks and supplies in the Toronto area, but not finding anything quite right. My wife thinks I should just order "the tank I want" and get it right from the start, rather than trying to save money and get something used that I want to replace in a few years... Talk about a fabulous wife!

 

Anyway, maybe I'll post up some preliminary drawings to get some input from nano-reefers, but for now, it's tank pictures:

 

First, the birthday FTS:

 

Left side of the tank, green hairy mushroom, branching duncan, toadstool, superman mushroom, red metallic flowerpot goniopora, leopard disco soma, bird's nest

 

And a top-down view of the left side, also visible are the green star polyps, forest fire digitata, and a few other things...

 

And the left side looking across the tank, almost everything is visible in the tank (with a bit of distortion)...

 

Top down of the right side of the tank. More green hairy mushrooms, micromusa, ,forest fire digitata, red monti cap and a whole bunch of bubble algae.

 

Top down of the middle of the tank. Branching duncan, mixed zoas, nuclear green people eaters, tubb's blue, red monti cap, chocolate chip mint sunflower zoas, clove polyps, purple and green yuma, and a few other things poking in around the edges.

 

Slightly wider view, toadstool and the long suffering acan making an appearance...

[teenyreef]

Looks great! Happy tank birthday