markalot Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Awesome stuff. That eel cracks me up, what a ham. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 I took some top downs of the tank earlier. Bali Slimer Slimer and the purple sponge New hydnophora The BTA's Duncan The clams The antennata was finally out and about a bit. She's still pretty shy. Managed to get all three lions together in a couple shots! 9 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 The lionfish were being particularly active today. Made a fun video of their antics. Moving this to the next page Awesome stuff. That eel cracks me up, what a ham. Thanks, Mark! The eel is definitely a ham. Sounds like you should get one. You'd love watching it 2 Quote Link to comment
plainrt Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Amazing setup. Very well done 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Amazing setup. Very well done Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment
Mirya Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Wow, great job and the rescape/shuffling around. Really stunning layout. And like everyone else has said... dayamn that clam is big. I had no idea from Gena's pics! Also, I see Draco really loves the camera. Good thing he is so photogenic! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Wow, great job and the rescape/shuffling around. Really stunning layout. And like everyone else has said... dayamn that clam is big. I had no idea from Gena's pics! Also, I see Draco really loves the camera. Good thing he is so photogenic! Thanks, Mirya! I think the tank really works now. I love having the clams as the centerpiece. Yeah the clam is a beast! Gena has a serious blue thumb to have it grow so big! Draco is such a ham. He always follows me around when I am near the tank. He's a very puppy dog like fish. He's my favorite 3 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Another quick video. The predators are being such hams tonight! 4 Quote Link to comment
RollaJase Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Digging the new predator tank Felicia! Really cool . 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Digging the new predator tank Felicia! Really cool . Thanks, Jase! Glad you enjoy it! I'm having fun doing something different 1 Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I haven't seen your orange and yellow sponges before. Those are really neat! My word! How large is that clam?! And, is that a tabling hydnophora?? I've never seen that growth pattern in that coral before. Where'd you find it? 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 I haven't seen your orange and yellow sponges before. Those are really neat! My word! How large is that clam?! And, is that a tabling hydnophora?? I've never seen that growth pattern in that coral before. Where'd you find it? The sponges were originally in the seahorse tank and then I moved them into this tank a while back. Just had them tossed in before, but now they're finally epoxied in place. They're pretty awesome for pops of primary colors. The clam is probably like 8" long, but I haven't measured it. Its huge! Yes, it is a tabling hydnophora. I just got it from a member of the local club on Friday evening. Our local club has a program called DBTC (don't break the chain), where members donate frags that are free to take by other members. The rules are that the members who take the free frags can't sell any frags when it grows out. Instead they must keep putting frags into the program. Also, if the original donor loses his/her colony, they are first on the list for a new frag. Basically its a way to back up your corals and share with club members. I think its pretty awesome! I'd never seen a tabling version before either. Found it on Live Aquaria: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+322+2137&pcatid=2137 2 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I love the change in your set up even better now. I like the placement. Yeah I don't think any us really understood the size of her squammy. 1 Quote Link to comment
Mirya Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I just got it from a member of the local club on Friday evening. Our local club has a program called DBTC (don't break the chain), where members donate frags that are free to take by other members. The rules are that the members who take the free frags can't sell any frags when it grows out. Instead they must keep putting frags into the program. Also, if the original donator loses his/her colony, they are first on the list for a new frag. Basically its a way to back up your corals and share with club members. I think its pretty awesome! That is an awesome program! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 I love the change in your set up even better now. I like the placement. Yeah I don't think any us really understood the size of her squammy. Thanks, Annette. Glad you like the rearranged setup. That is an awesome program! It really is! Lots of fun New tank, what?! Oh, don't be silly! You know there isn't a new tank. Also, you've seen/heard all of this already. Quote Link to comment
oldskoolwayz Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I took some top downs of the tank earlier. Bali Slimer Slimer and the purple sponge New hydnophora The BTA's Duncan The clams The antennata was finally out and about a bit. She's still pretty shy. Managed to get all three lions together in a couple shots! wow!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 wow!! Thank you I successfully completed another water change and full cleaning yesterday without any lionfish stings I thought it might be difficult avoiding the lions, but it really isn't bad at all. Anyways, did all my water testing before the water change and it does look like some of the levels have dropped a little because of the new clam and slimer. I had increased my dosing from 8 mL of each part of B-ionic to 15 mL of each to try to compensate for the new additions. I knew that wouldn't be enough, but didn't want to raise any levels quickly or anything. I've now increased up to 20 mL per day of each and I'll slowly increase that until I get the levels stable again. Here's what the levels were from my testing yesterday: 1) Alk: 9.3 (down from 9.9 a week ago) 2) Ca: 390 (down from 400 a week ago) 3) Mg: 1050 (down from 1200 a week ago) 4) PO4: 0.03 5) Nitrates: 25 ppm The alk and ca drops were pretty small, so that's good. Just need to find the right dosing amount to stabilize those. The Mg concerns me because I've never needed to dose Mg before. I've always been able to maintain it with water changes, but dropping down to 1050 concerns me. I just ordered a gallon of ESV B-Ionic Mg to add to my dosing. Nitrates are too high, so not sure what's going on there. Nothing in the tank is showing adverse effects. This was before the water change yesterday, so it should be lower now. I did a 10 gallon (~25%) water change. I also added a bunch of chaeto to my fuge over the weekend, so hopefully that will help reduce the nitrates. 1 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 3) Mg: 1050 (down from 1200 a week ago) The Mg concerns me because I've never needed to dose Mg before. I've always been able to maintain it with water changes, but dropping down to 1050 concerns me. I just ordered a gallon of ESV B-Ionic Mg to add to my dosing. Your mag reading is incorrect (either this reading or the previous). Your calcium would need to drop some 6,000ppm to have used that much magnesium. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Your mag reading is incorrect (either this reading or the previous). Your calcium would need to drop some 6,000ppm to have used that much magnesium. I was wondering about that...so I was thinking this and then looked at my test kit and realized the Mg kit has been expired for like a year. I'm guessing its gone bad. So I just ordered a new test kit to get a proper reading. I'm hoping my Mg is actually fine and that I won't need to dose any, but I went ahead and got the B-Ionic Mg as well to have on hand in case I need it. Trying to get this tank stable and in a good range for some nice SPS pieces. 2 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 The lionfish were being particularly active today. Made a fun video of their antics. [Youtube] Love it . I was wondering about that...so I was thinking this and then looked at my test kit and realized the Mg kit has been expired for like a year. I'm guessing its gone bad. So I just ordered a new test kit to get a proper reading. I'm hoping my Mg is actually fine and that I won't need to dose any, but I went ahead and got the B-Ionic Mg as well to have on hand in case I need it. Trying to get this tank stable and in a good range for some nice SPS pieces.I was dosing quite a bit of Magnesium with my tank. I forget what amount now but it was quite a bit lol. 1 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 That threesome pic!!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Love it . I was dosing quite a bit of Magnesium with my tank. I forget what amount now but it was quite a bit lol. Thanks, Gena! I enjoyed that video because it really showcased the personality of the lions. Draco is still my favorite because he's the most personable. He's like a little puppy dog and gets super active anytime I get near the tank. He even follows me around if I'm moving in front of the tank. Yeah, I wonder if the clam utilizes quite a bit of Mg in the process of making its shell. I don't mind dosing it since I have an empty channel on my dosing pump. Were you using B-Ionic Magnesium? That threesome pic!!! I love that one too. I thought it really showcased how each of the three species I have are unique. Ok, so is anyone vodka dosing or familiar with it? I'm trying to think of ways to handle the nitrates in the system, and a guy in my local club suggested vodka dosing. I'd never given it much thought before, but now I'm intrigued. Seems like it could be a good way to remove the nitrates so I can feed the predators without worrying about messing up the water quality. I know you need a good skimmer and I believe mine is sufficient. Also, the club member who suggested it mentioned that the clams will also help remove the resulting organic matter so they'll work to assist the skimmer. Might make the clams super happy by giving them more food to eat. I've been researching a bit and found this article. Its got an easy to follow dosing formula, so I'm thinking I might try following that. I'd love to know what people think thought first and let me know if you have any personal experiences with vodka dosing. Is this a good idea for my system? Is that a good dosing recommendation? Any big drawbacks I'm not thinking about? Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I was wondering about that...so I was thinking this and then looked at my test kit and realized the Mg kit has been expired for like a year. I'm guessing its gone bad. So I just ordered a new test kit to get a proper reading. I'm hoping my Mg is actually fine and that I won't need to dose any, but I went ahead and got the B-Ionic Mg as well to have on hand in case I need it. Trying to get this tank stable and in a good range for some nice SPS pieces. Yep, expired for a year will do it! When you run out of B-ionic, I would consider just buying the dry mix and adding some RO/DI to it. It'll have the same concentration (it uses the same ingredients and the same ratio) and is MUCH cheaper. Thanks, Gena! I enjoyed that video because it really showcased the personality of the lions. Draco is still my favorite because he's the most personable. He's like a little puppy dog and gets super active anytime I get near the tank. He even follows me around if I'm moving in front of the tank. Yeah, I wonder if the clam utilizes quite a bit of Mg in the process of making its shell. I don't mind dosing it since I have an empty channel on my dosing pump. Were you using B-Ionic Magnesium? I love that one too. I thought it really showcased how each of the three species I have are unique. Ok, so is anyone vodka dosing or familiar with it? I'm trying to think of ways to handle the nitrates in the system, and a guy in my local club suggested vodka dosing. I'd never given it much thought before, but now I'm intrigued. Seems like it could be a good way to remove the nitrates so I can feed the predators without worrying about messing up the water quality. I know you need a good skimmer and I believe mine is sufficient. Also, the club member who suggested it mentioned that the clams will also help remove the resulting organic matter so they'll work to assist the skimmer. Might make the clams super happy by giving them more food to eat. I've been researching a bit and found this article. Its got an easy to follow dosing formula, so I'm thinking I might try following that. I'd love to know what people think thought first and let me know if you have any personal experiences with vodka dosing. Is this a good idea for my system? Is that a good dosing recommendation? Any big drawbacks I'm not thinking about? Clams use the same amount of magnesium as corals do, and scientists are still unsure why they don't just use calcium http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/10/chemistry http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/ http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/ As to carbon dosing, I prefer vinegar (as does RHF) as you can be more exact in your dosing (it takes more vinegar than vodka and it is usually easier to measure larger amounts). I wouldn't stress about carbon dosing just yet - give the tank time to mature first and keep an eye on nitrate to make sure it isn't exceedingly elevated 1 Quote Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 The sponges were originally in the seahorse tank and then I moved them into this tank a while back. Just had them tossed in before, but now they're finally epoxied in place. They're pretty awesome for pops of primary colors. The clam is probably like 8" long, but I haven't measured it. Its huge! Yes, it is a tabling hydnophora. I just got it from a member of the local club on Friday evening. Our local club has a program called DBTC (don't break the chain), where members donate frags that are free to take by other members. The rules are that the members who take the free frags can't sell any frags when it grows out. Instead they must keep putting frags into the program. Also, if the original donor loses his/her colony, they are first on the list for a new frag. Basically its a way to back up your corals and share with club members. I think its pretty awesome! I'd never seen a tabling version before either. Found it on Live Aquaria: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+322+2137&pcatid=2137 Nice! There were some people trying to get DBTC going about the time I left Manhattan. People were really into high end zoas zoas there. That was back in the day when hornets were going for like $50/head. One guy was giving them out by the handful at DBTC meetings. I wonder if they're still going? BTW, where on earth did you find that monster clam? 1 Quote Link to comment
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