DurocShark Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Love the Beetlejuice one! 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Awesome gifs!!!! I have so many favorites...but I'd say 2010 is the best . 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Ok, so I finally took some photos of my tank. So here's a quick update. I'm struggling with a really bad hair algae outbreak right now, so please ignore all the algae. I don't know what the issue is because my phosphates are somewhere around 0.03 or less. Alk, Ca, and Mg are all perfect. My nitrates are high (between 10-25), so that must be the issue. I've been slowly increasing the amount of biopellets I'm using to see if I can get them down. I had also tried cutting back on feeding, but then Mushu decided to eat my leopard wrasse as a result Poor thing. Anyways, the algae has gotten to the point where its smothering some of my corals, so I decided I needed a fish that would eat the algae. Considering the fish needed to be large enough to not be on the menu for Mushu, that really only left me with a tang, so I decided to give a yellow eye kole tang a shot. The new tang has been in the tank just under a week and seems to be doing well so far. She grazes all day and looks healthy. She's still pretty shy but I managed to snap a few photos. All the predators are doing very well. Here are a few shots of Draco and Falkor who are always super photogenic. 14 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 And some coral photos. I was having fun photographing the clowns in their BTA's tonight. I believe there are about 7 BTAs on that rock right now. And we'll finish up with photos of the clams, which have been growing like crazy. All three of them are doing really well. That is one nice looking tank. Always like to take a look when I see the thread pop up. Finally got around to 'scribing to it. Looks like the Razor is handling well for you. Have the same light, gonna end up retro'ing some t5s to it though, need more spread. Good luck with everything and keep the updates coming, when you can find the time that is. Thank you so much! Yeah, I really like the Razor. I've seen several people do the T5 retrofit and that seems to work really well. Good luck with the retrofit! I'll try to post updates once in a while. Just been super busy with everything else right now. Fun gifs! Love the Beetlejuice one! Awesome gifs!!!! I have so many favorites...but I'd say 2010 is the best . Thanks you guys! I love Halloween too much and I love dressing up and of course dressing Lily up as well. She's not a huge fan, but she tolerates it for some quick photos 8 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Great pics felicia! I especially love the ones where the fish are inside of everything in their enviroment. It looks so ocean like. Sorry about the wrasse. I know I have had a few misjudgements regarding my fish in the past and it always makes you feel bad. The good thing is you won't make the same mistake twice and remember that fish are eaten in the ocean everyday. 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Great to see an update. Kole tang looks good, they are punks once settled in so should be fine IMO. The bristletooths have issues with longer algae but do a good job keeping it trimmed so if you have longer patches you may have to help it out. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Great pics felicia! I especially love the ones where the fish are inside of everything in their enviroment. It looks so ocean like. Sorry about the wrasse. I know I have had a few misjudgements regarding my fish in the past and it always makes you feel bad. The good thing is you won't make the same mistake twice and remember that fish are eaten in the ocean everyday.Thank you! Yeah I really love how the lions and the eel are always perched on and among the corals. It makes them a bit harder to spot than open water swimming fish, but like you said, they look so natural and it leads to some really nice photo ops. Yeah I was hoping the wrasse would be ok because she wasn't tiny and Mushu hadn't shown any interest in hunting the clowns. He was fine with her until I cut back on feeding and then he went back to natural hunt mode. Lesson learned that I really can't have any fish that are smaller than 3/4 the size of Mushu. The other two lions and the eel are all still small enough that they'd have a hard time eating any fish that wasn't super tiny. The clowns are small enough that Mushu could eat them, but I think their anemones protect them. They have so many that they really never leave them. Great to see an update. Kole tang looks good, they are punks once settled in so should be fine IMO. The bristletooths have issues with longer algae but do a good job keeping it trimmed so if you have longer patches you may have to help it out. Thanks, Mark. Whew! Life has just gotten away from me lately. Glad I finally got an update for you guys. Granted I always hate photographing the tank when it's not at its best. I need to get this hair algae under control so I might take more photos haha. Good to know about the kole tang. I know tangs are touchy health wise so I was nervous about getting her. So far so good. I have noticed that she doesn't seem to graze on the long algae patches, but goes after the short ones where I've manually removed the long clumps. I'll have to keep manually removing to help her out. I don't expect her to take care of all the algae, just wanted a fish that could help keep it under control while I fix the underlying issue. I also think I'm going to grab another temporary tuxedo urchin to help out until this gets more under control. Quote Link to comment
Lauraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Kole tang FTW! 1 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 She/he's a cutie! To me they look like an eye in a head and that's it. Head w/ a tail. They appeal to me. I enjoyed seeing FlCandy's when she had hers. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 I picked up an assistant for the tang. Between these two, I'm hoping they can knock out the algae. I'm also increasing my water change frequency and I'm using more bio pellets to try to get this algae outbreak under control. 7 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I picked up an assistant for the tang. Between these two, I'm hoping they can knock out the algae. I'm also increasing my water change frequency and I'm using more bio pellets to try to get this algae outbreak under control. That is some hairy algae! At least it's just hair algae. Take a toothbrush to it also . 2 Quote Link to comment
Mariaface Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I picked up an assistant for the tang. Between these two, I'm hoping they can knock out the algae. I'm also increasing my water change frequency and I'm using more bio pellets to try to get this algae outbreak under control. Try not to cut back on feedings way too much, because nitrate can only be reduced as long as there's some phosphate around (the algae may be outcompeting at the moment, hence the low phos readings). The ratio's something like 1phos:16nitrate? 2 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 She/he's a cutie! To me they look like an eye in a head and that's it. Head w/ a tail. They appeal to me. I enjoyed seeing FlCandy's when she had hers. Yeah, tangs are kind of odd looking. I've never been a huge fan, but she's growing on me. I like that she's an open water swimmer and of course that she eats algae. That is some hairy algae! At least it's just hair algae. Take a toothbrush to it also . Seriously. Its pretty gross right now Yep, at least there's no bryopsis or anything awful. Definitely something that can be dealt with. Yeah I've been trying to keep up with the manual removal. Need to do that again soon. Try not to cut back on feedings way too much, because nitrate can only be reduced as long as there's some phosphate around (the algae may be outcompeting at the moment, hence the low phos readings). The ratio's something like 1phos:16nitrate? Yeah, even with cutting back on feedings, there is still a lot of food going into this tank for the predators. I've actually increased feeding a bit over the last week to help get the tang settled in. I had that ratio all balanced for the longest time with this tank and then something got out of whack. Hopefully I can get it rebalanced. 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 So, does the pin cushion have a name? Everybody needs a name, even CUCs, LOL. 2 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 So, does the pin cushion have a name? Everybody needs a name, even CUCs, LOL. Haha, no not yet. I like to give new additions a bit to settle in and make sure they'll survive before I name them. The tang doesn't even have a name yet. I'm open to suggestions of course 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Haha, no not yet. I like to give new additions a bit to settle in and make sure they'll survive before I name them. The tang doesn't even have a name yet. I'm open to suggestions of course Ha ha, yes I do the same thing. No sense in wasting a good name if the new inhabitant is going to kick the bucket! Sorry, that was kind of an insensitive way to put it. I think on it and if anything clever comes to me I will offer it as a suggestion. 2 Quote Link to comment
Mirya Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Nice to see you around again! I'm surprised to hear that Mushu could down a leopard wrasse. That is impressive. Even though there is algae, the fish and corals look so damn happy! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Ha ha, yes I do the same thing. No sense in wasting a good name if the new inhabitant is going to kick the bucket! Sorry, that was kind of an insensitive way to put it. I think on it and if anything clever comes to me I will offer it as a suggestion. Exactly! Totally ok that its insensitive. I also kind of feel like it jinxes it to name an inhabitant too soon. If I don't name them or get too attached, they survive and then I can name them Now that you have me thinking about it though, I'm thinking Sonic the Urchin (instead of Sonic the Hedgehog) because I love Sonic the Hedgehog and urchins are spiky like hedgehogs. Granted, my betta was also named Sonic, so I should come up with a more original name Nice to see you around again! I'm surprised to hear that Mushu could down a leopard wrasse. That is impressive. Even though there is algae, the fish and corals look so damn happy! Not sure how long it will last. Finishing up my PhD is just crazy! Not enough hours in the day! I needed an aquarium break to recharge though, so its nice to be back for now. When I disappear again, I'll be back when I need another de-stress break Honestly, it surprised me as well, but all the research I've done on lionfish says that they are more than capable of eating anything that is 3/4 of their size or smaller. The leopard wrasse was like a third of Mushu's size (Mushu is bigger than he looks in the photos), so definitely an easy meal for him. Still shocking to think about! I kind of wish I'd seen it! Sadly I didn't see it though and there was no body, so I'm convinced Mushu ate her. It corresponded too well with me cutting back on feeding for it to be anything else. Also, I don't have enough CUC in this tank for a body to get eaten quickly enough that I would see it, and I definitely looked for one. Thank you! Yeah, its weird that I have such a crazy algae outbreak but everything is doing so well. My parameters are perfect except for the nitrates being a bit high, so luckily the corals are still happy. 2 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Poor fishy, i'm like you though, would have been cool to watch even so. I was horrified and proud of Gertie when she started beating up and dragged her sister into her den since Gert was the smaller of the two when they started out. But it was wild, nature being nature. 2 Quote Link to comment
nosser Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I love your tank! This is exactly what I want to do with my tank once I finish setting it up! I love all the lion fish! 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Sonic the urchin, hmmm. I like it. My boys loved Sonic the hedgehog and urchins are spikey. Seems more fitting for an urchin than a betta. 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Were you having the hair algae issues before the wrasse was eaten? 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Poor fishy, i'm like you though, would have been cool to watch even so. I was horrified and proud of Gertie when she started beating up and dragged her sister into her den since Gert was the smaller of the two when they started out. But it was wild, nature being nature. Yep! It was sad, but if it had to happen, I would have liked to see it. Lionfish eating big prey are pretty crazy, but mine just eat small chunks of food, so I don't get to see them with their natural hunting and striking behavior. I love your tank! This is exactly what I want to do with my tank once I finish setting it up! I love all the lion fish! Thank you so much! I definitely recommend the lionfish. I am so glad I decided to give them a try. They are amazing fish. So fascinating and great personalities, but also really hardy and easy to care for. Sonic the urchin, hmmm. I like it. My boys loved Sonic the hedgehog and urchins are spikey. Seems more fitting for an urchin than a betta. Yeah definitely fits an urchin more than a betta Were you having the hair algae issues before the wrasse was eaten? Yep. The hair algae issue was why I cut back on feeding. Then the wrasse vanished. I think maybe she wasn't getting enough to eat and got weaker and then Mushu was hungry and took the opportunity. If the hair algae started after she disappeared, I would have assumed her body decayed in the tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Whew! Just finished a much needed deep cleaning of the tank. Gotta get it all prepped to make it through the sporadic maintenance that will be happening over the holidays. I attacked the remaining hair algae with a toothbrush and managed to remove most of it. So much better! Now hopefully the tang and urchin can clean up the little bit that is left and keep any new growth at bay. 4 Quote Link to comment
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