Fishfreak's foxy BC29: Brine Shrimp!

[fishfreak0114]

Well this morning I got up and the small frag is dead I think. It's kind of weird looking. The polyps are still there, but retracted, but the rest of it is white like the flesh is gone. Should I take it out? The neon green ones still look ok though. I think today I am going to up the intensities on the LEDs by 2% per channel. Would it be smart to put the neon birdsnest a back at the top of the tank?

[fishfreak0114]

[fishfreak0114]

So that small birdsnest kicked the bucket. The other three have been put back at the top. I'm noticing great improvement with the LEDs, my corals are expanded more and they seem happier. The lobo is the most noticeable, it has been getting to like 1.5 times the size it was before. There are a few corals that I am keeping my eyes on. The chalice, which has one whitish spot that concerns me, but it may just be the way the light hits it. The marble Favia has to small bare spots on it edges, but I'm pretty sure that was from shipping. It seems to be improving. The green montipora seems whiter than before but I'm not sure if it is actually bleaching. It may just be the lighting color change that is making it appear whiter.

 

Yesterday i went to a fish store and I took the time to look through the bottom of the tanks. For $3 I got a singe zoa polyp that could be either pretty or ugly, no clue, and a very small goniopora frag. I know they don't typically do well in captivity but it was dirt cheap so I'll give it my best shot.

[fishfreak0114]

 

See I'm not sure if it is just the way the light hits it because it seems to be on the top, not in the grooves.

[fishfreak0114]

Sadly a mushroom reached my favia so it is missing some flesh. I'm amazed at how fast that happened!

 

 

This weekend I'm going to be getting a tailspot blenny and a royal gramma. Yay!

 

[fishfreak0114]

Yesterday my remaining birdsnest RTN'd . I came home from school and large patches of flesh were missing. I wasn't able to make a frag either. I think I'm just going to leave SPS out except for montipora's for now. Weirdly enough, whatever the whiteness appearing on the Monti was, it's gone. Now it is back to a solid brownish green . The new zoa I got has been opening more everyday, and I can tell what it is. It has a purplish centre with bright pink around it

 

 

I'll try to get a better photo when my glass is clean and it's open more. FTS!!!

 

bc29 6_zpsivekymyo by orb1915, on Flickr

[fishfreak0114]

Both good and not so good news. The place I was going to get the fish from contacted me friday night saying that they hadn't seen either of the fish I was getting for a couple days, so no new fish . They'll order them as soon as they can.

 

Good on the other hand, I went to a couple pet stores. I had 3 frags of green star polyps which I gave to one, and they gave me a pack of PE mysis in return. At the other one, I got some red macro, which I'm hoping Katniss won't eat. If she does I'll toss it in the back. There was no price for the frags at this place (they only had a couple in the whole store, and they were sad and ugly) but I found one really nice zoa frag. I asked the lady for a price and she just kind of looked at it and guessed $10! It's about 20 polyps! What a steal! I'll post pics later, but it's really pretty and pops under my lights.

[fishfreak0114]

The tiny goniopora seems happy so far.

 

I think zoas are my favorite coral, there's no way I'll have enough room for them if I got a zoa rock in the sand being that I keep wanting to buy more, so I'm thinking I'm going to put them in my main rock work and hopefully they'll encrust it. Sound like an ok plan?

 

 

These are the ones I got yesterday. They look way better in person, as everything always does

 

This ones been opening more each day

[aquageek]

Looks fantastic! Great job, I love looking at BC builds.

[fishfreak0114]

Looks fantastic! Great job, I love looking at BC builds.

Thanks!

[Rpc07]

Awesome document. Just read through the entire thing. Did you ever figure out the skimmer?

[fishfreak0114]

Awesome document. Just read through the entire thing. Did you ever figure out the skimmer?

Thanks Rpc! When I first tried to set up the skimmer, water was getting into the air intake due to the water level so I decided to do the airline mod to make it higher. But when I was doing that, I broke it . I might try and see if I can fix it actually, because I want to have a protein skimmer on the tank.

[Rpc07]

Thanks Rpc! When I first tried to set up the skimmer, water was getting into the air intake due to the water level so I decided to do the airline mod to make it higher. But when I was doing that, I broke it . I might try and see if I can fix it actually, because I want to have a protein skimmer on the tank.

I gotcha. Mine has been breaking in for a few days in the second chamber but today I'm going to build a stand for it out of egg crate so it can sit in the first chamber. I want to put my gfo reactor back in the second chamber.

[fishfreak0114]

I gotcha. Mine has been breaking in for a few days in the second chamber but today I'm going to build a stand for it out of egg crate so it can sit in the first chamber. I want to put my gfo reactor back in the second chamber.

So will the egg crate stand hold the skimmer up high enough? Are you doing that instead of the airline mod? I was trying to hang mine but it didn't hang quite high enough.

[Rpc07]

So will the egg crate stand hold the skimmer up high enough? Are you doing that instead of the airline mod? I was trying to hang mine but it didn't hang quite high enough.

I did the airline mod also. The airline mod is to quiet the skimmer down. Going to build a stand so I don't have to cut my hood. I'll take some pics while I'm doing it. I have tried a strong magnet and also tried using the suction cups but they don't hold it securely.

[fishfreak0114]

I did the airline mod also. The airline mod is to quiet the skimmer down. Going to build a stand so I don't have to cut my hood. I'll take some pics while I'm doing it. I have tried a strong magnet and also tried using the suction cups but they don't hold it securely.

Thanks that's awesome! I'm going to see if I can fix my skimmer, and if I can I guess I'll be doing an egg crate stand!

[Rpc07]

Thanks that's awesome! I'm going to see if I can fix my skimmer, and if I can I guess I'll be doing an egg crate stand!

What broke on it?

[fishfreak0114]

What broke on it?

Well my mom decided to help me get the plastic piece out the hole of the air intake but she kind of crushed it. She said she'd buy a new skimmer I it's wrecked though because she broke it.

[Rpc07]

If just the plastic piece the airline attaches to is crushed it isn't wrecked. I took mine completely out and ran a new airline through that hole and to the pump.

[fishfreak0114]

Oh good, we couldn't get it out because it seems to be glued or something, like really stuck. But then it got crushed when she tried pliers.

[Rpc07]

Oh good, we couldn't get it out because it seems to be glued or something, like really stuck. But then it got crushed when she tried pliers.

as long as the skimmer body isn't cracked your good to go

[Rpc07]

A few pics of the work in progress.

 

The base plate under the skimmer

 

 

Preliminary construction. Still some sanding and tweaking, probably need to trim the height down.

 

[fishfreak0114]

So I have a shady overhang, and I'm wondering what I should eventually put in it. I've come across three things that I think could work, any advice on which would do best or if all of them won't work is greatly appreciated, as well as other suggestions.

1. Chill coral

2. Dendros

3. A red ball sponge

[fishfreak0114]

So my macro disappeared. Wonder who ate it I found a couple fragments caught in my floss so I threw them on top of my chaeto and we'll see if they grow.

 

 

I somehow just realized that I could do some editing of photos in the camera roll of my iPhone so I was fiddling around with it seeing if I could make photos look a little better

I had the lid up for a while while I tinkered, and the lobo decided that it wanted to be fed so I snapped a pic. It's never had its feeders out that far before.

I mounted a few Zoas on the main rock work yesterday. They were all open and happy today.

 

The radioactives are only there temporarily so they can adjust to the light. Although it kind of looks neat so you never know

[teenyreef]

Everything looks really nice! As far as the shady overhang goes, I only have experience with dendros. Mine are out in the light but they really don't need light to survive so they should do fine. Just be aware that they really only thrive if you target feed them with meaty foods at least two or three times a week.