Fishfreak's foxy BC29: Brine Shrimp!

[fishfreak0114]

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.

Thanks teeny! I've really been humming and hawing about whether or not to put something there. I'm not sure if I'd be able to keep up with feeding dendros. I'll give it some more thought.

[fishfreak0114]

Over the last couple days I've been working on fixing the skimmer. I had to silicone a piece of tubing to the current piece of tubing because it wasn't quite long enough and then I siliconed more tubing on the outside to make it extend higher. On Monday I'll test it to see if it leaks, and if it doesn't I'll be building an egg crate stand to support it thanks to Rpc's idea

[Rpc07]

Over the last couple days I've been working on fixing the skimmer. I had to silicone a piece of tubing to the current piece of tubing because it wasn't quite long enough and then I siliconed more tubing on the outside to make it extend higher. On Monday I'll test it to see if it leaks, and if it doesn't I'll be building an egg crate stand to support it thanks to Rpc's idea

Hope it works well for you.

[fishfreak0114]

Well I think the skimmer is toast. I plugged it in and absolutely nothing happened. I'm going to fiddle with a bit more still.

 

Awesome news though! I found some gorgonians relatively local!!! I'm supposed to be picking up a corky sea finger, a purple sea whip and a purple ribbon gorgonian!!! This Saturday. . And maybe a toadstool leather, not sure if I want to spend my entire first pay check on fish (although I probably will lol). I'm also going to get a couple blue leg hermits and a couple nassarious to bulk up my CUC. I'm pretty sure I only have 3 or 4 hermits and 1 nass left now. The place I'm going also has lots of frags etc, specifics weren't on the website but I guess I'll be testing my self control lol. Anything I buy has to spend quite a while in the car in a cooler though, this place is two hours away and I'm picking them up before I go to my taekwondo tournament. I don't know how long it will last, I'm guessing at least 6 hours. Will they be ok?

[fishfreak0114]

Do I need to dip the gorgonians?

[fishfreak0114]

Well, the day has come that I need to frag the hammer. I came home and it was stinging the Duncan a bit. I can't move it over any more and it's growing really quick. Currently it has 6 heads and I'm going to split it in half. glad I bought bone cutters in the new year.

[fishfreak0114]

Ok so this is going to be a fairly long update so bear with me. Fragging the hammer was quick and easy. It has plenty of room to grow out now. The Duncan's appendages are really short on the left side from the hammers attack.

 

The Goni has still been looking good, awesome polyp extension

 

This is the second time I've seen its feeders.

 

I got my gorgs!!!! . And my mom bought me a toadstool leather for an early Easter present! Sadly, despite drip and temp acclimation one Nass and one blue leg died which is strange because or never lost anything from that before. Here's all the bags floating for temp

 

The toadstool came in on a rock that had some sketchy looking stuff on it, so I opted to cut it of at the base and rubber band it to a clean piece of rubble. When I cut it it was a bit to soft, and I noticed that the flesh denned dead. I have since cut that piece off. The likely culprit was found and scraped out. This strange red critter had bored into the base. Anyone know what it was?

 

Here's the tank shortly after I added the gorgs and toadstool.

 

The toadstool before I cut off the dead part. Now it stands up better

 

I realized something when I was looking at the tank...those gorgs are TALL! I decided to do some minor rescaping. I removed probably 7-8 pounds of rock, and now I have lots more room. Thoughts? I pretty much just yanked out any rock that was loose with minimal coral on it. All I had to move was the Monti.

 

Will the gorgs be happy where I put them?

 

d

[uwharrie]

Loving the FTS!

[fishfreak0114]

Loving the FTS!

i

 

Thanks uwharrie! . Thoughts on the new scape?

[fishfreak0114]

I thought I would post some pics of the plate coral since I got it. That thing has been through hell, I'm amazed at its resilience.

 

When I first got it

 

About a week later it looked like this, and did until December when the palytoxin hit the tank

 

Right after the palytoxin incident it looked like this. I was sure it was a goner. It appeared that's it's flesh was falling off.

 

After the toxins were gone, it seemed that some flesh was clinging on. It was very pale though.

 

Over the last three months it has had immense improvement, steadily getting darker. Im amazed at what an animal can go through without dying. Hopefully I'll have this coral for a long time without any more issues

[uwharrie]

I like it

 

i

Thanks uwharrie! . Thoughts on the new scape?

[fishfreak0114]

Ok so a few updates. The toadstool wasn't attaching and I noticed that the rubber band was starting to affect the flesh it was covering so I sewed the base to the Rock with dental floss and put glue in the small gap between the rock and leather. Hopefully that works. It has awesome polyp extension all the time and I really like it. Need more leathers!

 

The watermelon Favia has had good growth, much quicker than I thought it would, so I'm going to break it off the rock before it spreads and make a rim of flattened epoxy for it to grow into and then reattach it. I figure it will make fragging a bit easier.

 

The golden whip gorg is doing great, it shed a couple days ago and it has even more polyps out now. The purple ribbon however hasn't opened whatsoever. Any ideas on why? It has pretty much identical conditions to the whip. The corky finger has been opening more and more everyday, and it seems happier now that I upped the flow to that spot a bit.

 

The lobo has been a bit odd this last week and a half. It all started when a damn hermit decided to rip the food from its mouth. I got the hermit off but I think it caused minor damage. Note to self, always feed the big hermit before corals. The lobo still puffs up, but more so on one side. The other is slightly deflated, and it appears that a couple ridges of skeleton are showing through. I'm hoping it recovers.

 

Here's a pic

[uwharrie]

I like what you have done with it. The important thing is are you happy with it?

i

Thanks uwharrie! . Thoughts on the new scape?

[fishfreak0114]

The tank loves its morning sunlight

 

This darn shrimp walks on everything!

 

I took hundreds of photos of my fish the other day in hopes of getting a couple half decent shots. These ones weren't too bad

g

[fishfreak0114]

I like what you have done with it. The important thing is are you happy with it?

 

Yah I definitely like it better than the way it was before. Now all it needs is more CORALZ!

[Idaho ken]

WOW, stunning tank!

[fishfreak0114]

WOW, stunning tank!

Thanks a lot Idaho ken!

[fishfreak0114]

So the ribbon gorg has begun opening. A couple small patches of polyps came out to play today. However, a thin coating of brown algae had grown on it, so I very gently cleaned it with a toothbrush. The corky finger has been opening great now. I think they really did just need more flow.

 

I've been humming and hawing about where to put the toadstool. I know they like somewhat high light and flow. Would this spot be ok (like the general area, the circles not very good).

 

 

I'm planning on making another coral order, this time from Canada corals. They have some nice pieces right now .

[fishfreak0114]

I still haven't made the order. Have to figure out shipping because they can only do 2 day to Merritt which they said would be ok, but I don't think so. So I have to get it shipped to Kamloops 45 minutes away but we probably won't be able to get there before the UPS store closes so we're trying to get my aunt to pick it up.

 

The lobo still has a couple skeleton ridges exposed, I've read all that I can about it and I think it was caused partly by the hermit, and partly by the fact that the flow to that area was really strong overnight when I moved my power head. It blew all the sand nearby away. I think it may have caused the tissue to be cut on its own skeleton.

 

So my course of action: I'm going to feed it more often in hopes of helping it regrow. I also read that it is easier for the tissue to heal if you clip off the exposed skeleton, which made sense to me because then it won't have to try to grow up and over the sharp part, it could just heal flesh to flesh with no obstruction. Can anyone confirm if it'll help?

[fishfreak0114]

I ordered corals!!! Still have to pick a shipping date, but sometime next week. I ordered 2 mini yellow feather dusters (too adorable to pass up), a mini scoly, a head of Australian Duncan and a walking dendro. And yes, I know it actually walks. I already figured out a plan of containment. I'm going to put a container under the sand or make "bumpers" of sorts so that it can't walk into other corals or behind rocks. I'm so stoked!

 

Did a pretty thorough wc on Sunday night, changed out all my media because that shit was old and I'm sure it wasn't doing anything. I tried to catch Jim again but no luck. I also moved the green and purple Favia up higher because it totally browned out where it was.

[fishfreak0114]

Came home today and the Duncan was skinless on the top half of its back side. It lost a little bit the other day but I jut figured hey, I probably scraped it while tinkering. But nope. I do know the likely cause though. The flow has been way stronger to there, and the top head hasn't even opening as much since I adjusted it for the gorgs. So I built a mini rubble wall to shelter it, and I dipped it as well as the lobo and acan. All should be ok

[fishfreak0114]

So of course it would be just my luck that I come home and the top head of duncan is turning to brown goo. So yah, that happened. I cut it off and did and iodine dip (I did this for the acan and lobo too, they seem happier now). The duncan is still isolated in a tuperware, but it's condition did not get worse overnight . It looks ok. Is it safe to put it back in my main aquarium today?

 

Feeding the lobo and acan at night seems to be working well, I just leave food on them after lights out and shut the pumps off for a half hour. It seems that they have both eaten.

[LongDoggy]

So of course it would be just my luck that I come home and the top head of duncan is turning to brown goo. So yah, that happened. I cut it off and did and iodine dip (I did this for the acan and lobo too, they seem happier now). The duncan is still isolated in a tuperware, but it's condition did not get worse overnight . It looks ok. Is it safe to put it back in my main aquarium today?

Feeding the lobo and acan at night seems to be working well, I just leave food on them after lights out and shut the pumps off for a half hour. It seems that they have both eaten.

Sorry about the Duncan. For some reason mine are always rock stars. They've survived a lot of crap and are still going strong.

Reef keeping sure is unique and exciting!

[fishfreak0114]

Mines done great too, until I changed the flow and the skin got blown off, which let the infection in. It's still pissed being in a Tupperware with no flow and all, its filaments are out. I'll put it back in the DT when I get home. Hopefully it recovers. I'm really glad I didn't chuck it, (at one point it looked like it was falling apart, a total goner and I didn't want to infect anything else).

[fishfreak0114]

New corals coming tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! . Still have to make the dendro pen, I'm going to make an epoxy square and then glue or press sand to it so that it look more natural. I'd hate to see the dendro walk into its doom.

So inviously I don't dip the dendro, but what about the Blasto and scoly? I know that I can dip the Duncan. Also, my current one seems to be a-ok now. Lost the top head and a lot of "skin", but the actual polyps are out and happy and weirdly enough accepting food again (they stopped for quite a while). I almost wonder if they've been sick for a while and just now it got real bad and the two iodine dips cured them because they are more open than ever.