Liz's Fusion 10- NEW 6/17

[Elizabeth94]

WELL

 

I started to remove the sand from the display. What a mess I made! Since the tank is in my bedroom I have about three feet of working space lol.

 

I took all my sand dwelling corals out and put them in a temporary container, then moved as much sand as I could to the front of the tank so I could suck it out. I can only heat up 5gals of water at a time so I will have to do this in stages. I noticed cyano on the back wall of the tank so I hope removing this nasty sand will help lower phosphates.

 

I sucked up a zombie snail by accident, I forgot I had three in here. I felt terrible, but he is okay and is now wedging himself under the scolly

 

I think I can get the majority of it out if I do this two or three more times. I wish I just started bare bottom like I was planning to.

[Reefer69]

All my tanks have had sand in them, and all suffered from one sort of algae or another.

 

My recent tank is bare bottom and all i can say is good things. Detours builds up in the two back corners and i just siphon it out leaving behind a clean bottom. None of my inhabitants seem to care about the lack of sand. even my scoly.

[Elizabeth94]

You have a lovely tank, I really like the white bottom. Thats what I originally wanted to do with my tank. Thankfully this is a little ten gallon so if I wanted to take the rock out and put a piece of white acrylic or starboard on the bottom it wouldn't be too hard.

 

Just need to find the time.

 

 

[Elizabeth94]

These little acan things are always extending tentacles. Not sure whether they are happy or starving haha.

 

 

 

My boa.. She is getting bigger and bigger. I think she is about as long as I am tall, so about five feet. She should start getting thicker now that she has some length on her. She loves going on the bed when I throw some clothes and blankets on it. She is much more adventurous than my pythons ever were.

 

 

All curled up sleeping. She wasnt too happy when I puller her out of there with a hook to clean the cage. You can see some of her shed that she finished the night before. I always do a very deep cleaning right after she sheds.

[vlangel]

Ahhhh she looks so peaceful when she's sleeping! How big was she when you first got her?

 

I have considered pulling my sandbed out as well although I love the looks of sand when its clean. It would not be an easy task in the seahorse tank. I also have critters that need the sand so that is stopping me too.

[Elizabeth94]

Yea, when ever I see her all rolled up like that it makes me want to crawl back in bed. She looks so comfy. She was a little baby when I got her. One thing is for sure though: I can not hold her with one hand anymore. In fact, it would be better if I had three!

 

 

 

 

 

Now I can only get a third of her body in a picture when I hold her.. This one was from a month ago, so even between then and right now she has grown..

 

 

Ahhhh she looks so peaceful when she's sleeping! How big was she when you first got her?

I have considered pulling my sandbed out as well although I love the looks of sand when its clean. It would not be an easy task in the seahorse tank. I also have critters that need the sand so that is stopping me too.

 

I also love sand, but for me it is just causing problems. I wouldn't have taken it out if I was able to mix the sand as much as id like. My scoly, favia, and two of my acans are on the sand so it makes it more difficult in this small tank.

 

So far everything looks good. The corals are all out and happy looking so I will continue to pull the sand next weekend.

[pgrVII]

Impressive Elizabeth, you're an interesting one that is for sure. Love the boa.

[Elizabeth94]

Impressive Elizabeth, you're an interesting one that is for sure. Love the boa.

Interesting? Hopefully thats a good thing! haha.

 

Thanks, I love snakes. I have a lot of friends who got over their fear of snakes by handling mine. Its sad to see so many laws banning them as pets. The boa is next on the list.

[pgrVII]

Interesting? Hopefully thats a good thing! haha.

 

Thanks, I love snakes. I have a lot of friends who got over their fear of snakes by handling mine. Its sad to see so many laws banning them as pets. The boa is next on the list.

It's a great thing!

Snakes are cool we had some corn snakes and an 12 Burmese albino female when I was a much younger dude.

[Viking]

Good luck on your sand removal. I went bare bottom with my 25 Lagoon for the same reason you are taking your sand out, it's hard to keep it clean looking. My problem started for diffreent reasons in my 20 long, but the results ended up the same. Plus, with no sand in the display, I have enough clearance to re-use the skimmer from the old tank

[Elizabeth94]

Thanks! I hope it goes well. So far everything is just fine. I hope to get some more out either tonight or sometime this week. I have so many papers to write for school and I am already behind.. So, I kinda started doing this at a bad time.

 

On another note- I managed to get a picture of my dotty back a few mins ago. Crappy, IK. But the best I can get with a phone while he is swimming around.

 

[LazyFish]

Nice Nano!. I've had one of those fish in my 29G for the past 3 years. He is over 3 inches long ....Dose yours stay out? Mine is hardly ever out & if anything moves it zips back behind a rock... I love the way there color changes depending on the lighting & the direction that you view them from they can look purple or pinkish purple or blue ^_^ Mine tolerates an extremely large female watchman but only because his head will fit in her mouth.They are one of the less aggressive/territorial psuedochromis but they still usually don't like anything that's approximately the same shape or color as them.

[vlangel]

I understand your frustration at trying to get a good pic of a pretty fish that just wont hold still for even a second! Crazy fish!

[Elizabeth94]

He comes out a lot. When I first enter my bedroom he hides in a crevice of a rock, but if I sit in front of the tank without making fast movements he swims all over the place. I try to feed during the day time so that he comes out more. Plus, he sleeps under a rock at night time and doesn't come out for food.

 

My cardinal fish is so boring. He just sits in one spot right under the torch coral. I don't want to trade him because the dottyback gets along with him. Ik dottybacks can have tank mate issues.

 

Nice Nano!. I've had one of those fish in my 29G for the past 3 years. He is over 3 inches long ....Dose yours stay out? Mine is hardly ever out & if anything moves it zips back behind a rock...

[LazyFish]

I think that cardinals are schooling fish & that they are more nocturnal...I know the pj cardinal is more active after sundown. Also a friend of mine had a few of them but when she got down to one it just kind of sat in one spot most of the time.

[Elizabeth94]

That kind of makes sense. Mine is more active toward lights out but for some reason I never made the correlation of him being nocturnal. Ill have to look thag up. I wouldnt have purchased one if I knew that before hand.

 

Hes cool, but boring. I almost want a small clown again, but I know if it bites me ill be returning it.

[Elizabeth94]

Algae in my tank has been getting worse. I can't wait to finish getting this sand out, I think it will help. I noticed that this algae wasn't a problem until I started dosing Aquavitro Fuel. My acros are coloring up so nicely with this stuff its crazy, but at the same time the cyano is getting a bit problematic.

 

I am so busy with school since I finish college in May, so right now I have a crap load of papers and exams. In turn, I have been neglecting the tank in terms of water changes. The skimmer is pulling a ton of gunk so that helps (funny because I only feed twice a week now, targeting corals and the fish with rinsed mysis). I am sure once I start finding time for a few big water changes the algae will subside.

 

I would post some pictures of how great the acros look, but I am ashamed of the algae. I may try chemo clean just to test out what it does, but I know it isn't necessary and won't solve the root of my problem. It would be more as an experiment to see how well it really works.

[pgrVII]

Algae in my tank has been getting worse. I can't wait to finish getting this sand out, I think it will help. I noticed that this algae wasn't a problem until I started dosing Aquavitro Fuel. My acros are coloring up so nicely with this stuff its crazy, but at the same time the cyano is getting a bit problematic.

 

I am so busy with school since I finish college in May, so right now I have a crap load of papers and exams. In turn, I have been neglecting the tank in terms of water changes. The skimmer is pulling a ton of gunk so that helps (funny because I only feed twice a week now, targeting corals and the fish with rinsed mysis). I am sure once I start finding time for a few big water changes the algae will subside.

 

I would post some pictures of how great the acros look, but I am ashamed of the algae. I may try chemo clean just to test out what it does, but I know it isn't necessary and won't solve the root of my problem. It would be more as an experiment to see how well it really works.

I am battling cyano too,and suspect it was the aminos I was adding daily. I've been siphoning 5-10 gallons a week and dosing microbact7 also,hopefully it's on its way out,on the plus side my corals are colorful and growing well

[Elizabeth94]

It sucks.. Yours is bright red, mine is closer to brown. Figures that the additives may be the issue. It makes my coral look noticeably better, but causes algae issues. I have to find a balance. I am considering vinegar dosing too.

 

This tank is more of a "lets test this out" tank. It is so small which makes it so much easier to experiment on this one than my other tank.

 

Adding Phoslock has done absolutely nothing for me so far. I may change back to chemipure and see if there is a difference.

 

I am battling cyano too,and suspect it was the aminos I was adding daily. I've been siphoning 5-10 gallons a week and dosing microbact7 also,hopefully it's on its way out,on the plus side my corals are colorful and growing well

[pgrVII]

It sucks.. Yours is bright red, mine is closer to brown. Figures that the additives may be the issue. It makes my coral look noticeably better, but causes algae issues. I have to find a balance. I am considering vinegar dosing too.

 

This tank is more of a "lets test this out" tank. It is so small which makes it so much easier to experiment on this one than my other tank.

 

Adding Phoslock has done absolutely nothing for me so far. I may change back to chemipure and see if there is a difference.

 

I just did a good siphon and about 6 gallons was changed,I also changed put my chemipure blue early to see if it helps. Looks pretty well beaten back,hasn't come back so far that I can see,so hopefully it's slowing down.

[Elizabeth94]

Thats so funny...

 

I JUST did a good siphon myself and also put in some chemipure blue hahaha. I also took some more sand out.

I just did a good siphon and about 6 gallons was changed,I also changed put my chemipure blue early to see if it helps. Looks pretty well beaten back,hasn't come back so far that I can see,so hopefully it's slowing down.

[pgrVII]

Thats so funny...

 

I JUST did a good siphon myself and also put in some chemipure blue hahaha. I also took some more sand out.

Great minds eh ? Haha

[vlangel]

Catching up with your thread to see if the sand is gone yet and how you are liking a BB tank. I will check back for that. I am glad that your coral are coloring up nicely. Don't be embarassed about the cyano or algae. We have all been there or will be there. Algae happens!

[Elizabeth94]

Sorry, it isnt completly gone yet. I have to find a way to ge the sand in the back of the tank. I think I will need two people to do this so I don't overflow my container with water. My siphon is super fast.

 

I am getting really close though. The front of my tank is down to the glass and it looks great. I just want this algae to go away so that I can enjoy my corals more. Maybe Ill take my water to the store and have them test my phosphate, my kit is very expired.

 

Catching up with your thread to see if the sand is gone yet and how you are liking a BB tank. I will check back for that. I am glad that your coral are coloring up nicely. Don't be embarassed about the cyano or algae. We have all been there or will be there. Algae happens!

[vlangel]

Yes, phosphates can really fuel algae. Purigen, phosban or a gfo can help or a RO/DI with resin can work wonders too. I have a portable unit that just connects to a sink with an adaptor.