Natalia’s reefbowl: 8 years old!

[natalia_la_loca]

@Friendly I'll try to get video for you this weekend.

 

@holy carp, the green stuff is a biofilm that grew spontaneously. that's what the opae'ula eat, I don't provide any other food source. (it does look like a Dr Seuss snowstorm lol)

 

 

[natalia_la_loca]

Hey guys, sorry about the lack of updates, been doing summer stuff  

 

the reefbowl is doing just fine. The green and rainbow gonioporas are still not doing well though (the pink one is still looking great though.) I'm going to try to rehome them locally.

 

here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

Pink and golds growing like freaking crazy

 

Utter chaos looking chaos-y

 

Last but not least, here's something neat: the red planet acro is becoming red again at the tips. My guess is that the added height and proximity to the light are doing it. I still have to glue around it every couple of weeks to prevent it encrusting on the blondies.

 

[SeaFurn]

Looking great! And that encrusting red planet!! 

My acros are turning white at their bases from shading - even as high up as I have them. 

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome back @natalia_la_loca, I hope your summer has been well!  

 

The reef bowl looks spectacular as always! Those pink and golds are unreal!

[natalia_la_loca]

@SeaFurn, do you have any light sources besides your overhead light? I wonder if the intermittent sun on my reefbowl helps the acros grow.

[teenyreef]

Welcome back, I hope you had a good summer! The bowl looks just as beautiful as ever

 

The bubblegum montipora looks fantastic. I love the blue growth tips - I've just started to see those on the one you sent me, and the colors are really starting to do well. Here's a shot of how it looks now:

 

[SeaFurn]

10 hours ago, natalia_la_loca said:

@SeaFurn, do you have any light sources besides your overhead light? I wonder if the intermittent sun on my reefbowl helps the acros grow.

My bowl is next to a window and I started pulling the curtains back a couple of months ago for a little extra light. I don't think it gets as much natural light yours does though - which I bet helps! 

Does yours get more natural light in the morning or afternoon? 

Do you think placing it more directly in front of the window could hurt (still wouldn't get direct sun)? 

[natalia_la_loca]

It wouldn't hurt to give it more light IME. Mine gets direct sunlight in the morning and afternoon.

[Friendly]

how well do all your corals get along? it's looking kinda cramped in there now, so it's likely that they brush up to each other from time to time?

[Lula_Mae]

Tank looks so amazing and gorgeous!  Do you find the blondies to be kind of slow growers?

[natalia_la_loca]

@Friendly, believe it or not, nearly all the corals are pretty well spaced out. I let acans touch other acans, zoas touch other zoas, etc, but otherwise try to not let corals touch. I do have to glue over corals sometimes to prevent them encrusting, especially the red planet acro.

 

@Lula_Mae, yup, the blondies are slow  they're doing well though. One of the babies was dying because the red planet got too close, but it's recovering now thanks to super glue.

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

@Friendly, believe it or not, nearly all the corals are pretty well spaced out. I let acans touch other acans, zoas touch other zoas, etc, but otherwise try to not let corals touch. I do have to glue over corals sometimes to prevent them encrusting, especially the red planet acro.

 

@Lula_Mae, yup, the blondies are slow  they're doing well though. One of the babies was dying because the red planet got too close, but it's recovering now thanks to super glue.

Ok good, I was wondering.  I have two and a baby but no new growth yet.  I'm hoping they do well for me cause they are sooo pretty!

[natalia_la_loca]

Hey guys, long time no see!  Wow, I see there's a new contest happening.  And that there's still time to enter.  Hmm...   

 

So the reefbowl is still doing great.  I'm still doing the weekly 100% water change but have made a  couple of changes.  First, I've approximately doubled the amount of stuff that I feed once a week before the water change, although the feeds I use are the same as before:

-Rods Food Coral Blend

-Reef Roids

-Goniopower

-Phyto Feast

-Fauna Marin Ultra Ricordea & Zoanthus + Ultra Min D

 

Also, I'm now doing a few micro-water changes (about 8 ounces) roughly every other day because some of the corals seemed a little peaked just before the water change.  I don't think this is absolutely necessary, but it certainly doesn't hurt.  In the last month and a half, I took a four-day trip and a six-day trip during which the reefbowl was not maintained at all, with no ill effects.

 

Almost all corals are growing beautifully.  I had to trim off a couple of nephthea branches because it was starting to irritate the digitatas.  And unfortunately, the two small-polyped gonioporas are still showing failure to thrive.  The big pink one is looking perfect, though.  Finally, I lost the hermit crab a month or so ago for reasons unknown.  I probably won't get another one, as they should last a lot longer than this one did.

 

In happier news, the red planet acropora is becoming a red planet again.  The growth tips are now a beautiful shade of fuchsia, and it's growing upward.  I still have to glue the edges of it every two weeks to keep it from smothering the surrounding zoanthids.

 

Oh, and a side note: The opae'ula shrimpbowl is still doing extremely well too.  The population has roughly tripled.  The first generation of babies is now about half as big as the adults.  I'll get some pics when the ambient lighting is good.

 

Photo dump:

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

4 minutes ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Hey guys, long time no see!  Wow, I see there's a new contest happening.  And that there's still time to enter.  Hmm...   

 

So the reefbowl is still doing great.  I'm still doing the weekly 100% water change but have made a  couple of changes.  First, I've approximately doubled the amount of stuff that I feed once a week before the water change, although the feeds I use are the same as before:

-Rods Food Coral Blend

-Reef Roids

-Goniopower

-Phyto Feast

-Fauna Marin Ultra Ricordea & Zoanthus + Ultra Min D

 

Also, I'm now doing a few micro-water changes (about 8 ounces) roughly every other day because some of the corals seemed a little peaked just before the water change.  I don't think this is absolutely necessary, but it certainly doesn't hurt.  In the last month and a half, I took a four-day trip and a six-day trip during which the reefbowl was not maintained at all, with no ill effects.

 

Almost all corals are growing beautifully.  I had to trim off a couple of nephthea branches because it was starting to irritate the digitatas.  And unfortunately, the two small-polyped gonioporas are still showing failure to thrive.  The big pink one is looking perfect, though.  Finally, I lost the hermit crab a month or so ago for reasons unknown.  I probably won't get another one, as they should last a lot longer than this one did.

 

In happier news, the red planet acropora is becoming a red planet again.  The growth tips are now a beautiful shade of fuchsia, and it's growing upward.  I still have to glue the edges of it every two weeks to keep it from smothering the surrounding zoanthids.

 

Photo dump:

 

 

Looks great!  You can always enter with a mini bowl or jar or something.

[natalia_la_loca]

Just now, Lula_Mae said:

Looks great!  You can always enter with a mini bowl or jar or something.

Thinking about it

[gena]

You are my pico Goddess .  So nice to see an update.  Whenever I have questions about my jar I turn to your thread first!!!!  It's my bible.  I hope you join in on the fun .

[natalia_la_loca]

Aww, thanks @gena   Yup, I'm thinking about it.  Mainly wondering if I want to take on the extra work, given that the main reason I set up the reefbowl in the first place was so I could spend less time reefing and more time doing other fun things

[gena]

3 minutes ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Aww, thanks @gena   Yup, I'm thinking about it.  Mainly wondering if I want to take on the extra work, given that the main reason I set up the reefbowl in the first place was so I could spend less time reefing and more time doing other fun things

It could just be for 6 months .

[natalia_la_loca]

Very very true 

[natalia_la_loca]

November update! Happy bowl.

 

 

Morning in the bowl

 

...and a video. Music by Boards of Canada.

 

[teenyreef]

Still my favorite bowl! I'm getting really inspired for my Teeniecookie Jar

[vlangel]

I agree with teeny.  Your reefbowl definitely has inspired me!

[flatlandreefer]

How long are you letting food sit in your bowl before you do you post feeding water change?  A couple hours/overnight?

[natalia_la_loca]

@flatlandreefer I used to always do the water change about 5-6 hours after feeding, but lately I’m more relaxed about that. I often wait a day or two. The corals seem fine either way.

[natalia_la_loca]

December update!

 

before a water change: spill protection

 

 

The acan at bottom center is getting some crazy colors...

 

Polyp extension!!!

 

After a long decline, this Goni is coming back!!! Maybe because I’m waiting longer between the weekly feeding and the WC?

 

The pink Goni is as beautiful as ever.