Natalia’s reefbowl: 8 years old!

[brandon429]

im editing a vid w post in a few days that shows this exact action on my ten yr old reefbowl:

 

take apart and set corals on counter in the cold air, not even underwater courtesy.

 

take boxer crab put him in a cup of sw to wait

 

take empty vase and sandbed, and wash in tap water for 15 mins straight until so pristinely white and clean no waste exists. blast inside of bowl with 35% wipe down (using tweezers and paper=avoid handburn lol)

 

final sandbed rinse was all saltwater to flush out the tap water.

 

then I reassemble the whole think looking brand new to run another 6 mos until next attack cleaning. skip cycle, coral extension is massive 24 hours later hungry and feeding. this action allows me to catch up on mos of lazy water changes but more importantly it demonstrates that you cannot kill bacteria unless you add an antibiotic.

 

tap does not sterilize or kill bac from marine surfaces in short duration. the corals were literally cold after being put back in, spent 15-20 mins in the air and so could all of your corals easily. it will feel squirrely/odd/unacceptable/impending doom in the first 4 mins, but its not the case that's just how we imagine things

 

the vid will show the meanest/roughest treatment of a reef tank that's for sure, and right now its looks golden and brand new and I wont be treating algae anytime soon.

 

so on top of 150% changes, consider the rip change where things just get ugly. the little reef w thank ya

[natalia_la_loca]

I look forward to seeing that video. Will definitely do a full sandbed blast when the time comes.

[natalia_la_loca]

The zoas on the main rock--the ones that bore the full brunt of the peroxide nuke--are really starting to wake up now. As soon as they're looking really perky, I'll frag off a select few and sell the rock. It's far too big for this bowl.

 

Although I've posted pics of a few, I don't think I've talked about all the frags I picked up last weekend between the Cherry Corals live sale and a frag swap, this is the full list:

 

Mountain Dew chalice

Bubblegum digitata

Pink zippers zoas

Vamps in drag zoas

3 different acans

JF jack o'lantern leptoseris

Red/green blasto

Tyree rainbow stylophora

Meteor shower cyphastrea

Tyree sunset montipora

 

To make room for the new branching SPS, I fragged off all but the top branch of the orange digitata and returned the rest to the LFS. It's not sexy enough to be taking up all that space.

 

Oh, and guess what: The xenia isn't dead. A tiny patch of flesh survived the bombing, and itty-bitty polyps are starting to appear. Murphy's Law being in effect, the little bit that survived is on the main rock, which poses obvious problems down the road. I'll try to peel it off during the next waterchange.

 

 

Morning shot of acans, before lights went on. What a difference actinics make! The one on the right is the rainbow acan.

[holy carp]

Would you like chocolate sprinkles or rainbow sprinkles on your ice cream?

 

I've actually heard that xenia doesn't actually die... ever... like cyano.

[ReefWeeds]

Loving these updates, Natalia! And Holy carp - I am the one exception to that rule. I kill xenia And I don't actually MEAN to kill it!!!

[natalia_la_loca]

Loving these updates, Natalia! And Holy carp - I am the one exception to that rule. I kill xenia And I don't actually MEAN to kill it!!!

 

thank you Stella You know, I couldn't keep xenia alive either in my big tank, it would just shrink and shrink until there was nothing left. Not until I got this tiny reefbowl did it become too much of a good thing!

[ReefWeeds]

 

thank you Stella You know, I couldn't keep xenia alive either in my big tank, it would just shrink and shrink until there was nothing left. Not until I got this tiny reefbowl did it become too much of a good thing!

 

ha! Well, it probably is helping with some filtration too It's pretty.

[holy carp]

Xenia is your circulation pump if you can keep the pH in the right range.

[natalia_la_loca]

Over the weekend I glued most of the new frags to the rockscape. I had most of them out of the water for a good half hour, but the next day they were all looking great

 

I'm still doing twice-weekly feedings of Rods Food Coral Blend + Reef Nutrition Phyto Feast, followed by 150% waterchanges. So far, no further problems with hair algae or diatoms. I have two small trochus snails and a cerith snail now. After the hair algae died, I "rented" a Mexican turbo to take care of the dead algae and returned him to the LFS when his work was done.

 

Unfortunately, the rainbow stylophora RTN'd over the past week--so far, the only type of coral not to thrive in this bowl Because the sunset montipora frag was doing well, I broke it up and glued it to the branch tips of the stylo skeleton. So if all goes well, I'll have a branching sunset monti.

 

My LFS had some green slimer acropora frags for really cheap, so I picked one up. Following Mary's advice, I broke it off above the base of the frag plug, sacrificing the encrusted part of the coral and completely avoiding putting the frag plug in the tank. So far it's doing really well. I was afraid it would release a ton of slime during the water change, but it was very minimal. So far so good.

 

This is from the morning after the water change, before the par38 came on.

 

Later in the day, with par38 on

 

The colors get more intense at dusk as the par38 becomes the main light source.

 

The reefbowl is definitely upstaging the shrimpbowl and the mossbowl now. Hopefully I'll have some baby opae'ula soon to liven things up in the shrimpbowl.

[Deleted User 9]

Over the weekend I glued most of the new frags to the rockscape. I had most of them out of the water for a good half hour, but the next day they were all looking great

 

I'm still doing twice-weekly feedings of Rods Food Coral Blend + Reef Nutrition Phyto Feast, followed by 150% waterchanges. So far, no further problems with hair algae or diatoms. I have two small trochus snails and a cerith snail now. After the hair algae died, I "rented" a Mexican turbo to take care of the dead algae and returned him to the LFS when his work was done.

 

Unfortunately, the rainbow stylophora RTN'd over the past week--so far, the only type of coral not to thrive in this bowl Because the sunset montipora frag was doing well, I broke it up and glued it to the branch tips of the stylo skeleton. So if all goes well, I'll have a branching sunset monti.

 

My LFS had some green slimer acropora frags for really cheap, so I picked one up. Following Mary's advice, I broke it off above the base of the frag plug, sacrificing the encrusted part of the coral and completely avoiding putting the frag plug in the tank. So far it's doing really well. I was afraid it would release a ton of slime during the water change, but it was very minimal. So far so good.

 

This is from the morning after the water change, before the par38 came on.

 

Later in the day, with par38 on

 

The colors get more intense at dusk as the par38 becomes the main light source.

 

The reefbowl is definitely upstaging the shrimpbowl and the mossbowl now. Hopefully I'll have some baby opae'ula soon to liven things up in the shrimpbowl.

 

Peace.

 

Sometimes, you will get a Coral that may not respond well to the Bowl Reef for many reasons. A common reason is the Full Water Changes, if they're off in Temp. and or S.G swing, Lighting from the LFS to your Bowl, Vase , Jar Reef. Some Corals, from the Birdsnest family, do not take well to full Water Changes. They may "brown out", or develope RTN or STN. Stylophora is a very hardy Coral for us here in both the Fish Bowl and Vase Reef. Try to save whatever you can from the Coral by either a trim or applying Crazy Glue over the damaged parts. The Bowl Reef looks fantastic!!! Try not to feed so much that you would have to do these 150% Water Changes. Once a week feedings will suffice for those types of Corals. Target feedings will help the Coral get the food quicker and directly so less of it can be used, instead of flooding the whole Bowl Reef with the Roids. I know that's what happens in the Natural Reefs, but not in such a tiny volume of water. Hope this helps. Much Success and Happiness in All.

 

Blessings All.

 

Please know that I'm not trying to change the way you're keeping your Bowl Reef. Everyone taking on these Tiny Reefs will have the Basic and Experienced information of others, while some will chose to do it their way. In any case, the advice I share are based on our own experiences. Because we've kept so many types of Corals in a Vase Reef, we hope to share some valuable information that will help in prevent and keep your Bowl Reef successfully.

[natalia_la_loca]

 

Peace.

 

Sometimes, you will get a Coral that may not respond well to the Bowl Reef for many reasons. A common reason is the Full Water Changes, if they're off in Temp. and or S.G swing, Lighting from the LFS to your Bowl, Vase , Jar Reef. Some Corals, from the Birdsnest family, do not take well to full Water Changes. They may "brown out", or develope RTN or STN. Stylophora is a very hardy Coral for us here in both the Fish Bowl and Vase Reef. Try to save whatever you can from the Coral by either a trim or applying Crazy Glue over the damaged parts. The Bowl Reef looks fantastic!!! Try not to feed so much that you would have to do these 150% Water Changes. Once a week feedings will suffice for those types of Corals. Target feedings will help the Coral get the food quicker and directly so less of it can be used, instead of flooding the whole Bowl Reef with the Roids. I know that's what happens in the Natural Reefs, but not in such a tiny volume of water. Hope this helps. Much Success and Happiness in All.

 

Blessings All.

 

Please know that I'm not trying to change the way you're keeping your Bowl Reef. Everyone taking on these Tiny Reefs will have the Basic and Experienced information of others, while some will chose to do it their way. In any case, the advice I share are based on our own experiences. Because we've kept so many types of Corals in a Vase Reef, we hope to share some valuable information that will help in prevent and keep your Bowl Reef successfully.

 

No worries I take your advice extremely seriously given that you've maintained a thriving vase reef for several years! I greatly appreciate your sharing your experience and advice.

 

It is very possible the stylophora has suffered from too much fluctuation in its environment. My main reason for the biweekly 150% water changes has been to extract large amounts of snail poop as the dead hair algae was consumed. I should be able to step back to weekly water changes going forward. I do target feed the corals now.

[Deleted User 9]

 

No worries I take your advice extremely seriously given that you've maintained a thriving vase reef for several years! I greatly appreciate your sharing your experience and advice.

 

It is very possible the stylophora has suffered from too much fluctuation in its environment. My main reason for the biweekly 150% water changes has been to extract large amounts of snail poop as the dead hair algae was consumed. I should be able to step back to weekly water changes going forward. I do target feed the corals now.

Peace.

 

Thank You. Yes, fluctuation will take it's toll on certain Corals. I have a Rainbow Stylophora that's now Light Green Yellow. with some tint of Purple. They will also change colors, depending on the Spectrum of Light provided. Also, Turbo Snails do poop a lot and that's why We've stayed away from them in the Vase and Bowl Reefs and the fact that they will knock and clip Corals out of their spot when they move across their tight spaces.

 

You Reef is looking good!!! Keep it Up.

 

Blessings All.

[teenyreef]

It's looking great! When I see the "FTS" pictures, it makes me think of a vase full of brightly colored stones or marbles

[natalia_la_loca]

It's looking great! When I see the "FTS" pictures, it makes me think of a vase full of brightly colored stones or marbles

 

That's pretty much what I'm going for. The more colorful, the better

 

I'm thinking about getting another acro or two if the green slimer continues to do well. Thus far it looks incredibly happy.

[holy carp]

Careful, those green slimers can grow fast. Here's mine over time.

[natalia_la_loca]

Careful, those green slimers can grow fast. Here's mine over time.

 

Holy cow/holy crap/holy carp. that's so awesome.

 

Having to trim a beautiful fast-growing acro is what I would call a luxurious problem.

 

I think an ORA tricolor valida acro would look stunning in this reefbowl.

[Deleted User 9]

Peace Natalia.

 

It's ok if some Corals grow "fast" in the Jar Reef. That's what you want. The quicker it grows, the more frags. What I usually do is I cut off the new growth, and keep those in the Vase Reef. The others, I trade or sell encrusted. The purpose for doing this is to keep the new generation growth. Those are going to be the more hardier specimens because they've grown in your reef. That's how I was able to get strong Purple Digitata and Purple Stylophora.

 

Of course, you don't want a Coral to grow so fast that it starts to destroy neighboring corals, like some LPS corals.

I would wait to see how that Slimmer Acropora starts to encrust. They I would add another if there's space.Also, the more you frag some SPS Corals, the more branches grows.

 

That Green Slimmer Acropora will be your guide for the next SPS Coral

 

Blessings All.

[natalia_la_loca]

Peace Natalia.

 

It's ok if some Corals grow "fast" in the Jar Reef. That's what you want. The quicker it grows, the more frags. What I usually do is I cut off the new growth, and keep those in the Vase Reef. The others, I trade or sell encrusted. The purpose for doing this is to keep the new generation growth. Those are going to be the more hardier specimens because they've grown in your reef. That's how I was able to get strong Purple Digitata and Purple Stylophora.

 

Of course, you don't want a Coral to grow so fast that it starts to destroy neighboring corals, like some LPS corals.

I would wait to see how that Slimmer Acropora starts to encrust. They I would add another if there's space.Also, the more you frag some SPS Corals, the more branches grows.

 

That Green Slimmer Acropora will be your guide for the next SPS Coral

 

Blessings All.

 

That approach makes great sense. I really like the idea of keeping the new growth and trading/selling the encrusted parts.

 

Will definitely keep a close eye on how the green slimer fares in the reefbowl before I move forward with getting more acros.

[Deleted User 9]

 

That approach makes great sense. I really like the idea of keeping the new growth and trading/selling the encrusted parts.

 

Will definitely keep a close eye on how the green slimer fares in the reefbowl before I move forward with getting more acros.

Peace.

 

Thanks. That's how I've handle all my Reef Systems. The problem occurs when Corals don't get inspected, dipped, frag properly, and too many corals, different varieties, are added too quickly. It's best to wait and be observant and see what works for the Corals you have now. Give them time to fill in, Color Up, and start to show some growth. This will determine your path and if all is well, your journey will be satisfied. This also makes for easy troubleshooting if something should go wrong or is not showing good signs.

 

When all is well, you can now plan for another exotic frag, take the necessary precautions before adding into your Jar Reef, and you will be set for more beautiful pics, and a lifetime of enjoyment.

 

Remember

,

First We Crawl.

Then We Walk.

Then We Run!!!

 

You already past the "crawl" stage.(Micro Alga, Nuisance Alga, Pest, Corals not responding well, getting used to the Jar Reef").

Now you're in the "walking" stage. ( Water Changes, Observant, Coral Studying, Dipping, Coral placement and Movement)

Then your "RUN" stage. (Loyality, Husbandry, Fragging, Growth, Jar Reef Settles, Full Control and Mastery of your Jar Reef.)

 

Much Success and Happiness.

 

Some People Keep

Cookies and Candies

In a Jar.

We Keep Corals & Inverts

In Ours...

 

Blessings All.

[natalia_la_loca]

Peace.

 

Thanks. That's how I've handle all my Reef Systems. The problem occurs when Corals don't get inspected, dipped, frag properly, and too many corals, different varieties, are added too quickly. It's best to wait and be observant and see what works for the Corals you have now. Give them time to fill in, Color Up, and start to show some growth. This will determine your path and if all is well, your journey will be satisfied. This also makes for easy troubleshooting if something should go wrong or is not showing good signs.

 

When all is well, you can now plan for another exotic frag, take the necessary precautions before adding into your Jar Reef, and you will be set for more beautiful pics, and a lifetime of enjoyment.

 

Remember

,

First We Crawl.

Then We Walk.

Then We Run!!!

 

You already past the "crawl" stage.(Micro Alga, Nuisance Alga, Pest, Corals not responding well, getting used to the Jar Reef").

Now you're in the "walking" stage. ( Water Changes, Observant, Coral Studying, Dipping, Coral placement and Movement)

Then your "RUN" stage. (Loyality, Husbandry, Fragging, Growth, Jar Reef Settles, Full Control and Mastery of your Jar Reef.)

 

Much Success and Happiness.

 

Some People Keep

Cookies and Candies

In a Jar.

We Keep Corals & Inverts

In Ours...

 

Blessings All.

 

I think I'll print this post and put it on the wall Sometimes I need to remind myself to be patient.

[natalia_la_loca]

No big news to report this week, the bowl is doing great. The new green slimer acro is thriving! It has fantastic polyp extension and is starting to encrust.

 

I glued the Mountain Dew chalice (bottom center) to a small rock so it would be more visible, as up to now it's been sitting on the bottom.

 

I've still got the frags of emeralds on fire and fire hornet zoas, but they are isolated in hard-to-photograph places on the bottom. I've been methodically smothering the hydroids around them with superglue. The fire hornets haven't shown a hydroid in weeks; the emeralds on fire had a terrible infestation but it's almost completely gone now. The zoas on both frags are much plumper and brighter now.

 

I've also glued a couple of hydroids of a different kind that came in on the bubblegum digitata. Those appear to be all gone now too.

 

I haven't seen any vermetid snails at all since the peroxide bomb. Maybe the peroxide finished them off, but I think the diligent supergluing was what pushed them to the edge.

 

 

and next door in the shrimpbowl, there's been a little bit of algae growth on the glass, so I got a tiny 1 cm horned nerite to help out:

The spots are salt splash from water changes in the reefbowl. Time for some housekeeping!

[Deleted User 9]

Peace Natalia.

 

Jar Reef looking GREAT!! Love the Colors. That Red Digi is sure coloring up and looking healthy. All Corals are looking Fantastic!!

Thanks for the Update. When are you making a short Video?

Also, how many Blue and Whites are you using, not covered?

 

Blessings All.

 

While Some Are Getting Cookies

From Their Jars,

Others Are Keeping Corals

In Theirs.

[natalia_la_loca]

Peace Natalia.

Jar Reef looking GREAT!! Love the Colors. That Red Digi is sure coloring up and looking healthy. All Corals are looking Fantastic!!

Thanks for the Update. When are you making a short Video?

Also, how many Blue and Whites are you using, not covered?

Blessings All.

Thank you Mary ? I've been meaning to take video, I'll try to do one this week.

 

Right now I'm using 6 blues and 2 whites (4 whites covered), plus ambient light from an east window.

 

I've ordered the 8 blue/4 white par38 on eBay...will post the results after it arrives from China!

[natalia_la_loca]

So I just realized my reefbowl is two months old now

 

Here's a video I took last night. I don't know why it's so blurry, I uploaded it in HD! But at least it gives some idea of what the bowl looks like.

 

[Deleted User 9]

Peace Natalia.

 

Happy 2 Months!!

 

Thanks for the Video! Your Jar Reef looks AWESOME!!!

Love hearing the bubbles.

Nicely done and arranged.

Much Success and Happiness!

Any questions, you can always ask Me.

I need some Rasta Zoanthids!!

 

Blessings All.