Natalia’s reefbowl: 8 years old!

[natalia_la_loca]

Made a little change during this week’s water change. I replaced the Betta Stik heater with an Aquatop Pisces 10-watt heater, which has almost the same dimensions but seems to have better build quality; i’m hoping the new heater won’t need to be replaced as often. If it’s still working well in a few months, i’ll get a second one to have on hand as a backup.

 

The bleached digitata is starting to color up!

 

 

 

 

 

[natalia_la_loca]

Something pissed off the gonioporas last week: the amazeballs was mostly retracted, and the others looked annoyed to varying degrees. Whatever it was, it seems to have gone away with the water change. The gonis aren’t at 100%, but they look a lot better.

 

 

 

 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

this is probably my favourite internet reef bar none. Absolutely gorgeous!

[Bluelobstor]

@natalia_la_loca I just finished reading through the 43 pages and your reef bowl is amazing!! It has definitely inspired me to try a try a couple different gardens of reef bowls, well start with 1 and go from there. If I remember correctly your air pump is rated for 10-20 gallons? Do you have it dialed down any? Maybe I missed it but did you lose all the sps during the bubble algae/dino outbreak or were they moved somewhere else? 

[natalia_la_loca]

On 1/29/2024 at 8:51 PM, Bluelobstor said:

@natalia_la_loca I just finished reading through the 43 pages and your reef bowl is amazing!! It has definitely inspired me to try a try a couple different gardens of reef bowls, well start with 1 and go from there. If I remember correctly your air pump is rated for 10-20 gallons? Do you have it dialed down any? Maybe I missed it but did you lose all the sps during the bubble algae/dino outbreak or were they moved somewhere else? 

 

Wow, thank you ☺️ i can’t wait to see your reefbowls!! Yes, I double checked and the pump is rated for 10-20 gallons. I don’t dial down the flow at all.

 

The only sps I still had at the time of the outbreak was the bubblegum digitata (unless leptoseris is sps too? idk) and it survived. It actually almost perished due to shading in the last couple of months, but i did some trimming and it’s coming right back.

 

Here’s the reefbowl this evening just before lights out! It seems to be reaching a point of stasis or slowed growth, possibly because i’m feeding a little less at the weekly feeding. The corals don’t have much room to expand, so i’m okay with that.

 

 

[Bluelobstor]

15 hours ago, natalia_la_loca said:

 

Wow, thank you ☺️ i can’t wait to see your reefbowls!! Yes, I double checked and the pump is rated for 10-20 gallons. I don’t dial down the flow at all.

 

The only sps I still had at the time of the outbreak was the bubblegum digitata (unless leptoseris is sps too? idk) and it survived. It actually almost perished due to shading in the last couple of months, but i did some trimming and it’s coming right back.

 

Here’s the reefbowl this evening just before lights out! It seems to be reaching a point of stasis or slowed growth, possibly because i’m feeding a little less at the weekly feeding. The corals don’t have much room to expand, so i’m okay with that.

 

 

Thanks for the info and the pics. Always enjoy looking at your bowl. Are you doing weekly feedings? I thought I read that you have gone to two feedings a week, but I may be mistaken. Also, are you still waiting a couple days after the feeding to do the water change? One last question. You stated you were using the ABI tuna blue. I think LED 12 watt they make a 23 watt. Do you think that's too powerful for the bowl? And if the bowl was more SPS dominated, do you think it would be the better route? As always, your bowl is amazing. 

[Bluelobstor]

I'm pretty sure Leptos are considered sps. The larger orange coral that you have that looks like it's encrusting on a rock is a Leptastrea correct? 

[natalia_la_loca]

On 1/31/2024 at 4:13 PM, Bluelobstor said:

Thanks for the info and the pics. Always enjoy looking at your bowl. Are you doing weekly feedings? I thought I read that you have gone to two feedings a week, but I may be mistaken. Also, are you still waiting a couple days after the feeding to do the water change? One last question. You stated you were using the ABI tuna blue. I think LED 12 watt they make a 23 watt. Do you think that's too powerful for the bowl? And if the bowl was more SPS dominated, do you think it would be the better route? As always, your bowl is amazing. 

Yup, still doing one weekly feeding and then waiting a couple days until the water change. Most weeks I open the lid twice, once for feeding and once for the water change.

 

IMO the 23 watt would probably be overkill for a bowl/jar reef this size. To grow high-light SPS, I would suggest moving the light closer to the water surface instead; i have mine at 17” above water level. I moved it that high because it seemed like the zoas weren’t doing well under intense light; after I moved it up, the zoas bounced back and my acros gradually died off (with the standard caveat about correlation vs. causation, etc).

 

On 1/31/2024 at 4:27 PM, Bluelobstor said:

I'm pretty sure Leptos are considered sps. The larger orange coral that you have that looks like it's encrusting on a rock is a Leptastrea correct? 

The orange one at lower middle, to the right of the glitterbomb goni, is a leptoseris. I’ve actually never kept leptastrea before.

[natalia_la_loca]

i’m really glad all these gonis will grow in a reefbowl because they’re my favorite corals right now! i got out the clíp-on macro lens to take some pictures. I didn’t bother to turn off the air pump, so the pics are a bit blurry.

 

The care bears goni is by far the slowest grower of the four, but it seems happy so i’m not complaining.

 

 

 

the old pink goni is completely recovered from its brush with death and looks just amazing. 

 

 

The amazeballs is growing fast but still has some room to expand, so no need to frag it just yet.

 

 

Pretty sure the glitterbomb is the fastest grower, it was so tiny when it first arrived! It’s at a weird angle for photography, sorry it’s so blurry.

 

[Bluelobstor]

1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

i’m really glad all these gonis will grow in a reefbowl because they’re my favorite corals right now! i got out the clíp-on macro lens to take some pictures. I didn’t bother to turn off the air pump, so the pics are a bit blurry.

 

The care bears goni is by far the slowest grower of the four, but it seems happy so i’m not complaining.

 

 

 

the old pink goni is completely recovered from its brush with death and looks just amazing. 

 

 

The amazeballs is growing fast but still has some room to expand, so no need to frag it just yet.

 

 

Pretty sure the glitterbomb is the fastest grower, it was so tiny when it first arrived! It’s at a weird angle for photography, sorry it’s so blurry.

 

Those sure are beautiful. You kind of got me hooked on them. I'm glad they're working out. Maybe over the weekend I'll start a thread and look for a bowl. I just got to go get it done. You sure have been an inspiration to a lot of people so thank you for that. And one of the videos I remember watching, I didn't realize how much flow was actually in there. Would you consider the flow medium or high?

[natalia_la_loca]

13 minutes ago, Bluelobstor said:

Those sure are beautiful. You kind of got me hooked on them. I'm glad they're working out. Maybe over the weekend I'll start a thread and look for a bowl. I just got to go get it done. You sure have been an inspiration to a lot of people so thank you for that. And one of the videos I remember watching, I didn't realize how much flow was actually in there. Would you consider the flow medium or high?

 

Do ittt!!! I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Gotta say that of all the reef tanks i’ve ever had, the reefbowl is the most rewarding in terms of the balance between level of effort and enjoyment. It’s also low maintenance enough that it gets through occasional lapses in interest (and lapses in judgment). 

 

Re: flow, I’d consider it to be medium random flow. 

[debbeach13]

All of those gonis are drop dead gorgeous. A wonderful selection of colors.

[natalia_la_loca]

5 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

All of those gonis are drop dead gorgeous. A wonderful selection of colors.

i know right?!! i can’t believe the variety and colors of the gonis available lately, not to mention how resilient they are (for the most part).

[Bluelobstor]

3 hours ago, natalia_la_loca said:

i know right?!! i can’t believe the variety and colors of the gonis available lately, not to mention how resilient they are (for the most part).

Live aquaria had a pretty one in their divers den that's been there for a while. It's like a hot pink with blue sinners. I was going to get it once I set it up if it's still there but you might like it.

[natalia_la_loca]

1 hour ago, Bluelobstor said:

Live aquaria had a pretty one in their divers den that's been there for a while. It's like a hot pink with blue sinners. I was going to get it once I set it up if it's still there but you might like it.

i think you should grab it, i’ve barely got enough room to grow out the corals i already have 😅 

[natalia_la_loca]

It’s been really cloudy lately, so it was super nice to see some sun on the reefbowl today. Idk if it’s just my imagination, but I feel like the corals like the sunlight when it comes.

 

On the left you can see the bigger bubblegum digitata colony that was almost shaded to death by the nephthea before I fragged it. Only a little corner of it is still alive, but I’m pretty sure it’ll come back completely as long as I keep the nephthea in line. Luxurious problems!

 

 

[Bluelobstor]

1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

It’s been really cloudy lately, so it was super nice to see some sun on the reefbowl today. Idk if it’s just my imagination, but I feel like the corals like the sunlight when it comes.

 

On the left you can see the bigger bubblegum digitata colony that was almost shaded to death by the nephthea before I fragged it. Only a little corner of it is still alive, but I’m pretty sure it’ll come back completely as long as I keep the nephthea in line. Luxurious problems!

 

 

I would be surprised if the digitata didn't come back as long as it has sufficient light. It always did well in there before.

[natalia_la_loca]

2 hours ago, Bluelobstor said:

I would be surprised if the digitata didn't come back as long as it has sufficient light. It always did well in there before.

yeah, it’s been super resilient! It was one of the few corals that retained polyp extension during the dinoflagellate outbreak, although it colored way down. I’m honestly glad it’s been knocked back because it can get really invasive and if i’m being honest, the growth form of digitata is not my favorite. The color is really nice when it’s happy, though. 

[natalia_la_loca]

I’ve made a little change that is kind of a big deal (at least for me).

 

Inspired by @sammy33’s new reefbowl build, I got some silicone tubing with an inner diameter of 0.25”. All these years, i’ve been using PVC tubing with a very wide diameter (at least half an inch) because it was the only size that would stay put on the reefbowl opening, I think due to the rigidity of the PVC. The wider tubing is big and ugly, obstructs light, and part of it sits underwater, growing algae and gradually getting more and more nasty. 

 

After seeing that Sammy’s build used silicone tubing, it occurred to me that silicone tubing would probably be softer than PVC, and it is! Which means I can use narrower tubing.

 

So yeah, a little upgrade for 2024. I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bluelobstor]

Beautiful as always! Those goni's sure do look healthy

[sammy33]

Awesome! The silicone relaxes after a while but it looks like you got a great fit already.

 

PS: I get all giddy looking at your reef bowl hoping mine looks as gorgeous one day. 😎👍

[natalia_la_loca]

2 hours ago, Bluelobstor said:

Beautiful as always! Those goni's sure do look healthy

haha always, except like a year ago 😱 it’s wild what a garbage fire it was and how much it’s bounced back.

 

1 hour ago, sammy33 said:

Awesome! The silicone relaxes after a while but it looks like you got a great fit already.

 

PS: I get all giddy looking at your reef bowl hoping mine looks as gorgeous one day. 😎👍

 

yeah thanks for the inspo! that’s what i love about this forum. yours will get there!!!

[natalia_la_loca]

Water change day. I removed the silicone tubing to get rid of some gunk I missed when I changed out the bigger tubing the other day, and I thought: wow this looks so nice, I wish I didn’t need any tubing at all. Or could find some kind of gasket material that’s flexible enough to fit around the bowl opening and tall enough to provide a level point of egress for the airline and heater cables but also super thin and/or more transparent than silicone or PVC. 

 

Or…I could just remove the tubing when I take photos. Genius 😝

 

[natalia_la_loca]

another sunny day. the glitterbomb goni looked very chonky today.

 

 

[Tempestas]

Just remember to push the airline tubing connections extra tight so it doesn't come loose 🙃