Natalia’s reefbowl: 8 years old!

[debbeach13]

It doesn't get any better than that. Absolutely looks fantastic. 

[natalia_la_loca]

1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

It doesn't get any better than that. Absolutely looks fantastic. 

It’s funny, I look at it and have a hard time not focusing on the gaps and flaws. I’m trying to get better at focusing on the things that are going well. 

[natalia_la_loca]

Rainstorm today. The bowl looks really pretty on cloudy days.

 

Less than 3 months ago this reefbowl looked like such hot garbage, I wasn’t sure if it could ever come back. What a change!!

 

 

 

 

[natalia_la_loca]

Not to jinx it, but so far the new goni seems to like the bowl.

 

Amazeballs is looking great. I love how it moves.

 

I could see making this a goniopora-dominated bowl over time…

[Woodini]

This thing is so cool! I might have to read all 41 pages 😂 

[natalia_la_loca]

9 minutes ago, Woodini said:

This thing is so cool! I might have to read all 41 pages 😂 

It peaked on page 1 tbh

 

[Nano sapiens]

1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

It peaked on page 1 tbh

 

 

LOL, that brings back memories 😊

[natalia_la_loca]

Been meaning to mention the current algae situation. I haven’t seen any sign of bubble algae since before the dinos started. The last remnants of turf algae, which had survived years of peroxide and fluconazole treatment, also seem to be completely gone.

 

But one kind of algae has survived. I don’t know what it is, it’s got filaments but the filaments are thick, sort of like tiny green sticks that measure maybe a centimeter long at most. It hasn’t spread, but it does grow. It grows from a fairly tight holdfast, but I can pull it out with tweezers. Also, if I squeeze the strands too hard when I pull them, they pop, kind of like bubble algae. Here it is magnified with a clip-on macro lens, growing from the base of a palythoa on my blasto rock.
 

[Woodini]

Where do you buy these lenses? Are they like snapshat faulters?

[natalia_la_loca]

Just now, Woodini said:

Where do you buy these lenses? Are they like snapshit faulters?

nah, snapshits make everything worse 😅 these are just little macro lenses that you can clip onto a smartphone. I got mine on Amazon a few years ago but I imagine better ones are available now. I used it to get the close-up of the amazeballs goni that I posted today, and also the ones below. not DSLR quality, but it’s good enough for me lol.

 

 

 

[Woodini]

Damn! Impressive!

[natalia_la_loca]

Just saw a stomatella snail in the reefbowl. Absolutely no idea where it came from. I haven’t seen one in there in years and all new frags have been dipped in potassium salt and closely inspected. (obv if I’d seen a stomatella on a frag, I’d have popped it directly in the bowl, I love those guys.) Otoh I also somehow missed a vermetid on a recent acquisition, so anything is possible. But unlike vermetids, a stomatella is a super nice surprise.

 

Anyway, here’s the bowl in evening sun just after the lights turned out. No crazy colors but still pretty imo.

 

 

[Lebowski_]

Everything looks happy in there.

[Woodini]

This thing just blows my mind!

[natalia_la_loca]

aww thanks y’all!

 

I took a little vídeo clip the other day. next time it’s cloudy i’ll have to do a longer video with more closeups and like some cool vaporwave music or something. 

 

Format will probably be glitchy but hopefully will work if you click on it…

 

Btw, maintenance update. this is my current routine:

 

-AM: dose 1/2 ml eco-balance (this is a holdover from the battle with dinoflagellates, probably unnecessary but doesn’t seem to be doing any harm)

-PM: dose one drop food grade 35% hydrogen peroxide before bed (also a holdover from the dino battle)

-1x/week: target feed all corals. Mysis for LPS, reef roids/coral frenzy/goniopower for the rest

-2 days later: 100% water change with blast clean of substrate, followed by dosing:

-aquavitro seed (probably unnecessary)

-eco-balance (probably unnecessary)

-vibrant (kids, don’t do this at home)

-neonitro to 5 ppm

-neophos to 0.1 ppm

[natalia_la_loca]

wowww

 

[natalia_la_loca]

with cat for scale

 

[natalia_la_loca]

glitterbomb goni is still a booger…but it’s a slightly bigger booger

 

[Lebowski_]

Natalia, I may have missed it on a previous page, but where does the airline tubing enter the bowl? The lid looks pretty flush.

[Woodini]

I believe through the gap in the tubing around the top??

[Lebowski_]

21 minutes ago, Woodini said:

I believe through the gap in the tubing around the top??

Oh my bad, I see the gap in the last set of pictures now. Good call.

 

thanks!

[natalia_la_loca]

3 hours ago, Woodini said:

I believe through the gap in the tubing around the top??

right! just enough to fit the airline and the cables for heater and temp probe. other than that, the lid sits completely flush. 

[natalia_la_loca]

evening bowl

 

 

[Lebowski_]

This glorious thread was mentioned to my wife and she came back later that day with a big jar so I could do my own!

 

Problem I am facing is the lid clamps down too tight. So I’m thinking I may remove the hinge, and add a thicker gasket I can cut like you did. 
 

 

[natalia_la_loca]

9 hours ago, Lebowski_ said:

This glorious thread was mentioned to my wife and she came back later that day with a big jar so I could do my own!

 

Problem I am facing is the lid clamps down too tight. So I’m thinking I may remove the hinge, and add a thicker gasket I can cut like you did. 
 

 

 

wow that’s so rad!! I’m really glad to be an inspiration. Yeah, from what i can see, it’ll be necessary to remove the hinge and change out the gasket to prevent salt creep and inhibit evaporation. Btw I hope you start a thread!