Wingsong's Spec V - Happy 1st Birthday, Tank!

[Wingsong]

FTS 3/31/16

 

Yep, another of those pesky Fluval Spec V tanks. This is my first foray into saltwater after keeping freshwater since I started elementary school. Happy to be here!

 

Equipment

Fluval Spec V Tank

Hydor Koralia 240 Pump

Hydor Theo 50W Heater

Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152

Coral Compulsion PAR38 TruColor LED

Digital Thermometer

Media: Stock Carbon Bag + Stock Sponge Basket + Hand-sewn Phosguard Bag

 

Food/Additives

New Life Spectrum .5mm Thera+ Pellets

San Francisco Bay Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp

San Francisco Bay Freeze Dried Mysis Shrimp

Reef Chili

BRS Bulk Kalkwasser Starter Package

Coral Rx Dip

 

Stock

4 lbs live rock: 2 large rock, 2 branches, 2 shelf shards, 1 Fiji

Turbo Snail: Kirk

Blue Leg Hermit Crab: Hermie

Unknown Snail: Murdersnail

Stomatellas

2 Asterina Stars

Bristleworms 

 

Corals

Soft:

Green Hairy Mushroom

Blue-Green Mushroom

Volcano Island Rhodactis Mushroom

Orange + Teal Ricordea Florida Mushroom

Purple-gray + Red Rhodactis Mushroom

Blue Green Sympodium

Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas

Pink Elephant Zoas

Rose Nebula Zoas

Peachy Blues Zoas

Vivid Rainbow Zoas

Green Krakatoa Zoas

Safecracker Zoas

Atomic Sunset Zoas

Blowpops Zoas

Sunny D Zoas

Powerhouse Zoas

Twizzlers Zoas

Halle Berry Zoas

Some other Zoas

LPS:

Purple & Green Blasto

Blueberry Blasto

Electric Garden? Blasto

Unnamed Blasto

Duncan

Aqua Jewel Favia

Pink + White Candy Cane

SPS:

Half of a Ponape Birdsnest

California Tort

RRI Raven Millepora

Limeade Pink & Green Pocillopora

Unnamed pink? Millepora

Macroalgae:

Dragon's Breath

 

Thoughts

This tank has been running since 2/21/16. The LR came cycled so I began adding frags, starting with the two shrooms + Radioactive Zoas. I then bought the Goby after much difficulty finding one. A week later, the Red Sun/Beast Mode Acans. I placed an order for 7 on-sale frags with YourReef and got 2 extra Zoas - excuse their shyness in the above FTS, they're still settling in. After the Goby's one month anniversary, I'll buy a Blood Red Fire Shrimp, my ultimate saltwater grail.

 

Io, my Goby, is an absolute delight. He goes coocoo for Coco Puffs over his pellets. Today he came and sat on my (gloved cause Zoas) hand while I was arranging the frags. He's always perching on some rock or the glass of the tank. I also have a 5.5g betta tank and it always surprises me just HOW much smaller Io is than Rooby Doo, my red betta. This guy is tiny. Quickly becoming a ham for the camera as long as the flash is off. Sometimes he will sit on the frags which they don't appreciate. He's definitely a brave fellow but he's not yet as me-oriented and interactive as Rooby. I'm interested to see how that'll progress.

 

I've caught some interesting things dipping my corals. Beast Mode came in with a Stomatella hitchhiker I knocked off in the cup before the dip to research "what is this" - good thing since he's friendly! Tiny bristleworm, bunch of red things, this weird yellow legged worm thing, some flower-like thing that kept writhing in the dip... Moral of the story, dip your corals! My LR came with, I believe, 4 Collonista snail hitchhikers. The first, Palpatine, I kept finding crawling on the powerhead. Anakin, the idiot, was the first one I saw crawling out of the water after dark. Yoda is tinier than the others and Padme is somewhere in between in size. I think there's a bristleworm in the Fiji piece I am pretending doesn't exist.

 

I do a 1 gallon water change each week and scrub the equipment. I have BRS's 75gpd Value RODI unit for my water and IO salt. My ATO container is just a Home Depot 5 gallon bucket with a lid, nothing fancy. The light is currently on from 10ish am to 7:30ish pm but I'm still working on that.

 

Excuse the lighting, my lamp stand claims it's adjustable but it's actually not so the bulb is hanging limply over one side of the tank. I have another stand and the second bulb coming to provide more spectrum. Now I have some algae growing on only that side of the tank lol. Squabble #1. Squabble #2 is how bad I am at gluing the rocks together. Took propping up the branch on the false wall but I finally managed to get the glue-putty-glue sandwich to hold! Squabble #3 is how bad I am at taking pics so please forgive the cell photos not being as gorgeous as most of y'all's!

 

Pics

No-LED Top-Down

First Two Acans and Io

First Two Shroom + Zoa Frags (since relocated and settled in)

FTS 3/16, just YR and LFS frags before gluing

 

Bonus: Rooby Doo (my Imposter BRF Shrimp) and his tank (you can see the Spec V behind the HOB filter, they're aroundish the corner from each other)

 

I've been really enjoying reefing so far! I'm sure every newbie says that before something goes wrong, haha. I'm not sure quite what I'm doing right, but I'm doing it. My LFS frags have opened super quickly after introduction and the Acans had their feeder tentacles out the night they got it. The GP shroom is splitting into two heads. Nothing's died yet! Hoping to keep it that way. I'm excited to see the grow out of all my frags, too. This tank is just the right size for an itty bitty Goby and baby frags.

 

I am just hoping my future shrimp doesn't decide Io is food... lol. I'm also wondering about getting a second fish. Io chilled with multiple fish and another Yellow Neon in his store, so I'm uncertain if he'd appreciate company again and if the tank can support two fish and a shrimp. Or how to make sure I get an opposite-sex Neon, and if a Blue one would be ok. Or if he'd get along with a Redhead or Candycane Goby. For now I am trying to take it slow and steady!

[ALNN]

Looking good! I love the spec v also it's small and fun. Can't wait to see everything grow out

[Wingsong]

Looking good! I love the spec v also it's small and fun. Can't wait to see everything grow out

I'm really excited for the grow out, too. Right now it has some serious frag tank look cause everything's new and still on the plug while acclimating. I love the Zoas I got from YourReef, they're gonna look awesome as colonies.

 

I saw you have RFAs in your Spec V, how are they faring? I'd love to get one down the road but I am concerned about it eating my goby since he's so tiny LOL.

 

 

Tank news: my Coral Compulsion bulb came in. I like the second architect lamp stand much better than the first as it's taller and seems to actually hold the bulb at the angle I want. The bulb makes some of the fluorescent colors REALLY pop. Hoping the new Zoas will all open tomorrow so I can get some good pics of them under the new bulb.

 

I also have some algae growing only where the ABI bulb was limply hanging so I plan on getting a snail to eat the stuff. I'm also going to manually clean the grass-like algae, I think it's annoying my Radioactive Zoas. My LFS is having a 15% off livestock sale in March so 3/30 will be Shrimp Day as long as everything goes well!

 

Then to hope the shrimp doesn't snack on Io... lol.

[Wingsong]

Got my snail for the algae. Wound up getting a Turbo Snail as I read Margaritas are not a tropical species and my LFS only had those two. My tank sits ~80-81F due to room temp so I didn't want to get a temperate snail.

 

He is none too clever. Left the side of the tank where the algae actually is to knock over my frags lol. He also climbed up to the top of the heater (good! algae there!) then somehow fell to the bottom of the tank. I thought my tank was cracking or something he hit that glass bottom hard lol. He's knocked over my Peachy Blues on his journey already. Feels so out of scale for my tank.. tiny frags, tiny goby, biiig snail.

 

Frags are mostly doing well. Some of the heads on my Pink Lemonade frag have never opened and the second freebie that had been opening a bit is now sealed shut. Not super sure what to do for them, everyone else is really happy.

 

Snail. You can see him on top of the rock. Goby for scale.

 

Tried to take a pic of the freebie frag who has settled in well and Io decided to be a cheeky little ham. I swear he can tell where my phone camera is pointed...

I see your Zoas have opened up.

It'd be a shame if something were to happen to them...

To make them close up.

 

Some of the Zoas don't even care if he sits on them or brushes against them. My Beast Mode Acan will deflate something fierce and of course is his favorite Acan to perch on.

 

Wish I could've gotten a smaller snail rather than this frag menace but didn't want to risk the Margarita having issues with the temp.

 

I plan on getting him some dried seaweed or other food when I get my shrimp next week. Doubt he'll be able to survive on a 5g's algae alone. In the meantime... clean up that right half, buster!!!

[Wingsong]

Couple quick updates/thoughts/pics:

 

Pink Lemonade polyps melted overnight the other night They never once opened. They were a WYSIWYG frag and there are two polyps of a different type of Zoa on the same frag doing just fine. Shout out to YourReef who will send a replacement frag next time I order from them. I dipped the frag just in case something nasty was on it (though it seems SO strange to me that polyps touching the melted ones are just fine) and while rinsing this bristleworm crawled out of a tiiiny little hole in the rock. I basted him out and dumped him. I know many claim they're helpful CUC members but they're too dang ugly for me!!! If I see you, you're gone. One of the freebies is in my sig and the above pics with Io - doing great. Very quick to retract when Io perches lol. Other isn't going to make it I don't think, hasn't opened and it has this wispy stuff coming out of the polyps? I gave it another dip also.

 

Turbo snail pooping up a STORM. I mixed extra water last water change and I've been sucking out a cup of water a day to get rid of his poop. I don't know if I need to but there's just a crazy amount in such a small tank. lol. He's a bit clumsy with the frags but looks to be making progress on the algae so I can forgive him. When he's on the front glass.. man.. mouth looks SO. WEIRD.

 

Placed an order with LegendaryCorals for some Zoas and Gonis. Hoping the Gonis like the tank... working on my feeding technique with my Acans. Excited to get them in!

 

Io is doing well. He's been sitting on my gloved hand more and more when it's in the tank. I feel sort of nervous when he does since I don't want to accidentally smack him on something lol. The gloves are a bit bulkier than I'd want but what can you do when you got tiny hands Eating very well. Such a funny guy. I think he is starting to somewhat recognize/respond to me. Not as much as Rooby Doo yet, by a long shot. But... he does seem aware of me at times. He'll swim out of the large rock if I walk by, though not as consistently as Rooby. I'm interested to see how that continues progressing as Rooby is extremely interactive and me-oriented.

 

A thought for others with the Spec V: I know a lot of people replace the filter pump in lieu of getting a powerhead, I believe? I actually use the filter's return flow as surface disruption. That one is pointed at the tank surface and my Hydor Koralia is pointed down into the tank. The small pump return chamber gets an oily look on the surface but the display area never does. So if anyone is concerned about surface movement I might recommend keeping the original filter pump and getting a second powerhead. Maybe not as sleek-looking but seemingly effective!

 

Pics (these are probably way more purple than they should be... still working on the white balance, my S7 and the CC bulb have strange feels about each other):

YourReef frags from top to bottom: Pink Elephant, unknown freebie that never opened, Vivid Rainbow, Io the ham, Peachy Blues. You can just make out the baby polyp on VR - it's getting bigger and starting to open now!

Candy Apple Reds from YourReef... not sure I did them justice in this pic but this frag is GORGEOUS irl.

 

Can't wait to get my Blood Red Fire Shrimp soon!

[Wingsong]

Well I have to say gluing down frags is an experience lol... I glued down my YourReef and LFS frags on Monday during my water change and that was interesting. I wish I didn't have quite so many for my first time but they all got down. A couple of the Zoas had grown polyps onto the frag plugs and I wasn't certain how to get them off so I just glued the plugs to Zoa Rock 1. I also could not for the life of me get my Red Sun Acan off its plug so I just glued that to the end of my Acan Shard. Got em all down, and though they were quite grumpy at me for my lack of finesse manhandling them onto the rock they were fine the next day.

 

Io also chose this day to start sitting on my bare hand. I was nervous about not using the gloves with Zoas but ugh tiny hands = gloves are SO bulky. So of course I'm mashing putty into crevices on the rock and this fish is like "thanks for the ride PS your hand tastes good." Bless him.

 

An unlucky spell for the tank...

 

I went to my LFS to buy my BRF Shrimp and they only had 1 left in stock (15% off discount in March, they had like 6 last week but I was set on waiting for Io to be fine for a certain period before the shrimp) and when the employee went to scoop him out... he jumped. Into the live rock tank right below. She tried to get him out but he went and hid under some branch LR and she couldn't get him. Sooo I left emptyhanded and probably having to pay full price when I try again next Monday. DEFEAT.

 

Of course they have like 10 Skunk Cleaners and a bunch of Coral Bandeds... grumble. I did buy Zoa Rock 2, though, so I can keep buying Zoas... cough.

 

My order from Legendary Corals was slated to come in today. Delivery date by 10:30 so I was up and waiting... 10:30 comes and goes and nothing. I keep my eye on the tracking and it updates to Incorrect Address. Contacted FedEx and got the right address submitted. The tracking didn't update so I was quite worried but sure enough, at the normal time FedEx Express hits my apartment complex, there was the doorbell. Poor frags were about 4 hours late but at least they made it in today! They were well packed so they seemed to have survived their ordeal well enough.

 

What people really want, pics:

Top: Cranberry Short Tentacle Goni from LC. This thing POPS under my lights, it's SO gorgeous. Bottom: Rainbow Acan from YR. It's been settling in quite nicely and has some lovely rainbow colors!

 

Left: Green and Pink Goni from LC. Didn't stick its polyps out much tonight but it looks pretty cool! Right: Purple/Green Blasto freebie from LC. I have to say the green center looks electric under my lights, I really like this guy!

 

The Zoas weren't really open enough for close up pics tonight, hopefully this weekend they'll show their heads... just in time for Io to photobomb once again. Speaking of:

 

Green Krakatoa from LC being placed after its dip (gloves worn for that part of it). Io is inspecting for parasites (there better not be after the dip!!) and totally helping. He nibbled at the 'webbing' between my fingers a couple times and wow those were some powerful nibbles.. made me wonder if I actually did have parasites on my hand or something LOL. This guy will just sort of sit all over my hand while I'm dealing with the frags. BTW I promise I have 5 fingers lol my index is behind my thumb.

 

All the newbies in their lower-light corner of the tank. Acclimating to the CC bulb, which the rest seem to really like!

 

New FTS:

Kirk doing his snail thing and Io looking cute. The right rock has all the Zoas glued down There's also one on the other side of the rock.

 

Once the new frags settle in I'll take some more pics... and once I finally get my shrimp

 

Hoping the Gonis are out and about when I get home tomorrow so I can try and feed em.

[Wingsong]

After much struggle finding this shrimp in stock when my first buy attempt ended in a jump to the live rock tank below, FINALLY!

Meet Europa!

 

So named for Thomas Dolby's song, Europa and the Pirate Twins

Buy her singles and see all her films

Paste her pictures on my windowsill

But that's not quite the same - It isn't, is it?

Europa my old friend...

I've been staring at this shrimp on LiveAquaria for probably a decade, if not longer, adding it to every potential tank livestock list I made to try and convince my parents to get our FW 60g a SW twin. They never went for it. So... made it happen in a 5g.

She (maybe he, pretty sure Io is a he so let's make it easier to tell em apart) is missing her right front leg.. didn't notice it in the LFS. They only had two (15% off weekend and they hadn't restocked for a while after the jumper) and the other had.. idk if this was actually something wrong, but the tail segments had very clear white/pale lines on them. Europa's was solid red so I picked her and she was sitting on the glass at the intake to the next tank so she seemed fine.

Thought these shrimp were supposed to be shy/hide all the time? She's been sitting on the Fiji rock since coming in, she'll move behind Zoa Rock 2 sometimes but mostly she's pissing off the poor Blasto lol. Hoping the poor frags adjust to her trampling, some of them seem less fussy about Io not understanding personal bubbles. I was actually sort of thrown off when I put her in just HOW big she looks in this tank. Here, have an Io for scale:

He's been avoiding Europa's side of the tank since. Which is a shame because it has his favorite shard to sit on during the day. Probably just need time to adjust to each other.

The LC order: nobody's dead yet! Cranberry Goni seems right at home, very much a trooper. G&P I don't think liked its spot.. not sure if the flow was too much or too little but it would stick all its polyps out then pull them back throughout the day. I switched it with Green Krakatoa who is another loving-it frag, so I'll see if it likes the corner better. Safecracker and the Blasto are doing fine and dandy too. Blowpops and Atomic Sunset have been less reluctant to open but Blowpops has been opening more heads each day.. one by one lol. Atomic Sunset seems to open the largest at random. Overall pleased with the order, I am sure if I had more experience I'd be able to move/place the frags according to their displeasure but they've been bearing with my inexperience quite nicely

Also want to give a review for Coral Compulsion: I bought one of their bulbs for the warm white range to bring out the warmer colors of corals. Something happened with USPS and the first bulb box that they deemed it undeliverable (never tried, it just stayed at their office for days). CC sent out a replacement once they confirmed the first was heading back to them before it even arrived back which was great. The bulb is their PAR38 TruColor and the corals seem to love it! It really makes oranges pop! I will say I don't think it brings out the blues on the frags super well but the greens/yellows will really look fluorescent. I've got a bunch of babies coming in so good for growth imo, would recommend other Spec V owners to pick up a bulb of theirs if you're like me and wouldn't have a clue what to do with customization

The babies: baby polyps!! Vivid Rainbow has like 4 or 5 of varying sizes coming in. Rosa Nebula has 1 facing my side of the tank. Pink Elephant has 2 large ones it came with and 2 tiny new ones. My Red Sun Acan has a new head growing in as well! I think anyway lol. Beast Mode might have something but it's on the back side so hard to see. Green Krakatoa has 1 or 2 tiny babies as well - fast grower. I must be doing something right...

My next invert buy will be a pink RFA once Europa settles in well. Kirk sleeps a lot but mows down algae on the branch. I need to glue down the new frags. I hope to buy an Acro or other SPS to go on the branch as well, just looking for the right kind. Planning on trying Favia next frag order plus more Zoas & Blastos.

Io sits on my hand the whole time I'm moving frags now. Well not quite sit but he's just sorta walking around my fingers looking for parasites. Can't wait until Europa does the same and I have two of em bogging me down...

[ccr]

Great updates! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[Wingsong]

Been a while since an update, OOPS.

 

I need to get some good tank shots tomorrow of all the new corals and baby corals. Have some awesome frags from Legendary Corals I need to show off.

 

Stock Update:

1 Male Flaming Prawn Goby

1 Turbo Snail

1 Unknown Snail

1 Blue Leg Hermit Crab

2+ Stomatella Snails

 

Went on vacation for a week and a half and 1 hermit crab crawled out and onto the floor to its death during that time. Came back and my shrimp was dead "Luckily" it seemed to have been very recent so the body didn't spike the tank and all the corals survived. Think the feeder which I had tested before I left wound up not dumping much/any of the shrimp's food. Sigh. But also that dumb animal wouldn't swim to get food.

 

Neon goby had survived just fine though was a bit thin but he got back to eating his two pellets just fine... until one morning I didn't see him. Eh, probably in one of his caves, right? Still hadn't seem him all day in the afternoon so I nervously looked...

 

There he was right by the thermometer I had looked at earlier to see what the heat wave was doing to the tank, against the tank base, crusty as can be. He somehow jumped under the netting I had over the tank but over the Spec V's false wall/filter chamber to his death. Sigh.......

 

Got some velcro to secure the netting better which I'll be doing tomorrow as a DIY project and then went to a LFS to see what they had. HUGE Redheaded Goby (I thought those were supposed to be the same size as Neons but this thing was truly massive), pair of Greenbanded Gobies, and 2 Flaming Prawn Gobies. Waffled since buying the other 3 would've been cheaper than the 1 FP but he was a grail fish so... he came home with me. To a more secure net lid! Ugh. Still so sad about my Neon. He was dancing in the store and very active, so far he's just been darting about under the rocks which is to be expected. Hoping he'll be willing to eat tomorrow.

 

 

This is Pumpkin and he had BETTER not jump and he had BETTER eat his food.

 

Rough week for the tank. Came home to dead shrimp and hermit and then my Goby jumps Whyyyyyy. Ah well, at least all the corals/designer Zoas survived... if that shrimp had spiked the ammonia and killed the tank, lawdy. That'd have been truly awful.

 

I also knocked my Birdsnest frag off the branch it was glued on by accidentally snagging it on the bag so I uh, need to reglue that down tomorrow. I just... have no words for myself sometimes lol.

 

Gonna snap some FTS and coral pics tomorrow. Maybe more of Pumpkin if he's willing to peek his head out but I'm willing to cut him some slack if he doesn't want to pose for the camera his second day in

[Tamberav]

Beautiful little fish, just to check, he can't fit through the netting can he?

 

That is too bad about your neon, he had a lot of character.

[metrokat]

Pumpkin is a Beautiful fish. Sorry about Lo, his sitting on your hand was amazing.

[Gilly's Reef]

love your tank

[Wingsong]

Beautiful little fish, just to check, he can't fit through the netting can he?

 

That is too bad about your neon, he had a lot of character.

I don't THINK he can but he is prettyyyyy tiny so it might be possible a super suicidal FPG can make it through lol. However the LFS owner said these weren't jumpers and I haven't seen one stick their head out of the water yet so... hoping.

 

It's hard to believe SO much personality could be packed into such a tiny fish but he was very engaged with me, loved sitting on my hand whenever it was in the tank... overall just a great fish.

Pumpkin is a Beautiful fish. Sorry about Lo, his sitting on your hand was amazing.

Thank you! He was so fearless about it, too. Always hopped right on hoping for a parasite I assume... hoping he never found one LOL.

 

I am seriously considering getting a blue Neon... my FPG don't eat his old pellets yet and someone has to...

love your tank

Thank you!

 

No fancy coral pics yet, hoping to do that tomorrow... but some fish updates.

 

 

Went back to the LFS for the other FPG they had there and the healthier-looking GBG they had. When I got Pumpkin they had two but one was very pale.

 

Second FPG is smaller than Pumpkin and has different tail spot patterns, I am honestly not sure if it's a he or a she but I have been referring to her as she LOL. Named her Spice, of course

 

I was inspired to get a GBG by all the great GBG tanks on here and how much fun people have with them - named the fish Chrysanthemum. Seemed to be getting along with P&S and I was so happy to see it sitting on the glass when I left for work a few days after I got it - had been otherwise very shy and reserved in one corner so far.

 

Aaaand then I came home to dead Chrys I was crushed. I did notice a small lesion on its side, or, well, not sure what it was, it was sort of this odd blueish spot on its side disrupting a stripe and I wonder if that was something serious? Chrys was the most visible of the three, too. I was super bummed to see it. Refunded the body for a Candy Cane coral color morph I had been seeking since my research days.

 

I am seriously considering getting a blue Neon and/or another GBG. The tank definitely has less of a bioload between the FPG and only 1 hermit than it did with Io and Europa. I notice a lot less algae growing and I may be weird but I only clean my front pane so my snails and hermit have something to feed on LOL. Someone who will a bit more Out and About in the tank.

 

Take this post as a bit of a journal about keeping the Flaming Prawn Goby (Griessingei Goby, Spikefin Goby, Dragon Goby, whatever name you're searching under ) since they seem to be fairly rarely kept on this forum (expensive and tiny, what a combo, right?).

 

I see mine every day. Spice is out and about a lot more than Pumpkin. I tell them apart by their tails. Pumpkin has a mancave he likes to hide in but I do see him during the day sometimes. They jet around the bottom. I don't see them interact with each other particularly much atm but they do their fancy signal dances with their fins ALL THE TIME. They are truly fascinating fish to watch - all the fins on their backs flop up and down, their side fins flash, spike fin bobs, tail in gear... so much movement. One is cruising around the false wall right now. I just saw both sitting on the back glass darting around it while I still had the pump off for their feeding.

 

If you don't see your FPG every day, imo your tank might be too big and/or have too many things larger than them. Spice sat on Kirk (turbo snail) last night while she was darting around the false wall. I would never keep this fish in anything bigger than a 10, personally. I think 5.5g is a perfect size to see them frequently and heck I still lose track of them sometimes! I wouldn't go any smaller but that is personal preference. The bioload is honestly not much, like I said they eat less than my Neon and shrimp did. A weekly change is fine.

 

They come out after the light goes off at night without fail. I feed them Cyclops. They ignored pellets (I think? not sure if my hermit got ALL the pellets I tried or Pumpkin got a few) and I couldn't get freeze dried mysis or brine shrimp to sink (maybe I suck) so I feed frozen Cyclops. I pop a cube out of the blister packet and keep it in a tiny tupperware since they do NOT eat one full cube a night. I think each cube may be good for 10+ days for them. They peck at the ground of the tank and the false wall. I don't often see them eating directly after I feed but I don't watch it either. However neither has died and neither looks starving so I assume they do eat and I see them peck sometimes. Feeding Io was a lot easier and less 'wasteful' as he would sit on the turkey baster (heck he swam INTO it to get his pellets sometimes) waiting for his 1 or 2 pellets a day.

 

They like to sit completely vertically facing down on the walls. I don't know why that's their favorite pose. But it is. They never seemed to pester Chrys when it was in the tank. Spice particularly is a bit skittish if I walk up sometimes, I assume she just sees a big moving thing and her predator senses tingle. Uncertain if this will relax over time or not. Makes them hard to get pictures of - always in an algae-glass corner after dark darting around lol.

 

These fish you really need to see in person or on a HQ video. Still images don't do their flash dances justice.

 

If anyone is looking for a good inhabitant for a ~5g pico and doesn't mind they are, so far, a bit more reclusive than a Neon and significantly more expensive, go for it! They may not pellet feed but like I said I am assuming they are eating the Cyclops I baste in every day lol. Can be difficult to see what exactly they peck at since the particles are very small. But like I said, I do see both daily. I think it'd be a mistake for the price to put them in a larger tank where they can easily get lost or something bigger can eat them... though I'm no expert (yet). JME they seem to like this size tank and have no issues being visible... when they aren't chillin in a cave.

 

Haven't seen them bother any corals. They will dart away if the hermit crab runs at them to get a pellet lol. They are definitely perching fish and I almost never see them without their bellies pressed against something. They scoot around the glass bottom constantly.

 

Pumpkin remains the larger of the two but as I said they don't really interact directly with each other much yet.

 

In other news: I got a RFA! Ordered a red one from SaltCritters along with some new Blastos and a Ric during their sale. I put it along the back wall right in the middle and it has of course walked behind the big zoa rock and hopped off the glass onto the base of the rock pretty much completely out of sight... I'll feed it of course but boy is it difficult to spot LOL. I hope to order a couple more in different colors from Sandy and I expect they will plop down right next to this one, out of sight... ah well as long as it's happy.

 

I also went to a LFS to try out acros since I'd been keeping my Birdsnest alive. Got a Sunset Millepora and Red Dragon.. unfortunately I think the Mille has RTN I noticed a white patch developing and there is definitely missing flesh there in a somewhat sizable chunk now. I have fed it twice since I got it a week ago and moved it up to higher light (acclimating) hoping the rest of it will recover. Is there anything else to be done? The Red Dragon looks fine, Kirk tipped it on its side when I moved it up but no breaks. Hoping that one makes it at the least though I really loved the look of the Mille. I am almost out of my basic Instant Ocean salt and intend to buy a higher Ca reef mix since I kept getting low Ca from this one, maybe then I'll have better luck? Need to do some more testing on the matter.

 

Pics of the new corals Soon, just have to wipe off the front pane and try and get some good shots. Really want to show off all my nice Legendary Corals zoas and my growing blasto collection. In the meantime, enjoy my observations of Pumpkin and Spice... wonder how they'll do with a Neon. I'd just like someone a bit more active during the day to come sit on my hand again, Io would often sit on the rocks closest to my desk and just hang out with me.

[Tamberav]

Cute gobies, sorry your GBG didn't make it, they are pretty hardy so something must have been up. They are not shy but maybe because it was sick or still acclimating.

 

The FPG are $50 I noticed here, which is a good deal. Makes me consider getting one but I am assuming the clowns would scare them. Hmm... I don't mine that they are reclusive but they have short lifespans like most tiny gobies which sucks. Glad to hear yours are not so shy

[Jonboy21]

How's the tank going? Interesting read

[tam]

How much was the FPG? Price and scarcity keep me away.

[Wingsong]

How's the tank going? Interesting read

 

Hey thanks for asking! It's turning a year old in 2 weeks and I'm honestly sort of ashamed to post any pics of it. I changed the water right before I left for my parents' for Christmas and there was no food being dumped in but I came back to a horrific hair algae outbreak. My flight also got canceled due to weather so once I did get back I saw the ATO had run out of water and the tank level had dropped. I had a frenzy of stuff to do for my thesis so I had no time to get to the tank for a couple weeks after that...

 

When I finally did get to deal with it I yanked out a full half gallon of hair algae and then some... there's still some in there that's too short for me to grab but it hasn't come back since I changed the filter media.

 

The ATO pump isn't working anymore but my replacement comes later today. A lot of my corals are extremely pissed at me/dead

 

I honestly have zero idea what caused the algae bloom, the tank was just COVERED in inch+ long, thick hair algae. But there were no nutrients going in. I have 1 turbo, 1 hermit and 1 unidentified snail and all 3 were alive and well when I got back, so nothing died in the tank. The aiptasia ran wild as well. What struck me as SUPER odd was the normal browny algae on the tank sides was totally absent, in fact, there was less on the back wall than there was when I left... I normally don't scrub the back glass pane so the snail has something to eat. So despite this insane hair algae attack the casual algae wasn't really there.

 

I hope to update this thread some more once I fully get the tank back in line. I have ordered some nudibranches to deal with the aiptasia, there are just so many tiny ones lurking I can't Aiptasia-X. The big ones, though, get blasted. Luckily since all the little guys eat is aiptasia I don't have to worry about feeding them while I'm gone. Only inhabitants are the 2 snails and hermit now, fish are gone. I'm going to look into getting maybe a Hybrid Neon (or pair) once I'm back from a trip in a month. Something that comes eating pellets.

 

How much was the FPG? Price and scarcity keep me away.

They were $75 each. Unfortunately I stopped seeing one and then a month or so later I stopped seeing the other and have never seen either since (a month before I left for the trip above). I had Pumpkin from July to late November and I do miss him. He was a great guy.

 

I feel like a fish murderer with my casualties:

 

Io the Yellow Neon jumped, I fully believe he would still be alive today if he hadn't decided to clear the false wall/pump chamber as he was a great eater, very healthy.

 

Chrys the GBG came with an odd looking lesion-like thing and died within a week of getting into the tank.

 

Hyacinth the Blue Neon, well, he lasted a month or so iirc and I feel like he wasn't a very good eater. I basted everything I had for him, pellets, cyclops, dried mysis and brine shrimp, and I feel like he spat out the pellets a lot.

 

Pumpkin and Spice the FPG both just vanished, never found the bodies. Did find the above 3. They had been eating their cyclops so not super sure what happened to them. I'm a bit wary of getting any other gobies from the store I got the above 4 from, 2 didn't seem particularly healthy and they aren't the best eaters. Io was so in love with his pellets he'd swim into the turkey baster to get them...

 

My boyfriend called the store I got him from (40 miles away versus under 4 lol) but they didn't have any Neons.

 

I sort of want to try clownfish just because they're a bit bigger. I do intend to get a 20 gallon tank when I move out of this apartment as I really want a Helfrichi Firefish to upgrade the clown(s) to in ~5 months as I know 5g is too small for clowns long-term but I also am not certain I want to commit to clowns without like, a 101% set plan in place for a larger tank.

 

Alternatively, looking for a place in Los Angeles that will order me a pair of ORA Hybrid Cleaner Gobies that will eat pellets. I love Yellows and Neons and would love to try both. QQ LiveAquaria is sold out of them though. I know my auto feeder dispenses pellets so I want to get a fish that for-sure eats them.

 

One of my LFS I went to recently had these baby Spotted Dragonettes and I considered the logistics of starting up a pod farm but considering I can barely keep my corals alive (also 5 gallon) I did not consider very strongly.

 

Going forward I hope to get the aiptasia eradicated with the help of my Berghia nudibranches and keep the hair algae explosion under control. In a month I'll seriously begin looking for my next goby/ies.

 

On the plus side my hairy mushroom has split 4 times I think? And my green mushroom finally gave me a baby! It also moved itself into a shadier part of the rock and looks brighter in color now. I'm glad to finally see a wee shroom from that one. Some of my corals the hair algae had overtaken are bouncing right back though they are pretty angry at me. Some Zoas are gone. Some SPS are gone. Some are recovering. I also have a net lid to prevent jumpers again.

 

Current livestock:

Kirk D Snail, Turbo Snail

Hermie, Blue Leg Hermit Crab

Murdersnail, Unknown Snail I don't see for weeks at a time then he crawls out of wherever and sits motionless for a week then vanishes again

Stomatellas

Bristleworms (lawdy I pulled so many out with the hair algae...)

Shipping soon: 4 berghia nudibranches

In my FW 5 gallon, a pale gold and turquoise betta

 

Coral-wise:

Shrunk up Blastos, they're not pleased after the neglect but they seem to be settling back in a bit

1 Aqua Jewel Favia, the others bleached over the summer and never recovered

2.5 SPS: a RR mille, a Cali Tort, and half of a Birdsnest that was extremely annoyed by the salinity swings due to the ATO pump dying. Unfortunately lost the rest of my SPS to salinity problems not that I had a ton. I ordered a bunch from Shipwreck Cove Corals and over half of them RTNed the day they got in. Went to class for 3 hours, came back and they were DEAD. Luckily the surviving mille was the most expensive one in the order...

4 shrooms: hairy, basic sea green, Volcano Island, and a Ric

Wide array of Zoas: Safecrackers are currently my happiest bunch along with Peachy Blues. The rest are in hair algae rehab... sorry guys

Candy Cane coral

Shipping soon: Pocillopora and Blue Sympodium (IDC if it's a weed lmao I need something)

 

I don't anticipate being anywhere near as busy and drained as I was with the thesis again so I should be able to stay on top of the tank from here on out and prevent whatever the flip happened with the hair algae attack. I also think I will try and stick with soft corals and try them out along with a Duncan head. Haven't had a ton of luck with LPS and I have gotten SPS to grow like weeds... up until I bamboozle the salinity. I apologize to my poor corals for my errors

 

I'm going to see if I can get the sympodium to coat the false wall of the tank. Please grow like a weed on that lol.

 

A lesson to all: if you think "oh it's not nearly as hot here as it has been that's enough for the ATO bucket" IT'S NOT check your ATO reserves frequently!!! Stupid California temps lol. Once the new pump is here I think the tank will stabilize again.

 

I also have some Dragon's Breath macro algae coming but I need to plan how to suspend it where D Snail can't reach it, not sure if he's got an appetite for it...

 

This was a super long post, sorry!

 

tl;dr: hair algae overran the tank despite no nutrients/deaths, ATO pump died, aiptasia everywhere, getting all 3 under control, will be looking for a LFS to order me ORA Hybrid Neon Gobies in a month+.

 

Personally life is good, thesis on track, I'll be graduating in May, have a boyfriend now!

 

I am in such envy of the people who know what they're doing and can manage their tanks so much better than I can. I feel like I have nothing to show for the tank coming up on a year old... no really impressive corals, my remaining SPS are unhappy colors due to the salinity issues, my Zoas got overrun by hair algae and are grumpily recovering, I guess my hairy shroom is thriving, no fish in the tank, shrimp's gone... sigh. I just hope I can execute better in the future having learned from my mistakes. I feel especially bad for corals like my Red Dragon Acro which had grown a TON and then I didn't double check my salinity when I did a water change and it RTNed despite my fixing the salinity issue. Lesson flippin' learned. It was clearly loving life and then I mucked things up. I guess I still have plenty of corals alive and my CUC has been with me for quite a while, so I haven't met with total failure. But, I definitely need to do better maintaining the tank.

 

I'll try and get some pics once the nudibranches arrive and the new ATO pump has settled things down. Thanks to everyone who has read my thread/this post!

 

Parting request for anyone in the SoCal/LA area, good LFS who will place an ORA order for me? Or even carries their Hybrid Cleaner Gobies.

[Jonboy21]

Sorry to hear this. I've got a very similar problem, wiped out half my tank. Fingers crossed you get a fast recovery

[Wingsong]

2 days until 1 year old!!!

 

I have my two mushrooms and Radioactive zoas plus my bristleworms from around that time, LOL. Plus a wealth of experience even in knowing what I did wrong (not double checking the water change's salinity... RIP Red Dragon I'm sorry).

 

My order from SaltyUnderground came in with the nudibranches, Dragon's Breath macro, Pocillopora, and Sympodium. Acclimated the slugs for over an hour and haven't seen em since they crawled off into the rock, lol. The Pocillopora is loving life, constant polyp extension, really vivid greens. The pink body isn't like, SUPER pink atm, but I imagine it'll settle in. The Sympodium hasn't found a spot in the tank it likes very much yet so I am moving it, also Kirk keeps knocking it over. The macro I think I need to pull up higher into the tank for more light so I intend to glue down the macro and Poci tomorrow.

Please excuse the hair algae and aiptasia everywhere...... also I don't think I had basted the muck off the rock yet, did a heavy cleaning once I got the new guys into the tank. Anyway, here is the Pocillopora right after going into the tank - already got a lot of polyp extension! Above it is my Cali Tort which weathered the hair algae/neglect storm, what a trooper. Also in the pic are Peachy Blues (right side Zoas), Rose Nebula (due right of the Poci, you can barely see the two polyps), Pink Elephant (right below the Poci, it's sitting on their frag), Radioactive (bottom left), Green Krakken (those 2 random polyps RIGHT next to the Poci on the left, they got pulled up when I pulled hair algae off them and I dropped them there), and unusually closed Vivid's Rainbow (left of Cali Tort), plus my Hairy Mushroom (bottom of pic) and you can see my blue-green mushroom (think it's Rhodactis, it's like above the left-most Radioactive Zoas, it likes to hide in the shadows).

 

I had read reviews of SU before ordering and there were good ones and then vague "I had a bad experience, don't order" reviews. I couldn't find a single negative review that actually expanded on what the problem was. Everything arrived alive, communication was good, so I would recommend them. Jury's out on how effective the nudibranches will be with the aiptasia as they need some time to establish themselves.

 

Now, about the Cali Tort. I ordered this along with several other SPS and 1 Zoa from Shipwreck Cove Corals, right south of me in San Diego. I... would not order again. It took like 2 months before my order was finally shipped which consisted of me calling to ask when exactly it would be shipped as my emails/messages never received a response, and several delays of the ship date. When they finally did get here, most of the SPS were brown. The Cali Tort was the only one that had any decent color. A couple others had some pale coloration, but most of them were brown. Aaaand I went to class and most of them RTNed and were skeletons when I got back (3 hours). My Sunny Dee freebie Zoas have survived. The colony of Zoas I did order was supposed to be very yellow/gold but is very green in person, I am not convinced they're the same thing, or if so, their color of the pic was horribly off. They've also survived but don't open much. SCC did send me some higher-end pieces to make up for the delays including a Reef Raft International Ausy Gold iirc, that one survived the longest of the now-dead ones but it never grew, never extended polyps, never brightened up much. I wish it would've as it looked like a nice piece and was a very large frag.

 

My other survivor from this order is supposed to be Reef Raft International Raven, a red-violety millepora. I ordered it specifically for how nice the purply colors were.

I don't think this was my frag specifically though mine was a WYSIWYG but this is one of SCC's pics of a RRI Raven frag. Mine arrived totally brown so I couldn't tell what color it actually was until it settled in and colored up. And it did settle in. It began encrusting very nicely, growing like a fiend. And colored up. But... the color looks totally different, to me, anyway. It had great polyp extension, growth and color, then over my break it paled out. Still alive and the color is starting to come back, but definitely unhappy. This is the most expensive coral I own though and definitely a trooper. The Cali Tort was a freebie, lol. My Raven at the peak of color, sorry for bad pic:

I mean, it has great color, but... it's green. And that red shade is nowhere near the burgundy/purple the picture promised. I did look up Raven before buying and no other sites had it looking like this. The frag shape sure looked right compared to the pic but I guess it just turned something totally different in my tank light? Its new growth tips are green. Props for such healthy troopers in Raven and the Cali tort, though. I am trying to nurse the poor thing back to full color feeding it and keeping the params stable again. Some of its newer polyps are getting a green iridescence back and there are more green ones everyday so I am optimistic as long as I don't botch things again it'll be fine. I do LIKE it, it's very nice when colored up and has great polyp extension when happy, great growth, etc... just... the color is nothing like the pic. lol.

 

I really wanted to love SCC as their sale prices are really good and they're close enough I could drive there, but when over half your order RTNs the day you get it and almost everything shows up brown... plus all the shipping delays, some of which were reasonable due to them SoCal heatwaves. IDK, I wouldn't order from them again, probably, which makes me very sad to say. Just not worth the lost money even if their SPS selection is awesome. Maybe it'd be better if I picked up the corals and they only spent the drive back from SD in bags? I know other people have gotten really good frags from them so I don't know if I just hit a bad spell or what. I ordered mostly milleporas. Raven is the only one who survived the first two days. One that survived the Day 0 RTN went on to RTN the next day, sigh.

 

I'm going to try Unique Corals which is easily driveable from me when I get back from spring break. Assuming no calamities, lol. Why is the Turquoise Tort so expensive  ah well, someday when I have the money for it.

 

I have had really good growth from SPS who are happy with the tank, I just need to work harder and fix my mistakes so I don't RTN them. Luckily most expensive frag Raven has shown me MERCY and stuck around. Hoping that as long as I stick on top of things, Raven, the Tort and the Pocillo will all be fine.

 

2 days to happy birthday and the tank looks a lot livelier. I got a Duncan from a LFS as well and it is loving life. Even eats pellets. Which is a fascinating process to watch, albeit creepy. I love the Zoas and seeing colonies form like my Peachy Blues and Safecrackers but I also love these bigger pieces with movement like the Duncan, hairy shrooms, Pocillo and macroalgae. Kirk has so far ignored the macro, he sat right next to it but he never munched on it that I could see. Guess it's not to his tastes.

 

That's where I'm at, thanks for reading!

 

Regarding this tank's future:

Once I upgrade to a larger tank (20g+) so I can get the Helfrichi Firefish I've always wanted (apartment has a ~5g tank maximum or I'd have gone for larger), I intend to turn this tank into a macro tank. Just a forest of various macros. Switch all the current rock to the big tank, get some live sand and new rock and macrooooooooooo. I will put a school of 6 gobies in the tank and cultivate some pods for them to eat in the tank so I don't have to worry about if the auto feeder drops pellets while I'm gone and the little bottom-dwellers don't go up to the surface to get them. Goby type is uncertain, thinking Green Banded or one of the Eviotas. Maybe both? Gotta make sure them macro nutrients are there! I think it'll provide some very nice contrast with the 20g+ reef, for this to be all macros with tiny little gobies. The 20g+ will have the firefish, a clown and... something else. I would love a Royal Gramma but I don't know if they'll bully the firefish. Would love to try another Neon Goby in the bigger tank too. That's several months off, though, so plenty of time for research.

 

Just going to keep this tank running smooth and fight the hair algae that lingers in the meantime

[Wingsong]

Happy birthday to this Spec V!

 

One year ago today I filtered and mixed my first saltwater, filled the tank, and bought the first batch of rocks. My wallet's never been the same  

 

No deaths! Glued down the macro and Pocillopora and moved the Sympodium. It has more polyps opening now but still not all, I can't tell if it wants more light, more flow, less flow? It didn't seem to like the shady corner of the tank so I assume not less light. Slays me the SPS is the happy one, polyps out non-stop, doing great, and the softie is the one I can't find the perfect spot for. 

 

My LFS was having a big President's Day sale (alongside the general February sale I got the Duncan in) so once the worst of the LA storm had blown over I headed down for a birthday present for the tank.

 

Wound up getting a no-name Millepora colony (mini colony? idk, it's bigger than any SPS frag I've gotten so far) and Rhodactis. I meant to get a red w/ blue spots Discosoma too but I forgot to ask for it by the time I got done studying the SPS colony display. I heavily considered a really small frag of a hammer and this lime green SPS colony but ultimately decided not to break the bank as I have a few to order from UC to pick up when I'm back in town.

 

The Mille was called 'pink' but it's a bit brown right now, I think it's coloring up. I have it against the side and the half of it closest to the glass has no polyps out, the half that gets more flow facing in has polyps peeking out. I need to find a good place for it where it doesn't block Cali Tort. It is getting some green iridescence in and looks like sort of a deep pink-brown, I am excited to see what it colors up to when it has fully settled in! It also came with a crab on it... first time I've seen one of those hitchhiking, lol. Scared me half to death when I put this thing in the dip and something starts scurrying around. Unfortunately it's a Cymo and from research it seems they are too harmful to Acros in confined captivity. I was really hoping it was a beneficial crab  Hope this Mille settles in well and likes the tank like the Pocillopora does. In the first pic below, above the Cali Tort!

 

The Rhodactis mushroom has a purple-gray body with red bushy thingies (idk what they're called haha), its edge tentacles are a bright green (idk what they're called either). It likes to spit its guts out at every little thing (aka Kirk cruising by it/sleeping by it, clumsy guy) but seems happy in the shady corner. I may glue it to a magnet like I did my Volcano Island Rhodactis and put it on the side. But idk, it has very vivid coloration where I've placed it so I'm not sure I want to mess with a good thing. Next to it in the pic below is my Sunny D frag which also needs to be glued down.

 

Despite my losses I think this is the most pleased I've been with the tank's overall look. The macro blowing around and larger SPS pieces plus the hairy shroom's babies and Duncan have really filled things in. A lot more movement. I still love the Zoas and think they are great for picos, the ones I have that have really grown in any great quantity look sweet, but unfortunately the main rock is too bright for most of them. They just don't seem to like the light level on top of the rock. SPS, however, love it up there. I am trying to fill in that top part of the rock to create some shadows the Zoas may like better. I am excited to expand to a larger tank that allows me to try some more aggressive LPS like Hammers without fear of them going to war with their more peaceful neighbors.

 

Going to focus on regular water changes and ensuring phosphates etc stay under control to keep everyone happy now. Also decided to finally order the inTank media basket which I should have just done a year ago. All the worms and detritus in the sponge... no good. Should arrive before I head out, hoping that will help keep whatever caused the hair algae bloom in check. Happy first birthday to the tank and thanks for reading!

 

Pics below, sorry for purple, phone cam is just NO GOOD (also this is a really accurate pic of the Mille but the Cali Tort is SO washed out, it doesn't look pale like this irl):

[Lula_Mae]

Happy tank-iversary!  Bummer about all those SPS.   I've totally been there with life keeping you too busy to properly tend to the tank and everything going to pot!  Hopefully now you can get things looking the way you want them to!  The future macro tank sounds fun!  I'm planning on various macros in my little tank, though my dragon's breath did not appreciate being shipped and is dying off.   Ah, well.  I'll try again because it's just too pretty not to!

 

If you're ever looking for more CUC, I've ordered from Reef Cleaners and been happy with them (though a lot of my 'dwarf ceriths' turned out to be hermits in disguise lol).  They have inexpensive packages you can order with priority shipping based on tank size, and they also offer some macros too.  I know it can be hard to find proper CUC members locally sometimes lol.

[Wingsong]

I'll definitely check Reef Cleaners out when I upgrade this tank's rock to a 20 gallon, I wasn't overly impressed with my LFS's selection except the blue hermits. The one crawled out to its death but the other has been, as far as I've seen, a peaceful inhabitant.

 

That's a bust your Dragon's Breath didn't handle shipping well, I actually saw that in your thread and moved mine up to higher light when it seemed to be losing some color. Doing fine now and there's a chunk of it that broke off from the main frag that drifts around the tank, lol. Always fun to see what it got caught on when I wake up. I love the dimension and movement it adds to my tank. IMO SPS hate being shipped as well. Always show up browned out.

 

Picking up my next SPS from Unique Corals tomorrow and doing a big water change on the tank.

 

Got back from vacation and everyone lived! As expected I need to yank out a good chunk of hair algae which I think is really pissing my poor Ric off. Other concerns are my Duncan's glue didn't hold when I tried to putty/glue sandwich it to a rock and it's been sideways I assume due to my clumsy Turbo. Fortunately it has some good reach when it wants to and stuck itself up to get light. Going to fix that in the maintenance tomorrow. And the Poci seems a bit bleached? Which is odd since it was fine in the exact same spot for a couple weeks before I left. I imagine there's some nutrient imbalance I'll correct tomorrow.

 

I got back in around midnight due to plane delays and turned on the light to check out the tank's colors etc and spooked a nudibranch into hiding under a rock so I am pleased at least one of them has survived, lol. I am pretty sure the aiptasia number is going down especially on the main rock as well.

 

The Raven mille hasn't colored up on its existing skeleton yet BUT it has a ton of new, green growth. I have zero clue what is up with that frag. Not gonna question it, it seems happy. It's encrusting on all sides onto the rock. I'm still confused why my burgundy mille has green growth tips but whatever, it's alive and well.

 

The LFS mille is getting a bit watermelony now that it's been in the tank a couple weeks, not sure if it IS a Watermelon mille or not but it has that sort of pink body with a lot of green iridescence, I'm not sure I can tell what the growth tip color is yet, was gone most of today so I haven't been able to examine it closely yet.

 

Boring post, no pics, sorry!! Once I scrub the glass and rip out the hair algae and get the newbies in I'll take some pics! Just wanted to update that all inhabitants survived my being gone this time, which I was worried about.

 

Of course traffic up 405 ranges anywhere from "actually going 60mph" travel time to over double that  but worth it to not ship local SPS.

[Weetabix7]

Io the goby was really cool, hope you find another with a personality like him!!

 

I like your plan for the new tank.

 

ReefCleaners is a great source for Macroalgae and so is this place: http://www.live-plants.com/

[Lula_Mae]

Sometimes alive and well is all we can ask of our tanks! Glad things seem to be doing well and made it through your time away ok and looking forward to pics! 

 

And yeah if I had an LFS with nice frags in driving distance I'd be ok with driving even if it went slowly lol.

[Wingsong]

Oh man live-plants has me even more excited for the macro tank! Io was such a sweetie, it still crushes me he jumped

 

Having a LFS with good frags in driving distance is a dangerous proposition... "I'm going for a Red Dragon frag and a new heater" = 2 extra SPS worm their way in. And more would've, I totally would've walked out with a Scoly but not in the budget. I need SOME self-restraint.

 

Alright so onto the fun stuff, pics and new frags!

 

I picked up my order of 4 SPS from Unique Corals last Wednesday, 3 of the 4 had polyps out that night and seemed to be doing very well. 1, the reason I placed the order, Purple Hearts Acro, got very pale. I wondered if maybe the light was too bright so I moved it to a shadowed spot still high in the tank then noticed some tissue loss so I moved it lower in the tank into the light with different flow. No dice, it was a skeleton on Friday. Super bummed. As for the other three, I got Blue Vermiculata, Fuzzy Chips Tribute and Tricolor Valida.

Here they are! Fuzzy Chips is totally awesome, the polyp extension looks super cool. My snail knocked the other two onto each other and they have some tissue loss where there was contact, I am hoping nothing too serious and they both recover... not really sure what to do when that happens, do you dip? Let them be once separated? Anyway, these three settled in well and have been looking good. UC has a 7 day guarantee so I got credit for Purple Hearts' price and placed another order off that.

 

This time I got the Key Lime Vermiculata after being pleased with the Blue's success (I hope the tissue loss isn't going to spread, yipes!), Milka Stylo because I wanted to try a Stylo out, and a neon green Trumpet. Drove on up again and they had accidentally filled my previous order... I was like "oh they gave me a replacement Purple Hearts that was so kind" until the girl showing me my order pulled out another Fuzzy Chips Tribute, then I was like uh oh. Always double check before you leave, folks! I did get to walk around and check out their facility which has some really awesome frag tanks and some extremely tiny Blood Red Fire Shrimp, soooo cute. Made me want one all over again, I intend to get another when I get the 20 gallon.

 

They let me pick out which specific frags I wanted but the assortment of Trumpets didn't seem to please them at the time for how many heads I should be getting so they let me pick two. I noticed a couple of them were not the vivid neon green like the one I had ordered but seemed more turquoise so I picked one of those and one of the definitively green ones hoping they were indeed two different kinds. All 3 of my Trumpets below:

Red/white I've had for months (plagued by hair algae, eep, I pull it out each week), Turquoise, Kryptonite. I am so pleased I did manage to get one of the turquoise Trumpets!!! I just love their soft blue coloration. I hope the new two do well and reproduce. You can see they are definitely not the same color, or if they're supposed to be, the middle one is super pale haha. So a huge TY to UC for that!

 

I then drove to where I got my initial Red Dragon to buy another frag since it had grown so well for me before. Their selection this time was not like before, they had no normal RD frags whereas before there were rows in the back tanks and they had some yellow polyp RD but they looked... sickly? Very pale. A lot of their frags were extremely pale, like maybe one of the cluster would be the color it should be. Not quite sure what was up with their SPS this time. I also got a Fire Monti Digitata which I had been wanting to test out and debated between an Elkhorn Monti and a Peppermint Acro (and more expensive frags but common sense won out there).

 

They wound up fragging me a pretty good sized chunk of Red Dragon off their display colony which I was a bit nervous about getting a fresh cut. I noticed when I dipped it a million and one little red bugs scuttled off it into the water and that a couple branch tips looked... weird. After I got home from class those same tips had lost tissue. I'm not sure if I should break off the branch with the most loss to stop it from spreading? It seems to have stopped, for now, so maybe it is recovering? I imagine the poor thing is undergoing serious shock, getting chopped off and moved to a totally different system within an hour or so. If anyone has care tips for a freshly cut frag I'd love to know.

Not a very good shot but quick pic snapped of Peppermint with its polyps out, they hadn't extended when I left for class but were when I got home so I turned the lights back on and took one. You can see the new Fire Digitata on the far right but it hasn't peeked many polyps out yet, I do hope it's okay. Milka Stylo front and center below Cali Tort. My RR Mille and LFS pinky-melony Mille to the left. Poci right below the Peppermint (which is right of the Stylo, the green-red guy), then back row of Key Lime Vermi, Blue Vermi (you can see the top of the right branch is white), Fuzzy Chips and Tricolor. I'm always glad to see polyps out the first day in as I feel like they're much more likely to RTN if they don't stick any out.

 

The RR Mille is getting some color back for sure, a lot of bright green/lime growth tips and the body is getting some pink back. It seems to love when I go away for a bit and nutrients go up as it grows like a fiend during those times. I just need to find the right balance. I came back to find the Poci a bit pale and my heater has gone nutso, it just overheats the tank which is no good. It was right next to the Poci so I wonder if that was part of the problem, it got a bit baked? I bought a new heater and moved it to the opposite side of the tank where nothing is really nearby.

All my SPS. Red Dragon is on the ground in the bottom left so I didn't knock it around while I cleaned the tank. I gotta say the Key Lime Vermi POPS. Insanely bright coloration under blues. If you order from UC, pick up one of these!

 

I did forget one casualty, Murdersnail was found right before I left. Or rather, its empty shell was found. Kirk has been looking very listless and weird today, he's not dead, but he sure fooled me. So I hope he is okay. I have had to rescue a Berghia Nudibranch from the filter compartments a couple times, sigh... lol. The amount of aiptasia in the tank is DEFINITELY diminished. Hungry little guys! I just hope I can rehome them once it's all gone before they starve, they've been very reliable so far. I find them crawling around some nights once it gets into the night and the tank light has been off for hours, so fun to watch.

 

My last new addition is... a fish!

 

I know I had wanted to shy away from clownfish but I solidified up my plans to expand this to a 20 gallon and I was at a LFS and they had a tank full of baby clowns, so tiny, so cute... I noticed one in particular was a nice, more red, rich orange than the others... couldn't say no to his cute face. I also feel that for me personally, a fish that exists in the water column more than perching would be better. My auto feeder is really only good for pellets and clowns, of course, love them. He has been very reliably eating pellets and will attack the baster when he sees it, only to get very disappointed when it's sucking out his poop not dropping in a pellet, lol.

 

He is very small, probably the same body length as my betta or shorter, and will often just tread water in one space. I feel like due to my rock setup there is a lot of open space on the left side of the tank and at the surface where he can swim. So far he hasn't seemed troubled by a lack of room. He is a normal Ocellaris Clown, I had intended to get a fancier, designer clown but you can't argue with the price of the good old guys plus I really loved his coloration. I feel like you can't argue with the classics, plus he seems very healthy and eats very well.

 

I definitely intend to get another Neon Goby, I love those guys. For now, I think the baby clown is a great fit for my tank, though obviously he will go to the 20 and get a mate when he gets bigger.

Top down, clown is right below the powerhead. Fuzzy Chips is pretty fuzzy here!

Side view. I know I have some algae problems especially that bottom right corner, it's just hard to get the scrubber down there plus I don't want to rock the main rock much with so many loose SPS frags. Already annoying enough when Kirk fumbles his way up there. Clown front and center, he's a ham for the camera! He follows me around especially when he's hungry, lol.

 

I think I will mostly stick with mushrooms or low-light LPS from now on, my SPS room is getting a bit maxed but I have some lower light/flow spaces in the tank. Plus trying to keep everything alive! I do hope that any tissue loss I've seen is NBD and the frags will recover from it, I'd hate to lose any as I am very pleased with how everything looks atm. 

 

That's where the tank is at, thanks for reading! Any tips on keeping the SPS with some loss alive welcome.