Emily's IM 10 Experiment in a Box

[Clown79]

Very nice tank. Love the aquascape

[utopiatalks]

 

8 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Very nice tank. Love the aquascape

Thank you! 

[utopiatalks]

Hey guys!

 

Nothing super new to report with the tank.  Did a water change on Sunday and all the levels look good.  Nitrates are still at 5 PPM but I am not seeing and new algae growth yet. Phosphates are not registering on my Hana Checker but its the low value on note the ultra low so there may be a bit of an error.  

 

I also some how managed to knock my LC rainbox pixies from their spot on my zoa rock without noticing it. Im super mad at myself.  It was one of my favorite zoas and it was growing. Hopefully I find them quickly and they aren't lost by burial or being sucked up in a water change 

 

Saw that guy on Liveaquaria and I got to say its pretty tempting.  Everything in the tank has been stable but I am not sure if throwing another fish in the mix is a good or bad idea at this point.  Thoughts are welcome

 

Cheers!

[Mark1313]

I was going to go inverts only, then you post the wrasse pic... Gee thx. I may have to rethink for awhile lol. 

 

I'm glad you updated and I spotted the thread. Tank looks great. Got some good ideas, so thank you. 

[utopiatalks]

13 hours ago, Mark1313 said:

I was going to go inverts only, then you post the wrasse pic... Gee thx. I may have to rethink for awhile lol. 

 

I'm glad you updated and I spotted the thread. Tank looks great. Got some good ideas, so thank you. 

 

Invert only sounds fun! What ones were you thinking?  I haven't seen any threads with possum wrasse causing issues with small inverts so it may be a good choice.  I've always wanted one.  I think I am going to hold off till the fall and cross my fingers that one becomes available.

 

Really happy that my tank gave you some ideas.  Good luck with your setup!

 

Cheers!

[Mark1313]

Nothing special, a few sexy shrimp, pom pom crabs, some astrea snail. Simple and kinda neat to me since it's my 1st tank. 

 

Researched the wrasse and although totally cool looking, my tank is to small.(6.6) So the invert only plan stays in effect until I decide to get another tank. 

[Lula_Mae]

That's a beautiful possum wrasse!  If I weren't about to move my tank I would certainly be tempted lol.

[utopiatalks]

Hey all! Again long overdue update.

 

I have had a rough few weeks.  I noticed that my gobies had some white spots which I have diagnosed as ich.  All the fish were still eating well but to prevent future problems and death I decided to pull the fish and put them into a hospital tank.  My tailspot was extremely stressed by the move, and maybe weakened by the ich, and unfortunately did not make it past a couple days in the hospital tank.  I was pretty beaten up about it.  He was my favorite fish.  

 

The gobies are doing great however. All the wounds have healed and are eating great.  I am treating with copper and testing every other day to make sure it is still in therapeutic range. Only a week and half to go to get the gobies back in the tank. 

 

Inside the tank I am battling a couple of issues.  I still have cyano and (what I am assuming are) diatoms. I am maintaining my 2-3 gallon water changes per week.  I am still switching out my filter floss every other day.  These efforts do not seem to be curbing the issue in the slightest.  I have also drastically reduced feedings in the tank since the fish are not currently in the tank.  I give the shrimp a couple of mysis or a couple Hikari pellets each once a day or every other day via a targeted pipette feeding.  So I am not sure where all the nutrients are coming from to fuel the outbreaks.  The only thing I can think of is the Marine Pure I have in the second camber holding onto detritus.  I have moved it all into a mesh filter bag.  That makes it a lot easier to pull out during a water change, give it a quick rinse with fresh salt water, and clean out the chamber.  I am considering removing some of it, and moving the rest into my media basket.  Thoughts about marine pure, or ideas about combating this issues is welcomed.

 

In addition to those issues I have noticed in the last week one micro lords is melting.  I have already lost at least two heads on it.  Its a major bummer.  I have no idea what is causing the melting.  I have dipped that particular coral in Coral RX and moved it to an area where I can keep an eye on it.  Reading about micro lords melting though has me pretty concerned.  The remaining heads are still putting out feeding tentacles and I am continuing to feed my micro lords once a week.  I have noticed in the past couple of days my other micro lords showing similar signs of this melting.  Some of the heads look pinched in on one spot.  I have noticed in addition to these issues there looks to be some hydroids one micro lord's skeleton.  Could they be stinging them to the point of melting?

 

Here are the parameters as of today:

 

Alkalinity (Salifert): 8.0 dkh (slowly been getting this down to 8 and trying to keep it there)

Calcium: 420 PPM

Magnesium: 1400 PPM

Nirtrate (Nyos test kit):  .05 PPM

Phospahtes (Hanna Checker): .01 PPM

 

Anyways I am going to keep on keeping on and try and figure this stuff out.  Any ideas are appreciated.  Hopefully the road gets a bit easier soon.  

 

Cheers!

 

P.S. In good news found my LC pixies zoas in the tank and they are back in their proper spot.  Yay for one win!

 

[Weetabix7]

42 minutes ago, utopiatalks said:

Hey all! Again long overdue update.

 

I have had a rough few weeks.  I noticed that my gobies had some white spots which I have diagnosed as ich.  All the fish were still eating well but to prevent future problems and death I decided to pull the fish and put them into a hospital tank.  My tailspot was extremely stressed by the move, and maybe weakened by the ich, and unfortunately did not make it past a couple days in the hospital tank.  I was pretty beaten up about it.  He was my favorite fish.  

 

The gobies are doing great however. All the wounds have healed and are eating great.  I am treating with copper and testing every other day to make sure it is still in therapeutic range. Only a week and half to go to get the gobies back in the tank. 

 

Inside the tank I am battling a couple of issues.  I still have cyano and (what I am assuming are) diatoms. I am maintaining my 2-3 gallon water changes per week.  I am still switching out my filter floss every other day.  These efforts do not seem to be curbing the issue in the slightest.  I have also drastically reduced feedings in the tank since the fish are not currently in the tank.  I give the shrimp a couple of mysis or a couple Hikari pellets each once a day or every other day via a targeted pipette feeding.  So I am not sure where all the nutrients are coming from to fuel the outbreaks.  The only thing I can think of is the Marine Pure I have in the second camber holding onto detritus.  I have moved it all into a mesh filter bag.  That makes it a lot easier to pull out during a water change, give it a quick rinse with fresh salt water, and clean out the chamber.  I am considering removing some of it, and moving the rest into my media basket.  Thoughts about marine pure, or ideas about combating this issues is welcomed.

 

In addition to those issues I have noticed in the last week one micro lords is melting.  I have already lost at least two heads on it.  Its a major bummer.  I have no idea what is causing the melting.  I have dipped that particular coral in Coral RX and moved it to an area where I can keep an eye on it.  Reading about micro lords melting though has me pretty concerned.  The remaining heads are still putting out feeding tentacles and I am continuing to feed my micro lords once a week.  I have noticed in the past couple of days my other micro lords showing similar signs of this melting.  Some of the heads look pinched in on one spot.  I have noticed in addition to these issues there looks to be some hydroids one micro lord's skeleton.  Could they be stinging them to the point of melting?

 

Here are the parameters as of today:

 

Alkalinity (Salifert): 8.0 dkh (slowly been getting this down to 8 and trying to keep it there)

Calcium: 420 PPM

Magnesium: 1400 PPM

Nirtrate (Nyos test kit):  .05 PPM

Phospahtes (Hanna Checker): .01 PPM

 

Anyways I am going to keep on keeping on and try and figure this stuff out.  Any ideas are appreciated.  Hopefully the road gets a bit easier soon.  

 

Cheers!

 

P.S. In good news found my LC pixies zoas in the tank and they are back in their proper spot.  Yay for one win!

 

 

I think it is possible the hydroids are causing the problem, I'd try removing them. 

Other than that, you're doing all the right things. 

Hang in there!!

[utopiatalks]

43 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

I think it is possible the hydroids are causing the problem, I'd try removing them. 

Other than that, you're doing all the right things. 

Hang in there!!

Thanks for that! I have tried brushing them with a tooth brush and plucking them with tweezers.  They are tough little buggers to remove.  I am going to keep at it!

[utopiatalks]

Hi all,

 

Late night photo dump of some semi blurry photos. Everything is the same-ish.  I am still battling whatever is affecting the micro lords.  A couple dips and moving them from their regular spot seems to be helping but time will tell.  I am pretty sure I am going to completely lose at least one of my four. I have upped my water changes to a 10-15% change every three days to help with the efforts.  All the parameters are staying consistent and the other corals are looking pretty good (minus micro lords and ricordea). Still seeing cyano but hoping it will retreat a bit with the extra water changes (fingers crossed).  

 

When I popped into my LFS to grab some food I noticed they were having a BOGO sale.  So I walked out with a new blue montipora and a green millepora for $20.00!  The green millie is my first acro so we will see how it goes.  It has survived the first 24 hours.... I loved the green color (not crazy neon green) and hoped it would bring some contrast with the other colors in the tank.  I didn't really know where I wanted the montipora, and underestimated the size it would take up on the rock.  It looks pretty funny sitting on the top the arch, but maybe it will be fine once it starts to grow over the frag disc more.

 

In looking at everything now I am debating putting the hammers where the micro lords were and putting them on a rock island.  I had kind of always wanted a plating monitpora to go above that spot so I am going to have to think on it.  Thoughts are welcome of course

 

 Top down is still my favorite way to look the tank

 

New montipora with the other SPS surrounding it

 

My sad micro lords  you can see the one in the right bottom, it is probably doomed.  It used to have five heads. 

 

Zoas and palys still going strong.  They are slowly filling in and really looking good.  I moved the clove polyps over and really like them with this mix. 

 

Accidentally took this photo but really liked the effect. Can't stare too long or I get dizzy 

 

Finally a full tank shot with a bit of reflection as well. 

 

Okay off to bed. Hoping this week brings some more stability to the tank. 

 

Cheers!

[ninjamyst]

That green acro really stands out!!  The purple montipora looks like the encrusting kind and not the plating kind.  Not 100% sure so I will let others chime in.  If it is encrusting kind, be careful where you put it as it will take over a rock as it grows.

[DaveFason]

Really looking good! Shoot a FTS with the light and I will share on FB/IG. 

 

-Dave

[utopiatalks]

4 hours ago, ninjamyst said:

That green acro really stands out!!  The purple montipora looks like the encrusting kind and not the plating kind.  Not 100% sure so I will let others chime in.  If it is encrusting kind, be careful where you put it as it will take over a rock as it grows.

Thanks! This monitpora is an encrusting montipora.  I meant that down the road I would love to put a plating montipora on the right side, like where the sexy shrimp is in the full tank shot.  I am thinking the only good spot for that purple/blue monti is where I have the put it.  I guess it will just have to look silly.  I am running out of room in this tank!

[Weetabix7]

Love the new corals!!!

On the Micro/Acans, do you think there might be some kind of predation?

What are you dipping them in?

[utopiatalks]

12 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Love the new corals!!!

On the Micro/Acans, do you think there might be some kind of predation?

What are you dipping them in?

Thank you!

 

The only thing I have noticed are the tiny hydroids. I see them in various parts of the tank.  I saw a larger cluster by the micros so I plucked them best I could.  I did not find any though on the one that has suffered the worst.  When I moved them from the rock I did notice what looked like a lots of tiny root like strings attached to the rock.  I think its either a sponge or the hydroids.  I went back over the rock with a bit of super glue in spots where I still saw some just to try and curb the spread. 

 

I am dipping them in Coral RX.  When I dipped them I did see two amphipods scurry out. I don't know if they would cause this kind of damage though.  They are all still taking food and otherwise look okay except for the spots where they are pinching in and melting.  I hardly ever see the sexy shrimp by the mircos so I don't think its them.  

 

Any ideas?

5 hours ago, DaveFason said:

Really looking good! Shoot a FTS with the light and I will share on FB/IG. 

 

-Dave

Thank you! I love my nanobox and I think the corals do too. I will work on taking a good proper photo (meaning with a tripod) and send it over 

[gena]

I love your tank!  You have a great collection of corals.  I especially like your zoa garden.  And the pink hippos/chuckies bride palys most of all .  I've tried to keep them a few times and they always melt away on me.  Gonna try one more time...we have a reef show coming up in October.  They are my very favorite paly and I refuse to give up on them LOL.  Yours look beautiful!!!!

 

As far as your acan trouble.  Amphipods are probably just cleaning up the dead tissue.  They wouldn't have caused it to begin with.  If anything, I would blame the sexy shrimp.  They are terrible coral nippers although they really like to attack zoanthids.  Maybe acans taste better?  They could be messing with them at night or when you are not looking.

[utopiatalks]

8 hours ago, gena said:

I love your tank!  You have a great collection of corals.  I especially like your zoa garden.  And the pink hippos/chuckies bride palys most of all .  I've tried to keep them a few times and they always melt away on me.  Gonna try one more time...we have a reef show coming up in October.  They are my very favorite paly and I refuse to give up on them LOL.  Yours look beautiful!!!!

 

As far as your acan trouble.  Amphipods are probably just cleaning up the dead tissue.  They wouldn't have caused it to begin with.  If anything, I would blame the sexy shrimp.  They are terrible coral nippers although they really like to attack zoanthids.  Maybe acans taste better?  They could be messing with them at night or when you are not looking.

 

Wow thank you! I have been a long time admire of your tanks so that means an extra lot.  I honestly haven't given too much thought to those palys. I just set them there by chance and they have really been good growers.  I hope they give you a bit more of a break next time!

 

The sexy shrimp may be causing an issue.  I am going to up my feeding for them again. I have been so careful about only feeding one or two tiny hikari pellets to them a day then target feeding them mysis a couple times a week.  I think they may need a bit more. I've just been concerned about the hydroids numbers growing. 

 

I was thinking about other critters in the tank and I do have a decent number of hair worms. I never really worried about them, but could they be causing a problem?

[Lula_Mae]

8 hours ago, utopiatalks said:

 

Wow thank you! I have been a long time admire of your tanks so that means an extra lot.  I honestly haven't given too much thought to those palys. I just set them there by chance and they have really been good growers.  I hope they give you a bit more of a break next time!

 

The sexy shrimp may be causing an issue.  I am going to up my feeding for them again. I have been so careful about only feeding one or two tiny hikari pellets to them a day then target feeding them mysis a couple times a week.  I think they may need a bit more. I've just been concerned about the hydroids numbers growing. 

 

I was thinking about other critters in the tank and I do have a decent number of hair worms. I never really worried about them, but could they be causing a problem?

I think @teenyreef had hair worms aggravating his zoas?

[teenyreef]

2 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I think @teenyreef had hair worms aggravating his zoas?

I do. I posted some pictures in my 40g thread a couple months ago. When they touch the zoas they close up. I've also seen them kill the skin in my acros when they touch them. It's something about the particular species of hair worm I have. I'll see if I can find the pictures. 

[teenyreef]

Here's one on my acro. Zoom in to see it. 

 

Here's one on the zoas:

 

Close up:

 

Here's what they look like out of the sand:

 

I know some would say they're just eating dead stuff on the corals, but when I remove then I see a huge overnight improvement in the zoas. That colony above was completely opened back up 48 hours after removing the worm. 

[utopiatalks]

3 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Here's one on my acro. Zoom in to see it. 

 

Here's one on the zoas:

 

Close up:

 

Here's what they look like out of the sand:

 

I know some would say they're just eating dead stuff on the corals, but when I remove then I see a huge overnight improvement in the zoas. That colony above was completely opened back up 48 hours after removing the worm. 

Thanks for all the wonderful photo examples! I will watch out for anything like that near my zoas and other corals. 

 

Mine have very pale white, skinny, feeding palps.  I have never tried to purposefully pull them out of my sand bed, but I have noticed that they seem to make tubes.  Have you ever seen them on your micros/acans before?  I have had at least one living very close to my micro/acan area pretty much since I started putting them there. Maybe they got out of control? 

[gena]

15 hours ago, utopiatalks said:

 

Wow thank you! I have been a long time admire of your tanks so that means an extra lot.  I honestly haven't given too much thought to those palys. I just set them there by chance and they have really been good growers.  I hope they give you a bit more of a break next time!

 

The sexy shrimp may be causing an issue.  I am going to up my feeding for them again. I have been so careful about only feeding one or two tiny hikari pellets to them a day then target feeding them mysis a couple times a week.  I think they may need a bit more. I've just been concerned about the hydroids numbers growing. 

 

I was thinking about other critters in the tank and I do have a decent number of hair worms. I never really worried about them, but could they be causing a problem?

Thank you so much .  I hope I have better luck too!!!!!  I have hair worms (didn't know that's what they are called) in my tank.  THey don't seem to bother my corals at all though.  Teeny's pics are gnarly!!!!  Ewwwww LOL. 

10 minutes ago, utopiatalks said:

Thanks for all the wonderful photo examples! I will watch out for anything like that near my zoas and other corals. 

 

Mine have very pale white, skinny, feeding palps.  I have never tried to purposefully pull them out of my sand bed, but I have noticed that they seem to make tubes.  Have you ever seen them on your micros/acans before?  I have had at least one living very close to my micro/acan area pretty much since I started putting them there. Maybe they got out of control? 

Mine make tubes out of the sand.  Interesting creatures.  I've had them in other tanks too.  They do a great job of eating up food waste.

[teenyreef]

3 hours ago, utopiatalks said:

Thanks for all the wonderful photo examples! I will watch out for anything like that near my zoas and other corals. 

 

Mine have very pale white, skinny, feeding palps.  I have never tried to purposefully pull them out of my sand bed, but I have noticed that they seem to make tubes.  Have you ever seen them on your micros/acans before?  I have had at least one living very close to my micro/acan area pretty much since I started putting them there. Maybe they got out of control? 

Of course there are a million types of worms, some good, some bad, but the ones I've seen that fit your description are harmless.

[Lula_Mae]

22 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Here's one on my acro. Zoom in to see it. 

 

Here's one on the zoas:

 

Close up:

 

Here's what they look like out of the sand:

 

I know some would say they're just eating dead stuff on the corals, but when I remove then I see a huge overnight improvement in the zoas. That colony above was completely opened back up 48 hours after removing the worm. 

That last pic is absolutely disgusting lol.