SeaFurn's Reef Bowl

[SeaFurn]

Day 123 of the reef bowl! 

Thought I'd better show it some love since I've been consumed with the Contest tank. I gotta say that's one nice thing about the reef bowl - it's easy to care for. 

 

Thought I'd show some pics of the acros in the bowl. They are doing well! You'll see they are encrusting on the rock.

There's one polyp on that stub on the stick on the left that's been a no show for a week or two. Strange. 

And this is exciting - corraline spilling over to my dry rock! Spread ...spread....spread!

[SeaFurn]

Worm!!!  This thing totally freaked me out!

[SeaFurn]

So cool how another branch is forming and the flesh/polyps fill in over it.  (update 8/6/17 - so this actually turned out to be a vermatid snail, not growth of the coral.) 

 

My hammer isn't looking so good though. It's not been opening up as much and is thinner. The flesh under the tentacles looks purple and splotchy-at least more than before I believe.

I moved it about 6 weeks ago away from the SPS to an area of lower flow. Doing some extra feeding of mysis and will dip it in lugols.  

(update 8/6/17 - the hammer was actually in the process of splitting.  The white area at the base ended up growing between the 2 distinct heads that had been formed.  I didn't realize that was what actually happening at the time.)

Edited August 6, 2017 by SeaFurn
made an update

[SeaFurn]

Been a month since I posted here because I've been fretting over my RFA's in my contest tank. So here's an update and some new pics from the reefbowl. 

Shortly after I posted the picture of the hammer above I realized what was going on - it was splitting, creating another head. 

The Sexy Peach Galaxies I got from @Weetabix7 have 5 heads now (got them with 2) and growing like crazy. They have really colored up nicely as have the Red People Eaters (although they were closed up in the pic) 

I've found pineapple sponges in the rocks, had to frag one acropora because it was STNing, dealt with a couple  vermited snails, tried to kill an aptasia on an acan frag (not sure how it survived my peroxide assault), and may have some coralline starting to show up on the glass. 

FBS - July 1

 

I think the SPS in this pic is called Pearlberry...

[Smithen]

Love this bowl, makes me not be able to wait to get my vase up. Hope I can be near as successful.

[Weetabix7]

On 7/5/2017 at 8:39 AM, SeaFurn said:

Been a month since I posted here because I've been fretting over my RFA's in my contest tank. So here's an update and some new pics from the reefbowl. 

Shortly after I posted the picture of the hammer above I realized what was going on - it was splitting, creating another head. 

The Sexy Peach Galaxies I got from @Weetabix7 have 5 heads now (got them with 2) and growing like crazy. They have really colored up nicely as have the Red People Eaters (although they were closed up in the pic) 

I've found pineapple sponges in the rocks, had to frag one acropora because it was STNing, dealt with a couple  vermited snails, tried to kill an aptasia on an acan frag (not sure how it survived my peroxide assault), and may have some coralline starting to show up on the glass. 

FBS - July 1

 

I think the SPS in this pic is called Pearlberry...

 

LOOOOOVE this!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[diddy2k]

What do you bowl/jar/vase keepers use to clean your glass? I added 2 small astrea snails in a addition to the stomatella, but they're not keeping up and I'd rather not add any more. I was thinking a toothbrush maybe?

[SeaFurn]

1 hour ago, diddy2k said:

What do you bowl/jar/vase keepers use to clean your glass? I added 2 small astrea snails in a addition to the stomatella, but they're not keeping up and I'd rather not add any more. I was thinking a toothbrush maybe?

I gotta say that my CUC does a pretty good job keeping the glass clean. But every week during the water change I use a small piece of the scuff side of one of those kitchen sponges and wipe down then entire inside of the bowl. It works really well. I use toothbrush in the tight spots around the heater and airline tubing etc. 

[diddy2k]

39 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

I gotta say that my CUC does a pretty good job keeping the glass clean. But every week during the water change I use a small piece of the scuff side of one of those kitchen sponges and wipe down then entire inside of the bowl. It works really well. I use toothbrush in the tight spots around the heater and airline tubing etc. 

i'll probably zip tie part of a sponge to a stick. i can't get my hand in my jar. i'd like to do it naturally, but i don't want to look at a jar of snails lol

[Legendary Corals]

I can't even keep SPS in a 300 gallon frag system. And here you are keeping them in a bowl. 

[SeaFurn]

3 hours ago, Legendary Corals said:

I can't even keep SPS in a 300 gallon frag system. And here you are keeping them in a bowl. 

Yeah it blows me away sometimes! 

 

I need to get some more in there...although I'm afraid if I put too many in they (along with the LPS) would consume so much alk, ca, and mg during the week that a water change would then cause too much of a swing for them and they wouldn't fare as well. And I definitely don't want to be dosing a bowl!!

[SeaFurn]

Reef bowl is chugging along.  I've got some corralline growing on the glass and rocks now.  One of the heads of the hammer split again (have 3 total heads now). The GSP completely covers the small rock in front (its own island).  Been dealing with some vermatid snails.  Found another bristelworm.  The acros furthest from the center are turning white at their bases - due to shading I'm told. I just hope it stops at the base and doesn't work it's way higher.  And I think I've got some kind of macro that just started growing off of a frag of Sexy Peach Galaxies I got from @Weetabix7 - which started out as two heads and now totals 11!

 

 

 

[Friendly]

hey Furn, how do you find your coral's reacting to the ABi light? since it's only on/off, does the brightness startle them in any way?

 

also, have you added anything like shrimp or crabs yet? if not, going too? 

 

also, can you remind me what you're using for an air pump and heater?  

[Weetabix7]

8 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

Reef bowl is chugging along.  I've got some corralline growing on the glass and rocks now.  One of the heads of the hammer split again (have 3 total heads now). The GSP completely covers the small rock in front (its own island).  Been dealing with some vermatid snails.  Found another bristelworm.  The acros furthest from the center are turning white at their bases - due to shading I'm told. I just hope it stops at the base and doesn't work it's way higher.  And I think I've got some kind of macro that just started growing off of a frag of Sexy Peach Galaxies I got from @Weetabix7 - which started out as two heads and now totals 11!

 

 

 

 

I love this bowl. 

You've done such a good job with it. 

And clearly my Palys love it too!!

Nice work.

[SeaFurn]

2 hours ago, Friendly said:

hey Furn, how do you find your coral's reacting to the ABi light? since it's only on/off, does the brightness startle them in any way?

 

also, have you added anything like shrimp or crabs yet? if not, going too? 

 

also, can you remind me what you're using for an air pump and heater?  

No they don't startle when the light comes on or goes off. It generally takes about 10-15 min for everything to open up when the lights come on. Sometimes  I pull the curtain back of the window near the bowl to let a little sunlight in before the light goes on. 

The light is working well for all the corals I have. They are growing. As I mentioned,  my only apparent issue is the shading on the outer edges of the bowl causing the bases of the SPS to whiten. 

 

I'm using Tetra Whisper 40 for an air pump (no airstone). I was using a smaller one at first but wasn't getting the water movement I wanted. Now, with a bigger air pump combine with shape of the bowl I get a nice erratic rolling water movement. 

 

I use a Cobalt Mini-Therm 10 watt heater with a Finnex Max-300 heater controller. Keeps the bowl  78.4-78.7 degrees. 

 

I had an anemone shrimp in the bowl once for several weeks. I lost it suddenly a day after a water change. I had always been concerned how it would handle the almost 100% water changes and having to acclimate each time. As such, I tried to be very precise in having the same salinity old water to new. It made it through several water changes but I still believe that was a contributing factor to the loss. After that, I decided I would just stick to corals and snails in the bowl. 

1 hour ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

I love this bowl. 

You've done such a good job with it. 

And clearly my Palys love it too!!

Nice work.

Can't wait to see what the leafy surprise grows up to be!! (Assuming I don't kill it!)

[Lula_Mae]

On 8/6/2017 at 9:52 AM, SeaFurn said:

Reef bowl is chugging along.  I've got some corralline growing on the glass and rocks now.  One of the heads of the hammer split again (have 3 total heads now). The GSP completely covers the small rock in front (its own island).  Been dealing with some vermatid snails.  Found another bristelworm.  The acros furthest from the center are turning white at their bases - due to shading I'm told. I just hope it stops at the base and doesn't work it's way higher.  And I think I've got some kind of macro that just started growing off of a frag of Sexy Peach Galaxies I got from @Weetabix7 - which started out as two heads and now totals 11!

 

 

 

Eleven heads!  I thought I was doing well to have five now (up from...three and a baby I think it was)!    Of course, I haven't been feeding the last month or so except a little live phyto here and there...maybe I can start again and stuff will perk up!

[Friendly]

jar/bowl/pico reef + 5 gallon bucket sump = PURE GENIUS!!!

 

depending on the size of your reef, you'd be doing anywhere from a 50 - 300% water change every week.

 

it would be a simpler/safer water change as if you have any invertebrate livestock, they won't suffer from the water change.

 

could make that sump a 5 gallon chaeto reactor too...after finding the appropriate waterproof that could be submerged in the sump.

 

oh!!! now I'm REALLY looking forward to the arrival of my Heritage Hill Jars!!!   

[SeaFurn]

This is a pic from yesterday before the lights came on. 

You can see the "macro surprise" growing out of the Sexy Peach Galaxies. It has gotten a lot bigger. 

I've been noticing that many of the Galaxy polyps stay closed or really stretch to get some light. I also think the macro is shading out the zoas under and around it. Should I move it somehow? There doesn't seem to be a good spot to move it to that won't cause the same issue. Maybe to the back side of the rock with the acros? There's just not a lot of room....

Also, the little frag on the sand is a bright pink zoa (Armor of God?) I got a couple of months ago dirt cheap because it was not looking good. I mounted it on the rocks  and it has always been mostly closed-just like when I got it.

I know zoas can be finicky but all the others in the bowl are great and multiplying so I just thought this one would take off too. Well, that hasn't happened so I finally moved it to the sand to give it a little TLC but I may have overdone it with the iodine dips.  It had two polyps but one dissolved completely. Not sure what else to do. So bizarre. 

 

You can also see how the base of the acro has turned white due to shading, clearly indicating the limits of the PAR38 bulb. The rest of it is growing with great PE. 

Nanobox for the reef bowl perhaps!? @DaveFason

I could get more SPS then!

 

 

 

[DaveFason]

#justdoit

 

Very cool concept on the tank. Keep up the great work! 

[Weetabix7]

30 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

This is a pic from yesterday before the lights came on. 

You can see the "macro surprise" growing out of the Sexy Peach Galaxies. It has gotten a lot bigger. 

I've been noticing that many of the Galaxy polyps stay closed or really stretch to get some light. I also think the macro is shading out the zoas under and around it. Should I move it somehow? There doesn't seem to be a good spot to move it to that won't cause the same issue. Maybe to the back side of the rock with the acros? There's just not a lot of room....

Also, the little frag on the sand is a bright pink zoa (Armor of God?) I got a couple of months ago dirt cheap because it was not looking good. I mounted it on the rocks  and it has always been mostly closed-just like when I got it.

I know zoas can be finicky but all the others in the bowl are great and multiplying so I just thought this one would take off too. Well, that hasn't happened so I finally moved it to the sand to give it a little TLC but I may have overdone it with the iodine dips.  It had two polyps but one dissolved completely. Not sure what else to do. So bizarre. 

 

You can also see how the base of the acro has turned white due to shading, clearly indicating the limits of the PAR38 bulb. The rest of it is growing with great PE. 

Nanobox for the reef bowl perhaps!? @DaveFason

I could get more SPS then!

 

 

 

 

That definitely looks like Sargassum that is growing. 

If you don't have a good spot you can move the Palys to for higher light, maybe move them to the Contest Tank?

[SeaFurn]

I was thinking I could just move the Sargassum - to the back of the reefbowl if I could get it dissected from that frag of palys and then reattached. Does that seem feasible?

Maybe I could move it to the contest tank though...

[Weetabix7]

5 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

I was thinking I could just move the Sargassum - to the back of the reefbowl if I could get it dissected from that frag of palys and then reattached. Does that seem feasible?

Maybe I could move it to the contest tank though...

 

You could try it. 

I'm not sure if it would stop growing if you do that, just because Sargassum seems to really have this thing about being anchored at it's base before it's willing to grow. 

I honestly think the reason my large Sargassum is growing so well is cause I have it's base anchored really well down in a niche in some LR and it's decided to settle in there. 

Everyone else I know who has had Sargassum do okay in their systems has always had it grow out of their rock, like yours is doing. 

[SeaFurn]

29 minutes ago, DaveFason said:

#justdoit

 

Very cool concept on the tank. Keep up the great work! 

I'd love to have a Mini with a longer gooseneck attached to a desk lamp base so it could set on the table it's on. I don't have the option to hang it. 

I'm using a floor lamp now. 

Assuming I could get a long enough gooseneck can it get screwed onto a heavy lamp base somehow? 

[DaveFason]

11 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

I'd love to have a Mini with a longer gooseneck attached to a desk lamp base so it could set on the table it's on. I don't have the option to hang it. 

I'm using a floor lamp now. 

Assuming I could get a long enough gooseneck can it get screwed onto a heavy lamp base somehow? 

I can pick up a 24" gooseneck as well. Shoot me an email. david@nanoboxreef.com

[Friendly]

hey SF, what about something like this? fully extended, it reaches almost 3ft in height:

https://www.amazon.com/Globe-Electric-Architect-Balanced-5698601/dp/B00RXSRQCC/ref=sr_1_8?s=lamps-light&ie=UTF8&qid=1504645091&sr=1-8&keywords=desk+lamp