Weetie's Zen Learning Experiment, Random Stuff

[Nixperience]

Looks awesome! Now I think I need some sargassum. 

[ReefWeeds]

55 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

I completely agree that it's difficult, I have the same issue. 

Macroalgae wise, it'd be great if we could get some kind of core group going where we could use each other as sources for both info and acquiring some of the more unique specimens. 

I really like this idea! 

[Nixperience]

Where do I get sargassum? I can't find it anywhere. Send me some! ?

[spectra]

11 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

I completely agree that it's difficult, I have the same issue. 

Macroalgae wise, it'd be great if we could get some kind of core group going where we could use each other as sources for both info and acquiring some of the more unique specimens. 

 

I agree on that one.............Stells gave me a bunch of macro and well when the fluff hot the fan  I tossed a lot of it..........

 

I just have a little red grape a couple green ones and another red that I got from Stells and couldn't toss.......picked all the stuff out of it and so far so good  

looking for a few more hoping Gulf Coast gets some more stuff in.......there inventory is toast.......

[Weetabix7]

Apologies for smears on the front glass (well, acrylic) BUT I'm pretty sure I see new growth on the Cactus Caulerpa!! See the brighter green shoots on the left?

I think I might have seen a baby shoot on the rare Caulerpa but not totally sure, need to look again tomorrow in daylight. 

 

 

The Waterfall is looking really good and I've taken several pics, but I'm back to having difficulty showing how nice it looks in the pics I'm taking. I may need to just set aside some time to fiddle around more with how I have the PAR38 lamp placed when I take pics. 

Until then, I'll go ahead and share the best of the pics I've been able to get so far. 

Oh, I should probably also fess up to the fact that I haven't cleaned off the front viewing panes at all in a week or two. 

But it's thriving, I promise, lol. 

Ok, the middle compartment has definitely been my favorite just to gaze into lately. It just looks lush and happy. 

Got the best pics of that compartment as well, here's a few:

 

 

 

 

When you don't clean off the viewing panes, sometimes cool looking life-forms show up. Hydroid?

 

 

Really wish I could have gotten good pics of the first compartment. The Sexy Peach Galaxy frags are doing quite well and looking gorgeous, much better than in this pic:

 

 

The Red Macro in there is growing, the part that's in the pic is almost all new growth. 

This shot is blurry cause of the micro-algae growth on the front, but I liked it anyway. 

Pretty RFA and small bit of Red Graciliara:

 

 

In the last compartment, the Yuma is looking fat & happy in a brilliant shade of Orange, and hiding a new baby growing underneath. 

The little bits of Macro in there are continuing to do well and I'm continuing to see new microfauna, bits of sponge pop up, etc. 

For the moment you'll have to be satisfied with this top-down shot of the Pink & Green Frogspawn:

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the show, remember to throw away popcorn buckets & cups on the way out!!

 

 

[Nidilsky]

Love! So nice. Well done.

The acans so close to the gsp...i have no idea what I am doing yet.

[Lula_Mae]

3 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Apologies for smears on the front glass (well, acrylic) BUT I'm pretty sure I see new growth on the Cactus Caulerpa!! See the brighter green shoots on the left?

I think I might have seen a baby shoot on the rare Caulerpa but not totally sure, need to look again tomorrow in daylight. 

 

 

The Waterfall is looking really good and I've taken several pics, but I'm back to having difficulty showing how nice it looks in the pics I'm taking. I may need to just set aside some time to fiddle around more with how I have the PAR38 lamp placed when I take pics. 

Until then, I'll go ahead and share the best of the pics I've been able to get so far. 

Oh, I should probably also fess up to the fact that I haven't cleaned off the front viewing panes at all in a week or two. 

But it's thriving, I promise, lol. 

Ok, the middle compartment has definitely been my favorite just to gaze into lately. It just looks lush and happy. 

Got the best pics of that compartment as well, here's a few:

 

 

 

 

When you don't clean off the viewing panes, sometimes cool looking life-forms show up. Hydroid?

 

 

Really wish I could have gotten good pics of the first compartment. The Sexy Peach Galaxy frags are doing quite well and looking gorgeous, much better than in this pic:

 

 

The Red Macro in there is growing, the part that's in the pic is almost all new growth. 

This shot is blurry cause of the micro-algae growth on the front, but I liked it anyway. 

Pretty RFA and small bit of Red Graciliara:

 

 

In the last compartment, the Yuma is looking fat & happy in a brilliant shade of Orange, and hiding a new baby growing underneath. 

The little bits of Macro in there are continuing to do well and I'm continuing to see new microfauna, bits of sponge pop up, etc. 

For the moment you'll have to be satisfied with this top-down shot of the Pink & Green Frogspawn:

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the show, remember to throw away popcorn buckets & cups on the way out!!

 

 

Beside the GSP, is that the brain that almost died?  It looks like a grafted something or other so I don't think so but am not sure lol.  Everything looks great!  And those sexy peach galaxies... If they look that great in your pic I can only imagine them in person!

[Weetabix7]

16 minutes ago, Nidilsky said:

Love! So nice. Well done.

 

Thanks!!!

11 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Beside the GSP, is that the brain that almost died?  It looks like a grafted something or other so I don't think so but am not sure lol.  Everything looks great!  And those sexy peach galaxies... If they look that great in your pic I can only imagine them in person!

 

Nope, that's actually some kinda Splattered War Coral Favia type thing. 

The Brain that almost died is still in the Macro tank with Dinky. Cos, y'know, Dinky & the Brain. 

Those Palys are super pretty, promise they're better in person. 

[Lula_Mae]

20 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Thanks!!!

 

Nope, that's actually some kinda Splattered War Coral Favia type thing. 

The Brain that almost died is still in the Macro tank with Dinky. Cos, y'know, Dinky & the Brain. 

Those Palys are super pretty, promise they're better in person. 

Oh yeah!  Haha.  Looking forward to when they're ready for adoption!

[SeaFurn]

Looking great! So colorful! 

[fishfreak0114]

It's looking awesome in there!

[Weetabix7]

I'm seeing some cool growth on the Macros in my Dinky & the Brain tank. 

I've been adding Reef Plus to the tank and it seems like the plants are just slurping it up and either popping out babies or just growing bigger. 

Front and center in this pic you can see a brand new baby shoot of the Rare Caulerpa I recently added:

 

 

Look in the sand just to the left of the main plant and you can see new growth sticking it's head up out of the sand, same rare Caulerpa plant. I've actually seen even more growth since taking these pics yesterday. 

 

 

Have some interesting things going on with the Cactus Caulerpa. It grows from a runner and I never buried the runner under sand. Yesterday I woke up to discover that the runner had turned white overnight. Even more interesting than that, there continues to be new growth from the leaf blades, even some hairy protrusions that look like roots. Coming out of the leaves!!! Mebbe I should try sticking one of the leaves under sand and see what happens. 

 

 

The leaves on my Dictoya have gotten really ragged and not looking great, but I'm hoping there will be some recovery growth from the base/holdfast. 

In this pic you can see some kind of small, purplish Macro growing off one of the leaves of the Dictoya, pretty much in the center:

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm seeing growth on the larger Galaxaura plant as well, which is awesome, cause they're a slower grower. 

 

The Clowns are continuing to settle in, and just this morning it has started looking as if the larger, newer Clown is in the process of deciding she's the Boss Lady. 

They both eat like pigs now, pretty much any food I put in there!! 

[lkoechle]

5 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

I'm seeing some cool growth on the Macros in my Dinky & the Brain tank. 

I've been adding Reef Plus to the tank and it seems like the plants are just slurping it up and either popping out babies or just growing bigger. 

Front and center in this pic you can see a brand new baby shoot of the Rare Caulerpa I recently added:

 

 

Look in the sand just to the left of the main plant and you can see new growth sticking it's head up out of the sand, same rare Caulerpa plant. I've actually seen even more growth since taking these pics yesterday. 

 

 

Have some interesting things going on with the Cactus Caulerpa. It grows from a runner and I never buried the runner under sand. Yesterday I woke up to discover that the runner had turned white overnight. Even more interesting than that, there continues to be new growth from the leaf blades, even some hairy protrusions that look like roots. Coming out of the leaves!!! Mebbe I should try sticking one of the leaves under sand and see what happens. 

 

 

The leaves on my Dictoya have gotten really ragged and not looking great, but I'm hoping there will be some recovery growth from the base/holdfast. 

In this pic you can see some kind of small, purplish Macro growing off one of the leaves of the Dictoya, pretty much in the center:

 

 

I'm pretty sure I'm seeing growth on the larger Galaxaura plant as well, which is awesome, cause they're a slower grower. 

 

The Clowns are continuing to settle in, and just this morning it has started looking as if the larger, newer Clown is in the process of deciding she's the Boss Lady. 

They both eat like pigs now, pretty much any food I put in there!! 

so reef plus is a benefit to macro tanks too?   

 

I already use this in the lagoon and was toying with the idea of dosing the other two tanks with it as well.

[Nixperience]

My nitrates have been hovering around he 10-15 mark with my macros, so I think I'll stay away from reef plus until that goes down. 

[Weetabix7]

28 minutes ago, lkoechle said:

so reef plus is a benefit to macro tanks too?   

 

I already use this in the lagoon and was toying with the idea of dosing the other two tanks with it as well.

 

Oh yes, definitely!!!

22 minutes ago, Nixperience said:

My nitrates have been hovering around he 10-15 mark with my macros, so I think I'll stay away from reef plus until that goes down. 

 

That makes sense. 

Maybe start using when it when you're down to 5-10 nitrates. 

Wanna know something crazy?

I have ZERO nitrate!!

I have been feeding the Clowns heavily and adding Reef Plus every other day at a minimum, sometimes every day and I'm still at 0 nitrate cause the plants are just sucking it up.

[Nixperience]

26 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Oh yes, definitely!!!

 

That makes sense. 

Maybe start using when it when you're down to 5-10 nitrates. 

Wanna know something crazy?

I have ZERO nitrate!!

I have been feeding the Clowns heavily and adding Reef Plus every other day at a minimum, sometimes every day and I'm still at 0 nitrate cause the plants are just sucking it up.

Woah! I need this to happen. 

[Weetabix7]

Sooo..... I'm in the midst of an interesting adventure with the Dinky & the Brain Macro Tank. 

Woke up yesterday morning to a slightly cloudy tank. 

Hmmm, what could this be??

(peers more closely into tank)

Goldurnit, the Cactus Caulerpa went sexual!!! 

Bah!!!

Cactus Caulerpa still had some green, wasn't totally white, so I'd caught before it "went all the way". 

Immediately removed the Caulerpa and changed carbon out. 

Couple hrs later did a 3.5g water change, and while I was doing the WC, noticed 2 interesting things.

1.) The water STANK. As in, the tankwater smelled like a potty. Bleccchhh!!! 

2.) Found a dead snail. Wonder if maybe it starved since there isn't a ton of microalgae in the tank with the Macros sucking up all the nutrients. 

 

The Brain had been looking very mildly "off" for just a couple days, so I'm wondering if maybe it was reacting to the snail being on it's way out, and maybe the stress of that is what also caused the Cactus Caulerpa to go sexual. 

I'm grateful that it waited to do it until the day after I mailed out a couple small Macro clippings. 

The Leather is squinched up but not melting, the Brain is still slightly annoyed but nothing like when I thought I was gonna lose it. 

I moved the Grape Caulerpa to a small holding tank so I wouldn't have to worry about losing that as well. 

The two Clowns and the rest of the Macros actually look perfectly fine. 

The rare Caulerpa actually still has baby shoots growing, so even though it's not great, it's not terribly awful either. 

Did another 4g WC today and think I'll just let things stabilize for a bit. 

Oh, and the tank no longer smells like an outhouse today. Whew!!

[Minmay]

31 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Sooo..... I'm in the midst of an interesting adventure with the Dinky & the Brain Macro Tank. 

Woke up yesterday morning to a slightly cloudy tank. 

Hmmm, what could this be??

(peers more closely into tank)

Goldurnit, the Cactus Caulerpa went sexual!!! 

Bah!!!

Cactus Caulerpa still had some green, wasn't totally white, so I'd caught before it "went all the way". 

Immediately removed the Caulerpa and changed carbon out. 

Couple hrs later did a 3.5g water change, and while I was doing the WC, noticed 2 interesting things.

1.) The water STANK. As in, the tankwater smelled like a potty. Bleccchhh!!! 

2.) Found a dead snail. Wonder if maybe it starved since there isn't a ton of microalgae in the tank with the Macros sucking up all the nutrients. 

 

The Brain had been looking very mildly "off" for just a couple days, so I'm wondering if maybe it was reacting to the snail being on it's way out, and maybe the stress of that is what also caused the Cactus Caulerpa to go sexual. 

I'm grateful that it waited to do it until the day after I mailed out a couple small Macro clippings. 

The Leather is squinched up but not melting, the Brain is still slightly annoyed but nothing like when I thought I was gonna lose it. 

I moved the Grape Caulerpa to a small holding tank so I wouldn't have to worry about losing that as well. 

The two Clowns and the rest of the Macros actually look perfectly fine. 

The rare Caulerpa actually still has baby shoots growing, so even though it's not great, it's not terribly awful either. 

Did another 4g WC today and think I'll just let things stabilize for a bit. 

Oh, and the tank no longer smells like an outhouse today. Whew!!

1. Was funny. I can just imagine the face u made ???

[Nano sapiens]

Great that you resolved the smell issue, 'Reef-a-Potty' is not what anyone should be aspiring to  

[Lula_Mae]

4 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Sooo..... I'm in the midst of an interesting adventure with the Dinky & the Brain Macro Tank. 

Woke up yesterday morning to a slightly cloudy tank. 

Hmmm, what could this be??

(peers more closely into tank)

Goldurnit, the Cactus Caulerpa went sexual!!! 

Bah!!!

Cactus Caulerpa still had some green, wasn't totally white, so I'd caught before it "went all the way". 

Immediately removed the Caulerpa and changed carbon out. 

Couple hrs later did a 3.5g water change, and while I was doing the WC, noticed 2 interesting things.

1.) The water STANK. As in, the tankwater smelled like a potty. Bleccchhh!!! 

2.) Found a dead snail. Wonder if maybe it starved since there isn't a ton of microalgae in the tank with the Macros sucking up all the nutrients. 

 

The Brain had been looking very mildly "off" for just a couple days, so I'm wondering if maybe it was reacting to the snail being on it's way out, and maybe the stress of that is what also caused the Cactus Caulerpa to go sexual. 

I'm grateful that it waited to do it until the day after I mailed out a couple small Macro clippings. 

The Leather is squinched up but not melting, the Brain is still slightly annoyed but nothing like when I thought I was gonna lose it. 

I moved the Grape Caulerpa to a small holding tank so I wouldn't have to worry about losing that as well. 

The two Clowns and the rest of the Macros actually look perfectly fine. 

The rare Caulerpa actually still has baby shoots growing, so even though it's not great, it's not terribly awful either. 

Did another 4g WC today and think I'll just let things stabilize for a bit. 

Oh, and the tank no longer smells like an outhouse today. Whew!!

Yikes!  Did any of the cactus caulerpa survive?  Glad you caught it!  I tried to be conservative with my Reef Cleaners order so I wouldn't end up with a bunch of starving snails even though I've been developing algae on the walls and bottom of the tank.

[HammerLover]

Love those waterfall pics!

[Weetabix7]

2 hours ago, HammerLover said:

Love those waterfall pics!

 

Thanks, nice to see you around!!

On 5/24/2017 at 11:20 PM, Lula_Mae said:

Yikes!  Did any of the cactus caulerpa survive?  Glad you caught it!  I tried to be conservative with my Reef Cleaners order so I wouldn't end up with a bunch of starving snails even though I've been developing algae on the walls and bottom of the tank.

 

It didn't, no. 

I'll just keep an eye out for more at other places. 

One of the side effects has been a noticeable increase in microalgae on the front viewing pane of the tank, and I started to clean it off yesterday but decided to hold back and leave some snacking for the snails for a couple days. 

[cnseekatz]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. There is literally nothing stinkier in this hobby than a dead snail!

 

Where did you get your macros? Do you recommend the supplier? I'm reworking my fuge, and would like to introduce a bunch of non-chaeto macros.

[Lula_Mae]

3 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Thanks, nice to see you around!!

 

It didn't, no. 

I'll just keep an eye out for more at other places. 

One of the side effects has been a noticeable increase in microalgae on the front viewing pane of the tank, and I started to clean it off yesterday but decided to hold back and leave some snacking for the snails for a couple days. 

Well, if mine takes off, you're welcome to some!   It's a neat looking macro.

[Weetabix7]

34 minutes ago, cnseekatz said:

Sorry to hear about the troubles. There is literally nothing stinkier in this hobby than a dead snail!

 

Where did you get your macros? Do you recommend the supplier? I'm reworking my fuge, and would like to introduce a bunch of non-chaeto macros.

 

My favorite Macro supplier that I would absolutely recommend without hesitation is here: http://www.live-plants.com/

Their Red Sampler is one of the best things they have available right now. 

10 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Well, if mine takes off, you're welcome to some!   It's a neat looking macro.

 

Thanks!!

And yes, it is, I've always liked it.