Weetie's Zen Learning Experiment, Random Stuff

[Pjanssen]

sorry about your fish.

[Lisa166]

P so sorry to hear about dinky! 

 

[Lula_Mae]

7 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

You guys are sweeties. 

I'm distracting myself by sitting in front of the tanks and just observing some of the cool small details. 

And making plans. 

 

Wanted to mention one quick thing that we'd talked about in here regarding the Sargassum. 

I am pretty sure that my main Sargassum plant is showing some healthy growth around the base!!

I am also thinking I'm ready to prune back about half of the top growth off of that one and can mail that to someone ( @Lula_Mae?), with no guarantees on how it would fare. Never tried that, so it would be an experiment of sorts. 

YASSSSS!!!! I am so game! 

[fishfreak0114]

Aww, so sorry to hear about Dinky 

[ReefNewby82]

Dang Weets...sorry to hear about Dinky.  That's never a fun thing to come back to.  

[Weetabix7]

Hey Peeps, I'm sorry about the lack of pics and updates. 

Tbh, I've been extremely distracted. 

Well, ok, more than distracted, I've been a little freaked out. 

SO not Zen, right?? 

 

When I started this whole Zen Learning Experiment, I started with things I already had on hand. 

The Waterfall tank had been a gift from husband the previous Christmas & had been sitting around in the box since then, I already had cycled water and rock and had very little I needed to get to start it up. 

What I did need to purchase I was able to finance by selling off old equipment. (thanks guys!!)

It was a crazy out of the box idea, but whaddya know, presto-change-o, it worked, Ta Da!!! 

 

Then I figured that had worked, maybe I should clean up my old cobwebby custom acrylic AIO and see what I could do with that. 

I already had the rock, fish and water from my very stable Pico to start it up with and whaddya know, presto-change-o, Macro Forest!!!!

I've had some setbacks and obstacles with both tanks, but nothing insurmountable. 

It seemed like every time I took a step forward, more just kept becoming possible. 

Huh. 

Interesting. 

 

And THEN.... stuff started coming together for me to set up my Dream Tank. 

This was bigger & much different. 

See, I've had this picture of my Dream System in my head for something like 8-10 yrs. I don't even know how long, but it's been a while. 

When I walked away from Reefing a few years back, I gave all those dreams & ideas up, I was just too exhausted to try anymore. 

I've been lugging the stand around for this tank for several years, using it as a cabinet and assuming that's all it would ever be. 

And..... well...... through a series of circumstances I now have almost everything I need to set it up. 

I definitely have everything I need to get it started. 

And then I froze up. 

Cause I couldn't do this casually. 

And the idea of trying it and failing freaked me out. 

But sometime today I got over myself & just made the decision that I was gonna trust myself. 

I'm leaving for Family Vacay Mon morning and plan to get this off the ground the week after that. 

 

And now after all this build-up, you may kill me, but I'm not gonna give all the details on what I'm doing. 

Here's a Sneak Preview though:

-It's a 40 breeder tank

-It'll be low-tech and focused on biology

-It'll have some experimental stuff, including at least 1 idea I've never seen done before. 

 

Whew, I'm all talked out, anybody got a Relaxing Zen Drink in their Snack Bag??

 

 

 

[SeaFurn]

So excited that you're going to be pursuing your dream!

I'll definitely be following along! I'm also curious about this never-been-seen-before experiment!! 

 

Enjoy your vacay! 

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hey Peeps, I'm sorry about the lack of pics and updates. 

Tbh, I've been extremely distracted. 

Well, ok, more than distracted, I've been a little freaked out. 

SO not Zen, right?? 

 

When I started this whole Zen Learning Experiment, I started with things I already had on hand. 

The Waterfall tank had been a gift from husband the previous Christmas & had been sitting around in the box since then, I already had cycled water and rock and had very little I needed to get to start it up. 

What I did need to purchase I was able to finance by selling off old equipment. (thanks guys!!)

It was a crazy out of the box idea, but whaddya know, presto-change-o, it worked, Ta Da!!! 

 

Then I figured that had worked, maybe I should clean up my old cobwebby custom acrylic AIO and see what I could do with that. 

I already had the rock, fish and water from my very stable Pico to start it up with and whaddya know, presto-change-o, Macro Forest!!!!

I've had some setbacks and obstacles with both tanks, but nothing insurmountable. 

It seemed like every time I took a step forward, more just kept becoming possible. 

Huh. 

Interesting. 

 

And THEN.... stuff started coming together for me to set up my Dream Tank. 

This was bigger & much different. 

See, I've had this picture of my Dream System in my head for something like 8-10 yrs. I don't even know how long, but it's been a while. 

When I walked away from Reefing a few years back, I gave all those dreams & ideas up, I was just too exhausted to try anymore. 

I've been lugging the stand around for this tank for several years, using it as a cabinet and assuming that's all it would ever be. 

And..... well...... through a series of circumstances I now have almost everything I need to set it up. 

I definitely have everything I need to get it started. 

And then I froze up. 

Cause I couldn't do this casually. 

And the idea of trying it and failing freaked me out. 

But sometime today I got over myself & just made the decision that I was gonna trust myself. 

I'm leaving for Family Vacay Mon morning and plan to get this off the ground the week after that. 

 

And now after all this build-up, you may kill me, but I'm not gonna give all the details on what I'm doing. 

Here's a Sneak Preview though:

-It's a 40 breeder tank

-It'll be low-tech and focused on biology

-It'll have some experimental stuff, including at least 1 idea I've never seen done before. 

 

Whew, I'm all talked out, anybody got a Relaxing Zen Drink in their Snack Bag??

 

 

 

Woohoo!  

[ReefWeeds]

On 6/6/2017 at 2:35 PM, Weetabix7 said:

Dinky is dead. 

 

Just got home from an out of state trip and found his body dead at the top of my overflow, resting on a bag of carbon. 

He was the one I cared about the most of the 2 fish, too. 

RIP Dinky, enjoy lotsa shrimp mush in the Great Reef in the Sky. 

I'm so sorry Weetie  

[ReefWeeds]

You're totally gonna make us wait until you get back from vacay?!? Dammit!  

 

but it sounds awesome

[Lisa166]

Im so happy for you!

It is scary. But I have every confidence that you can do it, you helped me with a lot of things and all your advice has been very good! So, just trust yourself and you will do great. 

 

For now, have fun with the holiday. Find some zen and then get back and take the plunge!'

 

I am very curious to see this develop! 

[Nidilsky]

13 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Hey Peeps, I'm sorry about the lack of pics and updates. 

Tbh, I've been extremely distracted. 

Well, ok, more than distracted, I've been a little freaked out. 

SO not Zen, right?? 

 

When I started this whole Zen Learning Experiment, I started with things I already had on hand. 

The Waterfall tank had been a gift from husband the previous Christmas & had been sitting around in the box since then, I already had cycled water and rock and had very little I needed to get to start it up. 

What I did need to purchase I was able to finance by selling off old equipment. (thanks guys!!)

It was a crazy out of the box idea, but whaddya know, presto-change-o, it worked, Ta Da!!! 

 

Then I figured that had worked, maybe I should clean up my old cobwebby custom acrylic AIO and see what I could do with that. 

I already had the rock, fish and water from my very stable Pico to start it up with and whaddya know, presto-change-o, Macro Forest!!!!

I've had some setbacks and obstacles with both tanks, but nothing insurmountable. 

It seemed like every time I took a step forward, more just kept becoming possible. 

Huh. 

Interesting. 

 

And THEN.... stuff started coming together for me to set up my Dream Tank. 

This was bigger & much different. 

See, I've had this picture of my Dream System in my head for something like 8-10 yrs. I don't even know how long, but it's been a while. 

When I walked away from Reefing a few years back, I gave all those dreams & ideas up, I was just too exhausted to try anymore. 

I've been lugging the stand around for this tank for several years, using it as a cabinet and assuming that's all it would ever be. 

And..... well...... through a series of circumstances I now have almost everything I need to set it up. 

I definitely have everything I need to get it started. 

And then I froze up. 

Cause I couldn't do this casually. 

And the idea of trying it and failing freaked me out. 

But sometime today I got over myself & just made the decision that I was gonna trust myself. 

I'm leaving for Family Vacay Mon morning and plan to get this off the ground the week after that. 

 

And now after all this build-up, you may kill me, but I'm not gonna give all the details on what I'm doing. 

Here's a Sneak Preview though:

-It's a 40 breeder tank

-It'll be low-tech and focused on biology

-It'll have some experimental stuff, including at least 1 idea I've never seen done before. 

 

Whew, I'm all talked out, anybody got a Relaxing Zen Drink in their Snack Bag??

 

 

 

You, along with a few others, have been my go to source for how I want my tank to look and how to make sure the inhabitants are safe, happy and thriving! I know that you will make whatever it is you want to do, happen and it will be great! Have fun!

[debbeach13]

Have a great vacation. Looking forward to following the new adventure.

[markalot]

Sounds perfect, I do like the 40 breeder for a nice small, but not too small, tank.  

[gena]

This is awesome!!!!  Can't wait to see what amazing ideas you have for this tank.  Experiments rock .

[fishfreak0114]

We have to wait for deets?!  So excited for this, I know it's gonna be awesome!

[Weetabix7]

You guys are awesome, thanks so much for the support and encouragement. 

 

I took a bunch of pics of both the Macro Forest and the Waterfall, have uploaded to photobucket and just need to do a quick edit. 

They aren't the best pics, but you guys have waited long enough and I'm just gonna post what I have here shortly and worry about getting perfect pics later. 

[Weetabix7]

Ok, I'll start with the larger Macro Tank. 

It only has one Clownfish now. 

About a week and a half ago I started adding Magnesion by Brightwell Aquatics to raise the Mg level. 

It was at 1215 when I started and at 1320 on Tuesday. 

Effects I saw from this: fish became sluggish, Red Titan, Galaxaura & rare Caulerpa all faded, Sargassum had robust new growth around the base. 

 

Here's a couple shots of the tank, notice the large leaves all around the base of the larger Sargassum in the back, that's all new growth. 

 

 

 

Here's an extreme close-up of the fronds on the rare Caulerpa:

 

 

 

Interestingly enough, that fading that I saw in three plants was most evident where the plants received the strongest sunlight. I'm wondering if there might be some kind of additive in the Magnesion similar to the previous versions of Kent Marine's Tech-M that affects photosynthesis. 

I don't think it's just cause I raised Mg. 

Either I did it too fast or there's something else in there affecting things adversely. 

I didn't like what I was seeing so I did a couple of WC's over the last 2 days and have kept the blinds closed right in front of the tank. 

Fish looks slightly perkier today, I will continue monitoring and adjusting. 

 

Waterfall pics next!!!

[Weetabix7]

I should mention that the Waterfall Tank hadn't had lights on for very long when I took these shots so some corals had opened fully yet, it's mostly noticeable in the 3rd compartment. 

 

Top-down FTS (FWS?)

 

 

In this shot of the first compartment I didn't edit it cause colors are mostly accurate except that the Palys are much brighter in person. 

Well, the RFA is a lighter brighter too. Ah, what the heck, here it is:

 

 

Middle compartment, side view looking in:

 

 

The following pic is being shared to show the great polyp extension on the Monti Cap and the very happy featherduster attached to it's underside. 

The color in this pic is not at all true to life, it's a Red Monti Cap that is very pretty and bright. 

 

 

Ok, third and last compartment. 

Here's a topdown, remember corals aren't fully open in this one. 

They're brighter in real life too. 

Ugh, dangit, I don't think PB is showing my edited pics at all. 

Ok, this is driving me nuts but I promised pics, so in this following pic please imagine that the corals are literally 10 times brighter in color, cause they actually are!!!

Bah. 

 

 

Here's a closer in shot of the Orange Yuma, which has been opening much bigger since I started adding live phyto:

 

 

 

Everything is really way brighter, I promise. 

I think it might be time to switch to Flickr. 

[calvin]

looks good. your sargassum is doing tons better than mine. mine has almost completely died off. I think it may have to do with my lack of water changes over the past several weeks due to illness. trying to get back on track. 

[Lula_Mae]

Love the pics, everything looks awesome!  I feel you on how hard it can be to get good shots under a PAR bulb lol.  My new one is much better color-temperature-wise but still not easy sometimes because the white rocks look so washed out they glow!

[Weetabix7]

Quick question, is changing out carbon something that might typically irritate a Leather coral?

[fishfreak0114]

I've never noticed it bother any of mine before. 

[seabass]

26 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Quick question, is changing out carbon something that might typically irritate a Leather coral?

You wouldn't think so.  But IDK, if it's been awhile, it might be allowing more light through and causing some photo shock.

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/5-common-reasons-leather-corals-refuse-to-expand-2692/

[Weetabix7]

25 minutes ago, seabass said:

You wouldn't think so.  But IDK, if it's been awhile, it might be allowing more light through and causing some photo shock.

http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/5-common-reasons-leather-corals-refuse-to-expand-2692/

 

Been 2 weeks since I changed the carbon and 3 out of my 4 T5HO bulbs are old, so I doubt it's that. 

 

I changed the carbon, changed flow in the tank slightly but nothing blowing directly on the leather. Same amount of flow, just changed where it's coming from. 

Added small amount of the Alk part of ESV B-ionic but not enough to cause a big alk swing or anything. 

No WC, nothing else, Leather is all squinched up. 

Have new Macros arriving any minute and trying to decide if Leather is telling me something is momentarily "off" in the tank and I should put the Macros in my backup tank. 

It's kind of an overflow Macro nursery that is simple and small but stuff seems to be doing fine in it.