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Coral Vue Hydros

5.5 Gallon Mixed Reef


Lorekeeper

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9 minutes ago, Lisa166 said:

Thats the easier thing yeah. Although I might just ask my dad to bring me to the shop tomorrow as well :rolleyes:

I may be getting to go tomorrow, but I've got an ACT to take... fun times!

 

Did some looking around, and as long as the buying options don't change too much in the next month, I'll be starting out with this stocking in May:

 

2X Trochus

1X Mushroom Coral (just a cheap one to test the water...)

1X Caulerpa Prolifera (Gonna chance it)

 

Figure that let's me get a feeling of what I want with one of each (inverts, a coral, and a macro).

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9 hours ago, Lorekeeper said:

I may be getting to go tomorrow, but I've got an ACT to take... fun times!

 

Did some looking around, and as long as the buying options don't change too much in the next month, I'll be starting out with this stocking in May:

 

2X Trochus

1X Mushroom Coral (just a cheap one to test the water...)

1X Caulerpa Prolifera (Gonna chance it)

 

Figure that let's me get a feeling of what I want with one of each (inverts, a coral, and a macro).

That sounds like a good starter plan, though I don't know if you'll need two snails (someone who's had trochus before can chime in, I have never been able to find them).  Mushies are cool!

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Just now, Lula_Mae said:

That sounds like a good starter plan, though I don't know if you'll need two snails (someone who's had trochus before can chime in, I have never been able to find them).  Mushies are cool!

That's something I meant to mention!

 

I've been talking to someone on my main forum (fishlore), and they said that I probably wouldn't need two Trochus.

 

Meant to add it to the post I made. So if you guys think I only need one, that's what I'll use.

 

Thanks!

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I'd say start out with one and see how it works for you. 

If it turns out to be an inedequate Janitor, add a second to the crew!!

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3 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

I'd say start out with one and see how it works for you. 

If it turns out to be an inedequate Janitor, add a second to the crew!!

Kinda what I was thinking, too.  Then you don't have to worry about the risk of not having enough for both to eat and possibly losing one.

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Been a busy day!

 

Took a 400 problem test, then went into town for a few hours... I'm beat!
 

I made it into the LFS and ended up leaving with some decent stuff.

 

3 pounds of semi-live rock (I say semi because it's just barely damp, very uncured, perfect for cycling). I ended up getting two pieces that were in a really nice fuge for a few years that seems to have a lot of small sponges (probably dead), snails (probably dead), and lots of little holes for all sorts of creepy crawlies! Then I also got a piece that is pretty coraline covered, however it was drier than the other pieces. I'm not exactly sure if the coraline with come back. We'll see!

 

While I was up there, we talked about my tank and he gave me some advice and tips.

 

He stocks Trochus for $1.98 (cheaper than online), and has a metric ton of chaeto and Caulerpa. I'm not sure which species, but it was definitely Caulerpa.

 

He doesn't stock any Pederson Shrimp, however he may be able to order me one. If not, then he's got a pretty good selection of inverts, or I can order it myself.

 

His frag tank was astonishing. He grows and frags his own, so he almost never orders any new, but the corals he has are some of the healthiest I've ever seen. He had SPS that were colors I didn't even knew existed in nature, and softies that just looked great.

 

Agreed with the one snail, I'll probably get the one from him after the cycle and let it go like that.

 

Looking forward to seeing hitchikers!

 

I'll add pics at 6 when lights come back on.

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What an amazing trip!!!

I'm so jealous that you have an LFS like that, but also very glad for you that you have access to it. 

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Just now, Weetabix7 said:

What an amazing trip!!!

I'm so jealous that you have an LFS like that, but also very glad for you that you have access to it. 

Well, it's an hour away, so it's not really all that accessible to me. Still, a trip up there every month or two would be nice.

 

He's a breeder, so he more or less stocks himself. It's pretty great, since he can beat most prices on fish and coral.

 

He also had the most amazing Coral Beauty Dwarf Angel. It was a deep purple with a bright yellow coloring in the middle. If I ever get a tank big enough, that's going to be my go to fish.

 

 

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35 minutes ago, Lorekeeper said:

Well, it's an hour away, so it's not really all that accessible to me. Still, a trip up there every month or two would be nice.

 

He's a breeder, so he more or less stocks himself. It's pretty great, since he can beat most prices on fish and coral.

 

He also had the most amazing Coral Beauty Dwarf Angel. It was a deep purple with a bright yellow coloring in the middle. If I ever get a tank big enough, that's going to be my go to fish.

 

 

 

I understand. 

My Go To good quality LFS is a 1.5 hr drive away in Columbia. 

It's worth it for the good stuff tho!!

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I started reefing when the nearest LFS (besides Petco, which doesn't count) was an hour + away.  It's tough but doable, just means you don't get to do stuff as quickly as you might like.

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Yup! Going slow isn't always a bad thing, either.

 

Just saw a tiny bristleworm pop out of the rock and go for a stroll around the tank... They're cute when they're still under 2-3 inches!

 

Good sign that at least something survived on the rock, at least.

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I suspect you're gonna see all kinds of things popping out of the rock!!

The sponges on the fuge rock are actually probably alive, esp if they're white. 

The coralline will quite likely survive as well, esp if it still has color now. 

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So here's some quick pics I took, tried to get a somewhat decent quality with my phone.

 

58e95f2f1803a_NewRock.thumb.jpg.21238705c5ea3a2ebeeb3b6a195d90c4.jpg

You can see the drier rock with all of the coraline on the left, and the fuge rock on the right. 

58e95f9083a22_NewRocko2.thumb.jpg.e020a5bacca3218a96405f86ee427e8b.jpg

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That fuge rock looks really good to me. 

I'm wondering if the purple rock is that "Real Reef Rock". Did the guy call it that?

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6 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

That fuge rock looks really good to me. 

I'm wondering if the purple rock is that "Real Reef Rock". Did the guy call it that?

No, he just had a bunch of bins labeled "live rock". Whats the "real reef rock"?

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I've been seeing that specific Real Reef Rock brand of rock showing up in people's tanks lately, and they seem to be doing well with it. 

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14 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

I've been seeing that specific Real Reef Rock brand of rock showing up in people's tanks lately, and they seem to be doing well with it. 

Good to know.

 

Either way, the stuff I've got seems alright so far. 

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There's a small orange sponge on the rock, and I can't tell if it's alive or not... I assume it's a sponge that's just gotten scraped open pretty bad. I've heard that some of the sponges that come in on live rock are pretty hard to kill though, so I'm hopeful lol.

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On 4/4/2017 at 7:30 PM, Weetabix7 said:

 

I would be very cautious keeping a hermit with cerith snails. They like to kill ceriths for their snails. 

Hermits have always given me trouble, so I usually avoid them. 

 

Xenia, Kenya Tree and Mushrooms would all be easy to keep in this Jar. If anything, they will likely grow too fast and you'll have to frag them and trade in or sell frags. 

Small Leathers should be fine. 

Zoas..... well, Zoas can be tricky. They either work great or they don't, lol. Bam-Bams tend to be a very hardy orange Zoa, not sure on a good yellow one. 

Most of those Macros should be doable. 

I don't think you'd be able to keep the Blue color on the Blue scroll, it tends to like pretty intense lighting. OR if you feel adventurous you could try adding some of the Fiji Mud that encouraged my Blue Scroll to keep it's color. 

I honestly don't remember whether the Purple Fauchea is difficult or not, sorry. 

Where did you get your blue scroll from? And what tank is it/do you have pictures?

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34 minutes ago, JoeR said:

Where did you get your blue scroll from? And what tank is it/do you have pictures?

 

Hi Joe!

I got it from a member on here named organism, but I don't think he's been active on here in a while. 

I do know that there are other people on here who have it, but I don't know where they got it from. 

I had it in my 4g Pico Contest tank that was Macro dominated, that's where the pics in my Sig come from. 

Here's the tank thread, you can find good pics of the Blue Scroll on there: 

 

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17 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Hi Joe!

I got it from a member on here named organism, but I don't think he's been active on here in a while. 

I do know that there are other people on here who have it, but I don't know where they got it from. 

I had it in my 4g Pico Contest tank that was Macro dominated, that's where the pics in my Sig come from. 

Here's the tank thread, you can find good pics of the Blue Scroll on there: 

 

Thanks for the link! Wow that was a really spectacular tank! The blue scroll looked awesome, I can't wait to find one myself. Was it an easy macro to keep?

 

That chiton was really cool too, I've never even heard of those before. I'll have to research them now. I was told I can't have an urchin in my pico but I might be able to have a chiton lol!

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13 minutes ago, JoeR said:

Thanks for the link! Wow that was a really spectacular tank! The blue scroll looked awesome, I can't wait to find one myself. Was it an easy macro to keep?

 

That chiton was really cool too, I've never even heard of those before. I'll have to research them now. I was told I can't have an urchin in my pico but I might be able to have a chiton lol!

 

Thanks!!

That was probably my favorite tank out of all the ones I've done, and it actually got published in a Reef Aquarium book by Alf Nilsen as well. 

I don't believe the Blue Scroll was hard to keep, pretty sure it likes high flow. 

I really loved the Hairy Chiton too. You can find one for sale here: http://www.kpaquatics.com/product/hairy-chitons/

 

Sorry for thread hijack, LK!!

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