5.5 Gallon Mixed Reef

[Lorekeeper]

No sign of the damsel this afternoon. I've moved around rocks in the tank, and checked all around the room. No dice.

[Lorekeeper]

So, a few things have happened over the past couple of days.

 

I made a purchase that, in hindsight, might not be terribly well-liked. But, I'll definitely be moving tanks to accommodate it. I bought a skunk clown!

 

Specifically, a locally-bred Pink Skunk Clown, who's currently about 1/2". I also bought a 10 gallon while I was there, and I'll be moving everything to the 10 in the next month or so, and probably everything into a 20 when I'm off for college. He's eating, exploring, and seems pretty healthy. Time will tell, but we're off to a good start. 

 

The new light I ordered also came in on Thursday, and it's actually difficult to tell if the same company made it as the last I ordered. This one is surprisingly well-made. If it lasts for a year, I'll be pleased for $7. I've gotten a very, very positive result from every coral in the tank except for the candy cane, which might be a bit too high in the tank now. I also moved the war coral to the back wall, and it's doing some heavy healing back there. I guess due to the way that it shadows itself when it wants to the light doesn't bother it, and it's starting to regrow flesh over the exposed skeleton where it was fragged.

 

I've noticed an increasing amount of cerith snail eggs so they must be doing fairly well. I've got spaghetti worms spread across the tank, as well as a few asterinas and brittle stars. The emerald that I got last weekend has been a star-citizen thus far, and seems to be doing well. I found a molt a few days ago, and frequently see it picking at algae. I did find it buried into my GSP a few days ago, but it didn't seem to be doing anything to the coral, simply picking at mulm between the stalks. I'll keep a close eye yet, but I'm hoping that she remains innocent.

 

Pics!

 

First and foremost, the clown. It decided to come out of hiding for about an hour before lights out, so it was nice to see it color up and start exploring the tank. 

 

 

Then, the war coral, which I don't believe I've updated on here since I moved it. It's actually doing much, much better in lower flow/shadowed light. You can't really see it in the pic, but it's starting to heal pretty nicely. Colors have improved drastically over the past week or so as well, so hopefully this guy will stop giving me fits.

 

 

You might have to go back and compare pics to see a huge difference on camera, but the color difference on all the zoas is night and day with this light. The greens are actually starting to have a bit of green on them, the oranges are... still orange, but slightly more so, and the pink zoas are a bit more of a fluorescent lavender, which is a bit strange. They have been growing over the rock and have sprouted a new polyp, so I think they've settled in fine, reguardless of color.

[Lorekeeper]

More than likely, this tank will be upgrading in a 10 gallon this weekend. I'll be adding another skunk clown to pair this guy with, and starting to shift my focus to some more delicate coral. The clowns will eventually move into a 20/29, but I simply don't have room for one right now. They should be fine for the time being.

 

Anyway, this is probably the last update for the 5.5, and I'll probably either try to get this moved into the Nano section, or just create a new thread there.

 

Pics!

 

First, a FTS as of yesterday. It's a bit dark, but it's better than being blown out, IMO. The plan will be to recreate this scape in the 10, with a few modifications for better flow throughout the tank. GSP bed will be staying, and the War Coral will continue to inhabit the back wall. I may get some Xenia, or maybe some Pink Star Polyps for the sides of the tank, and the plan would be to have a plywood-tank look, but with coral instead. Got a long way to go, growth wise, but hey! I got time.

 

 

The candy cane has done very well, although it hasn't really shown any growth. I'm pretty happy that it's recovered, and is substantially bigger than it was when I got it. Right now, I think it's struggling with light intensity, due to the fact that it closes up during the last few hours of the lighting cycle. I'll be moving it to a slightly dimmer area in the 10 gallon.

 

 

The war coral, who inhabits the back wall of the tank, has shown some pretty quick growth over the past few weeks. None of the new flesh that you can see over the white skeleton was there when it was placed on the glass, so I think that this is the right place to keep it. You can see 3-4 new polyps forming, and there are 2-3 more on the underside of the coral. Happy to see this guy doing better, and he's definitely one of my favorites.

 

 

The skunk clown is doing well, and is slowly warming up to the tank. Sadly, I'll be disrupting that soon enough, but I think having a buddy in the tank will act as a sort of dither, even with the aggression that will take place. Hopefully, it'll go smoothly and with minimal aggression. He's a voracious eater, and stays hidden until I come up to the tank. I think he's taken the ATO as his host, as he uses the mouth of the bottle like he would an anemone. Pretty interesting, although I had hoped he'd choose a more visible area.

 

 

And here's some of the extra rock that I'll be adding to the 10 gallon. I may not use all of it, but I do plan to have at least 3-5 lbs more than I currently do. It got a 2-hour vinegar bath, and then scrubbed until all the outer layer of rock was scrubbed off. Should have gotten rid of most organics, so it shouldn't give much of a cycle. The piece of "Tonga" of the left side of the pic will likely be used in my next pico project, so that'll be left out of the 10.

 

 

[Lorekeeper]

Well, the tank move happened yesterday, and I'm pretty happy with the result.

 

 

I'll probably be making a thread elsewhere for this tank now that it's no longer a pico, so if you'd still like to follow this tank, I'll post a link to that thread here once I create it.