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Hammer's 5 gallon pico reef: almost 4 months! updates, new corals and bye bye clowns :(


HammerLover

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6 hours ago, HammerLover said:

Ok just a few quick updates guys. Pics will come this weekend. I am really burned out with Integral Calculus and physics this summer. Its just week 2 (from 7 weeks) and there are lots of lessons and formulas jammed all inside my head and I cant process them :owned:

 

sooo regarding the pico... The xenia just melted. Like heck!!! IDK its like a fallen tree and it completely detached on the rock it was encrusting

 

my clove polyps were still in the progress of opening and healing since it was fairly bleached when I got it

 

the green torch is the one that's really doing well. Its tentacles are getting longer and longer due to the strong current... I may need to move it soon somewhere though

 

the bleached palys are coloring up nicely, and my bleached implosions are growing back their nice skirts too

 

i also had new corals! :D 

I got the rics from someone and I have around 4 heads. I think 3 are yellow and 1 is green. So excited to add them!

 

and to add, I'll be going to Batangas next weekend! I may grab a couple of macros there for my tank. I remember Picking up a couple of dragon's breath algae washed up on the beach so Im definitely looking forward next week!

 

the sad news, majority of coral selling LFS had closed. They may open back... Sadly I think a year or so from now. Its good I had friends from my local fb group that I can trade/buy frags from... 

 

Just a quick thought on the Xenia, do you have access to be able to get lugol's iodine?

If so, a dip in it might save the Xenia. 

1 cup tankwater, 2 drops lugol's, 5 mins in dip then return to tank.

If you can't get lugol's, you can also use other types of iodine made for Reef Tanks. 

I know Seachem made one, just follow instructions on bottle for that one. 

Good luck, and hang in there with the Calculus!!

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  • 3 weeks later...
HammerLover

Hey guys overdue updates!! Our final exams will be next week and Im so so tired and burned out. Damn 7 weeks of physics and integral calculus really ratted me.

 

anyways, I bought a nice blue coral banded shrimp last week. He molted yesterday so he is quite reclusive but I managed to snap this pic at night 

CzDAgLu.jpg

Here's a pic of the new ricordeas that arrived 2 weeks ago. They are still in the process of attaching themselves to the rocks sooo yeah they dont look quite fully expanded. The sexy definitely fell in loved with it and cant leave it ever since lol

 

 

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HammerLover

Thanks! It already found a nice cave where it settles most of the time. There were times that the sexy and coral banded will bump with each other and its funny how both will bounce back hahaha. The cbs seems to be quite ok with the sexy shrimp maybe because its small? 

  • Like 1
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22 hours ago, HammerLover said:

 

And here's the bleached clove polyps and implosions. They improved alot already

 

 

Oh my goodness, just beautiful!!!

Nice to see you post again, was wondering about you just the other day. 

Hope your exam results are good and you can take a breather and revive now. 

  • Like 1
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HammerLover
On 22 May 2017 at 6:32 PM, Lisa166 said:

Good luck with your exams and real pretty stuff you got there!

Thanks! My tank is progressing really slow because coral selling is banned :( but I found some frags for sale from fellow reefers 

On 22 May 2017 at 8:28 PM, bofo said:

Not only beautiful, but crafty, down to the silicone application! 

Thank you! However this 5 gallon AIO tank is not originally made by me haha. It was Sandeep's idea and all I did was copy it :)

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HammerLover

Some moar new pics :)

here's a dragon's breath I picked up from Calatagan beach. It was originally pale orange but the intense blue light made it bloody red

 

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46 minutes ago, HammerLover said:

Some moar new pics :)

here's a dragon's breath I picked up from Calatagan beach. It was originally pale orange but the intense blue light made it bloody red

 

 

This is gorgeous!!!!

FTS???

  • Like 1
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HammerLover
21 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

This is gorgeous!!!!

FTS???

Thank you :happy:

 

i havent snapped some fts before leaving for school so Ill snap some when I get home later. Also I passed Integral calculus and physics with flying colors! So happy and tired with all the eyebags at the same time ahaha. 

 

Here's some more pics :)

the torch only had one head left. The other two heads crashed when the xenia died :( but this single head has been steadily thriving since

The other ricordea ia still attaching itself. All rics in the pics were very fluffy because they just ate a single pellet before picture time ^_^

So after passing my subjects I will reward myself by buying alot of zoa frags next week. I will also get some softies like kenyas an anthelias :)

 

cant wait for the next week and Ill post an fts this weekend :D 

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  • 1 month later...
HammerLover

ERMAHGERD GUYS SUPER DUPER DUPER OVERDUE UPDATES :lol:omgomgomg

 

Sooo my little 5 gal is turning 3 months old a few weeks from now and recently I've received a couple of frags. Im super duper busy with school even though summer is over. I did pass my physics and integral calculus last summer so Ive bought alot of frags to reward myself :happy:

 

UPDATES:
-Changed the rockscape.

I made it into a central mound with crevices and holes plus lots of open spaces, so that cleaning will be easy and detritus wont settle in pockets at low flow areas

 

-Added my first FISH!

Yes, it is a Randall's shrimp goby and it seems to be quite shy for now since I added it last week. The good news is that its already eating pellets, so happy it wasnt that hard to pellet train :happy:

 

-Added moar frags

So Ive added alot of zoas recently plus some rock anemones (they are not rock flower anemones, btw) for my lone sexy shrimp and porcelain but it they still ignored it <_< Ive also added a small green digitata frag and a small gsp frag :D

 

 

-Losses

Despite the many good news, here comes the bad news:

*lost my single torch because it fell down on the sand when my blue hermit bumped it and it died fast due to brown jelly infection

*lost my blue cbs due to unknown reason. I suddenly saw it twitching and slowly dying... And then a few hours later it was totally dead, really weird. My params are fine and my sexy shrimp is happy and healthy so I dont know what happened to the blue cbs

 

So basically many things have happened in the tank, but Im happy how my tank and other corals continues to thrive despite the setbacks. And as promised, overdue pics :D

 

My implosion palys just exploded growth :flower:

X8fIUuq.jpg

 

A mat type of paly that is found in our local seas. I believe its Palythoa

I3ybRrs.jpg

 

bought this lovely frag from a fellow reefer. ID is still unknown

OKe9MRx.jpg

 

pinkish red zoa frag, reminds me of Natalia's pink gonis in her reefbowl :wub:

tqQkxoX.jpg

 

the glorious yellow ricordea yuma

dDsEq0J.jpg

 

the other yuma

zp6uly9.jpg

 

blowpop zoa frag, excuse my super crappy shots -_-

qSad08L.jpg

 

mint green cloves are fully recovered

AiR8A6K.jpg

 

a weird zoa frag, looks alot like watermelons but the centers are different

YYfShIQ.jpg

 

the rock anemones :wub:

0m8m3qr.jpg

 

I call this one as "fake bounce" mushroom :happydance:

VrssAnl.jpg

 

Frag tub galore! the 2 zoas on the left are unknown in ID, then there's the pink zoa in the middle (had 3 babies already!) then the weird unknown zoa with gold glitters and the last is the blowpop zoa frag

SRw9b7L.jpg

 

The RPEs behind the implosion palys

4Ld8hlH.jpg

 

tiny nub of gsp

ivi3gZw.jpg

 

and a crappy FTS, used a fish eye lens here lol :blush:

5ETHdkV.jpg

 

 

 

I failed badly at using this fish eye lens!!! :lol:

EkU3mG5.jpg

 

 

 

 

  • Like 3
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41 minutes ago, HammerLover said:

ERMAHGERD GUYS SUPER DUPER DUPER OVERDUE UPDATES :lol:omgomgomg

 

Sooo my little 5 gal is turning 3 months old a few weeks from now and recently I've received a couple of frags. Im super duper busy with school even though summer is over. I did pass my physics and integral calculus last summer so Ive bought alot of frags to reward myself :happy:

 

UPDATES:
-Changed the rockscape.

I made it into a central mound with crevices and holes plus lots of open spaces, so that cleaning will be easy and detritus wont settle in pockets at low flow areas

 

-Added my first FISH!

Yes, it is a Randall's shrimp goby and it seems to be quite shy for now since I added it last week. The good news is that its already eating pellets, so happy it wasnt that hard to pellet train :happy:

 

-Added moar frags

So Ive added alot of zoas recently plus some rock anemones (they are not rock flower anemones, btw) for my lone sexy shrimp and porcelain but it they still ignored it <_< Ive also added a small green digitata frag and a small gsp frag :D

 

 

-Losses

Despite the many good news, here comes the bad news:

*lost my single torch because it fell down on the sand when my blue hermit bumped it and it died fast due to brown jelly infection

*lost my blue cbs due to unknown reason. I suddenly saw it twitching and slowly dying... And then a few hours later it was totally dead, really weird. My params are fine and my sexy shrimp is happy and healthy so I dont know what happened to the blue cbs

 

So basically many things have happened in the tank, but Im happy how my tank and other corals continues to thrive despite the setbacks. And as promised, overdue pics :D

 

My implosion palys just exploded growth :flower:

X8fIUuq.jpg

 

A mat type of paly that is found in our local seas. I believe its Palythoa

I3ybRrs.jpg

 

bought this lovely frag from a fellow reefer. ID is still unknown

OKe9MRx.jpg

 

pinkish red zoa frag, reminds me of Natalia's pink gonis in her reefbowl :wub:

tqQkxoX.jpg

 

the glorious yellow ricordea yuma

dDsEq0J.jpg

 

the other yuma

zp6uly9.jpg

 

blowpop zoa frag, excuse my super crappy shots -_-

qSad08L.jpg

 

mint green cloves are fully recovered

AiR8A6K.jpg

 

a weird zoa frag, looks alot like watermelons but the centers are different

YYfShIQ.jpg

 

the rock anemones :wub:

0m8m3qr.jpg

 

I call this one as "fake bounce" mushroom :happydance:

VrssAnl.jpg

 

Frag tub galore! the 2 zoas on the left are unknown in ID, then there's the pink zoa in the middle (had 3 babies already!) then the weird unknown zoa with gold glitters and the last is the blowpop zoa frag

SRw9b7L.jpg

 

The RPEs behind the implosion palys

4Ld8hlH.jpg

 

tiny nub of gsp

ivi3gZw.jpg

 

and a crappy FTS, used a fish eye lens here lol :blush:

5ETHdkV.jpg

 

 

 

I failed badly at using this fish eye lens!!! :lol:

EkU3mG5.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Holy wow!!!

I'm sorry for the losses, but it looks to me like the good far outweighs the bad!!

I can see why the Pink Zoas remind you of Natalia's Goni, and I love the Cloves and Yumas!!

Glad you are doing well with school even if it is still a little crazy. 

Considering the fact that your Sexy Shrimp are doing well, it seems likely that the CBS shrimp already had something wrong with it. 

Oh, those Rock Anemones are cool too!!

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  • 3 weeks later...
HammerLover

Hi guys sorry Im struggling with school really hard because majors in geology was just errrggghhhhh.

Anyways despite my lack of time I still do the regular maintenance for my tank. So for updates:

 

-Bought a cheap skimmer. A fellow reefer sold it to me for a very very cheap price. My skimmer is an NS80 skimmer :)

 

-New fish! Unfortunately all my gobies carpet surfed <_< so I opted with clowns, and they seem to love the current! I also had a bicolor blenny in there so I know my tank is terribly overstocked but the skimmer seems to keep things quite stable.

 

PICS:

 

Implosion palys :wub:

uYYhtdK.jpg

 

The clownfish

YltJXAS.jpg

 

Sexy shrimp enjoying the yuma garden, the purple yuma on the left is new

gbQSe5r.jpg

 

New zoas! so lovely :wub:

ayBQ5nd.jpg

 

Tried a mille frag. Hopefully its quite happy and has nice PE

CVch5yj.jpg

 

The happy couple. The RPEs are recovering from being bleached

0vTlpee.jpg

 

The glorious FTS!

So far I had a new open brain coral at the back, yellow leather frag below the gorg and some zoas from a fellow reefer!

I added a ton of Nass snails too plus a Halloween hermit :) Will take pics of them soon

IFGjhQE.jpg

 

Thanks for viewing and happy reefing!!

 


 

 

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HammerLover

Ignore my dirty sandbed! Tank receives bright indirect sunlight so algae is growing happily lol. I also let algae grow on the sides and back of my tank, only the front glass gets cleaned. My bicolor blenny loves nibbling those as well as my sexy.

 

My Bicolor is such a PITA. WHen Im near the tank it barely comes out but when Im not too far say, 4-5 feet away I can see the little rascal swimming happily and pecking on the glass! Is there something I can do? Its been like that for weeks -_-

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fishfreak0114

Wow, your pico is looking great!  Those polyps that are growing a mat are super interesting, I've never seen anything like that in Canada before.  Adorable clowns :wub:

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HammerLover
On 29 June 2017 at 11:23 PM, Weetabix7 said:

 

Holy wow!!!

I'm sorry for the losses, but it looks to me like the good far outweighs the bad!!

I can see why the Pink Zoas remind you of Natalia's Goni, and I love the Cloves and Yumas!!

Glad you are doing well with school even if it is still a little crazy. 

Considering the fact that your Sexy Shrimp are doing well, it seems likely that the CBS shrimp already had something wrong with it. 

Oh, those Rock Anemones are cool too!!

So sorry for the late reply. College is really killing me. I hate how professors in my majors never teach, they just shoved you books to read and study then you'll have a quiz out of nowhere! Im really glad my pico relieves my stress! :D 

Just now, fishfreak0114 said:

Wow, your pico is looking great!  Those polyps that are growing a mat are super interesting, I've never seen anything like that in Canada before.  Adorable clowns :wub:

Thanks! The palythoa is a local paly found in our beaches and is found in fairly shallow waters. I have a hard time attaching the mat with a superglue due to sliming so I'll just let it stick on its own. Even though its a dul brown with a hint of green color it sure is an interesting specimen :)

 

my clowns are so cute swimming in the current but they seem to take a liking with my new open brain from a fellow reefer. (which is still healing because it got stung by a ricordea).

 

thanks for viewing :wub:

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  • 2 weeks later...
HammerLover

Hey guys I guess I can only make a weekly update XD 

Really sorry for my business in college :blush:

 

I rearranged some rocks and moved the zoas uptop since my open brain is expanding it needs the sandbed all for itself. I also have some new corals!
Ive got these for adoption from a quitting reefer:

-Orange red acan with injuries and minor tissue loss

-Blue green chalice frag with minor necrosis

 

And I also bought a couple more corals :D
-Jasmine/knopia polyps + freebie GSP

-Green rhodactis shroom

-Pipe organ coral (OMG!!! )

 

The bleached RPEs as well as the injured open brain has been recovering nicely. The implosion palys were definitely taking off and some of my zoa frags are having babies :happydance:

 

PICS TIME!! :lol:

 

The lovely implosions is now dominating the pico

Bl3ueXC.jpg

 

Zoa frag island looking good 

iBDXfdy.jpg

 

Chalice frag seems happy 

vW14EW0.jpg

 

Open brain is recovering nicely, it does consume alot of space though

lMWCObt.jpg

 

Ricordea yuma garden with the sexy

gcUbTA0.jpg

 

 

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HammerLover

the pipe organ not yet fully open

Bnvts8L.jpg

 

wall of polyps, they will cover it soon and be a wall of pretty polyps :D these are gsp and knopia/jasmine polyps. Still not fully open though

pkmk78T.jpg

 

leather toadstool

TAhuBOu.jpg

 

FTS, tank seems cramped lol. Still cant get a pic of the bicolor (that hideous elusive sh*t)

gUlYRnL.jpg

 

Unfortunately both clowns died due to disease :( luckily my bicolor blenny wasnt affected and is happy as a clam. The acro frag suffered STN when the clowns died since I didnt remove them immediately coz I was busy from school. I only found the tail and some remains because the sexy and nassarius snails ate all the dead bodies. The acro was adopted by a reefer with a high tech setup. In return he will give me some purple deaths, nuclear death palys and super saiyan zoas! Such a kind friend :D

 

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1 hour ago, HammerLover said:

the pipe organ not yet fully open

Bnvts8L.jpg

 

wall of polyps, they will cover it soon and be a wall of pretty polyps :D these are gsp and knopia/jasmine polyps. Still not fully open though

pkmk78T.jpg

 

leather toadstool

TAhuBOu.jpg

 

FTS, tank seems cramped lol. Still cant get a pic of the bicolor (that hideous elusive sh*t)

gUlYRnL.jpg

 

Unfortunately both clowns died due to disease :( luckily my bicolor blenny wasnt affected and is happy as a clam. The acro frag suffered STN when the clowns died since I didnt remove them immediately coz I was busy from school. I only found the tail and some remains because the sexy and nassarius snails ate all the dead bodies. The acro was adopted by a reefer with a high tech setup. In return he will give me some purple deaths, nuclear death palys and super saiyan zoas! Such a kind friend :D

 

 

Wow, everything is looking great!!

Sorry to hear about the Clowns though. :closedeyes:

Other than that, looks like you're seeing lots of healthy growth. 

I know that Open Brain is big but it sure is pretty!!

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fishfreak0114

It's looking great in there!  Certainly filling up. It's nice to hear that you have some corals recovering :) sorry about the clowns :( 

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