smac0806 Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Hi all! So I finally have my first nano reef up and running (3/18/17) and ecstatic! Specs: Fluval Evo 13.5 gal AIO, 16W/1383 lumens/14k LED, 500GPH pump, fluval heater, carbon filter and biomax media (protein skimmer being added shortly), Eheim auto feeder, 8lb man made live rock, 1.5" live sand Occupants: 2 captive bred black and white Ocellaris (Lilly and James) 1 captive bred Rainford goby (Doug) 1 Emerald crab (Kevin) 4 Cerith snails (Hughey, Dewy, Louie, and Chewy) 2 toadstools/leather corals Various zoanthids 1 pulsing xenia (all aquacultured) A little background, I had a 150gal reef tank for about 7 years. It was my first salt tank and I loved every bit of keeping it. Eventually after a crash from old tank syndrome and divorce, the tank is no more. I have been unable to start a new one of similar size (space and time) so decided on the nano reef. 5 Quote Link to comment
HIppieRose Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I love pulsing zenia. Just can't find any that I can afford. Your tank looks great. 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 Question about the zoas, do they look like they're starting to bleach or is that how they're supposed to look? I know there are so many different types. 2 minutes ago, HIppieRose said: I love pulsing zenia. Just can't find any that I can afford. Your tank looks great. Thanks! Me too! It's so fun to watch. Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Nice start! Looking at the toadstool which is very pale, it is possible that the light is too intense. You could try turning it down for a week or so to see if the colors improve. Another option is to try feeding the coral. 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 3 minutes ago, metrokat said: Nice start! Looking at the toadstool which is very pale, it is possible that the light is too intense. You could try turning it down for a week or so to see if the colors improve. Another option is to try feeding the coral. Thanks! It's been like that since I got it so I just thought that was the color. I think I'm going to move the zoas down to the bottom with it. See how it goes. I appreciate the help! 1 Quote Link to comment
SaltyBuddha Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I was going to comment on those two white leathers. I love them! If they are naturally white like that, I'm definitely going to have to get a few for myself. Seems like they would bring a colorful tank to another level with that pure white. My tank is just about cycles as well so I'm looking forward to seeing yours develop too 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 1 hour ago, SaltyBuddha said: I was going to comment on those two white leathers. I love them! If they are naturally white like that, I'm definitely going to have to get a few for myself. Seems like they would bring a colorful tank to another level with that pure white. My tank is just about cycles as well so I'm looking forward to seeing yours develop too Thanks! That's the color they've been since day one in the tank. I moved the darker one down to the bottom just because where I had it there was too much flow. Color hasn't changed on that one at all. Just moved the whiter one down to the bottom this evening with the zoas. The zoas definitely look paler than when I first got them so prolly too much light. The light is pretty intense. I was surprised at the advancement in LED lighting since I last had a tank set up. We'll see how it goes. I'll take some comparison pictures in hmmm about a week maybe two to see if the move helped with color. I was a little sad to move the toadstool though because it was already growing off the rubble onto the live rock. Oh well. Hopefully it will be happy on the bottom. 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 Holy cowfish! It's been forever since I posted a pic! After moving my to toadstool corals down to the bottom, I've waited for about a month to see if I saw any change in their color. The only color change was brown and green...algae. They both shrunk in size, barely opened up, and after a week away and coming home to disastrous water conditions ("someone" bumped the adjuster for the autofeeder when topping off the tank....which logistically is impossible....so they were being fed about a WEEKS worth of food for who knows how long, water was terribly cloudy when I returned home. I immediately prepared to do a water change and tested the water. Surprisingly the parameters were completely fine so it must have been only a day or two that this happened) I thought they were on their way to death. I decided to move them back up on the rock. Well lookie there!!!! Happy toadstool!! It's opened waaaay up doubled in size and remains the same pinky beige it's been since the beginning. So, I no longer believe theyre bleached or bleaching I just got a lucky pair or pinky beige toadstools. 4 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 Also, the pulsing Xenia is still a lovely lavender color and has grown quite a bit. I though I was going to be the first to actually kill Xenia for a few days. It was shrunken and curled up and I felt it started thinning out. Well it sort of was. I think it was really spreading out to grow bigger. Last but not least, here's a silly tube worm that has found residence on a cerith shell and some cerith eggs in the background. There are three different spots on the glass. I think I'm going to leave them there and see if they hatch. 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 Bleh Xenia photo is too big to upload. Quote Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Glad things are doing well!! 1 Quote Link to comment
gena Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 On 4/19/2017 at 6:27 PM, smac0806 said: Thanks! It's been like that since I got it so I just thought that was the color. I think I'm going to move the zoas down to the bottom with it. See how it goes. I appreciate the help! Looks like the natural color to me. Lawnman has a GORGEOUS giant white toadstool like that. I'm so glad you didn't lose it, moving it to lower light. I would love to find one for my tank! 2 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted July 7, 2017 Author Share Posted July 7, 2017 No recent pics but a definite learning point to make. A little back story: Over the winter (I live in Michigan) before I set up the tank we had a bad storm come through and were without power for 8 days. No biggie. But the whole time I was thinking man it's a good thing I didn't have the tank set up yet. The fish would have froze! Fast forward to last week. I had JUST woken up at my aunt's home in Washington D.C. after driving the 9 hours there the night before and looked at my phone...."Storm last night. No power." At first I was like ok. As long as it's back on within the day the fish will be fine. Then I remembered, oh no, they won't! The tank is in the basement! It's cooooold down there!!! So after some minor/major freaking out (on my part because my bf knows nothing about the fish tank nor cares to learn because this is "my hobby") I was able to get him to pick up a car battery and power inverter and got the pump and heater back on. Praise Posiedon I only have hardy stuff in the tank right now!! Not a single creature lost it's life. And the temp dropped from the normal 77.6ish°F to 70°F! Needless to say, back up power is a necessary item on the setup list. I wish I hadn't put it off until there was an actual problem. Things could have ended up much worse. 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share Posted August 14, 2017 Also, the pulsing Xenia is still a lovely lavender color and has grown quite a bit. I though I was going to be the first to actually kill Xenia for a few days. It was shrunken and curled up and I felt it started thinning out. Well it sort of was. I think it was really spreading out to grow bigger. Last but not least, here's a silly tube worm that has found residence on a cerith shell and some cerith eggs in the background. There are three different spots on the glass. I think I'm going to leave them there and see if they hatch. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lugmos12 Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 show off the Xenia! i love them cute clowns too 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share Posted August 14, 2017 @Lugmos12 the Xenia are above for you. Not the best lighting in that photo but that are such a pretty lavender color! I'll work on getting a better shot. So I stirred up the gravel before I vacuumed and changed the water today. There was some weird wormy creatures. Can anyone help me identify? The red one was a longer worm but it curled up on itself and then there were long thin ones. Should I be worried about these? Are these normal? I recently added some nassarius snails....could the small black worms be a parasite from them? Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 Love those toadstools! I have a pinky one to that has a slight green sheen on the cap of it (usually can't see that though). No idea about the worms... 1 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 I believe that the red worm is a spaghetti worm. Not really harmful I guess so I put it back in. Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 New pics! 11/1/17 3 Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 The Xenia is growing like the weed I’ve been told it is. I keep thinking I need to cut it back but I kind of like it like it is. Also...I don’t have the slightest clue how to frag it and I don’t want to just throw it away! The LFS said I have to frag and prepare it myself then bring it in and I can have store credit for it. ? Can’t you just come to my house and take it for free?! Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Whoops posted pics twice...how do I delete a post? Quote Link to comment
Lugmos12 Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 47 minutes ago, smac0806 said: Whoops posted pics twice...how do I delete a post? how long did it take to grow that much? hit ‘Edit’ at the bottom of the post and you can remove the pictures. Quote Link to comment
smac0806 Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 On 11/2/2017 at 10:09 AM, Lugmos12 said: how long did it take to grow that much? hit ‘Edit’ at the bottom of the post and you can remove the pictures. Thank you! Fixed it. ? It’s been 7 1/2 months 1 Quote Link to comment
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