Patrick's minireef

[Lula_Mae]

When you say you toothbrush the bubble algae, are you removing the rocks from the tank, brushing them, rinsing them, and putting them back?  Bubble algae spreads through spores so it's best to twist them off carefully without popping or you may find it taking over the tank if it's been popped at any point.  Also ideal to remove from tank before twisting off just in case of popping the bubbles.

[Patrick17]

1 hour ago, Orangutran said:

Getting a bigger UV is better, to a certain point. I don't think it does any harm, you'll just clean your system faster. But with the bigger UV, you need more flow thru it for optimal dwell time? (I think that's what it's called). If you put less flow thru it, I hear it may warm up the water a bit? Might reduce your heating bill, but then your UV bulb is sucking up more energy. Isn't there a good UV made by TMC that's made in the UK? Supposed to be one of the better ones.

 

Not sure how much access you have to tank bred fish over there! But choices are getting better at least. 

 

Btw, are you close to Cheltenham? My sis in law lives there, and she took us to a Thai restaurant in town that's got a reef tank (wasn't in the best shape) but I was chatting with the guy who took care of it, and he said there weren't any LFS close by to get salt water, so it was tough to maintain.

i love a good drive but Cheltenham is 160 miles away. I imagine in the States you are all used to travelling to get anywhere (my knowledge of American travel is based mainly around the road trips TV/films show though) but much more than an hour each way feels like a big journey to me. I'm lucky that I have a few lfs I trust within half an hour of home here, West Yorkshire is a fairly built up and populous part of our country 

 

I know of TMC, however haven't really used their products much. For a relatively large expense I think I would be happier with a name like Eheim that I trust. I try not to get sucked into the world of brand loyalty too much so will have another look at TMC though. 

 

Our tank-bred choices are improving; even over the short time I have had within the hobby I have noticed an increase in availability. it will take a while but eventually the prices will start to improve too. A pair of tank-bred clown to get us up and running again should be easy enough to find 

[Patrick17]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

When you say you toothbrush the bubble algae, are you removing the rocks from the tank, brushing them, rinsing them, and putting them back?  Bubble algae spreads through spores so it's best to twist them off carefully without popping or you may find it taking over the tank if it's been popped at any point.  Also ideal to remove from tank before twisting off just in case of popping the bubbles.

Luckily, the rockwork is easy enough to remove to scrub the bubbles and it gets a good rinse before being put back. Whilst cycling, I managed to introduce a bubble on a test frag and before I noticed we had a plague of them. 

 

They are well and truly under control now though, I remove them individually as I spot them and scrub under ledges every month or so as they start to spread in the hard to reach bits. I could probably leave them without worrying too much but I love to see the tank looking spotless 

 

I was just wondering if a UV would help reduce their growth further?

[Lula_Mae]

5 hours ago, Patrick17 said:

Luckily, the rockwork is easy enough to remove to scrub the bubbles and it gets a good rinse before being put back. Whilst cycling, I managed to introduce a bubble on a test frag and before I noticed we had a plague of them. 

 

They are well and truly under control now though, I remove them individually as I spot them and scrub under ledges every month or so as they start to spread in the hard to reach bits. I could probably leave them without worrying too much but I love to see the tank looking spotless 

 

I was just wondering if a UV would help reduce their growth further?

I don't know about the UV either but I've nearly always had a few bubbles in my tanks, and doing just as you are, with regularly removing them (I always waited till they got big enough and twisted them off), they never got out of control.

[Orangutran]

7 hours ago, Patrick17 said:

i love a good drive but Cheltenham is 160 miles away. I imagine in the States you are all used to travelling to get anywhere (my knowledge of American travel is based mainly around the road trips TV/films show though) but much more than an hour each way feels like a big journey to me. I'm lucky that I have a few lfs I trust within half an hour of home here, West Yorkshire is a fairly built up and populous part of our country 

 

I know of TMC, however haven't really used their products much. For a relatively large expense I think I would be happier with a name like Eheim that I trust. I try not to get sucked into the world of brand loyalty too much so will have another look at TMC though. 

 

Our tank-bred choices are improving; even over the short time I have had within the hobby I have noticed an increase in availability. it will take a while but eventually the prices will start to improve too. A pair of tank-bred clown to get us up and running again should be easy enough to find 

I did a lot of research for UVs and the TMC seemed to be a good product, just that it is not distributed in Canada.  Check it out, so you can make an informed purchase. Also explore used ones from local sellers, just make sure the bulb is still good.

[Patrick17]

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I don't know about the UV either but I've nearly always had a few bubbles in my tanks, and doing just as you are, with regularly removing them (I always waited till they got big enough and twisted them off), they never got out of control.

With so many beautiful tanks on NR, it's hard not to assume that they are all perfect and devoid of all unwanted algae. Its good to know that I'm not doing anything different 

 

If a UV helps me reduce bubble algae further, I will let you know 

[Patrick17]

1 hour ago, Orangutran said:

I did a lot of research for UVs and the TMC seemed to be a good product, just that it is not distributed in Canada.  Check it out, so you can make an informed purchase. Also explore used ones from local sellers, just make sure the bulb is still good 

apologies for assuming you were from the states!!

 

I will have a good look around. Not a massive fan of social media but there seems to be a large market for pre-owned marine equipment in my area 

[Lula_Mae]

6 hours ago, Patrick17 said:

With so many beautiful tanks on NR, it's hard not to assume that they are all perfect and devoid of all unwanted algae. Its good to know that I'm not doing anything different 

 

If a UV helps me reduce bubble algae further, I will let you know 

I think even @gena has posted about having bubble algae before, or maybe it was hair algae.  You're definitely not alone!

[Patrick17]

Jus how much do you feed a fallow tank??

 

Started off feeding half a cube of frozen marine mix once a week but worried that wasn't enough to keep the CUC going, feeding half a cube every other day now but don't want to overfeed an empty tank... 

 

Corals and inverts all seem happy and settled; both skunk cleaner shrimp have moulted and are carrying eggs again. Wish our Porcelain crab would though, he's getting slowly browner with what I assume is algae. 

 

I've also seen a couple arms from a banded serpent star hitchhiking this week; each arm must be an inch long  

 

Our gorilla crab is still sumped with a piece of rock, going to try and nip to the lfs tomorrow and see if I can find another piece to replace it. When I get round to making a fuge in the sump, I'll use the rock down there with the crab

[Patrick17]

I have been able to replace the rock which was sumped with the gorilla crab this afternoon, it'll look far more natural and less purple when it colours up. 

 

Couldn't resist some gorgeous gorgonians and a couple small goni and favia frags as an early birthday present 

 

I still want to work on the overall colour mix of the corals, however it is looking a little more balanced to me 

[Patrick17]

The gorgonians really responded to Reef Roids 

 

Can anyone confirm the species? 

[Patrick17]

Whilst there isn't too much going on in my reef, I thought I'd share our new goldfish tank. I imagine that for many of you, as with me, the passion for aquatics began with the humble goldfish. 

 

This is a Juwel Lido 200, home to Olaf a and his as yet unnamed brothers 

[Orangutran]

3 hours ago, Patrick17 said:

Whilst there isn't too much going on in my reef, I thought I'd share our new goldfish tank. I imagine that for many of you, as with me, the passion for aquatics began with the humble goldfish. 

 

This is a Juwel Lido 200, home to Olaf a and his as yet unnamed brothers 

Nicest goldfish tank I have ever seen!

[Patrick17]

22 hours ago, Orangutran said:

Nicest goldfish tank I have ever seen!

Thank you very much . We are very proud, keeping it simple seems to be paying off at the moment. 

 

My partner is on the look out for a panda and a redcap oranda for a total of 5 fancies. They are so massively underrated, the amount of personality they have is amazing - they're like little pupper's begging for food on a morning 

[Patrick17]

Can't resist posting another non-fishy photo... 

[Patrick17]

I can finally get back to Reef-related photos 

 

For my birthday, I have put into my tank my first larger lps corals; I believe they are a scoly and a fungia. 

[Patrick17]

I think one of my favourite things about reading through everyone else journals is seeing amazing photos of everyone's tanks and livestock. I'm hoping that in the future my photos will give me a snapshot of the progression of my tank. Bearing that in mind, here are a couple photos of my partner's favourite toadstool and the left-hand side of my tank 

[Patrick17]

The reef has been fallow now for 7 weeks if my counting hasn't let me down with little to report really. 

 

I have been in touch with a local macro algae producer and am going to try with a few when they have ever grown out enough for him to sell again; I've got my eye on "dragon's breath",  cryptoemia crenulata for a bit of colour and halimeda incrassata. 

 

I have also started my search for a uv steriliser. Unfortunately, I missed out on a couple on eBay however still have a few weeks before I'm adding any fish anyway. I'd settled on either a TMC vecton v2 300 or Deltec 20w, it'll be a case of getting the best deal. Whichever I go with, it'll be run at 1-2x tank volume-per-hour, rather than the recommendations provided by the manufacturers. 

 

I've also started to plan my stocking and the order for introduction, however I really haven't got too far with that! I've tried to include Latin names in case there is a difference in common names between lfs, currently it's looking like;

 

- yellow clown goby (gobiodon okinawae) 

- starry blenny (salarias ramosus) 

- pair of clowns (Fiji skunk, Clarkii, Percula or Occelaris; not decided yet!)

 

My partner and I both then have a list of fish we would like to add but are unsure of for a whole list of reasons, they include;

 

- Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) 

- Fang blenny (meiacanthus sp.) 

- Dwarf angel (C. Argi or C. Loricula) 

- Sixline wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia) 

- Fairy or Flasher wrasse 

- Talbot damsel (Chrysiptera talboti) 

 

And a bit of a showpiece fish along the lines of these, however we appreciate that their inclusion would be questioned by some and without further research not advisable;

 

- Yellow longnose butterfly (Forcipiger flavissimus) 

- Atlantic longnose butterfly (Prognathodes aculeatus) 

- Yellow eye kole tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) 

- Swallowtail angel (Bellus or Lamarck) 

 

If you have read this journal through, you'll know the difficulties caused by adding two halichoeres wrasse and the loss of all fish thereafter. Without definitive answers, I believe that the addition of two internally unwell fish caused the stress which took everything else. 

 

My partner loves wrasse still, however we are both uneasy about them now. Where possible, we are looking for tank bred and if not for ethically-sourced livestock. We've learned the hard way and want to to reduce risks to fish caused by third parties, such as catching methods and stresses, as much as possible. Space restrictions are preventing any effective quarantine at the moment which increases risk greatly, however we will try and balance that risk. 

 

Tonto, our much loved yellow longnose butterfly appeared "happy" and settled, however this was relatively short-term. What we saw though, has shown that the fish would work in a 3' reef and we would be willing to try again. 

 

If anyone has any observations/suggestions, I'd love to hear and gladly discuss them with you ? 

 

 

[Patrick17]

I posted this to the identification forum, however had no feedback there. Would anyone passing through here know anything...?

 

This little patch has been in my tank for a while now at the base of a tan cabbage coral. I never gave it much thought as I assumed being sheltered from flow, light and having been exposed to air would kill it off quite quickly. Anyway, months later and it has grown from finger nail to thumb nail size and seems to have what almost appears to be polyp extension ... 

 

Do I have a hitchhiker sponge, an encrusting SPS or something else? 

 

The colours in the photo are fairly accurate 

 

 

And in the lack of anything changing in the reef, a little photo update of Poppy who has settled in better than we could have imagined 

[Lula_Mae]

On 10/18/2017 at 3:31 AM, Patrick17 said:

I can finally get back to Reef-related photos 

 

For my birthday, I have put into my tank my first larger lps corals; I believe they are a scoly and a fungia. 

October birthdays are the best. Kitties are beautiful!  For the rest, I got nothin...I need sleep lol.

[Patrick17]

25 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

October birthdays are the best. Kitties are beautiful!  For the rest, I got nothin...I need sleep lol.

Happy birthday to you too ? 

 

[Patrick17]

Our lfs is running a competition for a photo of your tank; a rep is going come in and judge the photos with three prizes, £150, £75 and £50 to spend on live goods. We like our chances! Would be ideal coming up to needing to re-stock, wish us luck. 

 

Not sure which photo to use, my partner wants to submit this one:

[Patrick17]

A few more photos for today whilst we wait for any real developments. 

 

Does this scoly (?) look healthy to you? I feel it is, it's always puffy but I've never seen a feeding response so have never had chance to feed it. I know my stock lighting is not great, however was under the impression that it would do well in less intense light with feedings.

 

The two cleaner shrimp moult like clockwork and are always carrying eggs which must be a nice treat for the gorgonians every three weeks. I love their personality, they're always so busy and excited when anyone sits down to watch them. 

 

Our porcelain crab moulted once; don't think I'll ever get used to inverts moulting, scares the life out of me every time! Judging by the amount of algae on his back, I'd say he is due another one soon

[Droy008]

Those photos loom great!

Im especially drawn towards the cleaner shrimp, he just looks so handsome!

[Lula_Mae]

1 hour ago, Patrick17 said:

Our lfs is running a competition for a photo of your tank; a rep is going come in and judge the photos with three prizes, £150, £75 and £50 to spend on live goods. We like our chances! Would be ideal coming up to needing to re-stock, wish us luck. 

 

Not sure which photo to use, my partner wants to submit this one:

Love this shot with the cat looking in the tank! I don't know much about scolys but yours looks nice and puffy which I'd think is a good sign. 

 

And yes, happy birthday!