Blenwood's Reef - 1st attempts at focus stacking

[AZReefJunkie]

I'm considering getting back into the hobby with one of these tanks and stumbled into your build. I just finished reading through this thread and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the most enjoyable journals out there. Thanks for sharing.

What were your thoughts on running kalk in your top off water to help with the kh dropping, either in addition to or in place of the 2 part dosing? Keep up the good work!

[Cannedfish]

20 hours ago, AZReefJunkie said:

I'm considering getting back into the hobby with one of these tanks and stumbled into your build. I just finished reading through this thread and thoroughly enjoyed it. One of the most enjoyable journals out there. Thanks for sharing.

What were your thoughts on running kalk in your top off water to help with the kh dropping, either in addition to or in place of the 2 part dosing? Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I appreciate it! What I lack in appreciable reefing skill, I definitely attempt to make up with bad analogies and worse dad jokes. Some call it unamusing and hackneyed, and... well, their probably right.

 

I normally wouldn't say take my advice, unless you were looking to make some bad decisions. But in this case, I think you should absolutely get back into the hobby, and although I might be a bit biased, I think the IM10 is a perfect tank to do it with. Being so small, we were able to place our unobtrusively in the kitchen and, as a completely unintended consequence, we've found we spend much more time there as the tank functions as a sort of TV that only gets one channel (and that channel is a unusual mix of Blue Planet, Andy Cohen, and early 2000's Survivor). Also it's always kind of shocking how interested guests are when they come over and discover that coral is actually alive and that Blenwood is actually half fish half brautwurst (sorry buddy, you need to lose weight). 

 

That being said, about dosing. As stated before, I have been really hesitant to dose. I feel like I am barely able to keep this car on the road how it is, and the added complication of dosing pumps and 2-part and math would immediately cause disaster (science is illegal down here in the South). In the two-plus weeks since I've used the dosing pump, I can honestly say the opposite has been true. With a bit of diligence (something I'm otherwise not known for) I have been able to dial-in the automated dosing to a point where I have been getting fairly consistent alk readings regardless of the time of day. And honestly everything looking infinitely happier.

 

About putting kalk in the my ATO: I thought about that, however, there is one big issue, I don't have an ATO. Partly, it comes down to space, as there isn't really a great place to put a reservoir; partly it comes down to me being illogically stubborn (an ATO involves a pump and sensors and wires (technology is illegal down yonder in Dixie)). I have thought about getting one, however, I keep a glass lid one the tank, which really helps with evaporation and just top up whenever it needs it (also I think the glass lid looks so much better than mesh). People point out that the glass lid limits gas exchange, but with a skimmer and a lot of surface agitation, I'm not convinced that it is a huge issue. Honestly, if I do pick up an ATO, I would get rid of the lid altogether and go Italian beach or hairy Eastern European man-style... Le Topless. Lastly, I admit I did think about the kalk route in lieu of the dosing pump, but I couldn't really wrap my head around it like I could with dosing. For whatever reason (probably because I'm an idiot) the process seemed much more inexact and fuzzy: involving evaporation rates and kalk concentrations and measurements (the laws of thermodynamics are frowned upon in Bayou). Dosing seem much more straight-forward. 

 

Wow, that was a metric-ton of rambling; I'm not sure if this answered any of your questions, but I hope it helped. If not, here are some less-than-stellar photos!

 

 

Red Dragon finally deciding to grow. 

 

SC Orange Passion... err... Green Passion.

 

Unknown Zoa. 

[mitten_reef]

5 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

 

 

LOOK AT THAT RED DRAGON!!!!!  What a beauty!

[Cannedfish]

Whoops, about having no more space for frags... Temptation man, gets me every time...

 

 

[Cannedfish]

Weekend update.

 

Having not made an ill-advised purchase in a while I was beginning to get antsy. So Saturday morning I got up early and decided to make a road trip to swamp. Where ironically, a little more than an hour outside the city, there’s a pretty awesome little LFS where the owner keeps some pretty nice higher end acros. Arriving I was slight disappointed to find out that the high end tank had recently (as in Monday) had a calc reactor mishap and sadly acros had taken a pretty aggressive trip to Browntown. The owner, however, is pretty great, and said if I wanted to take a bit of a risk he would sell me a few clipping at a pretty irresistible price. Fortunately, he was unaware that risk is my alter ego’s middle name, and so I was like “Garçon, bag it up!” So that concludes I’ll-advised purchase number one. 

 

But I wasn’t done yet. Why stop at one bite of the myopia when you can have two. So obviously I stopped at another LFS on my way home. While perusing the shelves in need of nothing, a drab green striped acan caught my eye, armed with the knowledge that I can turn any acan’s color (that isn’t dark green) red I thought this frag had some potential under my amateurish care. Also I picked an Aquariclip for no reason whatsoever, concluding I’ll-advised purchase number two. 

 

In summary the weekemd’s haul included:

- a green & red striped acan

- a brown nub of TCK Picachu 

- a brown nub of RR Pink Floyd

- a brown nub of CB Malificent

 

It may be a miracle that I keep these boogers alive, but what can I say, risk is almost my middle name. 

 

Here are some bad pics of some brown nubs (& a drab acan). 

 

 

[teenyreef]

Nice pickups! And that red dragon 

[Cannedfish]

Woke up this morning to one of the new frags completely bleached. I honestly have no idea which acro it is as they all look the same. One down two to go... this could be a bloodbath. 

[mitten_reef]

34 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

Woke up this morning to one of the new frags completely bleached. I honestly have no idea which acro it is as they all look the same. One down two to go... this could be a bloodbath. 

r u sure that it bleached?  That could be saved.  But if it's bone-white, as in it RTN'd overnight on you, then that's probably a goner.

Good luck! 

[Cannedfish]

6 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

r u sure that it bleached?  That could be saved.  But if it's bone-white, as in it RTN'd overnight on you, then that's probably a goner.

Good luck! 

Bleaching was definitely the wrong word. I should have said: "Woke up this morning to one of the new frags completely dead. Not superhero dead, where there is a pretty good chance they will be miraculously resurrected in a later movie (you know... money), but like eaten by a T-Rex while sitting on the toilet dead."

 

Unless I can find I third-rate witch doctor (I'm not paying for a first-rate one, their prices are outrageous these days... I know inflation is real, but geeze!) or that weird time altering necklace that Hermione Granger wears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I'm afraid this frag is no longer for this world. 

[Lula_Mae]

Just catching up on the hilarity and tank stuff, sorry about the baby poop brown acro, the possum wrasse is adorable even if he is dumb.  My PSW eats flakes and likes it.  Mostly cuz that's about all I feed lol.

[teenyreef]

[Cannedfish]

Last night while stirring up the sand I uncovered a pretty giant spaghetti worm, and figured that it might be a nice snack for the worm-powered duncan (walking dendro). The WPD immediately closed its tentacles around it and I carried on with life, specifically managing to  burn diner (standard operating procedure). Looking at the tank an hour or so later, I noticed that the spaghetti worm was still where I placed it on the WPD and the the tentacles were withdrawn. Sensing something was not kosher I removed the spaghetti worm and saw there was a small hole in the WPD's flesh where the spaghetti worm had been. To say the least this was alarming. I think the WPD will be fine but WTF. I'm not sure if anyone has had a similar experience? I certainly didn't know those ugly-ass tangela-looking mother-effers were so savage. If it doesn't kill the WPD, I will have more respect for them. You can see the hole in the crappy late night picture below (hint: its in the middle of the red circle).

 

 

[WV Reefer]

28 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

Last night while stirring up the sand I uncovered a pretty giant spaghetti worm, and figured that it might be a nice snack for the worm-powered duncan (walking dendro). The WPD immediately closed its tentacles around it and I carried on with life, specifically managing to  burn diner (standard operating procedure). Looking at the tank an hour or so later, I noticed that the spaghetti worm was still where I placed it on the WPD and the the tentacles were withdrawn. Sensing something was not kosher I removed the spaghetti worm and saw there was a small hole in the WPD's flesh where the spaghetti worm had been. To say the least this was alarming. I think the WPD will be fine but WTF. I'm not sure if anyone has had a similar experience? I certainly didn't know those ugly-ass tangela-looking mother-effers were so savage. If it doesn't kill the WPD, I will have more respect for them. You can see the hole in the crappy late night picture below (hint: its in the middle of the red circle).

 

 

 

 

That sketti worm don't play. ☠️

 

 

[teenyreef]

I have hair worms from hell in my tanks. Everybody says they're harmless but they sting the crap out of zoas and acros. Just goes to show that when there are like 10,000 different varieties of worms, you're going to find a couple bad apples. I mean worms. You know what I mean.

 

Just to keep you from sleeping at night and to ruin the visual appeal of your tank thread, here's a close up picture I took of one of the mature ones after pulling it out of my tank. It's an inch or two long:

 

I've got a video that's even better if this one isn't gross enough 

[mitten_reef]

6 hours ago, teenyreef said:

I have hair worms from hell in my tanks. Everybody says they're harmless but they sting the crap out of zoas and acros. Just goes to show that when there are like 10,000 different varieties of worms, you're going to find a couple bad apples. I mean worms. You know what I mean.

 

Just to keep you from sleeping at night and to ruin the visual appeal of your tank thread, here's a close up picture I took of one of the mature ones after pulling it out of my tank. It's an inch or two long:

 

I've got a video that's even better if this one isn't gross enough 

Ahh crap, I have little red balls, could be babies?, floating around every time I blast the sand bed. Should I try to suck them out?  I noticed that even my BTA didn’t want anything to do with them. 

[Cannedfish]

Some red dragon growth pictures:

 

January 2018:

 

May 2018:

[Stoops718]

55 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

Some red dragon growth pictures:

 

January 2018:

 

May 2018:

What's that red stick in the bottom picture?

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, Cannedfish said:

Some red dragon growth pictures:

 

January 2018:

 

May 2018:

Fantastic growth comparison!  Once happy, it can grow faster than most ppl realize an acro could.  But it is sure a finicky little coral to get established in the tank.  Congrats! 

 

This reminds me, I should do the rise and fall, and hopefully, resurrection of my red dragon shots.  Maybe that can be my next throwback thursday.  

[WV Reefer]

On 5/23/2018 at 12:56 AM, teenyreef said:

I have hair worms from hell in my tanks. Everybody says they're harmless but they sting the crap out of zoas and acros. Just goes to show that when there are like 10,000 different varieties of worms, you're going to find a couple bad apples. I mean worms. You know what I mean.

 

Just to keep you from sleeping at night and to ruin the visual appeal of your tank thread, here's a close up picture I took of one of the mature ones after pulling it out of my tank. It's an inch or two long:

 

I've got a video that's even better if this one isn't gross enough 

It seems like the ones with the little bands around the “arms” are the worst. Mine are solid orange and don’t seem to bother much. 

[Cannedfish]

On 5/25/2018 at 10:20 AM, Stoops718 said:

What's that red stick in the bottom picture?

It’s some type of gorgonian. The LFS said it was a pogo stick gorgonian, but that sounds made up. When it’s polyps are out it looks like the photo below. To be honest, I can’t tell if it’s doing well or not. It’s not dead, but it hasn’t growth, so I don’t know. 

 

 

[teenyreef]

On 5/25/2018 at 12:08 PM, WV Reefer said:

It seems like the ones with the little bands around the “arms” are the worst. Mine are solid orange and don’t seem to bother much. 

Yes, that's what I think too. They must have a much stronger sting or something because absolutely nothing will eat them. 

[Cannedfish]

On 5/25/2018 at 10:59 AM, micoastreefing said:

Fantastic growth comparison!  Once happy, it can grow faster than most ppl realize an acro could.  But it is sure a finicky little coral to get established in the tank.  Congrats! 

 

This reminds me, I should do the rise and fall, and hopefully, resurrection of my red dragon shots.  Maybe that can be my next throwback thursday.  

Thanks!! I’m pretty excited for your Deathstar to fire up, your red dragon should be back in no time!

 

On 5/25/2018 at 11:08 AM, WV Reefer said:

It seems like the ones with the little bands around the “arms” are the worst. Mine are solid orange and don’t seem to bother much. 

 

19 hours ago, teenyreef said:

Yes, that's what I think too. They must have a much stronger sting or something because absolutely nothing will eat them. 

 

Hmm, I don’t know if mine have bands or not, they don’t really bother anything normally. This I guess was a freak thing that happened because I tried feeding it to the worm-powered duncan. But that makes me thing... I had two fathead dendro randomly die, and I had occasionally fed them ‘sketti worms, I wonder if that had anything to do with it.  Won’t be doing that again. 

 

——

 

Lazy Sunday photos!

 

 

 

[Reefkid88]

I love coming back here and seeing things looking amazing !!! 

[Cannedfish]

14 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I love coming back here and seeing things looking amazing !!! 

Thanks! I'm not sure if it's amazing yet, but things are progressively looking better! At least the tank and corals aren't all green anymore! 

[Lula_Mae]

On 5/23/2018 at 12:56 AM, teenyreef said:

I have hair worms from hell in my tanks. Everybody says they're harmless but they sting the crap out of zoas and acros. Just goes to show that when there are like 10,000 different varieties of worms, you're going to find a couple bad apples. I mean worms. You know what I mean.

 

Just to keep you from sleeping at night and to ruin the visual appeal of your tank thread, here's a close up picture I took of one of the mature ones after pulling it out of my tank. It's an inch or two long:

 

I've got a video that's even better if this one isn't gross enough 

I recently pulled one out of the 5.5, not sure if spaghetti worm or hair worm but was a similar color and I pried that sucker right off my pipe organ frag!

 

On 5/26/2018 at 2:35 PM, Cannedfish said:

It’s some type of gorgonian. The LFS said it was a pogo stick gorgonian, but that sounds made up. When it’s polyps are out it looks like the photo below. To be honest, I can’t tell if it’s doing well or not. It’s not dead, but it hasn’t growth, so I don’t know. 

 

 

That looks like one I've seen on Diver's Den as a lightsaber gorg.

 

18 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

Thanks! I'm not sure if it's amazing yet, but things are progressively looking better! At least the tank and corals aren't all green anymore! 

But the bubble algae still is!