Merthynia Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Today I did my very first 100% waterchange! I took this chance to glue some frags down, get some frags added from the cherry coral haul, as well as inspect the rocks for pests and lost corals. I expect everything will be very unhappy for some time. Everything fit so nicely into this bucket while I scrubbed down the glass and replaced the water. Hopefully everything grows out fast to cover the epoxy! I'd like to find a small frag of gsp but that seems to be very challenging around here. 5 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Thats how I clean my jar too. Put my rock/coral into a bucket and clean the glass on the jar. It works wonderfully. 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 5 hours ago, vlangel said: Thats how I clean my jar too. Put my rock/coral into a bucket and clean the glass on the jar. It works wonderfully. It really made it pretty easy to do everything. Although....I'm second guessing myself today. The sand is super crazy and I just cannot get the rockwork back in the way it was! I'm not really sure what to do although everything is open and happy regardless! I'm going to give it a few days before I try and fiddle with it. 2 Quote Link to comment
dmw913 Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Well done! I'm always pleased at how quickly and aggressively we can get to the algae in the pico reefs because we just pull the rocks right on out! Keep up the good work. 2 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 It's time for a monthly update on the tank! Tank has been chugging along. I'm glad to say I've added a few more pieces of coral this month and it's nice to see the growth on some of the coral pieces. I did a 100% waterchange the other night and you can see some of the sand all crazy. I wasn't able to get the rocks positioned exactly how I had them prior so that is a bit frustrating. I'm hoping here soon the sand will regain that layer that helps hold it all together. I don't want to go barebottom, but this will be an issue again if I stir up the sandbed when I do my next 100% waterchange. Plans for this next month include getting another snail to bring my total back to 2! Find a small invert that I like to add to the tank, add corals (I'd really like some GSP), and do my 100% waterchange earlier in the month so that my monthly full tank picture is looking good still! Thank you all so much for coming and reading my thread by the way! I always love seeing that I have a reply or two!! On 1/28/2018 at 10:01 PM, dmw913 said: Well done! I'm always pleased at how quickly and aggressively we can get to the algae in the pico reefs because we just pull the rocks right on out! Keep up the good work. Thank you! It was my very first 100% waterchange and I'm quite pleased with the results of the glass cleaning! 5 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 On 1/28/2018 at 10:22 PM, Merthynia said: It really made it pretty easy to do everything. Although....I'm second guessing myself today. The sand is super crazy and I just cannot get the rockwork back in the way it was! I'm not really sure what to do although everything is open and happy regardless! I'm going to give it a few days before I try and fiddle with it. I had so much issue with my rocks that I epoxied them together into one big piece that is easy to lift out, plus a couple scattered pieces (like the GSP rocks). 2 Quote Link to comment
pgrVII Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Looking ?? like the coral selections. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 8 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: I had so much issue with my rocks that I epoxied them together into one big piece that is easy to lift out, plus a couple scattered pieces (like the GSP rocks). I also had that issue and my poor coral were getting all beat up from the rocks tumbling. I too epoxied the rock into one piece and I am very happy I did. 2 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 22 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: I had so much issue with my rocks that I epoxied them together into one big piece that is easy to lift out, plus a couple scattered pieces (like the GSP rocks). Hmm I have not done that yet. 22 hours ago, pgrVII said: Looking ?? like the coral selections. Awh thanks Patrick! I certainly need more!! 14 hours ago, vlangel said: I also had that issue and my poor coral were getting all beat up from the rocks tumbling. I too epoxied the rock into one piece and I am very happy I did. Okay maybe I really should do this. I'm not sure if I'd be able to lift them all back out the narrow neck though. I may need to play this weekend with it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 On 2/1/2018 at 6:51 AM, vlangel said: I also had that issue and my poor coral were getting all beat up from the rocks tumbling. I too epoxied the rock into one piece and I am very happy I did. It has made life sooo much easier! I do have to turn/twist a little to get it to come out but not a big deal, especially with softies. Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 On 2/7/2018 at 5:16 AM, Lula_Mae said: It has made life sooo much easier! I do have to turn/twist a little to get it to come out but not a big deal, especially with softies. Yes, me too with the turning and twisting. 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Tank looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Update for February! I added a tiny frag of yellow polyps next to the acans as well as a super tiny peppermint shrimp to add a little more life to the tank. 5 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Did you ever bite the bullet and glue your rockwork? I can vouch for that method. I did it and mine is in two "islands" now and it's made tank maintenance soooo much easier. If I need to do a deep clean or adjust something, I just take out one of the islands, do whatever, and then put it back. I used Nyos reef cement but there are a ton of great products out there. 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 7 hours ago, Rene said: Did you ever bite the bullet and glue your rockwork? I can vouch for that method. I did it and mine is in two "islands" now and it's made tank maintenance soooo much easier. If I need to do a deep clean or adjust something, I just take out one of the islands, do whatever, and then put it back. I used Nyos reef cement but there are a ton of great products out there. I did not! I'm a tiny bit lazy. I actually figured out how my powerhead was sitting and was able to stop the sand storm. If I run into anymore problems though I'll be cementing it together with my epoxy pretty quick though. Tiny peppermint Yellow polyps open. 5 2 Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 That IS a tiny peppermint! 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, Rene said: That IS a tiny peppermint! They had maybe 40 or so itty bitty peppermint shrimp at a LFS that I went to over the weekend. I figured he would add a bit of color and movement to the pico! Thankfully they are also not too picky when it comes to food! I'm hoping he will take care of the 4 tiny aiptasia in there also! Quote Link to comment
Rene Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 I never had luck with them and Aiptasia. Come to think of it, I never had luck with them and staying alive for more than a week. Wonder if the two are related... Hope your luck is better than mine on both counts 3 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, Rene said: I never had luck with them and Aiptasia. Come to think of it, I never had luck with them and staying alive for more than a week. Wonder if the two are related... Hope your luck is better than mine on both counts That's fair for sure! I've had some awesome luck with them in the past in my tiny tanks. Big tanks not so much though! I love your tank by the way! Lots of life packed into 3 gallons! 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 The contest is coming to a close! March 31st will be the official end of the competition and then the voting will begin. In order to help the community decide what tanks to vote for, each remaining contestant will need to do the following: PM me three (3) final photos that you think summarize your container reef. The composition for two of these is up to you, but one of them should be a final FTS taken sometime during the month of March. PM me a written summary of your container reef build and experiences throughout the competition. This should be no more than 250 words. These items must be private messaged to me by midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on March 31st. 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted March 31, 2018 Share Posted March 31, 2018 Just a friendly reminder that your write-up and three photos are due to me by private message by midnight (PST) tomorrow night (3/31). 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 Time for the last update of the contest! Today is March 31 This little jar has made it the entire contest. I consider myself lucky to not have had giant hurdles to deal with. The aiptasia was the biggest threat to the tank and I used both chemical and invert help to manage this. You can see the biggest growth in the zoanthids and mushrooms inside the jar! I've been using amino acids to help give the coral something to snack on since there are no fish or other bigger critters to provide nutrients. The hermit crab and the peppermint shrimp are both alive and doing well. Another addition is a small piece of the photosynthetic sponge that I have in my IM10. You can see the assorted zoanthids I have been able to collect into this jar. It would be amazing if this contest went on for another 2-3 months. I'm sure the growth by then would be absolutely astounding! I feel like I've finally found a great balance of nutrient addition and export through waterchanges. Thank you all for allowing my participation in this contest! 5 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 This turned out great! Everything is SO FLUFFFY! 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Merthynia Posted April 1, 2018 Author Share Posted April 1, 2018 Just now, teenyreef said: This turned out great! Everything is SO FLUFFFY! Thanks Teeny! I spent a few hours trying to make sure everyone was as happy as could be before taking pictures. The peppermint shrimp was the only ornery one in the tank, he refused to cooperate regardless of tempting with a nice pellet! 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted April 1, 2018 Share Posted April 1, 2018 Just now, Merthynia said: Thanks Teeny! I spent a few hours trying to make sure everyone was as happy as could be before taking pictures. The peppermint shrimp was the only ornery one in the tank, he refused to cooperate regardless of tempting with a nice pellet! Peps are assholes. But very useful nonetheless 1 Quote Link to comment
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