MedievalITGuy Posted November 29, 2017 Author Share Posted November 29, 2017 Well, I was hoping that one of the better lights would show up in time for the November FTS, but no luck. So here it is, the tank after almost a month. 6 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Just a friendly reminder that if you haven't already, please pm me your December FTS and a link to your build thread by January 5, 2018. Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 Time for a quick December photo update. Most of these were taken in the 2nd week in December. Pre-Water Change: Durring Water Change: (I wouldn't be able to do anything in this tank without these tweesers, they've become one of the most useful reefkeeping tools for all of my tanks) Post-Water Change: And finally... End of December FTS: The dieback in the Platygyra, which some of you may have noticed, actually happened while the frag was in the QT tank. It was fine and healthy for weeks, and then all of a sudden half of it was just peeling off the skeleton . It seems to have stabilized since I put it in the flask though, so I'm hoping that it will start recovering soon. Has anyone else had this experience with a platy, and are there any specific things that can be done to help it, other than keeping everything stable? 5 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 Great to see some coral in there, I still can't believe this tiny flask! Have you considered an iodine based dip for the Platygyra to try and help it recover? Perhaps if it doesn't make any progress in the flask. Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 It's worth a shot. I've tried it on zoas in the past though, and it didn't seem to have much effect. My current theory is that I let the salinity fluctuate too much, both while I had it in QT, and while in the flask. I will admit that over November/December I haven't been paying close enough attention to my top-offs. It's a combination of business from the holidays, and drastically different evaporation rates from week to week, as we keep getting cold fronts that dry out the air. I'm making sure I pay much closer attention for the next couple months, because I can see the negative effect it's having on this and a couple other corals in my tanks. Quote Link to comment
dmw913 Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 So cool that you were able to get little baby corals in there! Those tweezers DO look like livesavers! Very nice! Quote Link to comment
brandon429 Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 how long can your system go without topoff just curious, some of these are neat variations on extended topoff systems that goes totally against the grain of old school rules about gas exchange. we still get exchange, just not in their way Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, brandon429 said: how long can your system go without topoff just curious Me too. With the bottle stopper, I'd expect that evaporation would be fairly low. However, I guess that the low volume of water makes any evaporation significant. Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 18 hours ago, dmw913 said: So cool that you were able to get little baby corals in there! Those tweezers DO look like livesavers! Very nice! Thanks! I'm surprised how easy this has been to take care of, the hardest part is making sure stuff fits through the flask neck, and trying to arrange the secondary rocks. I use the tweezers in all my tanks, not just this one. Don't know how I would have gotten by without them. 17 hours ago, brandon429 said: how long can your system go without topoff just curious 17 hours ago, seabass said: Me too. With the bottle stopper, I'd expect that evaporation would be fairly low. I have two 1g "fishbowls" with lids (1 air driven, 1 pump driven) that can go almost a week without a topoff, because I ran some vinyl tubing around the rim under the lid. I was expecting similar results with this, since it is even more enclosed, but it can realistically go only 1-3 days before the salinity rises .001 or more. I think it's probably because the air pump is so powerful in comparison to the volume, that it's actively forcing out the moisture from evaporation, instead of letting it condensate at the stopper. There are two holes in the stopper, one for the airline to come in by, and one for ventilation, and I've tried plugging the second hole, and all it does is force the cork loose from the pressure. After the contest is over, I'd like to experiment with making the flask into an AIO-skimmer, by adjusting the bubbles finer, and adding a waste line. That might slow down evaporation, since it will be forcing salt bubbles out, instead of just moisture-laden air. But the contest regulations specifically specify no filtration allowed, so I'll have to wait on that project. If you had something more like this, it might last a bit longer between topoffs. It only requires one hole, because the wood doesn't form a seal with the airline like the rubber stopper does. Also the wide lid has more surface area to catch the condensation. I will admit though, I haven't been tracking the salinity on this one, because I got it set up for my wife, so she could have her own pico, and she's been too busy to do anything with it. So it's just sitting there cycling with rock and chaeto. It's probably going to get torn down in the next week, and the rock added to the "QT" tank, until she has more time to devote to it. 3 Quote Link to comment
brandon429 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 so nice and clean yes! that kind of control will be helpful for these mini seahorse tanks that are coming our way soon as well Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 (Well this was supposed to have been posted several weeks ago... At least the new site auto-saves drafts ) Time for a quick December photo update. Most of these were taken in the 2nd week in December. Pre-Water Change: Durring Water Change: (I wouldn't be able to do anything in this tank without these tweesers, they've become one of the most reefkeeping tools for my tanks) Post-Water Change: And finally... End of December FTS: 3 Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 So I came to a sad conclusion today... I haven't seen any significant recovery in the platy, and I'm getting some slight algae (dino?) problems in the pico, so I made the decision to remove the coral for now, and give it some time in the "Quarantine Tank" to recover. I've placed it nice and high, on a magnet, where it's out of the reach of any hermit crab invaders. (recovering coral bits corner) Such an empty space 2 2 Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 January update time. This little tank is really teaching me how bad I am at basic tank husbandry. I've been battling with some brown algae on the rock, and even trying to overgrow the piece of macro that's in there. so last week, I tried dosing with a very minute quantity of h2o2, to see if that would kill off the brown stuff. Turns out my mushrooms weren't too happy with that solution. Both of the green hairy mushrooms have almost entirely bleached out by the next morning, and the ricordea on the center rock shrunk and showed some signs of white around the edges. I tested ammonia/nitrate, and both read 0, so it looks like the corals were mad at the peroxide itself, not any effects it had on the water parameters. I know many other people have had great success with peroxide dosing/application to remove algae, but I don't think I'll be using it as part of my toolkit any more. I'm obviously doing something wrong with it, and I've had too many mishaps to consider it worth the risk it presents. I just hope the shrooms recover in time to look pretty by the end of the contest... 1 Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Before said H2O2 incident, I was planning on planting a new leptastrea on the main coral branch in the pico. Now, I think I'm going to give it a week or two, to make sure things settle down, and I'm keeping a better eye on husbandry. 2 Quote Link to comment
brandon429 Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Question about application all the peroxide threads that are grouped together in 20+ pagers advocate not dosing it to the water, every time. All the before and after pics are dissected on how direct application earned the after pics. Did you dose it to the water it still looks good. The reef w rebound quickly either way. Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Sorry to hear about the recent setback, hopefully everything will recover quickly. I agree with @brandon429, I always apply my peroxide directly to the algae with a small dropper during a 100% water change. I let it sit for a minute, then I put most of the original water back in to rinse everything off and stir up the detritus. Then I drain it all out and refill with new water. I agree with you about the value of the tweezers! I have a cookie jar with a wide opening, but every time I reach in with my hand, I break something. So now I'm mostly using tweezers. Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 On 2/3/2018 at 2:44 PM, brandon429 said: all the peroxide threads that are grouped together in 20+ pagers advocate not dosing it to the water, every time. All the before and after pics are dissected on how direct application earned the after pics. Did you dose it to the water On 2/3/2018 at 2:52 PM, teenyreef said: Sorry to hear about the recent setback, hopefully everything will recover quickly. I agree with @brandon429, I always apply my peroxide directly to the algae with a small dropper during a 100% water change. I let it sit for a minute, then I put most of the original water back in to rinse everything off and stir up the detritus. Then I drain it all out and refill with new water. I did dose directly to the water, I am sad to say. I was going off of a thread from another forum that I remember reading several months ago, which called for very minute amounts dosed to the water over the course of a week, and figured I would give that a try. I only got one dose in before I found out how bad of an idea that turns out to be for a pico. Normally I take the rock(s) in question out, and apply peroxide, brush with a toothbrush, then rinse and return to the tank, all during a water change. On 2/3/2018 at 2:52 PM, teenyreef said: I agree with you about the value of the tweezers! I have a cookie jar with a wide opening, but every time I reach in with my hand, I break something. So now I'm mostly using tweezers. They're indispensable for me, because I tend to like tanks with unusual dimensions. Pair that with large hands, and a tendency to put too much live rock in my systems, and I can't get to about 60-80% of the tank without pulling everything out and shoving my arm in elbow deep. So I own quite a few pairs of tweezers. The bent ones are usually the most helpful, because you can get under stuff easily. 3 Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Just checked the tank again today, and it looks like the snails have cleaned a big patch of the top of the main rock, something I haven't seen them do previously. so there's hope for this little Pico yet. 6 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 On 2/5/2018 at 3:34 PM, MedievalITGuy said: Just checked the tank again today, and it looks like the snails have cleaned a big patch of the top of the main rock, something I haven't seen them do previously. so there's hope for this little Pico yet. Glad to hear. Think of all this tiny pico is teaching you.. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 I've used peroxide for treatment with no ill effects but quantity used in such small spaces may be an issue. I often do spot treatment directly to the algae with a syringe while all water movement is off. In my Pico I did it when all the water was drained. I've not lost a coral yet using 3% peroxide in 5 tanks (1 was fw) 1 Quote Link to comment
Felicia Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Hi! Just a reminder to please pm me your February FTS by this Friday 3/2/18. Quote Link to comment
MedievalITGuy Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Don't have time for a long post, but here's a couple shots in time for the Feb FTS deadline. I've added a few random pieces from the "quarantine" tank, as well as a piece of Leptastrea that I got, in the hopes of it encrusting the main rock. Most of this was added last week, and seems to be happy so far. And the actual FTS that got sent in for February... My pico definitely seems to take better closeups than FTS. 6 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). Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 Such a neat concept. I'd love to see this completely filled in. Still, nice job; I really like it. Quote Link to comment
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