Lula Mae's "Make a Wish" IM 14 peninsula--tank came down today. RIP

[Lula_Mae]

On 6/10/2018 at 11:29 AM, gena said:

Congratulations!!!!  The nuvo 14 is a great tank.  I just love IM tanks.  They are all such nice quality.  The glass ones anyways LOL.  

 

This is so exciting .

Thanks Gena!  It really is pretty!  Although I discovered the remains of an IM sticker on the outside wall when I was draining the test water. Hopefully I can get it off with a careful scraping.  At least that will be the back side lol.

 

I took pics of the box and opening it but then didn't take any of the tank itself while leak testing.   I hope to get it set up in the next few days if I can, but it will be an endeavor.  I have to empty the 15L, move the stand, and set up and refill the 14 on the stand.  That will take a while so I am planning to make some RODI water tonight so I have plenty on hand to make new saltwater as needed.

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Although I discovered the remains of an IM sticker on the outside wall

Sometimes a little oil rubbed on it works.  If it's glass, you could even use a little car polish (IDK, it might haze acrylic).  I know, I'm also hesitant to use stuff on the outside that I wouldn't use on the inside.

 

A hairdryer will loosen the adhesive, but you'd have to be very very careful if it's acrylic (not to melt it).  If it's glass, then no problem, heat it with a hairdryer and scrape it off with a razor blade.

[Lula_Mae]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

Sometimes a little oil rubbed on it works.  If it's glass, you could even use a little car polish (IDK, it might haze acrylic).  I know, I'm also hesitant to use stuff on the outside that I wouldn't use on the inside.

 

A hairdryer will loosen the adhesive, but you'd have to be very very careful if it's acrylic (not to melt it).  If it's glass, then no problem, heat it with a hairdryer and scrape it off with a razor blade.

It is glass, but I don't own a hair dryer. I may try some oil though.

[Lula_Mae]

Got something really cool today--a walking dendro! Great price, pretty and I couldn't resist.  He hasn't opened up fully yet but has turned himself somewhat.  He's got a green center and purplish tentacles!

Badly angled pic:

[seabass]

Very interesting!  I actually had to look that one up.  I was surprised there is so much information about them, yet I've never heard of it before.  How fast can the worm move the coral?

[Lula_Mae]

2 hours ago, seabass said:

Very interesting!  I actually had to look that one up.  I was surprised there is so much information about them, yet I've never heard of it before.  How fast can the worm move the coral?

 The one super short video I found showed the worm booking it pretty fast. I haven't seen it move yet but this morning it's over beside the rock, a good 2-3 inches from where I placed it. I'm sure the worm will find plenty to eat in my sandbed lol.  I believe @fishfreak0114 and @Cannedfish both have a walking dendro in their tanks.  LiveAquaria had some recently in Diver' s Den for about fifty bucks, but I think mine is prettier.  

 

The guy at the store said it was in the container with their clams for a while and they finally moved it and the other one out and the other sold right away, and I couldn't pass it up for $35. Now he needs a name lol. 

[fishfreak0114]

I hope o find another walking sensor one day. They’re so fascinating! I’d like to give mine a friend 😋

[Lula_Mae]

4 hours ago, fishfreak0114 said:

I hope o find another walking sensor one day. They’re so fascinating! I’d like to give mine a friend 😋

They are so cool! Mine's moved a bit again, still in the corner but in a different spot. Neat little critters. 

[Cannedfish]

7 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

 The one super short video I found showed the worm booking it pretty fast. I haven't seen it move yet but this morning it's over beside the rock, a good 2-3 inches from where I placed it. I'm sure the worm will find plenty to eat in my sandbed lol.  I believe @fishfreak0114 and @Cannedfish both have a walking dendro in their tanks.  LiveAquaria had some recently in Diver' s Den for about fifty bucks, but I think mine is prettier.  

 

The guy at the store said it was in the container with their clams for a while and they finally moved it and the other one out and the other sold right away, and I couldn't pass it up for $35. Now he needs a name lol. 

Congrats! They are super interesting and really fun! Honestly, it's hard to believe that mother nature decided they were a good idea. From where I am sitting a worm powered coral seems like a half-baked idea... 

 

Unfortunately, I lost mine this weekend after it escaped its containment zone, and decided to park directly under an acan echinata... With that being said, make sure nothing can sting it! Also they really love being fed!

 

Good luck! I am kinda jealous. Ok, I am actually jealous. 

[Lula_Mae]

56 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

Congrats! They are super interesting and really fun! Honestly, it's hard to believe that mother nature decided they were a good idea. From where I am sitting a worm powered coral seems like a half-baked idea... 

 

Unfortunately, I lost mine this weekend after it escaped its containment zone, and decided to park directly under an acan echinata... With that being said, make sure nothing can sting it! Also they really love being fed!

 

Good luck! I am kinda jealous. Ok, I am actually jealous. 

 Oh, yikes! Poor little guy! I don't have much in the way of stingy things (am actually more worried about him stinging things as he's the most tentacled thing in there lol). I'm really sorry about your little guy! Did the worm survive, at least?

[Lula_Mae]

Tank transfer hasn't happened yet, hopefully tomorrow.  Walking dendro still walking around his corner of the tank.  Sand has a ton of cyano on it that keeps trying to cover other things and I did a bunch of hand removal and small water change last week but it's back with a vengeance, and it's hard to do maintenance because Myrtle the clownfish is a butthead lol.  Had my hand in the tank and she got a bite in and I felt teeth or something (do clownfish even have teeth?!) and it hurt!  Stupid fish.  I'm 95% sure I'm going to get rid of her because I can't do maintenance due to her constant attacks on my hand, and have resorted to playing chicken with her and the turkey baster in my other hand when I need to stick my hand in the tank.  She got a couple more bites in before I was done, too.  What a jerk. I can just imagine plopping her on the counter and saying, "This is Myrtle.  She's a jerk."

[Lula_Mae]

Tank transfer is complete.  Poor Merlin was so freaked out, when I put him in the new tank, he just lay there not moving for the longest time. The sand all got a thorough rinsing, which I hope will get rid of the cyano issues. I didn't rinse when I originally put it in the tank and have regretted it. My salinity had gotten a bit high, so I'll have to bring that back down over the next few days. Myrtle is presently on time out in a 5 gallon bucket, so Merlin has the tank to himself. I used the soap dish frag rack to catch her and hold her against the tank wall before I pulled her out.  Tank was a bit cloudy this morning, so I popped some carbon in. 

 

The pump is distractingly loud. I started trying to go through the contest tanks from last year to see what other people ended up using. Anyone have a suggestion? I'd prefer not to spend $50 on a pump but will if I have to. I do have a couple of Maxi-Jets, not sure if they are 900 or 1200 but they are def quieter lol. Would one of those work and which size if so?

 

Freaked out Merlin

 

Dendro in his little corner pen. 

 

Slightly crooked FTS:

[seabass]

I believe they used a Sicce Syncra 0.5 (185 GPH).  Yeah, it's not quite, but pushing $50.  I'm guessing the MJ 900 is closest of the two.

[Biglex]

I upgraded to sicce on my 14 with a spin stream and super nice. Was a bit loud at first but within week quiet down almost silent 

[Lula_Mae]

22 hours ago, seabass said:

I believe they used a Sicce Syncra 0.5 (185 GPH).  Yeah, it's not quite, but pushing $50.  I'm guessing the MJ 900 is closest of the two.

If I'm interested in trying a random flow generator, would I just go for the next size up, you think?

21 hours ago, Biglex said:

I upgraded to sicce on my 14 with a spin stream and super nice. Was a bit loud at first but within week quiet down almost silent 

 Are you using the 0.5 or the 1.0? I'm interested in trying a random flow generator like the spin stream and wondering which size pump to go with. 

[Cannedfish]

Congrats on the successful tank transfer! I'm excited to see where you take it!

[seabass]

It's true that a spin stream will reduce the flow to make it spin (by increasing the head pressure).  The more flow, the faster it will spin.  I anticipate that the MJ900 would be sufficient; but if you already own both, you could see which one works best.

[Lula_Mae]

10 hours ago, Cannedfish said:

Congrats on the successful tank transfer! I'm excited to see where you take it!

Thanks!  Hoping it settles in well.  I have already noticed spots of cyano...   Stupid pump is also spitting microbubbles everywhere, or it was.  I took it out and fiddled with it and so far it's a smidge quieter but still too loud and no new bubbles yet that I can see.

8 hours ago, seabass said:

It's true that a spin stream will reduce the flow to make it spin (by increasing the head pressure).  The more flow, the faster it will spin.  I anticipate that the MJ900 would be sufficient; but if you already own both, you could see which one works best.

So it turns out my 900 is a 400.   I have one I got from Weetie a while back but I dunno what size, it's in my saltwater mixing bucket.  I ended up deciding to try this pump as recommended by @spectra in the 100 Days of Nanos contest thread last year.  It was a fair bit cheaper than the Sicce 1.0 so hopefully it does what I need...quietly.

[Lula_Mae]

Picture time!

Hermit:

 

The fox coral may be dead, but this gorgeous duster lives on!

 

Ginormous St. Thomas, I think it used to be blue...

 

Happy dendro!

 

FTS with the lights on:

 

Sorry about the weird banding on some of the pics, apparently sunset on the reef causes my phone camera to freak out. 

[spectra]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

Thanks!  Hoping it settles in well.  I have already noticed spots of cyano...   Stupid pump is also spitting microbubbles everywhere, or it was.  I took it out and fiddled with it and so far it's a smidge quieter but still too loud and no new bubbles yet that I can see.

So it turns out my 900 is a 400.   I have one I got from Weetie a while back but I dunno what size, it's in my saltwater mixing bucket.  I ended up deciding to try this pump as recommended by @spectra in the 100 Days of Nanos contest thread last year.  It was a fair bit cheaper than the Sicce 1.0 so hopefully it does what I need...quietly.

 

That pump is still going strong in my 14......... it works great!  I love the sicce but the tunze looks the same and to be honest I bet they are.......

[Biglex]

12 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

If I'm interested in trying a random flow generator, would I just go for the next size up, you think?

 Are you using the 0.5 or the 1.0? I'm interested in trying a random flow generator like the spin stream and wondering which size pump to go with. 

I have the 1.0

[fishfreak0114]

Looking good!  The dendro certainly looks happy and fluffy. 

[Lula_Mae]

I got the Tunze pump and it is soooo much quieter.  I'm quickly learning why so many AIO owners invest in an ATO--the water level drops fast!  Annoyingly so.  Today was a bit bittersweet, I took Myrtle to the LFS.  She's been in a bucket since the transfer and that's not fair to her.  I'll miss her but I think it was the right choice.  Merlin can occasionally be spotted near the front of the tank, the little cutie!  Although most of the macro isn't tied down and when the water level drops it makes microbubbles that cause the macro to float and tumble in the current lol.  When it lands in the front of the tank, Merlin can occasionally be spotted staying stealthily in the front instead of just darting out occasionally.  I do need to do a water change as I've got some cyano going on but it came back much slower than when Myrtle was in the tank.  I also brought both the scarlet hermit punks to the LFS and also the St. Thomas mushroom as it's easily 4" across and likes to inflate on top of everything else.  Legendary Corals has a sale coming up that I'm hoping to get in on and purchase at least some replacement Petroglyphs and maybe a few others. 

 

The remains of the jar got about a 4 day blackout a few weeks ago and so far the dinos do not seem to have reappeared.  I'm wondering when I can consider myself to be "safe" to put them in the other tanks?

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Lula_Mae said:

The remains of the jar got about a 4 day blackout a few weeks ago and so far the dinos do not seem to have reappeared.  I'm wondering when I can consider myself to be "safe" to put them in the other tanks?

To me, that means that the dinos are dispersed in the water column instead of being clustered on the surfaces (possibly an ideal time to move them).  I might try pouring clean saltwater over the corals you wish to transfer (versus dipping them in saltwater).  That way, you are flushing them with clean water which contains no dinos.  This is, of course, just my opinion and a lot of speculation, so take this advise with a grain of "salt".

[Lula_Mae]

Hi, ya'll.  Long time no see. Sorry I've been away a while.  I've been battling wicked cyano that won't go away and laughs at my attempts to get rid of it.  Manual removal every couple days, by the time I get to do it again, there's more.  Water changes make it worse.  I cleaned my Koralia pumps from the 15 planning to use one to add some flow but I can't get them seated right so they don't sound ridiculously loud so I haven't used them.  I finally broke down and ordered Chemiclean in desperation and last night I added an air pump and dosed it....

 

...and now my walking dendro is super pissed and looks terrible. I'm not sure what to do, if I try an iodine dip it could kill the worm.  I'm afraid to move it to the pico because I have ginormous pods in there that would have a field day (I am pretty sure they've been munching on my Christmas tree worm porites out of hunger).  Maybe I could try to make room in my bitty frag tank for it?  I don't know what to do but I'm afraid I'll lose him which sucks because he's gorgeous and so cool. 

 

I've been really discouraged with how bad the cyano has been getting and at my wit's end.  With the inTank media rack I've had the intake chamber clog up several times and nearly ran the pump dry.  Thankfully we've caught it each time but if it happened while we weren't home...  I will probably try switching to either the IM version or just the inTank filter floss holder since I don't use a ton of media.  If that still has issues I am not sure what to do but I've been discouraged enough to consider breaking down the tank and going back to the 5.5 or using the empty 10 I have on hand or something.  I dunno.

 

The upside is that almost 24 hours after dosing Chemiclean, the cyano is dramatically reduced--very few strings, the macro isn't just a stringy cyano jungle, tank looks a lot better, and so far only the walking dendro seems to be badly affected.  So word of warning to those with these neat creatures--consider moving them before dosing Chemiclean!  Merlin is taking the switch from flakes to pellets (in an effort to reduce phosphates along with Phosguard) like a champ.  Being the only fish in the tank (I took Myrtle, the St. Thomas mushroom and the hermits back to the LFS a few weeks ago) has emboldened him and he can often be spotted swimming round the tank.  If I ever get this cyano squared away I may try to take a video of him sometime (if I can catch him out, he's still shy and a bit sneaky).  I absolutely love him and hope I can always have a small wrasse in my tank because he is just amazing. 

 

I have pics on my phone from last night before beginning treatment.  Will see if my phone and Nano-Reef will cooperate or maybe try to upload them. 

 

tl;dr Cyano is the devil.