3rd Time's a Charm

[Dos Ocho]

The yellowline is, i believe the court jester is not. May explain his finicky eating habits.  

[jesseatam]

5 hours ago, Dos Ocho said:

The yellowline is, i believe the court jester is not. May explain his finicky eating habits.  

Yeah a lot of people have trouble with the wild caught rainford gobies and sustaining them long term, not sure if the captive bred ones are too much better however as I haven’t really researched the fish a whole lot. If you have it taking prepared foods though that’s huge but just be aware it might not keep eating whatever you’re feeding it once its in the display tank. I have a captive bred link’s goby which is a similar to your rainford goby (was in the same genus actually but as I double checked to make sure I was correct it appears to be in its own genus with the hector’s goby now) which ate pellets like no tomorrow in qt but now that he’s in the display tank he pays them no mind, he just sifts the sand and grazes on the live rock now.

[Dos Ocho]

Update time! Some good, some bad, some ugly. 

 

The bad. The Rainford Goby stopped eating the food in QT and his belly was sinking in. I made the call that he was starving, but otherwise looked healthy. The yellowline looked good too, so i sent them both into the 40. Well, the yellowline unfortunately didn't make it. Working with LA to get a refund. 

 

The Rainford is actually doing well. His belly is expanding a bit. Still refuses frozen food but he is constantly grazing on the rock and sand and is very active. I have a good pod population going on and am hoping for the best for this guy. For some reason, I'm not having good luck with fish in this tank. I think I'm good on fish for this tank. The Highlander is doing well and getting big, so I'm hoping these two do well and live. Tired of killing fish. 

 

I dosed fluconazol and it did a number on the stringy turf / hair algae. Knocked it down to a manageable level and the display looks a lot better. There was a large mat of it growing on the back wall that i scraped and siphoned out during my water change yesterday. Will not be doing a 2nd dose as of now. 

 

The bad was the stuff also knocked out my Caulerpa in the sump. It looked fine until 3 days ago and now it is all but gone. I've been removing what i can and the hermit crabs are having a field day gobbling up the decaying strands. The Hypnea clumps also took a beating but that stuff is kinda weird. Seems like it dies on its own and later comes back so jury is still out on that stuff. My colonial tunicates also started melting. I blame it on the fluco but i'm not too upset. They were just hitchhikers on a chunk of rock. They smelled HORRIBLE when i removed them from the sump. Getting another diatom bloom in the display. My guess is that it is due to the new sand in the sump. The snails are munching away and it is not bad at all. 

 

Very fortunate too that i did not get any appreciable nutrient spike during the treatment. I was worried the nuked caulerpa would cause a lot of problems in the tank but all my levels are good. 

 

All the other algae was not affected by the fluco as far as i can tell. The 2 Dragon's Breath clumps in the display are growing fast. I trimmed about a cereal bowl worth off of the one. I'm letting the other grow out a bit and it is sending twisted strands up towards the light! For as much as i complain about tying it down and keeping it in place, I think it's my favorite algae in my collection. Very pretty. 

 

The calcified algae is doing great, all except the rooted Halimeda. That stuff is not doing much. The mermaid fans are growing well, one sent out a new shoot and was almost as big as the parent plant. The parent was starting to fall apart, so i removed him. The little mini-shaving brushes are sending up a lot of new shoots as well. The big brushes on the blue side of the tank are also sending up new shoots. So I'm doing something right!!!! The flame algae is not growing, but not dying either and is keeping its color, both the display piece and the scraps in the sump. The red grape algae is looking nice too down in the sump. 

 

I went to my LFS today to get a small clump of chaeto going in the sump to make up for the lost caulerpa. I made the mistake of going alone and picked up a few other things too!!! A nice yellowish green ricordia for my garden, a cleaner shrimp, and a beautiful purple and green maxi mini anemone. He's only been in the tank for a few hours, but seems to like his spot. He scooted around a bit at first but is staying put and laying down flat. 

 

My rock nems are doing fantastic. I fed them for the first time yesterday. Finely chopped mysis mixed with tank water. Used a small baster to drop the stuff on them. All 5 curled up and ate it all. It's probably just my eyes playing tricks, but they seem bigger and "fluffier" today. I'm going to feed them every 1 - 2 weeks. I will be getting more later. 

 

Everything else is good and growing. I have another small GCE order coming this week. Gracilaria for the sump, another Halimeda sampler, a small clump of branching corraline, and a loose Ricordia. 

 

After that, I'll let things fill in a bit and see where I'm at. Hoping for no more death. Enjoy the pix, and Happy Reefing!!! 

[Dos Ocho]

A shot of the red grape algae in the sump and the hermits fighting over an algae tab!

[Dos Ocho]

Very good week in the tank. Bad algae is all but gone. A few strands here and there, and even those don't seem too healthy. So that is fantastic news. Got another GCE order. Gracilaria for the sump. Pics of that will come tonight. Felt bad because i threw about half of it out. Just didn't have the room! GCE definitely hooks you up with quantity. I put a small strand of it in the display too. 

Another Halimeda sampler. Mostly pencil caps, 1 Mermaid Fan, and 2 rooted Halimedas. The rooted one didn't do that well in the 40, so i sent the other two into the biocube to see how they do. My other pencil caps are going wild. 5 new shoots coming up. It's starting to look like the forest i wanted in that area of the tank. Couldn't be happier with that!

I also picked up a small clump of fine branching coraline and put it over on the tide light side under the big rock. Very cool stuff and looks great under the blue lights. Also got another Ricordea because you can never have too many! I really love those things now. 

 

The Highlander and Joker are both well. The Highlander is very interested in the cleaner shrimp. He keeps backing up to him, probably wanting to get cleaned. The shrimp is not going for it as far as i can tell, but the two spend most of the day behind the big rock so who knows what's going on. They seem like they are becoming a team though! The shrimp mainly hangs out on the big rock and seems to be healthy and happy. The Joker is constantly prowling the tank picking at the sand and rock. His belly still seems a bit skinny, but better than he was when i got him. He burrowed a small hole under the big Dragon's Breath on the flare light side of the tank and that is where he sleeps at night. The porcelain crab is alive and well too. He's found a rock to live in and it's hard to see him, but he is cool. Constantly waving his arms picking up food! 

 

I've started putting the Ricordias up on a rock. Freeing up the sand below for more! One Ric's frag was getting covered in a red turf algae. Does not bother the ric as far as i can tell, and the algae looks neat. However, decided it wasn't what i wanted in my display so i sent him to the fuge. He took the move well. 

 

Fed the nems yesterday. Went with chopped up squid and they didn't seem to care for that as much as the chopped shrimp last week. Just trying a variety of foods for them. The mini carpet didn't eat at all. I'm hoping he's still adjusting to the tank. He fills out good during the day and his mouth looks fine so i think he's healthy. Maybe he's not as voracious an eater as his bigger cousins. We'll see.

 

So, all is coming together. I definitely want more anemones. I have one bare rock that i am debating what to do with. Originally was wanting gorgonians in this tank, but now i'm not sure. I really like the Anthelia in my sump, and LA offers a blue variety that would look nice. Possibly another Nepthea or Sinularia? Or i may just cover it in macros. Kind of all over the place with that rock! 

 

As always, enjoy the pix! 

[Christopher Marks]

That's great to see the fluconazol treatment worked out perfectly, in a heavily planted tank no less. What a miraculous little solution!

 

All these Halimeda you have are really fascinating, they remind me of some types of cactus. Do you get them all at your LFS?

[Dos Ocho]

7 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

That's great to see the fluconazol treatment worked out perfectly, in a heavily planted tank no less. What a miraculous little solution!

 

All these Halimeda you have are really fascinating, they remind me of some types of cactus. Do you get them all at your LFS?

I was VERY nervous about dosing my tank with all the algae. From my past dosing of my biocube, i was confident the Dragon's Breath and Calcified plants would be fine. As I feared, it knocked out my caulerpa in the sump and possibly some Hypnea too but that die off may be unrelated. But i was not overly attached to the caulerpa and did not see any nutrient spikes from the die off so dodged a potential tank crash there. I hope to not have to do this again. I dosed my cube back in September and although there is still some random strands of the hair / turf algae, it is manageable and even dies off on it's own in spots. In both tanks i would estimate 90 - 95% reduction in algae and no ill affects to other livestock. 

 

My LFS only has chaeto, caulerpa and Dragon's Breath. I got the rest of my algae from ReefCleaners, KP Aquatics, and Gulf Coast Ecosystems. The majority come from GCE. I cannot say enough good things about all 3 of those Florida outfits. Great prices, customer service, and products. The rooted plants are neat, especially these new Pencil Cap ones i've been getting from GCE. I love scanning the sand for new shoots! I either clip and remove the dying ones or if they are small, leave them in there for the snails. 

[Dos Ocho]

Sump shots. The big clump of gracilaria. Already teeming with pods. Had a green zoa in the cube I transferred over. I have a huge dark green zoa colony on the march and this green one in the sump was in danger of being overrun. He’s acclimating well. GSP, Xenia, and Anthelia all doing well. 

[Dos Ocho]

Things are still looking good in the 40. I noticed a couple Aiptasias so i mad the call to get a couple peppermint shrimp Friday. They are settling in well (and nailed the Aiptasia already!) and do not appear to be fighting with the cleaner shrimp. All 3 are roughly the same size so i think that helps. The tank is big so there should be plenty of room for all. 

 

I'm trying to get some of the loose Ricordias on the rock and it's just not working. They keep dropping down to the sand and congregating behind the rock. They are healthy so i'm going to stop trying and just let them be. I was able to get 3 of them up on the rock, so hopefully they spread and cover it over time. 

 

One of my rock nems decided to take a stroll last night and ended up in the Ricordia garden! He attached to a small rock over there so i gently moved him back to the nem garden. He moved off the rock overnight and has settled in the Halimeda forest. We'll see how long he stays there, but he seems happy for now. 

 

Seeing a lot of new algae shoots coming up from the sand, which is awesome. I clipped and removed some dead stalks yesterday. My forest is growing!!

 

Another exciting development is that after almost a year in my care, i think the Duncan is FINALLY growing a new head. He's always looked healthy but now i think he has found his happy place. Very happy about that. 

 

Spot feeding the nems went very well yesterday. I mixed up finely chopped mysis and put in a bit of reef roids too. All the nems gobbled it up and i squirted the duncan as well. That mix will be my staple for feedings. 

 

Fish are good. The Rainford Goby's belly keeps growing and he no longer appears emaciated. He constantly grazes on the algae, rock and sand and it sems like the pod poulation is keeping up with the demand. I am seeing a good population in the display and the sump. The only bad thing is i notice a few white spots on the Chromis. There were 3 total, 2 on his back fin and one on the dorsal. The dorsal spot appears to have gone away today. He's active and still eating like a pig. He's VERY quick so removing him for treatment would be difficult. My fear is ich of course, but i'm cautiously optimistic and monitoring him closely. It can't all be good, after all. 

 

That's about it. Happy Easter everyone! 

[jesseatam]

Curious to see how the peppermint do with your rock flower nems, I was thinking about one but I’m too worried it would tear into my nem.

[Dos Ocho]

I’m worried about the nems too but so far they don’t even seem interested. One of the Aiptasias they got was no more than a half inch from my Maxi Mini and the Mini showed no signs of being bothered. I do feed well so I’m hoping they have no reason to pick at the nems. If I see anything bad, I’ll try to catch them. As with most things in this hobby I am cautiously optimistic!

[Dos Ocho]

Been a while since i updated my journal. Spring is slowly coming to Nebraska and I am FINALLY starting to be able to work outside. Been a long and rough winter. 

 

Some changes to my tank, most good. Let's go down the list:

 

Fish are both good. The 3 white spots on the Chromis went away, now he has a little one on his back but that is the only one. He's still very active and eating like a pig, so that's good. The goby is still a bit skinny for my liking, but he is also very active. Good color and seems healthy. 

 

All 3 shrimp are behaving and getting along. A few squabbles at first between the peps and the cleaner, but they have established territories now. The cleaner is definitely the alpha shrimp of the tank, but he mainly hangs out on the big rock. The 2 peps hide behind one of the smaller rocks, but they also prowl the tank and are much more active than the cleaner. All are healthy, good color, and must be eating well because they have all molted several times since i added them. And most importantly, they leave my nems alone! 

 

I rearranged some rocks around the rock nems which made a couple of them move. The white and brown one walked all the way down to the Ricordia garden! Couldn't have that. Fortunately he attached to a small rubble rock, so i moved him to the halimeda field. He detached from the rock, moved around a bit, and planted himself in the sand. Hasn't moved since. The white and dark brown nem just couldn't get comfy. He had 2 nights in a row where he sunk completely into the sand bed. He came out both mornings and only did that twice. He's still scooting around looking for that perfect spot I'm sure. Keeping an eye on him. The red and 2 green ones seem content where they are and have not moved much lately. 

 

Sad story time. I bought a white and orange spotted anemone crab a couple weeks ago. He immediately went into the middle of the red and 2 green nems. He was happy as can be and was fun to watch filter the water. He was fairly big, and walked on the nems alot which kinda bothered them. Wednesday night i went to watch the tank before bed and saw the big green nem EATING the crab!! I couldn't believe it! His claw was the only thing sticking out of the nem's mouth. The next morning he puked up the crab's shell, completely devoid of meat. I thought maybe the nem just ate his molt but i have not seen him at all since Wednesday so i think he's done.  Don't know if he died and the nem ate him, or if big green was tired of his crap and took him out. Either way, I had a cool crab for 2 weeks....  The other porcelain crab is still alive. Very reclusive and doesn't approach any of the nems at all. Very wise..... The Carpet nem is doing very well too! 

 

Picked up some more algae. Trying my hand at Hypnea again. Cut up a clump and stuffed 3 pieces into a rock on the flare side. It's already growing and i hope it fills in and takes over most of the rock. The leftover clump went into the fuge. Got a few pieces of thick branched coraline algae. Got 3 clumps of Toadstool Algae for the sump from KP Aquatics. It came with a host of little brittle stars and other pods. Cool stuff and i hope it grows well. Also got a red brittle starfish from them too. He's creepy, but very cool. I took all my rubble rock out of the bags in my first chamber sump. Trying a semi-cryptic zone. The goal is to grow sponges in this chamber for some added natural filtration. I put the red star in there to help keep it clean of detritus and food. I usually see him directly under the overflow pipes, grabbing all the uneaten food as it comes down. Pretty smart for a creature with no true brain. 

 

I added some corals to the tank as well. A very pretty purple zoanthid frag. I couldn't resist a nice orange leptastrea coral too. Put him in a shaded spot towards the middle of the tank. He's doing very well and adds a nice splash of color to the tank. I am most excited about my first gorgonian! I decided to get a purple ribbon from GCE. It arrived in good shape and i put it on the flare side, bottom almost directly under the lights. Angled the Koralia to hit him with good flow, but not too much. It shed the day after i put him in. Very interesting. Reminded me of my reptile days way back when. It all flaked off over the course of a day or two. It's polyps are extended every day and i couldn't be happier with it. Adds some height to the tank and looks incredible. 

 

The fuge is coming along. Having a slight GHA breakout so i grabbed some more snails to help clean it up. The crabs must have a secret food source because i have not fed them in weeks and they don't seem to touch the GHA, but they are all alive and well. Several are molting and upgrading to bigger shells. So it's up to the snails to keep things in order. The gracilaria is growing very well, probably the fastest in the fuge. I trimmed him the other night and i swear he's almost as big as he was before the trim. The caulerpa is making a comeback. I have been adding Ulva from my cube in hopes of getting a garden of that stuff going. It grows all over the cube and i like the look of it. 

 

So all in all things are going very well. Now comes the less exciting but (IMO) a very important stage in my tank. Leave it alone and let it grow out. I feel like I've stocked it well enough to be full, but not crowded. I've got a laundry list of spring projects and outdoor chores to keep me busy. I picked up a 4th empty lot next to my property that i am very excited to start working on and landscaping. I may buy some algae here and there, but think most o my stocking is done. Fingers crossed that everything keeps going well for me. Happy reefing everyone!! 

 

 

[vlangel]

Looking really good!  I love how your tank is filling in.

[Dos Ocho]

A few sump shots. Getting some GHA in the fuge but better in there than the display. Added some Astrea snails to help clean it up. 

[Dos Ocho]

I’ll have a fuller post this weekend, but had to show some shots of my jungle-like fuge. More GHA than I would like, but I added 20 or so more dwarf Ceriths to help the cause. Very active little fellows. The a-hole crabs don’t seem to touch the GHA but they sure do love the sinking algae tabs! They’re just lucky I like them!  

 

[vlangel]

Your fuge looks very lush and alive!  I love it.

[Dos Ocho]

It's been a while since i posted, and unfortunately i bear bad news. I have a growing infestation of the dreaded dinoflagellates. They are quickly overrunning the 40 gallon. And to top it off, i added some algae from the 40 to my biocube a few weeks ago and have a bloom growing in my cube now too. I've been researching all weekend and it looks like i have a long battle ahead. It's already closing up some corals, and i've had a few snail deaths in my 40 sump. My first attack is going to be a peroxide dose combined with a 3 day blackout starting tonight in both tanks. Seems to be a popular remedy based on my research, and a good first try. I realize i need to get my tank chemistry in order too, still figuring out how to do that. 

 

This sucks. I'd rather have clumps of bryopsis than this crap. I'm worried it may destroy both of my beloved tanks. Also, because of all the problems I've had, my love for reefing is beginning to wane. This is a fun, but horribly frustrating hobby. I've invested too much time and money to give up all together. If the worst happens and both tanks are unrecoverable, I'm going to save my fish and restart the 40 alone and have 1 tank. I'd probably get some live Florida rock and make it a macroalgae lagoon. I'm far from that point right now, just frustrated. 

 

Anywho, here's hoping for good luck. Fingers (and toes) crossed.....

 

 

[pntbll687]

Manually remove as much as possible before the blackout.

 

When I battled them I took an extra filter sock, and fed a siphon down to it in the sump. I then cleaned out as much as I could without having to empty a bucket or do a water change.

 

You can literally clean for hours this way, as long as the sock doesn't get clogged up.

 

Diatoms feed on silicates and need light to reproduce. You can reduce the light, and then figure out where the silicates are coming from. Any recent rock additions? Or sand? Was the sand washed before using?

 

Be persistent with removing as much as possible. If you use the above methods to remove them, use the opportunity to really clean the sand bed. The water might get cloudy, so have a few gallons on hand for a which water change when your done.

 

Good luck! 

[Dos Ocho]

The Dino battle rages on, but I am winning in this tank. Here is what I've done:

 

1. Blackout. Removed as much as i could then wrapped the tank in black garbage bags. It was nerve wracking not being able to see anything in my tank for 3 days. I fed minimally and dosed Hydrogen Peroxide (1ml per 10 gallons daily). 

2. After the blackout, everything handled it well. I had a Ricordia melting that i removed before the blackout and a small zoa colony never re-opened and looks like it's dead. But everything else survived. My mini carpet anemone climbed the rock and ended up behind it where he still stays. I have 2 brown rock anemones i call "The Wanderers" because they like to walk around. They both walked over to the big Dragon's Breath patch, but they're doing good. The 2 green and 1 red rock anemone stayed in the same spot, although the big green one and the red one traded places. I continued the peroxide dosing for the rest of the week. 

3. I decided to continue the battle using the "dirty tank" method and started taking steps to raise nutrient levels. I have not done a water change since the blackout, and stopped using GFO. I've increased feeding amounts and started feeding the hermits in the sump nightly. Mainly algae tabs but i'm still working thru a chunk of old cod too. 

4. I also wanted to increase biodiversity and hopefully get organisms that either feed on or compete with the dinos. To that end, i ordered 10lbs of live rock from KP Aquatics. Their rock is beautiful!!! I added it all between my biocube and the 40. Most of the rock in the 40 went into the sump. I pulled a large piece of dryrock and replaced it with the live down there. So much life on those rocks. Even picked up a tiny pencil urchin and a reclusive Mithrax crab. 

5. My pod population was increasing due to the larger feedings, and i also added some pods and live brine shrimp from Algae Barn (the brine shrimp were thrown in for free). They forgot to ship the phytoplankton but will be sending it this week. I intend to dose phyto to help feed the pods and increase biodiversity. 

 

So far the battle is being one. I only see faint, tiny strands of dinos in one or two spots in the tank. All the corals, algae, etc.. are thriving. Debatining on when to do a water change. I was thinking next week possibly. I go on vacation soon for 8 days so i'm just nervous about them coming back while i'm gone. For now, i'll enjoy my tank and play it by ear. 

 

My poor biocube is losing the dino battle. Using the same treatment methods but that stuff is really taking hold in there. I'm going to scrub and remove it good tomorrow and do another 3 day blackout. Hoping i can save it, but coming up with a doomsday plan if i decide to nuke and reboot. If i do, the new tank will simply be all KP Aquatics live rock and macro heavy like my 40. Fingers crossed!!

[Dos Ocho]

Made some changes to the display. I didn't really like the Bryothamnion algae. It was too densely packed, caught a lot of detritus and debris, and just didn't fit in with the look i want. So i removed most of it. I did save a few strands in the sump and they are doing well down there. I added some feather caulerpa from my LFS and ordered some Prolifera from GCE. I really like the stuff and it grows very quickly. That's been about it for display changes. Just letting things grow out and just live. Enjoy some top down shots taken today. 

 

[Dos Ocho]

Random display pix

[Dos Ocho]

The sump also went thru some changes. The cryptic zone in the first chamber i tried was a failure. I was using rubble rock and all it did was trap a bunch of detritus and it was getting really nasty. So i pulled all the rubble (a damn mess!!). I kept some of the matrix media only and put it in a bag. I added a big Marinepure plate and kept two Marinepure balls that i cycled the tank with. They are covered in sponges. The first chamber is much cleaner now and i expect the plate will be a great addition to my filtration. The red starfish stayed in chamber 1 and is getting bigger, so he's doing well. I also added 30+ dwarf ceriths to the sump and they all freely travel through all the chambers. 

I added the new caulerpa to the sump and cut back the big Gracilaria algae. The fuge is crawling with so much life now. It's the wild jungle i was hoping it would be. The crabs are still jerks of course. There is a mithrax in there but he is reclusive and doesn't venture too far from his rocks. 

I did a ton of GHA removal and it's looking a lot better down there. The remaining patches actually look kinda cool and they are crawling with pods. 

[Dos Ocho]

More sump shots

[vlangel]

I love how the shaving brush and maiden fan look in your tank.  I hope to try those someday.  Also you have a macro that is on a stem but have thicker fronds (kind of like caulerpa) that I have never seen before.  What is that?

 

Your tank and sump are beautiful.

[Dos Ocho]

Thank you!!! I'm just so glad the system is finally getting better. Dinos are nasty and now that they popped up once, they will always be a looming threat. Gotta love ancient ocean life!!!

 

The algae your referring to is either the "Pencil Caps" or possibly the Rhipocephalus. The Pencil caps are like shaving brushes much a much more compact, ball-like top. The Rhipo looked a lot different in the pictures than when i got it and kinda looks like a feather caulerpa (it's the one smashed up on the glass in front of the Anemones). 

 

I got the vast majority of my algae came from Gulf Coast Ecosystems and i cannot recommend them highly enough. Every product i have received has been fantastic. Just be prepared to throw some out when you get it because he sends so much!!! I would recommend the Halimeda Sampler for you. It's a nice mix of "rooted" stemmed algae and there's almost always some tiny brittle stars that come along for the ride. The one thing i love about the stemmed algae is seeing where the new shoots pop up out of the sand. It's amazing how far they can send their holdfasts and they come up in the oddest of areas.