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Joe's IM 20: Got a couple clowns, call it a circus 🎪


Joevember

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Well I went to Tank it Easy to pick up some snails, and they had some cool ones. Have you ever heard of NINJA STAR SNAILS? I have always wanted these in my CUC before I even set up my first SW tank, so obviously I had to buy them! They look so cool with their spiky shells; you can't get any other snails like it. I'll let you know how good they are after I see how big of a difference they make in the tank.

I also found an awesome acan frag for $10... it took a lot of willpower to not buy it, gotta save for the cynarina 😁

 

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I just realized how much the flame BTA has gotten. I just looked back at my tank photo album and saw the first pic I took of it, and BOY was it small! It seems weird now looking at the picture and how it was. It was once only 3" in diameter (a little bigger than the acans I have in the front), but now it is the single biggest thing in the tank around 7". 

Here is the first pic and the latest from tonight:

 

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11 hours ago, Joevember said:

I just realized how much the flame BTA has gotten. I just looked back at my tank photo album and saw the first pic I took of it, and BOY was it small! It seems weird now looking at the picture and how it was. It was once only 3" in diameter (a little bigger than the acans I have in the front), but now it is the single biggest thing in the tank around 7". 

Here is the first pic and the latest from tonight:

 

20181110_100722.jpg

20190215_202015.jpg

It's cool to look back and see the growth.

I really like how you have a torch island too.  It's beautiful with all the color combinations.

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Saw my black widow nem right at the bottom of my rock last night. This morning it was in the same spot. But somehow it has managed to get from the rock to the blasto colony in the back of my tank. I still don't get how it managed to get its foot off the rock and onto the colony- which is 1" from the rock.

I was going to post a listing for it on local sites since I have no room, but now I have to deal with the little nem stuck to it...

 

20190219_172516.jpg

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On 2/15/2019 at 5:28 PM, Joevember said:

Well I went to Tank it Easy to pick up some snails, and they had some cool ones. Have you ever heard of NINJA STAR SNAILS? I have always wanted these in my CUC before I even set up my first SW tank, so obviously I had to buy them! They look so cool with their spiky shells; you can't get any other snails like it. I'll let you know how good they are after I see how big of a difference they make in the tank.

I also found an awesome acan frag for $10... it took a lot of willpower to not buy it, gotta save for the cynarina 😁

 

20190215_172731.jpg

These ninja snails come and go over the years. I used to have them yearsssss back. This year is the first time I've seen them in awhile. Got 3 for myself from Blue Line lol

1 minute ago, Joevember said:

Saw my black widow nem right at the bottom of my rock last night. This morning it was in the same spot. But somehow it has managed to get from the rock to the blasto colony in the back of my tank. I still don't get how it managed to get its foot off the rock and onto the colony- which is 1" from the rock.

I was going to post a listing for it on local sites since I have no room, but now I have to deal with the little nem stuck to it...

 

20190219_172516.jpg

Also normal, I assume you weren't awake to see it walk, nems can literally walk it's pretty interesting if you can catch it which is usually at night. Back when I had my 125 I threw a party so I was up late to see one of my RBTA's walking around (a good 6 inches).

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18 minutes ago, Fish_Wiz said:

These ninja snails come and go over the years. I used to have them yearsssss back. This year is the first time I've seen them in awhile. Got 3 for myself from Blue Line lol

Also normal, I assume you weren't awake to see it walk, nems can literally walk it's pretty interesting if you can catch it which is usually at night. Back when I had my 125 I threw a party so I was up late to see one of my RBTA's walking around (a good 6 inches).

That's cool with them walking, I only thought they kind of 'slid' around the tank. It'd be cool to get a pic/vid of that happening.

 

Also, forgot to mention, the pink lemonade acro is alive. It's tentacles are extending 😄

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Great looking tank! I really like the torch island.

 

I had some of those snails years ago, I think they eat pretty much the same stuff astrea snails do. LA says they have difficulty righting themselves if they fall which I think I remember happening at times.

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Bad... bad news guys. 😔 The cleaner shrimp just died in front of my eyes. I saw it crawl out of its cave when I was feeding the tank, then it took a few steps and just stood there. Then the current just blew it off the rock and it hasn't moved since.

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It was just over 4 years old, which I just found out was their lifespan. The guy I bought it from had it for 3 years, and I had it for about 10 months. I had hoped he would be with me longer. I always thought in this hobby that things will only die if you screw something up, but they will inevitably die if you give them a good life too... 🙏

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  • 2 weeks later...

I decided to switch the lighting program from high growth to coral lab LPS program. It has a better looking spectrum, and my corals pop more before the ramp down to high blues comes on. 

 

Not much else new, pics:

 

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Got some free frags of gsp (one has some bam bams) from a local guy that I gave some macros to a while back. He said I really needed to dip them because he has nasty algaes. Sooo I went a little overboard and gave them a hydrogen peroxide dip to get rid of everything. I did a 3/1 mix of water to peroxide. As you can see from the pic only a single polyp has opened up:

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Also, I keep forgetting to say that my first purple torch has completely bleached out since the temp drop. It's been like this for a month.

20190303_182324.thumb.jpg.2fc183132ff28bc5a022650a43eabd65.jpg

 

Aannnd a new coral! Finally picked up the cynarina after staring at it every time I visitedy lfs. It was a steal for only $70 for a 7" diameter cynarina! It is probably the weirdest, but coolest, looking coral I have in the tank. My brother said it looks like it came out of Ridley Scott's Alien. The bubbles look amazing on it with their translucence and color, like an illusion. Fingers crossed that it doesn't fight with anything, the tank is getting packed! It's only half open in the pic:

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In other news, my bta baby has found itself on the torch island, have fun getting out of there little bud... And I'll be selling some of the 'clutter corals' that do nothing in the back of my tank which include: both of my 'failed' elegances, the white and teal favia, and echinata.

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On 3/3/2019 at 6:33 PM, Joevember said:

Got some free frags of gsp (one has some bam bams) from a local guy that I gave some macros to a while back. He said I really needed to dip them because he has nasty algaes. Sooo I went a little overboard and gave them a hydrogen peroxide dip to get rid of everything. I did a 3/1 mix of water to peroxide.

Thats me! Enjoy the frags, glad you dipped them which you should be doing with any coral you acquire. GSP takes a bit to adjust so don't be surprised if it doesn't open for a week, hopefully you can get the bam bams to bounce back, they've been shaded for awhile.

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47 minutes ago, Daniel91 said:

Really, you are gonna add new stuff and not please us with a FTS?

Should have asked before the lights cut off, gotta wait till tomorrow 😄

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The awaited FTS:

20190305_192603.thumb.jpg.9df336305883a968bdf8b1d5b2a4a0ed.jpg

And a close up on the cynarina:20190305_192646.thumb.jpg.127d7aec33f98a2cb7c77b557606b8c3.jpg

It doesn't have the brightest colors, but it sure is massive.

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RFA has finally accepted food again. However, it has also started to move around again. Luckily I have my nem guard on to keep it from becoming sushi. I peeled it off the glass and put it on a frag disc this morning, but it found its way onto the main rock... absolutely no room for it to be comfortable there. It's currently chilling under my monti cap in the back, so I can't get good pics to share.

 

But I won't leave you with no pictures, so here's my bubble coral, looking absolutely massive.

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I'm going to remount the purple trumpet again to keep it out of the bubble's line of fire. I already lost 4 heads of the neon green to it, and it is looking too close to the lobo at the moment. I'll figure something out, because I'll never get rid of my bubble coral; it came with my first tank!

 

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Nice set up!

 

I had a question about your heater. I’m setting up the same tank with the same heater but noticed it won’t be full submerged in the pump chamber. How do you have yours set up? And has it been keeping temp for you okay? Thanks man, great looking tank!

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45 minutes ago, Salty40 said:

Nice set up!

 

I had a question about your heater. I’m setting up the same tank with the same heater but noticed it won’t be full submerged in the pump chamber. How do you have yours set up? And has it been keeping temp for you okay? Thanks man, great looking tank!

I have it laying horizontally on the return pump section, under the first two right chambers. It's definitely overkill at 200w, but it gets the job done. It has temp fluctuations of 0.2 degrees from what I've seen. 

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7 minutes ago, Joevember said:

I have it laying horizontally on the return pump section, under the first two right chambers. It's definitely overkill at 200w, but it gets the job done. It has temp fluctuations of 0.2 degrees from what I've seen. 

Ok I’ll give it a shot, thanks!

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On 3/5/2019 at 8:29 PM, Joevember said:

The awaited FTS:

20190305_192603.thumb.jpg.9df336305883a968bdf8b1d5b2a4a0ed.jpg

And a close up on the cynarina:20190305_192646.thumb.jpg.127d7aec33f98a2cb7c77b557606b8c3.jpg

It doesn't have the brightest colors, but it sure is massive.

 

I like the Cynarina. 😊

 

I want one but my flow would probably blow it apart! 😄

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The purple torch isn't getting better so I'm taking it out before the CUC does, and to be honest I never liked the look of this torch. Tentacles were too short and didn't have much color, but it added some diversity to my other torches.

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Also got the GSP on the back wall... now we wait.

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I also rotated the bubble coral so the sweepers wouldn't hit the neighboring corals. The right rock also got turned about 15° just for aesthetic purposes.

 

Here's a FTS with the BTA and bubble coral closed up, turned up the flow so they're adjusting to it.

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Say hello to the new hector's goby:

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And the pom pom crab:

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I thought it was finally time to get another invert to fill the role my shrimp had, and also a fish just because. They were both on sale at Xzotic Aquatic, so I stopped in. I was considering getting a porcelain crab instead of the pom pom, but went with the pom pom because it's more colorful. Might consider one down the road. Also put the lid back on so the goby doesn't get any bad ideas, I'll make a glass lid for it soon.

 

I also need some clever names for the new additions! Feel free to give me some suggestions.

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The goby and pom pom crab have been hiding out together in the rockwork. The clowns are more aggressive than I had hoped, hopefully they will accept him. I've also been putting food in his cave, and it disappears so I think he's eating it.

 

I sold off the blastos and favia to a local hobbyist. Then I traded the 2 sad elegances to a guy for a red planet acro, which was bleached when he gave it to me... But I didn't want much for them since they looked bad. Still holding on to the acan echinata.

 

I made some accidental frags by knocking off my monti cap and blue trumpet today. I'll sell everything except for a frag of the trumpet. The monti falling off kind of worked out because the BTA finally got its tentacles on my front acros (1 almost bleached, 1 with burnt tips) and I had space to mount them where the cap was. Wasn't a big fan of the monti cap anyways, I'd like some digi or setosa better.

 

You're probably thinking to yourself, "Hey! I don't see any pics in this post..." and you would be right! I thought it would be cool to get some moonlight pics, not knowing that my phone didn't pic any of it up. I'll update this post soon with pics, so check back in a couple days and they should be here.😁

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