Ratvan's Old School Pico - Rockwall Pico v2

[Snow_Phoenix]

34 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

He bit me in seconds so yeah, Hantu Air. He is harsh and has already harmed me

Will be Puja time if he does that again

 

Devilish water spirit, huh? Good name choice then! 

Going off-topic here - here's just a quick list of a few 'hantus' by popular Malay folklore. I'm not Malay myself, but these ghosts are quite a popular part of the Malaysian culture as a whole:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_in_Malay_culture

Almost everyone here knows someone who has *seen* a ghost. Vampires (pontianak) and gremlins/goblins (toyols) being the most common encounter. I've ran into some pretty weird and questionable stuff while I was younger - basically, the moral lesson of the day is: Don't stay up late at night. Especially if you live in/visit a house next to a river or jungle (*cough, grandmother's, cough*). 

 

[Ratvan]

2 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Devilish water spirit, huh? Good name choice then! 

Going off-topic here - here's just a quick list of a few 'hantus' by popular Malay folklore. I'm not Malay myself, but these ghosts are quite a popular part of the Malaysia culture as a whole:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_in_Malay_culture

Almost everyone here knows someone who has *seen* a ghost. Vampires (pontianak) and gremlins/goblins (toyols) being the most common encounter. I've ran into some pretty weird and questionable stuff while I was younger - basically, the moral lesson of the day is: Don't stay up late at night. Especially if you live in/visit a house next to a river or jungle (*cough, grandmother's, cough*). 

 

Thank you, yeah it was either that or Penanggal (Penn) love the idea of that "Vampire" so messed up. Little too messed up for this one

 

The penanggal is another type of female vampire attracted to the blood of newborn infants, which appears as the head of a woman from which her entrails trail, used to grasp her victim. There are several stories of her origins. One is that she was a woman who was sitting meditating in a large wooden vat used for making vinegar when she was so startled that her head jumped up from her body, pulling her entrails with it. Another has her as a normal woman during the day, whose head and entrails leave her body at night. If a baby is expected, branches from a type of thistle are placed around the doors or windows to protect the house, since her entrails will be caught by the thorns.^[12] The penanggalan is known in Thai as krasue^[13] and a similar Philippine ghost called the manananggal which preys on pregnant women with an elongated proboscis-like tongue.^[14]

 

^😄

 

[Snow_Phoenix]

18 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Thank you, yeah it was either that or Penanggal (Penn) love the idea of that "Vampire" so messed up. Little too messed up for this one

 

The penanggal is another type of female vampire attracted to the blood of newborn infants, which appears as the head of a woman from which her entrails trail, used to grasp her victim. There are several stories of her origins. One is that she was a woman who was sitting meditating in a large wooden vat used for making vinegar when she was so startled that her head jumped up from her body, pulling her entrails with it. Another has her as a normal woman during the day, whose head and entrails leave her body at night. If a baby is expected, branches from a type of thistle are placed around the doors or windows to protect the house, since her entrails will be caught by the thorns.^[12] The penanggalan is known in Thai as krasue^[13] and a similar Philippine ghost called the manananggal which preys on pregnant women with an elongated proboscis-like tongue.^[14]

 

^😄

 

Honestly, I've been here for three+ decades and have yet to see a floating head attached to entrails come after me. So far I consider myself incredibly lucky. 

[A.m.P]

Lol... I'm not sure whether I should be more surprised at how fitting a name that is, or that I was, for some reason, familiar with that folk legend to begin with...
Also, nobody believes me when I say clowns are the most aggressive damselfish, they're just too lazy and concerned about their few inches to act on it most of the time.

[Ratvan]

I play a lot of D&D and similar games. A lot of mythological creatures have been stolen and placed in those. 👍

[A.m.P]

54 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

I play a lot of D&D and similar games. A lot of mythological creatures have been stolen and placed in those. 👍

Lol, everything is derivative. Hopefully the clown loses its' taste for blood.

[Ratvan]

3 hours ago, Amphrites said:

Lol, everything is derivative. Hopefully the clown loses its' taste for blood.

I doubt it, he was warming up in the 5.5G while I did a quick WC on the Pico. He was squaring up to Cujo through the bag and net hatchery. 

 

Dont you just love Mondays? 

Baby Aiptasia in the Coffe jar pica pico

 

 

[Ratvan]

So Yuma mushrooms are more hardy than I believed, I thought that I had lost all of the greens on the rock but it seems that they were taking shelter in the spare hermit shells, I spent a good half an hour getting them out the shells with a pipette 

 

 

Duncan is looking so much better out of direct lighting as well, I need to do the same with the new torch? 

 

Ah yeah Morning Feed, the mushroom rock quickly becomes the Star Rock

[seabass]

1 minute ago, Ratvan said:

So Yuma mushrooms are more hardy than I believed

Good, I was worried about you losing them.  That would have sucked.

[Ratvan]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

Good, I was worried about you losing them.  That would have sucked.

Definitely. I found three out of seven, found a couple of blue mushrooms as well that I thought had gone so not total losses on those either.. I think I want a powerhead in here for Hantu as I do not have a great deal of flow and he doesn't really surf in the flow as I have seen in most tanks. Suitable "Cheap" Wavemaker/Pump for a Pico tank?

 

Tried the OW10 (well SW2 as same size physically) and don't like how much profile I have in the tank, the MP10 is a little out of my league, any other ideas? Could I strip down a FW Filter using only the pump section? The BB of the tank is also rather dirty for a BB tank as well

[seabass]

I think @Tigahboy has tried multiple different powerheads.

[Ratvan]

11 minutes ago, seabass said:

I think @Tigahboy has tried multiple different powerheads.

Perfect, just wait until he responds to the summons. 

 

Hammer Frag, attempt number 3.

 

Frag has arrived and looks in a much better condition, does not seem to be anything retracted as per the last couple of Frags. The Flesh around the Skeletal Edge looks so much chunkier and fluffier than the previous two. I have scraped a couple of Aiptasia off the Frag and added to the Aiptasia Jar (current count 3). I have decided not to dip this one as the last few seemed to rapidly deteriorate after this stage so visual inspection only. 

 

Plan is low light (under hang) and gentle flow 

Doesn't look at all as retracted compared to previous attempts

 

Irritated that I was Ignored on the Styrofoam point (but got a fish so no real complaints) and also that it doesn't come on a Plug/Disc (I prefer this as helps me with dipping) but can do that myself in a minute

[Ratvan]

THIS LOOKS BETTER 

[seabass]

Looking good.  Third times a charm.

[Ratvan]

2 minutes ago, seabass said:

Looking good.  Third times a charm.

Thanks, throwing things in the tank now to keep Hantu out of the bloody thing, looks like he is nibbling/sucking on it while diving and wriggling all around in it.

I think it is close to full extension now which is pretty amazing 

 

Sorry for the Hammer spam. Really excited this finally worked for me

Looking forwards to ramping up the lighting as well to see its colours

[seabass]

3 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

looks like he is nibbling/sucking on it while diving and wriggling all around in it

He (soon to be a she) is hoping to "host" it.  They can sometimes be tough on their host corals, especially when the corals are still small.  You may have to separate them.

[A.m.P]

Looks much better, beginning to wonder if the last few were literally cut and shipped same day, perhaps by some form of wombat looking at how damaged the flesh was...

 

Also worth mentioning sometimes clowns whose hosts reject them will kill (in some cases by literally shredding) said attempted hosts because they're dicks. /shrug #Damselfish things

 

Just keep an eye out, if the hammer stops extending or has damaged flesh/torn tentacles, make a little eggcrate/light diffuser box or something for it to grow out in.

 

OH and watch the lighting, some euphyllia will handle upwards of 200 par, especially if it's brought up slowly, others will NOT and almost need shade (50-ish) to stay happy.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Amphrites
It's the morning and my grammar is still asleep

[Ratvan]

7 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Looks much better, beginning to wonder if the last few were literally cut and shipped same day, perhaps by some form of wombat looking at how damaged the flesh was...

 

Also worth mentioning sometimes clowns whose hosts reject them will kill (in some cases by literally shredding) said attempted hosts because they're dicks. /shrug #Damselfish things

 

Just keep an eye out, if the hammer stops extending or has damaged flesh/torn tentacles, make a little eggcrate/light diffuser box or something for it to grow out in.

 

OH and watch the lighting, some euphyllia will handle upwards of 200 par, especially if it's brought up slowly, others will NOT and almost need shade (50-ish) to stay happy.

I hadn't considered that option, makes a lot of sense actually if it didnt have a chance to recover after fragging before being shipped out. 

 

Thanks, I'll watch the little terror and have some plastic cups ready to rescue it. Already have to do this when feeding Duncan due to my CuC doubling as a wrecking crew at feeding times. 

 

I've turned the light down low to acclimate only running a couple of clicks on boths blues also angled it so it is shaded more seems to be doing better

[Wingy]

I toss a pellet in for the shrimp to fight over before spot feeding. Usually that distracts them.  

[ChristopherDido]

Just popping over, checking in while I have a minute. Thanks for posts on mine, reading through and catching up. I hope everything starts turning your way. I thought I had bad luck with aptasia, Dino's, majanos and a turbo snail that was destroying my macros.

[This guy is extra salty]

Looking good I thought I was the only one who was struggling with hard corals. I had to move my lime hammer over to the 160 in fear of it dying.

[Ratvan]

16 hours ago, Wingy said:

I toss a pellet in for the shrimp to fight over before spot feeding. Usually that distracts them.  

That works for a little while, they soon finish it and tidy up the food still in the corals mouths. I've ordered a mushroom box (not as cool as @This guy is extra salty makes) as I want to try an Elegance eventually but thinking I may put my shrimp in there

9 hours ago, ChristopherDido said:

Just popping over, checking in while I have a minute. Thanks for posts on mine, reading through and catching up. I hope everything starts turning your way. I thought I had bad luck with aptasia, Dino's, majanos and a turbo snail that was destroying my macros.

I know a lot to catch up on isn't there? I'm a lot happier at this stage than i previously was. I also know what I need to look for with Corals now when shopping in person. Ordering online is still a bit of a crapshoot with "WYSIWYG" and lighting and shipping issues but I am getting there, Also the Mrs seems to slowly be coming around to the idea of a Reef Tank at home following my progress on this. 

8 hours ago, This guy is extra salty said:

Looking good I thought I was the only one who was struggling with hard corals. I had to move my lime hammer over to the 160 in fear of it dying.

Thanks. I'm glad it turned out to be a mixture of faults as I had them under full LED lighting when they were injured Frags plus I'm going to blame the Mail. I only worked that out a few minutes ago. 

 

I used what I learned here in my 5.5G and that seems to be going well although i do have some algae/bacteria issues 

[Ratvan]

Ok so I am away next week, its my Mrs Birthday Thursday and our Anniversary Wednesday (12 Years) so we're hiring a Camper and buggering off around Poland and surrounding area for about 10 days. I thought I would move forwards my deep clean to today. Took everything out of the tank, scrubbed down the rocks (without Red Balloon Algae Growth) wiped the glass etc etc.

 

FTS - With Hantu staring me down

 

 

Hammer looking lovely

 

Duncan still recovering well, if a little slow

 

 

Trying to grow some Invasive "Weeds" on my Barnacles. GSP and Xenia

 

I didn't like Clowns, however this guy is growing on me very quickly. Can hand feed him pellets which is cool, but I can probably see some issues with that down the line. Will try and stop myself doing that

 

My Mushrooms don't seem to take to rock rubble but instead have attached to the glass of this Coffee lid. Whatever, so let me see if i can make a mushroom rock on this glass bowl.

[seabass]

Have a nice holiday.

[Ratvan]

2 hours ago, seabass said:

Have a nice holiday.

Thanks, ordered a pump on recommendation of @Tigahboy.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FF74STM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Added bonus is that it is as cheap as anything £11.50, also ordered a new multi extension socket and two timers for the lights while I am away. All should arrive tomorrow so am looking good for my time off