Hannah’s tank journal

[Hannahhhh]

2 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Nice tank. The Aquascape you'd have to try and keep tall and narrow I guess?

Wow that tank is gorgeous!!! 

I think I tend to prefer the look of longer tanks, but I'll keep looking around

[Wonderboy]

It's okay to buy used but if I was going to spend much on a system, I would really want to see it filled and running. IMO the price of the M90 seems kind of high for used - if you're patient about it, I have a feeling there's something more reasonable out there

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

15 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

This is the second tank I am looking at, but it is pretty pricy.... Does $700 seem like a steep asking price for this tank considering that its used? It seems expensive to me, but I don't know. 

"Fluval M90 $700

Aquarium and cabinet set. Fluval Sea Protein Skimmer and Fluval Sea CP1 Circulation Pump. Fluval Sea Marine & Reef Performance LED Lighting." 

Well I just looked and new it's 925 so 700 seems fair. How far away from you is that fluval? I'd almost think you could find a much nicer tank for less though.

[A.m.P]

I mean, hop onto the facebook marketplace, people are constantly going out of the hobby and if you wait it's not uncommon to see full tank-stand setups 100g+ or biocubes going for $50-100, often times with equipment. Those folks want way too much imo, might be the oldschool freshwater, DIY cheapskate in me, but if it isn't 1$ a gallon with bonus' why am I not just buying something at petco's sales?

[pokerdobe]

For reference, I sold my Red Sea Reefer 250 for 400. Tank, sump, return pump, custom clearview acrylic lid. 

 

Wait. There's better deals to be had. 

[mcarroll]

On 9/4/2019 at 11:14 AM, Amphrites said:

Others, like you mentioned, seem to have more success just siphoning-out the necrotic-tissue, dropping it in low-light and flow, and just leaving it alone.
Impossible for me to say what's best =/ I honestly just hope I never have to deal with the situation at all...

I go with leaving it alone.

 

A coral is one big mucus layer...read this abt Lugol's:

Quote

Because it contains free iodine, Lugol's solution at 2% or 5% concentration without dilution is irritating and destructive to mucosa, such as the lining of the esophagus and stomach. Doses of 10 mL of undiluted 5% solution have been reported to cause gastric lesions when used in endoscopy.

Mystery deaths after dipping, aren't really a mystery if you ask me.

 

On 9/10/2019 at 1:56 PM, Hannahhhh said:

I will try out some domed plugs, thanks for the tip!

I've been nervous about buying from local reefers, since I'm still pretty new to the hobby and I don't have a sense of who is legit and who might be selling me sick coral. I really trust my LFS, they have been unbelievably helpful to me so far.

 

You're right, I really need to start dipping the next time I add anything. I don't want to risk my whole collection. 

Dipping itself is risky – so at bedt you trade one risk for another.  You aren't eliminating risk.

 

So IF you go this route don't go into it thinking that you are automatically doing good.

 

On 9/10/2019 at 1:56 PM, Hannahhhh said:

I've been nervous about buying from local reefers, since I'm still pretty new to the hobby and I don't have a sense of who is legit and who might be selling me sick coral.

No matter the origin, it's a pretty good idea to seriously and intensively observe every frag before it goes in your tank.

 

Using a jewelers loop can help you see tiny things.

 

The cool thing about it is that intense observation has absolutely no effect on the corals mucus later.  😁  But you still have a great chance of catching anything weird before it goes in the display.   The only risk doing it this way is from you handling the coral – do it gently and there's virtually no risk at all.  (And virtually no reason left to dip....so don't.)

 

On 9/4/2019 at 4:53 PM, Hannahhhh said:

It was at 1.030. I brought it back down with a water change last night. 

Many corals are going to be pretty hard to keep if your salinity is not in check with an automatic top off system. If yours is broken or you don't yet have one, I would remedy the situation as soon as possible. 

 

Was it @banasophia who I saw with the mad sun coral growth?

 

 hopefully I'm right and hopefully she will chime in.

 

I would only suggest that sun corals are not from where areas where they would get sunlight and you have yours right in the light where algae will grow on it.

 

In the long term this will definitely complicate keeping this coral. I would get him into the shade so that there is no, or very very little, algae growth.

 

As for getting them to come out and to feed: I have had extremely mixed luck and I have tried everything that has been suggested to you so far along with some other things.   I agree with the concepts of trying to bait the polyps into coming out. I agree with the concept of hand feeding the polyps when they are out.

 

My only problem with those things is that I was never able to save a colony with them.

 

It was my job to so I was doing it every day "like I was being paid to", but I was limited to only doing it during daylight hours or when the lights just first went off when the store was about to close.

 

In all cases it didn't work out.

 

 I only said all that to come back to where I began: hopefully @banasophia will chime in so you can have a great example to follow.  

 

In my experience conventional wisdom doesn't really work out with sun corals.   Hopefully your experience is different.  (Seems like you were having luck with tube corals and I don't think they are much easier so that's a good sign.)

[Ratvan]

Nice tanks but IMO you can do better. Seems to be only a few hundred off the RRP. Personally I wouldnt be happy with price and would rather just buy new 

[banasophia]

On 9/4/2019 at 1:27 PM, Hannahhhh said:

Ok another question for you guys. Does anyone have any experience with tube corals? The pink on mine is slowly retreating, it looks kinda like it is bleaching. It wasn’t fed for 2.5 weeks so that’s definitely got to be a factor. Also my water was slightly saltier than it should have been, but now all my parameters are back on track. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, I really love this coral and I’m very sad to be watching it do poorly. 

Hey @Hannahhhh, I see @mcarroll was summoning me regarding your sun coral. That will be gorgeous once it’s nursed back to health, and I don’t think it’s too far gone, it will just need a lot of meaty food to regrow. How’s it doing now, any more recent pics? I think I saw a comment that it was doing better. 🤞🙂☀️ I’m a bit busy at the moment but I can give you some tips tonight. Suns are taking over my tank though, so be careful what you wish for. 😉

 

 

[Hannahhhh]

3 hours ago, pokerdobe said:

For reference, I sold my Red Sea Reefer 250 for 400. Tank, sump, return pump, custom clearview acrylic lid. 

 

Wait. There's better deals to be had. 

Wow I wish I could have bought that from you!

4 hours ago, Wonderboy said:

It's okay to buy used but if I was going to spend much on a system, I would really want to see it filled and running. IMO the price of the M90 seems kind of high for used - if you're patient about it, I have a feeling there's something more reasonable out there

Good point, I didn't even think about wanting to see it running. I was thinking what a bonus that its already empty lol.

 

4 hours ago, Amphrites said:

I mean, hop onto the facebook marketplace, people are constantly going out of the hobby and if you wait it's not uncommon to see full tank-stand setups 100g+ or biocubes going for $50-100, often times with equipment. Those folks want way too much imo, might be the oldschool freshwater, DIY cheapskate in me, but if it isn't 1$ a gallon with bonus' why am I not just buying something at petco's sales?

I wish that was true here, I've been lurking on craigslist for so over six months, and not much has really caught my eye. Stuff is either a fortune or it looks iffy. 

 

3 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Nice tanks but IMO you can do better. Seems to be only a few hundred off the RRP. Personally I wouldnt be happy with price and would rather just buy new 

Ugh you're right, I just like saving money. Wrong hobby for that I suppose.

[Hannahhhh]

2 hours ago, banasophia said:

Hey @Hannahhhh, I see @mcarroll was summoning me regarding your sun coral. That will be gorgeous once it’s nursed back to health, and I don’t think it’s too far gone, it will just need a lot of meaty food to regrow. How’s it doing now, any more recent pics? I think I saw a comment that it was doing better. 🤞🙂☀️ I’m a bit busy at the moment but I can give you some tips tonight. Suns are taking over my tank though, so be careful what you wish for. 😉

 

 

Hi @banasophia, thank you so much for replying and thank you @mcarroll for putting us in touch. I'll post some newer pics later tonight. It started looking better for a bit, and now it seems a tad worse. Either way, things aren't changing very quickly with it. I've been trying desperately to get it to stick out its polyps to feed, but it doesn't seem very interested. The most it does is kinda puff up a bit and open up its mouths (I think mouths?). I've tried feeding with a bottle top over it to concentrate the food as well. 

I've been really crazy busy the last week so it hasn't gotten as much attention as I wish I could give it. I'm turning in applications to vet school tonight, and then after that I'll have as much time as I need to pay attention to it.  

I would love for suns to take over my tank, I love that coral so much!!

 

[Ratvan]

4 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

Wow I wish I could have bought that from you!

Good point, I didn't even think about wanting to see it running. I was thinking what a bonus that its already empty lol.

 

I wish that was true here, I've been lurking on craigslist for so over six months, and not much has really caught my eye. Stuff is either a fortune or it looks iffy. 

 

Ugh you're right, I just like saving money. Wrong hobby for that I suppose.

Do you have courier companies that could collect and ship to you? Might be worth looking at. I mean I briefly considered it on a 10G Cube I saw on the marketplace here, shipping internationally put it at 80% RRP so no. 

[Hannahhhh]

2 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Do you have courier companies that could collect and ship to you? Might be worth looking at. I mean I briefly considered it on a 10G Cube I saw on the marketplace here, shipping internationally put it at 80% RRP so no. 

I've never even looked into a courier service, I just assumed it would be too expensive. I'd be a little nervous about having someone inexperienced pack up a tank for shipment though.

[A.m.P]

I was serious about the facebook marketplace, allot more activity on there than craigslist, better prices too, the additional-accountability keeps people surprisingly modest.

[Hannahhhh]

1 hour ago, Amphrites said:

I was serious about the facebook marketplace, allot more activity on there than craigslist, better prices too, the additional-accountability keeps people surprisingly modest.

Ill check it out! Thanks for the tip!

[Hannahhhh]

@banasophia here’s a picture I took tonight while feeding it. It looks like it was trying to eat. Any tips?

[banasophia]

34 minutes ago, Hannahhhh said:

@banasophia here’s a picture I took tonight while feeding it. It looks like it was trying to eat. Any tips?

That’s so pretty. 😍 What foods do you have available already? 

[banasophia]

Here is what I would generally recommend to try, once a day:

• Turn off pump and powerhead. 
• Squirt a little bit of powdered food (either reef roids or coral frenzy, I prefer coral frenzy due to more feeding response but both work) mixed with tank water over the coral... it doesn’t need to be much at all, it’s just intended to stimulate a feeding response and get the corals to open up, it's not really the food. 
• Wait about 15 minutes for the corals to open up, thaw your frozen food mixed with a little tank water while you’re waiting. I especially like marine cuisine and reef frenzy nano for frozen foods. 
• Once they are open, squirt a little bit of thawed frozen food onto each polyp.
• Wait about 15 minutes.
• Feed a second helping. 
• Wait 15 minutes.
• Turn pump and powerhead back on. 

 

This is a really nice feeder if you don’t already have one; you remove the plastic tip:

Coral Feeder SPS HPS Feeder, Short Version for Marine Fish and Reef Coral Aquarium CFT-1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYNLLL2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_eYBGDbMS9WZZB

 

 

[A.m.P]

Do you think it might help to try to remove some of the algae overgrowth from the animal or would that just cause more tissue recession short-term and potentially hinder its' recovery? Genuinely-curious how effective interventions can be with corals <___>

[banasophia]

52 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Do you think it might help to try to remove some of the algae overgrowth from the animal or would that just cause more tissue recession short-term and potentially hinder its' recovery? Genuinely-curious how effective interventions can be with corals <___>

If it was me, I would maybe try to squirt it with the turkey baster, but I don’t think it will work because I think it’s algae growing on the exposed skeleton and won’t easily come off. I wouldn’t do anything more aggressive like dipping or scrubbing personally... I think it could cause more trauma. I would also check tank parameters to see how the phosphates and nitrates are doing.

 

My goal, however, would be to feed it to get the tissue to grow back over the exposed skeleton then that algae should become a non-issue. When I got my yellow sun corals, I had the guy frag the colony for me so I could mount it under the rock ledge the way I did... some of the polyps got pretty damaged in the process, but the tissue grew back over them. 

[Elephant999]

Don’t be scared about purchasing used tanks, just shop for the right one. My Evo was bought off somebody and it came fully stocked with Liferock and fish. It was pristine. 

[Ratvan]

Well I got bored at work (I know) and decided to try and get away from my firewall. After a quick search online found some decent looking ones (that i would go and see)

 

I just searched Boston 

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/for/d/lynn-75-gallon-fish-tank-set-up/6979890950.html $200

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/for/d/lawrence-marineland-36-gallon-fish-tank/6958069395.html - $165

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/for/d/brookline-50-gallon-fish-tank-with-stand/6969790493.html $250

 

I love that last one 😍

[Hannahhhh]

18 hours ago, banasophia said:

Here is what I would generally recommend to try, once a day:

• Turn off pump and powerhead. 
• Squirt a little bit of powdered food (either reef roids or coral frenzy, I prefer coral frenzy due to more feeding response but both work) mixed with tank water over the coral... it doesn’t need to be much at all, it’s just intended to stimulate a feeding response and get the corals to open up, it's not really the food. 
• Wait about 15 minutes for the corals to open up, thaw your frozen food mixed with a little tank water while you’re waiting. I especially like marine cuisine and reef frenzy nano for frozen foods. 
• Once they are open, squirt a little bit of thawed frozen food onto each polyp.
• Wait about 15 minutes.
• Feed a second helping. 
• Wait 15 minutes.
• Turn pump and powerhead back on. 

 

This is a really nice feeder if you don’t already have one; you remove the plastic tip:

Coral Feeder SPS HPS Feeder, Short Version for Marine Fish and Reef Coral Aquarium CFT-1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYNLLL2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_eYBGDbMS9WZZB

 

 

Thank you so much for this advice! I will start doing this. I’ve been feeding reef roids (regular not nano) and chopped up tiny mysis shrimp. 

[Hannahhhh]

8 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Well I got bored at work (I know) and decided to try and get away from my firewall. After a quick search online found some decent looking ones (that i would go and see)

 

I just searched Boston 

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/for/d/lynn-75-gallon-fish-tank-set-up/6979890950.html $200

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/for/d/lawrence-marineland-36-gallon-fish-tank/6958069395.html - $165

 

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/for/d/brookline-50-gallon-fish-tank-with-stand/6969790493.html $250

 

I love that last one 😍

Thanks for looking!! I really like the last one as well. I don’t really know anything about how to set up a filter/what to do with a sump etc. I had been mostly looking at plug and play and all in one reef tanks since they seem easier and you pay most of the cost up front. Maybe I should branch out though..? Idk

[Hannahhhh]

Got a few new corals today from vivid aquariums, and so far, I couldn't be happier! All of them except for one of the zoas have already opened up and they look exactly the same as the pictures on the website. I've been burned a few times in the past when ordering corals online, so I'm really happy to have had this great experience. I even got a cool little freebie, I'm 99% sure its an acan. Its really pretty and has 3 heads. I've never had an acan before so I'm gonna need to do some research on them. I added pictures of the new guys.

 

In other news, my tank has been growing a lot of algae recently. I scrape down the walls everyday, but it regrows so quickly. My rocks are coated too. I'm going in to my LFS today and I'm gonna have them run some tests on my water. I'm assuming my nitrates are creeping up. I've been doing water changes to try to address that, but I need to find a better solution than lots of changes. I'm going to talk with the folks at the store and see what they think. I'm also gonna trade in my brotulid (yellow eel goby). He's a cute fish, but I hardly ever see him, and honestly I think he would be happier in a larger tank with more places to hide. 

[Hannahhhh]

So I’ve been working really hard on my pink tube corals. (Thanks @banasophia for all the advice!!) It seems to be holding steady. It’s my favorite type of coral, so I just bought a second one in case it doesn’t make it. If it does, then fantastic I got two of them! 

 

Additionally I’ve been babysitting a tiny little sailfin tang for a friend with a big set up. His tank is sitting fallow at the moment but he wanted to get this little guy. He’s about 3/4 of an inch and the cutest fish I’ve ever seen. I’ve had him for a few weeks now but I held off saying anything about him until I knew he would be ok in my tank (for now). He seems happy in my tank for the time being, he likes following my clownfish around the tank. He’s a lot less active than I expected, he kinda just drifts around the tank snacking on things as he goes.