Seadragon's Simple & Easy 10g Reef ​💦​

[banasophia]

9 hours ago, Seadragon said:

We went to a large fish store for fun yesterday and I ended up buying another GSP frag.  What I like about this new one compared to the other one is that it has a longer "neck" so if both GSP types ends up attaching and growing onto the back wall, they should give 2 different looks.  Here's some pictures of the GSP taken this morning.

 

 

 

Now, here's a problem I noticed just now.  This picture was taken this morning also of the old GSP:

 

And this picture was taken this afternoon not too long ago:

 

It appears something in the tank may have moved the GSP on the piece of rock.  Not sure if I should just leave it alone or see if I can glue it back onto the rock or remove it altogether and try to glue it onto the back glass itself?

I really like your idea of having it grow from the rock up onto the back glass; I’d probably leave it. The new GSP frag looks good. 
 

My family extended came over today for the first time in a year and my brother was checking out my tanks... his favorite thing was the GSP on the back... I kinda think it’s because it looks like a nice lush lawn. 😆

[Seadragon]

On 5/31/2021 at 3:32 AM, banasophia said:

I really like your idea of having it grow from the rock up onto the back glass; I’d probably leave it. The new GSP frag looks good. 
 

My family extended came over today for the first time in a year and my brother was checking out my tanks... his favorite thing was the GSP on the back... I kinda think it’s because it looks like a nice lush lawn. 😆

 

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it."  Sadly, I didn't take that advice a few days ago and I just had to fiddle with things trying to make it look better.  I ended up removing the small GSP from the rock and glued that onto the back wall.  That thing actually stayed glued to the back wall, thankfully, probably because it's a very small piece of GSP and I glued it down near the sand.

 

As for the larger chunk of GSP...

 

Round 1: I removed it from the frag plug and tried gluing it to the glass like a half inch above the sand.  Within about 24 hours, that chunk of GSP fell to the sand bed.

 

Round 2: I then thought having it touch the sand while glued to the back wall would be much better, so I tried again.  Once again, overnight, I found it on the sand bed away from where I initially glued it.

 

Round 3: Yesterday evening, I scraped off the glass and cleaned up the area where I wanted the chunk of GSP glued to.  Now with the glass cleaned, having the heavier chunk of GSP also touch the sand bed (to nullify the force of gravity), and putting a small rock on each side of it dug into the sand (in a feeble attempt to secure it further), so far it's staying put! *crosses fingers*

 

I also wanted to remind myself that on 6/2/2021 I ended up cleaning the surface of the water (I noticed a film developing on the surface that didn't look good) and the HOB filter (when the sponge filter is clogged up, I notice more rapid water movement in the overflow part).  Now the water's surface looks clean and the HOB filter is quiet and performing well.  Let's see how long till I notice that it needs another good cleaning for these areas.

 

The Pulsing Xenia looks amazing.  I dosed today to see if it helps with the growth of the Xenia and GSP.  I just want the GSP to start encrusting the back wall so I don't have to worry about it anymore. 🙂

 

 

I have a feeling it's going to take a very long time till I notice the GSP and Xenia start to expand and populate the rest of the tank.  Let's see if things look even better next month.

[banasophia]

Yes I’d give it a few weeks... looking good 👍

[Seadragon]

Final Round: Let's start by saying, I had no idea that super gluing anything to the glass would give me so much trouble!  The moment it did in previous "rounds" of my ongoing battle of gluing GSP to the glass, I read many different posts on various forums that I'm not alone in that regard, lol.  The problem with gluing it to a magnetic cleaner or a suction cup is that you may not get the lowest point on the glass (since GSP grows up the glass and/or to the side, not down the glass).  Anyways, I've come full circle and ended up gluing the thicker/heavier chunk of GSP to a small rock that I placed near the glass.  The only sad thing is that I went through this 4 times and 3 times I had to remove the old glue stuck to the bottom of the GSP which ended up tearing it a little so it ripped in half.  I have faith it will recover over time and at least I learned from this experience.

 

Note that the much smaller, lighter piece of GSP glued to the glass just fine.  I believe if the piece is flat/light with lots of surface area or if it's just a small/light piece of GSP, you'll have much better success with gluing it to the glass compared to a heavy chunk of GSP with little surface area for which to glue.

 

Maybe in the next year or in the years to come, I might buy a large AIO tank to upgrade to.  I'm looking to spend less than $2,000 which would include all of the equipment.  What do you think would be the best value/quality I could get for that amount?  I want between 30 and 100 gallons, I prefer long and shallow, and might go with a lagoon.  I want something where I could use a protein skimmer in it.  I'll probably continue the whole Xenia theme with GSP as the backdrop, but just add a few more fish.

[billygoat]

11 hours ago, Seadragon said:

Maybe in the next year or in the years to come, I might buy a large AIO tank to upgrade to.  I'm looking to spend less than $2,000 which would include all of the equipment.  What do you think would be the best value/quality I could get for that amount?

For me it would be between IM and Waterbox. Both make some rather large lagoon designs I think. If you need it to be an AIO it's probably going to top out around 50 gallons though; I don't think anyone is manufacturing any that are much bigger than that.

[Seadragon]

On 6/4/2021 at 11:28 PM, billygoat said:

For me it would be between IM and Waterbox. Both make some rather large lagoon designs I think. If you need it to be an AIO it's probably going to top out around 50 gallons though; I don't think anyone is manufacturing any that are much bigger than that.

 

Thank you, I've been checking out the IM and Waterbox websites and they do look nice.  There was one on the Waterbox site that appealed to me, but I don't like a high stand and it looks like the stand may come with it.

[Seadragon]

Thankfully today, the 2nd GSP piece that tore in half bounced back.  We're just going to leave everything alone as much as I can until something needs cleaning. 😉

 

After careful thought, I might do one final addition to this tank and then I think I'll pretty much be done for awhile unless any of the fish (besides Goby) dies somehow.  I reached back out to the local hobbyist and will purchase a GSP frag off him and any remaining Xenia frags (I think he only has two small ones left).

 

I noticed for the GSP and Xenia, there are different varieties of them.  For my Xenia, looks like the one I got from the expensive small LFS was of the Pom Pom Xenia variety.  While the one from the local hobbyist is a Pulsing Xenia variety with the longer trunks, but pink thankfully.  I noticed some Pulsing Xenia on the Internet has a brownish color which imo really looks like an ugly weed.  With the pinkish color, I just think it looks so beautiful AND it pulsates!

 

As for the GSP,  my 1st tiny piece from the small LFS is short and stubby, but it's very green.  My 2nd GSP piece from the large LFS has longer tentacles, but has a lot of brown coloration with green tips.  And I'll be getting a 3rd GSP frag from the local hobbyist which I believe, based on some old pictures, has the long tentacles that have more green coloration to them.

 

I think having all these different varieties of Xenia and GSP will make it look even more beautiful -- I can just imagine the back wall having some intricate design due to the different colors and lengths.

[Seadragon]

Two days ago, I purchased 2 small Xenia frags and 2 GSP frags from the local hobbyist.  Now, the tank has 7 frags of Xenia and 4 frags of GSP along the back wall.  Here's a look at one of the new GSP frags during the day vs night.

 

Ever since I got the new Bicolor Blenny, I've noticed gradual aggression towards the YWG (most likely due to the Blenny thinking YWG looked like another blenny to him).  Blenny doesn't bother Nemo or Dory, but each passing day, it got worse and worse for poor Goby.  And today, I've seen enough and decided to make a big change.  I knew I had to remove Goby from the tank and give him to a LFS tomorrow before he dies in my tank by Blenny.  I decided the best time to remove him was at night after the lights have been off for awhile.  Trying to catch these fish during the day would probably involve me removing all of the rocks from the aquarium which is one step I did not want to do.  So, tonight, I was able to catch him while he was asleep.  I noticed hours before, when the moonlight was still on, he was trying to jump out of the tank and was hiding in fear behind the heater from Blenny.  Poor Goby.

 

I've never had an issue with my original TSB.  I tried to buy a 2nd one after the 1st one died, but they are hard to find... and when I eventually did find a 2nd one, it was sick in the store tank and I was dumb enough to purchase him out of desperation.  So, he didn't last very long and I haven't seen another one for sale since.  Since I haven't seen another TSB for sale for a very long time and I wanted a blenny, the moment I saw the Bicolor Blenny, I wanted to give it a try and see how they are.  Now that I know how much of a bully the Bicolor Blenny can be towards other gobies and blennies, this will be my first and last Bicolor Blenny I may ever have, lol.

 

So, as of right now, my 10g tank will officially only have 3 fish.  My current setup is the original clownfish, yellowtail damselfish, and the bicolor blenny.  My favorite setup would be 2 paired clownfish and a TSB.  One day...  we'll have that again just like in the beginning. 🙂 

 

Farewell Goby.  It's been a good run.

[Seadragon]

On 6/3/2021 at 2:28 PM, Seadragon said:

I also wanted to remind myself that on 6/2/2021 I ended up cleaning the surface of the water (I noticed a film developing on the surface that didn't look good) and the HOB filter (when the sponge filter is clogged up, I notice more rapid water movement in the overflow part).  Now the water's surface looks clean and the HOB filter is quiet and performing well.  Let's see how long till I notice that it needs another good cleaning for these areas.

 

Today just happened to be the day that I decided to clean out the HOB filter and the surface water again, it looked like it was starting to need it.  Exactly 2 weeks since I've last done it last, and I did a small water change as well while cleaning the sponge filters and dosed the tank.

 

I'm excited for the day the GSP will start growing up the back wall and the Xenia will start spreading across the rocks.

[Seadragon]

Returning Back to What I Fell in Love With

 

A few things happened in the past week that prompted me to make a big change.

1. I noticed some of my larger Xenia corals were doing great, but some of the smaller ones (except the tiny one I got from the LFS that always seems to be doing well) didn't look so hot.
2. The Bicolor Blenny has been an overall bully in the tank since the day I added him.  First, he tortured Goby, my original Yellow Watchman Goby.  Then yesterday, he kept nipping at the flesh of my new Turbo snail (which I got to assist in mowing down the green hair algae since I lost my Emerald crab when I removed the giant rock I had and I don't want to get another in case it ever picks at my GSP or Xenia).  Not to mention, my family has missed Goby after we gave him to the LFS because I didn't want to see him die by the Bicolor Blenny.  We visited him for the past couple weeks and no one bought him yet each time we visited.
3. I was getting tired of the very fine sand I had in the tank, some parts of the tank was bare, and I disliked how it created a whirl of dust whenever stirred by me or the fish.  I also wanted something a bit coarser to better hold frag plugs that I stick in the sand.

 

So let's start with my solution to problem #1:  After doing much research, I decided to buy a handheld refractometer and lower my salinity down to sg 1.024.

 

I also found out that my corals tend to need some Calcium, Magnesium, Strontium, Iodine, Trace Elements and I've been neglecting on that.  I didn't realize (and I should've) that the saltwater I was using, Imagitarium Pacific Ocean Water, basically has nothing added to it.  It's just saltwater and the little bit of dosing that I sometimes do doesn't help much.  If I had a much larger tank, I'd definitely use the Red Sea Coral Pro Marine Salt and do regular water changes.  But, because it's only a 10 gallon and I don't want to invest heavily in a high quality ro/di water filter system and other equipment, I opted for the next best thing in my situation: Nature's Ocean Nutri-SeaWater Natural Live Ocean Saltwater.  This solution already has the appropriate Calcium, Iodine, Molybdenum, Strontium, Magnesium, Cobalt Potassium, Lithium, Aluminum, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, Cadmium, Zinc, Thallium, Stannus, Antimony in it and so far my tank is loving it.

 

And I dropped the temperature down to 75 degrees from 77 degrees.  The 77 was great when my focus was trying to grow corraline algae and macroalgae in my tank.  Now that my priorities shifted, I've noticed a few benefits that I like about the lower temperature.  1 being that the Xenia, GSP, and fish seem to be fine with it.  Another plus is that I keep my house at around 70 degrees so this should help with less evaporation which should mean less salinity swings.  And yet another plus is that lower temperatures increase dissolved oxygen levels so I don't have to keep my circulation pumps as high which should also mean less evaporation and back to less salinity swings.  Also, lower temperature means less metabolism for the fish which means less eating/feeding and less fish poop and less cleaning/water change.

 

Now for problem #2: Goby was still for sale at the LFS.  AND there was a Tailspot Blenny for sale at the other LFS.  After Bicolor Blenny attacked my new Turbo snail and knocked it off the rock twice, that was the last straw.  I removed the Bicolor Blenny, bought the Tailspot Blenny (which looks like a younger version of my original Blenny (TSB), so I'll call it Blenny Jr).  And I traded the Bicolor Blenny for my original Goby (YWG) which I had for like 1 year 7 months before I gave it up to the LFS.  My family is happy to have the whole gang back!

 

When I first added both to the tank, they immediately went to the den under the arch and cuddled together.

 

Then later, Blenny Jr found a barnacle he liked outside of the den and decided to stay there instead.

 

 

 

Although he still swings by to say hi to Goby every now and then.

 

Or maybe he's just exploring his new surroundings. 🙂

 

I wonder if Shrimpy knows it's the original Goby.

 

And finally, problem #3: I purchased some Coarse Aragonite Sand from Amazon to put on top of the fine sand in an attempt to stop the dust swirls.  After rinsing it out a few times yesterday, I added it everywhere except the center and the back left corner.  The back left corner has a ton of empty snail shells of different sizes for the hermit crabs to switch into.  I also just dumped a bottle full of Tisbe copepods into that area when finishing up my tank for the night after all of the changes.  Nemo went crazy and loved eating the Tisbe copepods swimming in the area.  Didn't cover the center much and created a den for Goby which he immediately enjoyed as seen in the pictures above.

 

Let's give it a few days or so and I'll take some full tank shots once the GSP and Xenia are out and happy.

[Seadragon]

Plans for the Future and the Current State of Affairs

 

I was browsing Amazon the other day and came across this cute 3 gallon tank that I was daydreaming of turning into a tiny little Pico reef with a baby TSB I saw from the LFS.  Then I thought about the amount of work, time, and money needed to create something feasible.  I mentioned it to my wife and she immediately told me it was a bad idea and I agreed.  In the end, my 10 gallon gives me exactly what I want without the severe limitations of a 3 gallon which would probably require a decent amount of maintenance and I'm a bit against doing a lot of extra work for little reward.

 

So, I thought about if there was ANYTHING I could still add to my 10 gallon nano reef without it dying or causing an issue.  I thought about adding that baby TSB I mentioned earlier, but even if it didn't fight with Blenny Jr at first since they're both pretty timid and shy when they're small, but once they grow up, they'd probably end up killing each other in such a small tank.  So, scratch that idea.  Then, what about a BTA?  Nope, probably would overgrow in my little tank and harm the other corals -- the Pulsing Xenia and GSP.  Not to mention, they're kind of pricey and I'd need to stay on top of water changes, good water quality, and feed them Reef Roids 1-2x per week... so we'll save the BTA idea for my next big tank/project in the future.

 

I watched some YouTube videos of some gorgeous reef tanks with tons of Xenia and what I loved about their look was that it had Xenia and other corals growing all over the back of the tank.  The tank looked "FULL" of movement, color, corals... it had this grand look that I really want to achieve.  And then something in the video caught my eye... a single coral frag rack suctioned onto the side of their glass.  I LOVED the idea.

 

I then searched all over the Internet and noticed on eBay they sell "Magnetic Coral Frag Rack Single".  I did a discount bulk order and got 5 of them -- I prefer magnetic over suction cups because suction cups tend to eventually unsuction from the glass over time which drives me bonkers.  Anyways, here's what I'm thinking -- let me know if you think this is a good idea or not.

 

Imagine in the Pink circles above, we have 2 Pulsing Xenia frags on the back wall, and in the Green rectangles, we have 3 GSP frags.

 

This should make my 10 gallon tank look a bit "fuller" and also help jumpstart the corals on growing onto the back wall.  Also, to the left of the Pink circles, I'm going to clean off the glass behind the Cobalt heater and re-suction that back onto the glass so it'll be a bit straighter in the future than as shown in the picture.

 

So that's the plan... I'm just waiting for the eBayer to ship the 5 Single Magnetic Coral Frag Racks to me and for the local hobbyist to get back to me if he has any Xenia frags left (he has plenty of GSP frags).

 

Here's some tank shots from today, enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any suggestions or ideas on anything else that I could possibly add to this tank, let me know!  And also your thoughts on the future plans with the 5 frags added to the back wall. 🙂 

[DevilDuck]

That's a lot of xenia! Great job on this tank, the livestock makes it look much bigger than it is. 

[billygoat]

I agree that xenia and GSP are pretty cool for the amount of work you have to put in, but personally I'd also want to vary things a little bit. There are some other neat soft corals that will grow like weeds, like Kenya tree (Capnella), colt coral (Cladiella), or the infamous cabbage leather (Sinularia dura), which you probably could drop in the tank and ignore for a year with no problems. 😅

 

Not that there's anything wrong with having a tank full of pure xenia! But if easy-to-care-for is your bottom line, there are options out there for sure.

[Ratvan]

as a complete plug for my new build i'm going much the same direction primarily Xenia (for nutrient consumption for me) and some other corals to give a bit of further interest

 Of course my list is just corals of the Indo Pacific Oceans there are other options available 

[Seadragon]

52 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

as a complete plug for my new build i'm going much the same direction primarily Xenia (for nutrient consumption for me) and some other corals to give a bit of further interest

 Of course my list is just corals of the Indo Pacific Oceans there are other options available 

 

Thank you for the link!  The following looked interesting to me:

• Clavularia – Clove Polyp
• Sympodium –
• Xenia Sp – Waving Hand

 

I'm trying to stick to any type of coral that doesn't release toxins in the water because I don't want to have to add carbon to my filtration.

• Something like Frogspawn I might consider, but aren't those hard to keep alive?  And do I need to feed them Reef Roids 1-2x a week?

[Seadragon]

5 hours ago, billygoat said:

I agree that xenia and GSP are pretty cool for the amount of work you have to put in, but personally I'd also want to vary things a little bit. There are some other neat soft corals that will grow like weeds, like Kenya tree (Capnella), colt coral (Cladiella), or the infamous cabbage leather (Sinularia dura), which you probably could drop in the tank and ignore for a year with no problems. 😅

 

Not that there's anything wrong with having a tank full of pure xenia! But if easy-to-care-for is your bottom line, there are options out there for sure.

 

You're right, it could use another coral for additional variation.  I noticed a local ad from a hobbyist 1.5 hours away that has some Frogspawn coral for sale.  I might try to pick that up and see if I can place it on the back wall above the GSP.  I believe the stingers will keep the GSP from encrusting over it over time.

[billygoat]

1 hour ago, Seadragon said:

You're right, it could use another coral for additional variation.  I noticed a local ad from a hobbyist 1.5 hours away that has some Frogspawn coral for sale.  I might try to pick that up and see if I can place it on the back wall above the GSP.  I believe the stingers will keep the GSP from encrusting over it over time.

Frogspawn is pretty easy for a stony coral, but it's still quite a bit above the "low maintenance" category for most people. I think you'd have to do some creative planning to get it to grow on the back of your tank too... although I suppose you could just let a few frags grow permanently on a frag rack for a similar effect. 🤔

 

[Seadragon]

17 hours ago, billygoat said:

Frogspawn is pretty easy for a stony coral, but it's still quite a bit above the "low maintenance" category for most people. I think you'd have to do some creative planning to get it to grow on the back of your tank too... although I suppose you could just let a few frags grow permanently on a frag rack for a similar effect. 🤔

 

One of my Frogspawn inspirations is this YouTube video:

 

He is having a huge amount of success with Frogspawn and only recommends feeding Reef-Roids or something similar once a month.  So I can easily do that and just do biweekly water changes to make sure the water parameters aren’t too bad.

I think if I can get them to grow from a frag rack or two in the background, it could end up looking really amazing.  Especially if the GSP grows around it for an additional effect.

[Ratvan]

13 hours ago, Seadragon said:

One of my Frogspawn inspirations is this YouTube video:

 

He is having a huge amount of success with Frogspawn and only recommends feeding Reef-Roids or something similar once a month.  So I can easily do that and just do biweekly water changes to make sure the water parameters aren’t too bad.

I think if I can get them to grow from a frag rack or two in the background, it could end up looking really amazing.  Especially if the GSP grows around it for an additional effect.

Regarding Reef Roids I found that it was best to do a water change after using this to feed my corals as otherwise my Nutrients (nitrates) would sky rocket and the tank would look terrible 

[Seadragon]

Thanks to @billygoat and @Ratvan, they inspired me to add one more coral to my lineup.

 

Since I'll have GSP covering most of the background and Xenia covering a lot of the rockwork and foreground, we need something else that completes the picture for when I have visitors for the tank.  And I think I just found it today at my LFS.  They had 1 Hammer coral left, which I've NEVER had before, and no Frogspawn corals were available.  The look of this Hammer coral was stunning when compared to the other corals they had in stock.  It had my name on it, I adopted it and brought it home.  According to LiveAquaria, it likes to be placed at the bottom of the tank so I think I found the perfect spot for it.

 

I took this shot soon after adding the Hammer coral to my tank.  Looks like we got some sort of filter feeder hitchhiker that hitched a ride along with the coral!

 

It didn't take too long, the Hammer coral is already looking a bit better than it did earlier!

 

On Monday, I'll be visiting the local hobbyist to add the additional Xenia and GSP to the back wall of the tank.  My 5 single magnetic frag racks arrived today.  I'm excited to share some full tank shots either Monday or Tuesday once we got everything in place then we can see how this Hammer coral improves the overall look of the tank.  I love how the pink from the Hammer coral matches the Xenia and the green matches the GSP.  It's like made to be. 🙂

[Tired]

That looks like probably a barnacle. If it's a barnacle, you'll likely see it making grabbing motions at the water. Harmless filter-feeder that might eventually get overgrown.

[Seadragon]

Applying everything I learned, read, and experienced

 

FW DIP: Last night, I acclimated the new Xenia & GSP corals and added them to the tank.  Beforehand, I noticed some tiny creatures moving about as I peered into the cup.  I didn't want to do any crazy dips, so I did my routine water change and thought if I just grab each frag and swirl it around fast in the large bucket of saltwater, maybe I can knock off some of those pests.  Well, come this morning, I was admiring the tank and I noticed what looked-to-me to be a baby bristle worm moving about on the new GSP frag that was hanging off the frag rack on the glass.  I see they tend to hide within the folds of the GSP coral.  At first, I was thinking about doing a FW dip using my tap water -- but, incase there may be any hint of chlorine, bleach, or anything unwanted in the tap water, I opted to just use distilled water.  I grabbed a clean cup, put in the GSP frag, added the distilled water to the cup and within seconds, the baby bristle worm jumped out of the GSP frag and went to the surface of the distilled water.

 

Excited by this, I grabbed the other 2 new GSP frags and threw them into the FW dip.  Amazingly, 3 more tiny hidden worms jumped out of their respective frags!  Wow, FW dip actually works!  I then grabbed each GSP frag, gave it a good swirl in the FW dip just to be sure, and put them back into the tank.  Then I flushed the 4 minuscule worms down the toilet.

 

Stability over Chasing Numbers: My wife and I visited the local hobbyist yesterday and we loved how much his Xenia were pulsing frantically.  I asked him about his water parameters and found out that he keeps his salinity at 1.025.  He also keeps his temperature a bit high, 80+ degrees (his frag tank is exposed to the outdoor temperatures and it's getting pretty hot here right now.  And the high temperatures also helps with coral growth).

 

And this brings me back to my tank.  I noticed when it gets really hot outside, despite having the A/C on, my tank tends to fluctuate between 75 and 77 degrees -- not the constant 75 I was aiming for.  In seeing this, I just set the temperature back to 77 because I'd rather have it at a constant 77 than to see it fluctuate depending on outdoor conditions.  I'm hoping this stability will be beneficial over the long run.  Also, the saltwater I'm using now has a salinity of 1.026.  Instead of chasing 1.024 by adding distilled water and re-testing until it's right on the number, I will just keep it at a stable 1.026 and let the corals adjust accordingly.  If I notice any major issues, I can always retest and reassess the situation at that time.  This also makes it easier for me so it's a Win-Win scenario.

 

If the coral is happy, Stop moving it around, you'll stress it out!: I like to get my wife involved with coral placement and coral purchases so she feels included in the process.  When it was time to place the new Xenia corals that she picked out from the local hobbyist, I asked her if I should move one of the prior Xenias from the substrate.  She said no, just add the new ones elsewhere.  And then I thought how good it is to leave corals alone in the tank if they're already happy in their current location.

 

I noticed the Pom Pom Xenia, my wife's favorite coral, has adjusted to the high current for where it's currently placed and it has a beautiful sway and pulse to it.  When I turn off the circulation pumps, that Pom Pom Xenia has this wilted "willow tree" look to it because it has already adjusted and adapted to the high current for when the pumps are on.  The moment I turn back on the circulation pumps, it goes back to looking fantastic again!  All the more reason to leave things alone in the tank, allow them time to adjust, and don't stress things out by moving them around to new spots all of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly at some point in the future, if the Hammer coral survives and thrives, I may get a Frogspawn coral and put it between the 2 GSP frags hanging off the back wall and just place that center GSP frag onto the sand bed.  The LFS told me they will be fragging their Frogspawn coral and it may be available the next time I come in -- they usually price them around $50, but it could be more.  The local hobbyist has some Frogspawn coral that he may eventually frag and sell, and his prices are only a fraction of the cost compared to the LFS so I may be waiting and purchasing from him instead.  Let's see how everything goes!

[Seadragon]

I’m always mesmerized by the way Xenia slowly attaches itself to a nearby rock while simultaneously pulling itself away from the frag plug it was originally attached to.
 

 

Everything looks to be healthy at this time.  I believe with time and care, things will continue to grow out and fill in the open gaps.

 

[Seadragon]

A Lot Can Happen in 2 Weeks . . .

 

I took a vacation for 2 weeks and I left my tank in the hands of a tank sitter who loves to feed people and animals.  I gave instructions, but sometimes emotions and feelings can overpower the simplest of instructions.  Also, I set the A/C to turn on at a higher temperature since I wasn't going to be around.  Due to this and poor air circulation to the room where my reef tank is, the temperature within the tank soared over 80+.  Overfeeding the tank combined with relatively high temperatures can be a recipe for disaster over the course of 2 weeks.

 

Upon my return home last week, I noticed some brown stringy snot covering the corals, sand, and rocks.  Dinos, crap!  I also noticed that Goby and Shrimpy were HUGE compared to the last time I've seen them.  They've gotten FAT!  Then I noticed the temp within the tank was above 80.  Finally, I noticed poor Blenny had something nasty on the side of his head, kind of seemed like a bacterial infection.

 

I set the in-tank heater back down to 75, gave the room good air circulation and made the house 70 degrees.  I gave the tank a good thorough cleaning, did a water change, and set the UV Sterilizer to be on 24/7 instead of 12 hours at a time.  I reduced the photoperiod since I had it set for way too long, by about 4.75 hours too long.  I also vowed to only feed a small amount to Nemo and Shrimpy on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

 

Each and every day afterwards, I would siphon out any floating Dinos that I saw attached to the corals.  Then yesterday, I did a good siphoning and decided to blackout the tank for at least 1.5 days.

 

Here's a few photos I took the day after I got back from vacation after giving the tank a decent cleaning/water change.  It doesn't seem so bad, but Blenny ended up not making it in the end so now we only got Nemo and Goby left.

That center Pulsing Xenia on top of the arch has really spread out nicely when I checked on it yesterday.  I'll need to take a side-photo of it so you can really see it fanning out at the top.

 

Anyone know if it's better to do a full 3 day blackout or could this harm the corals?

 

I'm afraid that too many days with the lights out might harm the Hammer coral.

 

I'll either turn back on the tank lights on Wednesday or Thursday and then do a full water change.  I was reading that it's a good idea to do a water change after a blackout to remove any excess nutrients due to die off, otherwise the problem may just return again.

 

I ordered an additional single magnetic frag rack and plan to purchase a Frogspawn coral in the future.  Through this experience, I have more of an appreciation for those hobbyists that tend to have lots of corals and very few fish.  Over the years, I've seen first-hand how overfeeding any tank leads to plenty of problems.  Things become so much simpler when you only feed a little bit to a couple fish every few days and maintain a biweekly water change schedule.

[debbeach13]

Sounds like you came home just in time. I hope everything clears up for you. Sorry about losing the blenny.