Got my first batch of frags tonight... lessons learned

[burningmime]

- Saltwater's not poisonous, and you're going to be drinking a lot of it when making those siphons. Suck harder.

- Sand doesn't like to stay at the bottom through a 100% water change, and when it settles, it's going to all settle right on top of your mushroom coral, just to spite you

- Just because the jar is round doesn't mean you don't have to care about viewing angles. What looks nice from one angle is going to look artificial from another.

- Water splashes when displaced. Bring a towel.

- The heater is always wrong. So is the thermometer. So is the other thermometer.

- Zoanthids are easygoing, friendly little dudes who just want to relax in the Jacuzzi if you let them.

- Superglue isn't actually very super for attaching frag disks to rocks; they're gonna fall off

- Corals can also fall off the frag disks themselves if not glued well

- WD-40 removes superglue from your hands

 

I'll take some pics tomorrow when the water's not quite so cloudy. The actual process of attaching the frags to the rocks was *much* harder than anticipated.

[TerribleLobster]

100% water change is very unusual. Is there a reason you did that?

 

Agreed on the splashing! I always have a towel on hand as well 🙂

[Snow_Phoenix]

10 minutes ago, TerribleLobster said:

100% water change is very unusual. Is there a reason you did that?

 

Agreed on the splashing! I always have a towel on hand as well 🙂

He did mention 'jar', so my guess is that this is a Pico? Hence the 100% WC? 🤔

[TerribleLobster]

37 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

He did mention 'jar', so my guess is that this is a Pico? Hence the 100% WC? 🤔

Haha oh that's true, good call. A jar with an mp40 though? Maybe that's a part of a different tank or water mixing. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

12 minutes ago, TerribleLobster said:

A jar with an mp40 though? 

Ah, I must have missed that part. My bad.

 

Although I do agree over the superglue thing - frags falling off rocks is very common in my reef too. So annoying when that happens. 😞 

[Ratvan]

1 hour ago, TerribleLobster said:

Haha oh that's true, good call. A jar with an mp40 though? Maybe that's a part of a different tank or water mixing. 

WD-40 not the mp40 wavemaker 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-40-Original-Spray-Can-100ml/dp/B0001P16UW/ref=asc_df_B0001P16UW/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=255660170781&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6931900820493757548&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046321&hvtargid=pla-613176130712&psc=1

[seabass]

4 hours ago, burningmime said:

you're going to be drinking a lot of it when making those siphons.

I just submerge one end of the tube in the tank, put my thumb over the end, pull the excess tube out over the edge (while still holding my thumb over the edge), then take my thumb off to start the siphon.

 

If you don't succeed, you didn't capture enough water initially.  Empty the tube then try again. It won't work very well if there is already some water in the lower part of the tube.

 

Note: it's harder with a pico jar.  However, you can pre-fill water in the end your tube from a bucket of water and it should still work fine.

[Reefscape]

5 hours ago, burningmime said:

- Saltwater's not poisonous, and you're going to be drinking a lot of it when making those siphons. Suck harder.

- Sand doesn't like to stay at the bottom through a 100% water change, and when it settles, it's going to all settle right on top of your mushroom coral, just to spite you

- Just because the jar is round doesn't mean you don't have to care about viewing angles. What looks nice from one angle is going to look artificial from another.

- Water splashes when displaced. Bring a towel.

- The heater is always wrong. So is the thermometer. So is the other thermometer.

- Zoanthids are easygoing, friendly little dudes who just want to relax in the Jacuzzi if you let them.

- Superglue isn't actually very super for attaching frag disks to rocks; they're gonna fall off

- Corals can also fall off the frag disks themselves if not glued well

- WD-40 removes superglue from your hands

 

I'll take some pics tomorrow when the water's not quite so cloudy. The actual process of attaching the frags to the rocks was *much* harder than anticipated.

Haha that's some good advice you got there. 😄😅

As I'm still new to all this saltwater tanks your lessons mean a great deal to me 👍

[Ratvan]

You can DIY a basic Siphon out of a soda bottle and airline tubing if you don't like the salty taste

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-syphon-without-getting-anything-in-y/

 

It's what i used on my Pico Contest Tank (1 Gallon Water Bottle) 

[Reefscape]

@Ratvan @burningmime I made myself an auto-sifon with some Eheim spare parts. I'll post a picture this evening. 

No water sucking for me ☺️

[sadie]

oh my goodness- the heater, thermometer thing!😅  It's SO true! 

[kimberbee]

5 hours ago, seabass said:

I just submerge one end of the tube in the tank, put my thumb over the end, pull the excess tube out over the edge (while still holding my thumb over the edge), then take my thumb off to start the siphon.

I've been "sucking" for 5 years and have only tasted saltwater once. Your way works, too, but if you're careful, you won't get a mouthful of water. 🤷‍♀️

[Tired]

If you can submerge the whole tube in the tank and fill the whole thing with water, then cap the end with your thumb and put that end in your bucket, it starts the siphon really easily. I use it when my siphon is probably not clean. 

The thing to be cautious of when starting a siphon with your mouth is additional substances in the water. I wouldn't drink cyanobacteria, for example. Or if you've got a lot of really upset zoas and palys, you should probably treat the water like it is, in fact, poisonous. It might be. And, ya know, bacteria.

 

Gel superglue works better on porous surfaces than liquid does, but works best only when the surfaces are fairly dry. Putty is better for rockwork, usually. 

[burningmime]

Meet Bubbles. He's actually a bright orange-ish color, but that didn't come out well in the picture. He opened up within about 20 minutes of being put in the tank, so I hope that means he's happy.

 

And this is Layla (a Platygyra). I named her that because I thought she'd just lay on the rock, but she had a really impressive feeding response, with tentacles flying all over. Mmmmm, delicious phytoplankton. I want to cut her off the frag plug and attach her to the rock directly, but I don't trust myself not to kill her in the process. Also, I hope the white part isn't bleaching or receding skeleton.

 

There's also a blueish Rhodactis mushroom in the sandbed; I will get a picture of him next time.

 

I already had a fatality -- I got a one-polyp greenish Zoanthid, but it fell off of the frag plug it was glued to. It floated around the water for a bit while I tried to find a way to scoop it out. I think it was crushed by the rock :'-(.

 

It's a 2.5 gallon pico jar, so not easy to submerge the whole tube in it. Would work for the bucket, though. I'm still learning all this stuff; I'm mostly a terrarium guy, so this is the first tank I've had since I was a child. I tried to do the whole thing on a budget of $250. So far, I've spent more than twice that, and I still don't have a cleanup crew and only 3 living corals. For the curious:

 

 

• 2.5g Anchor Hocking Montana Jar ($18)

• Rio 50 Powehead ($21)

• ABI 12W Tuna Blue PAR38 ($24)

• Achitect desk lamp ($20)

• 2x Hydor 25W Heater ($43)

• Dr Tims All-in-one and ammonia solution ($26)

• Achitect desk lamp ($20)
• Coral Frenzy ($14)
• Dry rock ($22)
• Samoa Pink Sand ($17)
• Instant Ocean salt mix ($18)
• LiquaGen Portable 4-stage RO/DI system ($86)
• Digital thermometer ($6)
• Refractometer ($19)
• Red Sea Pharm Marine Test Kit ($51)
• Faucet adapter x2 + plumber tape ($16)
• Cord splitter ($8)
• Airline tubing ($6)
• Bucket with cover ($8)
• Smart Plug Mini Outlet w/ timer ($21)
• Gorilla Gel Super Glue ($4)
• Layla the Platygyra ($27)
• Bubbles the Zoanthid ($21)
• Morbo the Rhodactis ($21)
• Dead Zoanthid RIP ($11)

 

Tired, Ratvan, and Seabass, thanks for the siphon advice! Hopefully this is the only time I'll get a mouthful of saltwater.

 

 

Tired, Ratvan, and Seabass, thanks for the siphon advice! Hopefully this is the only time I'll get a mouthful of seawater.

[mcarroll]

I like a pump on the end of a some tubing for draining, so you get a powered start....just need a sufficiently small pump and you're golden.  I even use a cheap wireless remote on my pump.