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Pumpkin’s 20g Red Sea Max Nano


UpsideDownPumpkin

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UpsideDownPumpkin

So what I ended up doing was running it in the display tank to break it in, pretty much went like a nuclear half-life (emptying every five mins, then every ten, every hour, every two, every 4 etc) until I could leave it 12+ hours between bail outs. But after 3 days with a janky temporary monstrosity of a lid to keep fish in and skim cup out, I decided this couldn’t work long term without cutting holes in my lid (never a good idea). 
 

So after much swearing, dissembling it because the air tube fell out, and scarificing the spot where the ATO lives, I got it in the back compartment and skimming nicely.

 

The ATO is hit and miss anyway because I’m not using the RS skimmer and that displaced a lot of water in the first compartment so even with extra water in, it still runs shallower than the ATO valve. So it’s human top offs for now. Luckily my evaporation is pretty steady at the moment at about 500ml a day, a litre if I have the GKM on because it’s so tall, the outlet is above the waterline and splashes. I’ll be on the look out for a smaller ATO unit that I can fit in the first compartment. 
 

Talking of the GKM, it took 3 days to clear the tank. I ran it another day after that to be sure and now it is off. I’m going to leave it in the tank until tomorrow when I do the weekly water change, then it’s coming out. 
 

Lights are going to stay on 50% until I get coral. 
 

And lastly, to remind myself it’s not all tech. My clownfish made it official this morning. She’s been rubbing him and nudging him for about 2 days now. Last night he started twitching and this morning, she twitched back. Lord knows, it’s nice to see her want to swim with him, rather than looking like she’s just putting up with him. Not sure if it affected anything but it seemed to start when I moved the rocks/upped the flow. Whatever does it for them, I guess.

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UpsideDownPumpkin

Still in lockdown, nothing much to update. The SW LFS is open as far as 2 meters in the door and you can shout out what you need and they get it for you so I’m thinking about going today for saltwater or at least RO. I don’t want to do tap water for longer than I need to. 
 

The only new bit of kit I’ve bought is one of those algae magnets. Tap water predictably is giving me algae and while it’s manageable without the UV light, my female clown is a biter and it’s just easier and quicker to scrape without my hands in the tank so. 
 

Still window shopping coral. I think I’m going to do mostly zoas with a few hammers/torches etc. I don’t really want an anemone but I would like something wavy to offer my clowns if they want to host. I’m trying not to give into the temptation of weed corals as they’re called just because they grow fast and easy. Might do a mushroom if I can find a red/blue one.

 

Also thinking about my CUC and maybe getting another trocus or two. My Babylonian hasn’t killed the one in there and it seems to prefer to be hand fed pellets (I don’t know if that’s a thing or if I have a weird whelk). I also would like a cleaner shrimp but I’ll wait until the tap water is out of the system before I get one. 
 

In total I did... 40 litres tap water into a 75 litre system (so about 10g in a 20g). I’m thinking double that should get it out again (short of literally emptying it). 8 weeks if I stick to 10L changes weekly, 4 weeks if I double up. I don’t think I’m likely to be able to browse a LFS properly and buy fish/inverts/coral before that. 
 

Skimmer is still producing gunk which is good but it’s having bubble overflow issues now. Bubbles look clean and the gunk stays in the cup so I’m not worried yet but I’ll let you know if I find a fix.

 

ETA: just did 5g water change, had left it to the ten day mark in the hope of putting proper salt mix in. I also have spare RO for my top offs which should help. LFS advised me to wait a month, use RO as much as I can, keep to a weekly water change schedule with the salt mix then think about a hardy coral. Aldo if want, they can test my water for metals and the like before I buy. Which is reassuring. 
 

As for the skimmer, they think it’s just breaking itself in and as long as bubbles are clean and aren’t getting in the display tank (which would irritate the fish), they shouldn’t do any harm.

 

Was nice to be in a LFS even if only 6ft through the door 🙂

Edited by UpsideDownPumpkin
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UpsideDownPumpkin

Just so I don’t lose track. 30 litres of Salted RO in as of time of writing, 16th May.

 

10 litres going in on 19th May.
 

Halfway there.

 

Then I’ll need to go to the LFS for more RO. 

 

From there I could do 20L on the 26th and 20 on the 2nd or draw it out with 10L changes if the restrictions tighten again.

 

So in theory, I could still do my first coral in June as per the original plan.

 

Another option is to finish my stocking. I’m really happy with my hermits but would like another snail or two. I’d also like a cleaner shrimp. Then in terms of another fish, I was thinking about a watchman goby. Part of me really wants a royal gramma or another open water fish but my clowns have been doing a lot of twitching and hosting wiggles (though they seem to be hosting water itself rather than an object) so I think a rock dweller would be a safer option, even with the blenny. 
 

In my heart of hearts as well, I think once my old girl gourami has lived out her golden years, I’m going to convert my freshwater 30g into a marine tank. It’s not an all in one so I’d have to change up some kit and upgrade the light on it but hopefully she’s got some time left (she’s 3 and a half) and I can learn from the 20g.

 

OT I know but my love for FW really took a hit last year, I used to have a planted 70g but didn’t dip a plant well enough and it ended up overrun with pest snails and I tried to replace every thing apart from the fish twice to no avail so I broke it down, sold it and started new with a 30g, no live plants. Though the downsize was also to make room for the salt water tank. And now to be honest, I can’t think of a freshwater stocking that would be ok in a 30g that grabs me like saltwater has recently, especially as it is a tall tank rather than a long tank. I don’t know, I’ll keep pondering it.

 

So possibly a 30g second saltwater tank on the distant horizon for other fishes I’d like.

 

Anyways, that was a tangent. I only meant to outline my water changes 😂 

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Update 19th May:

 

10L salted RO in. Blue legged hermit has changed shells. He’s moved into the shell that my now biggest red legged came in, it’s a bit of an insane upgrade and he’s walking much slower in it but that’s the shell he chose so I’m going to leave him to it, maybe he’s planning a molt and will grow into it.

 

Cyno is more manageable now, I do a whizz round with the magnet every other day and a full scrape every other week. Getting some hair style algae back on the rocks after the vicious scrubbing I gave them but the crabs and the trocus have been doing their best to eat it. I still want a few more members for my CUC though because I feel like I’ve let the tank have it’s dirty maturation stage for long enough now.

 

Terrible photo because the angle (he had to change shells right at the edge) but here’s the hermit in his new bigger shell next to the old tiny one.

 

 

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Update 26th May:

 

Finally got to see some fishies again! A hobby in itself that I’ve missed so much. 
 

A few bits and bobs to update. I’m another 10L into my tap water purge. Would have been more but i helpfully left my barrel at home and now I have four 10L barrels. I have about 8 litres of RO left for my top ups and plans to get all 4 filled next week so I can do another 20L change (and maybe get a coral).

 

I also bought two cerith snails while I was there. My Babylonia hasn’t killed the trocus yet and I think I’ve got plenty of algae to go around.

 

Lastly, after moving shells, my blue legged hermit is molting. So I’ve got two molting crabs at the same time at the moment. 
 

I think I’m going to edit the main post at this stage so that it has a FTS and a list of what’s currently going on with the tank, just because I ended up going in a different direction than when I made the post 3 months ago.

 

I’m also in the market still for a last fish but I can’t settle on what. I’m torn between attempting a gramma/dottyback (both my blenny and female clown have big enough barks when she gets in his way (or my hands are in the tank) or playing it safer with something smaller and calmer. I’ll mull it over some more this week. Also eventually intend to get that cleaner shrimp I keep mentioning.

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So that I can find it again if I need it, I made a post weighing up pros and cons of all the fish I could reasonably add to the tank:

 

 

Very proud of myself for doing that rather than just going to the LFS and ending up coming home with whatever caught my fancy in that moment.

 

If there's not an decisive answer to it then I'll probably end up going on Tuesday and getting the shrimp, maybe a cheap little frag to test out. There's a £10 frag section. Half to see what the frag does in the tank but also because my blenny isn't 100% reef safe according to my research so I need to know if he'll nip before I buy something expensive.

 

And... maybe I'll come home with a fish. We'll see.

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Update 2/6/2020

 

So I went to the LFS and nothing grabbed me. From my possibles list they only had royal grammas, black caps, yellow tail damsels and orchid dottybacks. 
 

So I decided to leave it. Almost walked away with a watchman goby and a shrimp but the price was too much. The goby on its own most of the time is less than £20 but for the pair it was £64. I’m hesitant to buy a £40 shrimp. Maybe next time.

 

This time however I did get some coral (and dip and reefroids). I’m not 100% on the names as they only name their high end stock and this was from the bargain section but I’ve got one head of hammer (looks purple/blue), one polyp of a red palyzoa with green tips and one blue/green zoa colony (about 10-12 polyps) that I’m hoping Is blueberry pie because I love that one and if it is then I got it for a bargain.

 

I’ll post proper pictures when they’ve settled but this is the dudes chilling in the acclimation zone. They’re still a little stressed so not the best photo. I don’t know why it’s sideways, it’s a portrait photo 🤷🏻‍♀️

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ETA: not blueberry, they’re the opposite. Green with blue tips not blue with green. Under no lights it looks green with red tips but anyway,

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Update 6/6/2020.
 

Coral is now in its second phase of placement. Hammer is loving it, it’s much happier already than when it was on the sand bed. Zoas aren’t so happy right now but I’m hoping it’s where I moved them. Paly is very unhappy because I didn’t wedge it well enough and it fell. The Paly seems to bounce back quicker than the Zoas though, I’ve noticed, so hopefully it will open back up soon. I’m really enjoying my hammer though, I will definitely be getting another one of those next month. 
 

I’m struggling with placement though. I’ve got two contradictory wants - where I think the hammer would look best vs putting it near the clowns in case the clowns decide they want it. Where I would like it is between Blenny’s main hide and his secondary perch. But I’m worried if the clowns ever do take a liking to it, they’ll be in his territory. So I don’t know. Chances are the clowns won’t take to it so I know I should put it where I think is best but then I second guess myself with what if they do decide to host it. 

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Minor update 7th: Hammer was loving life in the light and Paly and Zoas were still not happy (zoa 5 open polyps, 10 closed and Paly only half open) so I’ve swung the light slightly so it’s higher on the hammer and lower on Zoas. Paly is now much happier and open fully. No change yet from the Zoas.

 

Haven’t fed anything to them yet while they’re settling in but considering feeding the hammer and the Paly tonight or tomorrow night as they seem happy.

 

minor update 8th: Zoas were still closed today so I’ve moved them back down to the sand bed. Paly is happy and open. Hammer is happy and extended. My coral glue and epoxy came in the post today but I’m not ready to commit yet to their placement.

 

I also ordered some ocean nutrition seaweed because I’d like to tidy up the hair algae now I have coral but I want to know my blenny has something natural to eat. I tried human grade nori for a while as that’s easily available but no takers (apart from the crabs) so I got the garlic infused green seaweed. We’ll see if anyone eats it overnight. 
 

edit 9th: Zoas still not open but I could see some green so they’re thinking about it. I’ve dimmed then lights back down to 50% to restart their acclimation from the sand bed. Paly seems ok so I’m leaving him where he is. Hammer is still waving and relaxed so I’m leaving him where he is. Not going to move anything for a week, just let the light slowly ramp back. 
 

No takers on the seaweed. No commitment yet on final placement. Going to feed my hammer today. 
 

update 10th: water change today. I woke up and the seaweed was gone, though it’s a clown that keeps hovering by/biting the clip so not 100% success. Took out 1/3rd of the “decorative” hair algae. Started by taking it off the wave maker, which was a bad plan I didn’t think through. After I turned everything back on, my hammer went from loving the flow to being in a hurricane so I’ve turned the wave maker so it hits the back wall for now and while it looks a bit exhausted, it’s opened back up again. Moved the Paly slightly to clean around it, so it closed up. I also didn’t put it exactly where it was so now it’s bugging me but I’ll leave it so I don’t stress it more. No change in the Zoas, not dead but not open either. Did a lot of reading and apparently they “sulk”. Saw my little hitch hiker snail today, glad he’s still trucking on and hasn’t been eaten. Noticed today how much my little male clown has grown. He’s still half the size of my female and definitely submissive to her but it’s nice to see some growth. Still have no idea for placement of what coral I do have but I think I’m going to attempt a red mushroom or a green cabbage in the cave/shady area under the blenny’s tower. I’m also considering a Kenya tree for a lower ledge. 
 

update 12th: they’ve finally taken to the seaweed. I put some in yesterday lunchtime and they ate it overnight. Haven’t touched the coral, hammer has bounced back Paly still opening up every morning and no movement on the zoas. I’m considering putting them in the shade somewhere for a few days to see if that will at least open them up.


Some bizarre fish behaviour to report; the blenny has taken to hosting the thermometer. He even went to sleep hugging it last night. Clearly he’s been hanging around with the clowns too much. Attached is a photo of some day time snuggling up. Again, don’t know why it’s turned the photo the wrong way, the thermometer is not on the floor...

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edit 13th: I've moved the zoas up into a shaded cave section, going to feed some ReefRoids tonight around 6pm as the lights are starting to dim to see if that coaxes them out, plus feed the hammer and the paly who are both happy. Slowly turning the wavemaker back to it's previous position and no complaints from the hammer just yet though it isn't full force on it yet. Pleased to report the hammer let me see some tiny baby tentacles this morning so I think that's a good sign. Blenny is still sleeping with the thermometer and my female clown changed her sleeping pattern slightly last night so I've put it down to the wave maker being moved, hence I'm slowly putting it back. Return pump is making noises so I may need to take it out and deep clean it next water change. Clowns are also doing funny dancing around each other so weirdness all round.

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Have found another hitchhiker, I’m pretty sure it’s a astra-something I can’t spell star. Research says harmless and it’s eating algae so I’m going to let it stay. But concerned that it survived the coral dip and I’m only just seeing it now, makes me worry what else survived =/ 

 

Poor Paly took another knocking off last night so I’ve moved it. It hasn’t opened up yet but it’s only been about an hour. No change in the Zoas. Clowns it seems like sleeping in the current, hence the bizarre sleeping position. They’re getting back to normal now. Hammer is still a happy hammer.

 

My nitrates are creeping up where I took out a chunk of the algae. I may need to up my water changes to 20L a go until that settles back down. 
 

Picture of star attached;  

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And I think I’ve found the reason why my Zoas are super unhappy. Decided since the starfish to do a second dip, just in case. And this has reared it’s ugly head. Guessing nudibranch? Hopefully if it’s a zoa eater then it’s stayed on that one frag and not walked anywhere. Little bit annoyed because I followed the dosage on the bottle and nothing. I’ve had to double up to get that out. Now how to get it off...

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Second update of the day, it was a vermatid snail and has been superglued.

 

Since I was at LFS and the manager ended up serving me, I asked about the Zoas. Contrary to what I’ve been doing, he said start them under high light and bring them down. He asked where they were (in terms of the 18ft walk around coral tank) when I bought them and they were under SPS level lighting so he said they’ve probably closed because they think it’s night under the low lights. So I said it’s worth a go. They are now high up as I can safely place them.

 

Meanwhile, I have added a very small single neon green mushroom to my tank, who is settling in nicely in the cave where I want him to carpet. He closed right up while being dipped but he’s opening up again now. 
 

I have also moved the hammer up another level to what I hope is his final placement and he is so relaxed and happy, I might have to name him “dude” 😂

 

Paly is still where it is because he’s happy there and I like him there. 
 

No new fish yet. Still trying to work out what I want and what is best for the tank. I did however window shop coral to the point I could have easily parted with £250 for a gorgeous torch, an amazing hammer and a mixed mushroom rock. Somehow I resisted. But either the torch or the hammer is mine next pay day if it’s still there.

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Before my main update, just a little update on the Zoas, one polyp has opened. A second looks like it’s thinking about it. Paly still happy and hammer still happy. Mushroom looks like he’s trying to climb off his plug so I may move him up.

 

Now for the real news:
 

Snagged a bargain today as one of my LFS’s lease is up and they’re moving, so they’ve slashed the price of all their live stock so they don’t have to transport it. Sadly they were out of any suitable fish but I did find this beautiful beast right at the back of their coral tank. It’s seven heads of purple body, green tip torch. It’s got some hitchhikers, looks like bristleworms, the LFS owned up to that. Nothing a dip can’t help with. I’m more willing to accept that as it was such a bargain and it’s mounted onto rock rather than a plug. The only other issue is it was right at the back not getting much light so I’m probably going to need to restart my lights acclimation cycle again. Though he said maybe not as torches like quite a bit of light normally.

 

It’s stressing in the bucket at the moment but was fully extended in the shop, wish I’d taken a photo there but here it is acclimating, pre-dip. One with flash and one with the tank lights (bucket next to tank):

 

 

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edit: upon dipping, it turned out they were micro brittle stars. Ones still alive the other two maybe not, I’m giving them five mins in clean salt to see if they’re alive and if so, it’ll keep them. Lost some pods to the dip as well which was sad but I can’t risk not dipping in case I get something nasty. 

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Happy torch! I’m so please it’s taken well to my tank, that’s probably the most expensive coral I’ll ever own! 

 

The two nearly dead brittle stars didn’t make it and the one that did hasn’t been seen but I guess that’s the point. 
 

Nearing an idea for my placement. The torch is going on the sand bed by the left corner ledge, near enough where it is now but flush to the rock. Hammer staying more or less where it is. That side is my Euphyllia corner. Then mushrooms in the cave and out onto the ledge. Zoas eventually bring down to where the paly is and start a zoa/paly garden on the “fingers”. Maybe some Xenia simply to bring movement. Maybe some acans around base. 
 

Tank is eating well at the moment because some of my frozen food expires end of July, so it’s twice a day frozen at moment, quartet in the morning and cyclops in the evening. The blenny went off the pellets when the hair algae grew in so it’s nice to see him eating something other than the rock. 
 

Still mulling over the last fish but I think it’s going to be a pink streaked wrasse. It’s one of the only options that won’t offend the blenny. Or he could be chill and accept any fish but I don’t want to buy an expensive one to lose. Still intend to get a cleaner shrimp.

 

 

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Torch is hungry! This is the first time either Euphyllia have exposed a mouth so I’m going to target feed it later today. It makes sense that it’s hungry if it didn’t get much light in its holding tank. 
 

I’m also going to shuffle it back a little closer to where I want it but might do that first before I feed it in case it stresses.

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Almost a week between updates, I must have been busy 😂

 

Zoas are doing much better, high up and under full strength lighting. I don’t want to keep them there long term but I’m going to acclimate them down slowly. 
 

Paly is having a baby! It’s not opened up yet but this morning I noticed a new head growing out of the stalk so hopefully she’s going to be a quick spreader. I really love the colours of it (photos on my phone don’t do it justice) even though it’s just a simple paly. Those aren’t live worms in the photo by the way, she’s sucking down a bloodworm like spaghetti, from the fish’s Sunday breakfast.
 

Not much change for the hammer or torch, except the algae has grown on the wave maker again so they look a little less wavy. 


No new additions this week.
 

Got a big clean scheduled today to get the last of the hair algae out. 15 litres out. I might do a before and after shot.
 

Trying my hardest not to buy more coral until I glue down what I have. 
 

Also resolute to make more of an effort to mix my own salt water, so that I can know exactly what minerals it has. 
 

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Also, as I’ve got two LPS now, I got a calcium test kit, so I’m about 1hr post water change and measuring 450. Which very helpfully is what my salt mix promises. Will test again to see if it’s noticeably different before I change the water in a week. Not looking to do additives, just curious if the two I have are making a dent in it. 
 

And since I’m playing with my test kits:

Salinity: 1.025

PH - 8

Alkalinity - 9 dKH

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 2 (lowest it’s been since the hair algae started, it’s usually 5-10)

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Moved some coral around during yesterday’s water change to their final positions. Some were for my liking and others for the corals liking. I noticed the hammer wasn’t loving the full strength lights up that high whereas the torch was reaching up toward it so I’ve swapped them. The hammer is still settling but the torch is much more relaxed. Blenny seems to approve of these two being between his perches. I caught him feeding the hammer this morning and tonight he’s made his bed in a cave created between the torch base and the rock. He seemed to “test” the torch’s sting earlier, he proper got in it like a clownfish and promptly got stung. He spent maybe 30 seconds licking his “wounds” then went about his day as normal. Since then, he’s brushed up against it loads and it doesn’t seem to mind. 
 

The Zoas I’ve moved down to where I want them. It was about the sixth time they got knocked off the high perch so I’m taking the gamble and moving them to lower, more stable ground. They opened right back up and we’ll see tomorrow if they open up again. 
 

Haven’t moved the paly or the shroom, they’re happy and I’m happy where they are. They will probably be the first to be glued down.
 

Attached is some new photos including the blenny playing hide and seek under the torch. 
 

 

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So much for only buying RO at the LFS...

 

Walked out with my 4th fish. A baby (and I mean baby, that’s him next to a frag plug) six-line. Prices had skyrocketed on fish since I last went in there. The black cap bass had gone up £20 and the other wrasse (Pin stripe) had gone up £30 so I figured, I’d rather pay £20 for something that may or may not work out than £60+. I bought the smallest one they had, he was very active In the tank, in the bag, and while acclimating. He of course done a bolt straight for the rock but that’s ok. He’s out now and exploring, met the other fish, nobody is really paying attention to him as of yet. 
 

My other purchase was a baby mushroom. Red. Possibly fuzzy/interesting. It’s too small to tell yet. It also is on a rock smothered in coralline so that hopefully might spread onto the rock. You can’t see it currently in a FTS because it’s so small but it’s towards the front of the cave.

 

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Mixed reviews this morning.

 

Had to swap the torch and the hammers placements back because the blenny liked it a little too much. He moved into the cave created between the rock and the base of the torch and in order to get his front door to stop stinging him, he bit all the tentacles off those two heads. It wasn’t a food thing, tank is getting heavily fed at the moment due to some short dates on frozen food. And it wasn’t a nip here and a nip there, it was a focused attack of one specific place. So I’ve moved it and I’m going to watch him. If it’s just the torch then I can put it in a breeder box to protect it. If it’s more than just the torch, he’ll be given his 2 weeks notice. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that because in a year or so, I want to convert my 30g to a FOWLR (crappy stock light = non-reef safe fish) so long term plans are to move him into there.

 

On a more positive note, when I moved my hammer, I accidentally put it the wrong way round (one side is fuller than the other) and it looks like it’s growing a new head. It’s still early days, it just looks like a ball with about 5 tiny tentacles but that would be nice. I’ll try to get a halfway decent pic but no promises.

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UpsideDownPumpkin

Writing this at 11pm... I’ve decided to experiment with giving my SW fish a nightlight, by which I mean the moonlights go all the way down to 1% but ultimately don’t go off completely. 
 

It sounds weird but I swear half my fish are afraid of the dark. My gourami in my fresh water tank is, to the point she starts stressing as soon as the blue light is put on. I even once had a previous gourami jump out of the tiny hole the filter tube came out of (luckily for him I sleep next to my tanks and heard him and he lived 2 more years). I’ve also been thinking I hear splashing from the SW side too but I mostly put it down to my gourami because if I shine the light on my SW, everyone looks asleep.

 

However lately I’ve been noticing a pattern that it happens when the moonlights go off altogether and the tank is in darkness. Normally it’s little splashes but tonight, big splash. At least I now know who is afraid of the dark. It’s my female clown. Shined the light to find her clinging to the filter inlet grate, breathing like she’d scared herself to death. All other fish breathing ok and up until lights off, corals and fish alike happy as Larry, so not a water quality issue. 
 

After a few minutes of me holding low light over the tank, she calmed back down and went back to sleep. A quick google later ah apparently this is quite a common clown thing, usually when they don’t host (she doesn’t). Basically sleeping in the open means the slightest touch is like someone grabbing your foot in a pitch black room to them when there’s no light. Makes sense. 
 

So, night light. Luckily my LED is highly customisable so I can set it to 1%, low enough they can sleep, but not pitch black. Hopefully that little bit of light might reassure my gourami too as her light only has there settings (on, blue, off). The app didn’t recommend keeping them on more than 4hrs but again, a quick google tells me it’s harmless and the worst thing it can do is promote algae growth and I already have algae growth so... I’m going to take that chance and see if it calms her down any.
 

Honestly, I don’t know how people sleep when they don’t have lids on their tanks, even her splashing against the mesh screen is enough to keep me awake and worrying for the next 8 hours. 

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UpsideDownPumpkin

Dear SW Diary (Haha but seriously, sorry for using this to think out loud half the time)

 

Hoping to get my hands on some local grown coral this week. Just writing down the types so I remember after the listing is gone:

 

2 heads of Iron Man Discosoma Mushroom 

1 polyp W/pups of Punk Rocker Zoas

2 heads of Toxic Green Kenya Tree (Got Outbid)

4 polyps of Scrambled Egg Zoas

 

I’m not quite to the postage stage yet but seeing the prices shoot up in shops has definitely made me sort eBay by distance and ask some local folk if they’re up for collection. 

 

If there’s any UK reefers on here with eBay/similar, let me know 😂
 

So... edit now that I’m home and everything is acclimating on the sand bed. As always, came away with more coral than I originally planned and slightly less money than I had this morning! 
 

The original 2 heads of iron man got outbid in the last 30 seconds while I was driving to the first pick up. Luckily the reefer was a true gent and offered me a rock with 3 heads that he hadn’t put up on there yet. They are already showing gorgeous colours even tho my tanks are only running moonlights at the moment. He also threw me in 2 frags of beginner SPS - purple Stylo and red Monti. I’ll do proper names in a moment. I’m a little nervous to be trying SPS but they cost like £2.50 each so... if they fail, it’s a cheap learning curve.

 

and in the zoa department, I walked away with 4 polyps of punk rocker because the “pups” are basically adults, 4 polyps of scrambled egg and 1 polyp of fake lime chilli. 
 

So... 6 corals for £60. Not bad given I got one basic coral from the LFS last week for £16. I also have 2 local reefers numbers and the promise that they’ll message me when they’re selling. So a day off well spent. 


Think I’m going to do a full tank clean on Saturday, hair algae is starting to bother me again. Might need to up my CUC now I have 4 fish and have the lights on a stronger setting. 
 

Will also update my coral listing and everything.

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UpsideDownPumpkin

Excuse the bad photos and the algae. Doing a deep clean on Saturday but wanted to share my new coral as acclimating six frags at once was so exciting I forgot to take photos 😂


Excuse the photo bombers. If I was trying to take photos of them, they wouldn’t be in front of the camera.

 

I’m insanely in love with those Iron Mans, the photos do not do them justice, especially under moonlights 😍


I’m struggling with placement for my new Zoas as they are on cone shaped plugs. Might need to invest in a frag plug rock.

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UpsideDownPumpkin

Just a general update to say everything has settled in nicely (I have to assume for the SPS?). Including the six line wrasse. There was a squabble or two with the male clown (he’s the next smallest fish in the tank) but he ignored it and she gave up trying to pick fights with him. Now she just zips around the tank in her own little world. 
 

The only coral that isn’t happy at the moment is the torch but I think that’s because it’s on the sand bed - it wasn’t happy there before which was why I moved it. Trying to decide if I should risk it again turned the other way (the “back” is just skeleton, no stingers) to see if it and the blenny can live peacefully.

 

Weekly target feeding and cleaning day today...

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