10 Gallon Rock Wall

[growsomething]

It just occured to me that could be a bryopsis species.  Too late.

Also I moved the hermit my lfs talked me into to the sump as he's become a terror and has killed most snails and anything his size.

[DNR88]

Really cool stuff! 😄

[growsomething]

Looks like the red decorator crab is going to make it.  Didn't move for most of a week, now he is out and about doing crab things.  

 

 

 

[growsomething]

Did you ever wonder if the tank inhabitants see this LED flicker?

[growsomething]

When I was younger last century, elderly men would dig up bloodworms on mud flats to fish for sheepshead with cane poles.  I think this may be a baby "blood worm"?  The ones they dug up were as thick as a finger and pretty long.

 

 

 

[duganderson]

Love the updated tank shots.

 

The look of the rocks on the back wall with coral add a lot to this tank!  Love it!

 

--Doug

[growsomething]

This little rascal has been collecting and discarding zoas all over the tank.  Can hardly see him.

 

[growsomething]

Been using nsw my whole life and never have seen this many creatures.  From little round dots to shrimp-like things that can swim against the filter flow, the water is crawling.  It was harvested Sat. at sunrise and acclimated in the house as per usual for over 24 hs.

Clownfish are usually dumb when it comes to catching pods, etc, but mine is hanging right where the current comes down the front pane to the bottom and is snatching stuff up.

 

 

 

 

 

[growsomething]

My boy loves to pop the bubble algae at the top of the rock during cleaning. He has also discoveredit is fun to feed pellets to the rfa.

 

 

Took a peek at the back chambers and saw this guy.  He moves somehow to the most advantageous position.  Came in on KP live rocks 4 ys ago.

 

 

Found out where the brittle starfish ended up while I was looking down there, in the pump section.  Sent a few pellets down for him before turning the pump back on.  I imagine he ate the hermit I put back there that was eating all my snails.

[debbeach13]

1 hour ago, growsomething said:

My boy loves to pop the bubble algae at the top of the rock during cleaning. He has also discoveredit is fun to feed pellets to the rfa.

 

Love it.

[growsomething]

We saw this absolute unit of a hermit while seashell hunting at sunrise.

[growsomething]

Little update:

This red decorator is about triple the size when we caught him.

 

Full tank shot, not much has changed, porites plate grows no matter water changes or not.

 

 

Here is the 2nd lens I've had on my awesome AI HD light.  Settings were about 1/2 strength that I can remember, leaning towards natural daylight spectrum.  Can no longer access it from my phone, I miss the manual controls from days of yore. We had a toilet feed flood the house and moved the tank 2x.  Had to unplug the light a few days till I got it in synq with when we want it to come on/shut off.

 

 

 

 

 

[Kev1n]

Enjoyed reading through your journal. Nice scape there with rock attached to the back wall.

[growsomething]

So this is odd; a clam made it all the way to the top front pane and attached itaelf.  I'd have liked to have seen that happen.  My boy pushed it off to the floor.

 

 

[Crawford_T]

Just got caught up on your thread, I love how diverse and natural everything looks. I actually just picked up what appears to be the same zoa that you said is becoming a pest, green center with dark red/brown skirt. You have me wondering if I should glue it down somewhere off to the side or back so as to not overtake the front…

[growsomething]

Went out to get some overdue nsw for a 50% w/c.  I quickly found hurricane Debby's effects were still out there.  Dark water, bad smell, and turtle eggs everywhere.

There were these cool sponges I took home to dry out for decoration. The red color washes out when washed w freshwater, I found. 

Back at home cleaning the sponges, all these little crabs came crawling out.  The kids love them.  Also found a tube duster of some tyoe in them and a macro that I threw in the tank.

We have moved to grandma's due to sewer flooding in the rental sencondary to Debby and the county not checking their backflow devices regularly.  She is not a fan of animals, but I stuck the tank in the fireplace when she wasn't looking.  The dog will go to a no-kill re-homing org.  This too shall pass 

[growsomething]

[Sharbuckle]

So sorry to hear of having to relocate and letting go of the dog. Fingers crossed you get back to some normalcy sooner than later. Your tank was looking great before the floods. Looking forward to seeing some updates. 

[Staticmoves]

On 5/27/2024 at 9:16 AM, growsomething said:

Little update:

This red decorator is about triple the size when we caught him.

 

Full tank shot, not much has changed, porites plate grows no matter water changes or not.

 

 

Here is the 2nd lens I've had on my awesome AI HD light.  Settings were about 1/2 strength that I can remember, leaning towards natural daylight spectrum.  Can no longer access it from my phone, I miss the manual controls from days of yore. We had a toilet feed flood the house and moved the tank 2x.  Had to unplug the light a few days till I got it in synq with when we want it to come on/shut off.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

Oh man... sorry to hear you had to move and sorry about the dog 😞

[growsomething]

Hey @Tamberav, you've been around for a while, if you were to move this 10g to a 3g sealed non-aio, non-ato to fit in an rv, would you copy the successful vase reefers and use a bubbler instead of a tiny circulation pump?  Is the infusion of outside air (in addition to weekly 90% w/c) the secret to their success?  Invert and coral only.

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, growsomething said:

Hey @Tamberav, you've been around for a while, if you were to move this 10g to a 3g sealed non-aio, non-ato to fit in an rv, would you copy the successful vase reefers and use a bubbler instead of a tiny circulation pump?  Is the infusion of outside air (in addition to weekly 90% w/c) the secret to their success?  Invert and coral only.

Yea, I would do it to help bring in fresh air since these tiny tanks are pretty sealed to keep evaporating at a min. Plus it’s generally easier to clean and more reliable than the tiny fountain pumps. A few extra air stones to rotate. 

[growsomething]

Went out at sunrise Sunday to go seashell hunting w my son, and to get water if there was no sign of red tide.  Didn't see any dead fish, couldn't smell it, and saw lots of minnow schools on the surface, however they have closed for hurricane cleanup my favorite close access, and this middle-aged man is not carrying 5g buckets for half a mile.  This tank has pretty much stopped growing, except for a the xenia a bit, pbly due to a lack of some mineral or element, due to not being able to get nsw for half the year to water change.  Have some green algae (not blue-green) on the glass and rock before wknd cleanings now.  It blows off very easily.  Not sure what it is, but is doesn't seem too detrimental, just looks bad before cleaning. 

Here is my son's "treasures", broken mother of pearl, which he is going to give to mommy.

 

[growsomething]

Went with family to some mangrove tunnels at sunrise.  They were disgusting with brown water and an odor that made me nauseous.  We did get to see a very colorful mangrove snake, a first in 50 ys for me.  They left early, so my son and I went into the bay and he swished an aquarium net in seaweed and caught a ton of tiny life.  Pipefish, shrimp, hermits, urchins.  We took them home and the. Lownfish exhibited hunting behavior for the 1st time.  He even slurped up the smaller pipefish.  All the rfa were curled up within a minute so I'm sure they'll get whatever he won't.

 

 

 

 

 

There he is in the act of slurping one up, if you can see it in front of his nose.

 

 

Most pipefish are in the gorg or here in the xenia.

 

Still haven't changed water as I just don't trust the gulf water yet, but this is a good sign.