Mitten_reef’s WB55.2 - 4/30 top-down pics

[TheKleinReef]

 the center piece one? the huge table??

[mitten_reef]

58 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

 the center piece one? the huge table??

Is it that big one?  yes it is....😅

 

oh well, til I find another table piece...

 

offered the skeleton to the LFS so he can use to scape some service tank FOWLR...

 

Will take picture of the skeleton later, maybe when I do wc tonight

[TheKleinReef]

bruh

i wanted a piece of that 😆

[mitten_reef]

2 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

bruh

i wanted a piece of that 😆

now, you can have a chunk of the skeleton 😛 a lot easier to ship....snail mail will do just fine, lol

[mitten_reef]

Just in case we had any doubt about it. 
 

☠️ 

 

[A.m.P]

Damn, that's awful, I hope everything else bounces back. Any idea what did it, or is it just one of those mystery boom and busts?

[mitten_reef]

18 minutes ago, A.m.P said:

Damn, that's awful, I hope everything else bounces back. Any idea what did it, or is it just one of those mystery boom and busts?

Bad params control, specifically alk, pretty much that. 

[A.m.P]

4 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

Bad params control, specifically alk, pretty much that. 

Ahhhh, f**k, punished for good growth. Damn that sucks man

[tmc1313]

Yeah, IME, things can go south a lot quicker in these smaller tanks than in larger ones before you pick up on it. You think everything looks good and is doing great and you say to yourself "oh I can wait to do.........." and then you lose something.  Well, Once you're sure everything is stable again and you're looking for a new table piece, I can send you a chunk of my crayola plana (you pay for shipping). It's been pretty indestructible in my tank and needs a trim.

[mitten_reef]

3 hours ago, tmc1313 said:

Yeah, IME, things can go south a lot quicker in these smaller tanks than in larger ones before you pick up on it. You think everything looks good and is doing great and you say to yourself "oh I can wait to do.........." and then you lose something.  Well, Once you're sure everything is stable again and you're looking for a new table piece, I can send you a chunk of my crayola plana (you pay for shipping). It's been pretty indestructible in my tank and needs a trim.

thank you for your kind offer.  and you're right on the procrastination and reef tank, the two often don't mix. 😅

[mitten_reef]

between losing the big tabling acro and then my yellow coris wrasse last wknd - I think it's time for a big change....

 

first, obviously, I have to remove the big skeleton, but also thinking of breaking up the branch rock into 3 big pieces.  this idea had been in my head for a long while, might have put it down in this build journal once upon a time.  but the table was growing so well where it was, so there was no reason to act on it.  now, might be a good time to change things up.

 

also, neither the coris nor the 6-line wrasses (both jumped) would eat spaghetti worms which had gotten very annoying with the sandbed.  so gonna be moving toward bare-bottom.  this will also allow me to increase turbulent flow in the tank by adding flow to the bottom area.      

 

stay tuned

[ml86743]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

between losing the big tabling acro and then my yellow coris wrasse last wknd - I think it's time for a big change....

 

first, obviously, I have to remove the big skeleton, but also thinking of breaking up the branch rock into 3 big pieces.  this idea had been in my head for a long while, might have put it down in this build journal once upon a time.  but the table was growing so where it was, so there was no reason to act on it.  now, might be a good time to change things up.

 

also, neither the coris nor the 6-line wrasses (both jumped) would eat spaghetti worms which had gotten very annoying with the sandbed.  so gonna be moving toward bare-bottom.  this will also allow me to increase turbulent flow in the tank by adding flow to the bottom area.      

 

stay tuned

I've been slowly siphoning out sand every WC...I'm done with sand after this build..

 

Excited to see the switch-up!

[mitten_reef]

2 hours ago, ml86743 said:

I've been slowly siphoning out sand every WC...I'm done with sand after this build..

 

Excited to see the switch-up!

TBH, my IM30 was doing so well without sand, i should have gone no sand since the beginning of this build.  but I wanted a goby-pistol combo.  well, 3-4 attempt at introducing a pistol shrimps, and none made it.  and I have crazy amount of spaghetti worms instead...🤦‍♂️.

[ml86743]

17 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

TBH, my IM30 was doing so well without sand, i should have gone no sand since the beginning of this build.  but I wanted a goby-pistol combo.  well, 3-4 attempt at introducing a pistol shrimps, and none made it.  and I have crazy amount of spaghetti worms instead...🤦‍♂️.

Yeah mine just looks like s**t hah!  I didn't think my rockwork through enough so I can only get a gravel vac in select areas...

[mitten_reef]

Task #1 

 

[mitten_reef]

Looks empty now 

 

 

[PJPS]

On 8/11/2023 at 1:02 PM, mitten_reef said:

TBH, my IM30 was doing so well without sand, i should have gone no sand since the beginning of this build.  but I wanted a goby-pistol combo.  well, 3-4 attempt at introducing a pistol shrimps, and none made it.  and I have crazy amount of spaghetti worms instead...🤦‍♂️.

YWG + Tiger Pistol pair reliably for me, but I’ve never strayed from that combo.  I’ve bought the shrimp and the Gobi from different shops in the past, and they pair up immediately.  Just passing it along in case you ever decide to do it again 😉

[mitten_reef]

9 hours ago, PJPS said:

YWG + Tiger Pistol pair reliably for me, but I’ve never strayed from that combo.  I’ve bought the shrimp and the Gobi from different shops in the past, and they pair up immediately.  Just passing it along in case you ever decide to do it again 😉

The problem was they (the newly added pistol shrimp) just kept disappearing all the 3-4 times I tried, so didn’t even have a chance to see whether they even tried to pair. 
 

so I think it just isn’t meant to be for now. 

[mitten_reef]

 

Meanwhile, these guys are looking their best in a long time.  The rainbow chalices are on 3x3 in tiles. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitten_reef]

I did a thing, the deal was too good to pass up. 

 

[A.m.P]

Squammy and derasa?

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, A.m.P said:

Squammy and derasa?

All three are derasa.  Seller didn’t have any other types, I tried asking if they have maxima and/or crocea to build out the 3pk. 

[TheKleinReef]

I want a clam so bad but the only one I ever had luck with was a gold maxima and they’re hard to find 

[mitten_reef]

11 hours ago, TheKleinReef said:

I want a clam so bad but the only one I ever had luck with was a gold maxima and they’re hard to find 

I've only kept maxima, so this will be a new experience for me with derasa clams.   are you sure it's just the "gold" tho?  maxima is already the species level, unlike acros where that's a genus where multiple species could and would require different care.  I don't see that tridacna maxima clams will require diff care from one color to another.  

 

I often equate clams to acros, if you can keep acros happy, you should be able to keep clams happy (or vice versa).  

[TheKleinReef]

5 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

I've only kept maxima, so this will be a new experience for me with derasa clams.   are you sure it's just the "gold" tho?  maxima is already the species level, unlike acros where that's a genus where multiple species could and would require different care.  I don't see that tridacna maxima clams will require diff care from one color to another.  

 

I often equate clams to acros, if you can keep acros happy, you should be able to keep clams happy (or vice versa).  

well back when i had the gold maxima, LED lights were super mid. Basically consisting of royal blue and cool white LEDs. blue maximas just didn't do well under those lights. The gold one did, I had it for like 3 years. I think it was because the blue clam reflected a lot of the blue light? maybe. I dk. But I never was able to keep a blue for longer than a few months back then, and then I never tried again.

 

I also feel like the clam trend kinda died.

can the same thing happen to the overpriced acros plsnthnx