mitten_reef Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 2 minutes ago, spectra said: Ā Who needs a fancy tube.............. you see my photos...........Ā you know with all the new phone being "waterproof",Ā I'm surprised no one had decided to just stick their phone underwater...life would be so much easier.Ā except that's like a $1000 gamble if your iphone dies fromĀ saltwater corrosionĀ š¤£Ā Ā 4 Quote Link to comment
spectra Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 11 minutes ago, mitten_reef said: you know with all the new phone being "waterproof",Ā I'm surprised no one had decided to just stick their phone underwater...life would be so much easier.Ā except that's like a $1000 gamble if your iphone dies fromĀ saltwater corrosionĀ š¤£Ā Ā Ā I was always worried I would just drop it in the tank...........I do have a avast somewhere........... 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 4 hours ago, Cannedfish said: Photos look great! I have improved upon my DSLR DIY photo porthole and will put together an instruction list on how it's made. It really allows for amazing top down photos. I have one from Avast marine. I wish it wasnāt so huge but I guess thatās really unavoidableĀ Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 So, Iām not sure if I said, but unfortunately the emperor angelfish turned into a blatant coral eater. He ate half of my rainbow acan, while looking me right in the eyes, because he was gangsta like that š. So, poor Napoleon (he wasnāt poor the dude was nice and fat from all the algae and masstick I fed him), went back to the LFS today. Also sold the LFS 2 gallons of phyto from my garage operation, which came in handy for my covid patient care exhaustion based splurge. Heād gotten in a massive shipment from Indo of simply amazing stuff: Ā Ā Now I can give @CannedfishĀ a proper run for his money š. Ā Ā Ā Ā Got an orange back wrasses and I hope to god this dude takes- I have always had a problem getting wrasses to do well on acclimation. Also trying out a risky experiment but Iāll save the dirt on that for if it works.Ā Ā Ā Oh and @Cannedfishā keep your head above water and your feet dry. Itās Hurricane Season for real!Ā 6 Quote Link to comment
Cannedfish Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 12 minutes ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: because he was gangsta like that ... Never has a greater statement been uttered about an angelfish. Napoleon, may you terrorize a hood elsewhere. Respect. Ā Some thoughts: 1. Much like theĀ late homie Napolean... those corals are straight fly, 2. Let the photo games begin! (ThoughĀ I must say those photosĀ look good!) Maybe next month the photo contest will be something I can actually participate in... āthe color purple...ā WTF... besides coralline algae and lean, wtf is purple? Barney? The Teletubby none of the other Telletubbies liked? Varicose veins? Come on... do better...Ā 3. Yup, Not onlyĀ is it the time of year where you experience both constant swamp ass and that weird sensation of feeling sweat drip down the back of your knee, but itās also that time when Mother Nature, after crushing an entire family sized can of Bushās baked beans and a sixer of Natty Light, saddles up to the porcelain throne and yells āyou boys like Mexico?!ā Right before dropping a hot steamy Cat 3 on the SouthEast. Unfortunately, 2020 is shaping up to be the year god, having already drunkenly trashed his Spring Break hotel room byĀ releasingĀ a pandemic and murder hornets,Ā will look over and be like āIs thatĀ all you got? Hold my beer.ā 4. That being said, if shit gets real in your parts, just know there is a mud boatĀ sitting in NOLA which is allĀ gassed up, and stocked full of Bud HeavyāsĀ ready to head to TX.Ā 5 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 10 minutes ago, Cannedfish said: Never has a greater statement been uttered about an angelfish. Napoleon, may you terrorize a hood elsewhere. Respect. Ā Some thoughts: 1. Much like theĀ late homie Napolean... those corals are straight fly, 2. Let the photo games begin! (ThoughĀ I must say those photosĀ look good!) Maybe next month the photo contest will be something I can actually participate in... āthe color purple...ā WTF... besides coralline algae and lean, wtf is purple? Barney? The Teletubby none of the other Telletubbies liked? Varicose veins? Come on... do better...Ā 3. Yup, Not onlyĀ is it the time of year where you experience both constant swamp ass and that weird sensation of feeling sweat drip down the back of your knee, but itās also that time when Mother Nature, after crushing an entire family sized can of Bushās baked beans and a sixer of Natty Light, saddles up to the porcelain throne and yells āyou boys like Mexico?!ā Right before dropping a hot steamy Cat 3 on the SouthEast. Unfortunately, 2020 is shaping up to be the year god, having already drunkenly trashed his Spring Break hotel room byĀ releasingĀ a pandemic and murder hornets,Ā will look over and be like āIs thatĀ all you got? Hold my beer.ā 4. That being said, if shit gets real in your parts, just know there is a mud boatĀ sitting in NOLA which is allĀ gassed up, and stocked full of Bud HeavyāsĀ ready to head to TX.Ā This year should get interesting. We are drowning in ECMO patients at the moment and watching out for typical Houston apocalyptic flooding because why spend money to fix that??? Evidently we like moldy houses and floating to work. The only thing that would make this year better would be dog sized mosquitoes- be like the coup de gras of a shark getting you after your boat sinks. When youāre in shallow water.Ā Ā Ā Im super excited about the corals, maybe the most about the gold/purple hammer š. I canāt WAIT for that thing to grow out. Euphyllia with the exception of eleganceās doĀ fairly well for me- I had a hammer grow back from an accidental episode in which I amputated most of the skeleton of one- I think there was two itty bitty polyps left of the flesh? Now itās a bonafide single head green hammer. Kinda proud of my special little hammer for hanging on.Ā Ā Now on the subject of the eleganceās- one of them finally died because the wind changed direction I guess and the other is mad- Iām pretty sure it got nibbled by the OG Napoleon. So I hope it makes it. But if not, the LFS has MOAR 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 Alright @CannedfishĀ itās ON like donkey Kong!!! Photo battles start nooooooooww!! Ā Played with the new camera toys I assembled based on your advice. I have not figured them out quite yet. More tinkering is needed. Though Iām jealous of that lens you bought, after doing some internet sleuthing about it. My lens isnāt a full macro lens since itās not f2.8. Perhaps thatās one reason I have struggled to lose the blur in a lot of shots. I think I still manage to do a respectable job though.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Oh and for those who like to monitor my spending ( @FISHnChix, @righttirefire, @spectra- the three godfathers of the lounge now), yes I spent a lot of money š I also worked my little ass off (for real like an inch on both cheeks) these last couple of weeks in healthcare prison (aka the Covid unit). It sucked balls and I earned every penny I spent.Ā 7 Quote Link to comment
spectra Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 1 hour ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: Alright @CannedfishĀ itās ON like donkey Kong!!! Photo battles start nooooooooww!! Ā Played with the new camera toys I assembled based on your advice. I have not figured them out quite yet. More tinkering is needed. Though Iām jealous of that lens you bought, after doing some internet sleuthing about it. My lens isnāt a full macro lens since itās not f2.8. Perhaps thatās one reason I have struggled to lose the blur in a lot of shots. I think I still manage to do a respectable job though.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Oh and for those who like to monitor my spending ( @FISHnChix, @righttirefire, @spectra- the three godfathers of the lounge now), yes I spent a lot of money š I also worked my little ass off (for real like an inch on both cheeks) these last couple of weeks in healthcare prison (aka the Covid unit). It sucked balls and I earned every penny I spent.Ā Before and after pics of the ass to prove it.................. 2 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 11 hours ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: I also worked my little ass off When I hadnt seen a post in a few days I figured as much.. or that you caught the ronašÆ... good to hear it was just bc of overtime.. lord knows you need it to to fund your reefing addiction š Ā Ā Ā Photos are looking good too,Ā but now I just scroll though them so I can watch the videos. I have some fish envy going on. š¤.Ā starting to remind me of a real reef with all those guys swimming around in there.. don't get to see that a lot on NR bc of the size of the tanks.. well donešš¤š 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 1 hour ago, FISHnChix said: When I hadnt seen a post in a few days I figured as much.. or that you caught the ronašÆ... good to hear it was just bc of overtime.. lord knows you need it to to fund your reefing addiction š Ā Ā Ā Photos are looking good too,Ā but now I just scroll though them so I can watch the videos. I have some fish envy going on. š¤.Ā starting to remind me of a real reef with all those guys swimming around in there.. don't get to see that a lot on NR bc of the size of the tanks.. well donešš¤š I love the activity. I had wanted to put more wrasses in but Iām seriously struggling to introduce a new one without it stressing and dying. Not aggressive enough. Iām pondering some springer damsels that will flit in and out of the rocks and flash. But this week is gonna be a busy bizzotch so I wonāt be doing anything for a couple weeks. Give it time to rest and the corals to grow. The zoas are expanding quickly surprisingly so I hope I get lots of filled in rock with color.Ā Ā And if you noticed on the video we tried a risky experiment in the left corner of the tank, which so far is doing... okay. Added the humongous goni to attract the black snowflakes to their back right corner for a reason.... 1 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 1 hour ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: And if you noticed on the video we tried a risky experiment in the left corner of the tank, which so far is doing... okay. Added the humongous goni to attract the black snowflakes to their back right corner for a reason.... No I missed it. I'll have to go back.Ā I love gonis really need another one.. my old bastard clown loved them too 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 26, 2020 Author Share Posted July 26, 2020 6 minutes ago, FISHnChix said: No I missed it. I'll have to go back.Ā I love gonis really need another one.. my old bastard clown loved them too I have a red goni in the Evo and the black ice clown pair LUUUUUUV it.Ā Ā Ā 4 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 Okay few things today.Ā Ā #1- did a water change because itās exactly two month into this tank going up. Nitrates were at 40 and phosphates hanging at 0.125. While trying to balance keeping the macro happy (four types) and not make corals mad, I went ahead with a 35g change to see if it improves everyoneās attitudes.Ā Ā #2- all three tangs have ick. The other fish at the moment have started flashing but are hanging in there, no spots. I started kick ick, ordered ruby reef rally and also ordered a UV sterilizer. The sterilizer will get here tomorrow and I hope it helps.Ā Ā #3- went to pick up a second cleaner shrimp today since I noticed the fish were giving the fire shrimp serious business. Got a fairly large skunk cleaner and by coincidence noticed they were selling a green cynarina as a lobophyllia.... price was a steal so I grabbed it. @Snow_Phoenix Ā #4- the heartbreakingly gorgeous trachyphyllia is struggling. The fish are bad, bad sand slingers and Iām pretty sure they really pissed it off with bits of sand. So I moved it today and I hope to god they leave it alone and it starts looking better. The green trachy in the Evo went thru some ugly phases and now looks great so I dearly hope this one will too.Ā Ā #5- I LOVE my new gold/purple hammer. That thing is gonna be stunning when it grows up. And the JF favia is also putting on flesh and looking good- I was worried about it there at first.Ā Ā #6- I need about 8 more little zoa frags to fill in gaps on the bottom level of rocks eventually. I think that will conclude my plans for how I want the tank to look. I need to replace the amazing chalice Gangsta Napoleon ate but after that, Iām not sure thereās room! The montis are starting to gain some speed and corals that spread and plate will become an issue onĀ room. So.... we shall see. I like to say I will quit buying stuff but everyone know Iām lying through my teeth now ( @FISHnChix). Ā #7- lastly I ordered a Kessil H80 tuna flora for the refugium to replace the TWO lamps Iāve been using down there. Hopefully reduce some of the power consumption and definitely make some room in the sump.Ā Ā Pictures:: Ā Ā 3 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Sorry about the Ich...I think my conditioning tank has ich on one fish and trying to decide how to proceed. Ā That trachy is purrrdy...I hope it stops being pissy and recovers for you. Ā I have always wanted one but the LFS never gets anything like that (though they get rare fish...just not corals)... I tried to buy one online once and it was very DOA. Ā I admit when work is super stressful I go look at some sort of reef tank item to buy š 3 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 14 minutes ago, Tamberav said: Sorry about the Ich...I think my conditioning tank has ich on one fish and trying to decide how to proceed. Ā That trachy is purrrdy...I hope it stops being pissy and recovers for you. Ā I have always wanted one but the LFS never gets anything like that (though they get rare fish...just not corals)... I tried to buy one online once and it was very DOA. Ā I admit when work is super stressful I go look at some sort of reef tank item to buy š Yes our whole life is rather stressful at the moment, covering both the healthcare covid crisis and the general worldwide hate for law enforcement. Makes my personal life somewhat depressing. So I buy stuff when I shouldnāt, but at least we are getting paid, well, for all the garbage life throws our way.Ā Ā I spent more on equipment than I planned so I have to put the wish list on zoas on hold for a hot second, but hopefully the UV light helps fix the ick problems. One of the two new clowns was sluggish today and I am worried about getting that one better. No other fish, even the ones with obvious ick, are depressed but all are flashing. So have to get on helping them soon. The way my reef is constructed Iād never catch them without draining and dismantling the tank, so I need them to recover in the display. Just hope they can all mount a good response.Ā Ā Ā When I fed the trachy and moved it tonight it puffed up some- it definitely isnāt as stunning as it was the other night which has me in a small panicā my sand is very fine and a real problem with getting spread around. I keep air poofing the sand bed corals to clean them and keep finding one or two little kernels hidden in that trachy and Iām so frustrated! Iām like HOW do you position it to make it happy and protect it?!Ā Ā I sure hope it doesnāt die Iāll be so pissed.Ā 1 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 2 hours ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: Yes our whole life is rather stressful at the moment, covering both the healthcare covid crisis and the general worldwide hate for law enforcement. Makes my personal life somewhat depressing. So I buy stuff when I shouldnāt, but at least we are getting paid, well, for all the garbage life throws our way.Ā Ā I spent more on equipment than I planned so I have to put the wish list on zoas on hold for a hot second, but hopefully the UV light helps fix the ick problems. One of the two new clowns was sluggish today and I am worried about getting that one better. No other fish, even the ones with obvious ick, are depressed but all are flashing. So have to get on helping them soon. The way my reef is constructed Iād never catch them without draining and dismantling the tank, so I need them to recover in the display. Just hope they can all mount a good response.Ā Ā Ā When I fed the trachy and moved it tonight it puffed up some- it definitely isnāt as stunning as it was the other night which has me in a small panicā my sand is very fine and a real problem with getting spread around. I keep air poofing the sand bed corals to clean them and keep finding one or two little kernels hidden in that trachy and Iām so frustrated! Iām like HOW do you position it to make it happy and protect it?!Ā Ā I sure hope it doesnāt die Iāll be so pissed.Ā Can it be put on a PVC pipe pedestal just above the sand? I didn't know they were picky about sand grains? I only have plates but thankfully they just puff up and toss the sand off my goby likes to spit on them.Ā 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Sorry to hear about the Ich issue. I think all my tanks have it - removing fish from my large reef was/is incredibly difficult, and after yesterday, I learnt that sometimes it's best to leave the fish be.Ā Ā The cynarina looks fantastic! If I had more space on my sandbed, I'd totally collect more of them. Love it when they puff up. šĀ 3 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Ā @DirtĆ© SanchezSo that's a long time between water changes imo. I know folks say you can wait longer with bigger tanks and with dosing but that has not been my experience with a new tank. I started with all dry rock but for the first year my tank would look like crap with outĀ a wc. Only now that I am closing in onĀ year 2 can I go like 3 weeks without seeing a difference in my corals.. cantĀ explainin it bc all of my levels were steady where I wanted them.. only thing I can contribute to this is tank maturity..Ā Ā Ā And I'm sure you using live rock puts you in a much better starting place than I was, but I think your tank is just too darn new.. i would try doing more frequent wcs.Ā I bet you see better results.. 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 23 minutes ago, FISHnChix said: Ā @DirtĆ© SanchezSo that's a long time between water changes imo. I know folks say you can wait longer with bigger tanks and with dosing but that has not been my experience with a new tank. I started with all dry rock but for the first year my tank would look like crap with outĀ a wc. Only now that I am closing in onĀ year 2 can I go like 3 weeks without seeing a difference in my corals.. cantĀ explainin it bc all of my levels were steady where I wanted them.. only thing I can contribute to this is tank maturity..Ā Ā Ā And I'm sure you using live rock puts you in a much better starting place than I was, but I think your tank is just too darn new.. i would try doing more frequent wcs.Ā I bet you see better results.. I test weekly, so other than nitrates climbing everything stays stable. And the reason I spaced out the WC is four fold: 1- itās hot as the devils Ahole here and doing anything in the garage is completely miserable, even at midnightĀ 2- thats a LOT of water to mix weekly 3- that would mean my salt usage would increase substantially with $70-80 per bag š¬ 4- I have no help on the physical labor (ever) and I get tired of all the work by myself while the male peanut gallery sits on their butt and critiques how I do the work. So, Iām trying to space things out.Ā Ā Besides I was encouraged by another with a large tank to go as long as possible for the first few changes *because of* the newness. You know everybody has their own way. And my crazy spending habits while includes adding stuff like I do was bound to bite me in the butt at some point. I doubt itās the water quality so much as the owner doing ignorant things.Ā 3 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 Also as a side note @FISHnChixĀ I get accused on multiple sides of fiddling with the fish āall the timeā and adding more frequent WC to this particular tank would aggravate that charge. š¤·š»āāļøĀ Ā If I could do all the workĀ in a bikini there might not be as much complaining but hey. Donāt want to make the fish sicker than they are. 1 2 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 1 hour ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: Also as a side note @FISHnChixĀ I get accused on multiple sides of fiddling with the fish āall the timeā and adding more frequent WC to this particular tank would aggravate that charge. š¤·š»āāļøĀ Ā If I could do all the workĀ in a bikini there might not be as much complaining but hey. Donāt want to make the fish sicker than they are. Haha.. well hopfully it all works out...Ā 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 19 minutes ago, FISHnChix said: Haha.. well hopfully it all works out...Ā well, got the UV sterilizer hooked up today and working so there's that. Got the Ruby Reef Rally and Kick Ick arriving tomorrow (I know @jack1978Ā says it's snake oil but it has seemed to work for me in the past). Here's hoping 24hrs of UV sterilized water and meds will help them. They're still eating so there's hope. Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 3 minutes ago, DirtĆ© Sanchez said: well, got the UV sterilizer hooked up today and working so there's that. Got the Ruby Reef Rally and Kick Ick arriving tomorrow (I know @jack1978Ā says it's snake oil but it has seemed to work for me in the past). Here's hoping 24hrs of UV sterilized water and meds will help them. They're still eating so there's hope. It WILL work. Think positive.. I'm with jack though. I'm not pouring that black magic in my reefš 1 Quote Link to comment
spectra Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Ich is not the end of the world..........like I said my achilles tang has it and has since about a week after getting him..........comes and goes and well eats like a champ and is always picking at stuff......... 3 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 23 minutes ago, spectra said: Ich is not the end of the world..........like I said my achilles tang has it and has since about a week after getting him..........comes and goes and well eats like a champ and is always picking at stuff......... Yeah Iām just a little worried seeing some of the other fish flashing like they are. I know they can recover. Iām a little stunned to see Hector the black snowflake showing signs because he and Pearl had it way back and Iād have thought they would be immune. I think Pearl is too much of a hag to get it. Quote Link to comment
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