ECLS Reefer Posted April 14, 2021 Author Share Posted April 14, 2021 2 minutes ago, spectra said: Well better add more corals then.............. Nah I think they’re growing in nicely. 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted April 23, 2021 Author Share Posted April 23, 2021 So, updates: I added two dragon faced pipefish, who are both doing really well and are super cute!! Replaced some dead corals with either the same type or something close. Moved a bunch of branching GSP frags to the back wall, from the colony on the center top rock (given to me by @jack1978). They’re all doing really well and I do hope they spread to cover the back wall like grass. Future updates: Ordered a pair of banded pipefish and a new baby powder brown tang. I’ve been aching to get one more tang, either a yellow eyed kole or another PBT. No one had a kole and man, I miss the old PBT. So hopefully starting with a baby will be okay. I’ve decided that the wrasses I currently have will be the only ones I have, as I’m afraid to spend too much on a super flashy pretty one (though they ARE pretty), as the three wrasses in there still have a lot to grow. No more clowns and damsels as there’s 4 and 4, and currently they’re all getting along. The two blennies cordially ignore each other. The angel fish and the green chromis hate each other and seem to be the only two bad neighbors in there. The tang (and this is probably COMPLETELY my imagination) seems lonely and in need of some company. I am enjoying the crap out of how good the tank is doing!! The new pipefish, Hansel and Gretel Smiths Damsels - absolutely love the silver blue iridescent eyes Bastet and her unnamed ornate pal Hawkeye the hawkfish Clownfish being clowns R’hulor the angel surveying his kingdom Sunny the yellow tang The always pretty tube anemone 4 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 3 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said: Yes this is looking v good.. bustling reef 1 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Dragon faced pipefish have been on my want list from day one. I've never had a big/mature enough system to try them. 🥰 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 It's May!!! That's right it's not gonna be May it IS May. The update is going to be up and down a bit with changes to life in this tank, BUT, THIS TANK IS OFFICIALLY 1 YEAR OLD THIS MONTH!!!!!!! Lets see... I officially turned old May 1st, with another birthday. Celebrated it with a super hot, very awesome crawfish/shrimp/crab boil in the Louisiana way, with good friends, lots of food, trash cans, many tears and sniffles over the heat of the food, and hours spent shelling the little buggers long after guests left. Then we turned the left overs into fabulous (I do mean FABULOUS) crawfish fettuccine. Not bad for birthday celebration and +1 day. Following this I made sure to thoroughly clean the hands and nails before sticking my hands in the fish tank, so as not to poison them with red pepper and Tabasco, and kill the tank on IT'S birthday. The dragon faced pipefish are doing fantastic. They are two of the most fun fish to watch in the tank, by far. I attempted a banded pipefish, and he did not thrive and unfortunately died. He was also never friendly and very shy, and would never come out in the open. There was a lot of difficulty in even getting him shipped out due to stock health and worry over how they were acting in store, so I was worried about him to begin with. Turns out, they were right to worry. 😪 Added the powder brown tang, named Juan Pedro Sanchez, aka El Guapo. He is doing well, nice and chunky fish. Also lazy and entitled and not in the least interested in grazing on the rocks, where there is a wondrous collection of turf algae. So it's the toothbrush for me, again. Unfortunately, even with isolation and extra care, my yellow tang died yesterday. He ate, yet he wasted away. It's always the most frustrating when you can't fix a fish. Especially and irreplaceable one like a yellow tang has become. So now am pondering whether to get a different second tang. They got along, the PBT and the YT, so I'm not super worried about compatibility, more which tang will go after the turf algae the best. Other than the couple of fish problems and the return of the fugly turf algae, this tank is looking fantastic. The torches are recovering nicely from whatever had angered them in the past, and starting to color up and extend noodles for a good look. The gonis are growing like weeds and looking great. All of the clowns have finally formed their harem, hosting the purple long tentacled nem, the blue wellso and various euphyllia in the tank. I got them a new white tipped BTA that is striking. It just needs to open up more for them to love on it. So over all, the tank is looking great and provides daily mesmerizing entertainment. 5 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Congratulations on one year. Amazing photo's and also nice update. 49 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said: So over all, the tank is looking great and provides daily mesmerizing entertainment. So happy for you and the tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 That has turned out one sweet tank!👍🏼 1 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 1 hour ago, ECLS Reefer said: It's May!!! That's right it's not gonna be May it IS May. The update is going to be up and down a bit with changes to life in this tank, BUT, THIS TANK IS OFFICIALLY 1 YEAR OLD THIS MONTH!!!!!!! Lets see... I officially turned old May 1st, with another birthday. Celebrated it with a super hot, very awesome crawfish/shrimp/crab boil in the Louisiana way, with good friends, lots of food, trash cans, many tears and sniffles over the heat of the food, and hours spent shelling the little buggers long after guests left. Then we turned the left overs into fabulous (I do mean FABULOUS) crawfish fettuccine. Not bad for birthday celebration and +1 day. Following this I made sure to thoroughly clean the hands and nails before sticking my hands in the fish tank, so as not to poison them with red pepper and Tabasco, and kill the tank on IT'S birthday. The dragon faced pipefish are doing fantastic. They are two of the most fun fish to watch in the tank, by far. I attempted a banded pipefish, and he did not thrive and unfortunately died. He was also never friendly and very shy, and would never come out in the open. There was a lot of difficulty in even getting him shipped out due to stock health and worry over how they were acting in store, so I was worried about him to begin with. Turns out, they were right to worry. 😪 Added the powder brown tang, named Juan Pedro Sanchez, aka El Guapo. He is doing well, nice and chunky fish. Also lazy and entitled and not in the least interested in grazing on the rocks, where there is a wondrous collection of turf algae. So it's the toothbrush for me, again. Unfortunately, even with isolation and extra care, my yellow tang died yesterday. He ate, yet he wasted away. It's always the most frustrating when you can't fix a fish. Especially and irreplaceable one like a yellow tang has become. So now am pondering whether to get a different second tang. They got along, the PBT and the YT, so I'm not super worried about compatibility, more which tang will go after the turf algae the best. Other than the couple of fish problems and the return of the fugly turf algae, this tank is looking fantastic. The torches are recovering nicely from whatever had angered them in the past, and starting to color up and extend noodles for a good look. The gonis are growing like weeds and looking great. All of the clowns have finally formed their harem, hosting the purple long tentacled nem, the blue wellso and various euphyllia in the tank. I got them a new white tipped BTA that is striking. It just needs to open up more for them to love on it. So over all, the tank is looking great and provides daily mesmerizing entertainment. Happy Birthday Tank! 🥳🥳 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted May 7, 2021 Author Share Posted May 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: Happy Birthday Tank! 🥳🥳 I always feel like I can take a breath of relief when I hit the year mark. This tank has grown up fast! 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Just now, ECLS Reefer said: I always feel like I can take a breath of relief when I hit the year mark. This tank has grown up fast! It looks great for its age. 😊 2 1 Quote Link to comment
spectra Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 tank looks great but my OCD side says clean that sand................. I hate crap in the sand you can see against the glass............... Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 15 minutes ago, spectra said: tank looks great but my OCD side says clean that sand................. I hate crap in the sand you can see against the glass............... but it’s such a PAIN 😫 I try to keep it moved around to prevent that but that stuff appears in less than a day. And besides- messing with the sand really annoys Mr Buttface the jawfish. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 Gah!!!!! This week I’ve started to have a hair algae EXPLOSION in the tank. And I watch allllllll my lovely herbivores sit and stare at me, munching absolutely zero reef grass. Lazy freeloading fish!! So the plan: I have made an informal algae diy algae scrubber. I need to clean out the sump and pile all the GHA I find in there on the scrubber to get it started, but at the moment I’m also waiting on my small air pump to arrive for the air/waterfall effect. I’ve never once been successful growing macro algae, even when my tank is always heavy on nutrients. I have never understood why- I’ve dosed stuff, and not dosed, fed heavily, and cut back on feeding. I’ve taken the phosguard out and moved it to where it’s behind the refugium instead in front of the flow through the refugium. NO success. But I can grow hair algae- THAT at least is a proven fact. So hopefully this thing will take off like a rocket and out compete the display. I’m getting a juvenile fox face, since they’re reputed to be good companions for tangs. And I’m going to lessen the amount of freebie seaweed I feed the jokers until I see some work on their part, mowing the rock lawn. I’ll increase the effort on cutting phosphates. They always hang out at 0.1-0.15 now, but evidently there’s more than is testing out of the water if the GHA is there. So I’ll work at cutting it to a recorded zero. I already dose NoPox every other day on feeding day, phosguard in the sump. I feed every other day, and honestly only two squirts of mixed food (stuff I mix so there’s a lot in there of frozen/phyto/zooplankton and such). I have the ultimate cheat liquid of PhosRX, as well, to work on driving the levels even further down. So other than that, I’m kind of out of ideas. Any advice from the gallery? 2 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted May 19, 2021 Share Posted May 19, 2021 3 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said: I’ll increase the effort on cutting phosphates. They always hang out at 0.1-0.15 now, but evidently there’s more than is testing out of the water if the GHA is there. So I’ll work at cutting it to a recorded zero. Don’t do this. It will shock all the corals in your system = really bad. And it could give you dino, that’ll be way worse than hair algae lemme tell ya. Been dealing with it in my tank for the last 4+ weeks. Why not just start the turf scrubber and see how it goes vs throw-everything-at-it mentality. in this hobby, fixes come in weeks - or months, not days….(same goes for the source of problems). Unless shit gets real bad, then do water change. If herbivores aren’t grazing, you’re probably over feeding them. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 7 minutes ago, mitten_reef said: Don’t do this. It will shock all the corals in your system = really bad. And it could give you dino, that’ll be way worse than hair algae lemme tell ya. Been dealing with it in my tank for the last 4+ weeks. Why not just start the turf scrubber and see how it goes vs throw-everything-at-it mentality. in this hobby, fixes come in weeks - or months, not days….(same goes for the source of problems). Unless shit gets real bad, then do water change. If herbivores aren’t grazing, you’re probably over feeding them. Yeah I’m putting a lot of hope in the scrubber. I have plenty of GHA in the sump that the emerald crabs can’t get to and it’s been no problem to grow that stuff. Now it’ll probably refuse to grow. I know the biggest risk of no phosphates is the dreaded Dino. Which is why I’ve been happy with the consistency in levels. I turkey baste the rocks to stir the detritus out but it seems like it never goes away, even with carbon dosing and every other day bacterial dosing. So yeah, guess the fish are going on a diet! 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 So, the algae got to be frighteningly annoying and invasive, again. And the bryopsis came back, again. The fish weren't really keeping up with the task, so I ended up using Reef Flux again (flucon). I dosed it Wednesday and already today you can see the amazing recession of the uglies on the rock. Now to keep an eye on any fluctuations in the nutrients levels and keep the fish well fed. Noticed the other day for any Ice Cap Dual Controller users for the gyres - they updated the firmware and software on the app and controllers to allow the dual controller to do new wave patterns, like their wave engine does. So that's a nice save on not having to invest in the wave engine too. I currently have it set to LPS flow, since the tank is so dominated by LPS. So far everything looks pretty happy. We added a really nice sized purple tang a couple of weeks ago, to replace Mr Sunny the yellow tang. This guy is doing really well and he and El Guapo get along (surprisingly) fabulously. I was pleasantly surprised. They're about the same size, with the purple being able to display a little more impressively, so El Guapo ended up leaving him alone quickly. Now they hang out and swim together, eat together and I see no aggression or territorialism at all. It's really cool, seeing them school together. The clown harem now hangs out together like a force. I'm so happy the little orange and white ocellaris finally ended up finding a place in the group without being ostracized or hurt by them. I hope to be able to raise little Harvey up eventually to be added in with a second storm, but he's still so small and growing in the 5g tank as a nursery. I wouldn't dare add him without another fresh face to take some of the heat off of him, and I may even work to get him to pair with another clown in the sump before ever introducing him. But that is the plan eventually. So the overall theme at the moment is that things are going great in the big tank, the fish are all happy, and the algae is receding. The work continues, to keep everything on an even keel!! The new guy, Berry Manilow R'hullor the Red God El Guapo the Powder Brown Tang Sarge the plump Mandarin Hawkeye the Tank Moderator and Hall Monitor Huey, the longest running survivor in the tank (he survived the great crash of last year), and the most hated fish in there. Seriously. Everybody hates him. Sundance a.k.a. Buttface the Sand Messer - Upper Boudicca, formerly known as Maximus, my now female gladiator clown More Boudicca glamour shots And another glamour shot - she just needs a feather boa and a white cowboy hat She can't decide whether to host the wellsophyllia, the pandora palys, or the tiny white tipped bubble tip hiding in the palys...... so she just hosts them all 3 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Nice pictures. Everyone looks very healthy. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 @FISHnChix here’s some videos just for you, since you said you liked the full tank videos Poor Boudicca can’t ever make her mind up 2 1 Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 30 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said: @FISHnChix here’s some videos just for you, since you said you liked the full tank videos Poor Boudicca can’t ever make her mind up Nice! Loving those fishes... funny I was just creeping on this thread this morning and was gunna bitch about the last video only being from one side🤣 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 3 minutes ago, FISHnChix said: Nice! Loving those fishes... funny I was just creeping on this thread this morning and was gunna bitch about the last video only being from one side🤣 I forget to share them after putting them on IG. You should get on IG and you’d see more stuff more often! Quote Link to comment
FISHnChix Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 10 minutes ago, ECLS Reefer said: I forget to share them after putting them on IG. You should get on IG and you’d see more stuff more often! Eeeeeewwwwww Insta🤭 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 6, 2021 Author Share Posted June 6, 2021 23 minutes ago, FISHnChix said: Eeeeeewwwwww Insta🤭 Naw man IG is perfect. My feed is 99.99999% fish stuff only. No stupid political crap, no weird opinions on human activity, just amazing reefs and fish. I love that- can come here for chat and debates and have a place where I don’t have to see that. Facebook sucks balls and I almost never go there anymore at all. I never Twitter, so that leaves IG. 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 An update on the tank since I dosed the flucon (fluxRX): the algae has finally mostly disappeared. I can’t say that I used a full dose, because I was basically out of the powder and had to order a new set. What I had left came to basically the right calculated dose, and it seems to have worked with no coral losses, and managed to preserve the mangroves in the sump without damage. Yet all the hair algae and bryopsis have disappeared thank goodness. That being said, I’ve made it a point to feed the tangs daily, sometimes twice a day seaweed sheets to keep them happy since I took away most grazing areas. So far everyone in the tank is healthy and get along well, save for that ONE GREEN CHROMIS. Everyone hates him. He seems to be a bit of an antisocial curmudgeon too, sniping at fish just because. He’s met his match in the two tangs though. A week ago I added a young melanurus and ruby fairy wrasse to the tank. They both look great. The ruby strikes me as a not so smart fish, gotta be honest, as no one bothers him at all but he still refuses to really cruise the reef unless there’s food involved. He looks very healthy, but is completely terrified of people approaching the tank. I think “fairy” is synonymous with “chicken” here. The melanurus wrasse is really awesome! He immediately hit the reef, and takes no crap off anyone. The damsels are the typical welcoming party to new fish and usually approach newbies like a squad of mean girls, but he immediately nipped right back at them. They leave him alone now, and it seems he gets along fine with the yellow coris and leopard, both of which are 2-3 times bigger than him. I’m excited about when he grows up - they’re such beautiful fish. My two tangs are doing fabulous. I was really scared adding them because of the whole ich magnet thing, but they have done so well and are both stunners. Especially El Guapo - I think powder browns really are some of the most striking beautiful tangs out there. Berry Manilow is also a good looking healthy purple tang and I’ve been happy with his addition. With their placement in the tank it gives me a small dilemma about the future of little Harvey in the 5g Challenge Tank baby clown nursery. The plan was always to add him to the big tank as part of the harem, but he arrived so very small I couldn’t add him at all. He’s grown more, but is still smaller than the smallest clown in the harem, and I have deduced with how the harem formed that adding a pair is safer than adding a single fish, so they have some protection from the group. Problem is, he’s probably still going to be rather small for a while, and I worry if I should let him grow in the sump for a while, or well, what the heck to do. I don’t want to rehome him, but he can’t stay in the 5g forever, and I can’t move Billy and Dilly out of the Evo without destroying that tank to get them, so that he could go there. And he certainly can’t bunk up with Billy and Dilly they’re the largest clowns I own. He’d be toast for sure. So, I’m kind of stuck. How long can a fish live in a breeder box, even a big one? Or how well do they do living in a sump? What to do, what to do? **** UPDATE TO THE UPDATE**** I noticed today that several of the euphyllia are annoyed and go to explore the reasons why, and lo, what do I find?? FLATWORMS 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬. So much effort later, I turkey baster vacuumed a bunch off of each struggling torch or frogspawn and trash canned the bastards. I even found eggs on one coral -- like they think oh lets move in to THIS tank Howard, it's such a nice neighborhood??? Um no Ethel. Scrubbed all those eggs off, replaced the corals. Guess I'll have to keep a much sharper eye out now for more of them and hope that Mel the melanurus gets to hunting them. Gotta show Ethel and Howard and all their ilk that they aren't welcome in my fish hood. Anyway, PICTURES! Ruby Mel Rhullor Halloween hermit Jack Boudicca Black Ice Clown (one of pair) Bastet the leopard Berry Manilow El Guapo 2 2 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 Wow a month (almost) goes by so fast! Updates: have done a couple of water changes but solely because the two tangs are abominably messy eaters and keep tossing seaweed all over. So more for siphoning purposes. Have started turkey basting daily again to try and decrease the amount of chaff in the water column. Am also trying out both Brightwell Razor and Clarifi-SW to try and get the floaties either to the sand bed, the filter socks or the skimmer. Was a bit clearer today so seems to be working. On the flip side of that the nutrients are pretty low, lower than the LPS has historically shown me they like. The mangroves seem a bit unhappy with that, so I may end up having to dose some phosphates, or feeding heavier. The fish requested the latter, of course. The flatworm situation isn’t necessarily resolved, though the melanurus is a hard working little hunter. Lost a pretty green/gold hammer today from the little savages 😡. But, replaced it with a stunning atomic balls goni from a fellow Houstonite. Excited about those prospects- it’s a gorgeous frag! Otherwise, things are coasting along, and corals are slowly growing. I’m not sure what the secret is to explosive growth but I haven’t figured it out yet. Pictures! Smiths damsel El Guapo the powder brown tang Berry Manilow the purple tang Mel the melanurus Rey the yellow coris wrasse Dilly (he and Billy are killing it in the big tank now!) @mitten_reef’s Pink Lemonade Dragon soul torch Leather coral a la @jack1978 Purple gold hammer The clown stop Big Blue wellsophyllia Red goniopora Purple stylo Favia The new Atomic Balls goni from @pokerdobe Full tank video Some more goni love 5 Quote Link to comment
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