Jack's EXT-50 Lagoon

[jservedio]

5 hours ago, Murphych said:

I thought I was lucky and the GHA  went a few months in.. but since July I have been having periodic cyano, which has contributed to killing off my SPS (not that I had much anyway but it just covers anything in its way)

I just kind of just learned to live with the cyano in my 20g, tbh. I want to say in the last 5 years of it's life, the sand had tons of cyano and dinos here and there for all but maybe a couple weeks here. For all the benefits of super high nutrients, that certainly isn't one. On that bright side, once you have no rock left exposed, it won't smother your corals anymore!

 

1 hour ago, reefist said:

I love my 50 EXT! Yours is beautiful, nice work comrade!

Thank you! Do you have a build thread up? I'd love to see pictures of another 50ext!

[reefist]

On 11/24/2021 at 7:31 PM, jservedio said:

I just kind of just learned to live with the cyano in my 20g, tbh. I want to say in the last 5 years of it's life, the sand had tons of cyano and dinos here and there for all but maybe a couple weeks here. For all the benefits of super high nutrients, that certainly isn't one. On that bright side, once you have no rock left exposed, it won't smother your corals anymore!

 

Thank you! Do you have a build thread up? I'd love to see pictures of another 50ext!

I don't have a build thread. Perhaps I will start one.

[jservedio]

I got super lucky last night and happened to catch my RBTA mid-split while refilling the ATO bucket and snapped a few pictures! It's really nasty looking and happens so fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is this morning, all done splitting and looking way less disgusting:

 

[aclman88]

Congrats on the new baby!  That BTA of yours sure is nice!  

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, aclman88 said:

Congrats on the new baby!  That BTA of yours sure is nice!  

Thank you! I'm almost certain it was a stress split. From late November through the new year, I've only been home 3 or 4 days due to the loss of a family member and then holiday travelling, so there was no water changes, no maintenance, and entirely fed from an autofeeder for more than a month. Basically, the ATO got refilled 4 times by friends and nothing else was done, so when we finally got home on the 1st, things were pretty rough.

 

I didn't lose anything thankfully, but my nitrates were very low (0.2ppm) from the hair algae problems I had been having from a combination of new rock and being super lazy. I did some big water changes, dosed N back up to 5ppm and have been keeping them there for the last week and the GHA has been staying away. Color is recovering quickly, but it's pretty clear the nem wasn't happy about the lack of nutrients while also not being target fed. At least it's staying put for now!

 

It was pretty cool to come back after a month and even though it was in rough shape getting to see the tons of new growth! You don't notice it nearly as much day to day. I'll probably break out the camera again in the next couple weeks to get some more photos!

[jservedio]

It's amazing what just a couple of weeks can do! after being entirely neglected for a month while I was away and getting my nutrients back in balance my colors are coming back with a vengeance. Unfortunately, it isn't just the corals that are enjoying the extra nutrients and the algae is getting a little out of control.  So, for the first time in my reefing career, I'm going to have a very full clean up crew - no more one or two snails for a 50 gallon tank. I went all in and got a very diverse clean up crew that should be here on Thursday or Friday (weather permitting) from @johnmaloney at ReefCleaners with a whole load of things, some of which I've never kept before. Here's what I ordered:

• Dwarf Hermits (4) - Only have 1 currently
• Astrea Snails (4) - Only have 1 currently
• Dwarf Ceriths (30) - Never had these
• Dwarf Planaxis (5) - Never had these - I'm going to put them in the sump to take care of under the rocks
• Dwarf Trochus (3) - Only have 1 of these
• Emerald Crabs (2) - Haven't had one in almost 10 years
• Florida Ceriths (12) - Only have a single one left
• Limpets (8) - I lost all the limpets I had from the pico over the years, excited to have them back
• Turbo Snails (3) - Don't have any left
• Nassarius (5) - I only have one left

I am planning on putting a decent chunk of the scavengers down in the sump because I've got about 15 pounds of live rock down there and tons of detritus. I've been doing lots of manual removal of hair algae and the snails are doing a good job of taking out what remains, it's extremely slow going because I've only got 3 algae eating snails in my tank and two of them are under 1" and they can only do so much. I know I'll end up losing a few things during the first month or two from transport, but I'm hoping I didn't go too overboard!

 

At least the return of color and growth make up for the hair algae I'm still seeing now that my nutrients are back up! Some of the acros are now primed for an explosion of growth - tons of new little tips sprouting on a few of the acros that have been doing nothing but basing for several years.

 

 

This is a square that's a bit over 6x6" that is nothing but acro (and monti) base - at least a part of 6 different species in here.

 

 

 

Here's all those new tips poking up from the Pinky:

 

 

 

The boomberry that is taking over the monti cap is finally starting to get some color back

 

 

 

And the Yellow Tips that was extremely pale just a month ago colored right back up and the new growth is looking very good compared to how it grew in the 20g with long spindly arms - it's getting so much better flow right now (and like 1/3 the phosphate):

 

 

 

I've been pushing it off for months, but I think the time has finally come to pick up new fish and corals!

 

[TheKleinReef]

2 hours ago, jservedio said:

I went all in and got a very diverse clean up crew that should be here on Thursday or Friday (weather permitting)

 

crossing your fingers for the weather.

my order came in 90% DOA. got my refund but still a little annoying.

[jservedio]

9 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

 

crossing your fingers for the weather.

my order came in 90% DOA. got my refund but still a little annoying.

Even 10% of what I ordered would be better than what I've got! If I have any issues I'll limp along with whatever makes it until the spring and re-order when it's warmer. I'm also in a much, much warmer part of the country than you are for when it comes to shipping weather, so hopefully I'll have a little bit better luck 😄

[Murphs_Reef]

19 minutes ago, jservedio said:

Even 10% of what I ordered would be better than what I've got! If I have any issues I'll limp along with whatever makes it until the spring and re-order when it's warmer. I'm also in a much, much warmer part of the country than you are for when it comes to shipping weather, so hopefully I'll have a little bit better luck 😄

Excellent! You know I love heavy CUC, this order if yours will soon make short work of the algae problem 👍🏼👍🏼

[A.m.P]

Man apparently I have a huge CuC, huh.
Those dwarf radiate trochus are incredible by the way, eat green coralline and diatoms, basically just carve perfectly-clean section out of your rockwork. I've had them reproduce but the babies don't make it to adulthood. 
Hit me up in the spring and I can send you some dove snails, they may be the "dwarf conches' (strombus maculatus) which people talk about, I haven't been able to spot the difference between the two even under a magnifying glass.

 

Whatever I have does seem to be much more prolific than strombus maculatus, which might turn out to be a bad thing lol. Reproduce very quickly and mature in a few weeks, whereas I still have baby ceriths from last year smaller than the dwarfs in the system.

[jservedio]

19 hours ago, Murphych said:

Excellent! You know I love heavy CUC, this order if yours will soon make short work of the algae problem 👍🏼👍🏼

Oh yeah, hoping it works out well for me. I kind of just let my CUC dwindle over the last....10 years... I got so used to having a very limited crew because of the wrasse, I just never replaced things.

 

19 hours ago, A.m.P said:

Man apparently I have a huge CuC, huh.
Those dwarf radiate trochus are incredible by the way, eat green coralline and diatoms, basically just carve perfectly-clean section out of your rockwork. I've had them reproduce but the babies don't make it to adulthood. 
Hit me up in the spring and I can send you some dove snails, they may be the "dwarf conches' (strombus maculatus) which people talk about, I haven't been able to spot the difference between the two even under a magnifying glass.

 

Whatever I have does seem to be much more prolific than strombus maculatus, which might turn out to be a bad thing lol. Reproduce very quickly and mature in a few weeks, whereas I still have baby ceriths from last year smaller than the dwarfs in the system.

Nah, I just have a beyond reasonably tiny CUC! I love those tiny little trochus as well - I just wish they got bigger. I can't believe Reef Cleaners actually stocks limpets - I haven't had them in years and am excited to get them back, they do a fantastic job.

 

I definitely will - that would be fantastic. All of the strombus and stomatella snails are awesome cleaners but impossible to find. I'd be glad to do some trades once the weather warms up - take advantage of good weather and USPS priority flat rate! I haven't tried shipping anything except Zoas/Palys, but I have a bunch if you are interested. I'd be willing to try shipping some other stuff too! It gets warm around here in just a couple months, so if you see anything you want let me know and I'll cut it now so it has lots of time to heal and grow a bunch.

[A.m.P]

I was just going through a mental inventory; three spined ceriths, five florida black ceriths, around 30 dwarf ceriths, at least 50 baby ceriths, five radiated trochus, two full size trochus, a spiny and normal astrea, around 100 between two different types of limpet, a dozen or so dwarf chitons, at least 50 of the dove snails, 5 red leg hermits, 5 blue leg hermits, and two mollies. And that's after the Basslet's continual murder spree against inverts (I had 6 astrea, 6 cerith, 4 spiny, and 8 full size trochus, now I have a shell graveyard for the hermits)...
 

The size on the dwarf trochus is a blessing imo, full size have a penchant for growing into small turbos and becoming mindless bulldozers. These radiate are very cautious, aware, and delicate in how they get around. Really wish their spawns would stick around, this is a snail which should be prolific in the hobby and all over this website. I'd like to get my hands on a couple money cowrie and some of those giant astrea turbans, maybe a chestnut, however -at this rate- it seems these dove snails may necessitate my providing food for the herbivores in the tank.

 

Snails for coral is a new one for me lol, felt bad enough asking you to pay shipping for them... We live close enough that USPS may even turn into one or two day to boot, so I've got a good feeling about the snails making it just fine. 

[jservedio]

On 1/18/2022 at 3:38 PM, A.m.P said:

I was just going through a mental inventory; three spined ceriths, five florida black ceriths, around 30 dwarf ceriths, at least 50 baby ceriths, five radiated trochus, two full size trochus, a spiny and normal astrea, around 100 between two different types of limpet, a dozen or so dwarf chitons, at least 50 of the dove snails, 5 red leg hermits, 5 blue leg hermits, and two mollies. And that's after the Basslet's continual murder spree against inverts (I had 6 astrea, 6 cerith, 4 spiny, and 8 full size trochus, now I have a shell graveyard for the hermits)...
 

The size on the dwarf trochus is a blessing imo, full size have a penchant for growing into small turbos and becoming mindless bulldozers. These radiate are very cautious, aware, and delicate in how they get around. Really wish their spawns would stick around, this is a snail which should be prolific in the hobby and all over this website. I'd like to get my hands on a couple money cowrie and some of those giant astrea turbans, maybe a chestnut, however -at this rate- it seems these dove snails may necessitate my providing food for the herbivores in the tank.

 

Snails for coral is a new one for me lol, felt bad enough asking you to pay shipping for them... We live close enough that USPS may even turn into one or two day to boot, so I've got a good feeling about the snails making it just fine. 

Wow that's a ton of snails, crabs, and other miscellaneous little creatures! I traded a slightly larger than softball sized colony of birdsnest for a couple rolls of paper towels and some TP back in 2020 when things were dire so trading for something that actually goes in my tank would be really nice for once...

 

I just broke this nice little colony off by accident this morning when cleaning the glass and am selling it locally for the same $25 I paid for the little frag a few years ago from the LFS, so don't feel bad at all - I love trading things. It all comes back around anyway - the big RBTAs from the 20g I sold for $25 got me a free baby back when it split to put in the 50g and if I ever have a crash, I'll know who to call to get a frag from!

 

[jservedio]

So this is something I've been working on for a while, but need some help with stocking. I've been strategically trimming my big purple cap for a couple of years now to build a cave for a small fish and/or shrimp to live in. Unfortunately, I am not a big fish guy, so need some help with stocking it! The entrance to the cave is just under 4" across and about 1.5" tall at the center, the cave goes back a little over 4", is bowl shaped, and the bottom is filled with sand (but can remove it, add rubble, etc.). What do you guys think would be a decent match for this cave?

 

Here is the cave from above:

 

 

 

And here is a zoomed out picture to get an idea of the scale and location. Pardon the blurry picture, I had to take it at like a 45 degree angle from the glass so you could see the entrace

[aclman88]

When I had a royal gramma is always chilled in caves and overhangs and it was also a really colorful fish.  I have heard they can be aggressive, but mine was very timid.  I currently have a tailspot blenny and like it.  Barnacle blannies are cool and live in caves/barnacles so they might likely chill in there all day and I keep seeing people recommened blennies in general and after adding my tailspot I do admit they are neat fish with good personality and interesting swimming and perching.

 

Edit: Holy hell that last sentence was quite the run on.  Good thing I teach science.

[jservedio]

17 minutes ago, aclman88 said:

When I had a royal gramma is always chilled in caves and overhangs and it was also a really colorful fish.  I have heard they can be aggressive, but mine was very timid.  I currently have a tailspot blenny and like it.  Barnacle blannies are cool and live in caves/barnacles so they might likely chill in there all day and I keep seeing people recommened blennies in general and after adding my tailspot I do admit they are neat fish with good personality and interesting swimming and perching.

Thanks! I was thinking along the lines of a barnacle blenny or a shrimp goby, but just don't know the species well enough to pick one that'd be very likely to go in there. I'd probably make a mesh cup or something that I can put over the monti when I first introduce the fish to settle the fish into the cave. Then just make sure I am always target feeding it by dropping pellets inside the cave for it to teach it to live there. The clowns can't get inside, so the food should be safe in there.

[A.m.P]

That's rough, if you want a fish which will basically always hang out there I'd say you're stuck with barnacle-type blennies, smaller cardinalfish, and potentially something deepwater caribbean (like a black cap basslet). I do not know what the likelihood of a watchman staying put above the sandbed like that is and the issue with some of the fish I mentioned is that they're quite large as adults and may outgrow the space.

Fish which enjoy ledges and caves may work as well, such as trimma, starry, or evotia gobies.
 

Additional possible honorable mention for the smaller sailfin blennies from the gulf and potentially the smaller pikeblennies? I'd reach out to a wholesaler or someone like KP aquatics and ask first on those.

[jservedio]

35 minutes ago, A.m.P said:

That's rough, if you want a fish which will basically always hang out there I'd say you're stuck with barnacle-type blennies, smaller cardinalfish, and potentially something deepwater caribbean (like a black cap basslet). I do not know what the likelihood of a watchman staying put above the sandbed like that is and the issue with some of the fish I mentioned it that they're quite large as adults and may outgrow the space.

Fish which enjoy ledges and caves may work as well, such as trimma, starry, or evotia gobies.
 

Additional possible honorable mention for the smaller sailfin blennies from the gulf and potentially the smaller pikeblennies? I'd reach out to a wholesaler or someone like KP aquatics and ask first on those.

Thank you so much - this is exactly what I was hoping for! I was initially thinking one of the barnacle blennies, but wondered if there was anything else that was a little bigger since the hole might be a bit big for them so I started looking at some of the shrimp gobies. If I keep growing it for a few more years, I could probably just fill it with fine sand and throw a jawfish in there 😄

 

The easier option would just be a barnacle blenny and then let the entrance close up a tiny bit to make it more like 4x0.75 or something.

[A.m.P]

23 minutes ago, jservedio said:

Thank you so much - this is exactly what I was hoping for! I was initially thinking one of the barnacle blennies, but wondered if there was anything else that was a little bigger since the hole might be a bit big for them so I started looking at some of the shrimp gobies. If I keep growing it for a few more years, I could probably just fill it with fine sand and throw a jawfish in there 😄

 

The easier option would just be a barnacle blenny and then let the entrance close up a tiny bit to make it more like 4x0.75 or something.

The small pikeblennies and carribbean sailfin behave similarly to barnacle blennies if you're looking for something a bit more oddball, another interesting fish I hadn't thought about until now, chrysiptera damselfish lol... 

Granted, you don't really get to pick where they nest up, and they may swap nests, but in systems with larger fish around they will frequently attempt to hang out in branching corals, otherwise they just pick a cave as a home base and go on little missions from there. I just have a soft spot for them I guess lol, but I've seen them hanging out in/on caps.

 

[jservedio]

Been a really long time since I did an FTS because I simply haven't gotten any new corals, been travelling a bunch, have been dealing with GHA, and it just isn't looking fantastic as a whole. In the next few weeks, assuming the GHA continues to recede with my big new CUC, I'll finally be adding in a whole bunch of new corals - primarily new acros! Anyway, here is what the 50 is looking like these days and hopefully the next FTS looks much better. At least all the acans have been growing like weeds, even if they aren't very colored up right now. My only worry is the dinos that are on the powerhead/left wall and on the nem rock, but they've been there for months and haven't spread, so hopefully it stays like that since I'm pushing 5ppm N and 0.1ppm P and have more algae to compete with it than I want!

 

[aclman88]

Tank looks amazing!

[jservedio]

On 1/31/2022 at 6:38 PM, aclman88 said:

Tank looks amazing!

Thank you!

[jservedio]

I was playing around doing some night photography in the tank and was able to get some cool shots of the bowerbanki with it's feeders mostly out. This is taken with an external flash, but the primes had UV/Violet on about 10% so I could pick up some of the fluorescence. I was just using a low powered strobe, but since these came out pretty well I'm going to try taking some more with a bigger flash to get rid of the noise and get some of the other LPS!

 

I was using my headlamp to light up the coral so the camera could focus, but it definitely wasn't bright enough to get get perfectly crisp focus so next time I'll be trying one of my brighter lights.

 

 

 

 

[Pjanssen]

beautiful. What noise? 

[jservedio]

On 2/7/2022 at 11:48 AM, Pjanssen said:

beautiful. What noise? 

 

Thanks! It looks good at lower resolution, but if you blow it up to 100% there's actually quite a bit and that's after adding in noise reduction and cutting the image size by like 60%. A little more light and better focus and it'd be so much better!