Snow_Phoenix Posted December 15, 2021 Author Share Posted December 15, 2021 I have a feeling I'm going to be screaming a lot from now on. Harvey: 2 2 Quote Link to comment
joshthebox Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 16 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said: I have a feeling I'm going to be screaming a lot from now on. Harvey: I have a hermit crab that also loves to climb on my corals. It'll sit on them for hours! I'll move it and it'll crawl right back to the same spot! Super annoying LOL 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 1 hour ago, joshthebox said: I have a hermit crab that also loves to climb on my corals. It'll sit on them for hours! I'll move it and it'll crawl right back to the same spot! Super annoying LOL Super annoying, but gotta admit that these lil' dudes are kinda cool. 😅 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 I tried to increase the brightness of the shots, but didn't quite succeed. Corals look too light, but Geralt is as dark as ever. 🤔 He actually has unique coloring. Not exactly sure what type of hermit he is, but he has red legs with blunt, white-tipped claws and bright blue eyestalks. He came in with a batch of blue legged hermits, according to the store. 🤷♀️ Also, here's an orange spaghetti worm on the glass: And here's one of my tiny red fungias, hidden away under my pavona (shot taken yesterday) : 4 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Ah, the chaos has started. Bless his lil' hermit heart. 2 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Took a few FTSes for today - the direct frontal view shot is slightly crooked though: 😕 I noticed several of the 'orange' colors have dulled out a little - including the yumas and forest fire digis. I think one of the microelements *might be a bit out of balance since I WCed too heavily, but I'm not keen on dosing anything which I'm not testing for, so I'm leaving the tank as it is. The corals in this system are fairly resilient, so I think they should be able to bounce back in a few weeks and regain any lost coloration. The snails are doing a good job so far, but I have to sometimes move them manually to a patch of undesirable algae because they work a little bit too slowly & take *breaks too often. 😅 4 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 The major LPS are doing well and still growing: Ironman shroom is slightly smaller than usual, but most of the softies are slowly coming around, so I'm assuming the NO3 & PO4 levels have begun to pull back up. 5 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Zoas and palys are doing okay for the most part, although some of the older morphs have shrunk a little: Purple & Blue hornets have increased in number: And so has the Gold Mauls: Initially, I intended to move the Gold Mauls up & closer towards the Sunny Ds, but I'll hold back and observe them for a while longer in their current position. 🤔 Sunny Ds: And it looks like they'll remain the dominant morph on Coralline Ledge. 😊👍 5 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 Was quite amazed when I woke up this morning and noticed the 'dull' orange hues had began to bounce back - especially in the yuma: I presumed recovery would take a while, but at this rate, it might actually take a handful of days - or a week at the very most. 😊 Also, Geralt is definitely testing the strength of every SPS frag in the tank to see if it can support his heavy butt: So far everything is holding up, but hopefully he'll learn to chill and eventually stop climbing over everything. 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 Harvey is quite relaxed: Favites: Neon Spongodes with PE: It's growing slowly, but I really love it. 🥰 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 Took a few pics of the shrooms this evening: One of the snails had accidently flipped over my purple rhodactis. I flipped it back and was quite surprised to notice that half of the shroom had turned blue! 🥰 ^Both my favorite colors in a single coral piece! 🥰🥰🥰 Blue hairy shroom with subtle yellow highlights: Yumas from above: I think the lights were too blue - most of the pics came out rather dark. 😕 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 Other corals:- Weeping willow: Puffy acans: Whiplash Merlettis: Forest fire frag plug is growing out quite well: Cloves: Three different types of palys next to each other: ^Really happy the discolored ones on the frag plug have *almost bounced back fully in terms of coloration. 👍 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 Geralt found a new place to hang out. 🙄 His eyestalks point in opposite directions and I keep laughing whenever I see them. 😅 He's like the crab version of Sid: 5 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 Uh oh. They've teamed up. 👀 1 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 The John Deere leptastrea & Jack-O-Lantern leptoseris, when I first acquired them, exactly 2 years ago (2019) from today: The leptastrea was actually a birthday gift from my primary LFS. 😊 5 Quote Link to comment
Death Dwarf Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 Dude, I love your mushroom garden. 1 Quote Link to comment
Critteraholic Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Belated congratulations! Was so thrilled to see you won T0TM! Jan-Feb hopefully I'll have my 10 gallon ready to go. After watching you handle yours, I'm no longer concerned about the amount of coral I'm putting in. I definitely have less than you do! 😆 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Critteraholic said: Belated congratulations! Was so thrilled to see you won T0TM! Jan-Feb hopefully I'll have my 10 gallon ready to go. After watching you handle yours, I'm no longer concerned about the amount of coral I'm putting in. I definitely have less than you do! 😆 Thanks! 😊 Can't wait to see your build. 🥰 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 Performed another large WC yesterday evening. Will be away from the house for a few days, so I am a bit nervous leaving all the tanks & other animals behind. Hopefully everything will be fine when I return. 👍 Also turning the lights off, so the tank will be lightless for a few days. Barring no extensive parameter swings, I *think the system shouldn't have any issues. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 Not too bad for 4 days without any light & dosing. There are some very angry, floppy corals though! 😅 The garf bonsai is a bit pale, but I think that's due to the drop in Ca & kH levels rather than the lack of light. One of the forest fire frags looks like it has lost some polyps at the base - I'll monitor it & give it a trim if it starts STNing. 👀 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 Geralt is okay: And some of shrooms have developed more baby shrooms in the darkness: I dosed a *bit just now, but I can't do an immediate WC to bring up the levels because that *might shock the system and kill the more sensitive corals. I'll keep dosing over the next few days and give it a week before I perform my regular weekly WC. One good thing that I have noticed is that the cyano is gone, and half of the hair algae appears to have been eaten by the snails as well. Will just keep an eye on things. Evap. was very little while I was away - I only lost ~0.5" of water by the very most. So no need to top off - yet. 👍 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 It has been 75 days since this tank has gone fallow. I intend to pick up some fish soon (depending on what the store has in stock), but I'll be QTing them first. Tentatively planning on doing a skunk clown pair and either a tiny goby or blenny as a last fish. Will pick up the zoa frags that I've purchased as well. One of the turban snails was flipped upside down - I only spotted it late last night, but I *think it is dead because it hasn't moved an inch. 😕 In any case, I'll try to pick up 1 or 2 more snails. Some SPS pieces are still paler than usual. Will give it time + WCs. Hopefully they'll all bounce back. Especially the garf bonsai & pavona. 🤔 4 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 Corals and a crab molt. 🥰 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 Good news & bad news. Bad news first - the Pavona appears to be STNing at the base, and so does one of the forest fire digi frags. I think I'll trim them both soon. A bit sad to trim down the pavona, because it took over a year to develop the 'petals', but I rather frag it down to stubs than lose the entire piece: The tank overall looks okay, thankfully: And the other SPSes, although they appear to be paler than usual, still have full PE and showed no sign of regression (phew!) : ^The upper edge of the leptoseris is not bleaching - it's simply a line of hardened glue. I accidently knocked it off (it was encrusted to the back wall) right before leaving, and I made a haphazard attempt to stick it back on the rocks. Acans are okay. But the finger leather looks like it is about to melt away (eventually). 😔 2 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted December 28, 2021 Author Share Posted December 28, 2021 On to the good news. The LPS are doing okay. The brains are very large and poofy after the flow has been turned off: The yumas are a bit dull, but the colors should pick up in a month or two: The very bleached and previously shrunken bicolored nuclear deaths are doing much, much better. Still not back to full brightness, but no discolored, super pale polyps either. 😊👍 ^Can you spot all 4 types of Palys? 😅 (Should probably rename it the 'Toxic' corner. 😅 ) 3 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.