Penny's Lane Movin' On Up-Retired

[Pjanssen]

Where’s Waldo?

[Pjanssen]

from the side

[Pjanssen]

[Pjanssen]

So my 7 year old grandson wants to do this:

[WV Reefer]

58 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

So my 7 year old grandson wants to do this:

You can put it in that giant bathroom! 😄

 

looks nice in there…….. no more tub?

[Pjanssen]

4 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

looks nice in there…….. no more tub?

thanks! I love it!.........Nah, we never used it, so opted for more personal space.

[Pjanssen]

Stupid snails

[spectra]

Yep those kind like to escape….I used to find them on the floor and toss them back in. 
 

sucks….

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, spectra said:

Yep those kind like to escape….I used to find them on the floor and toss them back in. 
 

sucks….

Glad I’m not the only one

[spectra]

If I remember correctly these were purchased from @johnmaloney at reef cleaners. There known escape artists...... 

[seabass]

Yeah, Caribbean Nerite Snails are intertidal and are (IME) the most likely of all common snails to escape from an aquarium.  They can survive a few days outside the water, so you can often put them back in and watch them take off.  Although they are great cleaners.

 

Other types of Nerite snails are usually less likely to climb out of your tank.

[mitten_reef]

37 minutes ago, seabass said:

Yeah, Caribbean Nerite Snails are intertidal and are (IME) the most likely of all common snails to escape from an aquarium.  They can survive a few days outside the water, so you can often put them back in and watch them take off.  Although they are great cleaners.

 

Other types of Nerite snails are usually less likely to climb out of your tank.

lol, I do the sniff test. if it doesn't smell, or if it looks like it's still wet, it goes back in, haha.

 

Good to know tho, one or two of mine like to hang out at the edge of the waterline recently, but none had climb over to the outside, yet.   

[Pjanssen]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:31 AM, mitten_reef said:

lol, I do the sniff test. if it doesn't smell, or if it looks like it's still wet, it goes back in, haha.

1st, I look to see if there is still an animal in the shell. Those were behind the tank, which I only found because I had to move the couch to retrieve Big Bird from the depths of the dark scary hairy place that he fell into. I have no idea how long they (the snails) were back there.

 

Doesn't he look grateful?

[Pjanssen]

Managed a small water change yesterday, despite a 26 hour work weekend. Pulled a bunch of bubble algae. There is still a lot in there that I can't reach. I thought cementing my rock work together was a good idea at the time, but now if I want to remove the algae, I have to remove the entire right side of the build. It'll have to wait for another day.

 

Found this while cleaning out a cabinet. Don't remember buying it, but did a little research and decided to give it a try. Suppose to help with nutrient export and mineral import. I have it in a basket with my mangrove stalks now using it as an anchor. Easily removable if I decide I don't like it.

 

 

 

[Pjanssen]

Since putting the miracle mud in 3 days ago, my calcium has gone from 410 to 450. Still dosing 2 part, so will have to keep an eye on it over the next couple of weeks to make sure it doesn't get too high. Alkalinity up to 8.0. I think I like these numbers, so will aim to keep them stable here. We'll see how the corals like them over time. 

Algae finally under control. Regular water changes seem to be the answer for me. Guess I don't have one of those tanks that can go without water changes 🤷‍♀️

[Pjanssen]

Seemingly overnight, or I just wasn't really paying attention, my Monti has lost all color

[Pjanssen]

Kh 7.7

calcium 460

salinity 1.025

[A.m.P]

Did you bottom out on P04 or N03? That tends to be what causes mine to, especially phosphate.

[Pjanssen]

5 hours ago, A.m.P said:

Did you bottom out on P04 or N03? That tends to be what causes mine to, especially phosphate.

Possibly. I don't generally test those, but I will, if my test kits aren't expired.

[Pjanssen]

2 weeks later and the monti is looking a lot better. Still has some way to go, and I think there is some algae growing on parts of it so maybe some tissue loss.  Not sure what to do about that, just wait and see I guess.

Changes I made were to decrease white light by 50% and increase feeding on the basis that my PO4 may have been too low (I never did test ).

 

Happy Easter

 

[Pjanssen]

she's getting closer to letting him move back in.

[Pjanssen]

FTS 04/09/23

[Pjanssen]

I awoke this morning to find a very cloudy tank. Immediately did a 20% water change. Added carbon. Removed a torch that looked like it was on its way out. 

Came home after work to find no improvement. Started making R/O for another water change. Tested Kh-6.4. Calc 450. Ammonia below .25. Nitrites below .05. Salinity 35-Everything normal range. What the hell. 

 

Changed out another 5 gallons.

 

Couple of hours later-EVERYTHING is dead. 

 

I'm beside myself. F....!

[seabass]

Wow!  So sorry to read this.  I assume the temperature was alright, as you probably would have noticed something was off when you removed that fading torch.  Alkalinity sounds low; but if that's normal for your tank, then that shouldn't have caused a tank crash.  No mechanical equipment failure?  Makes me wonder if something got in the tank (maybe something toxic).

[Pjanssen]

41 minutes ago, seabass said:

Makes me wonder if something got in the tank (maybe something toxic).

This is the only thing that makes sense. I did a water change on Saturday. Maybe I stirred up too much gunk from the sand? Or more likely I somehow grabbed the wrong 5 gallon bucket to make my water in and there was something in that? IDK. I always do a wipe down with vinegar and good rinse of the bucket before adding water. Nothing seemed off, until 3 days later when it all crashed.

My only other thought is that the RFA died without my knowledge and released toxins.

Had I had foresight I might have been able to save the fish if I moved them out in the morning.

As it stands, the torch is still struggling in the holding tank. Possibly the toadstool will come back. And as of midnight last night there was a scarlet hermit crab still walking around.

I have no intentions of setting this tank back up any time soon though, so whatever survives will end up being a donation to the lfs.

Might be time to bring out the 15 IM, or just give it all up for awhile.