Looselyhuman Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Hi, I'm Ian. Getting back in to the hobby, again (4th time or so). I've been an NR member for... 18 years! 😲 Damn I am old. I definitely notice changes around here. Few familiar faces or systems in the journals for one thing... So, Hi new people! FTS 9/28/22 Previous FTS's: Spoiler 9/18/2022 7/24/2022 Some history: Spoiler My last system was a 60 gallon (plus another tank and sump) that didn't really fit on NR, but it was my best effort and came out pretty well. You can find that and previous nanos in my signature. 2016 brought some changes, so I sold that system to a good home for the price of taking everything, and me not having to be there while the guy and his friends tore it all down. Later I calculated he got about $8k worth of reef for a day's work... I'm trying to reproduce that on a smaller and cheaper scale. Low maintenance and natural looking. This system will be mixed SPS, LPS, zoas, macros and a nem. I won't be stocking it with a million crazy expensive/popular frags, but stuff I pick up here and there. -- Below as of 7/24/22 -- So far I have: Spoiler 32G FijiCube (love) 6G AquaTop bookshelf as a header display fuge/banishment tank. Sicce 2.0 runs the main and fuge returns. An old ATI sunpower 6x24 T5 2 Kessil A80s over the fuge (overkill) Reverse cycle/nutrient export chaeto fuge with some generic LED (does the job very well) in one of the back chambers 2 Jebao 10s (one max power in main, one min power in fuge). I will switch to MP10s when I have some spare cash. 30lbs GulfLiveRock (got a nice gorg and an unknown LPS, a nice selection of macros, a turkey wing clam, neat sponges, and some not good HHs) Some other rock I had from a little 10g cube that I was running to keep a little water in my life. Also from that system: 10y/o blue damsel Emerald crab, I think. Haven't seen it. Various snails and hermits A piece of rock with those horrific invasive purple-brown polyps and a little Kenya tree Some shrooms and boring zoas A rock with some barely alive montis -- (what's a water change? Oh I have to fill my ATO reservoir once in awhile?) -- I was pretty depressed and neglected it, so it's a wonder they're alive at all. Damsel and shitty polyps, plus some shrooms and zoas from the 10g are in the fuge. Damsel doesn't love it but he gets to live. Fuge is drilled, etc. Wont go into boring plumbing. Plans: Spoiler Definitely a BTA Pair of true percs. I absolutely loved my Oncasso female and her little mate. They spawned a lot and were pure puppy dog cuteness. They weren't my first clowns but by far my favorite Yellow assessors or royal grammas GBGs Something else IDK. Might end up being sapphire damsels if I get flatworms. Open to your suggestions on all except the percs. I'm not being very creative tbh. I'll probably grab a frag pack or two. I'll want some pocillopora, stylophora, more montis... May do the same for zoas. One big euphyllia...maybe A nice blasto or acan or two A couple choice sps pieces, probably from Morgan at reefgardener. My two favorite acros of all time came from her. I'll probably grab some weird shrooms or nems from her as well. Again open to suggestions Old Pics: Spoiler 6 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 Crazy worm action, thought I'd share. Just starting the process of dealing with nuisance algae and aiptasia, no aquascaping yet. 5 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 Took some pics of live rock hitchhikers, good and bad. Gorg, LPS and huge red thorn macro (and bryopsis): Sponges and feather dusters (also great macro shot of BRS matrix carbon granules that I spilled): I have high hopes that this brown macro will help outcompete bryopsis Various reds: Caulerpa. I don't worry too much about the leafy stuff, but the verticillata is a major pest, even though it's pretty. I might isolate it on an island with my BTA. Haven't decided. Turkey wing clam and its nice clump of bryopsis 6 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 Display fuge looks pretty today. I'll probably update the post soon. 6 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 shaping up to be a very interesting build, love the remote display fuge setup. love the random things on your gulf rocks Looks like you pump the water up from the return chamber, and let it gravity feed back down. Did you leave enough space in the AIO rear chambers to contain all the gravity flow from remote fuge in case the feed pump stops for whatever reasons? def will be following along Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 A little late but welcome back. I think your fuge has more going on then my tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 7 hours ago, mitten_reef said: shaping up to be a very interesting build, love the remote display fuge setup. love the random things on your gulf rocks Looks like you pump the water up from the return chamber, and let it gravity feed back down. Did you leave enough space in the AIO rear chambers to contain all the gravity flow from remote fuge in case the feed pump stops for whatever reasons? def will be following along Oh yeah there's plenty of room. It doesn't even bring the tank level up (just the return chamber) Glad to have you along! 6 hours ago, debbeach13 said: A little late but welcome back. I think your fuge has more going on then my tank. Thanks! I 100% recommend gulf rocks to everyone. This is my second build with them and no regrets. Yes, I had to deal with some pests. You've got to factor that in.. But true LR just makes the difference between a reef and a coral display system. It's so much fun to study all the random life.. 5 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 18, 2022 Author Share Posted September 18, 2022 New FTS on original post. I got some clowns (percs) about 2 weeks ago. It's not all roses. When they were first added, they started bonding. Larger picasso female, smaller onyx male ... was the direction it was headed. Then the onyx found the BTA, and all hell broke loose. It took the picasso a couple hours to really want into the BTA, and by then their dynamic was completely f****ed. Onyx became dominant and aggressive, but the picasso was already on the path. Basically, I think I have two females at this point. They fought and completely ignored food for 7 days before I intervened. I put the onyx in an acclimation box to let them recover (note mouths), and successfully got them both eating. Basically out of sight, out of mind. Left him for 2 days, and the picasso happily took up residence in the BTA. Lots of mysis were had by all. I let him out today, and it's status quo ante. Picasso has been bullied out of the BTA, and neither are eating because they rush in to fight every time they see each other. Basically the picasso pokes her head into the onyx's line of sight every 30 seconds, they fight for 30 seconds, then reset. Video: not getting along #1 Video: not getting along #2 More pics from yesterday and today: Happy SPS, terrible photography Display fuge feat. punkass So anyway, I have to decide which clown to keep. 😔 5 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 On 9/7/2022 at 6:01 PM, Looselyhuman said: I 100% recommend gulf rocks to everyone. This is my second build with them and no regrets. Yes, I had to deal with some pests. You've got to factor that in.. But true LR just makes the difference between a reef and a coral display system. It's so much fun to study all the random life.. I agree! While I went a different route with my current tank, I miss all of the natural diversity I had in my 15 gallon Caribbean themed tank with florida live rock (but I don't really miss all of the bristle worms!) Set up looks great-Your sump is nicer than my display!-Good luck with all of the macros, I could never keep them going for more than a few months. 1 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 23 minutes ago, Pjanssen said: Good luck with all of the macros, I could never keep them going for more than a few months. Thanks. The ones in the display are probably not going to last forever but I feel pretty good about the fuge 😎 Thanks for stopping by! 1 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 I just realized I forgot to mention my pest control situation in my last comment. Bryopsis: gone. Boosted Magnesium and temperature. CUC did the rest. I did manually remove a couple large blobs. This unhappy turkey-wing clam was covered in it: Pink cotton candy macro (actually a gracillaria sp according to John Maloney): I wasn't too worried about this since it's easy to remove, and the hermits seem to pick at new growth. I have removed a clump here and there but no signs of spreading. I'm kind of nurturing one clump. It's pretty: Dinos: got a cheap exposed 13w UV bulb (Amazon $20) and dropped it into a back chamber. Ran it for 3 nights. Dinos gone. I got lucky. I've been feeding phytos and might start dosing some flourish to make sure my system doesn't go ULN and cause a recurrence. Dino blaster: Whelks: I've been removing, in the morning before lights on, as I see them. Haven't seen any in a few days. I know of one cerith and one trochus that they got early on. Aiptasia: Eh, still got a few. Joe's juice when one starts to bug me. I got a couple peps early on but they disappeared on me.🤷♂️ Say cheese! Caulerpa verticillata: Shockingly vulnerable to peroxide. I have some 12% that I loaded into a syringe and targeted with a still tank. Being that strong, I turned the flow back on 3 minutes later. Within an hour 10 hermits had utterly eradicated it. The coralline and a couple feather dusters in the immediate vicinity survived (not to mention hitchhiker brain an inch away), so it's not like I nuked half the tank. One bit survived underneath the rock and popped up yesterday. It was also gone an hour later. Score. This rock was covered: Valonia: My emerald crab is utterly worthless. She stays on my sps rock column and eats who knows what - probably the underside of a brown poci colony i have near her, that looks suspiciously bare by the base.. Valonia is near the gorgs for now. I happened to be target dosing the verticillata and out of spite dropped some of the 12% H2O2 on them -- they went transparent. I wasn't expecting that. Will update if that killed them. Clear valonia: Limpets: wanted to trust them but in the end succumbed to paranoia. Gentle euthanasia by freezer, along with the whelks. I think that's about it. 3 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 22, 2022 Author Share Posted September 22, 2022 So I thought I'd try to shake up the dynamic. I have no idea which one (or two) I'll end up taking back. So far it looks like it might be bringing the original two back together, as they joined up to chase off the new guy.. But I can't shake the worry that they're already transitioning. I won't know until I let them out of here: Wish me luck! Idk what lucky will look like but I'll take it. 😅 Also GBGs! 8 total. Finally, I've decided to shoot for the moon and try for a pair of Alpaeus randalli with a pair of Yasha or the black and yellow Stonogobiops nematodes (can't remember their common name). I snagged two shrimp. They didn't kill each other right away and they both burrowed in the same area, but who knows if they'll pair up. They're tiny so I'll wait a couple months on the fish. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted September 23, 2022 Share Posted September 23, 2022 Love the tank! I’ve never bought LIVE live rock, but I’d definitely consider it now! Those nematodes gobies have lots of different names. Hi-fin, barber pole, yellow rose… I had one with a candy stripe pistol shrimp, and they were awesome together. Goby eventually jumped though, got to watch out for that. 2 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 23, 2022 Author Share Posted September 23, 2022 41 minutes ago, Firefish15 said: Love the tank! I’ve never bought LIVE live rock, but I’d definitely consider it now! Those nematodes gobies have lots of different names. Hi-fin, barber pole, yellow rose… I had one with a candy stripe pistol shrimp, and they were awesome together. Goby eventually jumped though, got to watch out for that. Thanks! Yeah live rock is where it's at. That used to be the only kind, although most had a pretty big die-off before we put it in our tanks. We used to get that somewhat-alive live rock from the indo-pacific. Fiji, Tonga, etc.. It was really cool to get hitchhikers from the same environment where our fish and corals originated. Florida rock is a pretty good substitute. Lots of pests to deal with though... like mantis shrimp! 😉 If I'd been lucky enough to get one he'd be chilling with my damsel in the display fuge. As you found out, KP, TBS and Gulf Live Rock have figured out that we usually like mantises, so they somehow catch them before they ship out their rock. I'm pretty sure I'll end up with nematodes -- with so many common names I'm sticking with that -- if I can find a pair. I'll only do Yasha if I have to pair them myself, since they can be sexed by a spot the male has. Thanks for stopping by! 1 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 23, 2022 Author Share Posted September 23, 2022 An important milestone has been achieved. First Stomatella confirmed. Watched it crawl off a frag plate onto my huge hitchhiker snail, then it ghosted. Speaking of ninjas I got some acans, palys and a ... 3 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 23, 2022 Author Share Posted September 23, 2022 I wasn't planning on this, but he's one of the nicest-looking wrasses I've seen in-person at an lfs. Splendid Pintail Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus isosceles), male. About 3". Max 5"... I'm doing a probationary period. If he seems too active/cramped I'll re-home him. 3 Quote Link to comment
Firefish15 Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 Stomatellas are awesome. I put effort into introducing those little guys. Same with micro brittle stars. That’s a gorgeous fish! I hope he does well for you. 1 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 26, 2022 Author Share Posted September 26, 2022 I'm mid tank-maintenance-day, but thought I'd share two updates. My fairy wrasse paid close attention as I scraped the glass. When I was done (with my half-ass job) he noticed his reflection for the first time. His displays were beautiful. My hands were too wet to hold a camera 😞 Second, I think I may end up having a small female and large male percula. Unprecedented? More on that as it develops. 2 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 26, 2022 Author Share Posted September 26, 2022 Maintenance done! Massacred some palys to get them on my rocks. And have zoas I haven't dealt with because they're growing right on the plug -- I hate plugs. Wish people used rubble only. Pics later. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted September 26, 2022 Share Posted September 26, 2022 1 hour ago, Looselyhuman said: I hate plugs. Wish people used rubble only. Agreed. 3 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 The acans slimed the hell out of the whole tank, which mixed with all the silt from my sand-stirring. Tank's a mess, I'll try to take some better pics tomorrow. For now, goby antics: A couple shots of my new LPS garden. One of my hitchhiker Caribbean brains, 3 generic, boring (ugly?) LFS acans and a branching hammer. 3 Quote Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 9 hours ago, Looselyhuman said: I hate plugs. Wish people used rubble only. Whole-heartedly agree with this. Luckily my store sometimes glues *some of their corals on tiny rubble which they then stick to frag plugs. It sorta gives the buyer an option on whether to stick the coral to their rocks with either the frag plug on or off. I usually toss out the frag plug whenever I can. 2 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 GBGs thinking about pairing up already! Excuse the horribly shaky video. I was on the couch with one arm on the floor and the other stretched out with my phone so as not to disturb them. 😅 I have an unhealthy obsession with these little guys so you'll probably see a lot of them. Another showing that my clowns basically get along as long as the picasso stays away from the nem. But note that the onyx is always between the picasso and the nem.. With clowns it's usually either pair up or try to kill each other. This dynamic is weird. The picasso is significantly larger but seems to be acting like a male. I'll try to get some vid of "him" doing the seizure dance. 3 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 28, 2022 Author Share Posted September 28, 2022 Quick FTS update 2 Quote Link to comment
Looselyhuman Posted September 29, 2022 Author Share Posted September 29, 2022 Fairy wrasse getting a little less skittish. He thinks my phone is out to get him. BTW accepting name suggestions. The clowns have to figure out what's what before I name them. The Greenbandeds are "Scooter" -- no way I'm going to come up with eight names and try to tell them apart. 😏 1 3 Quote Link to comment
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