Wuzzo’s Cube Revival Project

[BadCrab]

that blenny is healthy 

[wuzzo]

8 hours ago, BadCrab said:

that blenny is healthy 

Yep lol! He was never too fat at the lfs, I think I got him in december and he’s gotten huge since. Ate a lot of algae and now whatever floats in the water is fair game, flakes, Mysis, live brine, even coral food sometimes?

[sapling]

does the blenny not bicker with the firefish ? Wondering if they act the same as a tail spot blenny would. 

I really like firefish but my last one dove into a powerhead and decapitated itself, was terrible to see, 

 

Nice tank btw! I really like the the large blasto frag you got there and what looks like a crab by a RFA to the left!

[wuzzo]

37 minutes ago, sapling said:

does the blenny not bicker with the firefish ? Wondering if they act the same as a tail spot blenny would. 

I really like firefish but my last one dove into a powerhead and decapitated itself, was terrible to see, 

 

Nice tank btw! I really like the the large blasto frag you got there and what looks like a crab by a RFA to the left!

They don’t seem to really know each other exist lol. The shapes of the two are slightly similar but the sizes and fin shapes are much different, as well as the color. Two fish that could fight, but the type of goby and blenny are pretty different. Only aggression issue I’ve really had is the gramma, probably just because i added him first but ever since I added that smaller silver belly he has straightened up, not sure why though because they never fought or anything, when I introduced the wrasse the gramma was just a little shaken by such a different looking fish I guess.

 

Well besides my rambling, I don’t know if purples will pair with normal fire fish, but as this silver belly grows I’m definitely gonna have to rehome him. I love him but he’s getting big and kicks up way too much sand. Once he’s grown up I’m wondering if I could throw a purple fire it’s in here, I’ve always wanted one, but I haven’t done any research on it.

 

Thanks about the blasto! They have been my favorites ever since I starting working on this tank again, such cool shape and color. The red and blackish one has grown 4 new heads that you can’t see unless you really look close. Purple one still recovering from being shipped a day late, and the red and green one is doing great, and I guess it’s like a mixed frag? I’m not sure how, but it’s got an almost red and dark bluish baby under it, looks like a completely different morph. That porcelain crab has been one of my favorites too, he was on my tie dye rfa, it was cool but you can’t see him too well. One night he just decided to move to another, have no idea why.

 

[wuzzo]

And some pictures to show:

I always find myself typing small essays when I get on here, not sure if anybody reads them but this forum is like a place for me to just spill all the random little thoughts I have about my tanks. 
 

Another not so good thing though, my ac broke last week and it’s currently 85 degrees outside and was even hotter in here this morning. Tank temperature got to 84-85 which is pretty much teetering some issues, quickly started blasting the tank with a fan and a little cold water bottle, and it’s back to 80-82. Nothing really suffered except the leather which is unfortunate.

[sapling]

Sorry to hear on the AC issue, I'm in AZ so the idea of the AC breaking down would be a bit terrible for me, would hate to deal with that, sounds like you're already doing the recommending cooling things. 

a little surprising/ironic to see only the leather showing stress,

Great pic of the crab on the lego haha, do the other fish ever bother him? 

I've been considering a gramma, but havent committed, 

[wuzzo]

51 minutes ago, sapling said:

Sorry to hear on the AC issue, I'm in AZ so the idea of the AC breaking down would be a bit terrible for me, would hate to deal with that, sounds like you're already doing the recommending cooling things. 

a little surprising/ironic to see only the leather showing stress,

Great pic of the crab on the lego haha, do the other fish ever bother him? 

I've been considering a gramma, but havent committed, 

Yeah it does suck, but I’m not sure if it could also be this damn emerald crab I just added to help with bubble algae, the red and green blasto looks a little bugged too. Haven’t seen him since I added him and he might be the problem. He was fine in the evo, but there was no real coral in it, I was just letting the tank mature. Not sure.

 

None of the fish ever bother him (edit: the porcelain crab) , not even the silver belly. He’s too big for any fish to really do anything; porcelain crabs are really peaceful creatures usually. When first adding him he found his rock flower and the gramma checked him out, but surprisingly I actually watched him chase off the gramma once he got too close, I think I have a video somewhere.

 

I personally love my gramma, some people say they can be jerks but mine has been nothing but a role model for a gramma. Little aggression issues and is really hardy. I just love basslets, you can tell by the pair of chalks I have and how I have a gramma in the same 29 cube. At first with any new additions he is weary, but after a week he doesn’t care. At first he hated the chalk basslets, but now I find them swimming around together and even in the same caves and little corners. They do pretty live with each other in the wild though.

[BadCrab]

3 hours ago, sapling said:

I'm in AZ 

Hello from Chandler!  Thankfully, we haven't had any AC or power issues since moving to the valley.


Coral can react in a delayed way to temperature spikes - keep an eye on everything closely over the next 48, Wuzzo. The leather should bounce back, but you may see it shed lining first and that can take a couple of days to work itself out.

For what it's worth, I too find myself writing streams of consciousness onto the forums here.  Sometimes it's just a way to work out things I've been considering and is helpful even without external feedback.

[wuzzo]

1 hour ago, BadCrab said:

Hello from Chandler!  Thankfully, we haven't had any AC or power issues since moving to the valley.


Coral can react in a delayed way to temperature spikes - keep an eye on everything closely over the next 48, Wuzzo. The leather should bounce back, but you may see it shed lining first and that can take a couple of days to work itself out.

For what it's worth, I too find myself writing streams of consciousness onto the forums here.  Sometimes it's just a way to work out things I've been considering and is helpful even without external feedback.

Yeah, I’ve been religiously watching the tank all day, finally saw that emerald and yanked it out, didn’t wanna risk it at all. Hoping nothing else changes much as it was a high temperature change but it wasn’t a necessarily quick spike. So far nothing else has really given a reaction, but the red and green blastos have closed up and it’s mouth is gaping, happened overnight and just noticing it, but if I had to say what it was, probably the temperature and not the emerald crab.  Hoping nothing goes haywire.

 

I’m in Georgia in the Sandy Springs area, and it doesn’t get too incredibly hot here, but it gets to 5 degrees in the winter and 95-100 sometimes in the summer, so it’s just dealing with constant season and weather changes. 
 

You definitely put into words what I was trying to say about spilling my thoughts on here, early in the thread I’d most of the time get no response but just typing it all out kind of gave me my answer to certain questions or helped me contemplate something.

[wuzzo]

Some pictures from a week or so ago, haven’t seen the tank with the lights on yet as I’m not home, hoping it’s all good when I get back.

[wuzzo]

Late night feeding photos, way better angles of the new blasto polyps

Green hammer caught splitting. It’s funny how this one is already splitting even though I’ve had the orange way longer, it’s always the nice ones that never grow. Definitely going to get into the habit of feeding corals away as I definitely remember it boosting growth. 
 

Everything seems to have survived that little dilemma, Only things that seem incredibly pissed are the toadstool and the goni, also the blastos but they seem to be fine now. Goni and toadstool still pissed but only really closed up. Not sure if the goni is because I put it in a higher light and flow area though, so I put him near the rhodactis shrooms in the back middle, just so he won’t sting anything near him.

[banasophia]

Cool lil baby blastos! And thanks for the inspiration… I’ve been trying to decide on a coral addition for my tank and I think a blasto could be perfect. Any tips? 

[wuzzo]

13 hours ago, banasophia said:

Cool lil baby blastos! And thanks for the inspiration… I’ve been trying to decide on a coral addition for my tank and I think a blasto could be perfect. Any tips? 

I highly recommend blastos, they have easily been my favorite coral since I started this “revival project”. One tip I can give is feed them! If you are going to touch them at all, all I would do is feed them. They puff up super huge at least for me when I dose ab+ or feed them powdered coral food. Definitely would say put them in lower light, and medium flow, they definitely need some kind of flow just to get food to them. I don’t have any scientific evidence to back it up but feeding them seems to make them color up and get way larger than normal. If you take a look back at earlier in the thread you can see that the dark red one was almost droopy until I started feeding more, and that’s when it grew babies and got that puffy blasto look. Perfect coral and easy to care for if you are just patient as they grow pretty slow in the beginning, then randomly pop out 3-6 baby heads at a time.

 

On another note, finally got a chance to stop by my lfs and stock up on Mysis. I gave them back the damsel in my 13.5 and our beloved silver belly wrasse. I really loved that guy but he was just getting too large and dug way too much. When I move into a new house and get a larger tank I’ll definitely keep one, love them. It wasn’t smart to keep the big guy in a 29 cube as he ages.

 

I picked up a snag if it is what I think it is, and that is a possible bonsai or miyagi tort? I’m thinking a bonsai, as it’s purple skin and green polyps, but it’s really skinny. Only 20 bucks so I said hey why not give it a go.

What are we thinking it is?

[sapling]

if you dont mind me asking are you feeding both ab+ and powdered coral food(i assume something like reef chili) the same time or alternating? is there a reason you are using both or is it just cause? 

I have been considering ab+ , what made you decide to ? 

 

thanks in advance, and also Im not sps pro haha but the frag looks promising! 

[wuzzo]

10 minutes ago, sapling said:

if you dont mind me asking are you feeding both ab+ and powdered coral food(i assume something like reef chili) the same time or alternating? is there a reason you are using both or is it just cause? 

I have been considering ab+ , what made you decide to ? 

 

thanks in advance, and also Im not sps pro haha but the frag looks promising! 

I feed both pretty randomly, I also spot feed Mysis sometimes. I preach coral feeding but honestly I forget to do it regularly. I decided to try ab+ because I had heard so much good about it, and once again I have no evidence to scientifically prove it, but ever since I began using it my corals have just become more vibrant and puffed up. Polyp extension even on the shorter polyped smoother skinned acros I have is insane right after using it. That pink tenuis I had died when the ac went out unfortunately I just found out, it was struggling and that finished it off. 
 

If your tank can manage all the feeding, I’d totally recommend it. I am a big high nutrient import and high export guy, so heavy feeding and then a water change the next day is usually what I do every 2 weeks or so, but I feed ab+ 3-4 times a week. my financial situation doesn’t allow me to go incredibly big on anything, and those ro filters only make so much water.

 

To be completely honest I would just experiment. If your tank has problems when feeding one thing then stop. When I was encountering Dino issues, I started feeding ab+ about the time it began to die down. I noticed that they seemed to feed off something in it. So I stopped for a good 2 week period, and they never came back. I feed it now and it’s fine, but I don’t think you need a strict schedule for feeding. Experiment with different schedules and feeding methods and just see what works. A little trial and error is always good.

[sapling]

I appreciate the explanation on your experience,

 

reef chili and mysis was always very appealing to me because I could see them grab and eat things. so been trying to wrap my head around alternatives like ab+ and trying to learn more on it. 

 

and yeah no kidding all the stuff can pollute a tank a decent bit depending how heavy or often you go with it

[wuzzo]

6 minutes ago, sapling said:

I appreciate the explanation on your experience,

 

reef chili and mysis was always very appealing to me because I could see them grab and eat things. so been trying to wrap my head around alternatives like ab+ and trying to learn more on it. 

 

and yeah no kidding all the stuff can pollute a tank a decent bit depending how heavy or often you go with it

Yeah I would never go too heavy, like I said I don’t have any feeding schedule, I usually feed powdered stuff and Mysis to my corals once every week or two, as that is much more of a pollutant than ab+ imo. The big thing is to have variety, just like feeding fish. Change it up every once in a while

[wuzzo]

another quick crappy fts, once everything my is happy again I’ll attempt to get a clearer one. You can tell that some rocks have been moved around, I had to rip everything out to get the wrasse as he would just dive into the sand, I honestly like it more now than before. Gets a little higher up too.SBB sugar daddy slowly coloring up, unless I get a better light I doubt it will fully color up.

Trachy randomly gaining some more yellow

Blastos getting a little happier, better angles of new growth

I’m 100% contemplating getting a new light or supplemental light bar for this tank, I think if I want any more acros id have to place them lower, but I can’t do that with this light. I have to upgrade the light on the evo anyway before I add any coral to it, so I was thinking look for a cheap hydra 26 or 32 locally for 200 or so and slap the prime on the evo. Still gotta remember I’m on a budget. I just think in general I need more lighting power if I want certain things to grow faster as well as thrive in these lower areas. I should probably also start testing alk, calc and mag so I can start dosing appropriately. Stability is key, but I feel eventually I will need extra to get the at least moderate rate of growth I want if I’m not gonna do weekly water changes.

 

But then again this also lies in the issue of wanting everything in such a small tank, I want all the different corals but don’t have room lol. Maybe in the future I’ll upgrade, but for the foreseeable future I won’t be.

 

Alright that’s the end of my ramble

[wuzzo]

Have wondered this for a while, what happened to TOTM?

[banasophia]

5 hours ago, wuzzo said:

Have wondered this for a while, what happened to TOTM?

I think TOTM just got to be too much work at this time for @Christopher Marks… hopefully it will return someday… it was definitely a good motivator, a draw for the forum, and a source of pride when your tank has been featured. 

[wuzzo]

8 minutes ago, banasophia said:

I think TOTM just got to be too much work at this time for @Christopher Marks… hopefully it will return someday… it was definitely a good motivator, a draw for the forum, and a source of pride when your tank has been featured. 

Hm okay, I’d love for it to return someday and maybe become TOTM once this tank grows out a bit. Very neat concept

[banasophia]

44 minutes ago, wuzzo said:

Hm okay, I’d love for it to return someday and maybe become TOTM once this tank grows out a bit. Very neat concept

Yes, it’s really nice to strive for, and people’s feature articles are great to learn from generally and when planning a new tank, to get inspiration.  

[wuzzo]

Picture dump!

 

Toadstool has recovered and goni is still a little closed, might be the new spot he is in, not sure. Got annoyed that the SBB blood moon/gold nugget (can’t remember which it is, the most saturated gold-yellow-brownish one) keeps encrusting onto the rock and begins to attach, then gets knocked off lol, just the one in particular has already shown new tip growth, not sure what is going on with the other one, the colors are too pale out on it (not dead at all, has polyp extension, just a loss of color) so you can’t really tell if it’s growing. Garf bonsai is a new addition so just have to wait.

[banasophia]

Great photos… I love that shot of your fish. 

[wuzzo]

Not sure how I feel about these, cool almost fisheye if you do 0.5x camera on iPhone with one of the clip on lenses, but the photos look a bit grainy.