"Sounds like Rhetoric" 20gal Two-sided

[Rhetoric]

On 6/6/2024 at 9:19 PM, KC2020 said:

Wow ! That guy has to be hungry. 
 

Wait until he starts picking stuff up and moving it around.

Good luck !

This crab has knocked half a dozen frags off in the last week.  I'm out of coral glue, need to hit the fish store.  On the plus side, it's a bubble eating machine!!

[Crawford_T]

Happy Father’s Day, looks like some good eatin. I’ll be tossing some steaks on the fire shortly as well. 
 

I’m using a waterproof tote w/lid from HD for my reservoir. It could probably hold 5g however I only fill it up 1/4. It’s clear so easy viewing. 

[Rhetoric]

I've mentioned my fight with the hair algea that begun with the light change.  Last week I used my only "trick" and ripped the hair out manually.  Followed it up with a few new snails as the tank was down to just one.

 

  I also let the LFS guy talk me into a pin cushion urchin.  I'm BLOWN AWAY at the amount of algea this guy eats! My tank has never looked this good. 

He likes to wear my bubble algae as a hat. 🙄

The giant emerald I picked up has eaten most of the little "bubbles" leaving the big ones for me to remove by hand.  Things are starting to come around.

 

A spot on one of my red digitata bleached this week.  Was a little worried about bottoming out my Nitrates a few weeks ago.  But honestly I caught that within a few days and would think other coral would be affected or maybe it's the new crab, or snails, or urchin! 

Yesterday morning I happen to walk by the tank and see it.  A Lazer beam of sunlight sneaking through the window blinds directly on that spot!  Not much to be done about it will see what happens over time.

 

[Rhetoric]

4th of July camping was a blast.  The kids did great at the fishing derby, won both the age brackets in both categories biggest fish and combined length.

 

Tank business:

 

The tank didn't do so well this trip.  The pet sitter (one of the kids friends)  didn't feed the fish.  I lost the fire fish (whom has been getting skinny for awhile) and the new betta.

 

R.I.P

 

Could have been worse.  Back down to 3 fish for now.

 

[ReefGoat]

That’s one of the many rough parts of reefing. Being the only one in your circle of people that’s interested in aquarium keeping. 
 

Trying to explain the basic minimum to a non reefing person you’re trusting to take care of your prized creation. You’d think you were explaining theoretical physics to them. My main project right now for my 5g is slowly making it completely self sufficient for 7 days. Without any intervention from me. I’m leaning toward hydros control system/dosing/feeding. I know it seems overkill for a 5g but the main plus for me is that the system will be able to grow with me into a bigger system. So it’s not an unreasonable spend. 

[Rhetoric]

The inlaws decided to drive up from Houston as they didn't have power from Hurricane Beryl.  So naturally I need to spruce the tank up for visitors.

 

I guess its the busy summer as I haven't noticed how amazing it looks. (Top down)

 

 The bubble algae is gone.  The green hair algea is gone. The sand bed is white.  Most of the corals are on growth mode. (Dining side)

 

Today I post some natural light photos.  I've always appreciated the look of a natural reef. (Entry side)

 

Tanks been up for 19 month.  It's really starting to come into its own.

[Crawford_T]

Love the natural light photos, tank looks great! 

[Rhetoric]

Picked up 2 good sized manilla spy frags from a local reefer today.  Couldn't beat the price of $10 each.

 

I did the usual dip and added to the sand bed.  Was alittle nervous because they had a lot of green algae on the bases and plugs.  Came back a few hours later and found my new algae eaters moving in.

The emerald was rolling one of the frags in his legs like a ball, while laying on its back.  Clearly its enjoying the new treats!

 

I'm nervous that the urchin has cleaned up a little too good.  The tank is 100% algae free.  I think it's time to re-home it and see if the snails and emerald can keep up.

[debbeach13]

Those pictures are great. 

[Rhetoric]

Clipped back a big chunk of birds nest to make room for the new spy frags.  Also had some growing too close to the glass and couldn't get the scrapper through.

 

Mounted the new frags

Before:

After

top down:

All the trimmings - offered them up for free on the local group.  If they aren't gone by next week I'll donate to the LFS. 

 

 

[Rhetoric]

Summer Reefing!

 

Went away for the weekend, came home and found our homes AC isn't working.  Tank temp is up to 81, I usually keep it at 78.

My first tank "the 90" was always in the low 80s in the summer.  We had a swamp cooler in that home.  I'm nervous about THIS tank as it's never had a fluctuating temp ("the 90" throw back picture 2014 after the reboot.)

I've got a couple frozen water bottles to toss in if the temp on the nano goes much higher. 

 

The Fan for the AC comes on Tuesday.  

[Rhetoric]

Up to 82, water bottles in! Added carbon in a the filter chamber also.  

[Staticmoves]

Just now, Rhetoric said:

Up to 82, water bottles in! Added carbon in a the filter chamber also.  

Anything attempting to spawn with the temp swing?

Inverts or coral.

[Rhetoric]

On 8/4/2024 at 6:21 PM, Staticmoves said:

Anything attempting to spawn with the temp swing?

Inverts or coral

This was a great thought.  I haven't seen any behavior changes.

 

Got the AC fixed today.  The tank never got above 82, I'm hopeful the swing doesn't cause much of an issue. 

 

The corals look happy.

 

 

[colormegone]

yes they do

[Rhetoric]

Been kicking around ideas on what fish to add since the loss of the fire fish.  I have to admit the fish aspect of this aquarium has been tricky.

 

As I look at the display I often think the rocks are too tall.  I've formulated plans to cut them down so they sit lower.  I just feel like I've got a lot of vertical space that are difficult to grow coral on. 

 

So what does this have to do with a new fish?

 

I'm going a different route and not lowering rocks at this point (might revisit again atleast on the tower donut rock). 

 

I picked up a wheeler goby and tiger shrimp.

 

The way I see it:  I don't keep much coral in the sand bed.  I prefer a cleaner uncluttered sand bed look.  So I turn these two loose to make the lower portion of the display more interesting.  They have definitely moved my sand bed around already.

 

They haven't settled into a photogenic spot just yet.  So these pictures will have to do for now.  So far they have made "dens" under tower rock and zoa garden.  

[Airedale.Reef]

I really like the idea of utilizing this space with a goby/shrimp pair! Great Combo! I personally think the donut rock is quite unique and serves as a great center piece base for the tank.

[Rhetoric]

Had a power outage today, saw it on the neighborhood facebook group.  A car hit a power pole near the house.  Was able to run home around noon and drop the Rechargeable USB powered air stone into the tank.  

Good thing too power didn't come back on until 7pm.  The USB lasted about 4 hours, and I switched it out with a battery powered air stone after work.

I also have a generator if it ever came to that, but the stones kicked butt.  Everyone is alive and well.

 

Scariest part.... we are going out of town in 2 weeks for 10 days.  If something like this happens while away it could have been a different story.

 

$25 bucks saved the day.

 

KEDSUM Battery Aquarium Air Pump, USB Rechargeable Fish Aerator Pump with Accessories for 5-120 Gallons, Portable Aquarium Bubbler Pump for Fish Tank, Outdoor-Fishing, Power Outages and Emergency https://a.co/d/9IpvwZH

[Rhetoric]

It was a slow start getting the goby to eat, but it's doing good now.  The shrimp has started to make appearances around dinner time also

 Little buddy's 

 

all and all things seem to be plugging away.

 

 

[Rhetoric]

On 8/16/2024 at 8:27 AM, Rhetoric said:

I have to admit the fish aspect of this aquarium has been tricky.

This morning I woke up to wheeler on top of my lid.  I guess he jumped right through the fine mesh.  Poor Lil guy.

 

After last night's pics and post, it didn't feel right to post any photos... ☹️

[Airedale.Reef]

I was just about to compliment the pair and made my way down to this recent post. What a bummer, especially given you had a lid on the tank. So crazy how that happens! Sorry to hear of the loss! 😕 

[Rhetoric]

Home from a 10 day trip to San Diego and Las Vegas.  The tank sitter didn't even notice, but the cleaner shrimp is gone.  Did the new pistol get it?

 

I grabbed a picture of an anemone I found walking the tide pools on La Jolla beach.  Also had a chance to snorkel a little.  Beautiful area.

 

I have plans to replace the goby, hopefully it pairs with the pistol.  I will also try another shrimp of some kind.

[Rhetoric]

Went to the LFS thinking about a yellow watchman.  When I got there they had a pair of Orange spotted gobys.  Both their little heads poking out of the hole....

 

So here we go, again. 

 

They moved right into the pistols cave.. couple of pops and best friends.

 

why stop there, they had a pair of little cleaner shrimp too!

 

Maybe it will drive my Nitrates up and I can do water changes again!  

 

Either way, fingers crossed.

[Rhetoric]

The 2 new orange spots seem to be settling in.  The big one eats great.  The little on eats but not as aggressively.  Both the cleaner shrimp are doing good.

 

This morning I saw the clown hosting the feather duster like a nem.  He's never hosted anything upto this point. I sat down to watch and they poked their heads out to say "Hi"

 

I'm monitoring water close next few weeks as I've almost doubled my feeding.  Nitrates where at 3 before I added the new fish.  Will see what kind of impact the additions add.

 

[Rhetoric]

Increased coral growth???

 

Good morning I needed to dump some thought.  I'm beside myself excited with the results of my recent additions.

 

Because my Nitrates drop to zero without supplement (I've been dosing N daily)  I've talked about Ammonia dosing in the past.  I even went as far as buying everything to start dosing Ammonia, but never followed through.  I had made the decision awhile back to add more fish instead of dosing Ammonia.

 

So some anecdotal results after adding 2 more fish (bringing the total up to 5)  I've doubled my total feeding everyday and stopped dosing N.

 

My Nitrates have stayed at 3ppm for 2 weeks.  Which is what I wanted and had hoped for.

 

The side effect?  My All for Reef consumption is trending up, way up!  I've gone from 5 MLS a day (been at 5mls for 6 months) to 8.5 MLS a day, in just 2 weeks.  I woken this little tank up! I've been monitoring closely and making lots of small AFR increases.  I am translate these increases to coral growth!  It's exactly what I wanted to happen.

 

I think it's important to note I wouldn't recommend this to anyone and everyone.  My tank meets a specific set of requirement for dosing Ammonia based on Sanjay and Mike Palletas theory and method.  (The tank is a high Nitrates consumer)

 

I added fish to create more Ammonia, instead of dosing it.  At this point more fish and more fish food are getting a similar result as the Ammonia dosing method should. 

 

I believe the tank inhabitants are doing great.  I recognize that 5 fish in a 20 gallon makes it full, even over stocked by most internet standards.  I've put a lot of thought into each fish and the space they inhabitant.

 

Clown and six line both live in the water column.

Tail spot blenny perches on the rocks (he likes the top of donut rock).

The pair of Orange spotted gobys live under zoa rock and on the sandbed.

 

Each has its own space without crowding others.  I see no aggression or territory issues at this time.

 

A little video to end this huge thought dump and wall of text.