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davinaster's 5.5g - start date 12/2/04


davinaster

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lol! I was just thinking (in a very sexist way, I must add) that because the shrimp was doing all the aquascaping and decorating, and LYG's "bachlelor" digs are so sad in comparison that the shrimp was the gal and fish was the guy. 'Course, his name is Little Yellow Guy ;-) Actually, since I refer to them both by the male singular pronoun, I must be assuming they're gay? :D

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WoW! an AC500 in a lil 5.5g. It must get pretty rough in that tank.

 

Needs some more softies.

 

Are you getting nice coraline growth yet? I have only just realised that since using harvested seawater from the LFS i havent had much... i only started using it about 1 month ago. Think i might go back to mixing my own.... or start adding more calcium...

 

I like the Brain skeleton... though i wouldnt be putting much more rock in lest, otherwise it could look a bit crowded.

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Y' know, everyone said that. I don't think I've got too much current. I made a couple of modifications - took the black ring thingy out and added a baffle, but the flow is mostly the way it was when I started running it unmodified with no media. The sand mostly stays put - it drifts a little, but it doesn't swirl. Everything certainly is swaying, but no one seems to have any trouble staying put. And my understanding is that most of the corals like a strong current. So, for the time being, it'll stay the way it is...

 

Definitely needs more softies :) Actually, I was expecting a frag pack from seacrop.com today. Luckily a storm kept them from shipping yesterday, because I'm having some kind of problem with my tank. My snails' shells started to erode suddenly. I don't think adding corals is the best thing right now... I posted for help; hoping to get some expert advice real soon...

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Any update on the Tank conditions? What do mean by 'snail shells are eroding'...

 

I have lost about 3 snails so far... all of which were nothing to do with the water quality...

 

You might want to get the water down to your LFS to get the low down on your parameters.

 

failing that... a 10-15% water change wouldnt hurt.

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Carinya --

 

Thanks! The real insanity is in the two I bought last week for my kids...

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=48173

 

As for the mysterious eroding snails, I dunno. Nothing ever died. I did discover that my pH and KH are sub par (7.7-8 and 7-8 respectively), but not out of the normal range. Actually, my conclusion was that there was a calcium spike and the snails were building new shell unevenly and it only looked like they were eroding.

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Torrey's new nano came with a hitchhiker that looked (to a newbie like myself) like a mushroom that had popped off its stalk. When moved it to my tank in hopes of getting a new coral established, I was somewhat taken aback when it started walking across the tank. That's right - carpet anemone, not mushroom. It's about the size of a nickel and not looking so good... I'll post a picture as soon as I get a decent onel
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There's suddenly a lot of new life in my tank, most of which is not totally unexpected. I've got at least two tiny baby snails that look like nassarius. I'm guessing that they are the product of the two nassarius snails I have "playing" :) There are pods everywhere! Brittle star arms are coming out of every hole in every rock. None of these are surprising.

 

However, the sudden appearance of a Stomatella varia was unexpected. I have no idea where it came from or where it's been hiding, but it's very cool!

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Torrey begged me to take the rock with the mushrooms out of her tank and put it in mine. I feel bad, but arguing with a four year old is futile, and I choose my battles. Besides, they look better in my tank ;)

 

image003.jpg

 

Here's an updated full tank shot (LYG is even hanging out in his little cave right up front - what a cooperative little fish!):

 

image002.jpg

 

And a picture of that elusive anemone. It's not looking so good, but it's alive, and it's moving around. That's the most I can ask for right now...

 

image001.jpg

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The 'shrooms that are on the rock from Torrey's tank were just not happy in the higher flow side of the tank, so last night I did some major reaquascaping (again). This time I tried to take into consideration future coral placement instead of just LR aesthetics.

 

Here's a new full tank shot:

 

image001.jpg

 

LYG's new home. I hope he stays here where I can see him!

 

image002.jpg

 

The 'shrooms in questions, shortly after I put them in my tank. The purple/green one is not real visible in photos now (I just couldn't get the rock at the right angle) but it's just gorgeous:

 

image005.jpg

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Today is my tank's 2 month birthday, and here is a full tank shot taken just a few minutes ago. I reaquasquaped (yet again) trying to get everyone comfy-cozy, and I've been playing with the flow rate quite a bit. LYG even came out for the group photo!

 

full-tank-02-02.jpg

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I really, really, really wanted to add some color to my tank in the form of zoas or shrooms, but I have no frag $$ left this month :( I went to the LFS (Saltwater City in Bellevue) basically to beg - pitiful :blush: but effective... I got a small frag for $8 and a freebie frag that was floating around - including one lone polyp :) Turned out that the $8 frag's not so special - dark orange skirt w/ a green mouth and yellow circle around it, but all kinda dark, but the freebie is gorgeous - bright green skirt, incredible orange mouth on light blue and it's all speckled.

 

$8 frag 10k dl + actinic

 

8-buck-zoa.jpg

 

$8 frag actinic only

 

8-buck-zoa2.jpg

 

free frag 10k dl + actinic

 

free-zoas.jpg

 

free frag actinic only

 

free-zoas-act.jpg

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Originally posted by BigRed25X

how did you beg for it? i wanna try

lol It helps that I take my 4 year old daugher who yells, "Mommy, they're drip acclimating!" and my 2 1/2 year old son who says in awe, "Dat's a biiig anemone..." ;)

 

Seriously, though, my exact words were, "I'm looking for really, really small, brightly colored frags because I've only got 5 gallons and I'm broke from setting it up." After I reassured him that my tank was a couple of months old, he was really helpful and dug these out of their $20 frag tank for me :D

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Originally posted by vyger

That's a really nice looking little tank , coming along great in 2 months. I like that pink ric alot , gotta get me one of those!!!

Thanks! I'm quite fond of the pink ric, too :) The more orange one has taken quite a beating, however. For some reason, whenever I reaquascape I seem to drop the poor thing :( Hardy doesn't begin to describe its constitution...

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  • 3 weeks later...

The tank developed a leak today and everything was moved to the 15g Via Aqua. I'm exhausted and not particularly enamoured of this hobby right now :(

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