Project S.M.M.O.A.T.G.

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

Thanks for the reply, great information... I can't wait to see what kind of growth and branching I'm gonna get.

 

 

so much for that lol what did you do?

[zachxlutz]

so much for that lol what did you do?

 

I know, right? I'm thinking a major contribution to it's demise was the lack of lighting I have. The two screw in 20w 50/50 bulbs just don't cut it. I can't wait to get my new light next week. I just wish I had gotten it sooner.

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

I know, right? I'm thinking a major contribution to it's demise was the lack of lighting I have. The two screw in 20w 50/50 bulbs just don't cut it. I can't wait to get my new light next week. I just wish I had gotten it sooner.

 

 

 

actually hammers can live and thrive in lower light conditions, maybe it was just the crappy quality of the bulbs(what brand?). are you sure they aren't 10w? that 2x40 fixture will help, you can even try some monticaps in there.

[zachxlutz]

Introducing... "The Adventurous Snail and his Sidekick"

 

Recreating a scene from cliffhanger:

 

Going on an expedition:

 

 

Is it normal for my snails to venture up onto the spill-over of my HOB?

 

actually hammers can live and thrive in lower light conditions, maybe it was just the crappy quality of the bulbs(what brand?). are you sure they aren't 10w? that 2x40 fixture will help, you can even try some monticaps in there.

 

 

They are coralife, and definitely 20 watts a piece.

 

I'd like to find out the root of the hammers death before I go adding any more corals... I don't want to lose anymore.

[Sea_Of_Treachery]

They are coralife, and definitely 20 watts a piece.

 

I'd like to find out the root of the hammers death before I go adding any more corals... I don't want to lose anymore.

 

 

 

good thinkin, wish i could help, but i have no idea, never really seen anything like that before.

[zachxlutz]

Well, one of my bigger margarita snails bit the dust the other day. I guess he had it coming, he was giant and always lethargic, ever since I got him. This leaves me with 4 blue leg hermits, 2 scarlet hermits and 2 margarita snails.

 

What do you guys suggest I add? I do have a little bit of cyano that just won't dissappear and the usual algae I'd like to get rid of.

 

Basically, what should I add to my CUC?

 

Thankssss

[Nishant3789]

thats kind of a small clean up crew for a ten gallon. id say get at Least a hermit per gallon and a snail per gallon. you might want to go with smaller astrea snails so that they dont knock things over with their shells. looking good though! im in ga too btw over in alpharetta. are you an atlanta reef club member?

[henry22]

I would take the majority of your hermits back to the LFS for credit, my two blue legs and my scarlet have killed 3-4 four snails. Try cerith, astrea, and nassarius or super tongan nassarius. Margartia snails are a cold water species(lower 70's i believe) and in reef tanks they dont live very long.

[non-photosynt]

Can you post close-up photo of lemnalia? How is it going? What are you feeding to it, how strong is flow around it?

I also have purple lemnalia, that is doing much worse than other corals (softies and LPS), and there are not much information on the Web.

[thatfishguy]

Hey zach, Im not sure if you know about aquabuys.com, but there an online vendor whos local to us. There right off of Pike st. behind quiznos and that shell station over there. But there prices cant be beat when it comes to dry goods. Its nice being able to get something at internet price and still not have to pay shipping.

 

Where's your livestock been coming from? Ever been to Cappuccino Bay in Roswell? Worth the trip if you haven't.

 

This guy is right. If you ever get a free day go to Cap Bay. Any coral you could want, and tons of them. Some of there stuff is pricy but only cause its high quality. It will put the avairium and all the other locals to shame.

[zachxlutz]

Hey zach, Im not sure if you know about aquabuys.com, but there an online vendor whos local to us. There right off of Pike st. behind quiznos and that shell station over there. But there prices cant be beat when it comes to dry goods. Its nice being able to get something at internet price and still not have to pay shipping.

 

Yep, I'm picking up (hopefully) my new 20" orbit today from aquabuys, thanks for the tip off a while back.

 

This guy is right. If you ever get a free day go to Cap Bay. Any coral you could want, and tons of them. Some of there stuff is pricy but only cause its high quality. It will put the avairium and all the other locals to shame.

 

I'll have to check it out... maybe on friday. Do you still have any corals you want to part with?

 

Can you post close-up photo of lemnalia? How is it going? What are you feeding to it, how strong is flow around it?

I also have purple lemnalia, that is doing much worse than other corals (softies and LPS), and there are not much information on the Web.

 

I know, it must not be too popular of a coral... I can't find any info on it either. I'll post a close up of it in a little while. The flow is whatever is coming off of my ac110 packed with a phosphate filter pad and chaeto. So I couldn't tell you how many gph I have, although I am thinking about adding a powerhead. All I feed my tank is prime reef flakes for my two clowns and once in a while I'll drip in some Kent's micro-vert. I have some frozen reef plankton I've been thinking about dosing, but I'm going to wait until I add some more corals.

 

I would take the majority of your hermits back to the LFS for credit, my two blue legs and my scarlet have killed 3-4 four snails. Try cerith, astrea, and nassarius or super tongan nassarius. Margartia snails are a cold water species(lower 70's i believe) and in reef tanks they dont live very long.

 

I think I'll keep my hermits, they are fun to watch and haven't caused any mischief yet. If they do start causing some problems I'll take em back though. I'm definitely going to add probably 3 cerith, 3 astrea and 3 nassarius snails to my tank. I think that should take care of it.

 

 

Thanks for all the replies!

[zachxlutz]

Here are the pictures of the lemnalia I promised, non-photsynt.

 

I do have a bit of cyano on the base of the lemnalia. I'll blow it off with my little syringe I suppose.

 

 

 

[thatfishguy]

Yea I got some polyps, and I can get you another hammer frag since you lost yours, and a Frogspawn frag. I have some Candy Cane and some GSP extra too.

[zachxlutz]

Are you gonna be busy tomorrow around 4? I'd like to check out your tank(s)... I don't really know what you have.

 

Do you still live around lawrenceville?

[thatfishguy]

I work at 330 for the rest of the week. If you wanna stop by around 2 or maybe later at night thats cool.

 

Yea I live off of Hurricane shoals.

[non-photosynt]

Thanks for the info and photo!

I seems have another kind of purple lemnalia, but white lemnalia on my avatar has the same body pattern, as yours has. Identity confirmed! Photos of white lemnalia are here.

I'll post more photos of both in progress in a couple of days, at my tank thread here.

But they are so different - from shape to requirements - purple likes light, white not, but requires at least medium flow.

[zachxlutz]

UPDATE:

 

I went to aquabuys.com to pick up my light yesterday (great store, great owner BTW). All I have to say is wow, I'm impressed. This light is bright. The only complaint is that it's a little loud, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. My corals look way better, my Lemnalia is so much more erect and polyps extended with the new light, I can't wait to finally add some coral and have it live. hah.

 

I also bought a digital thermometer and found out something new. My tank was really cold. I've got it up to a consistent 78-80 now.

 

 

My new light and a kind of FTS. Should I keep the light on the legs or use the rubber bumpers to just have it 1/4 off the tank?

 

[zachxlutz]

I've searched around, and I can't seem to find a good lighting schedule. Now that I have more control over my lights I don't know what the best schedule would be.

 

Right now:

Actinics - 10:00AM to 10:00PM

Daylight - 11:00AM to 9:00PM

And my moonlights just stay on 24/7

 

Is this good? If not, any suggestions on a better lighting schedule?

[sleepy]

Interesting question. I have always done a complete 12 hour light cycle (actinic and regular) with 24 hour moon lighting. What is the advantage of the solo actinic period?

[zachxlutz]

It seems like I've read somewhere that it is a good practice to simulate dawn and dusk. We'll see... maybe someone smarter than me will pipe up and tell me what's up.

[ezcompany]

in actual tropical reef environments, the dusk/dawn effect is very minimal. the sun rises and full light hits the reefs in less than 15 minutes. imo, it may be natural, but doesn't really have an impact on the health of the corals.

[zachxlutz]

So should I just do a 12 hour light cycle with all lights on? or is 10-11 really better?

[gmcallis]

I also bought a digital thermometer and found out something new. My tank was really cold. I've got it up to a consistent 78-80 now.

 

Perhaps it was the cooler temp which led to the demise of your hammer?

 

Just a thought as I read your thread.

 

Nice setup btw!

 

Cheers

[zachxlutz]

Perhaps it was the cooler temp which led to the demise of your hammer?

 

Just a thought as I read your thread.

 

Nice setup btw!

 

Cheers

 

Without knowing exactly what temperature hammers like, I can't say for a fact that is what did it. But I'm going to assume almost 100% the stress from bagging at the LFS, coming into a cold tank and not having enough light just sent the little guy into a downward spiral it couldn't recover from.

[sleepy]

if the tank was a constant 78 with regular swings of 80- id say thats not bad at all. Tanks dont have to be exactly 80 degrees all of the time. It gets bad when the temp swings are big and sudden. My tank swings around quite a bit, but on a regular basis- my hammer has never had any problems because of this.