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Paula

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Posts posted by Paula

    FarmerTy's 215 gallon - No Water Changes SPS Tank

    in Tank Builds

    Posted

    Well, I got a pair of flame wrasses from RCA, fortunately prior to the Hawaiian fish industry changes. Well, the female decided its time to start changing to a male.

    Not fully decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing yet. Good thing is I may have two awesome looking males swimming the tank. Bad thing is they decide the tank isn't big enough for the both of them and start trying to kill each other.

    There is the off chance the female stays at the initial phase of being male and not change fully until the terminal male dies.

    Here's a video of him/her.




    She's on the right of the picture. Also a repeat picture of the male flashing to show the differences of a terminal (supermale) male and initial male.e7ed63c976b2b9a083a2d2f7666eaf91.jpg0bdccfd154a22609840afcdc14c54537.jpg
    Ya know, wrasses are on my list of next fish. [emoji41] Just sayin'.

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

    • Like 1

    Pico Reefs

    in 2012 Pico Contest

    Posted

    So the latest issue of Coral magazine just arrived. This issue ios devoted to Pico Reefs. I see there has been some previous threads and a contest regarding this topic but nothing more recent. Anyone keeping one? It seems to me the biggest difficulty would be temperature control.

    Paula's 75 Gallon build

    in Tank Builds

    Posted

    Wow, it's been awhile since I update my tank blog. Things are going well.

    I've added new stock slowly. I have a couple of Chalice, a Caulastrea, a Ricordea digitata (thanks to Ty), a Palythoa (thanks to Gig'em), some urchins (thanks to Jen), a RBTA (also thanks to Jen), a Lobophyllia, an Acan, a GSP (thanks to Christyef) and couple of zoas. They are all doing well except the zoas. I'm wondering if my water is just a little too clean. I did start dosing some Iodine today so we'll see if they perk up.

    The R. digitata is putting out new growth as is the Caulastrea. I may be close to trying another sps. since the digitata is doing well. I'll probs wait until after the holidays since I'll be out of town hiking in Big Bend.

    For fish we have a One Spot Foxface and a pair of ocellaris. They are all happy. Between the Foxface and the urchins, there is very little algae in the DT. The chaeto is doing well along with GHA in the refugium.

    All my parameters are good. I'm using Kalkwasser in my ATO, 

    Alk 8.2

    Ca 430

    Mg 1320

    Salinity 1.025

    PO4 <.03

    Here are some pictures. The only thing I'm not too fond of right now is the proliferation of Spirorbid polychaetes growing on the back wall of the tank.

    Montipora with urchin.jpg

    Lobophyllia sp.jpg

    Ricordea digitata.jpg

    RBTA.jpg

    The Maroon Lagoon V2.0

    in Tank Builds

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, FarmerTy said:
    8 hours ago, victoly said:
    Call it Steve. When the demiflatworms come to eat your acros, Steve the coral takes them out with a nail studded bat. 

    Is Steve the reef version of Lucille?

    Visions of the swimming dead! Would it be wielded by Reefgan?

    • Like 1

    Paula's 75 Gallon build

    in Tank Builds

    Posted

    Here's an updated pic. The little frags aren't really visible but I now have a candy cane, a chalice (a little nervous about whether it's going to pull through following the tank dramas of the last weekend) three assorted zoa frags including a tiny scrambled eggs) a lovely paly donated by Gig'em, apx 9 assorted blue and red legged hermits, two mithrax crabs (though only one seems to be visible at a time) and two turbo snails. 

    Hopefully a couple of ocellaris soon.

    Everything seems to be being stable parameter wise. I switched over to Kalk in my ATO. At 1tsp/gallon of ATO my alk and Ca slowly increasing (currently 7.9 and 395)

    Looking forward to the club meeting.

    Tank.jpg

    • Like 2

    Paula's 75 Gallon build

    in Tank Builds

    Posted

    It's been a little while since I had an update on the tank. There's been some ups and downs.

    I had a cheap webcam at work that I wasn't using. I worked on setting it up through my Apex and was never successful in getting it to stream through the feed. I did have it where I could view it through a separate feed on my smartphone.

    Unfortunately, somehow, I created a conflict in my router and my Apex disconnected.

    The worst part was that somehow in disconnecting, the Apex lost all programming and my heaters, return pump, skimmer etc, all when off line. By the time I got to my office, the tank temp had dropped to about 73 degrees.

    No matter what I tried I was unable to reconnect. Ultimately, I had to re-link the Apex. I lost all my old logs etc. I was able to get the heaters and return pumps plugged in directly to start bringing the tank back up to proper temp. My alkalinity was also thrown off by my ATO not working. Luckily, I was able to get everything back on line. I did lose my Royal Urchin. It made me sad and I blame myself. I know they can be a bit sensitive to alkalinity swings and it was still new to the tank. The only other casualty was my Chalice frag is bleached on the edges. The center still looks good so I'm hoping it bounces back.

    The conflict in my router was trickier and two hours later, the same thing happened and the Apex disconnected again. Luckily, I was monitoring the system closely and didn't have the whole thing crash. This happened three more times over the course of the weekend. Lots of trips back and forth to work trying to figure out where the conflict was that was disconnecting the Apex.

    Ultimately, I totally reset the router and able to establish a stable connection with the Apex not disconnecting every two hours. I also ditched the webcam. I'm not sure what the conflict was that I introduced into the router but am fine not having the webcam up. I may try that again in the future but right now getting and keeping the tank stable is my main concern.

    It's great to have a hobby that is relaxing and reduces stress!!!! [emoji41]



    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

    • Like 1

    Paula's 75 Gallon build

    in Tank Builds

    Posted

    That's about what I was figuring on both counts. I have read that you can feed the urchin nori if there's not enough food endemic to the tank but I'd prefer to work toward a nicely balanced aquarium where that was not necessary.
    I'm glad to hear about Aquatek. They had seemed friendly and I was wondering if there was some dark evil lurking under the surface of which I was not aware. What you're saying makes perfect sense.
    Leaving for Denver in a couple hours. Ready to get out of Texas pollen. Current pollen count in Estes Park is pretty much pollen free!!!
    So the aquarium is starting to make some actual headway. A huge shout out to Gig'em for donating a great palythoa to help me get started! At the time I left my office this evening (where my tank lives) it was already staring to open back up.

    There was also a cute little brittle star hitchhiker. Bonus!

    I also purchased two frags to add to the tank; both LPS, a candy cane and a chalice. They are very small and inexpensive. I think my tank and I are ready for them.

    Maintenance wise, I switched from dosing NaHCO3 to Kalkwasser.

    I'm hoping to add some ocellaris soon. RCA is currently out of stock. They should be getting some in the next week or so.


    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

    • Like 1
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