Bpb's 55

[Planeden]

Lol none taken. Your comment was actually very funny. That same sort of dry sense of humor I tend to employ myself. I did give a strangely specific range. I guess I'm hoping its in that range. But as we all know. Hope in one hand and ... In the other and see what gets full first.

cool. i'm a bit paranoid because dry does not always get conveyed on the internet. heck, it doesn't always get conveyed in person (which really makes it funnier to me). but i'm kind of a jerk.

[Sascha D.]

Look great!

I know what you mean about the holey rock. When I first converted over from FW I had all this rock made out of limestone and concrete that I used in my reef. It was okay at first and I was hoping it would purple up and looks like everything else. After about 2 years I was at 50/50% LR and "other" rocks. Taking it out at that point just made a giant mess and cause a symphony of problems.

The forum classifieds are a great place to find things like LR and it normally sells for around $2 per pound.

[Bpb]

I lucked out on the live rock I have curing right now. It's about 30 or so pounds worth that I got for $20. Not a bad deal. Granted it wasn't ready to use right away, but I'm ok with that. I'm a very patient person.

Really at this point I only have two large pieces of holey rock I want to remove. Luckily my sandbed is so shallow I'm not at much risk of stirring up a whole lot, but I'm gonna be real careful when I do get around to it. My main concerns in doing the switch are that I have some SPS that are encrusted on some of the higher rocks, and I'm worried that when I start changing rock formations, their PAR values they receive will undoubtedly change, and I don't want to have to deal with the whole mess of acclimating them all over again with light. I'm sure many of the acropora will take on different colors than I'm used to. Some specimens I've got from other members look completely different in my tank several months later than they did in their original tanks.

The biggest problem I had early on when I first got my tank was the 6" deep sand bed in the display. Admittedly, I hadnt done enough research at that point, but the tank was a great deal and didn't have any sensitive livestock, so it had some room for error. LOL the tank hadn't been really messed with or had a water change in over a year. I broke the tank down from the original owner. Used a big cup to scoop out the old sandbed into a plastic tub (several tubs), got it all home, and what did I do? Scooped the sandbed right back into the tank and filled it back up. There was a storm of algae and foulness that few could imagine that lingered on and on until I finally wised up and siphoned down the sandbed to a manageable depth. I'm at about 1" now which enables me to stir it regularly and keep detritus from settling too much. At this point the display sandbed is purely for looks and a place for pods and nassarius snails to sleep.

I'm hoping replacing the rock doesnt cause anything like that to happen. Really my only concern with doing that now is how many snails may be hidden in the holey rock where I can't see them. Hate losing CUC.

What sorts of problems did you encounter when you swapped out your holey rock for liverock?

[Planeden]

I'm hoping replacing the rock doesnt cause anything like that to happen. Really my only concern with doing that now is how many snails may be hidden in the holey rock where I can't see them. Hate losing CUC.

What sorts of problems did you encounter when you swapped out your holey rock for liverock?

thought from a newbie (read idiot, perhaps?). people often do some sort of peroxide treatment to LR to get rid of pests. can you do something similar to your rock and pick up the CUC and put it back in your tank? may not work so well with snails, though, because they aint the fastest. maybe they'd hide up in their shells and you could shake them out.

[ChaosFyre]

Lol @ the potato chip comment.

I'm not great at fragging zoas either. I tried once and most of them died. Then dustin tried using a carpet knife and he managed to peel up the mat. He gave me 90 polyps of his dragon eyes on his first try ever fragging zoas, and all of them survived. In the future, we should commandeer his services in zoa fragging.

And yeah, I'm looking forward to the RBTA. I think Cameron told me you saw it and decided you wanted one too hehe.

[Bpb]

That's quite a gift. That would normally run $50 or more for hobbyist prices.

I'm definitely going to pick up one of those rbtas. He had easily one of the best looking anemones I've ever seen. He said the new ones he's getting are clones from the same specimen he got his from, so unless they somehow take the shipping really poorly I'll be getting one for sure. If I have to make room some things will get moved around. Only thing I don't want to fuss with is dealing with splitting. I need to read up on my bubble tip anemone care tips. I already have a rock flower anemone but they're pretty much bulletproof. I've had mine for a year and its never split and only moved once. Little punk has a nice sting to him though. Got me on the underside of the wrist once. Felt like a jellyfish sting.

[Dustin Pedretti]

That's quite a gift. That would normally run $50 or more for hobbyist prices.

I'm definitely going to pick up one of those rbtas. He had easily one of the best looking anemones I've ever seen. He said the new ones he's getting are clones from the same specimen he got his from, so unless they somehow take the shipping really poorly I'll be getting one for sure. If I have to make room some things will get moved around. Only thing I don't want to fuss with is dealing with splitting. I need to read up on my bubble tip anemone care tips. I already have a rock flower anemone but they're pretty much bulletproof. I've had mine for a year and its never split and only moved once. Little punk has a nice sting to him though. Got me on the underside of the wrist once. Felt like a jellyfish sting.

im planning on getting one of those too...i saw it lastnight...its the best freaking one ive ever seen

Lol @ the potato chip comment.

I'm not great at fragging zoas either. I tried once and most of them died. Then dustin tried using a carpet knife and he managed to peel up the mat. He gave me 90 polyps of his dragon eyes on his first try ever fragging zoas, and all of them survived. In the future, we should commandeer his services in zoa fragging.

And yeah, I'm looking forward to the RBTA. I think Cameron told me you saw it and decided you wanted one too hehe.

im down with helping fragging zoas if you need it...i dont think i did anything special though...i was just worried they were gunna squirt me lol

[Bpb]

I'd definitely take you up on that Dustin. Only problem is the rocks my zoas are aren't really removable. Fragging would have to be done in tank lol.

[Dustin Pedretti]

Ehh...we could figure it out...atleast that way I won't have to worry about it squirting me in the eye lol

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[ChaosFyre]

Dibs on the red zoas and the candy canes. There may be more I'm interested in... like those purple eye green skirts. Are those dragon eyes...? The look different under your lights.

[Bpb]

Picked up this guy today. It is supposedly a Sherman RBTA, but no way to verify it. His colors are absolutely stunning though. It's like it glows. Really brings some class to the tank. Acclimated well. No gaping mouth. Didn't want to let go of the rock he came with so I traded the owner a comparably sized rock. An hour in and he's already gettin bubble tips. Hope he doesn't kill anything. Luckily the clarkii clown has yet to take notice

[Planeden]

why is it lucky the clown hasn't noticed?

[Bpb]

Just don't want it to be too stressed right away but the clown knows the toadstool as its "home" and is very gentle with it. Just basically hoping the anemone had a couple days to get settled before the clown made a bed in it lol

[Bpb]

Well I got the anemone in at about 1 pm and had to go to work. Over the couple hours I observed it, it moved slowly down toward the sand. Started at about half way up in the tank. I worked from 4 to 11, so I was naturally worried it may wander into a powerhead while I was gone. No problems. Came home. This guy has really tangled up his foot. He went to the bottom, dug a hole in the sand under the rock, wrapped his foot back up and around into a hole. Here's a pick in total darkness. Not really concerned just thought it looked cool

[ChaosFyre]

Wow its gorgeous. I thought I had first dibs on Cameron's shipment of RBTA. Also, I didn't think they were in yet... don't tell me, did you convince him to give up his only RBTA?

[+KimP]

Well I got the anemone in at about 1 pm and had to go to work. Over the couple hours I observed it, it moved slowly down toward the sand. Started at about half way up in the tank. I worked from 4 to 11, so I was naturally worried it may wander into a powerhead while I was gone. No problems. Came home. This guy has really tangled up his foot. He went to the bottom, dug a hole in the sand under the rock, wrapped his foot back up and around into a hole. Here's a pick in total darkness. Not really concerned just thought it looked cool

That's a beautiful rbta! He sure got in a funny position.

[Bpb]

Wow its gorgeous. I thought I had first dibs on Cameron's shipment of RBTA. Also, I didn't think they were in yet... don't tell me, did you convince him to give up his only RBTA?

My bad, Sarah. I didn't know I cut in line. I thought you may have already gotten one possibly. I had just been in touch with him and asked him a few times if he had any news on the anemones and he said "come on over, yours came in and it's healthy" so I went and got it. He had actually already sold his also so he doesn't have one at all in his tank. He said he's able to get more though. This thing is awesome. It's amazing how much they can shrink and grow. When I got it, it was about the size of a quarter, with a foot that was pencil thin. Yesterday at mid light cycle it had expanded to about 8" in diameter. My clownfish is absolutely in love.

[Bpb]

That's a beautiful rbta! He sure got in a funny position.

He's still in that funny position, but his foot is stretching real far now to where he doesn't look like he's facing downward I like the fact that it decided to stick low in the tank. I hope it stays. It wouldn't let go of the rock it was on so I had to take it with me and its huge with lots of little shelves and branches so this thing will be perfect for some acans or maybe some sps. Gonna wait and make sure for a month or so that this nem is done moving

[ChaosFyre]

Wow its gorgeous. I thought I had first dibs on Cameron's shipment of RBTA. Also, I didn't think they were in yet... don't tell me, did you convince him to give up his only RBTA?

My bad, Sarah. I didn't know I cut in line. I thought you may have already gotten one possibly. I had just been in touch with him and asked him a few times if he had any news on the anemones and he said "come on over, yours came in and it's healthy" so I went and got it. He had actually already sold his also so he doesn't have one at all in his tank. He said he's able to get more though. This thing is awesome. It's amazing how much they can shrink and grow. When I got it, it was about the size of a quarter, with a foot that was pencil thin. Yesterday at mid light cycle it had expanded to about 8" in diameter. My clownfish is absolutely in love.

Lol its okay. I'm actually glad I talked to you, I think I changed my mind again about getting an anemone... I'm too invested in the rest of my tank to risk it! If I find a good deal on mini-carpets maybe I'll get one. Or maybe I'll stick with ricordia.

Wow, crazy about the size. He told me it could reach up to 12" in height too.

[Bpb]

It's more of a foot stretching. Their foot is like a piece of gum. It can smash real flat and wide or stretch super long and thin. I cannot even see its foot where it is now. It's in the front of the tank, but the foot is wrapped around the back side of a rock somewhere lol.

I'm definitely on the lookout for some good ricordeas and more acans. That's pretty much all else I want right now. Cheap acans are so hard to come by.

On the plus side I think I'm gonna rescape my tank next week. Still got all that rock hanging out that needs using. I'll post pics when it's done

[Bpb]

Fml. Doing a water test this morning. For starters my alk has dropped a whole point from last week, down from 8.2 to 7.2. I'm gonna test it again after work to make sure I didn't do something stupid. This is irritating because ever since i dialed it in at 8.2 like 4 months ago it hasnt budged. Can't imagine what would cause an entire point drop. Calcium hasn't changed which is odd. Everything looks happy except my stupid GREEN Oregon tort and Cali torts.

Second, when I was trying to put the little calcium spoon back onto the powder container via rubber band I dropped it down the sink. Doh.

And in other news, my lovely bubble tip nem has claimed the life of my frogspawn. Got too close, wrapped its tentacles around it, then proceeded to walk OVER it. Haven't seen frogspawn polyps since then.

[Planeden]

wow, sounds like you are having a day.

[Dustin Pedretti]

Dude...mines been moving all over the place the past couple of days...it walked right over my new zoas but dosnt appear to have hurt anything...yet

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

[Bpb]

Did my first major rock rescape since I got the tank 14 months ago. I attatched a before photo here.

[Bpb]

And here is the new scape. I removed the big piece of holy rock at the bottom on the right....Well, actually I didn't even touch anything left of the toadstool. That side looks fine to me and functions well as far as light and flow for what I have over there. The right side has been bugging me for months but I just never got around to fixing it. I removed the holy rock, and another rock that I discovered was covered with bubble algae. The big rock at the very top was also covered in pulsing xenia and was getting out of control. I took it out, busted it up with a hammer, and tossed most of it. I kept a tiny bit because the wife really likes it, but now it is on an island by itself. Easy to remove and prune as necessary. If I see any bits of xenia popping up anywhere else in the tank, I'll epoxy and super glue right over them.

Anyhow. I had several large nice looking rocks I've wanted to use for a while, just couldnt figure out what to swap out. I basically removed the bottom layer, shifted the rocks down, and stacked the new ones on top. The existing rocks that were there are hidden as base rock now. I broke up one of the new rocks into rubble which I used to hide some seams and fill in gaps I didnt like. I got the rock stack higher toward the light now. I also got the rocks off the side glass. I intend to put my oregon and cali torts way up high now. Ive had them at mid level and the color just isnt what I'm wanting out of them so hopefully a bit more light will help. I can't mount any corals onto that rock stack yet until the RBTA finds his new home amongst the rearranging. Here it is. It's not perfect but I like it WAY better. It's alot more functional. I did a 10% water change during the whole process and am running my filter sock for the next couple days. I'll likely replace my carbon today as well just to help. This rock has been curing for like 3 months in the garage so I don't expect any sort of mini cycle but I'll be ready if it happens. I tested the curing water like 6 weeks ago and it was ready, so I've just fed it a little here and there until I had the time to use it.