New Nano Reef Diary, the sequel

[Blinky]

I know where my chemistry went wrong, it was just a dumb oversight - KH and Ca are directly tied to one another; I dripped Ca earlier in the week without checking the KH and accidentally drove the KH down as the Ca went up. It's corrected now, but my KH is never more than about 9dKH - as long as it's 8 or more I'm happy.

I've got a gorgeous fox coral on hold at work, hoping to pick it up tomorrow

 

[Blinky]

Not sure why, but I felt the need to move one of the pieces of LR tonight - something about the way it was sitting just didn't look right to me. I ended up adjusting the top few pieces, now I'm REALLY happy with the way it looks and I think there's a ledge large enough right near the middle for the new coral (I get to bring it home on Thursday). I took the ZooMed Powersweep PH out and replaced it with a tiny PH I had lying around. I placed it low down on one side so it creates flow behind the rocks - I couldn't believe the amount of crap it blew out of the rocks when I turned it on!

Poor Gwynnie bonked his head on the glass top and lost a few scales tonight, the clown came whipping around a corner and startled him just as he was getting ready to settle down for the night. He looks okay, but I think it freaked both fish out a bit.

On another note, I'm really bummed out tonight! My boss at the LFS called me and told me today was his last day at work - he was (completely unjustly) let go today. I'm really going to miss him, he was a fabulous manager. It wasn't expected and there are a lot of employees and customers who are going to be really sad. I was really glad to hear that there are several other stores closer to where he lives that would like to hire him, I wish I could follow him to his new store.

 

[mrsdorothy]

Blinky, I have really enjoyed your thread. It is full of information. For the past 2 months, I have been trying to learn all that I can about saltwater. I am getting ready to set up a 40g breeder for saltwater. I am sure that no matter how much I learn, I will still have lots of questions.

 

[Blinky]

Another convert, woohoo! You're going to love it, SW is so different than FW

:dance: I picked up my fox coral tonight, it's gorgeous! I superglued the skeleton to a rock (very carefully, lol) and placed it in the tank, now I'll cross my fingers and hope it's in a good position and will open up tomorrow morning.

I'm a little confused, my candycane hasn't been extending its feeding tentacles at night, tonight makes three days in a row. I'm wondering if it's somehow irritated - I've put some carbon and new PO4 adsorbing resin in the HOB in case there are chemicals in the water or excess DOM that are upsetting it. I'm also wondering if it's anything to do with having a leather in the tank - apparantly these guys produce substances that are toxic to stonies.

Pictures of the finalized aquascaping and new coral tomorrow, stay tuned

 

[Blinky]

Okay, here's a FTS from this afternoon - the Fox coral hasn't fully opened yet but it's looking pretty good. The ycg loves snuggling in it, and the coral doesn't even seem to notice. I'm pleased; if he's in the fox, he's leaving the poor candycane alone!

 

[Swimfins]

looks super!

 

[reiverix]

It looks better in each picture. I'm glad you got a clown. I swore I'd never get one but was overridden by mission control (aka wife) so now I have two. They are cool though and I'm pleased with them.

 

[Blinky]

Thanks guys

Update...
I switched the 2g frag tank for a 5.5g - more room to play with. The snail and hermits look fine, mushrooms are attaching to their rubble, but the Xenia looks withered and has stopped pulsing. I'm wondering if it's because I installed a heater last night, the temperature climbed faster and higher than I had intended - it went from ~76F to 81F overnight. I did a 30% water change and added some carbon in case the Xenia is reacting to chemicals from the newly fragged mushrooms.

The candycane and leather in the 30g look irritated; the leather won't extend its polyps (never fully has), and the candycane isn't putting out its feeding tenticles at night. I've come to the conclusion that the yellow clown goby is irritating them with his constant perching and I've heard that these fish secrete a mucous that also irritates corals which probably isn't helping. When I get things in the 5.5g settled I'll do a large water change using the 30g water, and move the ycg to the small tank. If the corals improve, I'll make it his permanent home.

 

[FreddytheFish]

Sounds good

As always, great pix.

 

[Blinky]

Forgot to mention earlier, I had a pair of pink zoa polyps (tiniest frag ever, lol) in the frag tank, moved them up to the 30g. Now there are four groups of zoanthids in the tank, I can't wait to see the rocks covered in their little faces!
I went to the LFS today to buy a net (to catch the goby) and ended up wandering around the newly-renovated marine section of the fish room... spotted a pink wall hammer I just HAD to have and spent more than I'd intended. my hubby wasn't the least bit surprised
Once I got it home I realized I had a challenge on my hands - how on Earth was I going to place it so it wouldn't be crowded or sting its neighbors, get enough light and lowish flow... I'm not sure if it will like the spot I found and I may need to move the candycane, but it's partially extended now (lights are off) so I'll see how it behaves in the next few days and take my cues from that. I'd say the fox is going to stay my favourite, but this coral may give it a run for its money - I absolutely love pink corals! I have a friend (also a reefer) who says I have a 'girlie' reef, lol. He's going to contribute a pink hairy mushroom to the mix, and I've constantly got my eye out for a pink coco worm. If there was a way I could encourage pale pink corraline and keep everything in the tank healthy, I'd do it in a second