Okay, brief update. It's been a busy few weeks for the tank.
PROBLEMS! - Ended up buying a pack of 10 more RFAs, and they sent 11! A couple of really nice ones in there, but haven't been able to get any good pics yet. They are just starting to settle in and open up more. Really excited about a cool orange/purple one with like grey tentacles. Unfortunately after I added them my original RFA decided that the tank wasn't big enough for 12 RFAs and up and moved for the first time ever. Ended up wandering for a few days, trying a few different spots, then died about three days ago. Found it being eaten by hermits and the cleaner shrimp. We'll call this issue 1.
My beloved Midas blenny seems to be having some digestive/bloating issues. Still eating really well, but he'll get bloated (can see it in the picture below), be flashing on the rocks, then will be totally fine the next day. Then get bloated/flashy, then fine. I decided that it was either intestinal parasites, or potentially a feeding issue. Added in some mysis shrimp to the gutloaded brine/flake/pellet combo I was doing already and decided to re-dose prazi for good measure. Let's call this issue 2.
Both the dead RFA, and the prazi dose were within a day or two of each other. I think the combo triggered a bacterial bloom. Tank was cloudy as hell. Immediately did a 10g water change. Replaced the carbon I had removed before dosing the prazi, and tossed in an airstone to be safe. Except the bacterial bloom clearly ticked off the finger leather. Which immediately slimed the entire tank. Corals were closed, a trochus snail died, it was a whole event. 2 days or so later the water had mostly cleared up. Corals are opening back up again. Only people to remain closed are GSP and the finger leather.
Unfortunately I didn't tank pics of the cloudy water, RFA hermit crab party, or the nickelodeon slime fest. Really not in the mood to take pics when the tank is doing poorly.
New coral/coral updates - Aside from the new RFAs I added a nice favia, an acan/micromussa lord, some scrambled eggs zoa, a blue and green hammer, and a leptoseris. All seem to be doing well. Really interested to see if the leptoseris can handle the spot I chose. The side of the big empty column on the right behind the duncans.
In terms of the existing corals (aside from the angry GSP/finger leather). Everyone seems to be doing okay. A few new zoa polyps scattered around. The cyphastrea is exploding. A big chunk has encrusted onto the rock. It seems that the growth edge is green meaning that the white patches that turned green when I got it were the coral healing back up and not bleaching out and dying like I had thought. The original rhodactis that I hoped was splitting is definitely not. It's slowly losing color. I've moved it to a very low flow, very low light area where it will remain until it heals or dies.
Moved the tubbs blue zoas off their rock and into the back corner of the tank opposite the exiled green mystery paly/zoas. They had been having poor extension, hadn't grown at all, and honestly just looked weird as the only non-fluorescent coral in the tank. They are absolutely thriving back there. The happiest I've ever seen them.
New fish - Dr. Reef order came in this morning. Looked great on arrival. Box was in perfect shape. Inside was a foam cooler, a cool pack, and 3 double bagged fish. Temperature felt good which I was worried about since it's been 100-110 here in Sacramento for the past 2 weeks.
Blackstorm clown was great. Beautiful, active but not panicked. Honestly didn't even seem to realize it was in a plastic bag on an airplane for 24 hours. Yasha was completely stunning. Incredible long dorsal fin. Really nice orange/white contrast. An awesome specimen. Seemed healthy. Skittish as hell, stressed. McCosker's wasn't moving. The largest fish in the box by at least double - big. I know they play dead, and the colors were still really vibrant so I had hope.
Floated each of the bags for 30 minutes then drip acclimated them in a small 2.5g topfin tank I picked up at a petsmart for 5 dollars. Took about 45 minutes to get the salinity up. Clown and yasha were fine. Wrasse still wasn't moving. I think I saw some gill movement? Got the clown into the tank and he immediately cozied up to the other clown and is doing well. Added the yasha which hung out near my mushrooms for about 10 minutes then disappeared.
Added the wrasse and it was swarmed by hermit crabs so I removed it. It was probably dead from the beginning, but I honestly thought I saw some movement/breathing.
Dr. Reef has already refunded/credited me for the wrasse. Great experience with them overall.
What's next? - The tank needs to relax. A lot has been going on. Gonna up my testing for a bit and try not to add any new coral. I want a good new baseline of what is doing well and what is not. I still need to finish the fish stocking. Reallllllly pleased with what I have right now, but it still feels empty. The only fish I see when I walk past the tank are the clown (now clowns), and the blenny usually. I need movement, activity, LIFE. That was my hope for the wrasse. Should I try again with the mccoskers? Do I just add 2 PJ cardinals and call it a day since at least I'll see them and they're fairly hardy? Back to my original, pre-tank dream of a sixline? Realllllll tempted to try a small bristletooth (weewoo, weewoo) since I'm planning to upgrade in the next year when I purchase a house.
