Chris' Reef

[chort55]

With spring finally here and the rising temps I finally got around to installing my cooling fan over the sump. It is 80 in the house and the tank is holding a constant 77.7 (set max before fan kicks on) thanks to a simple 6" clip on fan hanging over the sump.

 

[chort55]

Today I picked up a few corals from a friend that weren't doing to well, he was going to sell them off but being that his parameters are good, his fish and inverts are all doing fine I didn't want him to do something he may quickly regret so I offered to hold them and attempt to nurse them back to their previous beauty while he tries to find the issue and get back on track.... Anyways here is a FTS today after the additions:

Friends Acanthopyllia, opened up a little and took in some mysis:

Scoly I'm holding for a friend:

Friends Yellow torch:

Friends closed up z/p's:

Bad pic of a ric I am holding for a friend:

Angry Blastos:

 

[Poseidon]

It's great to have a few trusted locals around isn't it Chris? Very kind of you to house those pieces, while his tank gets situated.

 

[chort55]

It's great to have a few trusted locals around isn't it Chris? Very kind of you to house those pieces, while his tank gets situated.

Yeah definitely! In the beginning I got some good info and help so figured I am in a spot where I am comfortable with my tank and able to help pass along the favor. He's a newer guy who is willing to learn (and unfortunately got some bad advice to start with) that truly cares about the animals so rather then let him just throw in the towel I wanted to give him some time to get things situated and back on track, without selling his stuff cheap and then having to shell out the full price again to get them back.... something we both know is never fun or cheap lol

 

[Dmmz]

I live in grand blanc and just started my first saltwater tank would be nice to know that there are local people that could help out if needed

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[chort55]

I live in grand blanc and just started my first saltwater tank would be nice to know that there are local people that could help out if needed

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I don't normally just take in coral for people (that could be quite risky since I don't have a coral QT lol), but I will always try to help out if I can one way or another and there are other helpful and knowledgeable people in the area as well (Poseidon above being a great asset to the community/ area as well). If you ever need help feel free to post (as there are tons of knowledgeable people on this site) or even pm me and I will try to help out!

 

[creefer]

Nice work, Chris, helping another. I like seeing that as well.

 

[Dmmz]

Yes it is great I can find people like Chris to ask questions before doing stupid things without knowing it


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[creefer]

Yes it is great I can find people like Chris to ask questions before doing stupid things without knowing it


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He's a pretty good resource....as most R2R members.

 

[chort55]

Yes it is great I can find people like Chris to ask questions before doing stupid things without knowing it


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Doing the stupid stuff and learning from it is sometimes half the fun...... but can be a very expensive lesson. Which reminds me, I need to break down and clean and inspect my skimmer and return pumps again tomorrow

He's a pretty good resource....as most R2R members.

Thanks man! Hard to believe its been like 4 or 5 years already since I started this crazy hobby.... still learn new things all the time tho like its only been 4-5 months!




On a side good note, the corals I am looking after are starting to perk up fairly well considering how short of a time they have been in my care. The scoly is the only one that I don't notice any real improvement on..... but it doesn't appear any worse so I can't complain.

 

[Poseidon]

It's amazing how fast things can change, once chemistry is straightened out. Usually, it is going to pot in a hurry, and months to come back, but I have seen some really fast recoveries too.

 

[chort55]

It's amazing how fast things can change, once chemistry is straightened out. Usually, it is going to pot in a hurry, and months to come back, but I have seen some really fast recoveries too.

I've always just seen the quick to be bad/gone or very slow to get straightened out, some of the pieces were looking a little better the next morning even, but now a few days later theres definitely some improvement on just about every piece. Hopefully he will figure out whats up with his tank and be able to get things back on track and get these pieces back home soon

 

[chort55]

Something must be going right in my tank lately, I have never noticed my clowns laying eggs before. Until this tank in the 3yrs or so they have been together they have never hosted anything but a corner of the tank, but now they have found a cave the female spends most of her days in with the male nearby.... and while I have still never seen eggs tonight while I had all the pumps off and feeding the tank I noticed some nearly microscopic movement in all the large holes of their "host" rock. Unsure of what it was, I decided to break out a specimen cup and my turkey baster... sure enough tiny baby clowns!!!! I think they have laid several times as the babies are all about the same 2 sizes, one being obviously larger but not big by any means still.... definitely to small for me to be able to pick up on my camera.

 

[chort55]

Well it has been about a week since I picked up these corals from a friend who was having issues so I wanted to document how they are doing and see if photographically they look any better.........


Friends Acanthopyllia, when I 1st got it:

Now:

Scoly before:

Now:

Friends Yellow torch before:

Now:

Friends z/p's before:

Now:

Angry Blastos before:

Now:

Bad pic of a ric I am holding for a friend:

I didn't take a pic of the ric, but there is no noticeable change yet. It was on the rock near the clowns area and ended up down on the sand so thinking they didn't like the new ornament around the babies and moved it.... but no further negative impact either atleast.

 

[Poseidon]

Holy cow! That is a recovery for sure!!!

Hopefully, he can figure out what is amiss, whether it is PO4, NO3 or something else...

 

[chort55]

Thanks Mike! IMO the scoly colorwise in the pics doesn't look much difference but in person it is about a shade darker/ better, everything else is fairly obvious to me with huge improvements on the zoas and blastos for sure! He said all his parameters were good (and he said he has had Andy double check them at the shop as well and he doesn't have a bad algae problem that would make me suspect po4), so not really sure what the issue is but its apparent they are liking the temporary change to my tank.

The big differences to me would be... he has been running his radions at 55%.... I run comparable wattage cree DIY LEDs at 100%, I feed alot more and have a bigger skimmer on a smaller tank (with more fish and I also vodka and vinegar dose but being new I don't want to suggest either of those to him yet, and his skimmer IMO wouldn't be a good choice for his size tank doing that either). Other then that I'm really at a loss for what the issue is with his tank, other then its only about 6-7 months old so maybe still unstable a little although he monitors it daily.... but he does go through alot of 2part for the little amount of coral he had in there.... but again his #s are in check and were confirmed by Andy as well.

 

[chort55]

Got tired of looking at the coraline covering the majority of the back glass..............

Also, to my amazement, when I was looking into the tank during feeding w/ the pumps off tonight there are still probably ~20 or so baby clowns still alive in the clowns "host" rock (large rock on left side w/ majority of my acros on it). I really expected them to have all died or become food by now, but its pretty cool IMO that they have made it this far, I would have to assume they are finding something to eat to be staying alive... I think LOL

 

[chort55]

Snapped some phone pics of the corals I am holding for a friend.....


Acanthopyllia is getting its color back quite nicely:

Scoly showing a little progress:

Yellow Torch:

Polyps opening more and more, Jokers on the left have lost all the algae and every polyp is showing hope of opening/ slightly open now:

Blasto's, I think they could get a bit better still but certainly come along way already:

Clowns keep moving the ric, vortech spit a little sand on it but wanted to grab a pic to show its still there since I didn't get one last time:

 

[chort55]

I decided to begin running a bacteria product in my system again. I ran MB7 in my 180 for a while with somewhat mixed results. So I decided this go around I would try Microbe-Lift Special Blend after hearing good things about it. As bad as this stuff stinks it better work lol. I will continue to dose Vinegar and Vodka as well.


Today's quick phone FTS:

 

[Poseidon]

Good stuff Chris! Your tank is doing EXCELLENT!


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