Merediths 75g upgrade

[melypr1985]

Busy busy busy! Sounds like a fun project though!

You bet! I've always wanted to do an "in wall" with all the noise in another room. Not worry about how the stand and lights look.... keep all the mess behind a door! I'm looking forward to it. I'll make sure to document it all until I get the thread started. I dont like those slow threads that take months to get a tank in the door, so I'll save up all the pictures until it gets here. I still have to get my boss to give me a quote on paper so I can hold him to it later.

 

[melypr1985]

Just did a water change. The water is a little cloudy from it, but you can see the improvement on the sand.

The only problem I have now is the aptasia starting to creep up on me. I'll be getting some aptasia X tomorrow at work to take care of that (hopefully)

There there is something I always thought was pretty cool. Have you ever looked at the bottom of your sand bed after the tank has been set up for a year or more? It gets pretty interesting down there. This picture is looking up at the bottom glass of the tank from the sump area>

I dont really have an idea of what I'm looking at here besides maybe different types of algae growing down there. But this is pretty deep down and under the rockwork. In fact, the rock pretty much touches the back glass in this spot. Hmmm... Well, now that I really think about it, there is light under there from the LED refugium light. Still pretty cool though

 

[cameronh]

Just did a water change. The water is a little cloudy from it, but you can see the improvement on the sand.

The only problem I have now is the aptasia starting to creep up on me. I'll be getting some aptasia X tomorrow at work to take care of that (hopefully)

There there is something I always thought was pretty cool. Have you ever looked at the bottom of your sand bed after the tank has been set up for a year or more? It gets pretty interesting down there. This picture is looking up at the bottom glass of the tank from the sump area>

I dont really have an idea of what I'm looking at here besides maybe different types of algae growing down there. But this is pretty deep down and under the rockwork. In fact, the rock pretty much touches the back glass in this spot. Hmmm... Well, now that I really think about it, there is light under there from the LED refugium light. Still pretty cool though

Nice!

Aptasia?! Geez! I can't stand those things. Get a needle and inject them with.........I'm drawing a blank and can't remember the name

 

[melypr1985]

Nice!

Aptasia?! Geez! I can't stand those things. Get a needle and inject them with.........I'm drawing a blank and can't remember the name

There's all kinds of stuff I could use. I'm going to start with aptasia X, then move on to super glue and whatever else I can find. I WILL NOT put any peppermint shrimp or fish that "maybe" eat it. I've seen too many LPS corals get demolished by peppermint shrimp to risk it.

 

[melypr1985]

I need to get some pictures, but my kiddo is playing ABC mouse on my phone. I found a chalice! I had bought it has a frag and lost it in my tank. Actually, I've done this twice! This time, I found a good place for it and it's stayed there. Each time I found it, it looked horrible!!! Just awful. Now, it's coming back like a champ. I can't believe it didn't just die. This last time, I found it under the hairy mushrooms - face down! No telling how long it had been there. I'll get some pictures tomorrow. It's amazing how some of these corals can survive through the worst circumstances.

 

[melypr1985]

Oh! I'm also going to participate in my first live sale! I've never done this before so I'm pretty nervous. I already bought the shipping thing for the day I want. The problem is that I'm going to be at work most of the time it's going on. I'm hoping I'll be able to sneak in and snag a couple cool pieces.

 

[cameronh]

Oh! I'm also going to participate in my first live sale! I've never done this before so I'm pretty nervous. I already bought the shipping thing for the day I want. The problem is that I'm going to be at work most of the time it's going on. I'm hoping I'll be able to sneak in and snag a couple cool pieces.

Sounds fun! Good luck!

I need to get some pictures, but my kiddo is playing ABC mouse on my phone. I found a chalice! I had bought it has a frag and lost it in my tank. Actually, I've done this twice! This time, I found a good place for it and it's stayed there. Each time I found it, it looked horrible!!! Just awful. Now, it's coming back like a champ. I can't believe it didn't just die. This last time, I found it under the hairy mushrooms - face down! No telling how long it had been there. I'll get some pictures tomorrow. It's amazing how some of these corals can survive through the worst circumstances.

It's like finding buried treasure! Except it's not on land, it's in your tank (which follows those guidelines quite nicely) if I must say[emoji12]

 

[melypr1985]

It's like finding buried treasure! Except it's not on land, it's in your tank (which follows those guidelines quite nicely) if I must say

Yes Sir! It was a pretty cool chalice when I bought it. Though I may be remembering it wrong. Now it's kinda green and purple. I'll have to show you guys tomorrow. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some really killer pieces on saturday.

 

[cameronh]

Yes Sir! It was a pretty cool chalice when I bought it. Though I may be remembering it wrong. Now it's kinda green and purple. I'll have to show you guys tomorrow. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some really killer pieces on saturday.

I'm sure you will get some nice pieces! Just don't forget to participate

 

[melypr1985]

Just don't forget to participate

That's the key. I have an alarm set on my phone for the start of it.

 

[melypr1985]

OK!! The aptasia seems to be gone for now which is great! The tank still looks kinda cruddy but I'm working on that still. I have a few corals that are struggling like my frogspawn which looked great in the frag tank up until a couple days before I moved it over to the display. Not really sure what was up with that. But I got a picture of the chalice that is coming back from the land of the lost!

In contrast to the frogspawn that is doing pretty darn crappy, the hammer is doing great! It's gotten really big all from - I think- two heads. It was two heads for almost a year before it started growing for me. Now it just keeps on getting bigger and bigger! I think it has 7 now... not sure because it's always inflated so I can't see the exact number of heads on it.... not a bad problem to have. You can see that favia in the back of this picture too. It's been growing really well also. It started as a mostly dead coral that i got for $7 about a year ago. I think I have a picture from before... I'll look for it.

Then I got this new magnetic seaweed clip, which isn't the coolest thing in the world, but I was really excited about it. I figured you guys/gals would be the only ones who truly understand the woes of a the suction cup clips. I love this thing! It's also a great picture to show exactly how big my cardinal has gotten. When I bought him his body was probably the size of my thumbnail. Now his body is really close to being as big as the clip magnet!! Of course, I haven't done my water change for this week and there is a little cyano creeping back in. Alas, it's making me keep up with the maintenance or else I'll have the worst looking sand ever.

The last thing I have to update is that my purple tang has marks all over him. He wouldn't let me get close enough to the tank to take a picture, but I noticed them when I fed. It looks like he got scratched up in the rocks. It's just another reason that I need to get a bigger tank and soon. My 3rd light should have been here today sometime, but it hasn't arrived yet. It's just the first piece of equipment in the whole ballet that will be the upgrade. I'm sure he will be fine for now, just some extra vitamins in his food and plenty of veggies. I have lots of meds to choose from if I need them, so I'm not too worried about him. He's fat and healthy, he's just gotten a little too big for the tank.

 

[melypr1985]

OK. Here are some before and afters....

this isn't when I first got this favia but it's when it first started growing for me. One side of the dead coral...

And the other side....

And today (as of 20 seconds ago)

Pretty cool right? Oh! I found another aptasia hiding in my zoas.. I'll get it in just a few minutes. Here are some more pictures with the blues on..

My red monti looks like it's trying to make a comeback as well here...

FTS...You can see the frogspawn doing poorly in the upper right hand corner there. In the center you can see a LOBO frag I picked up a while back. I'm hoping to see some growth now that it's graduated to the display.

And last, you can see the tiny aptasia growing there in the zoas. I'll get'em real quick and he will be gone.

 

[mmw64]

Hey Meredith, Let me know how the live sale worked. I'm chicken to even try.

 

[melypr1985]

Hey Meredith, Let me know how the live sale worked. I'm chicken to even try.

Hey! It's taken me a year to even work up the courage to try it! I'll be at work most of the time it's going on, so it wont be a leisurely shopping experience. lol I'll let ya know though

 

[Humblefish]

Everything is looking good!

 

[melypr1985]

Everything is looking good!

Thanks! It's getting there, and will probably be back in shape (or close to it) by the time the upgrade happens. Then I get to basically start all over again.

 

[cameronh]

So the fire and ice won? For the most part.....

 

[melypr1985]

This is soooo crazy! I'm way over budget.... dont tell my husband. I'm still trying for a rock nem though. I'm determined not to buy anything else except that. Of course, I said that 3 purchases ago lol

 

[cameronh]

Nice!

 

[Humblefish]

I'm gonnnnnaaaaa tell!