Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

And I stand corrected.

Don’t feel bad. I forgot that hammer corals have long sweepers. I might be thinking of frogspawn but I might be totally wrong there too. I had a frogspawn years ago but I can’t remember for the life of me if it also had long sweepers. I also forgot that bubble coral has insanely long sweepers.

 

[Fishy888]

Shrooms and RFA, are in my opinion to the cheapest ways to add vibrant color to your tank. Most shrooms can be had for 25 bucks. You don't need to get crazy and fancy. You can cover most colors in the rainbow. They propagate fairly easily and are not what I would consider aggressive, as They have to actually touch the other coral to fight.

Hammer and bubble as you mentioned below are great. LPS, but neither fits into the non-aggressive world. A hammer can send a sweeper out three times Its body width, in length. Bubble corals can essentially hit anything in the tank they want to. Both pack a nasty punch and can melt other corals easily. Many people keep them because they are great corals, You need to know how to keep them safe and other things safe from them.

I totally agree about not needing to get fancy. Reefing on a budget can be frustrating sometimes but my reef will be even more beautiful than it is now. Plus I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing I was able to do it on a budget. It’s my intention to get sticks eventually but even they can be had for cheap. It’s just a matter of keeping my eyes and ears open.

A lot of being successful in reefing is to seek the counsel of those who have years in the hobby and have the kind of system you want to emulate. You’re all on my short list as far as people and counsel I trust. Thank you all again for being a part of my reefing journey.

 

[Fishy888]

not that far away...

True. I have to get down there sometime when I have a wad of money. Those are some beautiful corals!

 

[Fishy888]

I brought down the salinity a bit more this evening. The nem was all like…

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[Fishy888]

I got my salinity down to 1.026 now and this happened……

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I would imagine there will be fluctuations between gaping and mouth closed overnight and maybe tomorrow but I think the gaping is about over with.

You can be sure of this. Nothing else water chemistry wise is getting changed anytime soon unless something goes far out of whack.

 

[fishguy242]

JMO, think you should run 1.025 ,leaves room for evap, small fluctuations ...

 

[Stang67]

So chalices are SPS and not what I could call, homie friendly, especially to other chalices.

Brains are all pretty expensive currently. You can still find deals on cynarina and scolys if you try hard.

Acans, bowers, are super colorful and can make a fantastic garden.

Some mushrooms would also be nice as they are not expensive, and vary greatly in color.

Shrooms shrooms shrooms.

 

[Fishy888]

JMO, think you should run 1.025 ,leaves room for evap, small fluctuations ...

True. I’ll do that. I want there to be some margin for error.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

JMO, think you should run 1.025 ,leaves room for evap, small fluctuations ...

Without an ato, I would agree. I shoot for 1.026 on the reef. I think the inhabitants, look better generally

 

[Fishy888]

Without an ato, I would agree. I shoot for 1.026 on the reef. I think the inhabitants, look better generally

Funny you should mention an ATO, a friend of ours (Kathy’s and mine) is coming today. She has three tanks that are 5 to 10 gallons that she’s getting rid of and she’s bringing them today. Kathy wants a 5 gallon tank and I’m getting the other two. I’ve been wanting an ATO for a while and now I’ve got a good excuse to get it done. I’m going to look at the different ATO kits out there and figure out which one I even want.

 

[Fishy888]

So far the nem still looks good. It has a slight gape still but as long as things are kept stable the gape should go away. I just need to watch salinity like a hawk.

I couldn’t get a picture of the mouth area because the nem has its tentacles obscuring the mouth. I’ll get a good shot of it later,

Unfortunately Kathy and our friend weren’t able to get together today after all. We do have errands to run not far from where our friend lives though including a doctor’s appointment on the second. I’ll be able to pick up the tanks then.

There’s also a seafood store I’m going to check out while we’re out that way. I’m looking for any seafood that’s not already in my DIY frozen food.

My corals look great today. They’re probably glad I got the salinity down too. The fish and inverts look great too.

I haven’t seen my emerald crab since the day after I put it in my system. I wouldn’t count it out yet though. I know they like to stay hidden especially when molting. I also know that my peppermint shrimp hid for over a month. I thought they were dead but one day I fed the tank my DIY frozen food and they came right out.

 

[Fishy888]

I brought the salinity down some more. It’s just north of 1.025 SG now. It still has a small gape on average. That is to say it’s gape ranges from the size of a pinhole to half the size of a dime. My camera has a problem resolving it accurately. The bright white center makes it look like a much bigger gape than it really is. I’ll try to get a photo of it but the tentacles often block the area. I’ll try to get a video while the lights are out.

My corals are still doing awesome. I’ll have to get the mushrooms into a bit more shade. They’re growing still, especially the baby mushrooms.

The larger shrooms still don’t extend as far as I’d like. Whatever I do the rock they’re on needs to stay in the position it’s in. I need to shade the mushrooms in a way that doesn’t mess with the GSP they share said rock with.

The GSP died back quite a bit but it has since started growing back fairly quickly and I want them to keep growing. incidentally they started growing back when I got the halide light. I also repositioned the rock they’re on to get the mushrooms out of direct light. That had the added benefit of getting the GSP into higher PAR. I discovered that the GSP used to take up a quarter of the rock because I saw signs of it’s old mat. Those parts died off before the rock ever left the LFS. I’m trying to get it to grow back into those areas.

A near term goal of mine is to get a bit of color in my reef. My system obviously isn’t ready for SPS yet but LPS is another story. Of course if the right soft corals came along I’d entertain the idea of adding more. Right now I’m looking for those sky blue mushrooms. In LPS I’m looking for micromussas, trumpet coral, maybe even sun coral. I had sun coral once. They’re quite hardy if well fed.

 

[Fishy888]

Since I’m still awake I just took a video of the anemone with only the light from my phone. I then used an app to extract the frame I wanted which shows the extent of the gape as it is currently.

I also extracted two frames from a video I took on Valentine’s Day that together show the extent of the gape at that time. They’re my before shots.

Here’s the picture I just took.

Although it’s a dark picture it shows the extent of the gape as of just a little bit ago without the glare. The next picture was from yesterday afternoon. It’s easier to get an idea of the extent of the gape in the brighter picture after looking at the darker picture first

I’m so relieved that things are trending in the right direction. Yes the nem looks much better with an almost closed mouth but I need to keep things as stable as possible. Getting an ATO and a test kit for ALK are tied for priority number one.

I’ll be using a 10 gallon tank as my ATO reservoir. There’s plenty of room for it under the stand next to the sump.

I started looking at ATO kits yesterday. I’m not sure how to proceed yet. There are kits as low as $50 but they’re cheaply made. I want to top my system off, not the floor. There are units that seem well made but they’re $200 and up. I’ve seen some kits for $90 also. I’m not sure which kit provides the best bang for the buck. Soooo what kits did you get? How well are they working and how long have they lasted you so far?

Of course I know what an ATO does and the basics of how they work. I’m looking for a kit with decently made components that won’t stop working after a week if you know what I mean. I’m willing to spend in the neighborhood of $100 for a kit. WiFi would be nice but I may have to do without it. I’m going to research this further and hopefully figure out which kit I want.

 

[Mschmidt]

I use the reefbreeders ATO. SO far I like it, been working for about a month or two.
what I like: easy to set up/use, seems reliable, out of the box with everything you need, clear instructions, really powerful pump for it's size.

what might could be better: light may mess with the refraction so adding a fuge may mess with it, no auto shut-off when it runs dry (gets noisy and squeals though)

 

[tbrown]

Since I’m still awake I just took a video of the anemone with only the light from my phone. I then used an app to extract the frame I wanted which shows the extent of the gape as it is currently.

I also extracted two frames from a video I took on Valentine’s Day that together show the extent of the gape at that time. They’re my before shots.

Here’s the picture I just took.

Although it’s a dark picture it shows the extent of the gape as of just a little bit ago without the glare. The next picture was from yesterday afternoon. It’s easier to get an idea of the extent of the gape in the brighter picture after looking at the darker picture first

I’m so relieved that things are trending in the right direction. Yes the nem looks much better with an almost closed mouth but I need to keep things as stable as possible. Getting an ATO and a test kit for ALK are tied for priority number one.

I’ll be using a 10 gallon tank as my ATO reservoir. There’s plenty of room for it under the stand next to the sump.

I started looking at ATO kits yesterday. I’m not sure how to proceed yet. There are kits as low as $50 but they’re cheaply made. I want to top my system off, not the floor. There are units that seem well made but they’re $200 and up. I’ve seen some kits for $90 also. I’m not sure which kit provides the best bang for the buck. Soooo what kits did you get? How well are they working and how long have they lasted you so far?

Of course I know what an ATO does and the basics of how they work. I’m looking for a kit with decently made components that won’t stop working after a week if you know what I mean. I’m willing to spend in the neighborhood of $100 for a kit. WiFi would be nice but I may have to do without it. I’m going to research this further and hopefully figure out which kit I want.

Just an idea for temporary... I use a 5 gallon bucket for my ATO. Not pretty or ideal but it's just until I finish move ng everything around (gun safe is coming over here when the 75 is gone). It works well. I only go through about 1-1.5 gallons each day.

 

[Mschmidt]

I like Tim use a bucket as a reservoir. If I still have water made and the bucket it full, I just put it in the tank. not sure a gallon into 140ish will hurt that much.

 

[Fishy888]

I like Tim use a bucket as a reservoir. If I still have water made and the bucket it full, I just put it in the tank. not sure a gallon into 140ish will hurt that much.

I have about 120 gallons of total system volume. I go through a good 2+ gallons a day of evaporation. If I wasn’t getting three 5 to 10 gallon tanks for free from a friend (who hasn’t kept fish for years and is downsizing); I’d probably use a bucket as a reservoir too.

 

[Mschmidt]

I have about 120 gallons of total system volume. I go through a good 2+ gallons a day of evaporation. If I wasn’t getting three 5 to 10 gallon tanks for free from a friend (who hasn’t kept fish for years and is downsizing); I’d probably use a bucket as a reservoir too.

If I could fit a 10 in the space, I'd use that, but I can't. may make one that fits better than the bucket.

 

[tbrown]

I have about 120 gallons of total system volume. I go through a good 2+ gallons a day of evaporation. If I wasn’t getting three 5 to 10 gallon tanks for free from a friend (who hasn’t kept fish for years and is downsizing); I’d probably use a bucket as a reservoir too.

I've got fish tanks all over the place. I use a bucket because it's convenient and available. I'll be upgrading to a 15 or 20 once I get the 75 tore down and moved out.

Total system volume for me is about 150 so we're comparable there, why do you have so much evaporation? I live in the desert.

 

[Fishy888]

Just an idea for temporary... I use a 5 gallon bucket for my ATO. Not pretty or ideal but it's just until I finish move ng everything around (gun safe is coming over here when the 75 is gone). It works well. I only go through about 1-1.5 gallons each day.

Sounds good. I’m getting three 5 to 10 gallon tanks for free from a friend who’s downsizing. I would use a bucket though if I wasn’t getting the tanks. One will be for the reservoir, one will be for culturing various creatures such as bristle worms, asterinas, limpets if I can find them again, and whatever others I can’t think of currently. I really want a yellow coris wrasse but I want my micro life too.