Two Tanked too Enjoy It...

[MECOMI]

I’m baaaaack! Hello my fellow Reefers I hope all is well.

A little glare on the reef does not bother me much in person. It DOES drive me crazy when it comes to pictures. Sharing these can be a little frustrating but hey, #tanklife

I have soooo many pictures of the trench as most of the critters just love the formation. Working with future aquascapes I will keep this in mind as I believe making several in a tank would be very cool.

The coral growth so far in the tank (besides the acans ) is a joy to see, the pavona is just starting to reach the rock,

Is that yet another split I see

Some fish in the reef are so memorable even the 5 year old niece and nephew look out for it when they come over for a visit. I just love Blennies. Great personality, weird/unique looks, and always tend to follow you around the tank. Losing my initial Starry to bullying was devastating so getting another algae blenny took some serious convincing. Once I saw this little guy in the store I couldn’t resist.

Say hello to Gizmo, the not so Black Sailfin Blenny (Atrosalarias fuscus),

Remember when new to the reef it is good to give the ‘bosses’ of the tank a little extra room. Let’s play find the Blenny,

Secret Sex Lips incoming,

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Having multiple anemone in a tank seemed easy enough, but finding healthy specimens turned out to be trouble. My first two (Rose and Green bubble tips) were fairly bleached when I bought them, so they were more of a rescue. The Rose held on for a while but slowly dissolved into the ecosystem, the green flourished and colored up ever so slowly with a bouncing clownfish, Fred, finding his own home outside of Wilma’s rainbow road.

I am happy Fred found a home. At this stage of the clownfish development Wilma was beating the crap out of Fred on the daily so separate homes was a must.

Hmm Speaking of rainbows…

And a closeup,

Coral growth makes me happy,

The very tiny zoa/paly frags with just one to three polyps each are finally starting to fill out. When setting up the aquascape I felt using loose rubble would be the best route for the island. This would allow for easy fragging in the future and if I ever want to make a change. What I did not realize ahead of time, was the toll the animals in the reef would have on this type of island. The snails like to push the rocks apart which causes them to be too far apart for the zoa to grow onto or they push it closer to the glass. Then there are the excavator’s, a tiger pistol shrimp, and a golden head sleeper goby. These two have no problem adding sand to my island which the zoa do not appreciate.

If I were to do it again, which one day I may, I would at least lift the rubble out of the sand bed in some sort of bowl shape to help hold everything together.

Actually, that’s not a bad idea…

Fluffy rock-flowers,

My chicken and I were hanging out together on a warm spring day. Ophelia a Lavender Orpington hen would not stop bawking about posting more about them in my blog. Explaining to her about it being focused on my reef did not deter her. She stared blankly after I pleaded my case, I gave in….

Say hello to Ophelia everyone, #Chickentax

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Happy hump day my reefer amigos!

As the RSM matures beyond the one year mark, it is demonstrating both positive and negative changes that are worth monitoring. I have had excellent overall fish health since the first addition of the Tomini Tang, mostly happy anemone and a few growing coral. There is also trouble afoot, i have some corals starting to bleach and/or have some form of slow tissue necrosis that i have been monitoring.

For now, i am going to avoid diving into fixes. Everything else is still growing so lets demonstrate some patience and just enjoy the reef.

Always curious,

Overall for a cell phone camera i dont mind the picture quality, color balance is always a little off and if the Yellow Tang is in frame it will always focus on it.

Late night fish-eye lens,

I have tried and failed to start any type of school in the RSM. My first attempt was adding four Striped Blenny's. I really liked their schooling behavior at the LFS and thought they would continue that way in a bigger tank. Instead the two dominant ones chased the other two out of the tank and were never seen again. As a note to self, anemone are a pretty amazing clean up crew.

Introducing, The Fang's...

Oh, well hello Blue Cheeks,

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Okay, ok, I get it. All the fans of the Two Tanked journey are tired of just hearing about the Red Sea Max and are demanding the Biocube gets its moment in the sun . Well good news everyone, here it is in all its algae!

The algae continues to thrive, which I believe is Bryopsis. All the scrubbing, picking, Flux, black outs, blue outs, nutrient management, refugiums, and even the animals that supposedly eat algae barely touch it. The urchins just hang on the back wall eating my coralline algae and leaving the rest alone . I have had some success with Flux but the algae returned shortly after its run. Once I attempted to run flux multiple times in a row it was not nearly as effective, so I moved on. I even attempted turning this into a Macro Algae tank, hence the addition of the Culerpa. Unbelievably, the Bryopsis just laughed at this attempt, grew right over the culerpa, and choked it right out of the tank. Just wild…

On the positive side the water remains crystal clear and the biocube glass is holding up well. The fish, inverts, gorgonian, and new leather coral are still happily going about their day. I even felt good enough about the overall setup that I added a newcomer. This is one of the cutest little fish I have had in the tank, say hello to the new Court Jester Goby.

Are all of you happy now? You bunch of hooligans .

And for the Red Sea fans I have a quick update for you folks too.

“Oh hi Fred, and Wilma”

I found a new gorgonian coral at the LFS this week. Not sure on the exact genus but it looks like a cactus, which was enough for me.

After a couple day acclimation period I moved it to the rocks. This placement has always cracked me up. I thought it would be so cool to place it on the top of the live rock, and across from the original gorgonian. Once I got done gluing, I stepped back to view the placement. I gave the rock bunny ears…doh.

Even with this being an awkward placement I know it will be a scene, and future swim through so I left things as is. Oh the joys of coral placement!

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

A fishing story,

When I moved to Maine to be closer to family, I started getting invites to the boy’s Fish Club. This is not quite as prestigious as it sounds as there is only three members including myself . In the beginning we started out on the lakes, Sebago, Long Lake, and Little Sebago. Most of our trips we did exactly what inexperience fisherman do, catch nothing. As discouraging as this was, we just changed the club’s name to Cast Club and kept fishing.

I always appreciated the club as it is a great bonding experience with a couple brother in-laws I was still getting to know. Being trapped on a boat makes this an easy proposition. Add in some lack of sleep, adult beverages, afternoon sun, and open water and suddenly we all start talking like Podcast hosts with a farmer’s tan.

As the years rolled on our equipment started to improve, including things like my own poll and even a new boat (sadly/happily not my own). Finally, we started catching fish on the lakes, a beautiful minnow that was promptly tossed back, yay!

With the new boat came a bigger opportunity, fishing in Casco Bay. After transforming the club back to Fish Club with the big catch of the minnow, we started hunting for bigger game. We dropped in the boat, dropped in the lines, and within minutes we caught a beautiful Striper. A respectable 18-20” beauty caught and released. These remain the only two fish we have caught during Fish Club but hey, at least we’re getting somewhere!

To coincide with this catch. I started noticing some concerning changes in the RSM S500, my coral is demonstrating STN. After having consistent growth from my SPS corals it appears something is going haywire. The tank has been running for a little over a year, so it’s time for a deep dive. Which I will discuss in detail in my next post.

So, let’s discuss the lore or the myth that fishing can directly result in rough times for our tanks, as the trouble coincides with our big catch. Reading through blogs I have come across people tying these two things together. A successful day out fishing, could mean disaster for our reef. Great news, I believe this is merely a coincidence. The problem has been there hidden from view and whatever is happening in this ecosystem has been happening for a while, the problem did not magically appear because we finally caught a couple fish.

We are always looking for something or someone else to blame. When we know it is our own darn fault.

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[OrchidMiss]

Having multiple anemone in a tank seemed easy enough, but finding healthy specimens turned out to be trouble. My first two (Rose and Green bubble tips) were fairly bleached when I bought them, so they were more of a rescue. The Rose held on for a while but slowly dissolved into the ecosystem, the green flourished and colored up ever so slowly with a bouncing clownfish, Fred, finding his own home outside of Wilma’s rainbow road.

I am happy Fred found a home. At this stage of the clownfish development Wilma was beating the crap out of Fred on the daily so separate homes was a must.

Hmm Speaking of rainbows…

And a closeup,

Coral growth makes me happy,

The very tiny zoa/paly frags with just one to three polyps each are finally starting to fill out. When setting up the aquascape I felt using loose rubble would be the best route for the island. This would allow for easy fragging in the future and if I ever want to make a change. What I did not realize ahead of time, was the toll the animals in the reef would have on this type of island. The snails like to push the rocks apart which causes them to be too far apart for the zoa to grow onto or they push it closer to the glass. Then there are the excavator’s, a tiger pistol shrimp, and a golden head sleeper goby. These two have no problem adding sand to my island which the zoa do not appreciate.

If I were to do it again, which one day I may, I would at least lift the rubble out of the sand bed in some sort of bowl shape to help hold everything together.

Actually, that’s not a bad idea…

Fluffy rock-flowers,

My chicken and I were hanging out together on a warm spring day. Ophelia a Lavender Orpington hen would not stop bawking about posting more about them in my blog. Explaining to her about it being focused on my reef did not deter her. She stared blankly after I pleaded my case, I gave in….

Say hello to Ophelia everyone, #Chickentax

Later days,

B-Kind

Thelma and Barbara say hi, Ophelia!
Beware of chicken math, it's kinda like tank math.
There's really only 2 chickens in that entire photo

 

[MECOMI]

Thelma and Barbara say hi, Ophelia!
Beware of chicken math, it's kinda like tank math.
There's really only 2 chickens in that entire photo

Oh definitely just 2 chickens... and hello Thelma and Barbara ::wave::

The ladies look great and have an awesome looking comb and wattle! I never thought i would own chickens, and now i just love watching them bawk around....

My yard dinosaurs,

Thank you for stopping by

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Handling trouble in my reef is a private affair and I avoid asking for help, especially when it comes to my hobbies. ‘I got myself into this mess, it’s time to work my way out.’

After my Elegance started to fall apart, I thought it was elegance coral syndrome (ECS). I researched the disease and attempted my first freshwater dip. The dip appeared to slow the disease down but ultimately it fell apart. Around the same time my Lobo started to fall apart and quickly disintegrate into nothing. Both corals were on the sand bed, and both were LPS, so I started looking at my lights. My research was extensive when I came up with the AB+ schedule but my confidence was waning.

I am still running the AI Hydra 24HD with the AB+ schedule reduced about 40%. I had some concerns, since the beginning that this may be too high for the light height of about 10”. Time for a PAR meter rental.

The PAR meter was a nice tool for peace of mind. After I tested way too many plot points, I knew exactly what I had going. My fear of the light being too high was incorrect and my overall readings were about dead on. I even had a little room to increase the intensity, but I made no changes, for now. Maybe it's just new tank syndrome, maybe it was not ready for LPS. I left everything alone…Until…


When the wife helps!! Thanks Beautiful,


My SPS started showing STN after growing fine for 6 months. Now I am reviewing everything. Time for an ICP test. I have done a much better job testing the water chemistry of the RSM. All the major elements maintained good balance with the All-for-Reef and Carbo-Calcium, but I was unsure about trace elements. The ICP test came in annnnnnddd…… Nothing concerning, Hmm . A couple trace elements a little high due to the All-for-Reef dosing and Iodine a little low which is easily corrected (may or may not be the cause of my refugium woes). Back to the drawing board.

My goal since starting this tank was to maintain a no water change system, and according to the ICP test and PAR meter readings this was on track. My troubleshooting continued and I moved onto the flow. For Red Sea Max S500 there are three circulation pumps in the rear chamber and one return. I am not so concerned about the overall amount of GPH but how the flow is directed. The four nozzles are all pointed right at the glass, full on 24/7. I researched everything from adding flow with a wavemaker, gyre, stronger return (current Sicce Syncra 5.0) and ultimately decided on Vivid Creative Aquatics random flow generator. I really like what these did for the Biocube and is a relatively inexpensive option to add random flow. And after seeing several successful RSM tanks with this setup, this was an easy choice. After a few variations, I had a flow that I was happy with.

The random flow created some interesting movement, but I still had trouble. Now I am deep diving for an R2R blog that is demonstrating the same trouble. And sure enough I found what I needed, carbon dosing. I found a fellow reefer who was having the exact same trouble. The problem laid out was nearly identical. Failing coral, failing anemone health, and mini crashes. Which he was able to fix with carbon dosing. I bought all the same product, adjusted the dosage for my water volume and dove in.

For another three months the coral seemed to be happy. I even went to my first show, Mid-Coast Maine Coral Frag Swap hosted by Corals Unlimited in Topsham Maine (Mad Hatter's Reef). I got to chat with some very nice vendors, spent over my budget, and was just excited with the splash of color incoming. If you get a chance there is another event coming this October 15th. Check it out and support local growers!

Little did I know that two months later I had my first crash. Lost almost all the corals I purchased, lost three different anemone (rock flower, Black Widow BTA, and my Green BTA), had polyp bailout on some very happy Frogspawn/Acan/Galaxea/Hydnophora, and the refugium crashed again.

The horror .

To be continued....

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Handling trouble in my reef is a private affair and I avoid asking for help, especially when it comes to my hobbies. ‘I got myself into this mess, it’s time to work my way out.’

After my Elegance started to fall apart, I thought it was elegance coral syndrome (ECS). I researched the disease and attempted my first freshwater dip. The dip appeared to slow the disease down but ultimately it fell apart. Around the same time my Lobo started to fall apart and quickly disintegrate into nothing. Both corals were on the sand bed, and both were LPS, so I started looking at my lights. My research was extensive when I came up with the AB+ schedule but my confidence was waning.

I am still running the AI Hydra 24HD with the AB+ schedule reduced about 40%. I had some concerns, since the beginning that this may be too high for the light height of about 10”. Time for a PAR meter rental.

The PAR meter was a nice tool for peace of mind. After I tested way too many plot points, I knew exactly what I had going. My fear of the light being too high was incorrect and my overall readings were about dead on. I even had a little room to increase the intensity, but I made no changes, for now. Maybe it's just new tank syndrome, maybe it was not ready for LPS. I left everything alone…Until…


When the wife helps!! Thanks Beautiful,


My SPS started showing STN after growing fine for 6 months. Now I am reviewing everything. Time for an ICP test. I have done a much better job testing the water chemistry of the RSM. All the major elements maintained good balance with the All-for-Reef and Carbo-Calcium, but I was unsure about trace elements. The ICP test came in annnnnnddd…… Nothing concerning, Hmm . A couple trace elements a little high due to the All-for-Reef dosing and Iodine a little low which is easily corrected (may or may not be the cause of my refugium woes). Back to the drawing board.

My goal since starting this tank was to maintain a no water change system, and according to the ICP test and PAR meter readings this was on track. My troubleshooting continued and I moved onto the flow. For Red Sea Max S500 there are three circulation pumps in the rear chamber and one return. I am not so concerned about the overall amount of GPH but how the flow is directed. The four nozzles are all pointed right at the glass, full on 24/7. I researched everything from adding flow with a wavemaker, gyre, stronger return (current Sicce Syncra 5.0) and ultimately decided on Vivid Creative Aquatics random flow generator. I really like what these did for the Biocube and is a relatively inexpensive option to add random flow. And after seeing several successful RSM tanks with this setup, this was an easy choice. After a few variations, I had a flow that I was happy with.

The random flow created some interesting movement, but I still had trouble. Now I am deep diving for an R2R blog that is demonstrating the same trouble. And sure enough I found what I needed, carbon dosing. I found a fellow reefer who was having the exact same trouble. The problem laid out was nearly identical. Failing coral, failing anemone health, and mini crashes. Which he was able to fix with carbon dosing. I bought all the same product, adjusted the dosage for my water volume and dove in.

For another three months the coral seemed to be happy. I even went to my first show, Mid-Coast Maine Coral Frag Swap hosted by Corals Unlimited in Topsham Maine (Mad Hatter's Reef). I got to chat with some very nice vendors, spent over my budget, and was just excited with the splash of color incoming. If you get a chance there is another event coming this October 15th. Check it out and support local growers!

Little did I know that two months later I had my first crash. Lost almost all the corals I purchased, lost three different anemone (rock flower, Black Widow BTA, and my Green BTA), had polyp bailout on some very happy Frogspawn/Acan/Galaxea/Hydnophora, and the refugium crashed again.

The horror .

To be continued....

B-Kind

And now, the stunning conclusion...

Time to reset my approach.

Water changes will now be done weekly at 10 gallons for the RSM. To save money I dropped the Red Sea Blue bucket salt for standard Instant Ocean. I have read enough testimonials to feel comfortable about this change and the major elements line up well with what I am running. I also want this stored in my 44-gallon brute mixing station for up to a month.

The lighting is adjusted out of the AB+ spectrum to the recommended Bulk Reef Supply spectrum, with a couple modifications of my own. I will run the lights for 13 hours with just under a 5-hour peak. This will be my new setting and I have left it alone since.

Carbon will only be run for water clarity and any pollutant concerns.

That’s it! Water changes, corrected lighting, and as needed Rox Carbon in a mesh bag.

Time will tell!

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

The mini crash took more from me then i would have hoped. But just like anything in life the worst moments open the door to new beginnings.

My Monti bleached, the black widow and green BTA shrunk to nothing, and my favorite rock flower released and got buried in the pistol shrimps home. One galaxea was lost completley well the other was down to just a few heads. The acan, big and beautiful shrunk down to just three or four polyps. The more sensitve zoa were gone and the tank lost so much color.

There appears to be a big blue light at the end of the tunnel. Once i started water changes everything started to change. The polyps were out instead of retracted, the coraline started to spread, and the color slowly returned. What surprised me the most was the resilience of the animals. And everything started to grow.

My husbandry became easier after the change. Gone is the regular testing, no more regular dosing of anything but Carbo-Calcium or All-for-Reef, the water changes only take me 45 minutes between both tanks, the overall cost has dropped to just food/water/animals, and we have all fallen into a much needed relaxed flow.

My trench has always been a focal point but now im not even sure i can call it a trench. The wife staring wildly at the growth of the rainbow nems, "What once was a trench, has become Anemone Row.."

And boy oh boy are they happy,

And the zoa garden has got its groove back,

'Geez Blue Cheeks, can you please stop dropping sand all over my rock flowers....gosh'

Night time vibes!!

Let the good times roll.

With the RSM settled in its time the biocube takes the forefront. My battle against the bryopsis is at a breaking point...Who will win the battle?

Next time on Two Tanked too Enjoy it, Biocube Vs. MECOMI.

Stay Tuned,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Talk about one challenging type of algae. Bryopsis has taken hold of the Biocube. The closest I came to a resolve was just picking it out by hand and running flux. After the first round of flux the algae looked almost defeated. After the second round of flux sometime later it didn’t even touch the algae, but it did seriously start to hurt my flora and fauna.

I gave in and let it take over, just hoping and begging for it one day to magically go away. All the begging in the world could not stop it.

Just yikes…

Even though I gave into the algae does not mean I gave up on the tank. I continued my 3 to 5 gallon water changes a week. Managed the elements better, manually dosing All-For-Reef or Carbo Calcium. Cleaned the glass and vacuum the sand bed as needed. I also ran a combination of GFO, PhosGaurd, and carbon as needed. Still no change.

I have learned over my experiences with the Biocube to take things slow. The problem took some time to arrive and is taking its sweet time to resolve. My last step in the fight was the one I was dreading the most. Taking everything out and scrubbing every rock with Hydrogen Peroxide. I bought the H2o2, spray bottle, firm toothbrushes, grabbed an empty Styrofoam container, and got to work.

Pulling out the rock was intimidating. The rock was never glued down and there are a lot of small to medium size pieces so I could get creative with the aquascape. Little did I know that having some big pieces with just a couple small would have been helpful for a situation like this. Live and learn! I ultimately decided to complete the process in sections. The first round was a ton of work so this was my only choice.

Progress!

After the first round I noticed no changes from my fish or inverts. Everyone was still in good spirits and no ill effects. A couple days later I completed round two.

After a couple more weeks monitoring the tank, everything is still thriving. I completely removed all the rock at once. Sprayed them with a stronger solution and scrubbed my heart out. With all the rock out of the tank I decided to setup two structures this time, creating a new trench run for my fish.

Oh and due to my anemone explosion in the RSM S500, I moved one of the RBTA’s over to the Biocube to give the clownfish a new home (they were hosting the algae that I so rudely removed).

The fight with the algae is far from over and I will need to repeat this process several times. I will keep rolling with the punches and at least there is progress being made.

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Hello reefer amigo's. Let the Two Tanked journey continue!

The RSM S500 continues to go through the final stages of the crash on it's timeline. I may have laid out the crash in a tidy fashion here on my blog but in reality nothing happened quickly. So let's enjoy some of the last hurrah of my Acro's and Frogspawn.

Anyone happen to know what type these are? I really want to try the teal one at the peak again.

Aaugh! I loved this frogspawn.

At our local coral meetup i bought this off a vendor for $35 and it had three healthy heads...Lets just say, i will not be finding that kinda deal very often.

Welcome to the red room, tank room, front room, aquarium, or den! The waters warm and the drinks are cold.

Anyone else here attempt to do a diverse zoa/paly garden and end up with one dominant species (also least colorful) ? Oh, hi Thing One (Warpaint Clown Goby)...

And now a short series - my camera phone can only focus on one thing...and its a bright Yellow Tang named Sam.

Sam with Wilma, my monster Clarkii clown,

Be careful near Anemone Row Sam... Wilma and Fred are always watching

Pretty amazing they can aquaculture fish like this,

How many anemone do i have? I may have lost count,

And finally we have Falcor, keeping a close eye on his garden

Have a good day fellow reefers!

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Checking in with local correspondent, Mr. Crabs, on the latest report from the RSM S500. “Excuse me Mr. Crabs, how is the tank today?”

“The water is clear, the temp is a consistent 78 degrees, and the algae has a solid seaweed finish.”

With the overall water recovery well on its way, I have been feeling good about the direction of the tank. There has been no further polyp bailout and bleaching. The coral is even starting to grow. Time to back up the newfound confidence in the tank with a new animal.

Happy as an aquacultured Tridacna derasa clam!

For a quick break from your regular scheduled program. I did sneak a coral into the Biocube and glued it to the back wall. I have some algae issues still, but the overall health of the tank has been maintained so I figured another piece of GSP couldn’t hurt too much.

Speaking of recovering corals. The RSM S500 has a lone Galaxea coral right in the front/bottom of the aquascape. This little guy nearly lost all its base during the crash. Some nice base growth is starting to register back over the naked skeleton. A much-needed positive sign towards bigger things!

The color is really starting to come through and the coralline algae almost has the entire tank covered. ‘Please stay off the glass…. ’

Right side…

FTS…

The clam is really settling in nicely, I think I can take its original base out now…

So close to catching a nice photo of the Christmas Wrasse, fast little guy!

Another attempt at catching Christmas, still not the best shot but at least you can see the iridescence.

Wilma and Fred love their anemone row. ‘You’re welcome…now, can you please ask them to stop splitting. Thanks!’

The Two Tanked journey will continue. Later days!

B-Kind

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Checking in with local correspondent, Mr. Crabs, on the latest report from the RSM S500. “Excuse me Mr. Crabs, how is the tank today?”

“The water is clear, the temp is a consistent 78 degrees, and the algae has a solid seaweed finish.”

With the overall water recovery well on its way, I have been feeling good about the direction of the tank. There has been no further polyp bailout and bleaching. The coral is even starting to grow. Time to back up the newfound confidence in the tank with a new animal.

Happy as an aquacultured Tridacna derasa clam!

For a quick break from your regular scheduled program. I did sneak a coral into the Biocube and glued it to the back wall. I have some algae issues still, but the overall health of the tank has been maintained so I figured another piece of GSP couldn’t hurt too much.

Speaking of recovering corals. The RSM S500 has a lone Galaxea coral right in the front/bottom of the aquascape. This little guy nearly lost all its base during the crash. Some nice base growth is starting to register back over the naked skeleton. A much-needed positive sign towards bigger things!

The color is really starting to come through and the coralline algae almost has the entire tank covered. ‘Please stay off the glass…. ’

Right side…

FTS…

The clam is really settling in nicely, I think I can take its original base out now…

So close to catching a nice photo of the Christmas Wrasse, fast little guy!

Another attempt at catching Christmas, still not the best shot but at least you can see the iridescence.

Wilma and Fred love their anemone row. ‘You’re welcome…now, can you please ask them to stop splitting. Thanks!’

The Two Tanked journey will continue. Later days!

B-Kind

Love seeing the update photos!

 

[MECOMI]

Love seeing the update photos!

Thank you @Gumbies R Us for stopping by! It has been absolutely awesome to see the tank thrive!

Sincerely,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Buying a sand sifter for my reef was always an appealing opportunity. Utility fish to take some of the workload seems like an easy choice but I was a little nervous due to the constant construction. What I did not realize was just how much joy I would get watching them work. Blue Cheeks, my Golden-Head Sleeper Goby is an excellent addition and one of the first talking points for any new onlookers. I have never syphoned my sand once since introducing this guy to the tank.

Coming home after an exhausting day at work I like to have a peek at the tank as I walk in and as soon as they see me, the begging begins. A couple fascinating behaviors by my fish, recognizing me versus anybody else and understanding routine. Neat

My new clam is a happy one. There is a constant growth line and the mantle almost seems to color up more the longer it is in the tank. I created a clam hammock long ago when I first setup the reef but due to my forever splitting RBTA it has been occupied since the clam was introduced. One day I finally took back possession by placing a rock in its hole till it moved on. So, enter the clam.

Now I know exactly what my clam keepers will say. “That is a Deresa Clam and a sand dweller…please move it back to the sand” My bad and great news! I found out just a couple days later the type of Clam I have (I forgot) and moved him back down. Phew, crisis averted It did look cool though.

You may have noticed the light diffuser acclimation box on the other side of the tank. I had the bright idea to move my recently displaced anemone to the homemade box, as I will be selling it to the LFS. The trap only worked for about an hour. Now I know that even medium to large anemone can fit through a ¼” hole…back to the drawing board.

‘I will not be contained…muhahahaha’ Anemone probably,

I have some exciting news to report about my Clowns, Fred and Wilma. After some chasing, seizure like talking, rock prep, snail/crab tossing, and a very fat Wilma, the Clowns have laid their first clutch of eggs. I am a proud Papa. I love how they protect their eggs with their lives, but as soon as they hatch, they are on their own. Nature is both beautiful and brutal.

Blue cheeks has little to no concern that it drops sand all over the tank. I tried to have a nice even sand bed of two inches across the entire tank but over a short period of time, he excavates it to his liking. For a few months when this first started happening I would even it out. Then after about a week he would have it all back in mounds. The clam gets sand dumped into its opening from time to time but the clam just ‘blows’ it back out, no harm no foul.

The only ‘trouble’ I have had with the constant excavating is when it is deposited on the Zoa Garden. The animals you buy should dictate some of your aquascaping decisions and to simply place the rubble on the sand in my case was a nice learning experience. I may decide to create a new rock structure for the garden to elevate it out of the sand but for now I will continue to enjoy the mistake.

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[MECOMI]

Time to dive back in after a long, interesting holiday season. How are all my fellow reefers today? My December was excellent overall, but a late holiday sickness had me drained going into the new year. This just in… being sick is dumb!

With the Red Sea Max S-500 going into autopilot I have enjoyed the relaxing side of the hobby. Gone is the concern and worry. Replaced by bliss, wonder, interest, and a ton of color

The water ripples and flows throughout the tank with beautiful fish swimming through. A flash of color, a dart through the rocks, a bladder free blenny relaxing on the scape with one eye on the water column, and dinky fish managing the reef from the safety of a leather coral. My two Wrasse catch each other in a mood. William flashes Christmas and they are off chasing each other till one is satisfied and they go their separate ways. While my tangs casually slap fins in a not so friendly gesture of, ‘please get out of my personal space…’

My nephew is just starting to appreciate the tank at 6 years old. He is starting to put together how the system works and is understanding the rarity of owning a small slice of the reef in your home. After years of staring at the display I had an opportunity to share the sump below. Now this held his interest . I showed him the massive number of pods, and bristle worms and his eyes lit up! Leaving the sump alone throughout the tanks run has caused a lot of detritus to pile up in some tight spaces against the glass. The bristle worms enjoy this, and my nephew loved watching their long winding trails which reminded him of an ant farm.

Seeing actual growth on my SPS, LPS, and softies puts a huge smile on my face. Suddenly there is a noticeable color difference. The fish can even swim around, between, and hide in the coral adding to the scape. I can happily confirm, I own a thriving mixed reef

Now the nem’s will be something to keep an eye on. These consistently splitting creatures need to be mitigated. When the splits stay in their trench they can stay put. If they start to walk into locations I don’t want them, I pull them out, place them in a strainer in one of the sump compartments, and sell/surrender them to the LFS. The splits have even started to make me a little money!!

Which I immediately use at the LFS!

Later days,

B-Kind

 

[kevgib67]

Sorry to hear you were sick, glad you’re feeling better. Tank looks great, Happy Healthy New Year!

 

[MECOMI]

Sorry to hear you were sick, glad you’re feeling better. Tank looks great, Happy Healthy New Year!

Thank you much @kevgib67 i had some nice down time with the pups so i wont complain much. I certainly love my lazy days, i just want my laziness to be on my own time lol. A happy and healthy New Year to you as well!

 

[MECOMI]

While owning a reef tank is all glamour and super models . Every once and a while the reef delivers the weird.

When starting the tank, I bought four of the felt Red Sea filter socks and two of the mesh socks. The felt socks were the initial work horse, and I would mix the mesh socks in. The felt socks always felt like a chore to clean. I could have trusted nearly every dependable source that told me to clean them in the washer with bleach, but I could not bring myself to do this. I didn’t trust my washer to have a low enough soap content left from other washes and was worried about polluting the tank. So, I would tirelessly rinse in warm high-pressure water, squeeze them out, and let dry in the sun.

After several months of doing this the socks never seemed to get as clean and eventually were getting clogged quicker than I liked. I switched to the mesh filter socks full time and never looked back. I still clean them the same way as the felt but the process is much faster and less labor intensive. I now have a total of five mesh filter socks that have lasted me almost the full three years the tank has been up and running. Red Sea Mesh Filter Sock for the win!

Back to the weird. For mechanical filtration you don’t expect to find much more than poop, waste, food remains, and a pod or two during cleaning. I remove the filters, replace them, and send the dirty ones up to the guest bathroom for cleaning. As an added step to keep the socks from drying out I usually soak them in fresh water. I tend to have a lazy factor when it comes to reefing so the filters could be soaking for several days.

Now I rarely to never take a moment to look into the filter bags. The overflow slats are thin, so I never imagined something sneaking through them. After a couple days soaking in fresh water, I felt it was time to get them out of the tub. As soon as I took them out of the water the stench was foul. After some initial rinsing I dumped out the contents and sure enough there is not one, but three bubble tip anemone splits disintegrating and oozing away…..Gross

You better believe I will at least peak in the bags or hold them up to the lights before sending them for a rinse. Because A; I would love to avoid killing anything in the tank, and B; I could have sold them to the LFS for some easy cash.

Lesson learned,

B-Kind