RuralReef 2.1

[BlueAbyss]

Well it won't be so bad now... I have a decent collection going, so if all goes well and they grow well I'll end up having to frag some, at which point I'll likely be able to offload some locally, since by then a bunch of people will have seen my awesome tank and will want some corals of their own

Yes I have it all planned out. No I don't think this hobby can be self supporting (if you live anywhere near an LFS) but I'll sure try to make it pay for itself

[BlueAbyss]

Today the open brain ate some mysis and was very puffy... it's amazing how big these guys can expand, and I don't think it was expanded as far as it could either. It has a fair amount more red on it when extended like that also... I'll try and grab a pic tomorrow if it looks good again.

The orange zoas still haven't opened and I thought that the green palys looked a little bleached from being so close to the light, so I moved both of them into darker areas. The orange/blue/green zoa frag and the green mushroom moved for aesthetic reasons.

Both fish were visible today, so I think I'll start seeing more of both of them.

[BlueAbyss]

Brain ate lots of mysis! As did the firefish (which today is out and about) and I think I caught the goby with some in his mouth too.

Even if all the polyps stay brown (and the orange zoas never open) I'm extremely happy with my tank. Everything I bought seems to be doing well (though the first week isn't over) and my tank looks great.

I have a FTS with both fish in view that I'll upload later.

[BlueAbyss]

Everyone loves fishes!

FTS with fishes:


Fishes together... this takes a lot of effort but seems to be worth it, this is my favourite shot of the day.


A few more...



They swim together a lot. No aggression, the Hector's Goby seems to act as a dither fish for the firefish.


Apollo by himself...


And Toby sifting sand...

Enjoy the pics, I enjoyed taking them

[Canuckgod420]

Tanks looking good
I can see some real potential in those zoos.
And I love that open brain, great colour.

[BlueAbyss]

Thanks man, I'm renaming this project since it doesn't look too Ghetto anymore. Needs something more appropriate.

Which zoas are you talking about, the small brown ones with the red ring on the purple rock? Or the large pink streaked ones (that I thought were actually Palys, but the polyps aren't connected)? Those pink ones are probably going to be amazing in a month or so, I'm not sure about the brown ones (though there are some tentacley green ones near the top of that rock that will look pretty cool once colored up), they might actually be brown. Time will tell, I'm really happy with it right now and it can only get better, right?

I keep thinking I need to take my rocks out and scrub them, but I like the turf covering the rocks, it means the rocks are soft and won't damage fishes, and it is helping to make the Hector's Goby fat. I've noticed that the Purple Firefish looks full all the time also, even hours after feeding time... I think he may be eating free floating pods, as he seems to be picking them off the glass as well. The firefish has staked a territory under the arch from 'Phase One' (as I'm calling the original rockscape), which allows him access to the overhang on the left hand side of the large rock from that scape. He gets pushy with the goby at the front entrance, but is otherwise unaggressive (except for some occasional posturing). Brain coral ate a bunch again today but might be bleaching a little, I'll be keeping an eye on the 'bleached spots' to see for sure... In the mean time, here's a pic for you Canuck (since you like the open brain ...


Mmm tentacles

[Canuckgod420]

Thats a sweet brain....I dont see any bleaching of colour, mind you I'm certainly no expert on LPS.

[BlueAbyss]

You can't really see it well in the pic, but there were a few yellowing spots on the uppermost parts of the coral. They got progressively yellower over the next 3 days, so I moved him. He now resides very close to the glass on the far left corner... fully expanded and looking hungry today, I'm glad because three rocks fell on him when I rescaped.

FTS... I scrubbed and smashed the Florida rock because I was tired of looking at brown fur. Looks much cleaner, hopefully the rocks turn green and purple now rather than going brown, I think the brown was dead stuff from the Bryopsis days.


The firefish is pretty aggressive for an unaggressive fish He keeps the goby in line but doesn't seem to do more than take a run at him once in a while. If I add any more fish to this tank it will have to be something that can hold it's own when coming into a tank of established territories. Goby has a little round belly so I know he's getting enough food... the firefish has cleared the water column of any swimming beings and always looks full.

The orange zoas are likely done for, I fragged the colony so I could try putting a few in different places. One polyp may survive, it looks sort of half open. Everything else looks good, I'd say my shopping was a success!

Thanks so much, everyone that helped me out in the stores, Thanks Red Coral, Elite, and Gold!

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

The orange zoas are likely done for, I fragged the colony so I could try putting a few in different places. One polyp may survive, it looks sort of half open. !

Zoas can be moody. For no reason they look like death's door and after a few days they look as fine as ever.

[BlueAbyss]

Grrr, just when thing are going great... and also, just when you think they're over for good...

So I lost both zoa frags behind the rockwork since they aren't glued down (I'll be tracking some sort of glue down this weekend). This necessitated moving the rocks to retrieve them... and then I couldn't make the rocks fit the same, so I needed to rescape.


I like this the best yet and everything is more stable than before. The frags reside on the front sandbed for the moment. Green palys are putting on another bud, everyone is eating well and looking good (the open brain eats greedily every day and doesn't seem to be regurgitating at night, score! ). Things looked so good after cleaning the glass (and missing a spot) and the water change that I decided that I will be doing more frequent water changes... the old water was slightly yellow, probably since I feed relatively heavily for a 10 gallon. Things looked so good, though, that I decided to make a FTS video.

Oh yeah I keep forgetting... the orange zoas are recovering and at least one polyp from each frag is opening now.