RuralReef 2.1

[lastlight]

love how you have the rock balanced. amano reef style!

[BlueAbyss]

Yeah I really like the crab. He's super cool and fun to watch. Nameless as yet, but I'm sure someone will name him eventually. Mr. Crabs is already taken up by the hermit

That rock is truly balanced... it has a pivot point. It is also the home of all my livestock, so I have to be very careful when I have my hands in the tank since I don't want it to pivot and crush someone. But it does look very good, IMO... that's good, since there was a time when I was going to smash that rock into smaller pieces. The urge has subsided, I'm happy with the rockwork (however little of it there is). Glad others like it too

[BlueAbyss]

So looking very closely, I notice that what I thought were single strands of algae are actually branched like a foxtail... in other words, I have Bryopsis (and have had since the beginning). I started dosing calcium and magnesium this week (not the Kent brand though), I will also continue with physical removal. Hopefully I notice some improvement in the next couple weeks... the tank is no where near mature yet, and the infestation is localized to my rockwork. Time will tell.

I also have discovered a (1) flatworm hitchhiker on my Paly frag. I'm not worried about him yet, but if it turns out he has a bunch of friends... well, I guess I'll have to get some Flatworm Exit. I was unable to siphon the one I saw.

Hmm, so the first bad news in my tank. Not really such bad news (since neither pests are really making nuisances of themselves), but I'm hoping things don't get out of hand.

[BlueAbyss]

Second bad news... everything looked fine at 10 am... by noon my Royal Gramma was dead. Upon inspecting his body, I found his damaged eye sunken in and a lot of damage on that side of his face... really, I think this is what killed him. It looked like some pretty extensive abrasion, I'm surprised he was able to eat at all while he was alive.

I'll be phoning Bayside Corals today to ask them nicely to remember to tape the corners of the bags when they package their livestock. My fish would likely have lived if he hadn't stuffed himself into the bag corner for the 11 hours he was in a bag.

I'll be doing a round of tests to make sure it wasn't a parameter off. Everything else looks fine though, coral and both crabs are fine... we'll see what the tests say.

[BlueAbyss]

All parameters were fine the next day... 0 ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, 11 dKh, 460 ppm Ca (a little high), ~1400 ppm Mg (not exactly sure, but it's above 1350). So the fish died from another cause... all other livestock is in great shape, I've even noticed some color change on my Palys (less brown, more green).

The dosing seems to have stopped the Bryopsis in it's tracks, and it is quickly being replaced with a red filamentous algae that doesn't grow too long, or is being cropped by the emerald crab. I will likely have to continue with the physical removal for a while.

I phoned Bayside and spoke with Colby... what an awesome guy! He offered me a replacement or credit even though they don't have a livestock guarantee. I will definitely be spending at Bayside again We'll see what happens now. I may go fishless and just get a couple shrimp and another crab. Or I may get another Royal Gramma... this seems more likely.

My substrate had a reddish tinge to it for the past two weeks, and now has changed to a greyish color. Cyano? I dunno, I suspect so but it didn't take over everything like it seems to in other tanks. Gone now, whatever it was.

[BlueAbyss]

Huh, I see I haven't updated this in a while. Alright, current FTS (my thread on NR is so much more organised )...


The rockwork has changed (for the last time!) because while cleaning the glass panels the last time I bumped the rock and it almost pivoted over, but stopped pretty much where it is now. It's just lightly resting on the smaller rock now, since the emerald crab is able to move it and I don't want it falling on the site of future Paly and Zoa frags. I have intentions of putting in live rock rubble and placing my frags there, for easy refragging... I've actually already done this with the green Paly frag and it has already encrusted. I don't really want them directly on my rocks... actually, I don't want any softies on my rock, maybe some blue clove polyps if I can find some. I'll make an exception for gorgonians

I seem to have won the battle with Bryopsis, which is what all that green stuff was, NOT GHA as I originally thought... I do have some red wiry-hairy stuff, but it doesn't seem to croud anything else out like the Bryopsis was doing. I have a few isolated tufts of GHA that have been cropped short and look like mounds of moss (feel like it too), thanks <insert name of emerald crab here> for keeping that stuff short. I like the fresh cut lawn look, but the 'algae forest' thing with the Bryopsis wasn't great. It would seem that Tailored Aquatics Reef Magnesium and Calcium Plus (which also has Mg and Strontium in it, along with an 'organic carbon source') together are a pretty good team.

Noting Paly color change... when I first got it...


And now...


I have identified 3 types of macroalgae on my rocks... Acetabularia schenckii (a really small Mermaid's Wine Glass), Neomeris spp. and Enteromorpha spp. (shown below)...


And my blue legged hermit molted and is now huge! Well, comparatively anyhow... pics of that tomorrow when I get them uploaded, I have an awesome one of him right up against the front glass. He shows less fear of things moving outside the tank now... hmm, weird. I also have one of the molt... I thought I had a dead hermit for a day or so.

[BlueAbyss]

Oops double post... see above