CadLights 39G Signature

[Oscar]

Lester the lobster molted again last night. That's the 2nd time in ~6 weeks. I think he likes his new home.

[Oscar]

I can't believe is was June when I last posted.

Since then:
- added two clowns
- clowns hosted with frog spawn
- new battle with algae
- installed top off system
- discovered a crab hitchiker

I discovered that I had a crab hitchiker only because I discovered his molt 6 weeks ago. I have tried to lure him out with food in a glass jar but no luck. Using a flashlight I discovered his little cave. So tomorrow I will extract the rock in question and try to "encourage" him to leave.

But while I am at it I will undertake a major aquascaping. I have concluded that I added too much rock to the tank. I created a large rock wall against the rear wall. It has losts of caves and tunnels but takes up too much space, limits corals to the front face and I can only clean the glass on 1 side.

So I am going to rearrange things into more of an "island" design. This means that some of the live rock will come out.






As you can see I am also suffering from a new algae burst I think is primarily from my feeding of the clowns. It took me a while to figure out the feeding methodology but by that time I had spilled an awful lot of uneaten food into the tank. As Myka pointed out I may still be leaching phosphate from the rocks

[Oscar]

For the first couple of months I was manually topping off fresh water. As the heat in the Okanagan increased this summer mannual topping got very tedious. So I setup a topoff system using a 10G wine carboy. It was setup out front for a few weeks while I tested the system.

Once I was sure it was working I slid it down and behind the tank. I now refill it using a 2nd pump and hose which works pretty smoothly. So far I only need to refill the top off jug every 2 weeks.

[Oscar]

Two weeks ago I was in Vernon and picked up the following snails to help me knock back some of the algae:
- 1 very large nassarius
- 5 astrea
- 5 cerith

I have also been actively pruning the hair algae as best I can. Each week I gather about 1 cup of hair algae. Between the pruning and the additional snails we are holding steady.

Following are photos from yesterday. It is difficult to see but there is a Koralia 1 in the centre of the rock.

[RonPeter]

It's looking better! Where did you get the snails at? Thanks.

[Oscar]

I tackled the aquascaping today. The goal was to pull the rock away from the side glass to both improve flow and allow me to clean the glass along the side. I also moved the Koralia 1 to the top left of the tank, although it is very visible now it gives more options for flow.

Aquascaping is even more challenging when you already have some corals in place. I will study this new configuration for a few days. I will have to move a few corals. For example I am thinking of moving the GSP onto an "island" in the sand at the front of the tank. That will allow it to expand but keep it under check.

I like watching the pulsing xenia, and this stuff really pulses, but I now have an appreciation for what others have said about it's rapid spread. I will have to limit it to a single rock or allow it to climb the back wall. I have reconfigured it's primary colony to give it contact with the back wall.

Here are photos from this afternoon's aquascaping:

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by RonPeter

Where did you get the snails at? Thanks.

The astreas and ceriths came from AJ's. I was in town for a business meeting and while I was staring at a tank there was another fellow staring at the tank beside me. Turned out was Mseepman. Mark told me about the mondo sized nassarius at All Pet. Unfortunately Mark had cleaned out all but the one I picked up. Rats!

Not sure that the tank is looking all that better, but thanks, certainly the tank is looking more mature. Mark came by this morning and confirmed that the small 5 legged creatures that just appeared are sea stars. Always something new popping out.

[mseepman]

Hey Oscar,

Tank is looking good. It's a tough job re-aquascaping because we get used to what we had and what we liked...so I'm glad you plan to give this a few days to "soak in" before deciding if you like it or not.

It was great getting to visit and I really like the Cadlights tank...glad you ended up getting that one.

[Oscar]

Mark: Thanks for the input yesterday, some good food for thought.

Even after only a couple of hours I think I prefer the new aquascaping, one of the main reasons is that now I can clean all of the glass. Pulling the rock back also gives me 2 more surfaces for corals. Although I do not think it is obvious in the photos the rock looks more like "rubble" and not a wall.

I do need to do some minor adjustments, a couple of the ricordia are a little too hidden under rock for my liking. Either some rearanging or removing them from their existing rock and relocating them.

The one piece of left over rock I will probably bust up into smaller pieces to either create "islands", go into the refugia, or to replace the last of my bioballs in the rear chamber.

[mseepman]

So Grant, how is the new tank doing? You got a Seahare didn't you?