Marine World (14 Gallon)

TLC, Upgrade

2010-02-06T19:31:00.002-05:00

- Today I had made an almost full bucket PWC.
When the water was out I pruned some of the GHA off the rock, walls etc.
Next I had emptied the skimmer cup that probably was overflowing by now...
Then I decided to upgrade the powerhead (more flow - less GHA I've heared).
First attempt failed due to Maxi Jet 1200 being too powerful and sucking all the water out of the chamber it was in. Second attempt almost failed when the pump started to suck in air with water, but knowing what might fix that I added more water and everything seems to be working just fine.
We'll see if there will be any improvements...

Fed the fishes

2010-01-29T09:45:00.002-05:00

with frozen shrimps

Supplements

2010-01-28T07:09:00.002-05:00

Supplemental day:
Added:
Trace 2 drops
Buff 2 drops
Iodine: 24 drops
Tech CB A: 14
Tch CB B 14
Phytofeast 14 drops

Fish feeding with frozen food.

PWC today, glass cleaning, GHA removal

2010-01-25T03:00:00.001-05:00

Witnessed that GHA started to grow in the back chamber YEY!
Still a lot of it is in the display tank.
Got supplies: about $22 for Kent Marine Calcium supplements.
Need to get calcium test kit.

15 Watts DIY Fuge light was installed!

2009-12-22T01:42:00.002-05:00

I made a fuge light and installed it behind the tank.
Light bulb used: CFL 2700K soft white 15watts / 60wt equivalent

Maint after 2 weeks vacation

2009-10-06T15:24:00.000-04:00

Right after I came back I found my tank in dispair, but all corals and fish were alive.
The water was covered by the filmy scum due to the overflow grid being blocked with hair algae.
Immediately I proceeded with pruining the hair algae with my fingers. This resulted in clearing of the scum in a matter of minutes from opening up the overflow grid.

Maint Day: New Intro

2009-09-17T00:39:00.003-04:00

Today I added Kenya Tree of a medium size. Put it in a shell next to Pulsing Xenia. We'll see if they will co-exist.
Also prepared tank for my vacation:
1 - bucket PWC
Reduced light cycle by cutting actinic lighting by 2 hours in the morning.
Removed chaeto remains from the back-chamber - there was almost nothing left.
Left my mom instructions on feeding once a week and a bucket of water

Old Air-bubble problem Returned...

2009-08-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

At night the problem with airmist spewing from powerhead had returned. I implemented the cure that helped previously and it worked this time too: added more water to the system.

Livestock recount...

2009-07-26T08:59:00.003-04:00

So over the past few weeks I have sustained some losses.
Here is the recount of the lifestock as of today:

Occelaris clownfish - 2
GBT Anemone - 1
Hermit crabs - some
Leather shroom - 1
Toadstool - 1
Small mushroom not sure if it is alive.
Xenia - 1
Montipora - 1
Zoa - 1 head & 25+ heads colony
Green Star Polyps - 3 1/2" colonies - all recovering after fragging.
Clove polyps - 1 colony with 4 heads were 7 before lost due to algae bloom probably.
Brittle worms

Lighting Adjustment + Feeding

2009-07-02T13:33:00.002-04:00

Today I adjusted the lighting regimen: so Actinic kicks in at 6:30 AM and turns off at around 9:00 PM.
10K kicks in around 10:00 AM and turns off around 7 PM.
Boy those corals color up under actinics! GSP starts glowing bright green and zoa glow dark blueish greeen.
Larger GSP started to spread to the back of the rock.
I'm still combatting GHA (Green Hair Algae), but it seems to be manageable.
Lots of coraline started to pop-up on the glass (maybe in response to more regular water changes and dosing of trace+iodine + buffer?

Regular morning feeding of corals: 28 drops of phyto.
Regular morning feeding of clowns: frozen fish food.

Morning Feeding & Status Update

2009-06-25T10:08:00.002-04:00

Both Monti corals stopped moving (being knocked over) and seem to be fine.
The ricordea took her rough transfer to new home well and seemed to already expand in her new place.
The yesterday's hitchhiker could not be found (maybe it didn't expand yet.)
The clowns were hungry. I fed them with the defrosted food right after adding 26 drops (1/2 suggested dose) of the phytoplankton to the tank.

PWC, Fragging...

2009-06-21T18:55:00.003-04:00

Today I attempted to frag my Monti...

Chipped off a less than 1" frag
Glued the frag to the back wall of the tank
The frag excerted some (burning sensation) white goo.
Performed almost full bucket PWC.
Re-glued the frag at lower level, but was unsuccessful and glued it by the hardening white goo.
Attempted to re-superglue the mother-frag, but was unsuccessful.

What is the goo? Hopefully both the mother and the frag will do fine... I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Questions: what is that white goo and will my frag be alright? - Can I do anything for it?

Photo Show: GBTA, Toadstool, Monti Cap, Leather, GSP, Zoa

2009-06-14T15:59:00.005-04:00

My Tank side and front views:

My GBTA:

My Toadstool:

Monti Cap:

My Leather:

My GSP (Green Star Polyp) & Zoa Rock:

My Leather (again) and a small GSP Frag:

My Clove Polyps:

My small shroom (sweetsop):

My Pulsing Xenia:

Ugh,

I think I finally had covered all of my corals... I can not photograph fish as they move way too fast for my sony Mavica. I did not photograph my hermits and my snails because they all hid away.

PWC & Measurements

2009-06-06T16:57:00.000-04:00

1 Bucket PWC was carried out.
Ammonia registered at 0!
Temperature was OK = 79 F.
Trimmed the hair algae and scrubbed some rocks clean of it with the brush scrubber.
Cleaned Glass.
Feeding fish with new stuff (they take it more eagerly than the brine shrimps.
Need to test for Nitrates, Nitrites & Phosphates.

Maint Day

2009-05-31T10:51:00.003-04:00

This morning when I woke up the lights were already on. I looked at the lid, and didn't see the BTA. So I started to look for it around the tank and couldn't find it. Then I saw her to the right of the lid all bubbled up! I should say that when I was acclimating and transferring her her tentacles were all long. She looks dark and comphy in her new spot.
I administered feeding of some frozen mysis, but the clowns were not too excited about them.
Then I rearranged the rockwork trying to move rocks away from the glass to make the glass easier to clean.
Scraped the glass a bit at the bottom and the sides. The tank looks awesome!
Once I get out of $6900 debt I'll make myself a gift and will buy a bigger tank.

Addition of Sea GBTA

2009-05-30T23:44:00.000-04:00

Tonight when I brought some snails and a Green Bubble Tip Anemone from a friend on Manhattan Reefs home the lights were already out.
The anemone came in a plastic snak can from super market. It convinently attached itself to the lid. So all I needed to do was to dump the water from the cup into acclimator and squeez the lid in. Then I dropped in the snails.
Next, I established a dripper from the tank to the acclimator. In about an hour the water had tripled.
At this moment I took the five snails out and dropped them in the 14G. The anemone was still attached ot the plastic lid. Squishing it off with a finger didn't lead to anything, so I followed an advice by not forcing her off and just put the lid behind the rock where I wanted her to be. The lid floated off..! OK, second try - I lifted the rock and squeezed the lid in between the rock and the back wall. It stayed and I went to sleep.

PWC & (Failed) Attempt to Frag Xenias.

2009-05-25T14:55:00.000-04:00

Pre-Change:
SG: 1.024
t = 83.2
A 1 bucket PWC was carried out.
An attempt to re-glue the xenia corals from the back wall to the rock failed (hopefuly NOT resulting in death of both branches...) we'll see later.
I WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO FRAG XENIAS ANY TIME SOON BEFORE I LEARN A TRICK ON HOW TO DO THAT.

PWC & status Update

2009-05-17T14:02:00.005-04:00

Over the weekend the sea hare died in my friend's tank...
In my tank:
Both Xenia species are doing great.
Leather is expanding with some bristles on the endges.
Toadstool is sprouting legs.
Clove polyps are fine.
Some zoa heads are opening up.
Fishes are happy.
1-bucket PWC was carried out. The skimmer was adjusted.
Parameters:
Sg: 1.023 - pre-cahnge

PWC & Status update.

2009-05-04T09:48:00.002-04:00

The water has film on the top.
1 Gallon PWC was carried out.
Pre-change salinity 1.024. Solution salinity 1.017.
Sea hare, both fishes, xenias and the Pinky shroom are fine.
The toadstool is not expanding after being thrown off its rock, but seems to be fine. The other shroom is expanding a bit.
I want to frag and remount one of the back-ground xenias for DBTC.

Found Sea Hare - He's still Alive!

2009-04-10T23:19:00.002-04:00

In the morning I checked my filter part of the tank and found one of the clowns swimming there. In attempt to fish him out he was dropped on the floor and then picked up. I dropped him in the tank and in the evening he seemed fine! - Amazing!

The seahare was clinging to the wall today:

Morning After Intro

2009-04-01T07:30:00.000-04:00

One of the clowns I noticed was wobbling around the bottom right cornder. The other was swimming extremely tilted and next to the surface.
Ammonia check using API solution showed 0.50 reading. Will have to make a PWC later on.
Added 10 ml of Stress Zyme.

Clowns introduction

2009-03-31T22:54:00.000-04:00

So, this evening I got two clown fishes (tank raised, I'm trying to be reef friendly). I let them float in the bag for a while. In the mean time I was cleaning up the apartment. Then I made a drip-acclimator (an airline connected to a straw with two paper clamps to hold it in place and a flow regulator from a medical thingy. I ensured slow-flow into the bag so they got chemically acclimated rather quickly since it was late already and I needed to go to sleep.

Sunday - PWC

2009-03-30T09:36:00.002-04:00

A 1 bucket PWC was carried out and 10 ml of Zyme was used to declorinate it.
Pre-change SG = 1.024.
Zoas started to open-up in their new spot, Cloves seem to be happy too. The Green hydnophora not much so, I'm afraid it is bleaching, but hope it'll be fine.

Tests

2009-03-28T21:35:00.000-04:00

Saturday tests showed the NO3 & NO2 to be at 0 level; and Ammonia at .25

Finally the Skimmer is working right! +1 Clove Polyp!

2009-03-27T10:08:00.003-04:00

Finally the skimmer stopped overflowing.
So I counted 8 total heads on my clove polyp rock!
Another rock still has only one head

Morning Temperature too high (81 F!)

2009-03-26T10:48:00.001-04:00

I noticed that the morning temperature shot up to 81F so I turned the fans on to bring the temp back down.

Moved Zoa

2009-03-26T10:47:00.000-04:00

At night after the lights were out I moved the zoa rock over to the algae covered one (closer to the light source. Will check if they will be opening up this way.

Clove Polyps are great Zoas not so much

2009-03-22T19:58:00.008-04:00

t= 77.1F

Today I have counted 7 heads on the rock that I want to leave for myself.
Here are they are on rock:

I'm leaving this for myself.

The rock below I plan to pass on to the next member:

The photo below is of my Zoas and of some bug (that is said to be a pod) on the glass:

Clove Polyp Frag doing great!

2009-03-21T09:59:00.002-04:00

This morning I checked on the Clove polyp rock that I found some Clove Polyps on. They all expanded to about 1/3" from 1/4" and became thicker and healthier looking.
The Zoas were still closed in the morning. So I took their rock and moved out to the out most left corner of the tank. I'll see if they will opend duringthe day.

Swap back to original Oceanic PH

2009-03-19T10:08:00.000-04:00

When I came home at night I noticed that the powerhead I put is making way too much noise and vibrations. I swapped it back for the original Oceanic powerhead.

Stopping Coralia Powerhead problem solved!

2009-03-19T10:04:00.001-04:00

Today the Coralia powerhead stopped spinning again!
I disconnected the pump to check the flow and it was pretty fine.
Then I checked the head intake nozzle and it turned out to be all clogged up wiht chaeto!
So I cleaned it out with a toothpick. Hopefully it'll be fine now - will check in the evening.

Pump upgrade

2009-03-17T10:07:00.002-04:00

This morning when I woke up I found out that the coralia head stopped spinning.
I had swapped original oceanic water pump (140 gph?) with MaxiJet 600 rated 160 gph and the head started to spin again.
I also found out that I need to buy a sponge for filtration to be inserted in the output chamber.
The only sponge currently in the filter is the one on top of the filter basket.

Enjoyment time!

2009-03-15T18:58:00.005-04:00

Today I had a chance to enjoy all my hard work!

The Zoas opened up, the Leather is showing off some bumps, Kenya Tree expanded - all seems to be good; the only thing - I'm not sure if Green Hydnophora is OK after being re-glued. It is electric green, but I don't see any bumps except for two on top right:

During the hike later in the day I coudn't hold myself from thinking about my tank. Now I have something I'm proud to show off!

Glueing & Observing Zoas Close with 10K off

2009-03-14T22:42:00.004-04:00

So, today the pleasant discovery was that on of the Kenya Tree frags on the coral plug survived and opened up to 1/4"! (Look at the plug to the left of Leather)

I had arranged the new arrivals: Leather was put on a rock, zoas were super-glued to a bigger rock; Hydnophora was re-glued in place.

The toadstool is doing well in my opinon (it is expanding at least some polyps on its previously smooth surface.
I counted about 35 zoa heads on the frag I gotten. Some of them actually opened up today and I could notice sweeper tentacles.

Green hydnophora is also doing well I saw some new bumps on it (probably expanded tentacles too).
Interesting: the zoas closed almost right after the 10K lights went off!

In the evening I noticed some whitish worm living in one of the live rocks. I hope he's not harmful to the corals...

New Arrivals: Zoas & Leather

2009-03-13T18:27:00.000-04:00

Today I bought two new corals: a rock of Zoas and a Leather looking like toadstool.
I brought them home and acclimated:

Floated bags in the tank for about 1 hour
Put frags into plastic containers with their own water
Started to increase water voume in plastic containers by adding the water from the tank.
Once about 50% of water was changed (on a stretch of about 1 hour) frags were deposited into the display tank. by firstthrowing them in separate containers and then i

Adition of Filter Cartridge, PWC

2009-03-12T23:52:00.000-04:00

Today I found out that my tank should have a filter cartridge from Petco employee. So I bought one for $10.00 at Petco.
In the evening I had carried out a PCW of one almost full bucket. Then removed all the liverock rubble from the intake chamber and installed the filter cartridge into it. I had placed the rubble back into the display portion of the tank.
There is still trickling noise caused by the the mid-chamber being not full and still algae presence on the tank glass dure to recent ammonia spike and ammonia staying at .25 level.

PWC Day

2009-03-07T11:36:00.003-05:00

After addition of more live sand the green hair algae took off again!
Katy is gone :-( but Hydro is doing well or so it seems.
I still see no point of using the skimmer though as it doesn not collect anything (everything gets spilled over.
1-bucket PWC was carried out today.

Morning t= 79F

2009-03-03T09:40:00.002-05:00

The Green Hydnophora is doing well I see the polyps reappearing. Katy (older Kenya Tree frag is mysteriously gone. Lights function properly

Addition of live sand

2009-03-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

Added livesand from the bucket where had been stored back into the display tank. Will have to check the water parameters tonight to ensure Ammonia didn't spike-up.

Kenya Tree's (Katy's) Disappearance

2009-02-26T22:33:00.001-05:00

Today I noticed that Kenya Tree Katy disappeared. I wasn't a good daddy because I didn't look her up... I'll have to do it tomorrow night. Skimmer is behaving strangely - it produces lots of soft foam that disappears as soon as the cup is taken off. The cover from the cup is being blown-off almost right after the cup is placed back on the skimmer. Will have to investigate why this happens...
The green hydnophora is... well it is green, but I don't know if it is doing well

Tank upgrade to 14G

2009-02-24T22:29:00.000-05:00

Today is the big day!
I got a 14G Oceanic Biocube tank!
It is a major upgrade as the tank has separate light conrols for each light (Actinic, 10K and Lunar); it also has a skimmer and a mid chamber can be used for chaeto as the back is clear glass.
The tank came with some live sand and some rocks.

First other than corals inhibitants spotted!

2009-02-22T14:26:00.003-05:00

The Kenya Tree is not doing very well after being glued to the rock in the middle of the tank probably due to stress, but maybe due to reduction in lighting because of the chaeto...
The baby Kate is not doing well as well as she was knocked off during the move and glueing of Katy... I'm dreaming of a large (16") tank...

Today I found other life forms on the front of my glass. Some white 1/4" long "bugs" were crawling on the front window. I keep wondering what are they?

In the evening 3/4-bucket PWC was carried out. Some more foam was put into the first chamber of the filter. The heater was moved to the right. And a handfull of chaeto was removed to provide more light to Katy. The picture above was taken prior to chaeto removal.

Temperature drop

2009-02-20T10:01:00.001-05:00

The temperature dropped this night to 75 F which still was within normal parameters. I'm starting to eye a tank upgrade!

Corals Gluing

2009-02-18T23:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I have turned the lights back on since I came home late.
Then I took the Superglue Gel and glued both Kenya Tree (to the branched rock) and Green Hydnophora to the back rock. Right after the procedure I turned off the powerhead as I was advised on one of the forums. Sure I turned off the lights as well.
A side note: either dosing some burbon or intro of chaeto have helped tremendously to reduce the hair and slime algae.

Addition of Green Hydnophora ($8)

2009-02-15T16:15:00.002-05:00

A 1-bucket PWC was carried out.

Today I bought off MR member a piece of Green Hydnophora. I had acclimated it by placing the bag into the tank and then pouring water into the bag with a small scoop over time.
Then I had placed the coral on top of the rock, but it was leaning against the glass so I had it relocated on another rock in the center of the tank. The coral feels soft to touch with a stony core.
I didn't see it under "daylight" yet

Dosing of Bourbon

2009-02-10T09:43:00.002-05:00

After some heavy dosing of alcohol in myself I decided this morning to dose some into my tank as well. I measured approximately.25ml into a syringe and sprayed it into the tank. On the forums it was said to help grow bacteria and reduce green hair algae.

Addition of water

2009-02-09T10:21:00.003-05:00

The problem with the surface skimmer over this weekend resulted in the water level drop in the exhaust chamber. I had to manually lower the skimmer cup down to allow for refill of the three chambers.
Then I had added the water mixing up fresh with pre-mixed salt water.

Major Change in Flitration

2009-02-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

As I was told multiple times biorings in marine aquaria cause issues with Phosphate etc. Phosphate in turn feeds green hair algae. My tank is being overrun by gha.
So, to combat this issue:

I had removed all biorings from the middle chamber of my filter along with filter pads.
I took one of the gha covered rocks from display and crushed it with wire cutters placing the rubble in the middle chamber. I had filled it up by use of another ugly rock from display.
I had placed the the filter pads into the left (intake) chamber of the filter where the heater is.

Hopefully the change above will help with stabilizing the parameters and bringing them back to norm

Day after Intro

2009-01-24T18:44:00.002-05:00

Evening temperature is around 80F
That is the upper limit for my corals.
The high temperature is the result of having the PC lights on during the day time.
The Katy & baby Kay are doing great.
Xenia seems to be OK in her new spot on top of the rock, she is pulsating, but not expanding her polips. I don't know if this is "normal" behavior or not. Will have to give it another day.
My parameters are not 100% good after all and she could be still stressed after short exposure to the air (in attempt to silicone her to the rock) or after being pinched by a rubber band when the sliconing attempt failed.

Got Xenia Coral - my second coral!

2009-01-23T18:21:00.001-05:00

Got Xenia coral today.
Acclimating it by placing in a small box and squirting water out and in with a syringe.
1st 5ML
2nd 10 ML until I get 50% water changed.

Dumped some Chaeto

2009-01-21T23:39:00.000-05:00

Got some chaeto yesterday and dumped it in the tank. Hopefully it will help with the brown slime on the glass and with hair algae on the rocks. Will arrange it tomorrow.

Attempt to re-wire the ballast

2009-01-18T08:41:00.002-05:00

Opened ballast box.
Found 9v LL adaptor.
Will cut feeding cords from adaptor and replace them with the new feeding cord leading out of the box through a square hole.

3rd Attempt on Kenya Tree Fragging

2009-01-17T22:35:00.002-05:00

So I found a small branch next to my Katy. I picked it up. Then I cut a cork short and slit it in the middle. I opened the cut with a screwdriver and inserted the leg of a frag into the opening. The only problem was that the cork... well... it floats up! So I secured it at the bottom with a piece of rock. In the morning the frag was still there unlike in all other cases!
Hopefully it will grow big.

Both Frags found

2009-01-16T09:33:00.003-05:00

This moring I found the cause of the high temperature in my tank: PC lights!
I also have found both frags of Katy. They do not get attached to pegs with the floss. I have to find another way. The polyps on both frags do not expand as they used to when they were still part of the tree. We'll see if they make it into new trees as people say KT is hard to kill.

Morning after Fragging

2009-01-15T07:53:00.001-05:00

Morning t= 75.7
This time the frag remained in place. After the lights were turned on both Katy & Baby Kay were still shrug, I'll check on them in the evening.
The

1/2 Successful Fragging

2009-01-14T22:53:00.000-05:00

Tonight I couldn't hold myself from the second attempt at Fragging Katy.
This time I decided to use scissors to snip off a larger branch from the back of the tree.
So with scissors I did snip off a branch.
Then I took a cup and put some tank water into it to keep baby Kay dump at least.
Tieing it to a peg was a pain, I used old tie trick with a self tightening tie knot. that seemed to hold her in place. So I put the peg in te sand covering the base of the coral.
Like after the previous attempt the polyps on both, mother and daughter had shrug.

Fragging Failed.

2009-01-14T09:57:00.002-05:00

Sure enough the baby Kay didn´t make it. It was either that she didn't survive the time out of water or was carried away by the current and is going to re-attach herself somewhere else in the tank. I'm going to attempt frag Katy again this weekend.

Day After fragging: Not so good

2009-01-13T09:27:00.001-05:00

t= 77 F
This morning after the lights came up the Katy was shrug and baby Kay was laying on the sand. We'll see in the evening.

Fragging Day

2009-01-12T12:46:00.004-05:00

This morning KaTy was flown off the rock, so I decided to replant her back into the sand in the center of the tank.
Morning t was around 75 F.
I had fed Katy with phytoplankton.

Evening: I noticed a small branch at the base of Katy. I pinched it off and tied baby Kay to the old coral peg with a piece of floss. Baby Kay was out of the water during the operation. Post operation the polyps on both corals shrug. We'll see how will they do tomorrow...

Tank Downgrade (Aesthetic upgrade)

2009-01-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

So today I decided to change my setup.
I got a 12G Biocube DX off Manhattan Reefs user.

The 12G was put on a chair and the water was put in it (1/2")

Water was taken out from 10G into a bucket from salt.

Rocks & heater were placed in the bucket

Coral was placed in the bucket

Sand was brushed to check for worms. - No worms were discovered

Sand was transferred over into the 12G.

Rest of the water was partially saved in a filter (Previously emptied)

10 G was taken off the stand

ALL Biomedia from canister filter (foam blocks and biorings) were placed in the back chambers of 12G.

12G was put on the stand.

Rockes were placed in 12G

Water was poured back into 12G

Coral was placed back into 12G.

Heater and water pump were plugged in.

Cons:

Overall system volume was reduced. (I no longer will use a fuge with this setup nor will I use the canister filter

Lights have to turned on and off manually and need to be rewired if to be controlled separately.

Fans make a bit of noise.

Size too small: I could fit 14 G biocube in its place.

Pros: Aesthetic appeal of the tank improved greately! There is no longer a filter next to it.

Conclusions: I will stick with the 12G biocube for now and will tryto upgrade it to the 14 Gallon in the future.

Top Off

2009-01-09T14:52:00.000-05:00

Topped off the tank with fresh water (1/4 bucket). Want to get my 12 gallon nano-cube today. Hopefully will.

2009-01-05T10:39:00.003-05:00

KaTy expanded her branches this morning, so I shot another picture of her, this time under the actinic light.

2009-01-05T10:39:00.001-05:00

KaTy expanded her branches this morning, so I shot another picture of her, this time under the actinic light.

Coral's behaviour

2009-01-04T17:45:00.005-05:00

In the morning KaTy was expanded nicely again, but in the evening eventhough the lights were still on and the temperature was OK she had contracted leaving only branches with buds out. I don't know if that is normal....
After the lights were out I took a picture of KaTy with a flash on my mom's Sony camera.
Morming shot:

Maint Day

2009-01-03T08:14:00.002-05:00

Morning:
t= 74.7
Ph = 8.2
Alk = Normal
NH3/NH4 = 0!
SPG = 1.026

Since Ammonia was at zero I decided to skip filter maint till next week.
However I added 14 drops of iodine (1/4 of recommended weekly dosage).
Also sprayed Kenya Tree with phytoplancton, but KaTy had shrug under it.
Will feed it next mid-week with chopped shrimp (frozen).

First day after ReIntroduction - Doing well!

2009-01-01T12:03:00.002-05:00

t= 74.4
SP G 1.024
Light: Actinic
Morning: Added Water (1/4 bucket @ SPG 1.018, which did not affect salinity of the system).

Both of the parameters above are withing normal for the coral.
KT had expanded its branches! She is doing well.
Got some offers for Xenia and other corals, will think about adding them.

Marine Tank Update

2008-12-31T09:39:00.001-05:00

Sp G = 1.023
t = 69.8F

This morning the Lunar lights went off early, but the morning light came on at 7 as it should have. KT appeared to be about 1" which is normal since it is the morning and I'm assuming it is still under stress from transportation.

First Life Re-Introduction! (Kenya Tree)

2008-12-30T19:07:00.002-05:00

Today I plan to check for those worms and fish out any that I can find. Then I'll put in the Kenya Tree & turn on the lunar light.

Rehabilitation Day 1

2008-11-02T16:29:00.001-05:00

Ammonia 0.25

So today is day 1 of the re-start!This morning I checked the ammonia and was surprised to fihd its low level at 0.25 given that I left the tank untouched for so long.Steps I made today:1. I had immediately disconnected the Fluval filter2. Rinsed the media in the filter body3. Thoroughly rinsed the filter floss in the filter body5. Dumped the water out of the filter body in the toilet (the water was brownish, but much lighter than a month-two before.6. Re-assembled the filter and refilled it with water form the tank7. Turned the filter back on. 8. Scooped the decayed plants remains from the fuge.9. Added 1 bucket of fresh (unsalted) water treated with Aqua Safe or something of that sort.10. Scrubbed the hair algae off the front glass.Status: all equipment seem to be working fine.

Equipment:

Fluval 204 canister filter
CPR AQ Fuge
Power Head (to pump CPR)
36Wt Actinic Light (day interval)
2 LED Moonlights (night interval)
9 Wt bulb lighting the fuge at night
200 Wt heater in the fuge

Livestock: doubtful, except for plethora of green Hair Algae and Coraline Algae.

Light change in Fuge to 2700K

2008-09-22T20:34:00.002-04:00

So today I had swapped the Actinic 9 Wt for a 2700K 9Wt in the fuge. I had also added a timer to make the lights go on alternate schedule (one on other off). This way people say the Ph will be more stable. I was able to fit the surface skimmer fixture, but not sure if I should turn it on.
Can't wait for things to get back to normal to re-start the tank.

Filter Maint

2008-09-19T11:46:00.002-04:00

Didn't have much time this morning, so just quickly took out the filterfloss from the bottom basket and swished it in the pre-made water (the left overs from prior water changes). The yeild was brownish load of gunk in the water. Placed floss back into the filter and turned it back on. Will check parameters later on tonight.
Oh, the CPR is now serviced by 9 watt actinic bulb that is on 24/7.

Morning Check-up

2008-09-18T09:02:00.002-04:00

So, this morning I have added some water as some got evaporated. After that the tests have shown the following:

t = 78.6
Ammo = 0.25, but closer to 0!
Ph = 7.9
SG = 1.025

I will do the filter maint (floss wash in tank water and about 1/2 gallon PWC tonight) to further bring ammo down.

Morning Check-up

2008-09-16T09:28:00.003-04:00

SG = 1.026
Ph = 7.9
Ammo = 0.25
t = 78.4 F

Filter Maint

2008-09-15T21:26:00.000-04:00

PWC 1 bucket
Filter floss rinse in a bucket of used water yeild yellowish-brownish water. Two smaller filter pads were rinsed too.

More Measurements

2008-09-15T10:26:00.001-04:00

A PWC of 1 gallon and measurements:
SG = 1.026
Ph = 8.5
Ammonia = never saw this color before. it is brownish - off the charts

Re-introduction of LR & Worms (?!)

2008-09-12T10:05:00.004-04:00

So, this morning I woke up at 6:00 AM and decided to go with advice on killing aiptasias by injecting them with lemon juice. After making this decision I did:

PWC (1 bucket of water out) = approx 1 gallon
Scrubbed LR (stored in another bucket of water) with turkey brush under running tap water.
Examined LR for life and found the following:
Large Worms 2"+ will post picture later
Small crustacean (like a snail 1/3")
Piece of brown seaweed - 1/4"
White leathery blubs.
Some hair algae
Weighted LR = 12 Lb - which is good according to this article
Put scrubbed LR back into the tank and a couple of small pieces into the fuge.
Filled up the tank with water with pre-dissolved salt using a declorinator from a yellow bottle.
Re-measured SG = 1.026

Oh, while doing the above, I managed to drop my Fuge light inside the fuge! - it got the GFCI tripped and hopefully the light will be OK.

Just Another Day.

2008-09-09T12:01:00.002-04:00

In the morning I realized that I forgot (again!) to turn the canister filter on and plugged it back in. After running it for a few minutes (to ensure the water is out of the filter and back into the system I tested ammonia. The reading was still at .25 and the Ph registered at around 7.9 - but my color perception maybe off.

New Equipment: CPR Unit.

2008-09-08T23:00:00.001-04:00

This evning I had picked up and installed at the back of the tank an $80 CPR Refugium. Now my tank starts to feel like professional, lol. I took off the surface skimmer as there is no space of it on the back right now and moved the heater over into refugium as to decrease the presence of equipment int the tank. The guy who sold me refugium said that I can replace the canister filter and that it was the only thing that he had running his 20 gallon tank on. I'll see about that after consulting with members of MRI also had carried out a one bucket PWC.
The ammonia reading prior to the PWC was.25 and the Ph was about 7.9 I'm looking into getting the light timer and a new 10K light bulb.
Oh, another survivor showed up - a serpae looking sea star! - she was spotted on the tank wall.

PWC & Maint

2008-09-07T23:02:00.000-04:00

Today I had carried out another massive waterchange.
Readings

Pre PWC

t = 82.5
Ph = 8.0
Ammo = 0.5-1.0
SPg = 1.020

Post 30 - 40% PWC:

Ph = 8.5
Ammo = .25 !
SPg = 1.020

Either yesterday or today I had dismantled the filter and squished the water out of the filter floss under the running water and out of the two filter pads until close to clear water was coming out. I believe that constituted to major Ammo drop.

Recovery and Survivors

2008-09-05T00:45:00.001-04:00

First, the care process: At night when I got back home I took all the pre-change measurements:

Ph 8.2
NO3 = 0
Ammonia 1.0 - 2.5 probably 2.5+
Alk = 3.6; PO4 = 0
SPg = 1.028

Then I turned off filter, skimmer, & heater. Moved all the live rock to the bucket (no corals on live rock made it ). Moved all pegs with surviving corals to the corner. Scrubbed the front and side walls with mag cleaner to A- cleanness scraping off all algae (coraline and other). Syphoned the water mixing up the top layer of live sand into the bucket with live rock.Whatever didn't fit, into another bucket (that one is to be dumped out later). Alltogether about 5" of greenish/blueish water were removed. Clock striked 12:30 AM. I scrabbed the filter pad from HOB DIY skimmer with a turkey brush under the stream of fresh water in the sink until it turned back to blueish. The pad was leaching yellowish water while being scrubbed. Started to poor tap water back into the tank (SPg prior to pooring went up to 1.036+) declorinating it with stuff from yellow bottle. When tank was almost full, took out coral pegs and shook off the sand, re-stuck the pegs into live sand. Checked the SPg = 1.017; poored salt into the skimmer chamber and it equipment on. After running it for a few mintues, reinserted the filter pad and turned the canister filter on too. SPg prior to going to bed and in the morning was 1.019. Poured more salt into the skimmer chamber. SPg went up to 1.020 and temp reading was 84.x F. 50/50 light went on by timer around 7:30 AM.

Second, the survivors: 1 maybe more turbo snails; sea hare - yey! - he's back to DBTC and is already spoken for; looks like ricordia corals on one of the pegs made it; mushroom coral. Some weird white blubs on the life rock.

Tank CRASH Day

2008-09-04T14:07:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I noticed that the corals looked pretty much dead, today I saw NO FISH IN MY TANK!

Pre-change readings:

NH3/NH4 = blue! - never saw this color before - off the charts!
Ph = 8.2
NO3 = 0-10 - can't tell
Alk = 3.6
PO4 = 0.00
SG = 1.028

Massive waterchange was carried out (4 canisters (Ocean Spray) of freshly mixed water were PWC'ed.

10K K light stopped working sometime before the crash, so the tank was serviced by a single 36 Wt 50/50 light bulb.

Problem with the canister filter required its temporary shutdown (1+ month) with replacement by a HOB DIY Skimmer (from HOB filter). Strangely enough the week before the crash, all chemical levels reported normal (PH, Ammonia, Phosphate, Nitrate).
What I think were the leading causes of crash: 1. cansiter filter was restarted after 1 month of bein stale (stupidly enough, yes I admit I made a stupidity, I didn't toss the water out of it. Second, the sp. gravity level rose from usual 1.025-1.026 to 1.035+ (top of the scale and probably even higher.Strangely enough I couldn't find neither of my three fishes this morning! (could the cat gotten them? - I truly don't think so, could they have gotten dissolve in the high salt water?)

SO, to the conclusion.I'm not ready to give up on this hobby. I plan to restart. This time I will do the following:

Rescue the surviving corals [mushrooms] (tonight) by taking water measurements and making necessary adjustments. Will remove survivors off the live rock.
Will syphon through the top layer of the live (still live?) sand while removing the water.
Will remove live rock and will boil it to ensure all the aiptasias are GONE!
Will scrub-clean the front and side glass of whatever that brown crap had grown on it during the last few days.
Will ensure the canister filter and the skimmer function properly (flow adjustments).

Time to get back to bloggin'

2008-08-11T14:53:00.002-04:00

Well, I just found out where my problems are coming from:
Slime Alga => Lack of water flow, which is true since the powerfilter has been disconnected for a while
Bubble Alga => probably was introduced with the rocks from LI sound. Will have to be more careful next time and boil the damn rocks.
Hair Alga => Got a slimy kind of thingy yesterday (about 2" long) that's supposed to eat it. The thingy is called a "sea hare."
Darn aiptasias are doing well - the berghias team didn't seem to affect them a bit.

Snags and Issues

2008-07-14T22:53:00.000-04:00

Well, first of I ran into a snag with trying to frag Kenya Tree and attach it to a rock.
It wondered off (despite rubber band) and attached itself to a different rock. I had re-attached it to the one I want again this evening.

The problem is with my clamber light control strip. For the life of mine I can not figure out how to program the damn thing!

Fragging Kenya Tree, New Additions

2008-07-08T22:40:00.000-04:00

Today I decided to experiment. I went out to Long Island Sound and picked up some stones and a closed clam (about 1" long).
I had acclimated the clam by changing 50% of water twice into a cup I brought her in. Then I dropped her and the rocks into the tank.
I tried to scrape off the smaller mushroom, but it started to leach out the slime and I left it alone. I tried to do the same with another coral and the story repeated itself.
Then I tried to tear off the smaller Kenya Tree. With a pretty big effort I was able to do so. I took a small stone from the tank and attached the fragged KT to it with a rubber band. We'll see if KT will attach itself to the rock in a week or so.

Maint Day (Long Overdue PWC!)

2008-07-07T02:27:00.002-04:00

OK, today (2:27 AM on 7/7/08) I did the long overdue almost full bucket water change.
Resulting SPGa right after PWC = 1.024
Interesting thing noticed: I never looked at my tank at night before. Lately, since my timer is broken my light cycle is a bit erratic (Actinic is switched with 10K at different times and then 10K with Actinic and Actinic with night LEDs. However I do turn on my Actinic lights at around 7 AM every morning.
So, back to my discoveries: At 2:27 AM Kenya Tree (under two LEDs) looked "deflated," The mushroom was about 1/2 its daily size (about 1" in diameter during the day). Is this normal for them? - I don't know. Have to post this on a forum.

Feeding & Behavior Observation

2008-06-25T09:56:00.004-04:00

Ammonia = 0.00
This morning (7:15 AM) I dropped some food in the tank.
I have to say Mimo looks almost exactly like his new bud, I'm pretty sure they are of the same kind.
I could tell Mimo from his new bud right away! Mimo and the Devil went right after the food, but that fish stayed out. When he tried to approach the food he was let know by the Devil that he is not welcomed here. No fierce attacks, just little chase away.

Mimo meets who?

2008-06-24T22:48:00.000-04:00

Today almost three months after I got Mimo and the tank I got him a buddy. I have to name that other fish! I found him yesterday in New World Aquarium. Hopefully he didn't change sex yet and still is a male.
Acclimation:
Dropped a bag in the water. Fed the cat.
Poured some water into the bag. Took off my work clothes.
Poured some more water in. Went looking for the net. Cursed cuz I couldn't find it.
Poured the water with the clown out of the bag into the bucket through the net.
Released clown into the tank.
P.S. By the time this happened, only Moon LEDs were on.
Also bought Phytoplankton.

Mushroom Planting

2008-06-23T20:42:00.005-04:00

Today I decided to split my mushroom colony I had recently acquired. As I had discovered, one of the pegs had not one, but three mushrooms!

Prep 1
Gathering:
0. Read some articles on mushroom fragging.
1. Found a cork (from wine bottle)
2. Found never-used blade
3. Found some bandage
4. Found rubber band from old fish bag
5. Found a plastic container (used it before to transfer my fish in it)
6. Paper towel roll.

Prep 2.
1. Put a chair next to the tank
2. Thoroughly rinsed the blade and rubbed it with paper towel
3. Rinsed the cork
4. Spliced the cork to shorten it.
5. Tried the cork in aquarium (to see if it'll stay put) - it did.
6. Cut a piece of bandage small enough to cover the cork
7. Filled container (5) with aquarium water and put it on the chair
8. Took mushrooms peg out of the tank and tried to separate small mushroom growing on the side of the peg. (Mushroom became slimy and hard to handle. Scraped it off with the blade.)
9. Rinsed the peg with remaining two mushrooms in the container to remove excessive slime.
10. 10 Placed the peg back where it was in the tank.
11. "Pasted" the mushroom on top of the cork
12. Covered the cork with bandage and fixed it in place with rubber band.
13. Cut excess of bandage with the blade
14. Rinsed in the container.Place the newly planted mushroom next to the mother colony.
Will take the bandage off on July 7th (two weeks from planting time should allow the mushroom to heal).

New Corals

2008-06-21T20:39:00.000-04:00

This morning the KT corals were doing fine, though leaning towards the filter intake under the flow. The fish seemed to be stressed and hiding out. So I turned off the filter for the day (Turned it back on at night when the fish were more or less OK).

More Corals

2008-06-20T22:26:00.001-04:00

Today I had picked up life rock from a member at Manhattan Reefs forum. The rock has two Kenya Tree coral branches on it. Some baby yellow sun corals and baby mushrooms growing on it.
I brought the LR with corals home, and put it in a bucket. The water didn't cover the corals and they hanged down helplessly. I started to syphon water from my tank to the bucket until it was full. Then let is stand there while I was re-arranging LRs and Corals in my tank. When I was done, I took the rock out of the bucket and placed it in the center of my tank. The KTs stood up. I saw a couple of creatures in the bucket that looked like slim starfishes. I scooped them out and put them in my tank as well.
I dumped the water out of the bucket and mixed some new one to compensate for the lost water in the tank.

First Corals added!

2008-06-17T21:48:00.000-04:00

Today I have bought my first corals!
I got 1 mushroom and two others.
Pictures will be posted.
When I brought them in only my night light was on. I turned on the dawn lights and floated the bag for some time. Then I had poured the water into the bag once, let it float, poured it again, let it float. Then I took the sticks out and transferred the corals over. I burried the sticks up to the top in the live sand. Two next to live rock and one in the front of the tank. Then turned the lights back off.

Maint Day

2008-06-12T20:09:00.002-04:00

Parameters before PWC
Sp Grav: 1.022
Ph: 8.0 - 8.2
PO4: 0.0 - 0.1
NH3/NH4: 0.o <- 0.25

Partial water change: 10 % (1 bucket) @ SPG 1.023
Iodine: 40 drops added
Temp: 86F

Light Adjustment

2008-06-10T12:57:00.002-04:00

I noticed that the temperature of the tank is around 88 F. In an effort to cool it down a bit, I have adjusted my 200 Wt heater to around 75 F and put two front legs on the light fixture to lift it off the tank cover. Now there will be air under the light to carry away heat from the bulb.
At last: I keep air conditioner on at 84 F to control room temperature.
Future plans:
1. Add two rear legs to uplift light fixture more.
2. Add computer air fans to move air below the light fixture.

Fed the fish with flakes.

Filter Maint

2008-06-06T20:14:00.000-04:00

Fluval 204 maint:
L = Fiber
M = Biorings
H = Purigen in mesh bag + more fiber
Changed O-ring and siliconed top to bottom to stop leakage.

Cold Water!

2008-05-23T11:26:00.000-04:00

Morning water temp check shows: 70.1 F which is very low.
Turned on the light (directly above the glass pane and that heated up the water by 2 F to 72 F which is still pretty low.
Still using inefficient air-driven filter.

Adjustments needed

2008-05-15T09:34:00.000-04:00

Ammonia .025
I can not combat Ammonia. The additional waterflow from powerhead and ME 25 doesn't seem to have any affect on it. I'm planning to replace Ammochips with Purigen, stop ME 25 and see if that will rectify the situation.

Maint Day

2008-05-11T03:56:00.000-04:00

Alk: Within normal limits
Ammonia: .25 after 10% water change!
Salinity 1.025
Carried out 10% (1" off the top of the waterline) water change. Siphoned from the bottom.
Checked the ammonia in the water pre-mixed with salt before adding it to the tank. "Fresh" salt water shows 0 ammonia. Tank water shows .25 even after 10% waterchange.
I have ordered Purigen as I found out that AmmoChips are not good for saltwater.
After water change added 40 drops of iodine supplement.
Will reduce feeding to once a week on wednesdays in effort to combat ammonia.

New Equipment - Aqualizer.

2008-05-11T01:53:00.000-04:00

Today I have installed a Aqualizer ME-25 - the device advertized here on my site. The device consists of small tube installed on top of aquarium cover and a powerhead. I think the powerhead is too small for my tank (will see how it works for a month and maybe will change it.)
Fed the fish with flakes.

New Life, New Equipment

2008-05-07T01:51:00.000-04:00

Hello,
Today I bought two things,
First, I got some macro algae from Petco for $2.00, not sure what kind it is.
Second, I bought some device off advertisement on my website that is supposed to take care of my ammonia problem and reduce the need for water changes by 75%. It also should come with the water pump that is needed for water circulation increment in my tank his thing is supposed to arrive on Friday. Well, we'll see how that will work out.

New Life, New Equipment

2008-05-06T23:58:00.000-04:00

T = 80 F
Ammonia: 0.25

Today I have bought a new plant (water weed) at Petco for about $2.00. I got it to diversify bioload in my tank with a secret hope that it will somehow help with ammonia level. I had requested its ID on the fish forum where I usually go. I had temperature acclimated it, and then dropped it in my tank. The plant naturally fell to the bottom w/o need to burry it in the sand where it makes now a nice natural centerpiece for my tank. I had thrown out that green plastic thing (see picture at the right).

Another thing, I bought a new piece of equipment for $37.00 that supposed to increase waterflow, eliminate ammonia, reduce the need for the water changes. This thing supposed to arrive on Friday to my work. We'll see how that will work out.

I'm afraid I had made a big mistake: I had cleaned the tank with papertowel sprayed with glass cleaner and then reached into the tank with my hands. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...