[Lynn's Fish Room]

I have this disorder ... when I get interested in something, I go overboard.

I started looking at culturing phyto and this happened ...
 

 

I have Nanno, Tetra, and Dun going pretty well now. I can't seem to not crash the brown ones and just made a new order to try again.

Coming this week:
Isochrysis galbana (Tahitian)
Phaeodactylum tricornutum
Chaetoceros gracilis
Chlorella

I'm in the hunt for a good source of Rhodomonas.

While I'm at it, I also started to learn about pods. So far, success on Apocyclops but my order of tisbe and tiger with podyourreef was not good. Took 4 days to arrive and i only saw around 10 that came alive. I will have to look for a better source.

 

 

[Lynn's Fish Room]

5 hours ago, YHSublime said:

 

A "Bo(at) fund me" 

[Lynn's Fish Room]

47 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

Wow, you're a really loud water drinker!

 

I didn't realize you were that close to the water either, that's really nice! I agree it's time for a boat! 

Thank you. If someone want to donate to the lynn's boat fun, i would be happy to get one 

[Lynn's Fish Room]

1 minute ago, DarStar301 said:

Question, you said you are on well water. Is your DI resin crushed by your CO2 in the well?

 

YES! My anion depletes very quickly (< 200 gal). I was talking with Tom @Origami about doing an ATI test to see if I really need the anion or not. I don't remember the specifics that he said and don't want to provide wrong answers but hopefully he can explain a bit better.

[Lynn's Fish Room]

13 minutes ago, DarStar301 said:

WOW, time to get a boat.

I would love to! But unfortunately, the house had a lot more issues than we expected and the fish shed build drained us pretty badly. 

 

Maybe in a few years  . My husband has a kayak .... that should be good until until then 

[Lynn's Fish Room]

After waiting since February for the State and County to approve, we are finally starting our pier!!!

 

 

FYI: that is my dog drinking water ... not me ...

I didn't realize how long it takes to put in those columns but after 1 week, we only have 6 in  . Probably will be a while until everything gets finish.

[Lynn's Fish Room]

8 hours ago, lowsingle said:

Glad I had a chance to get caught up on your journey……that sunset was beautiful 

 

Darren

Thank you!

[more illegal imports]

https://reefbuilders.com/2022/08/16/two-aquatic-companies-plead-guilty-to-unlawfully-importing-corals-from-vietnam/

[Mandarin dragonet spawning log]

[Thank You For The Gift Card]

21 hours ago, Origami said:

Nice, Lynn! Once you get it, let us know how you like it.

Will do Tom!! 

[Thank You For The Gift Card]

A big thank you for the gift certificate! 

 

Got a cool frag rack from you guys. Much appreciated!

 

[Great Barrier Reef: Some good News]

 

 

 

 

 

[Wamas In person Meeting]

15 minutes ago, DaJMasta said:

I haven't been in the club long enough to have been at the last in person meeting, but I was wondering how the frag swap portion worked, and more specifically, if it were possible for me to sell some fish.  I've got a dozen or so little cardinals that are a decent size and would be happy to bring them along to sell and otherwise show off

 

If you plan to set up a table (tanks, heaters, etc.) see 

 

[schg's Ultum Nature Systems 45u nano]

Love the pics 

[New member with new 125 tank]

14 hours ago, DougM said:

I purchased a RODI from BRS but didn’t get all the connections needed to attach to my water pipes.  In the meantime my tank water has finally cycled so tomorrow I’m going to get some fish.   Can’t wait to see some color moving around in the aquarium.  

 

Consider putting up a build thread so we can see what your tank is like and how you progress! 

[WAMAS Donates $20K to the Living Coral Biobank Project]

THIS IS GREAT!  

[My Coral Rehabilitation Project]

On 6/4/2022 at 6:44 AM, ReefdUp said:

This was a new(ish) one for me, so I have to share: coral-boring sponges.  I've seen this before, but it's been years.  At the time, I really didn't know what I was looking at or what to do.  I've also seen similar sponges that grow up through coral skeletons and rockwork but were less invasive.

 

These invasive sponges grow up through the skeleton of the coral, occasionally peeking out.  They dissolve the skeleton along the way, undermining the coral.  I theorize that this dissolving process alters the pH of the area, which then creates a less-than-ideal environment for the coral.

 

When I received this hammer to rehab, I was told it just wouldn't ever extend its polyps (but was otherwise fine).  Sure enough - it looked fine on initial examination. 

 

 

So, I pulled out my bandsaw.  There, inside, was a weird yellow fuzzy mess, where I'd expect to see a skeleton (along with worms, detritus, and other typical skeletal inhabitants).  Ok, so likely a sponge - so I dipped it, hoping to kill the sponge off.  No such luck.

 

 

A few weeks later, and the coral was not doing any better.  I cut the skeleton down as much as I could without harming the coral and dipped again.  This time, the hammer had better polyp extension afterwards.

 

Time to start investigating more!

 

I cut a thin slice of skeleton off the affected coral, along with a slice from a healthy Euphyllia.

 

 

Here's the affected slice under a macroscope.  The skeleton is clearly degraded, with only tiny pieces suspended in the sponge's tissue.

 

 

Here it is under a microscope - similar findings.

 

 

I wanted to then see what damage the sponge had actually done, so I bleached the affected slice.  Here, you can see the remnants of the skeleton compared to a healthy slice.

 

 

What I found more interesting was the tunnel pattern.  Although the sponge was throughout the skeleton, it was definitely boring tunnels to the outside of the skeleton (likely for waste exchange).  Here are photos of those tunnels.

 

 

 

My plan is to regularly dip the coral in hydrogen peroxide to hopefully kill off the sponge over time (without killing the coral).  Unfortunately, the sponge does not appear calcium-based (tried the vinegar test with no luck). I'll keep researching other methods as well.  Here's the coral as it currently stands (just to end on progress...)

 

 

@roni

What concentration of H2O2 do you use and for how long do you dip? 

 

What would you recommend as a concentration for cipro and for how long? I'm still getting pretty mixed experiences from people on the subject. I just do the "that looks good" approach and would like a more concrete example. 

[DaJMasta's 45G AIO Cube Mixed Reef]

Pretty cool that you have a check list.

I'm super worried to go anywhere for long. I'm lucky that one of my neighbor is also a reefer so I will have to schedule my vacation around him 

Good luck and have a great time. 

[Lynn's Fish Room]

8 hours ago, Origami said:

Looking good, Lynn! I acclimated mollies to my frag tank many years ago. They will readily spawn and, if in a main aquarium, often wind up being a food source for other fish in the tank. That was the only batch that I did that way. I stopped keeping mollies because it just looked weird to me to have freshwater fish in the same tank as tangs and other reef inhabitants. But the dichotomy was sorta cool while it lasted. 

Thanks Tom. I didn't really think about Molly either but the price of fish has gone off the roof. I wanted something that are utilitarian (algae eater) that doesn't cost an arm and a leg right now. I was also afraid of my nutrient level since my skimmer issue was taking a very long time to remedy. It would be ideal to get some bristletooth in the future. Just need to figure out a economical approach. 

[Lynn's Fish Room]

Mollies were a success (somewhat). 18 went in to acclimation process for about 1 week and I only lost 2. TBH, I think it was from aggression and possibly ammonia in the tank. I think next time I will try and only do a few at a time.

The sad part was losing about 6 of them when they went into the tanks. I tried my best add a powerhead in the acclimation tank, but they still had a lot of trouble with the flow. I plan to get more in the next few weeks.

The wild clown I picked up from a local hobbyist on Humble.fish forum did very well in QT and just went in the main system and met his new mate. I got her from a coworker who broke down his tank and she has been a lone for a very long time. They bonded within seconds! I'm pretty happy with the results.

Sorry for the horrendous picture. Last minute

 

My husband did make some covers for the frag tanks. This is great because now I don't have to think about all the cord mess I have under there. Why fix a problem when you can just hide it ... right?
He used velcro to keep them up. So it's easy to remove and do what I need to do underneath.

 

After months and months of try to source parts for this skimmer, it's finally on and running!!! Except my nutrients ended up hitting close to 0,0 and now I get to deal with dino .

 

On the good note, the Aquabiomics order for the WAMAS meeting came in! I'm super excited to see all the results that we have in the DMV area. With such a big community here, makes me wonder what the diversity is like.

 

[schg's Ultum Nature Systems 45u nano]

5 minutes ago, Schg said:

 

It is new sand, and it is about 2" deep on average, which is what I tend to do in most nano tanks. I think more of what you are seeing is just the shadow on it. I neglected to mention that I also had the lights off the old tank for about 3 days straight while I sorted out the new light mount, so it was probably a combination of factors here all at once. I'm not super worried about it, it already looks DRASTICALLY better in the last half hour after the water change.

 

No ETA on the Lux yet, its coming from California so probably sometime next week.

 

 

It is for any of the older Prime or Prime HDs, but doesn't work with the 16 since thats a different chip setup.

 

Makes sense. Most of the upgrade would be for folks with the older gen. 

[schg's Ultum Nature Systems 45u nano]

Is the lux for all AI primes or just the older version?

[New member with new 125 tank]

24 minutes ago, YHSublime said:

 

Hey Doug, welcome. The easiest way to do this is to get a top off container to fill with RO/DI water, and an ATO (Automatic Top Off.) This will have a sensor, or a float valve (or both) and it will automatically add freshwater in as it evaporates. My ATO container is approximately 4 gallons on a 22 gallon tank, and I have to fill it up every 3-4 days or so. It's a pain in the neck, but it's all the space I have for that tank.

 

My 11 gallon tank has an ATO container the same size as the tank, and I rarely have to fill up that container. 

 

Just in case: 

 

 

[New member with new 125 tank]

21 minutes ago, DougM said:

My tank isn’t near any water source so can I set up the RODI system then collect the water in a holding container and manually replace evaporated water in the tank?   Running a 30 foot hose across my finished basement floor isn’t feasible. 

 

They make attachment for sink faucets.

 

Most reefers make water in batches and store them in a brute trash can for use throughout. 

 

If your tank is small and you don't want to make it, you can also buy RODI water from fish stores. They are generally around $0.50 to $1.00 /gal. 

But you have to trust the store that they are replacing their carbon block, DI-resin, etc. timely. 

 

 

 

[New member with new 125 tank]

46 minutes ago, DougM said:

Would you also explain how it works and why I need one as opposed to tap water please?   Also can you drink the water?   

 

Easier to link a video.

 

This is not a bad one and its pretty short.