• Why not take a moment to introduce yourself to our members?

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Awesomeness.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2014-03-10-21-27-43.jpg
    Screenshot_2014-03-10-21-27-43.jpg
    21.4 KB · Views: 242

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Ummm...excuse me. What's this all about. The entire RBTA is deflated, happens often, but just one tentacle remains inflated tonight. It's like it took viagra. :eek:
This Nem is about 6 inches across.
syqy3ypa.jpg
 

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Gbta

So this GBTA was very temperamental. After walking around the tank for a couple of months, it seems to finally found a comfy spot all the way in the back. Grrrrr. Its at the back of the tank between a rock and the back glass.
Its weird because the foot has to stretch like 6 inches long from the base to the top for it to rise above the rock and open up like it is in the picture.
 

Attachments

  • 2014-03-20 19.17.13.jpg
    2014-03-20 19.17.13.jpg
    190.1 KB · Views: 190

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Salinity

So this weekend I picked up a Pinpoint Salinity monitor from rebelson. Also got a lot of freebies fish food to last me another year or two!
I picked it up late Saturday afternoon and didn't get to use it because I was in a hurry to get to the NERAC dinner. Which was awesome! I got to meet Phil the Penguin and also got a behind the scenes tour of the reef setup! And I got to meet Julian and Charles as well. :)

So on Sunday morning I was eager to try out the new toy. I already have a refractometer and a hydrometer (which I don't really use that much). I also have a Lab Grade Apex conductivity probe connected which is about 6 month old. For the most part I always check my salinity and ensure SG is around 1.025. Its actually the only parameter I "test" for the tank.

Back to story, I tested the DT water with the Pinpoint Salinity monitor and it read 48.5 mS which is 1.023 SG. So I figure, no big deal, I need to calibrate the Pinpoint monitor. I got out a fresh bottle of the calibration fluid and tested it and got 56.0mS. And I thought it can't be...The Calibration fluid is supposed to be 53.0mS which is 1.025SG. So in my head i'm trying to figure out if this is the case, then what the hell is the SG for my DT!!!
I turn the screw on the salinity monitor to calibrate it down to match 53.0mS and then carefully rinse the probe and proceed to check the salinity of the DT. After two minutes it read 46.5, which is 1.022SG!!!
I got my refractometer out and calibrated it with the same solutions and got the same reading for the DT! (I should confess that I am guilty of previously calibrating the refractometer with very cold RODI water because I didn't have any calibration fluid).
LESSON LEARNED!

And the scary part in all of this is not that the SG in my DT was off. The scary part is about what is happening in my QT where I'm treating fishes with HYPO! But I'll post updates on that issue later.

Things to do:
1. Recalibrate the APEX Conductivity Probe
2. Get a few more vials of the calibration solution to double check
3. Calibrate at least once a month
4. Double check/double check
5. Figure out how to make my own calibration fluid. That little bottle of water is $8!!!
 

Attachments

  • 2014-03-23 12.34.18.jpg
    2014-03-23 12.34.18.jpg
    139.7 KB · Views: 193

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
My Fallow and QT Plan

Here's my updated DT fallow and QT Plan. I have a lot of time on my hands...And besides pretty much every part of my life is on a spreadsheet. I used the formulas from another forum, just needed to make some minor tweaks.
Technically the DT fallow period would not have ended until 5/17/14 (7 months!!!), but I got a Mandarin and a Ruby Red Dragonet and didn't want to QT them, so they went straight into the DT after 15 weeks or close to 4 months. Hopefully all ich is gone, but I know that it won't be 100%.
 

Attachments

  • 2014-03-24 20.46.53.jpg
    2014-03-24 20.46.53.jpg
    72.5 KB · Views: 177

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
And now that you've added fish directly to DT all that fallow means nothing as you just might have reinfected the tank...i wouldnt worry too much just saying...

I really struggled with whether or not to QT the Mandarin. Although I'm aware that their slime coat can protect them from ich, I don't know if that means they can't carry it. In any case I took a dangerous gamble by putting them directly into the DT.
In retrospect, it was just a bad idea to do that.
The fallow period was still needed to kill off whatever ich I had in there.

The other fishes in hypo in the QT tank will run the full course. This was good learning exercise and experience for me to go through. I will definitely QT all livestock going forth.
 

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
View from the other side

We rearrange some furniture over the weekend and saw a view of the tank that I never really saw before, or at least, I never bother to look at the tank from this angle. It looks clean compared to elsewhere in the tank. There is a huge piece of flat rock sitting on a huge piece of tonga branch-rock and it prevents any light from getting through. I finally figured out where the peppermint shrimps have been hiding.
 

Attachments

  • 2014-04-13 13.32.35.jpg
    2014-04-13 13.32.35.jpg
    111.6 KB · Views: 215

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Definitely carrying eggs...give it a few days and she will flutter the eggs loose

Yup, I've seen the fluttering and release of eggs before. But I didn't know thats what it was. The first time I saw it I thought the shrimp was scratching itself. Lol
So I tried to take a snapshot with the webcam...a few seconds later I saw the release of the eggs.
This pic in this post captured it. http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/tank-threads/154234-oh207-65g-tank-thread-8.html#post1473189
 

oh207

Advanced Reefer
Apex Freak
Location
Amityville, NY
Rating - 100%
78   0   0
Coral Warfare

This week I noticed that my very healthy looking Gold Torch was starting to look like it was dying. I figured it was a goner and was bummed out about it. So I was up late and decided to glance at the tank. I don't usually look at the tank in the nights anymore. I'm afraid someone will see me with the flashlight and think I'm still crazy. :shhh:

So I looked at the Gold Torch because I know that it was looking pretty bad and I saw the most freakish thing! There were these long tendrils coming out of the chalice and they were attached to the Torch. The tendrils were easily 2 inches long!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. So I grabbed my phone and recorded the video below. If you look closely you will see the tendrils coming out of the chalice and swaying back and forth. And you can clearly see one that was attached to the Torch.

I've since moved the chalice, but I don't know where to safely place it.

Video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uOj2UnCMX9k

Here is a pic of how the Torch looked before and a few shots of the Chalice attacking the torch.
 

Attachments

  • 2014-05-01 20.22.02.jpg
    2014-05-01 20.22.02.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 188
  • 2014-05-22 00.11.40.jpg
    2014-05-22 00.11.40.jpg
    88 KB · Views: 185
  • 2014-05-22 00.14.19.jpg
    2014-05-22 00.14.19.jpg
    92.7 KB · Views: 212

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top