A Calm Blue Ocean - IM Fusion Pro 50 Gallon AIO Lagoon

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Sounds like you had a good time shipping for new inhabitants.
Sorry to hear about he DOA Cardinal, it happens.
I really enjoyed my Rainfords Goby but it didn’t last very long. One day it was there and then it was just gone. No signs of a problem, just gone.
About time for a new FTS, don’t you think. It’s been a while.

I've heard Rainfords can be a bit of a gamble and these two are so small, hopefully they make it! Really beautiful fish and they occupy a great niche in the tank.

Good news on the Hi-fin! I caught a glimpse of it last night, poking its head out from under the rock in the back of the tank, and as of this afternoon, we have a pairing! Fed some baby brines and as the little critter popped in and out from under the rock to eat them, there was a little red and white stripped claw poking out, too. Success! Hopefully they find their way back around to the front of the tank but alive, paired up, and eating works for me.

I decided to just get a refund for the DOA.

I really need to clean glass. Actually, I really need to do some water changes. Yesterday would have been water change day but it's been a chaotic weekend and I didn't want to bother the new inhabitants. Although with both tanks getting so full of corals it's not like I can syphon sand or anything. I can probably just do a water change from the back chamber and the fish won't even know it happened.

So, with that excuse for all the mess, here are some FTSs!

 

[TheWB]

I've heard Rainfords can be a bit of a gamble and these two are so small, hopefully they make it! Really beautiful fish and they occupy a great niche in the tank.

Good news on the Hi-fin! I caught a glimpse of it last night, poking its head out from under the rock in the back of the tank, and as of this afternoon, we have a pairing! Fed some baby brines and as the little critter popped in and out from under the rock to eat them, there was a little red and white stripped claw poking out, too. Success! Hopefully they find their way back around to the front of the tank but alive, paired up, and eating works for me.

I decided to just get a refund for the DOA.

I really need to clean glass. Actually, I really need to do some water changes. Yesterday would have been water change day but it's been a chaotic weekend and I didn't want to bother the new inhabitants. Although with both tanks getting so full of corals it's not like I can syphon sand or anything. I can probably just do a water change from the back chamber and the fish won't even know it happened.

So, with that excuse for all the mess, here are some FTSs!

Looks good. Looking kinda full like mine is. No place to put anything new. Glad to hear about the hi-fin, it’s always good when you see the ones you haven’t seen in a while.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Looks good. Looking kinda full like mine is. No place to put anything new. Glad to hear about the hi-fin, it’s always good when you see the ones you haven’t seen in a while.

Yup, with the addition of the new livestock I have declared the tank officially full! No more shopping for corals, fish, or inverts. Coral warfare is going on in every corner. Time for a bigger tank, right? I drop hints daily but haven't found the right convincing argument yet!

 

[TheWB]

Yup, with the addition of the new livestock I have declared the tank officially full! No more shopping for corals, fish, or inverts. Coral warfare is going on in every corner. Time for a bigger tank, right? I drop hints daily but haven't found the right convincing argument yet!

I’m getting ready to upgrade myself. I’m hoping to have good news about that in the next month or two at the most. Going to do things differently this next time and keeping the invasive corals to a minimum is one of them. There’s coral warfare, or at least overcrowding due to out of control zoas in every corner of my tank as well.

 

[jcolliii]

Put the zoas next to some torches or hammers! Problem solved!

 

[TheWB]

Put the zoas next to some torches or hammers! Problem solved!

You would think that would work but its not. Anything that the zoas called Alien Antivenoms come close to, they take over. Bam Bams are pretty out of control as well. I love me some zoas but in the new tank they are going to be highly isolated on thier own islands. Right now they are even spreading on the bare bottom, one of the unintended consequences of getting rid of the sand. The sand had to go because of the move, and I like the idea of corals covering the bare bottom, but not these particular ones. Alien Antivenoms and Bam Bams will not be in the new tank at all.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

You would think that would work but its not. Anything that the zoas called Alien Antivenoms come close to, they take over. Bam Bams are pretty out of control as well. I love me some zoas but in the new tank they are going to be highly isolated on thier own islands. Right now they are even spreading on the bare bottom, one of the unintended consequences of getting rid of the sand. The sand had to go because of the move, and I like the idea of corals covering the bare bottom, but not these particular ones. Alien Antivenoms and Bam Bams will not be in the new tank at all.

My zoas really do seem to be the only corals in the tank that aren't bothered by anything.

I just reduced my Sinularia by about half because it was fighting my blastos, the Alien Eye candy cane was fighting the Sinularia, the King Midas zoas have almost eliminated the Purple Hearted Emerald zoas, the Mango Coolers are growing over the Fallout Pocillopora, Mango Coolers are growing on each other, the Duncan is fighting the Birdsnest, the colt coral is fighting my Green Slimer, the Rainbow Pocillopora is fighting the Birdsnest and the Green Slimer, the montis are all fighting each other, the Kenya tree is fighting the gorgonian. Have I missed anything? lol

Lots more pruning to go on during the next water change!

 

[jcolliii]

Wow - that's a lot of fighting! My plating monti is beginning to fight with the Anacro and a brain that I have up top. Gotta give that a good trim and give away the frags locally. I just extended the branch under the torch, so hopefully that will help, but it's been killing the heck out of the speckled Kraks.

 

[TheWB]

My zoas really do seem to be the only corals in the tank that aren't bothered by anything.

I just reduced my Sinularia by about half because it was fighting my blastos, the Alien Eye candy cane was fighting the Sinularia, the King Midas zoas have almost eliminated the Purple Hearted Emerald zoas, the Mango Coolers are growing over the Fallout Pocillopora, Mango Coolers are growing on each other, the Duncan is fighting the Birdsnest, the colt coral is fighting my Green Slimer, the Rainbow Pocillopora is fighting the Birdsnest and the Green Slimer, the montis are all fighting each other, the Kenya tree is fighting the gorgonian. Have I missed anything? lol

Lots more pruning to go on during the next water change!

The first rule of coral fight club......

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Wow - that's a lot of fighting! My plating monti is beginning to fight with the Anacro and a brain that I have up top. Gotta give that a good trim and give away the frags locally. I just extended the branch under the torch, so hopefully that will help, but it's been killing the heck out of the speckled Kraks.

Get some Candy Canes. Maybe start a garden!

Ok, so it turns out there are different species of candy cane. I've decided to refer to this one as Medusa! Sweepers as long as 2 inches some days. Pretty crazy for a candy cane. Fortunately, the peaceful ones have fully recovered since moving this bully. I definitely couldn't handle anything with longer sweepers like torches or hammers.

Funny you mention montis. I've found my monti caps to be the biggest slimers when they make contact with other corals. Big drama!

 

[TheWB]

Get some Candy Canes. Maybe start a garden!

Ok, so it turns out there are different species of candy cane. I've decided to refer to this one as Medusa! Sweepers as long as 2 inches some days. Pretty crazy for a candy cane. Fortunately, the peaceful ones have fully recovered since moving this bully. I definitely couldn't handle anything with longer sweepers like torches or hammers.

Funny you mention montis. I've found my monti caps to be the biggest slimers when they make contact with other corals. Big drama!

Those are crazy long compared to the ones on mine. I’ve got the bluish green ones and the sweepers are about 1/2 inch or so. It’s got those ugly Zoas right up on it and does not appear to react to them at all. No reaction to those same Zoas from two different pieces or red monti cap either. You have fight club and I got bunch of pushovers.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Those are crazy long compared to the ones on mine. I’ve got the bluish green ones and he sweep are about 1/2 inch or so. It’s got those ugly Zoas right up on it and does not appear to react to them at all. No reaction to those same Zoas from two different pieces or red monti cap either. You have fight club and I got bunch of pushovers.

My solid-colored candy canes look like little porcupines at night with perhaps 1/4" little feeders out, nothing like this guy. The Alien Eye started with shorter tentacles but different shape and pattern from the other two candy canes. And once it started touching other corals? Well, it was ON! Darn thing has been in a fighting mood ever since.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I think an update is way overdue! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

Things have been chugging along. I've started fragging the warzones as corals continue to grow. My little SPS garden at the top is on it's way to growing out the top of the tank. Not sure what to do about that but we'll face that when it happens. I have a bit of a cyano issue going on in the lower right. The rainford actually took care of a similar one that was taking over mid-tank so I'm hopeful that he decides that this one looks tasty too!

I finally had to admit that the monti cap in the nano was just way too big for that tank and gave it a massive reset which every other coral in that tank appreciated very much. It was actually fairly brittle, likely due to the continuing high PO4 in the tank, so probably the best for its health too, as much as it hurt to remove so much growth.

The new fish are doing well with the exception of the rainford in the nano who is MIA. He was just so small; I wouldn't be surprised if the bristleworms got him. Very unfortunate.

I had a heck of a time getting the pajama cardinals to eat anything that wasn't live. The brine shrimp hatchery was going non-stop. I did finally discover that Larry will eat frozen roe, but Darryl was one stubborn fish (still on the lookout for another brother Darryl since the third cardinal didn't survive shipping). I picked up some Pac-Pods from Reef Nutrition in the hope that it might help him transition to prepared foods, but no luck, at least not right away. And then just last week it's like a switch flipped! Darryl has decided that he loves Reef Nutrition TDO pellets. No idea why the change of heart or if the Pac-Pods helped (btw, awesome food never-the-less, my smaller mouthed guys love it, my pom pom crab thinks it's the greatest stuff ever, the corals go crazy, and it's super easy to feed), but he eats like a pig now. Big sigh of relief!

The new urchin is a coralline eating machine. Fortunately, my coralline grows faster than he can eat it, but he regularly strips the rocks bare.

Did a fair amount of Black Friday shopping, mostly stocking up on supplies like Chemipure, CO2 media, and AFR, but I had to splurge a little and picked up the Radion g5 to g6 upgrade for my lights but haven't had a chance to install yet. I'm anxious to see if it makes a visible difference but regardless the par is supposed to be a bit higher and the spread a bit better, so we'll see, hopefully next week.

Other than that, not much, I've just been loving the tank. The fish are all constantly weaving through the corals and it's feeling like a real reef. There isn't much real estate left. The desire for a bigger tank is getting stronger all the time!

 

[TheWB]

I think an update is way overdue! Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.

Things have been chugging along. I've started fragging the warzones as corals continue to grow. My little SPS garden at the top is on it's way to growing out the top of the tank. Not sure what to do about that but we'll face that when it happens. I have a bit of a cyano issue going on in the lower right. The rainford actually took care of a similar one that was taking over mid-tank so I'm hopeful that he decides that this one looks tasty too!

I finally had to admit that the monti cap in the nano was just way too big for that tank and gave it a massive reset which every other coral in that tank appreciated very much. It was actually fairly brittle, likely due to the continuing high PO4 in the tank, so probably the best for its health too, as much as it hurt to remove so much growth.

The new fish are doing well with the exception of the rainford in the nano who is MIA. He was just so small; I wouldn't be surprised if the bristleworms got him. Very unfortunate.

I had a heck of a time getting the pajama cardinals to eat anything that wasn't live. The brine shrimp hatchery was going non-stop. I did finally discover that Larry will eat frozen roe, but Darryl was one stubborn fish (still on the lookout for another brother Darryl since the third cardinal didn't survive shipping). I picked up some Pac-Pods from Reef Nutrition in the hope that it might help him transition to prepared foods, but no luck, at least not right away. And then just last week it's like a switch flipped! Darryl has decided that he loves Reef Nutrition TDO pellets. No idea why the change of heart or if the Pac-Pods helped (btw, awesome food never-the-less, my smaller mouthed guys love it, my pom pom crab thinks it's the greatest stuff ever, the corals go crazy, and it's super easy to feed), but he eats like a pig now. Big sigh of relief!

The new urchin is a coralline eating machine. Fortunately, my coralline grows faster than he can eat it, but he regularly strips the rocks bare.

Did a fair amount of Black Friday shopping, mostly stocking up on supplies like Chemipure, CO2 media, and AFR, but I had to splurge a little and picked up the Radion g5 to g6 upgrade for my lights but haven't had a chance to install yet. I'm anxious to see if it makes a visible difference but regardless the par is supposed to be a bit higher and the spread a bit better, so we'll see, hopefully next week.

Other than that, not much, I've just been loving the tank. The fish are all constantly weaving through the corals and it's feeling like a real reef. There isn't much real estate left. The desire for a bigger tank is getting stronger all the time!

The tank looks great. Yours is way more packed than mine and I’m out of space so I’d say yeah, it’s bigger tank time. How much room do you have to go bigger?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

The tank looks great. Yours is way more packed than mine and I’m out of space so I’d say yeah, it’s bigger tank time. How much room do you have to go bigger?

Thanks! I'm dosing 22 ml of AFR daily and alk is still falling. The colt coral needs to be pruned back about every two weeks (just did it again the other day) or it starts to smother all the SPS around it. There's a small open spot next to the sinularia that might need something and that's it, we're full!

I think I could reasonably go to 100 gallons. Of course, it's not just tank size but all that goes along with it like those bigger water changes and such. My 20-gallon storage container would start to look insufficient. I'd love to go 200 gallons but that would definitely take some logistics beyond just space for the tank. I might get shot down if I suggest turning one of the spare bedrooms into a fish room. Might. It sure would be cool though!

 

[TheWB]

Thanks! I'm dosing 22 ml of AFR daily and alk is still falling. The colt coral needs to be pruned back about every two weeks (just did it again the other day) or it starts to smother all the SPS around it. There's a small open spot next to the sinularia that might need something and that's it, we're full!

I think I could reasonably go to 100 gallons. Of course, it's not just tank size but all that goes along with it like those bigger water changes and such. My 20-gallon storage container would start to look insufficient. I'd love to go 200 gallons but that would definitely take some logistics beyond just space for the tank. I might get shot down if I suggest turning one of the spare bedrooms into a fish room. Might. It sure would be cool though!

I get all that. I reaaly want to go big, like a 200, but I'd have all the same issues you mentioned. I'm going to go 100g. I can make the logistics of that work without needing to drastically change my whole set up.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

A few little updates.

First, in spite of everything, I finally find myself sick with COVID (day 5 now). Not cool. I'm up and around a bit more today, so hopefully on the mend!

On to better news, last December, almost exactly a year ago, I decided to try out something different with my moonlights and set them to just blue rather than the mix that I usually run. And my trochus snails went wild! My tank was so cloudy I couldn't see across it. And then a few months ago...

I see this guy cruising around in the back chamber! He's finally big enough that I think he's safe from being a wrasse snack so into the display with him! He's been cruising around at top speed and a free trochus is always a welcome addition. I'm not sure how fast trochus snails grow so I'm not sure if this guy really was from last year's event but still cool.

A while back I told a story about how my peppermint shrimp, Lil' Papa, moved into my pistol shrimp's cave after his mate Big Mama, and the pistol shrimp's goby, Macaroni, both passed. An interesting, odd couple I thought. Now I'm wondering if it's really so odd. With Lil' Papa's passing I decided to get a more classic cleaner shrimp, and what did it do? Moved into the pistol shrimp cave! Goby doesn't care, the two shrimps often have their antennas touching so are most definitely aware of each other. I just seems so interesting that this species of Lysmata shrimp has chosen to park in the exact same spot a different species of Lysmata lived in. I can't help but think there's something to it. Could just be that flow brings a lot of food past that spot but who knows?

You can just see the pistol shrimp antenna sticking out of the cave on the left. One big happy family with obligatory grumpy goby face.

One of the things I enjoy so much in this hobby is watching the way all the creatures live and interact with each other. They just live their lives. Pretty darn cool. I feel like the greatest accomplishment in my reef keeping is making a "place" for all these guys. A world. Pretty darn satisfying.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

My One Drive sent me a "On this day" image this morning and I thought it was pretty cool to see what a difference a year makes!

When I started this hobby, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had a bowfront with a cannister filter. I wanted some clowns and gobies, a pistol shrimp, and a toadstool. I thought monti caps were cool but didn't think I'd ever grow one. It only took 3 1/2 years . This hobby has taught me patience I never knew I had!

 

[TheWB]

My One Drive sent me a "On this day" image this morning and I thought it was pretty cool to see what a difference a year makes!

When I started this hobby, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had a bowfront with a cannister filter. I wanted some clowns and gobies, a pistol shrimp, and a toadstool. I thought monti caps were cool but didn't think I'd ever grow one. It only took 3 1/2 years . This hobby has taught me patience I never knew I had!

Everything looks great. It’s fun to look back and see where you’ve been compared to where you are now. You are now in need of a bigger tank.