Ackshee's 2.5 gallon / 10 litre Pico Reef

[ackshee]

Everything was looking good, and then two days ago my sexy shrimp disappeared. Not sure if they are dead, or just hiding...

Today, I came home from work and my green star polyps and zoas were fully retracted. My hammer coral looked fine. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong, but I'm hoping it's just an issue with the water parameters, so I did a water change. I test my water at work, so I won't have a chance to test it until Friday.

I cleaned out my sponge filter and it was a bit dirty, so maybe that's what the issue was? I don't know. Everybody seemed really happy until two days ago. I'm quite concerned.

 

[ackshee]

After a water change, the zoas started opening up again. They've been opening and closing on and off, so it seems like something is still bothering them. The GSP is still fully retracted.

Last night, I noticed one of my hermit crabs crawling around on the GSP, plucking algae off of the rock. I'm wondering if that's the reason it's retracted... Maybe my GSP and zoas are just being harassed by my hermit crabs?

 

[ackshee]

Well, my water parameters all tested fine, everything is within the normal range. My nitrates are still zero, which is probably too low, but I don't think that's causing my corals to retract.

At this point I am seriously wondering if my hermit crabs are just really ticking off my corals

I'm doing another water change today or tomorrow just to be safe, but I think I might just need to be patient.

 

[ackshee]

Good news, I figured out the problem.

Bad news, I have an infestation of red flatworms. I noticed a few crawling on the glass. They are scattered throughout the tank, crawling on the rocks, and crawling on my GSP. I'm guessing they have been irritating the zoas and GSP and that's why they're retracted.

 

[ackshee]

I ordered some Salifert Flatworm Exit yesterday, but now I'm not sure I'll need it!

When I spotted the flatworms yesterday, they were scattered throughout the tank, but mainly congregating on the rock that my GSP is on. I could see 5-10 crawling on the flesh of the GSP, as well as probably a dozen more crawling on the rock surrounding it.

Maybe two hours after I spotted the flatworms, I noticed both my hermit crabs crawling around that rock, foraging and eating! I got excited and thought that they were eating the flatworms, but I texted my guy at the LFS and he said that hermit crabs don't eat flatworms... So I assumed they must have been eating algae off of the rock, and that I was wrong.

But this morning, I woke up, and my GSP is starting to open! It's not retracted anymore. I can't spot any flatworms on that rock, either, so I am seriously thinking that my hermit crabs performed some overnight biological control. Maybe I'm wrong and it's totally coincidental. But it really seems like my hermit crabs carried out some sort of anti-flatworm operation. The zoas have been opened up for a couple of days, and now the GSP is starting to look better again, so I think things are straightening themselves out. I've also spotted one of my sexy shrimp! I'm not sure if both of them are still alive, but at least one of them is. I don't know where they were hiding.

In other news... My live rock is awesome. I've got a little baby feather duster worm popping up from one piece of live rock, and that same rock also has a really cool sponge growing on it. It's white/tan and kind of snake-like, spreading around the live rock with little tendrils. It's not the typical round, lumpy sponge that I have seen in other peoples' tanks. The sponge has spread and gotten bigger since I put it in my tank, which must be a good sign, because it sounds like sponges can be quite temperamental. The picture shows a part of the sponge that has been growing and spreading in full exposure to the light. There are parts of it growing in the shade as well. I've been dosing phytoplankton every two days, so I am guessing that's the main food source for the sponge. I wonder if the reason many aquarists struggle to keep sponges is due to keeping the water too clean. Obviously sponges are filter feeders, and they require some amount of detritus and microorganisms in the water to feed.

 

[ackshee]

2 month update. No real updates to speak of.

The sponge is slowly withering away. I'm guessing it's because it's directly in the light. A portion of the sponge on the lower part of the rock is doing better.

My red planaria flatworm infestation is a real drag. I have been hesitant to use my Salifert Flatworm Exit, because I've heard mixed reviews. But the flatworm population is slowly growing.

I've got a bunch of hair algae that's kind of annoying as well. But the livestock are doing well!

 

[ackshee]

I plan to post a FTS tomorrow.

I decided I'm not going to mess with Flatworm Exit, and instead I'm just using a turkey baster to manually remove the flatworms. I sat down for about 20 minutes today and sucked out 50+.

I went to my LFS today and returned my struggling mushroom coral. They have a little hospital/quarantine tank, so hopefully that coral will turn around in their care. While I was at the LFS, I got another two types of macroalgae as well as an assortment of empty shells for my hermit crabs.

After speaking more with my friend that works at the LFS, I feel like the main driver for my hair algae problem is too much white light. Luckily my cheap LED light is adjustable, so I'm cutting back to 15% white light (it was set to 70% intensity) and keeping the amount of blue light the same.

I did a series of small water changes today that totaled to about a 50% water change.

 

[ackshee]

My GSP is retracted in this photo because I have been poking around with the turkey baster, sucking up flatworms. My GSP is spreading a lot, though. It's creeping across the rock. Eventually I may need to make some changes to keep it isolated.

I did some rearranging yesterday during the water changes. I added a new conch shell, on the right side of the tank. I glued one of my new macroalgae to it. I believe it's a Halymenia species. My other new macroalgae may be some type of Gracilaria, I'm not sure, and my LFS didn't know either. It's long, stringy, and branching. Under natural light it looks brownish grey, but under blue light it looks dark red. I glued that one to a smaller shell in the back of the tank, you can see the little tendrils sticking out between the other two red macroalgae. My dark green Codium macroalgae is glued to the rocks in the front of the tank.

I got some reef-safe (polypropylene coated) magnets and super-glued them to my submersible pump, and my water heat. The suction cups kept detaching and it was bothering me. I'm glad I made the switch to magnets.

 

[ackshee]

Amazingly, at least one of my sexy shrimp is still alive! I spotted him late last night, after the light had turned off. I have no clue how he's been able to hide from me in such a small tank.

 

[ackshee]

One of my new, still-unidentified macroalgae seems to be melting. It's glued to a shell. The base is still bright red, but the rest of it has started losing its color and looks quite limp. I'm hoping it's just adjusting and will bounce back, but I'm not too hopeful.

I wish I could identify it, that way I could at least figure out what it needs.

 

[ackshee]

Here is a picture of my mystery macroalgae. Sort of greyish brown in natural light, but glows red under the blue lighting. Any ideas? It looks sort of similar to some Gracilaria species, but not quite the same.

 

[Eatfrenchfries]

Do not glue it. It is epiphytic and attaches itself to substrate, rocks, other macro, etc rather easily.

 

[ackshee]

Do not glue it. It is epiphytic and attaches itself to substrate, rocks, other macro, etc rather easily.

Oops. Lesson learned. I didn't want it floating around and bothering my corals.

 

[Eatfrenchfries]

Fishing line or zip tie works for me. The macro growth will hide it.

 

[ackshee]

@Eatfrenchfries quickly identified this as Acanthophora sp., thank you sir

Fishing line or zip tie works for me. The macro growth will hide it.

Yeah, I will try that next time. I'm hoping my chunk of Acanthophora recovers, but if it dies off, I'll get a new piece and try it with fishing line.

 

[Narideth]

Hello fellow pico friend! What a wondrously small world we live in - I'm the one who posted the review and PAR numbers for the nicrew light you're using. It's a mighty little light, I used it for a few months until I got lucky and won a stronger one in a contest.

I'll be following along, the tank has progressed so much since the beginning, it's looking great despite the difficulties you've been having. I adore small tanks, they're the best.

 

[ackshee]

Hello fellow pico friend! What a wondrously small world we live in - I'm the one who posted the review and PAR numbers for the nicrew light you're using. It's a mighty little light, I used it for a few months until I got lucky and won a stronger one in a contest.

I'll be following along, the tank has progressed so much since the beginning, it's looking great despite the difficulties you've been having. I adore small tanks, they're the best.

Hey thanks! I read through your build thread and noticed your PAR measurements for the NICREW light. I was wondering if you were the author of the Amazon review

 

[Narideth]

Hey thanks! I read through your build thread and noticed your PAR measurements for the NICREW light. I was wondering if you were the author of the Amazon review

I've struggled with getting PAR readings for a number of possible lights that are a little off brand and generally more budget friendly, so when I rented one, I went a little crazy and got all of these readings on every light I had, and one I could order! I'm so glad someone found that information helpful!

 

[ackshee]

I've struggled with getting PAR readings for a number of possible lights that are a little off brand and generally more budget friendly, so when I rented one, I went a little crazy and got all of these readings on every light I had, and one I could order! I'm so glad someone found that information helpful!

That's awesome. This is why I love online forums

 

[ackshee]

Here's another photo taken with the orange filter, this time the GSP is opened up. I've been dealing with some dinoflagellates as you can see. I've noticed that the Acid Rain macroalgae has a "nonstick" surface, which is really nice. The dinoflagellates start to grow on it, then the clumps just fall off.