Mr. Knightley's Planet 125 The Culmination of Indecision

[Mr_Knightley]

Oh my friend, glad to hear it! Haha. The tank is beautiful! Would you recommend a hog choker for a noob?

Thanks so much!
I'm not sure if I would, only because I have yet to see this guy eat. I know he's eating something, but until I can get him to eat from the baster I wouldn't recommend one to a beginner. Who knows, any other one may be a better eater than mine, but I wouldn't take the chance.
I will update you if I can train him to frozen though!

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Thanks so much!
I'm not sure if I would, only because I have yet to see this guy eat. I know he's eating something, but until I can get him to eat from the baster I wouldn't recommend one to a beginner. Who knows, any other one may be a better eater than mine, but I wouldn't take the chance.
I will update you if I can train him to frozen though!

Sounds like a plan! I appreciate it! Still working on my stocking list.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Any updates @Mr_Knightley?

 

[Mr_Knightley]

@kingoftheHiLLpeople nothing groundbreaking, no. The new frags are settling in nicely, and the fish are doing pretty... Fishy. Nothing all that exciting as of yet. I may have an update tomorrow when it's light out.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Update time!
Yesterday I picked up a few frags and a target mandarin from my LFS. I wasn't able to get any good pics of the mandarin sadly, but I got some money shots today! Nothing else all that interesting has really gone down, but I do hope to get a few more fish here in the next few weeks, after I get lids made and installed properly. Most likely some fairy wrasses and other jumpier fish like that.
Enjoy the pics!

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

Gorgeous! Well done @Mr_Knightley!

 

[Casket_Case]

This is a bit of an off-topic post, but I wanted to share some of my other passions with you all.
I took a lap around my yard & house and took pics of my carnivorous (and other) plants, enjoy!

These first ones are Sarracenia leucophylla pitcher plants, growing on a retaining wall near my garage. You may also see my brother's sawdust pile in the background lolView attachment 1817011View attachment 1817028View attachment 1817038View attachment 1817043

Next round is of my Pinguicula garden in my desk. The bushy thing is a Nepenthes ventricosa, and the little sundew is a hitchhiker Drosera capensis. I recently gave some duplicate Pings away to an LFS worker who's getting in to CP's (carnivorous plants).
View attachment 1817057View attachment 1817063View attachment 1817069View attachment 1817074View attachment 1817075View attachment 1817078View attachment 1817080View attachment 1817086View attachment 1817089View attachment 1817090View attachment 1817098

I hope you all enjoy these pics! It's nice sharing some other aspects of my life that aren't touched on too often.
Cheers and God bless!

I’ve got some trumpets and VFT at the moment... I want some Sarracenia Purpurea and dews

 

[Mr_Knightley]

I’ve got some trumpets and VFT at the moment... I want some Sarracenia Purpurea and dews

I love Purps! I haven't had them for a while though. In January I plan to place an order for a few plants, including some temperate and tropical sundews (pygmies are my favorites), some more pings, some bladderworts and maybe a Heliamphora or two. I haven't had luck thus far with VFTs but at some point I want to try again.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Update time!
Since last update, a few things have occurred. Yesterday I visited my LFS to get some urchins and stuff, but they had none so I ended up just picking up a few fish, a lawnmower blenny and a brown dragonet. Today I went back (they got a new shipment in) to check it out, still no urchins, but I remembered I had lost my sea hare so I got another. The reason I wanted algae eaters was because right after the sea hare died, some bryopsis started sprouting up in a couple of places and I of course didn't want that lol The Only hares they had were around golf ball size, I bought one and am planning to pick up a rabbitfish in about two weeks time during a birthday shopping spree, I'll probably also pick up a few more hares. Along with the hare I bought a really, really nice gold-lined Trachyphyllia for $160, and I took the chance and bought a tiny little Rusty angelfish! I'm hoping it will work out with him, so far my orangeline tang has been harassing him but I hope he'll let up on it soon.
Didn't get too many pics, but here are a few right before/after adding:

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

That brown dragonet is good looking!

 

[fishguy242]

hi,very cool build,love the plants,great finds on corals tank is looking awesomeupdate time.."it's your birthday" wadda you gettin'..HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

 

[Bicol_Xpress]

Update time!
Since last update, a few things have occurred. Yesterday I visited my LFS to get some urchins and stuff, but they had none so I ended up just picking up a few fish, a lawnmower blenny and a brown dragonet. Today I went back (they got a new shipment in) to check it out, still no urchins, but I remembered I had lost my sea hare so I got another. The reason I wanted algae eaters was because right after the sea hare died, some bryopsis started sprouting up in a couple of places and I of course didn't want that lol The Only hares they had were around golf ball size, I bought one and am planning to pick up a rabbitfish in about two weeks time during a birthday shopping spree, I'll probably also pick up a few more hares. Along with the hare I bought a really, really nice gold-lined Trachyphyllia for $160, and I took the chance and bought a tiny little Rusty angelfish! I'm hoping it will work out with him, so far my orangeline tang has been harassing him but I hope he'll let up on it soon.
Didn't get too many pics, but here are a few right before/after adding:View attachment 1933596View attachment 1933617View attachment 1933624

Wow, great tank... what an inspiration... just getting into the saltwater and looking forward to seeing more updates. Awesome buikd.

 

[reefd00d]

Tank looks great! It's really coming along.
What's on the side of your GSP? Some green zoas? I wonder which one will win! Lol.
I like that Dragon Fruit Montipora. Looks nice in the second pic!
A flounder? C-c-crazy.
What lights are you running?

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Tank looks great! It's really coming along.
What's on the side of your GSP? Some green zoas? I wonder which one will win! Lol.
I like that Dragon Fruit Montipora. Looks nice in the second pic!
A flounder? C-c-crazy.
What lights are you running?

Thanks a lot! Planning on an update later this week, stay tuned.
The GSP rock used to be dominated by those palys lol The GSP quickly overtook them though. The dragonfruit is a really nice piece, I agree. It's put on a load of growth in the past few weeks, it's now all over the plug!
Yeah, the sole has to be one of the coolest fish I own. He is a lot more comfortable with me now and will often sit up against (or suctioned on to) the glass while I care for the tank lol He's been really great.
I'm running AI Hydra 52 HDs, bought them on sale when the new Hydra 64s came out in 2019. They've been really great lights so far, I love the controllability and the growth I've been getting with them has bee phenomenal. I'm sad they aren't in production anymore, I may search online for some used ones to fill in the gaps.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Update time! It's been a while since I've done a full-fledged update like this, so hang tight.
So about two weeks back, me, my father and my brothers took a week-long vacation on Crescent Island, FL. My folks own a condo down there and we had only just then got the opportunity to test it out. SO we spent the week beachwalking, swimming, and fishing until last Sunday. While I was away I had my mother caring for the tank, and for the most part she did a phenomenal job keeping it up. No casualties and the corals all looked great. The only problem was that the temp rose a degree or two afterwards, leading to minor bleaching that I'm remedying right now.
As some of you may know I'm entered into Battlecorals' frag grow out contest, so here's a two week update on my little dooter:

He's grow about an eighth of an inch and has reached the edges of the plug in some places. I'm excited to watch him grow!

Now on the the rest of the tank:

(Apologies for condensed images, my connection was too weak to load the full images)
Overall, coral growth has been phenomenal. Within the past week I've noticed large jumps in size and improvements in color with many of the corals, as well as great polyp extension among my acros. The only unhappy coral has been my Acanthophyllia, as the temperature of the tank rose a bit while I was gone and caused her to bleach, but I've dropped it back down so I'm hoping she'll recover well.

Along with my existing stock, I've added four new fish to the tank as of late. Two pink skunk clowns (whom immediately took a liking to my Condy), one zebra dartfish to accompany my existing male, and a corallinus rabbitfish to help with some bryopsis in the tank. I'm scheduled to pick up three more skunks on Wednesday, and on the same day I'll be receiving a package of snails and a group of fish I'll share when they come.




I've also got several issues going on with the tank. As you may have seen, I have several patches of bryopsis throughout the tank, and though it doesn't look good it's the lesser of my issues.
The main issue I'm experiencing is a plague of flatworms all over the tank. Luckily they are not a parasitic variety, but they look gross and poison the tank when they die. I can't figure what method to use to eliminate them, I've looked into getting velvet slugs but I can't find them anywhere for a decent price.
I've also looked into chemical treatments, but I'd rather use chems as a last resort. I hope to find a radiant wrasse at some point and employ her to eradicate the worms, but for the time being I've just got to suck them out when I see them. I'll never be fully rid of them, but I hope to set up an ecosystem that won't support them in large numbers, hopefully by employing velvet slugs and wrasses.

Forgive me for the convoluted update, I've been a bit slow recently and had a lot to say in limited space. I'll post a new update on Wednesday, so until then see you later and God bless!

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Well it definitely isn't Wednesday, sorry for the delay. I've been feeling really crappy lately so I haven't been inspired to write big updates or anything. So let's get this one started!
Acro growth has been amazing lately. Many of the pieces have gotten to critical mass and are beginning to branch like crazy! Prime examples are my pink caddy and tort. The Sebae nem that I completely forgot to tell y'all about has grown from around 5" across to over 8"! It hosts four Skunk clowns (lost one to uronema, need to get a replacement soon). The skunks also live in the giant condy and tiny LTA, which I find comical.



Next are just some growth shots, no real commentary.


If you couldn't tell, the tank isn't quite clean right now. I've been busy and uninspired, and that has lead to Bryopsis taking over in many areas. But the glaring issue is an inundation on red flatworms. They've coated every non-living surface and fly off everywhere whenever I touch the rocks. They poisoned my mandarins and LPS after they ate too many of them. I've been searching non-stop for velvet slugs but can't find them anywhere for a reasonable price, and I'm not going to use chemicals until every outlet has been explored. The worms have really been killing my inspiration with the tank, and I need to get them out soon or else I'll go crazy.

On another note, in the last update I said I would be receiving some livestock in the mail. One of the boxes arrived, it had snails for both tanks and a sponge for the junk pool, but the other box hasn't arrived yet. I was notified that the fish I ordered went out of stock, so I'm still waiting for them to get more.

Well, that's about it. Sorry for the dull update, as I mentioned I've been feeling really sluggish recently and haven't been able to think straight for a few weeks now. Lets hope I can clear the brain fog soon because it's really getting on my nerves.
Have a nice day and God bless you guys.

 

[fishguy242]

hi, possible wrasse, siphoning ,manual removal combo.
hope you feel better soon...

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Update FTS to prove I'm not dead. Other interests have been getting the better of me and my tank is automated enough that I'm beginning to get 'rusty', so to speak. I think the biggest mistake I've ever made in reefing was setting up an auto feeder. It completely disconnected me from the tank and removed the inherent need to attend to the tank. It doesn't help that the tank is in the basement, and helps even less that I have other hobbies. I'm immensely grateful that nothing died in my neglect, in fact several corals have doubled or tripled in size since I've taken a good look at them and all of my fish are healthy and vigorous, which I can only be thankful for.
But I think the discouragement of algae and pests has been the biggest weight on me, and the biggest reason I've 'turned on the autofeeder', both literally and figuratively. Discouragement is a powerful emotion, and one that I have been destroyed by many times, but I think I can get through it this time. So many of the glaring issues are within my grasp to completely eliminate, and now I've got the time to fix them. Over the next few months I'm going to be doing a sort of mini-renovation of the tank and it's equipment, so expect to see more soon on the technical side.

But that's it for now. I may not post super often, but I hope that my journey through both the highs and lows has brought some light or enjoyment to you guys.
Have a wonderful day and God bless.

 

[LRT]

Update FTS to prove I'm not dead. Other interests have been getting the better of me and my tank is automated enough that I'm beginning to get 'rusty', so to speak. I think the biggest mistake I've ever made in reefing was setting up an auto feeder. It completely disconnected me from the tank and removed the inherent need to attend to the tank. It doesn't help that the tank is in the basement, and helps even less that I have other hobbies. I'm immensely grateful that nothing died in my neglect, in fact several corals have doubled or tripled in size since I've taken a good look at them and all of my fish are healthy and vigorous, which I can only be thankful for.
But I think the discouragement of algae and pests has been the biggest weight on me, and the biggest reason I've 'turned on the autofeeder', both literally and figuratively. Discouragement is a powerful emotion, and one that I have been destroyed by many times, but I think I can get through it this time. So many of the glaring issues are within my grasp to completely eliminate, and now I've got the time to fix them. Over the next few months I'm going to be doing a sort of mini-renovation of the tank and it's equipment, so expect to see more soon on the technical side.

But that's it for now. I may not post super often, but I hope that my journey through both the highs and lows has brought some light or enjoyment to you guys.
Have a wonderful day and God bless.
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You got this with a little dedication and elbow grease with some follow through. Corals look great. I think system is well mature enough to get right back on track and most likely be more efficient once its cleaned up.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Update time! Sorry for the lack of posts over the month, nothing particularly crazy has happened since the last update but I've slowly been getting the tank back under reigns, I'm planning to do another water change to remove a new batch of algae & worms. I have to do a water change when I remove worms as otherwise they poison the tank, so I'm going to do a few small water changes over the week to remove even more. After I reduce the population, I'm going to get a wrasse of some sort (Radiant wrasse is top of the list, but they are practically nonexistent on the east coast so it can work on keeping the population down. I'm also going to be remove the big condy this week, as she eats my snails & slugs and prevents me from getting natural Bryopsis control. She's also been making my other nems mad, and to be honest I like my other nems more than the big brown condy. I've got someone who may want her, but I would have to ship it to him so I'll figure it out.
I'm going to be swapping my light hanging kit with the HMS bracket system, thousands of dollars worth of electronics dangling over the water on wires has been bugging me since I put them up. I've got the bar and am getting the other parts on the 24th, so I will do a full setup update when I put it together.

Today I received a package!


So here's some backstory. when I set up the tank, I had the goal to stake out and find a mythical blue LTA. The spot where the Condy resides is where I planned to put it, and by magical chance I decided to browse the net and found, you guessed, a blue LTA. And in addition to being a blue LTA, the whole site was having a 30% sale, so a grabbed the nem and a really nice chunk of red Bowerbankii. This is another thing spurring me to remove the Condy. So, today it arrived (with a free frag of lepto) and I was shocked by the size!
The nem is in the middle bag. 5" long and it's completely closed!
In this pic, it's about half open and is as wide as my palm!
And here she is right after addition. She's opened lot more since, but I don't feel like taking more pictures so I'll do another update later lol




We'll that's it for today. Have a wonderful week and God bless you all!