ReefGrammie's 90-Gallon Reboot

[ReefGrammie]

I hate when stuff drops off my watch list, sorry to hear about the fish issue, I also don't qt anything but our supply chain appears healthier in Europe generally and I trust my lfs.
They know how I acclimate and release fish, bags floating and water added by the cup over 20 - 30 minutes and then the bags are slowly upended and the fish swim out, they would tell me if there was anything in the system.
Onwards and upwards.

Thank you! I very much trust my LFS, now that the former owner is back in charge. I just made a bad mistake trusting the people while he was out of the picture, who PROMISED me they were medicating the tanks. They weren't.

I'll be buying from him again soon. He is very aware of my situation, and I wasn't the only person who got burned. Live and learn!

 

[ReefGrammie]

I was taking some pictures for my LFS owner today, who is ready to start wheeling and dealing again after the store just recently reopened. Thought I might put them up here as well!

Goblins:

AOI, and I don't even know what is next to it!

Illuminati:

Jedi Mind Trick. I've always liked this montipora...had it in my first reef tank as well.

The picture doesn't do the "orange" justice. It really is a screaming orange!

Two monticaps. I can't wait to see the grow out on the grafted piece!

JF Chemical Reaction from the top down. The rock is probably 3 x 5 inches, so it's still tiny.

JF Chemical Reaction chalice frag. When I first got it, it only showed red and a little orange. I love the green and yellow! This piece will be stunning when it "grows up" a bit!

 

[TriggerFinger]

Very nice pictures! I love the orange mushroom

 

[ReefGrammie]

Very nice pictures! I love the orange mushroom

That ricordia will have TN Vol fans going nuts!

 

[ReefGrammie]

It was a very successful day at the LFS yesterday. Both owners happened to be there, which hasn't happened before in 12 years! After picture sharing and me drooling over the HUGE Utter Chaos colony in the growing tank, it was decided...I must have that Utter Chaos for Zoa World!! It was in the corner of the very large growing tank and it caught my eye immediately. He still has other corals that went to temporary homes after the tornado and has some King Midas that I also must have. I'm really excited by be back to the point where I can show up there with my little yellow cooler and everybody wins! As soon as one of my long-armed sons shows up in town, I will work on fragging and growing that orange ricordea in my little frag tank. I added a little CUC to the frag tank yesterday. My husband told me to buy something pretty for the tank (as he ran off to play golf). He asked me what I bought...umm, snails and rocks! ;Joyful

 

[ReefGrammie]

Been a while since I've grown a ricordea from a snipped piece, but there it is in the corner! I guess my arms were long enough to reach it after all. I just grabbed a little section with the tongs and snipped it off with bone cutters...I'm sure it loved that. The challenge is to get it to attach to the rock where it can grow. I found a little dosing cup that the dog decided to chew on, so it already had holes for water flow through the cup. ;Hilarious I put a few pieces of my new pink rubble in the cup with the ricordea section on top, and hopefully it will attach itself. I circulate a little Reef-Roids in the frag tank about twice a week. If the orange is successful, I may do the same with my other ricordeas.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Fingers crossed for successful attachment! Where did you get the pink rubble pieces?

 

[ReefGrammie]

Fingers crossed for successful attachment! Where did you get the pink rubble pieces?

Thanks! My LFS had two boxed options for "rubble"...I just picked the pink one! They are in assorted sizes, basically from tiny pieces to about 2-inch pieces. I just like rubble rather than frag plugs!

 

[najer]

Thanks! My LFS had two boxed options for "rubble"...I just picked the pink one! They are in assorted sizes, basically from tiny pieces to about 2-inch pieces. I just like rubble rather than frag plugs!

I use this, great stuff, I keep it in baskets in the tank and sump so it is live.

 

[ReefGrammie]

I use this, great stuff, I keep it in baskets in the tank and sump so it is live.

Great idea to put it in baskets in the sump! I'm going to do that today. I have mine scattered all over the fish room counter now, which isn't doing much good just sitting there!

 

[ReefGrammie]

I actually didn't have a package delivered this week...well, at least not aquarium related! My fish all seem to be doing ok now. I stay hopeful that whatever they had a few months ago is gone. No more fish losses, and I haven't seen white stringy poop in a while. I'm probably still going to give it at least another month or two before I add a new fish.

As far as the coral, it's time to just sit back and let it grow...and stay away from live sales! ;Joyful

 

[najer]

...and stay away from live sales!

Yeh right!

 

[ReefGrammie]

Yeh right!

You know me too well already! ;Hilarious

 

[ReefGrammie]

Power head cleaning day. Thank you, @sfin52, for the great suggestion of using citric acid! Wow! What a difference that stuff makes. It was like all of that thick, crusted coraline just melted off. I didn't even have to scrub. Just soak for 20-30 minutes, wipe with a soft brush, rinse well, and let them dry.

Before:

After:

 

[najer]

Power head cleaning day. Thank you, @sfin52, for the great suggestion of using citric acid! Wow! What a difference that stuff makes. It was like all of that thick, crusted coraline just melted off. I didn't even have to scrub. Just soak for 20-30 minutes, wipe with a soft brush, rinse well, and let them dry.

Before:

After:

Learn somethink every day, who knew you were spozed to clean stuff?!

 

[ReefGrammie]

I had noticed 2 of my acros, a monti, and a turbinaria all bleaching slightly in the last week or so. I also noticed my dendro being completely shut, which is not normal. I was a little baffled because all other acros/montis look great. The ones bleaching are all in the same area of the tank.

I think I've had a moment. Let me know if this is crazy. This morning, I noticed that this one area of the tank (right where the corals are bleaching) had direct sunlight blaring in from my front window. The tank never gets direct sunlight except for this short time of year when the sun is in a certain position. It probably lasts for a few hours, but I'm not really sure because I hadn't noticed it before! During the rest of the year, the tank gets no direct sunlight. I'm not even sure how long this will last (a month, a few months?). Anyway, I'm going to pay attention now. I didn't have any coral last year because it was right before my restart, which was around September/October (the dreaded hair algae outbreak on page 1).

Could this be why my coral is bleaching?? I threw a towel over the part that was getting the direct sun, and I'll do that until the sun moves again, unless that sounds like a dumb idea. The window is a big arch window over my front door and I'm not putting any curtains/shades there.

Window:

Tank with towel:

 

[TriggerFinger]

Seems like a good solution to me!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Seems logical. If it stops you will know it was the sunlight.

BTW, love the clock. My grandfather made and repaired clocks and watches in his barn. Made a few grandfather and grandmother clocks. Always love seeing them.

 

[ReefGrammie]

BTW, love the clock. My grandfather made and repaired clocks and watches in his barn. Made a few grandfather and grandmother clocks. Always love seeing them.

Thanks, and great story about your grandfather! The clock belonged to my in-laws, who bought it in the 1970's. It quit working several years ago and one of our sons took it upon himself to figure out how to fix it...thanks to Google! He figured out which parts to order and got it back running again. We love that clock!

 

[najer]

Oops!