Tenecor 100 Gallon Lagoon-style acrylic AIO

[tharbin]

I just got two peppermint’s for my 10 gal and they are doing good work on the aiptasia. It’s been about two weeks and noticed at least 4 are gone. I have about 12 I can see. I have sexy shrimp in the same tank.

Interesting with the Sexy Shrimp in the same tank. I also ordered a Pitho Crab and 5 Blue-Legged Hermits from Reef Cleaners along with a few replacement snails. The Foxface and Bristletooth both pick at the bubble algae but they are starting to fall behind and they won't go near the hair algae. I usually avoid crabs and non-cleaner shrimp but for now I need all the help I can get.

My really-local LFS may end up with a small invert section before this is all done. I've used Flux RX (flucanazole) when I had Bryopis in the old Waterbox and it worked great for the Bryopsis, and good for hair, turf and bubble algae but I'd rather not resort to that. Starting with dry rock and bacteria sure is different from the days of live rock but starting with old base rock, marco and STAX is still way better than the man-made stuff like I had in the Waterbox.

I'm going to start plucking and cleaning individual rocks once I get my parameters back in line.

 

[tbrown]

I just got two peppermint’s for my 10 gal and they are doing good work on the aiptasia. It’s been about two weeks and noticed at least 4 are gone. I have about 12 I can see. I have sexy shrimp in the same tank.

That doesn't sound like a good job... I had 1 Peppermint in a 75 with 2 Aiptasia and both were gone overnight. I currently have 1 in my 70 and he's ate 4 in the first 2 days alone.

Still, Aiptasia eating Peppermints are better than coral eating fake Peppermints.

 

[tbrown]

Interesting with the Sexy Shrimp in the same tank. I also ordered a Pitho Crab and 5 Blue-Legged Hermits from Reef Cleaners along with a few replacement snails. The Foxface and Bristletooth both pick at the bubble algae but they are starting to fall behind and they won't go near the hair algae. I usually avoid crabs and non-cleaner shrimp but for now I need all the help I can get.

My really-local LFS may end up with a small invert section before this is all done. I've used Flux RX (flucanazole) when I had Bryopis in the old Waterbox and it worked great for the Bryopsis, and good for hair, turf and bubble algae but I'd rather not resort to that. Starting with dry rock and bacteria sure is different from the days of live rock but starting with old base rock, marco and STAX is still way better than the man-made stuff like I had in the Waterbox.

I'm going to start plucking and cleaning individual rocks once I get my parameters back in line.

My Pithos arrived in rough shape and only lived for a day or two after delivery. The Emeralds were constantly picking at Bubble Algae.

 

[tharbin]

My Pithos arrived in rough shape and only lived for a day or two after delivery. The Emeralds were constantly picking at Bubble Algae.

Buzzkill....

I guess the good news is Aquarium Arts had Emeralds one tank over from the Peppermints.

 

[tbrown]

Buzzkill....

I guess the good news is Aquarium Arts had Emeralds one tank over from the Peppermints.

I prefer Pithos to Emeralds. My Pithos just didn't make it.

 

[tharbin]

I prefer Pithos to Emeralds. My Pithos just didn't make it.

I thought about overnight UPS but opted for just Priority Mail. Oh well.

 

[tbrown]

I thought about overnight UPS but opted for just Priority Mail. Oh well.

That's what I did. The Pithos bag leaked and so I think that was the possible cause.

 

[tharbin]

My buddy just had a delivery last week.

Their peppermints are good. Mine ate Aiptasia and left Coral alone.

Update: Shrimp were scheduled to ship today but I received this email this morning:

'Sorry to inform you that they are expecting very warm weather in your area, above 100 degrees. We cannot ship safely to you with until it is under 100. We will keep checking the weather and let you know when it is cool enough to ship'

It is perfectly reasonable on their part, if I remember correctly their site specifies above 95 degrees. I just checked the two-week forecast, not one day below 100. Better to wait and do something else interim than to receive baked shrimp and crab with escargot.

Looks like probably a trip to Aquarium Arts with a hundred pounds of rock for 'testing'.

 

[tharbin]

I fell behind on my schedule for the tank so I just got to the WC yesterday. I plan to do parameter tests again today, hopefully...

In the meantime I decided to print a modified feed cup. I plan to do a redesign of the cup at some point but for now I just changed the 'top-of-tank-to-water-line', slot-to-water-line' and 'slot-height' parameters in my feed cup model to print one that will work better with the gyres. No more rubber band holding a third of the cup above the lid.

The fish seem to think the new one is just fine. The smaller side slots reduce the dispersal rate a bit. which was way too fast with the gyres. I stopped using feed mode with pellets as the fish would just all hang out under the cup waiting for a pellet to fall in their mouths. Now they take off like sprinters as soon as they see the first pellet hit the water.

 

[tharbin]

New parameter set:

Last Thursday/Current
SG (ppt): 35.0/34.9 (target 35.0ppt)
Temp: 79.8/80.0F (target 78-79F)
pH: 7.8/7.9 (target 8.2-8.6)
Alk: 7.0/7.3 (target 8.0-9.0)
Ca: 365/380 (target 400-440)
NO3: 40/16 (target 10-20)
PO4: .21/.06 (target .05-.1)
Mg: 750/1065 (target 1280-1500)

So going the right way but I have to be sure to not bottom out Nitrate/Phosphate. If the PO4 goes much lower I'll pull the ChemiPure Blue and replace with straight carbon. I'll overdose 2-part by 10% for a few more days and recheck parameters.

 

[tharbin]

Reef Cleaners Update:

Not sure if it was my order or not but Reef Cleaners just changed their temperature requirements at the top of the home page. It now reads: 'We need day time high temperatures below 95 degrees to ship. We are not shipping to AZ until September. We will check the forecast in your area on shipping day. If you have experienced delays with Priority Mail in the past please use UPS.' Color highlighting added by me.

But it's a dry heat? I think I need to look at cancelling the order for now...

 

[tbrown]

And then LiveAquaria puts ice packs in and freezes the fish.

 

[tharbin]

I still needed some Peppermint Shrimp or Berghia Nudibranchs or a small A-Bomb at the least. I checked and there doesn't seem to be anything like UberReefs and it doesn't seem the R2RExpress services southern Arizona. I also figured that the shrimp/snails/crab stood a better chance of getting here than the nudis so it was up to me. I did a one-store LFS run today. It wouldn't be too bad except it is about 1 hour each way, it's 113 degrees out and the passenger side AC is out in our vehicle (needs a new actuator which involves pulling out most of the dash). Oh, and there was some kind of an accident with an oil tank truck on the I-10 Westbound so the trip up took 1 hour and 35 minutes, and the Gila River Bridge repairs added about 10 minutes to the return trip.

The good news is that they had what I needed:

Three Peppermint Shrimp, a Pitho Crab and a Yellow Eye Goni,

6 Trochus and 6 Cerith Snails. Now I just need to recover enough to actually add them to the tanks.

 

[tbrown]

I still needed some Peppermint Shrimp or Berghia Nudibranchs or a small A-Bomb at the least. I checked and there doesn't seem to be anything like UberReefs and it doesn't seem the R2RExpress services southern Arizona. I also figured that the shrimp/snails/crab stood a better chance of getting here than the nudis so it was up to me. I did a one-store LFS run today. It wouldn't be too bad except it is about 1 hour each way, it's 113 degrees out and the passenger side AC is out in our vehicle (needs a new actuator which involves pulling out most of the dash). Oh, and there was some kind of an accident with an oil tank truck on the I-10 Westbound so the trip up took 1 hour and 35 minutes, and the Gila River Bridge repairs added about 10 minutes to the return trip.

The good news is that they had what I needed:

Three Peppermint Shrimp, a Pitho Crab and a Yellow Eye Goni,

6 Trochus and 6 Cerith Snails. Now I just need to recover enough to actually add them to the tanks.

My buddy ended up over at LE Corals the other day and came home with a bunch of coral, some Macros, and a Shark.

 

[TheWB]

I still needed some Peppermint Shrimp or Berghia Nudibranchs or a small A-Bomb at the least. I checked and there doesn't seem to be anything like UberReefs and it doesn't seem the R2RExpress services southern Arizona. I also figured that the shrimp/snails/crab stood a better chance of getting here than the nudis so it was up to me. I did a one-store LFS run today. It wouldn't be too bad except it is about 1 hour each way, it's 113 degrees out and the passenger side AC is out in our vehicle (needs a new actuator which involves pulling out most of the dash). Oh, and there was some kind of an accident with an oil tank truck on the I-10 Westbound so the trip up took 1 hour and 35 minutes, and the Gila River Bridge repairs added about 10 minutes to the return trip.

The good news is that they had what I needed:

Three Peppermint Shrimp, a Pitho Crab and a Yellow Eye Goni,

6 Trochus and 6 Cerith Snails. Now I just need to recover enough to actually add them to the tanks.

What you just described re the heat is exactly why I couldn’t ever live in AZ. Just not for me. Nice cloudy 65 degrees where I am right now.

Glad you got the peppermints, are you going to put them in the smaller tanks and bring them a nice meal from the main tank?

 

[tbrown]

It wouldn't be too bad except it is about 1 hour each way, it's 113 degrees out and the passenger side AC is out in our vehicle (needs a new actuator which involves pulling out most of the dash).

That stinks. Most of my cars have had the actuator under the driver's side of the dashboard. I've been able to access all 4 that I've replaced by reaching up behind the gas pedal. It wasn't easy but it was a whole lot easier than pulling the dashboard. My current car has it behind the dash near the glovebox. I haven't had to replace it yet and I'm not looking forward to it if it happens.

 

[tharbin]

My buddy ended up over at LE Corals the other day and came home with a bunch of coral, some Macros, and a Shark.

I've only been to LE Corals once. I got some Trochus. They ended up having bubble algae develop on their shells that started to spread before noticed it. Not 100% positive it was them but it was the first place it appeared in the tank. I liked the store though and my wife got a deal on a couple of large shells for her desk.

 

[tbrown]

That's where I picked up my Leopard Wrasse for $40.

 

[tharbin]

What you just described re the heat is exactly why I couldn’t ever live in AZ. Just not for me. Nice cloudy 65 degrees where I am right now.

Glad you got the peppermints, are you going to put them in the smaller tanks and bring them a nice meal from the main tank?

Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many for that. They're in the main tank. One of them is hanging out next to the Pitho which was eating bubble algae before it even settled on a rock. The other two are hanging upside down, probably waiting for lights out.

 

[tharbin]

That stinks. Most of my cars have had the actuator under the driver's side of the dashboard. I've been able to access all 4 that I've replaced by reaching up behind the gas pedal. It wasn't easy but it was a whole lot easier than pulling the dashboard. My current car has it behind the dash near the glovebox. I haven't had to replace it yet and I'm not looking forward to it if it happens.

There are two under the dash. The driver's side requires a small contortionist but is doable with only removing a vent tube. The passenger side is way up on the outside of the entertainment system (radio) frame. The manual says pull the dash. A $1,000 dollar job if I took it in. According to some social media posts, it is possible to get to it if you pull the entire glove box, remove one cross brace and hire said miniature contortionist. My passenger side is the one that is out. The driver's side vents still work but it can't really keep the cabin cool.