My Slice of Nature (Part 3)

[reef tan]

Any idea why you faced cyano & black slime? What was your set up like? Can share pics / info? Keen to know to avoid similar situation.

Maybe u can check with xiaochew whose selling 2mths old Cheato reactor,why he decomm reactor.

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[SubzeroLT]

51 minutes ago, reef tan said:

I didn't do those prevention that u done. Maybe is light or flow issue....no idea???

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Looks like a recirculating reactor -  which has little flow of 'fresh' water through the reactor. The lack of carbon dioxide & nutrient rich water could cause some die off. That could explain the slime & black stuff.

BTW, nice sump

[Uask4it]

10 hours ago, SubzeroLT said:

Looks like a recirculating reactor -  which has little flow of 'fresh' water through the reactor. The lack of carbon dioxide & nutrient rich water could cause some die off. That could explain the slime & black stuff.

BTW, nice sump

 

I had about the same setup with this for about 2 months and harvest (full of Cheato in it) once 2 weeks ago but don’t seem having this problem.  

I’m no 100% sure because I boxed it up the reactor to prevent light scatter and heat from it transfers to water which I can’t view the compartment now.  

I’m using the chiller return water for input and hope it wouldn’t cause recirculation issue.   

[Uask4it]

54 minutes ago, Uask4it said:

 

I had about the same setup with this for about 2 months and harvest (full of Cheato in it) once 2 weeks ago but don’t seem having this problem.  

I’m no 100% sure because I boxed it up the reactor to prevent light scatter and heat from it transfers to water which I can’t view the compartment now.  

I’m using the chiller return water for input and hope it wouldn’t cause recirculation issue.   

 

[SubzeroLT]

13 hours ago, Uask4it said:

 

Nice set up. Thanks for sharing.

[SubzeroLT]

Some tops down shot taken today using an acrylic container & Olympus OMD EM5.

 

Hosting a scolly for fellow reefer. Pressure

 

Finally got a frag of Lime in the Sky from Alex in early Oct after searching for it for many months. Blue tips showing at the cut area.

 

Some kind of blue green tenuis

 

[SubzeroLT]

My BlueSpotted Jawfish didn't make it. So its really a difficult fish as often mentioned in the forums. I think the usual 26-28degC temperatures most of have are not cool enough for it.  They need around 22-25deg C waters. 

While they are supposed to be social to their own species, they are not very friendly with other fishes. Hence they tend to hide when housed in a tank with other larger fishes. This inhibits them from coming out freely to feed. Hence, mine needed to be target fed.

So take it from me, while the Blue Spotted Jawfish is pretty cool fish, it needs specific requirements which isn't easy to provide. So choose your fishes wisely.

 

[Xtraster]

Would you have any idea if yellowhead jawfish (body is blue) will also be as difficult as blue spotted jawfish?

[SubzeroLT]

43 minutes ago, Xtraster said:

Would you have any idea if yellowhead jawfish (body is blue) will also be as difficult as blue spotted jawfish?

Yellowhead jawfish are easier. They do not have the low temperature requirements & should do just fine in the 26-28degC temperature range. Similar to the blue spotted, they take pellets or frozen food easily but still need to be target fed as they don't venture out much. 

This is my yellow head jawfish.

 

[Xtraster]

Nice! What do you target feed it with? Am considering to buy when iwarna brings it in next round... 

[SubzeroLT]

13 hours ago, Xtraster said:

Nice! What do you target feed it with? Am considering to buy when iwarna brings it in next round... 

It'll only swim out a couple of inches to grab food.

Pellets or any frozen food (mysis, LRS Frenzy, DIY home made etc).

[lis9090]

Yellowhead jawfish are easier. They do not have the low temperature requirements & should do just fine in the 26-28degC temperature range. Similar to the blue spotted, they take pellets or frozen food easily but still need to be target fed as they don't venture out much. 
This is my yellow head jawfish.
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Lol.. so cute to watch

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[nasotang]

Hi great tank! Can I check where u bought your red & green rock flower anemone?

[SubzeroLT]

2 hours ago, nasotang said:

Hi great tank! Can I check where u bought your red & green rock flower anemone?

Thanks.

The rock flower anemone were from Coral Farm.

[SubzeroLT]

Previously I was using an old salt bucket to collect skim externally. However,  there is a constant fear that the float switch malfunctions - causing a flood in the living room. Hence this is an attempt to make a smaller container housed within the sump instead.

The float switch connects to the Apex to switch off the skimmer & send me a mobile notification.

 

About 1 week's worth of skim

[SubzeroLT]

Some pics from the weekend.

 

2 crabs in the yellow pocci

 

Friend's Red/Blue Scolly. Feeding on some prawn meat. 

 

Fearless

 

Forest Fire digi recovering after a terrible experience of fluidizing activated carbon. I think the carbon took away some essential element from the water. Got the perception that the corals lost its protective coating, made it sensitive to light which led to reduced PE & loss of color.

Stopped the carbon. Didn't recover.

Dosed 'more'  iron, bromine, iodine for a couple of days & things went back to normal. Side effect is increased nuisance algae growth which was dealt with separately.

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Found a large aiptasia on the clam. Attempting to kill it with kalkwasser paste before it spreads.

 

Mix some kalk

 

Into a paste

 

Not the best video but this is roughly how it went yesterday.

Turn off all pumps & wavemaker & try to get the aiptasia to take in the kalk. Ideally it will "eat" a blob of it.

This one didn't take much in but its not opening up since. So i'll monitor it the next days to see if its still there.

 

[Harlequinmania]

Previously I was using an old salt bucket to collect skim externally. However,  there is a constant fear that the float switch malfunctions - causing a flood in the living room. Hence this is an attempt to make a smaller container housed within the sump instead.
The float switch connects to the Apex to switch off the skimmer & send me a mobile notification.

 
About 1 week's worth of skim

Nice DIY on the collection box. How did u mange to hang it inside your sump tank?

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[SubzeroLT]

6 hours ago, he said:

Nice DIY on the collection box. How did u mange to hang it inside your sump tank?

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Thanks.

Made a simple acrylic holder that sits on the sump glass.

[Harlequinmania]

You are the Mr DIY man ! 

[SubzeroLT]

Got some small dry rocks recently to build some mini caves & base for anemones.

 

Since its just a couple of small rocks, I used hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach - easier to clean up with no fear of remnant bleach inside the rock. 

 

Soak for a couple of minutes + scrub. 

 

Prepared some rock cement

 

Add about 50% water to make a paste

 

Finished job. Cement dries to a similar color as natural rocks.

Its so strong you can't break it with your bare hands. Need hammer or frag cutter.

[SubzeroLT]

Yellowhead Jawfish this morning.

They paired up & share the same tunnel under the bed of GSP (which is covered up by sand now)

Need to place some small rock chips in the area

 

[SubzeroLT]

Hosting some frags  for a fellow reefer. Colors seem to be coming back.

 

 

Target feed the yuma with prawn meat after moving it to a more accessible location. Last target feeding was probably about 3-4 months ago.

 

Orange sponge from Specialised Aquatics. 

 

Not sure of ID of this from the Gorgonian family. 

 

2 abalones hard at work

 

Chaeto reactor.

Can hardly see the LED tube inside already. Will harvest the chaeto next week.

Some folks asked about the size of the reactor. From quick measurement, the white cylindrical part is about 20cm diameter x 49cm height. If it were to be run externally, might as well get a large one. Water flow rate is probably in the 1000+l/hr range

[Patrick]

Bro is orange sponge hard to keep alive?


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[SubzeroLT]

7 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Bro is orange sponge hard to keep alive?


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A reefer told me it isn't easy to keep alive as they need particulate food. The gorgonian has similar requirements.

I feed chopped/crushed fish meat & reef roids on a regular basis so hopefully its enough food for it.

 

I just got the sponge a week back. So far so good. I'll update again in a couple of months' time.