learning...

[Europhyllia]

isn't it amazing how this hobby offers an opportunity to learn something all the time. And even after a lot of learning it offers even more opportunities to screw up something else?

Last week I learned:
- it is better to throw out (waste) one perfectly good big rock with something undesirable on it than wait till it spreads to multiple perfectly good big rocks

- when injecting an aiptasia with a kalkwasser syringe near a zoa colony you run the risk of injecting the zoa mat and with it all the zoas in that colony. Next time: frag off the aiptasia part so most of the zoas will be safe

What did you learn last week?

[corruption]

Great idea for a thread, Karin -- it is absolutely my favorite thing about this hobby, and is why I'm so in love with both my major hobbies (marine aquaria and computers/IT technology)... you will never extinguish things to learn, and if you think that you have, you're fooling yourself :)

Last week I learned that despite the fact that it just makes sense, its hard to fathom just how much more rock you get for 40 lbs dry, vs 40 lbs wet..

-Justin

[Europhyllia]

oh yes. I remember that one. it's the reason that even though I pulled put 3 huge boulders yesterday I actually like my aquarium now better than before (I had mostly marco rock too and ordered waaaay too much...)

[Big_Pun]

last night i learned its a good thing to check your plumbing every once in a while, i came home late went over to watch tank in moonlight, and noticed more micro bubbles than usual( been thinking it was skimmer) i then looked down my over flow and my return pipe and got a lil loose and was pumping some water back into the over flow which explained why my over flow couldnt keep up with the pump and water level have been fluctuating,also noticed some of the ball valve connection backed out(salt creep on conecction) a lil and need to tightened.

[sampsonndelila]

I don't think there can be way too much... LOL if so I just put it in my refug. I have stacks of rocks in my bottom tanks almost equal to my display. I figure it all helps.

[Mr Cob]

This weekend I learned that it is well worth it to tear a tank down to pull out a suspected nipper that has kept over 5 acan colonies closed up. 3 days later and the acans are back to being happy and fluffy.

I also learned that purple tangs can nip corals. I had suspected him eating my zoa and paly colonies that were weak or freshly fragged but always thought he was cleaning around them....but after observing him eating my acans...the line was drawn!

Oh and I have learned more about Murphy's Law, "if it can go wrong it will go wrong" ....or at least you should prepare for the worst case. For example adding a Coral Beauty Angel when you know it could potentially eat zoas or clams....I did this and after a year it did just this.

[allan]

Last week I learned never to travel to MA during the winter....

...and that Cow fish seem to have a fetish for expensive clams....

[Mr Cob]

-today I realized I'm addicted to reefkeeping after viewing my recent losses to livestock and $$$

-Last week I learned that 8 gal BioCubes can have LARGE temp swings from 70 to 80 from lights off to lights on.....and baby clownfish couples do not like that.... RIP Onyx Clowns

-The week before that I learned that Quad Square Anthias can split into two pairs and keep challenging one another until they all DIE! ARGH!!!!

-and the week before that I learned that a full grown Kole Tang can only be boss until the little Purple and Yellow tangs grow up and then they will seek revenge thus causing you to lose your Kole. ARGHHHHHHHHH!

-and the week before all of that craziness I lost several large SPS colonies and learned that I really have a lot to learn still.

[txav8r]

Yikes!! Sorry to hear all of that Rob!

[Mr Cob]

oh....got another one....

-some where in the mix of all of that my school of chromis started hosting in my large colony of Purple Valida and I found out quickly that my flow was not strong enough to keep their waste from settling at the base of the colony so it's been bleaching from the bottom up for several weeks now. I did increase the flow and they packed their bags and moved to another large colony. LOL! I'm waiting to see if the Valida catches up and overcomes the bleaching or whatever it's doing....if not I'm going to frag the healthy pieces off and start over with that colony.

Lesson learned: Make sure your large SPS colonies have enough flow to keep schools from moving in.

[aquasport24]

I too lost all fishes but two in the last two weeks.
Solution= QT all fishes from now on.
I too lost about 80% of all my sps colonies in two days while they were in the Holding Tank (Nov. 25th and 26th).
Solution= i think i made the right choice by spent time w/ my family during Thanksgiving than trying to figured out what is wrong with the tank.
I too flooded the living room carpet(many times) while filling up the ATO reseivor.
Solution= will finished top off first and then get on MAAST.

[Europhyllia]

You learned a lot Rob. Thanks for sharing it though because hopefully people will read this and can learn it without having to experience it.
I learned some more too:

I learned that:

- eviota gobies look virtually identical to trimma gobies. the difference is life expectancy: 1-3 years for trimma gobies; 1- 2 MONTHS for eviota gobies. RIP eviota gobies. Hope you had a great 60 days!

- while it usually is correct that the bigger the polyps on non-photosynthetic gorgonians are the easier it is to maintain and feed that gorgonian, the blueberry gorgonian is an exception to that rule (big polyps but not feeding)

[Mr Cob]

-a few minutes ago I learned from another member on MAAST that the cyano bacteria that has recently bloomed in my tank could be coming from the the RO/DI water I have been using.... he also had the same problem and was getting water from the same place I have been. I normally get my water from Gabe's or Reefs2u and have never had a problem but just recently I have been getting the water from a non sponsor pretty regularly and I can't believe I did not put the two together to figure it out....funny thing is I've been getting more and doing larger water changes and it's been getting worse...LOL! Because I'm adding more of it. That's funny.

[Mr Cob]

Ok...I think I have a right to enjoy my tank for some time now....enough problems for me.

Cool thread Karin!

[Europhyllia]

we can share positive stuff too ;)

- I learned that the small-town Walmarts still carry plastic canvas in their craft sections and I can get 6 sheets for under $2. It's great to use when the openings on egg crate are just a little too big :)

- you can fix clogged pumps simply by running them in vinegar for awhile

[Gilbert]

This week i learned that chromis are not very strong swimmers.
Last thursday i bought 6 chromis
2 pass through a k3, came out with 1 side shredded died soon after.
2 heads stuck to a k3 bodies gone.
2 still alive

[swjim]

I've been reading a lot about DIY LED light fixtures and will probably order parts to make my own soon.

[Big_Pun]

learned how to make my own diy LED fixture from the people here and for under $100, LED powered pico coming soon, i also learned that when you team up with someone else with same expensive taste in corals even if you go half you still spend alot, going half twice still equals alot of $$ but im glad i did it lol

[Jarob]

There should be a thread for Rob alone!!! Sorry about your misfortunes rob, hopefully you'll have an upturn!

And Karin awesome about the plastic canvas Ive been needing something smaller!

Ive learned not to give up on a fish you havent seen for 2 WEEKS! Welcome back mystery wrasse!!

[Mr Cob]

No joke! And... THANKS.

[Europhyllia]

And Karin awesome about the plastic canvas Ive been needing something smaller!


J, I have some pics of it in my NP thread so you can see what it looks like or if it's too small for what you want to do with it:
http://maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57606&page=2

[RayAllen]

Ive also recently solved/learned the cause of my Cyno outbreak, also a water issue.

Ive learned that cute little Clownfish may be cute, but have a Bi-Polar piranha personality

Ive learned that my soft corals seem to like their new Iodide supplement once a week.

[Mr Cob]

-Hey, I also learned about crazy psycho clowns...."wonder what Jack learned out of it" HAHAHA!

For those of you that don't know, I got Ray's crazy clownfish and it would attack my hand...actually pulling at my skin...so Jack got it and then it was eaten by his Eel.

[txav8r]

I learned that my Eel is tougher than a cute little Clownfish with a Bi-Polar piranha personality

[Europhyllia]

Awww...poor Jack. ;)

I learned that even nice clowns can suddenly turn psycho even after being completely pleasant for years!

[FireWater]

I learned that Great Stuff foam and urchins don't mix. And then when that urchin eats the foam it opens up all kinds of pores which then trap detritus and break down over time causing you to to do multiple water changes per week to keep phophates down.

[Europhyllia]

I learned that Great Stuff foam and urchins don't mix. And then when that urchin eats the foam it opens up all kinds of pores which then trap detritus and break down over time causing you to to do multiple water changes per week to keep phophates down.
I think stuff like this is what makes this thread important - people can learn from this and either avoid great stuff foam or urchins rather than be miserable with the end result of mixing the two.

[swjim]

I learned that Great Stuff foam and urchins don't mix. And then when that urchin eats the foam it opens up all kinds of pores which then trap detritus and break down over time causing you to to do multiple water changes per week to keep phophates down.

Ouch! I hadn't heard of that before, thanks for posting.

[Europhyllia]

- every time you rearrange your rocks, make big change to your setup expect a diatom bloom. The good part: it too shall pass

[Kristy]

Hmmm... I learned that Euromom has a new name!

I learned that my smallest, skinniest, lowest-ranking bartlett's anthias that has been missing for a couple days IS ALIVE and has been hiding and extra shy, probably related to that little nip in her tail, but she can be coaxed out of hiding with extra feedings of her favorite food for a day or two and is even out swimming this morning with the harem!

I also learned how much cheaper it is to buy a ton of Superglue gel from a bulk supplier. Thanks Jack... this stuff is awesome!

Oh... and I learned that that colony of blue zoas that I keep on the sand that always have sand coating their little stalks are called "proto-palys"! I had no idea this was a whole recognized class of corals.

I learned that cyano growing on orange sponge will start to kill your sponge, but moving that sponge just four inches over to the right in the tank = no more cyano and sponge in recovery!

I learned that in coral wars, leather coral meets torch coral means they both start to die. Leather has already recovered since I moved the torch, let's keep our fingers crossed for that head of torch coral.

[Europhyllia]

I also learned how much cheaper it is to buy a ton of Superglue gel from a bulk supplier. Thanks Jack... this stuff is awesome!

I meant to order some of that but forgot about it! Which kind did you get? The 'thick' I assume?

[Salty]

I learned that this hobby is more addictive and expensive than crack

[Kristy]

I meant to order some of that but forgot about it! Which kind did you get? The 'thick' I assume?

Yeah, the super thick... and ordered extra so that six or seven people will be winning 1/2 oz bottles of it as door prizes at the frag demo meeting next weekend! (A 1/2 oz bottle is small, but still 3.5x the size of those little squeeze tubes we buy Target!)

[Europhyllia]

great door prize for a fragging fundamentals meeting!

[Kristy]

Oh, wait til you see the others! This meeting is going to have lots of nice door prizes!

[Europhyllia]

Yeah! I am going to be so good all week so that I get to go this time!!!

[Europhyllia]

I learned some more
* seemingly small things can have a huge impact
* a stable system is only one mistake away from crashing
* when focusing on one problem (i.e. corals) don't forget to monitor the others (i.e. fish)
* have an emergency/first aid kit ready for your critters
* People are AWESOME! I've gotten some really nice, unexpected offers from greatwhite and Nextreef this week, I enjoyed the wonderful frag meeting with its generous donators, etc. and it was very comforting to get so much response from everybody to my post about my little mandarin dying.

[Europhyllia]

blennies can bite!

[CoryDude]

Clownfish too!

[Europhyllia]

I knew clownfish can bite but those cute big eyed blennies!?! That was a surprise...

[justahobby]

After buying an rodi unit and I realized how much water I am wasting by washing a half load of laundry. A 5 gallon jug barely fills the bottom of my stackable.