What makes you happy? [Archive]

Big_Pun

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:38 PM

1: since moving to t5's i have been very happy with the color all my corals have turned, especially my "stix". also i seem to have finally found my "happy" spot for the tank and a good routine, been using zeovit products to feed coral, along with amino acids and coral frenzy. Im very happy with my bio pellets they are working as they should anothere reason for my HAPPY coral. The best part is that all the hair algae and bryopsis is gone, after 2 month battle, used algae fix, a sea hare and more water changes.
2: knowing that i have 2 months to replace 5 t5's, really makes my wallet sad. After having most of my fish die my tank isnt as lively.
3: replacing t5's every 6 months isnt my idea of fun, looking at LED fixtures, my tank likes staying at 76-78 degrees all day and night, i also want to get a super reef octopus skimmer, since the skimmer is my only filtration beside the Pellets.

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:42 PM

Let me clarify it a little.
Go to your tank. Look into the water and then answer the question for RIGHT NOW (not general stuff like things not doing well - unless of course it's happening right now)
I am looking for News From Your Reef
:)

If you look into your tank right now what do you see that makes you happy, makes you sad and if something troubles you (right now) what is your plan of attack.

For me on the seahorse tank:
1) seahorses are doing great, caulerpa is growing some, mangroves are doing awesome. I am having fun experimenting with the iron supplement
2) lots of hair algae growing covering up all my pretty macro -seriously gross looking right now! :(
3) snails aren't really an option for this one since they don't swim and get to where they need to eat it. I have read tons on RC about AlgaeFix and I am nervously trying it out right now. I am hoping that the combo of a)weakening the HA with the AlgaeFix and b)strengthening the macro with the iron will do the trick...

For my reef tank:
1) I can grow stix! Thank you AD for that super hardy little bargain acro. All critters are well and everything is looking nice and clean.
2) I have a little HA growing but nothing major. It's good to have two tanks so you can always focus on the lesser troubled one. lol
3) I'll get some more chitons from ReefCleaners as soon as a Group Order gets off the ground. I ordered some but due to postal mess up they all (but one) arrived dead and stinky

So there... that's my happy/sad news from my reef tanks :)

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:47 PM

2.) Killed one aptasia and now I have probably 10 more bigger than the original. I couldn't leave well enough alone.

How are you doing it? I've tried Aiptasia-X for the first time and noticed new babies on the sand. I am hoping I didn't doom myself!

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:48 PM

looking at LED fixtures, my tank likes staying at 76-78 degrees all day and night

Oh do it! You know me I am always quick to try out new stuff and often resell it later on. I can honestly say switching to LEDs has probably been the one thing I have done with no regrets whatsoever. :)

Big_Pun

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:49 PM

How are you doing it? I've tried Aiptasia-X for the first time and noticed new babies on the sand. I am hoping I didn't doom myself!

super microwave hot water and a big syringe, my g/f used that on her tank and a friends tank and they never come back.

Kristy

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:52 PM

Great thread idea Karin! I'll play!
what makes you happy? Right now I have some corals that are rebounding from previous issues and some showing some nice growth and my 210g reef tank is looking really great! A couple of months ago I took a risk and added three small colorful fairy wrasses at the same time, two of which were clown fairy wrasses so this was a little nervy, and I've been so happy with those results as they are always out and swimming together. I'm also thrilled at the addition of the automatic feeder because I feel like I'm taking better care of my fish and their feeding schedule feels so much more natural to me! Finally, we upgraded our lighting (to LED) in the little 20g hex in February and it looks freaking fantastic! :)
what makes you sad? I am very, very, very sad today because I lost one of my all-time favorite fish last night. Beautiful and unusual fairy wrasse that had a BIG personality and that we got from a great friend. She noticed a little gap in the screens that block our overflow (they were not on correctly) and apparently she was determined to squeeze in there and explore the Narnia that is overflow land. But the opening was not big enough for her to squeeze through so she got stuck on the dividing wall of the overflow half in the water and half out and must have been there for hours until she perished. :(
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? The color is off in my (admittedly few and easy) SPS right now, most likely because we took our clip-on fans offline for a while this winter and failed to remember this when the warmer spring temps came back, so the tank got pretty warm for a few days until my brain kicked in. It was during a crazy couple of weeks in our personal life (daughter had a preemie baby) and we also ran out of 2-part and failed to get some more for a couple weeks, so that probably did not help. I have begun to embrace the idea of automation more and more, and this will finally push me into adding the Reefkeeper controller so that it cuts the light off at a certain temp, kicks the fan on and off at specified temps, etc.

Kristy

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 01:56 PM

Wow... I started typing my response (with a couple work interruptions) as soon as this post popped up. By the time I finished, four different guys had given their quickie responses and Karin had answered with her own lengthier response, with time for followup questions!!! No wonder Allan calls me verbose!

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 03:06 PM

1.) My new corals...
..
Oh do tell! What did you get???

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 03:07 PM

Algae starting to grow everywhere. And everything looking not to happy lately Just replaced all the lights last night, so we'll see what the future brings.
I feel your pain! I can barely look at the seahorse tank right...

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 03:12 PM

Great thread idea Karin! I'll play!
what makes you happy? Finally, we upgraded our lighting (to LED) in the little 20g hex in February and it looks freaking fantastic! :)
what makes you sad? I am very, very, very sad today because I lost one of my all-time favorite fish last night. :(
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? I have begun to embrace the idea of automation more and more, and this will finally push me into adding the Reefkeeper controller so that it cuts the light off at a certain temp, kicks the fan on and off at specified temps, etc.

Yay for the LEDs and so sorry you lost that fish. Yikes that sounds awful to be stuck there like that.
I can't even imagine having a tank without a RKL anymore. It just would be too much trouble and much less fun.

PS: I can't believe that the guy for whom the shortest distance between A and B is always a swirl or two could call you verbose! :D

Kristy

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 03:24 PM

PS: I can't believe that the guy for whom the shortest distance between A and B is always a swirl or two could call you verbose! :D
I know, right?!? Some people just lack insight into themselves! :D

Mr Cob

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 03:27 PM

Hope sponsors can play...

7.5 Nano

what makes you happy? This thing is sweet. Just set it up today. I really do love it. The fuge with a deep sandbed is pretty sweet.
what makes you sad? Waiting for it to cycle.
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? If I think of something my plan is to tell Jack and he will mod it...lol
55g

what makes you happy? NO more hair algae!!!
what makes you sad? I hate the canopy.
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? Need a new canopy.
85g

what makes you happy? I love all the frags in it: :) This really is one of my favorite tanks I have ever set up...honestly, I even like it more than the 144 half circle I had.
what makes you sad? the light and flow is too heavy for most chalices and yumas.
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? No.
220g

what makes you happy? Lots of room for frags and the foam overflow looks cool with the black acrylic frag racks!
what makes you sad? No water yet. : (
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? Yeah the darn thing is so tall, but once the new stand comes in it will be shorter because we ordered a short stand...but I'll still need a step ladder.

justahobby

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 03:45 PM

I've tried aptasia x and they always came back a week or so later. But didn't reproduce that I could tell. This time I tried kalk paste. It didn't come back, but it sure made me regret my choice!

ErikH

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 04:31 PM

what makes you happy? Beer! Looking at the rockwork I have setup in my garage, and knowing that soon enough it will all be in my tank.
what makes you sad? Cyano trouble right now, but I dont care too much about it since it's all coming down anyway. Watching my BTValida wither away due to AEFW sucks as well.
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? Yes, its time to rebuild. Buying the ER RS250 was a big step in the right direction. Now I have 2 skimmers, 2 aaaaa aaaaa aaaaa.

CoryDude

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 04:45 PM

Karin, thanks for keeping the ball rolling here. I've felt the same way too!

In general
1) What makes me happy? Working with the TOTM comittee. I've been able to see some really nice tanks and meet some great hobbyists. Lorraine, Karin, Stephen, Troy, and Todd have re-energized my view of the hobby and given me some new directions for my own tank. Plus it's giving me the chance to gain experience in photographing a tank, ie which angles work best, framing a shot, etc.
2) What makes me sad? Seeing all these really nice tanks the last few months made me realize the current direction of my tank was flawed.
3) How do I plan to remedy it? I already did by tearing down my tank.

Now, more specifically for my 120:
1) Rebooting my tank. Starting with a clean slate and more importantly clean rock. The new substrate looks awesome and the new liverock layout has me really excited about the possibilities.
2) Rebooting my tank. I lost a lot of my frags and 1 fish during all the transitions. Plus I didn't like the sps dominant look of the old setup.
3) I bought a couple of new frags from Gabe and another member and I plan on adding a few choice lps and softies to add some movement to the tank.

Oh well, enough about me, who's next?

Kristy

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 04:56 PM

I've tried aptasia x and they always came back a week or so later. But didn't reproduce that I could tell. This time I tried kalk paste. It didn't come back, but it sure made me regret my choice!

I realize this is taking us off topic BUT, my experience with Aiptasia X was that they always come back, come back angry and bring new friends. The best thing about this product (in my opinion) was the applicator for injecting the juice. I now use that for lemon or lime juice that I nuke in the microwave until it is boiling and stab it into the aiptasia body until I hear it scream in pain. They don't bounce back from that.

The best removal method, though, is the Erik method. If you can pull the rock out easily enough, take a candle clicker flame to the thing. It is highly satisfying to burn the aiptasia to its fiery demise. Plus, I know how you like to play with fire... :D

allan

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 07:04 PM

Watch this kristy ;)

Happy: a lot of growing colony like corals

Sad: tank too small

Remedy: a bigger tank and a divorce... Or when Jose finally gives me his tank :D

Karin... A swirl or two? :)

hobogato

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 07:10 PM

what makes you happy? my tank and zach's tank are doing will and most of the corals are growing.
what makes you sad? i miss the baby clownfish in my classroom - i looked forward to him coming up to say hello every morning.
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? my powder brown is still kinda thin, but eating well. i will keep feeding multiple times a day :)

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 07:24 PM

Sad: tank too small

You know I was thinking that the other day when you posted the new pics of your tank -it's totally crammed!

Karin... A swirl or two? :)

translation: elaborating/embellishing a single sentence statement and turning it into a multi paragraph adventure ;)

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 07:25 PM

cowboy572

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 07:32 PM

1.what makes you happy? Seeing everyone on my tank swimming and being fat and happy. Also seeing the corals I got from the frag swap doing well.
2.what makes you sad? The way my starry blenny hides. He's my favorite of the tank.
3.If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? Having a small outbreak of cyano right now. Also my phosphates and nitrates are a little high to my liking. Gone back to vodka dosing and step up my water changes. But to get there I need to install my new filters in my ro/di unit. To fix that I need a refillable cartridge for the di resin I don't have.

Europhyllia

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 07:34 PM

See guys! That wasn't so hard posting interesting stuff about your tanks. Was it?

Cowboy do you find the vodka dosing complicated? I looked at a few write-ups about it and it seemed like it required a lot of record keeping...

ErikH

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 08:49 PM

I looked at a few write-ups about it and it seemed like it required a lot of record keeping...

...Amen

tebstan

Thu, 31st Mar 2011, 11:39 PM

1. what makes you happy?

I got to see my porcelain crab molt tonight! It wasn't nearly as exciting as I anticipated though.

My new wrasse. :) Even though he hasn't come out of hiding yet. And even though he's just a common 6 line after all my attempts to pick a unique one.

2. what makes you sad?

Skittle, my parma damsel, is growing much faster than I expected and I'll have to catch him before long.

My welso isn't happy about the pistol shrimp attempting to dig under it.

3. If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it?

I'll catch Skittle before he gets too big to catch without tearing up the whole tank. And I'll promise myself (again) to only get fish that stay small. And try to stick to it this time. I get too emotionally attached.

I've tried moving the welso, the pistol just follows it. He's obsessed with digging a trench and mining underneath any coral I try to put on the sand bed. I'll be trying a pvc ring soon.

alton

Fri, 1st Apr 2011, 06:37 AM

Right now in my tank ...

1.what makes you happy My new radium lamps looking great
2.what makes you sad? Still have some new tank syndrome algae, but getting better
3.If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it? Should I buy 1 LED light just to have as a start to change over or buy a calcium reactor? (Flip a coin)

BSJF

Fri, 1st Apr 2011, 09:09 AM

1) The Picasso clown eggs that are about to hatch, and the fact that I see no AEFW damage anywhere on my SPS and no pyramid snails either. Knock on wood.
2) The very dirty glass I have to peak through since I haven't cleaned it for a while. Should also test the water parameters since I recently removed my calc reactor from my system.
3) Easy enough to fix, thank God because I have no energy do fix any real problem right now.

Texreefer

Fri, 1st Apr 2011, 10:01 AM

what makes you happy?
what makes you sad?
If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it?

1. That i'm setting a new tank up
2.Thats its not finished yet
3. I cant seem to sell my kalk reactor to fix question #2, and yes I will!

FireWater

Fri, 1st Apr 2011, 10:07 AM

Right now:
1.What makes me happy - My Finnex at work is growing beautiful coral at a fast rate. Also, all the friends I realized I had when folks heard about my family problems and my back injury. The fact that I have had no less than 10 people offer any kind of help to me made me happy.

2.What makes me sad - Is still realizing the poor quality of the Finnex. I hate staring through scratches to see my coral and fish.

3.How to remedy that problem - I plan on tearing down the Finnex as soon as I get the new 120 up and running.

Future:

1.What makes me happy - Looking at a brand new 120 that has open possibilities.

2.What makes me sad - Still looking at an empty 120

3.How to remedy - I just ordered some AI led's and I have plenty of time to plan on my new set up.

Europhyllia

Fri, 1st Apr 2011, 10:50 AM

John what happened to you? Hope all is well now!
How exciting about your LEDs. I love mine :)

Texreefer have you tried Ebay? I tried to sell an expensive skimmer locally (new price 400, asking 200) and was unable to sell it, tried it on Reef Central and still only real low offers. Then I put it on Ebay and it sold for close to $300! Good thing nobody wanted it here in San Antonio for $200. lol. Good Luck with it!

Texreefer

Fri, 1st Apr 2011, 11:15 AM

[QUOTE=Europhyllia;816212]
Texreefer have you tried Ebay? QUOTE]

too lazy to set up an ebay account and do the shipping... but guess I will try it... its a nice piece of equipment wish i could use. it. Sorry for the interruption.. now back to your regulaly scheduled thread

Kristy

Thu, 14th Apr 2011, 09:53 AM

Time for more happiness!!! :) Update your highs and lows or let's hear from a few others...

Europhyllia

Thu, 14th Apr 2011, 10:24 AM

okay not much updates here but this is what I got:
original

For me on the seahorse tank:
1) seahorses are doing great, caulerpa is growing some, mangroves are doing awesome. I am having fun experimenting with the iron supplement
2) lots of hair algae growing covering up all my pretty macro -seriously gross looking right now! :(
3) snails aren't really an option for this one since they don't swim and get to where they need to eat it. I have read tons on RC about AlgaeFix and I am nervously trying it out right now. I am hoping that the combo of a)weakening the HA with the AlgaeFix and b)strengthening the macro with the iron will do the trick...

For my reef tank:
1) I can grow stix! Thank you AD for that super hardy little bargain acro. All critters are well and everything is looking nice and clean.
2) I have a little HA growing but nothing major. It's good to have two tanks so you can always focus on the lesser troubled one. lol
3) I'll get some more chitons from ReefCleaners as soon as a Group Order gets off the ground. I ordered some but due to postal mess up they all (but one) arrived dead and stinky

now
For me on the seahorse tank:
1) seahorses are still doing great. hair algae is receeding a little bit
2) it's still ugly though!
3) I am continuing the Algaefix and discontinuing the iron for just a bit

For my reef tank:
1) All critters are well and everything is looking nice and clean. My little acro is recovering from a little karlkwasser mishap
2) I have a little HA growing but nothing major. It's good to have two tanks so you can always focus on the lesser troubled one. lol
3) I'll have some chiton overnighted to me next week!

FireWater

Thu, 14th Apr 2011, 11:52 AM

I'm still the same as above. Looking forward to getting more done on the new tank.

Zack

Thu, 14th Apr 2011, 11:03 PM

what makes you happy?

Recently, I have seen some real good coralline growth in my tank. Monday, I had one pink spot on my thermometer, now today, I have over 13 spots.

What makes you sad?

After a good month and a half of tranquility, my clowns are fighting everytime I go to the tank :(

If there's something that's troubling you, do you have a plan to remedy it?

Yes! I have heard this may be due to a lack of food. Up the food intake, and the water changes!

Europhyllia

Fri, 22nd Apr 2011, 09:24 PM

Totally blissful for me right now. :)

Got a few new bits of macro for both tanks and it's looking SO good. Knock on wood I am getting ahead as far as nuisance algae goes. And I found a supplier that overnights the chitons so all arrived alive and well and HUGE.

Some of my macro is the kind that turns white without light so I'll wait a few days for it to color up and then I'll post new piccies in my tank threads. Be prepared for some awesomeness (if you can overlook the fact that my LEDs make everything look flat and 2-dimensional ;) )

tonyydeee

Fri, 22nd Apr 2011, 09:52 PM

1) My corals are growing and doing great
2) 3 fish have jumped out of a TINY TINY opening ]:
3) My hang/canister filters (WOMP WOMP) would liek to set up a sump, but im not sure if i'd want to do that since i have to move off to college soon. (2 years) ok thats not soon but still D:

Europhyllia

Fri, 22nd Apr 2011, 09:55 PM

get yourself a sump! lol lots can happen in 2 years. There's people on here that put up and take down a couple of tanks in that time span!

hobogato

Fri, 22nd Apr 2011, 10:21 PM

:lauging:

Europhyllia

Thu, 28th Apr 2011, 09:47 AM

;)

I am pretty thrilled right now. May have found a chemical free solution to my hair algae problem. I'll keep taking progress pics and post them in a few days. So far: VERY PROMISING!!!

justahobby

Thu, 28th Apr 2011, 09:59 AM

Would this be the chitons? Look forward to your flat pics! : P

Europhyllia

Thu, 28th Apr 2011, 10:24 AM

LOL.
No! Not the Chitons. (chitons are cool looking but so far a disappointed in regards to filamentous algae)
My new helpers are kind of plain looking little guys from Mexico. So far they are doing AWESOME! They got a lot to do though so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they don't poop out on me and quit...

Europhyllia

Sat, 30th Apr 2011, 01:29 PM

Update with pics.
They set off to a good start but I've seen that before just to be let down later so I was cautiously watching the progress there...

http://www.dominopads.com/rlr1.jpg

results were good but they started out so fast and furious that when they slowed down I figured: There we go. Not going to do it after all. :( Always the same with those stupid clean up critters...
http://www.dominopads.com/rlr2.jpg

I literally started begging them at this point also decided to withhold mysis. If they want to get some they'll have to work for it.
And so they started to put a little more effort into it. :)
http://www.dominopads.com/rlr3.jpg

Looks lots better right?!

So far best hermits for hair algae for sure: Mexican Red Legs (Clibanarius digueti)