(Edit) First post: 55 gal to 32 Bio Cube Too drastic?

[Twisk]

Where'd you get them from. It seems, these days, most breeders of Berghia ship them out pretty small.

*puts on old man hat and picks up his cane, back in my day, we got Berghia that were about an inch long.

Now, you kids get off my lawn.

Yeah I took a chance with an eBay seller. He had them listed as 1/2-1” but these are for sure only millimeters long. The big one is maybe 1/4”. I did contact the guy, he said the demand has been up for them and he is trying to send out the largest he has. I’m ok with it, (he could have dropped an extra just because) more for them to grow out. They were $33 each overnight from CA. Pricey but if they work it’s worth it.

Last night I looked back 3 hrs after adding them and two aiptasia were GONE and two nudis were siting right where they were. So to me they already are winners. If they eat 1/day between them I’ll be happy. LOL. If they lay eggs that hatch I’ll be delighted.

 

[griss]

Sounds like you're in good shape. They will grow and reproduce pretty rapidly if there are enough Aiptasia to eat.

 

[Dustin07]

These are tiny tiny babies but then maybe they can hide easier and get big.

I think they're a really fascinating creature. around here I am suddenly seeing a ton of people trading them around for temporary work like sea hares, or like goats on your black berries lol

 

[Twisk]

I think they're a really fascinating creature. around here I am suddenly seeing a ton of people trading them around for temporary work like sea hares, or like goats on your black berries lol

Have not seen them since the first day but I’m sure they are doing their thing. I’m letting these 3 do their work for a few weeks and re-evaluate if I need to buy more. I Joes-Juiced another large aiptasia that was in my serpent star cave during a water change this weekend. Hoping that gets him to go back in there to hide. All the rest aiptasia the Nudis can munch on.

 

[Twisk]

Just a 7/26/24 check in. Slowly progressing but I’m happy with a lot and wish some other things were better. Clownfish are doing well, approaching their 22nd birthday. I’m seeing growth in corals. Recently added Nudibranchs are doing their thing on the aiptasia. I see them once in a while and they are now around 1” long so definitely eating. My Serpent Star is struggling. Try to feed it daily but it doesn’t take anything. It’s thin but the legs it dropped appear to be recovering. Just refreshed some Pods and began gluing things that appear stable and growing now. Surprising to me the Pectinia is doing very well. It’s now gotten puffy and is growing. (I was told this could be the hardest item in the tank too keep) I’ll get more photos this weekend.

 

[Twisk]

 

[Reefing102]

Awesome update!

 

[griss]

Yes, looks great.

 

[Twisk]

I may be the only reefer in history that was able to kill off 2large pieces of Green Star Polyp. LOL hopes for that back wall lawn look are on hold now. They were doing great in a specimen holder for months. Finally put them on the back wall in the sand. Every morning i found them covered in sand. At first i thought it was my flow, but no. It was the Male clownfish was brushing sand onto it and dropping mouthful of sand on top of it. He wasn’t having it!

So I will try again, but this time I will add pieces mid way up the wall on rock rubble I plan to magnet or glue temporarily to the wall. Then once the GSP takes hold remove the rock rubble (maybe)

 

[Reefing102]

I may be the only reefer in history that was able to kill off 2large pieces of Green Star Polyp. LOL hopes for that back wall lawn look are on hold now. They were doing great in a specimen holder for months. Finally put them on the back wall in the sand. Every morning i found them covered in sand. At first i thought it was my flow, but no. It was the Male clownfish was brushing sand onto it and dropping mouthful of sand on top of it. He wasn’t having it!

So I will try again, but this time I will add pieces mid way up the wall on rock rubble I plan to magnet or glue temporarily to the wall. Then once the GSP takes hold remove the rock rubble (maybe)

If you wanted to try an experimental shipping method (I.e. priority mail in a thermos) I have a 5.5 gallon tank full of GSP I can send you a good chunk at no cost. (Unless you want to pay overnight shipping and I can still send a good chunk at shipping cost).

 

[Twisk]

If you wanted to try an experimental shipping method (I.e. priority mail in a thermos) I have a 5.5 gallon tank full of GSP I can send you a good chunk at no cost. (Unless you want to pay overnight shipping and I can still send a good chunk at shipping cost).

Hmm let me think about it. Is it a bright green or more yellow version?

 

[Reefing102]

Hmm let me think about it. Is it a bright green or more yellow version?

Bright green. I’ll take a pic (some time this weekend (likely Sunday) when the lights come back on

 

[Reefing102]

Here’s a pic of the mother colony (sorry about the dirty glass) under halides with blue LED supplement (the ones in the small tank have shorter polyps due to lower flow).

 

[Dustin07]

I may be the only reefer in history that was able to kill off 2large pieces of Green Star Polyp. LOL hopes for that back wall lawn look are on hold now. They were doing great in a specimen holder for months. Finally put them on the back wall in the sand. Every morning i found them covered in sand. At first i thought it was my flow, but no. It was the Male clownfish was brushing sand onto it and dropping mouthful of sand on top of it. He wasn’t having it!

So I will try again, but this time I will add pieces mid way up the wall on rock rubble I plan to magnet or glue temporarily to the wall. Then once the GSP takes hold remove the rock rubble (maybe)

I have a damsel that does his best to hurt my most prized pieces that way.

in terms of the GSP, I have tried gluing some to the back wall a few times with no luck, it always came detached and fell down. I think I might be apt to attempt a magnetic fixture though later. a lot of the magnet frag pieces I have seen and liked are very expensive though.

 

[Twisk]

I have a damsel that does his best to hurt my most prized pieces that way.

in terms of the GSP, I have tried gluing some to the back wall a few times with no luck, it always came detached and fell down. I think I might be apt to attempt a magnetic fixture though later. a lot of the magnet frag pieces I have seen and liked are very expensive though.

I’ve been able to glue it to these manufactured frag rocks I got from BRS. They are white with flat bottoms. So I glue the flat side of the rock to the back and it seems to work well. I was putting them at the sand bed down low hoping it would take and grow UP towards the light. I just didn’t factor in the fish piling up sand on top of it LOL.

Reefing102 the GSP looks great. I will pass on it for now. Maybe in a couple months. I’m relooking at my back filtration set up and a plan to install a Perm ledge mid way across the back to use as a frag rack and perm spot for some frags to take on and grow out.

In meantime, another UPDATE
Yesterday I added a small 1” Urchin. Debating getting the other small one I saw. It is already been crawling around the rocks. Hoping it chomps some GHA I have growing. Will see how it progresses and if I need the 2nd

 

[Twisk]

The Urchins are working well so far. I have two.
This rock was covered 2 weeks ago. I’ve also found a tool that has been working well for me for GHA removal. I got tired of pinching so I bought some stainless steel straw cleaners. Like a pipe cleaner but stiffer. I have found that you can twist them and wrap the GHA and tear it right off the rocks. Works well on the longer pieces. I will leave the short stuff for the urchins

The one with the green handle works better because it hold a bunch of GHA while the real thin ones fill and then don’t grab more. I WAS just tossing those but then discovered if you have a course scrub brush you can scrub the GHA off. I clean the brushes in the water that I removed during water changes. The green one in the PIC I just cleaned for the 3rd time and good to use next week.

Trying to clean up the tank a bit for my 1yr photo update coming soon

 

[griss]

Nice

 

[Dustin07]

I might have a more caveman approach but when I had a GHA issue I basically whipped up a big bowl of Revive and scrubbed the rocks to the best of my ability with a toothbrush. so far it has done a fantastic job, just gotta be careful you don't accidentally scrub a zoa off or something, lol. Also don't use your wife's toothbrush, she'll notice it tastes funny.

 

[Twisk]

9/4/2024 ONE YEAR UPDATE
Was hoping to have more growth, but going through all the ups and downs of the first year problems I guess I am happy so far. I’ve done it all old school with no Apex or monitoring system. Only a Hygger Wave pump to program flow. The Apex was actually purchased a year ago, just never hooked it up yet. . A few casualties over the year, but learning what is easier for me to keep. One year to the day and my serpent star died . I just could not get it to eat at all. (Krill, frozen, clams, shrimp). It wasted away and was heartbreaking. I never saw it accept any food or found it feeding at night. At first thought the tank was too new and clean, but after a few months to the year I thought things would get better.
My Clownfish turn 22 yrs next month and this whole tank was for them. They are happy and swim all over much more than they ever did when I had the larger tank. Never got them to lay eggs that I can tell in THIS tank. Maybe one day I’ll get a next generation from them. (They are in the center bottom of the photo. Wish I knew how to upload a video.)
Now to start YEAR 2: GROWTH

 

[griss]

Looks good. Sorry to hear about the starfish. 22 years for clown...good job.