Reefing_Toronto
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Thanks ! I think I’ll try to enjoy it for a year before transitioning it. My other tank isn’t quite overgrown yet.
Reef Casa Studio 12 Rescape!
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Reefing_Toronto
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Lots of cool changes this week. I was finally able to get up to Fragbox to pick up another coral... it's a super cool frogspawn. The camera doesn't pick it up all that well but there is a hint of blue to go along with the yellow. It looks great with my hammer corals. I had to move the alveopora to the sandbed to make room and shifted the acan over a little bit.
My sand sifting conch was on a rampage in my other tank and managed to break large pieces off of both the green goblin anacropora and my forest fire digitata... but luckily they fit perfectly in the Studio 12! I think I want to frag a small piece of my birds of paradise and replace the zoas that aren't really growing with a red favia of some sort and then I will officially be done (until I think of something else I want to add)
My rock flower anemone has totally disappeared... it is on the back of the rock and doesn't seem interested in moving. If I had it to do all over again I don't think I would have bought them, but live and learn!
Everything else is going great, although I feel like I am tempting the fates by saying that!
My sand sifting conch was on a rampage in my other tank and managed to break large pieces off of both the green goblin anacropora and my forest fire digitata... but luckily they fit perfectly in the Studio 12! I think I want to frag a small piece of my birds of paradise and replace the zoas that aren't really growing with a red favia of some sort and then I will officially be done (until I think of something else I want to add)
My rock flower anemone has totally disappeared... it is on the back of the rock and doesn't seem interested in moving. If I had it to do all over again I don't think I would have bought them, but live and learn!
Everything else is going great, although I feel like I am tempting the fates by saying that!
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Reefing_Toronto
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The tank isn't really much different than last week. I think all there is room for now is a Birds of Paradise frag when I find one and then just letting it grow in. I am wondering why my zoas aren't doing well. They seem like they are reaching towards the light but I have the light turned up pretty high and it's growing everything else nicely. I can't imagine zoas are that light intensive? I may replace that rock with another favia or a scoly at some point but no huge rush.
I thought that I needed a bigger return pump but it turns out that all I had to do was clean the random flow generator. It never occured to me that it would get clogged.. although in hindsight it makes total sense. Once I cleaned it there was tonnes of flow in the tank again and everything is moving around much nicer. I had been getting some gunk and algae on the sandbed so I'm hoping that more flow will solve that. If it doesn't I may risk getting a sand sifting starfish.. hopefully the tank is big enough for one.
One piece of reef kit that I have found countless uses for lately is a $30 fluid transfer pump from amazon. It is handy removing water from the Studio 12 tank, as well as refilling it with new salt water. It is also useful to top up the 5 gallon bucket I use for my auto topoff in my larger system. It has made these tasks way simpler and much less messy!
All in all things are still going well.. my next challenge will be to find a way to keep the sandbed clean without having to stir it every couple of days.
I thought that I needed a bigger return pump but it turns out that all I had to do was clean the random flow generator. It never occured to me that it would get clogged.. although in hindsight it makes total sense. Once I cleaned it there was tonnes of flow in the tank again and everything is moving around much nicer. I had been getting some gunk and algae on the sandbed so I'm hoping that more flow will solve that. If it doesn't I may risk getting a sand sifting starfish.. hopefully the tank is big enough for one.
One piece of reef kit that I have found countless uses for lately is a $30 fluid transfer pump from amazon. It is handy removing water from the Studio 12 tank, as well as refilling it with new salt water. It is also useful to top up the 5 gallon bucket I use for my auto topoff in my larger system. It has made these tasks way simpler and much less messy!
All in all things are still going well.. my next challenge will be to find a way to keep the sandbed clean without having to stir it every couple of days.
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Reefing_Toronto
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Well it looks like the coral warfare has begun. When I started this tank I distinctively remember saying to myself "I am not going to put too many euphyllia i this tank because I don't want to them sting my other corals." And, of course, I prompt forgot that I put in 3 hammers, 2 torches and a frogspawn. Which of course I love, but as they get bigger it may start to become a problem.
One of my hammer corals is stinging my blue monitpora and killing it. I've caught it with its sweeper tentacles out and there is no doubt about it. Luckily it is not a coral I am overly attached to so when I do my next water change I will just take it out. I'll put it in my other tank to see if it can recover but I think it might be too far gone.
I have a new orange setosa frag that something broke off my colony in my other tank. I think 75% of the smaller frags in this tank are the result of something breaking in my large tank... at least it helps to keep costs down!
I am still looking for something to replace those sad looking zoas at the bottom of the tank. I will probably get either a small plate coral or maybe another favia or an acan... It's just a matter of waiting for the right frag to come along!
I'm still struggling with some film alage on the rocks and the sandbed. My parameters are in check and I'm not over feeding so I'm not sure what is causing it. My other tank isn't having this problem so I have ruled out problems with the source water. Maybe it's round 2 of the uglies. Blasting it with a pipette a few times a week seems to help but I would rather it wasn't happening! Doesn't seem to be impacting the corals but it's visually a bit ugly. I guess things can't always work the way we want them to!
One of my hammer corals is stinging my blue monitpora and killing it. I've caught it with its sweeper tentacles out and there is no doubt about it. Luckily it is not a coral I am overly attached to so when I do my next water change I will just take it out. I'll put it in my other tank to see if it can recover but I think it might be too far gone.
I have a new orange setosa frag that something broke off my colony in my other tank. I think 75% of the smaller frags in this tank are the result of something breaking in my large tank... at least it helps to keep costs down!
I am still looking for something to replace those sad looking zoas at the bottom of the tank. I will probably get either a small plate coral or maybe another favia or an acan... It's just a matter of waiting for the right frag to come along!
I'm still struggling with some film alage on the rocks and the sandbed. My parameters are in check and I'm not over feeding so I'm not sure what is causing it. My other tank isn't having this problem so I have ruled out problems with the source water. Maybe it's round 2 of the uglies. Blasting it with a pipette a few times a week seems to help but I would rather it wasn't happening! Doesn't seem to be impacting the corals but it's visually a bit ugly. I guess things can't always work the way we want them to!
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Reefing_Toronto
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For the most part the corals are doing great but I have run into a couple of small issues lately. First my sandbed is now filthy pretty much every day. I used to have to stir it a few times a week but now it seems like every evening it needs cleaned.. I am not sure if I have uglies round 2 or if there are too many nutrients in the tank. I am considering either setting up a small refugium in the rear chamber or finally hooking up the protein skimmer that I got for Christmas that is still sitting in a box!
One of my mushrooms is definitely bleaching, which is odd because it is in a very low light area. I keep meaning to take it out but the plug is glued down very firmly and I'm worried that if I try to force it off I will end up dislodging another coral and a small job will become a big job very quickly!
On a more positive note the clove polyps are winding their way throughout the rockwork.. I am interested to see how they interact with the hammer corals. The encrusting corals on the top shelf are doing great and I can't wait to see how it all looks when they grow in fully.
One of my mushrooms is definitely bleaching, which is odd because it is in a very low light area. I keep meaning to take it out but the plug is glued down very firmly and I'm worried that if I try to force it off I will end up dislodging another coral and a small job will become a big job very quickly!
On a more positive note the clove polyps are winding their way throughout the rockwork.. I am interested to see how they interact with the hammer corals. The encrusting corals on the top shelf are doing great and I can't wait to see how it all looks when they grow in fully.
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Reefing_Toronto
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Got a "new" coral this week to add to the Studio 12. I had this small orange plate coral in my big system for the past year or so and while it was really pretty it was very, very slow growing and looked a little bit silly on the sandbed in a big tank. Luckily, Fragbox had a sale this weekend and I was able to pick up a larger plate for my other tank and transfer the small one over to the studio 12 and the orange really pops under the halo light. It is getting a bit less flow in this tank and it's looking actually quite a bit happier.
The clove polyps are continuing to wind themselves into the rockwork which is kinda cool.. I've never seen that happen before. The originally plug can now be removed too, once I get around to it, so that will make things look nicer too.
I'm still struggling with this green film algae on the glass and rockwork... the snails don't really seem to like eating it and about all I can do it blow it off with a turkey baster every couple of days but it's driving me a little bit up the wall. I don't feed heavily and have stopped broadcast feeding the corals so I'm not sure why I'm getting algae issues. (please no one ask if I have tested nitrates or phosphates... I don't think I ever have in any tank and I don't think I even have a test kit for them!)
The good is still definitely outweighing the bad by a large margin but I could do with the film algae clearing up soon! It's not in my other tank so it's not source water. Sigh.. there is always something in this hobby!
The clove polyps are continuing to wind themselves into the rockwork which is kinda cool.. I've never seen that happen before. The originally plug can now be removed too, once I get around to it, so that will make things look nicer too.
I'm still struggling with this green film algae on the glass and rockwork... the snails don't really seem to like eating it and about all I can do it blow it off with a turkey baster every couple of days but it's driving me a little bit up the wall. I don't feed heavily and have stopped broadcast feeding the corals so I'm not sure why I'm getting algae issues. (please no one ask if I have tested nitrates or phosphates... I don't think I ever have in any tank and I don't think I even have a test kit for them!)
The good is still definitely outweighing the bad by a large margin but I could do with the film algae clearing up soon! It's not in my other tank so it's not source water. Sigh.. there is always something in this hobby!
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Reefing_Toronto
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Well I've been thinking about what to do about the film algae... I'm going to set up a small refugium in the skimmer chamber. I've never tried to run a refugium in any of my tanks so I am intrigued to see how it will go. I picked up the Reef Casa Nova light and it will be pretty easy to mount to the back of the tank. I'll have to get some chaetomorpha macro algae at some point so it will probably not get set up until the summer but I'm looking forward to trying something new.
I did also add a few more snails this week but they don't seem too interested in cleaning the algae off the rocks but they are doing a great job with the glass. I also threw a couple more nassarius snails in to help keep the sandbed clean. I think a small wavemaker would help with the issue but I think that would create too much flow and damage my hammer and torch corals. Oh the delicate balance of a mixed reef tank!
Corals are all still looking great... I think I am going to have to trim the Green Goddess Birdsnest at some point. I'll see if any of the fish stores in the area want the frags but I doubt it... it's not exactly a high end coral. I'm also enjoying watching the clove polyps grow in and out of the rockwork. It's not what I had planned on them doing and it's kinda cool to just watch nature take its course.
I did also add a few more snails this week but they don't seem too interested in cleaning the algae off the rocks but they are doing a great job with the glass. I also threw a couple more nassarius snails in to help keep the sandbed clean. I think a small wavemaker would help with the issue but I think that would create too much flow and damage my hammer and torch corals. Oh the delicate balance of a mixed reef tank!
Corals are all still looking great... I think I am going to have to trim the Green Goddess Birdsnest at some point. I'll see if any of the fish stores in the area want the frags but I doubt it... it's not exactly a high end coral. I'm also enjoying watching the clove polyps grow in and out of the rockwork. It's not what I had planned on them doing and it's kinda cool to just watch nature take its course.
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Reefing_Toronto
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Since not much is changing on a week to week basis I thought it might be interesting to do a little bit of a reflection on some of the corals in the tank and how they have fared over the last year or so. Since they are my favourite corals in the tank I will start with the two torch corals, the NY Knicks and Hellfire torches.
This is the first tank that I have ever been able to keep torch corals in and I have been beyond happy with how these two have done. I think one of the keys to success is that I have messed less with flow and lighting in this tank than in any other previous tanks and the corals have appreciated that. I keep the flow lower than I think most people do for torch corals and they have seemed quite happy. The main reason that I am not upgrading the pump to a Sicce is that I don't want to upset the flow in the tank and provide them with too much current.
In terms of lighting they seem to be quite happy with the Halo light running at roughly 50% for about 10 hours a day with a short ramp up and ramp down. I run the whites higher in the afternoon and early evening, with a heavier blue spectrum in the late evening and that seems to work well. I think the key is just not messing with the lighting schedule trying to find "perfect". Since the hellfire torch is smaller I feed it once a week with a few LPS pellets but I dont feed te NY Knicks because I don't really want to increase its growth speed.
These two torches are very much the corals that I work everything else around and so far they are not disappointing!
This is the first tank that I have ever been able to keep torch corals in and I have been beyond happy with how these two have done. I think one of the keys to success is that I have messed less with flow and lighting in this tank than in any other previous tanks and the corals have appreciated that. I keep the flow lower than I think most people do for torch corals and they have seemed quite happy. The main reason that I am not upgrading the pump to a Sicce is that I don't want to upset the flow in the tank and provide them with too much current.
In terms of lighting they seem to be quite happy with the Halo light running at roughly 50% for about 10 hours a day with a short ramp up and ramp down. I run the whites higher in the afternoon and early evening, with a heavier blue spectrum in the late evening and that seems to work well. I think the key is just not messing with the lighting schedule trying to find "perfect". Since the hellfire torch is smaller I feed it once a week with a few LPS pellets but I dont feed te NY Knicks because I don't really want to increase its growth speed.
These two torches are very much the corals that I work everything else around and so far they are not disappointing!
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Reefing_Toronto
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One of the things that I was the most impressed with was the ability of the Halo light to grow SPS corals. While I admittedly have not tried to grow light intensive Acropora I think the light would be able to handle it since I am currently only running it at 50%.
I have had great success with my forest fire montipora, green goddess birdsnest and a green goblin anacropora. The one that has grown the best is hands down the green goddess and I actually had to frag it the other day because the branches were getting too close to the side of the tank. The polyps are always out and because it is in such a high flow area they look great.
The forest fire montiporas are growing as well, although not quite as quickly. They have great polyp extension and are also encrusting on the rockwork. They were a transplant from my other tank so are well conditioned to reef tank parameters.
My green goblin anacropora is also doing well, although I had to frag off a small piece that was in direct flow and had died. I also have a small piece of goldenrod anacropora but it’s a bit faded and hasn’t really taken off yet. Hopefully it will soon.
The setosa is a relatively new addition and seems to be doing well, although one edge is being stung by one of my torches.
All in all I’ve been really impressed with the ability of this little light to grow SPS corals. I’m not going to try anything more difficult, not because I don’t think the light can handle it but because I’ve never been able to grow acros in any of my tanks! The limiting factor though is me, not the light.
I have had great success with my forest fire montipora, green goddess birdsnest and a green goblin anacropora. The one that has grown the best is hands down the green goddess and I actually had to frag it the other day because the branches were getting too close to the side of the tank. The polyps are always out and because it is in such a high flow area they look great.
The forest fire montiporas are growing as well, although not quite as quickly. They have great polyp extension and are also encrusting on the rockwork. They were a transplant from my other tank so are well conditioned to reef tank parameters.
My green goblin anacropora is also doing well, although I had to frag off a small piece that was in direct flow and had died. I also have a small piece of goldenrod anacropora but it’s a bit faded and hasn’t really taken off yet. Hopefully it will soon.
The setosa is a relatively new addition and seems to be doing well, although one edge is being stung by one of my torches.
All in all I’ve been really impressed with the ability of this little light to grow SPS corals. I’m not going to try anything more difficult, not because I don’t think the light can handle it but because I’ve never been able to grow acros in any of my tanks! The limiting factor though is me, not the light.
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Looking really good! Nothing wrong with fragging dead off 
Reefing_Toronto
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This is a new experience for me. I’ve never had corals get big enough to be fragged!!
Reefing_Toronto
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If you are in toronto I’ll gladly share. My frag rack is full. Unfortunately none of my stuff is particularly high end to trade to a LFS and selling them on kijiji at $10 a pop is a bit time consuming.
Reefing_Toronto
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Just so that everyone doesn’t think that everything is always going perfectly in this tank this week I will be reflected on the mushrooms and some of my struggles with them.
To start off I should mention that I have never had luck with mushrooms in any of my tanks. I’m not sure whether it is an issue with lighting or whether my insistence on large water changes but for some reason I have always struggled with them.
Right now I have 3 mushrooms in the Reef Casa studio 12. The Purple Anthrax mushroom is actually doing quite well but it is in such a shady area that the colours aren’t very vibrant but it has grown quite a bit and dropped a couple of babies. I have one Florida ricordea (pretty sure I spelled that wrong) that is nice and bright and colourful but has barely grown in the last year or so. I also have one smaller one that has gone pretty much all white and I’m sure isn’t going to make it but I’m scared to try and take the plug out because it’s so close to my torches and I don’t want to knock one off. There was also a rhodactis mushroom that melted within a week of me adding it to the tank and is long gone. I was really hoping to fill in some of the rockwork between the corals with mushrooms so I am a little bit stumped!
Bottom line I haven’t had all that much luck with mushrooms so if anyone has any ideas or has better luck that I do please share because I really do find them beautiful but for some reason I just can’t seem to grow them successfully.
To start off I should mention that I have never had luck with mushrooms in any of my tanks. I’m not sure whether it is an issue with lighting or whether my insistence on large water changes but for some reason I have always struggled with them.
Right now I have 3 mushrooms in the Reef Casa studio 12. The Purple Anthrax mushroom is actually doing quite well but it is in such a shady area that the colours aren’t very vibrant but it has grown quite a bit and dropped a couple of babies. I have one Florida ricordea (pretty sure I spelled that wrong) that is nice and bright and colourful but has barely grown in the last year or so. I also have one smaller one that has gone pretty much all white and I’m sure isn’t going to make it but I’m scared to try and take the plug out because it’s so close to my torches and I don’t want to knock one off. There was also a rhodactis mushroom that melted within a week of me adding it to the tank and is long gone. I was really hoping to fill in some of the rockwork between the corals with mushrooms so I am a little bit stumped!
Bottom line I haven’t had all that much luck with mushrooms so if anyone has any ideas or has better luck that I do please share because I really do find them beautiful but for some reason I just can’t seem to grow them successfully.
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Reefing_Toronto
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No huge changes with the tank this week. I broke a piece off of my new TNT anacropora in my other tank so I took out the dead mushroom (still a bit perplexed by that ) and add it. I don’t know if it will get enough light down there but if it does well it will do a nice job of adding some red to that part of the tank as well as filling in the gap under the upper ledges. Only time will tell !
probably the trickiest corals I have added to this tank are my two hammer corals (and later the frogspawn). At first I had placed the two hammers on the ledge where the birdsnest coral is now but there was way too much flow. Then moved them to roughly where the two torch corals are now but I was worried they would make the tank look too too heavy when they grew in. So finally I settled on where they are now. However I placed them too close together initially and had to move time one final time. I think they may still be too close together in the long term. I added the frogspawn much more recently and haven’t had to move it, although I may have to one day. One thing I find with euphyllia (definitely spelled that wrong!) is that it is difficult to strike a balance between what looks good today and what will work in 6 months or a year.
I certainly love how those 3 corals look now but I do have some concerns about what will happen when they get bigger.
probably the trickiest corals I have added to this tank are my two hammer corals (and later the frogspawn). At first I had placed the two hammers on the ledge where the birdsnest coral is now but there was way too much flow. Then moved them to roughly where the two torch corals are now but I was worried they would make the tank look too too heavy when they grew in. So finally I settled on where they are now. However I placed them too close together initially and had to move time one final time. I think they may still be too close together in the long term. I added the frogspawn much more recently and haven’t had to move it, although I may have to one day. One thing I find with euphyllia (definitely spelled that wrong!) is that it is difficult to strike a balance between what looks good today and what will work in 6 months or a year.
I certainly love how those 3 corals look now but I do have some concerns about what will happen when they get bigger.
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They all look good but I enjoy when corals grow together
Reefing_Toronto
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I like how they look now… my concern is that in 6 months to a year they will be too close
