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Last Journal Entry......... Sunday (Easter) Saturday afternoon Friday (Good Friday) Tuesday Monday Tuesday Thursday evening Thursday 10:30 AM Wednesday 11:15 AM Tuesday 5:00 PM Monday 5:15 PM Sunday Saturday
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The Beginning...... |
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After many weeks of working on collecting all the parts and equipment for the system, today I made the first official leap….loading the sand base and salt water! Before I could load the sand I had to wash it first. I started by taking a wash tub that measures about 8" x 14" x 20" and placing it in the utility sink in the laundry room. I placed a 2 x 4 under one end of the tub to tilt it at an angle. I filled the tub about half full of sand and ran a full stream of cold water in the tub while tumbling the sand with my hands to wash it. I went through the process of tumbling and letting the water overflow and then tipped the tub to pour all the water out leaving the sand in. I went this procedure about six times per tub until I had rinsed all 40# of Aragonite Special grade Reef Sand.. Once I had all the sand washed and loaded in the tank I needed to add the water. I had bought extra 2 1/2 gallon RO water jugs so I had five to work with for the first batch. I filled about 4 1/2 gallons of RO in a 5 gallon bucket and then measured out two cups of Marin Tropic sea salt and stirred it into the water. Once completely dissolved I place a stoneware plate in the bottom of the tank on top of the sand. I poured the water into the tank on top of the plate to diffuse the water and not blast a hole in my sand base. I repeated this process and made numerous trips back to Rainbow refilling the water jugs with RO water. I'm sure anyone watching me would have wondered what was going on with the frequent trips to the RO dispenser. I repeated until I had the tank filled to about 1" below the top rim. I took one of the extra Visi-jet power heads I had from another tank and placed it in the tank to keep water moving and help mix the sea water. That's enough for today…time to clean up my mess….. |
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Now that the water had a chance to mix a little more thoroughly I measured the specific gravity of my water. 1.021…. to low. I mixed up about 2 gallons of water in the bucket and used about two full cups of salt mix to make an extra strong solution. Once completely mixed I added this to the tank which brought it up to full (this is why I left some room in the tank, I knew I would have to adjust the mix so I left room to add more water). |
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Took another water reading, up to 1.0225. Dipped about two gallons of water out of the tank into the bucket, added another cup of salt, mixed and added it back in the tank. |
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Took another water reading, up to 1.023! Close enough! |
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I ordered my liverock today! Ordered 70 pounds of Fiji premium rock from AquaDirect. Placed the order with instructions for a Friday delivery. |
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Surprise! I have two boxes of live rock from Walt Smith! Less than 23 hours from the time I place the order and I have rock shipped directly from Fiji! |
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Time to place the rock….I started by siphoning off about nine gallons of water and set aside. Before actually putting the rock in the tank I laid the pieces out on a tarp by the tank and checked them. Looks good and a clean smell! I started with the three larges pieces and spaced them across the bottom, one on each end, away from the glass and one in the middle. I arranged my pieces to I had a double arch and tried to maintain distance away from the glass on all sides. Very frustrating at times as the irregular shaped pieces don't always want to stack very well. At least they're all in…..time to start running the protein skimmer and let them cure! I put the water back in the tank as was very surprised! All the water except 2 1/2 gallons went back in! 70 pounds of rock and it only displaced 2 1/2 gallons! |
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| Need to take the time to fill in this part of the Journal....got busy. | |||
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Packaged up my collection of DOA critters I received from Aquacon after keeping them in the freezer. I laid them on paper towels, salted heavily, wrapped and placed in a ziplock. Took that tightly rolled bag and placed inside another ziplock and then Inside a padded mailer. I mailed it at the post office priority with online tracking just to make sure I have a receipt they "got them back". |
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This morning I took the next leap….I just ordered fourteen (14) soft coral frags over the phone from Tropicorium. They should be here Wednesday so I guess I know what I'll be doing Wednesday afternoon….. |
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Decided not to use the Ocean Currents wave maker. I ordered two (2) Maxi-Jet 1200 power heads from Marine Depot for the tank instead. Plan on hooking one up to the timer to turn in on and off a couple of times a day to mix the flow. |
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The shipment from Tropicorium came through as scheduled, 11:00 AM, UPS Air. I had meetings in the early afternoon but cut one short to blast off at 2:30. Fourteen different pieces, lots of bags to acclimate. As I opened each bag I clipped it to the lip of the tank. After letting the bags float for about ten minutes I used the bastor to add one squirt to each bag. I would wait about ten minutes and in rotation add one squirt to each bag again. I did this for about five cycles over a period of an hour and then started placing each piece in the tank. |
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The xxx coral was laying on the bottom of the rear of the tank this morning. Need to reposition several of the pieces. Spent about an hour during the evening rearranging several pieces |
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Friday (Good Friday) Return to "Top of Page" |
Have the day off and spent the afternoon going to several LFS's. (Something Fishy & World of Fish for the Twin City locals) . Saw a Hammer Coral I want to go back for but not this trip. Discovered this morning that one of the local Petco stores has a salt water section with tank raised Percula Clowns in stock . $14 each at Petco, $30 and up at the "other" store. Bought two Percula Clowns, three Firefish Gobies and a Coral Beauty Angel. The Petco prices on their live stock are the same as several of the Internet sellers but no air freight…… Spotted a very long thin worm (???) crawling on the back glass. Worked his way up for a bit, circled back around and back into the sand. |
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Discovered one of the Firefish laying on top of one of the leather corals, both not happy. About the time I was about to open the tank and rescue them the Firefish moved off but he doesn't look good.. |
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Saturday afternoon Return to "Top of Page" |
Earlier this afternoon I discovered the Serpent Star (Brittle Star) hunched strange under the rock arch. When I looked closer I saw he was actually ingesting one of my snails. That would explain why one Star is now twice the body size of the other two and the growing collection of empty shells on the bottom. I discovered what looks like it could be Ick on one of the Clowns and he looks pretty unhappy. I haven't seen the Firefish since earlier today. |
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Sunday (Easter) Return to "Top of Page" |
Noticed the Star with the taste for escargot making his way across the sand and up into the rocks. Looks more like a Mylar helium balloon than a Starfish, bloated HUGE. Watched as he crawled up into a section of rock and then I thought he died. For the rest of the day not a twitch or movement of any kind plus he was FLOATING! I came very close to pulling him out and thought he would get the swirling funeral. The one Firefish is still missing and presumed dead. Several of the corals are looking sort of stressed. No visible polyp extension. Will have to watch them and see what's up. Looks like the Toadstool has been moved and is in contact with one of the other corals. Stinging??? |
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Noticed one of the brown polyp coral frags on the bottom of the tank and another coral moved. I think one of the Stars must be knocking some of the pieces over. Most are pretty stable but not if they get pushed around. The Ick or fungus is more pronounced on the Clown, didn't have full lights on for close inspection. I was surprised to find that the helium star had moved during the night and was on the other end of the tank moving. Guess that puts him back on the "Not Dead" list. |
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Monday evening April 16th Return to "Top of Page" |
The two Maxi-Jet powerheads I ordered last Tuesday finally came. I
pulled the single Visi-Jet powerhead out (102 GPH) and installed the two
MJ1200's, in in each corner, aimed crossing flow paths. The one pump was
putting out quite a bit of current, (290 GPH) but when I turned the second
on....whooosh! Blew a couple of the smaller leathers off the
rocks! Unplugged the left one...My inventory of extra pumps now includes
one Rio 2100, one Ocean Currents wavemaker head, and the brand new MJ1200!
I rearrange a couple of the corals and put the couple that had been moved by the Star back in place. |
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Tuesday evening April 17th Return to "Top of Page" |
I ordered two more books today from Amazon and ordered two more pumps from
Marine Depot. One MJ400 @ 102 GPH and one MJ600 @ 160 GPH. Plan on
putting one in each corner with the flow paths crossed and put the MJ600 on a
timer, turn it off at night for quiet currents.
I haven't seen any of the Firefish since Sunday. I know they hide in the rocks be this is to long and not a good sign. At least the corals that had looked stressed before are looking much better. Noticed they seem to do better with just the Actinic light on, seems like the full lighting is two much and the polyps on several of the pieces don't extend, they actually retract when the full lights come on. The Toadstool Mushroom is one of them that seems to like the Actinic better. Rigged up a fork on a dowel rod and made a sand rake out of it. Raked through all the exposed sand around the rocks and cleaned up the algae that was accumulating on the sand surface. Pulled out the shells of two of the Horseshoe crabs, didn't see the third. Pulled out five empty Astrea shells, looks like probably lunches for the Starfish. Cleaned quite a bit of algae junk out, sand looks better. The one Percula Clown is looking worse so decided no point is waiting for more tank contamination......swirling funeral time. Down to one Clown for the moment. Mixed up another 5 gallons of seawater. Clipped the Visi-Jet pump in the bucket to agitate it over night. Will do a partial water change on Wednesday. |
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Saturday afternoon April 21st Return to "Top of Page" |
Stopped at Something fishy to check out what was new. They had some new corals that looked pretty nice. I bought a nice size pink pulsing Xenia and a medium sized red Open Brain. Also bought a Bi-color Blenny while I was there. Another $118. | ||
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Sunday April 22nd |
Looks like the Feather Dusters is starting to crawl out of its tube. About half the worm is hanging out of the end of the tube. I remember hearing that sometimes they crawl out and stat a new tube??? | ||
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Monday April 23rd |
Well...the worm is not growing a new tube. Looks pretty slimy and bad. Saw the Star going after it trying to pull the worm up into the rocks. Sort of interesting to watch if it wasn't such a pain loosing another critter. Star has one arm wrapped around the worm and is pulling hard dragging it along as it climbs back to it's hole in the rocks. | ||
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Tuesday April 24th |
The Coral Beauty Angel is starting to show signs of Crytocarion (Ick) Spots are showing up on it's scales. | ||
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Tuesday April 24th Return to "Top of Page" |
Had Jan stop and pick up a couple of test-kits on the way home. Wanted a Salifert Calcium kit and an Alk kit. The didn't have the Saleferts so she got the Hagen. I ran the test several times and I am convinced the Hagen doesn't measure high Ca or Alk. According to the test, count the drops and multiply by 20 to get the calcium count. I passed 32 drops and still no color change! I don't think my Calcium is in the 650 range! Same with the Alk! Way passed the limits and still no color change! | ||
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Wednesday morning 7:00AM April 25th |
Came out in the morning and saw what looked like a dead worm curled in the bottom back left cornier of the tank. Looked closer and it looked like the Bi-Color Blenny! Thought it died during the night. Went in finished getting ready, came back out and he was gone. | ||
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Thursday April 26th |
Found the Blenny again, this time it was curled up on top of the top right powerhead. Looks pretty pail and not good. Angel still seems OK but still has the Ick spots. | ||
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Saturday April 28th Return to "Top of Page" |
Arghhh! Angel is looking worse, and now the Xenia
is looking really bad! Arms and polyps retracted and it looks like parts
of the skeleton are showing!?? Also noticed the remaining clow is
starting to show signs of Ick.
I set up a bucket of fresh RO water Friday night with a powerhead and air stone. Thought I might try a freshwater dip for the Ick. Tried to catch the Angel but even sick it's not going to be caught! To many caves and area to zip behind to be caught. Never did catch either one. |
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Monday morning April 30th |
RIP Angel fish. Found the Angel dead in the tank this morning. At least it's easier to catch. Netted it out and did the swirling funeral. | ||
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Thursday May 3rd Return to "Top of Page" |
Found the Perc Clown....actually the Star found it. It was down in the bottom of the pit (deep hole in the live rock base) Star had it's arm around the Perc and was dragging it out of the hole. By the time I got back with the net the Star had the Perc pulled into the rocks out of range of any net. Exchanged the net for a pair of large tweezers. Had to reach into the tank with the tweezers and wrestle with the Star for the Perc! It put up quite a tug of war! Finally got the Perc out and did another swirling funeral! The only remaining fish (vertebrate) in the tank is one Firefish. | ||
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Sunday afternoon May 6th Return to "Top of Page" |
Stopped at World of Fish and bought another Feather Duster. Asked the
guy about acclimating Dusters and he said "Nahhh...they're pretty
hardy, just put um in". Didn't buy that so when I got home I still
did about an hours worth of floating and squirting water in the bag with the
bastor.
Also bough new test kits. They had the Salefet kits and also bought a new Hydrometer. Bought the glass lab test-tube style. When I got home I checked my Coralife swing arm Hydrometer against the glass one and they matched pretty dead on! |
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Now that I have an accurate test kit I started doing Kalkwasser drips in the
tank during the night. I tested the tank before doing any additives and
was surprised at how high it was! Calcium is about 500 and Alk is
between x.x - x.x.
For the Kalk I mix up a one gallon jug of RO with with 1+ tsp of Kent Kalk powder. Fill up the IV bag and then start a slow drip around 9:00-10-00PM before going to bed. Been averaging about two out of three nights for the drip. |
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Tuesday evening May 8th Return to "Top of Page" |
Saw the head to the Feather Duster laying on the sand at the back of the tank
behind the rocks! I figured the worm must have crawled out and the Star
got it. Must not have liked the feather head so didn't eat that
part. About an hour later the head was missing also.
Side note: On the 18th on my way back from a golf tournament I stopped in Wet World and chatted with Charles. I saw a Feather Duster head laying on the sand same as mine so I asked Charles about it. He said every once in a while Dusters throw off their head, crawl down in the bottom of their tube and go dormant for 4-6 weeks. Then they reappear and grow a new head! Not sure why they just do. He showed me several Dusters that he said had new heads and they were still growing them back so still small!?? Thinking back, when I pulled the duster out of the tank I noticed the back of the tube was heavier than the open end, almost felt like worm was still in it...to late...he's in the freezer. |
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Monday afternoon May 14th Return to "Top of Page" |
Left work early, still sick from last weeks flu that turned into full blown
pneumonia on Friday, 103.4 temp, etc (different story). After resting
for a while decided to go to Petco and try for some more Firefish. Out of all
the fish in the tank, the only one that didn't get Crypto and die was one
Firefish, they seem to have a reputation of being Crypto immune. Called
the shop to check if they had three Fire's and girl said they did. Drove
the 22 miles to the shop and they only had one. Bought that one
and also asked for an extra bag of their water so I could run tests on their
water. When I got home I ran full tests on the Petco water and it tested out normal except SG was only 1.018! My water was at 1.025+. Floated the fish for about 15 minutes and then started adding my tank water. Added one baster squirt every 10-15 minutes for the first 1 1/2 hours, then added two squirts for the next hour plus. Tested the bag water and it was up to 1.023. For the next hour I added 3 squirts every 10-15 and then added the fish to the tank. four full hours to acclimate! Lot of work for one Firefish! |
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Tuesday morning 7:00AM May 15th |
#%*##! Firefish is belly up laying on the rocks where the Serpent/Brittle Star hangs out. Finished getting ready for work, making lunch etc, checked the tank, no fish...Star food! | ||
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Thursday evening May 17th Return to "Top of Page" |
I called Petco on Thursday evening and ended up talking with the new manager. Good chat. She said to come in Saturday afternoon and she would be in, work out some credit and get the tank restocked. Seems to know what she's talking about, been doing marine and reefs for 20 years. She was taking over and changing the ways the Aquatics department is run, vendors etc. Expects to P*** vendors off cause she's a B**** (her words). | ||
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Saturday afternoon May 19th Return to "Top of Page" |
Saturday afternoon made the drive back to Petco. Chatted with Tammy the
manager. First thought was she looked like a female Rugby player
(something I'm familiar with, another story) She didn't have any regular
Firefish, she didn't like the last shipment so not stocking any. She did
have some purple Firefish but $27 each. Spendy test fish. She went
to the office and made up a couple of vouchers for $25 each to cover the new
fish. We talked water conditions, SG etc. She feels 1.025 is fine
for coral only tank but to high for fish. puts stress on the resperation.
Took my spendy test fish home. Tested the Petco water, this batch was 1.019. Mine still 1.025. Decided to try an experiment. While floating the fish I started to slowly dip water out of the tank and replace it scoop by scoop with RO water to bring the SG down. Fish and corals will acclimate easier to dropping SG than rising SG. After 15 minutes of temp acclimation I started a 1000ml IV drip into the bag. The drip took 1 1/2 hours and during that time I brought the tank SG down to 1.023. Added the fish. Saturday evening I still have two purple Firefish swimming around the tank! Wednesday and I still have the purple Firefish! So far so good! |
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