Saturday, December 31, 2016

48 MONTHS

Today is the last day of 2016 and it also marks 4 years of me returning to reefing. I guess, in a way, I have come a long way and things have changed a lot since I re-started on 1 Jan 13. I have also decommissioned Aquarium 1 as reported earlier, so the updates are on aquarium 3 only. It is the first time I am posting the year end update at 1 am.

Here are some past photos as a form or recap.
FTS of my 56 litres aquarium on 31 Dec 13

FTS of my then new 250 litres aquarium taken on 31 Apr 14

FTS of the same aquarium on 31 Dec 14

FTS taken on 31 Dec 15

FTS taken on 31 Dec 16













































































The purple glow seen in the earlier FTS photos were from the Maxspect lights and since changing to the AI Hydra 52HD, I must admit the photos do look much better. 

Some of the things I learnt, some the hard way, in these 4 years are:
  • a black background looks better in photos;
  • a bare bottom is definitely easier to maintain than a sand-based tank but it is not aesthetically pleasing and provides no media for fishes that burrow into the sand when they sleep;
  • stacking rocks to create height is silly and is not the right way to do it because air circulation is poor and there are limited spaces for fishes to swim through;
  • there is no need to fuzz with a lot of additives every day but it is essential to maintain right levels of kH and Ca;
  • choosing a good light and adequate wave action are important but it doesn't mean it has to be the most expensive; 
  • a chiller is essential if SPS are kept; and
  • it is better, more fulfilling and easier on the pocket to keep stuff that are within our means than to keep forcing oneself to keep difficult stuff.
The following is the last update of the year.

Aquarium 3 (3 x 1.5 x 1.5 feet and sump - 250 litres)
I lost all my shrimps in last month's operation and I am not too eager to replenish them just yet.

I found out that there was nothing wrong with my Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 HD lights at all. It blacked out every night at midnight for half an hour because I clicked on the lunar effect previously and didn't turn the effect off.

Interestingly, my existing big and smaller Royal Grammas get a long fine from day one of introducing the smaller one and I am keen to introduce more, if possible.

So anyway, the final livestock is as follows:
  • Fishes
    • 2 Blue-yellow Damsels
    • Flame Angel
    • 2 Royal Grammas
    • Yellow Clown Goby
    • Yellow Tang
    • 2 False Clown Fish
  • Invertebrates
    • Turbo and Nassarius snails
    • 3+1 Sea Urchins
  • Corals
    • SPS
      • Horn Coral
      • 2 green Poccillopora and 3 frags
      • orange Cyphastrea
      • red Acropora digitata and 4 frags
      • 2 green Poccillopora frags
      • red Montipora
      • red/brown Poccillopora
      • 2 pink Birdnest
      • green branching Stylophora
      • beige/purple Montipora plate
      • blue Acropora browned out
      • Acropora valida
      • 2 Radioactive Birdnest frags
      • red Montipora plate
    • LPS
      • Hammer Coral (purple green)
      • green Candy Cane
      • Duncan Coral
      • yellow Torch Coral with one head left
      • Bubble Coral
      • green Goniopora
      • green/brown Frogspawn Coral
      • green Elegance Coral with blue tip
      • red Brain Coral that bleached
      • green Frogspawn Coral
      • green Plate Coral
      • orange Plate Coral
    • Mushrooms
      • green Ricordea yuma mushrooms
      • red mushroom
      • green mushroom
    • Soft Corals
      • Chilli Coral
      • Toadstool Leather Mushroom with luminous polyps
      • luminous green Tree Coral
      • pink Rose Bud Tip Anemone
      • green Tree Coral
    • Polyps
      • purple Zoas
      • Fiery Red Zoas
      • 5 assorted Zoas
      • 2 green Palythoa
      • 4 types of green Star Polyps and 
      • 3 gold Clove Polyps
      • pink Zoas
      • green base purple skirt Paly
      • green base brown skirt Zoas
      • orange Zoas
      • Sympodium
      • Organ Pipe Coral with sea squirts
  • Macroalgae (in sump)
    • red Bamboo
    • green Bubble algae
    The technical details are:
    • Jecod Marine DC Pump DCS-7000 return pump
    • Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 HD
    • Sanrise Aqua Pro (without wifi) 30 cm
    • Hailea HS-66A chiller
    • Skimz SN143 skimmer
    • Two Little Fishes Phosban Reactor running Phosguard
    • Two Little Fishes Phosban Reactor running NP reducing biopellets
    • Jebao Cross Flow CP 25
    • Jebao WP 25 Wavemaker
    • Tunze Nano Osmolator
    • Marine Magic Triplet Dosing







    top view with wavemaker on

    top view with one wavemaker off






    Aquarium 4 (30 x 23 x 20 cm - 13.8 litres)
    I changed the crystal shrimps tank to this new tank but the red and yellow shrimps eventually died out. So now I am left with these plants and an Otocinclus. I do not know the names of the aquatic plants other than Water Lettuce, so no names are listed.


    Wednesday, November 30, 2016

    47 MONTHS

    It is almost the end of the year soon. Today is an important day because I spent 6 hours tearing Aquarium 3 apart so that I could net a few fishes that I intend to give away and eventually decommission Aquarium 1.

    Aquarium 1 (1 feet cube - 27 litres)
    I don't intend to post anymore embarrassing photos of this aquarium since I am decommissioning it soon.

    I finally found the problem that caused the Sea Urchin to drop its spines and the severe algal bloom after I changed more than 50% of the aquarium water. Apparently, the big snail died and it polluted the water with the high ammonia, which in turn caused my 2 Camel Shrimps to die. The spike in ammonia and nitrite resulted in the tank crash which probably stressed the Sea Urchin and Tree Coral so much that they almost died too.

    The 2 Clown Fish, Royal Gramma, Cleaner Shrimp, Zoas, Tree Coral and a Nassarius snail survived and I transferred the 2 Clown Fish and Royal Gramma to Aquarium 3. It now housed the 3 inch Blue Tang, the 2 inch Tomato Clown, a Blue Damsel which I will give to a LFS tomorrow. The bigger Royal Gramma from Aquarium 3 was also temporarily housed here so that when I put it back to Aquarium 3 together with the Cleaner Shrimp and snail, hopefully it wouldn't go after the smaller Royal Gramma.

    The tank glass is so badly covered with algae that I don't intend to keep the tank after I decommission it.


    Aquarium 3 (3 x 1.5 x 1.5 feet and sump - 250 litres)
    This will be my default aquarium for the next 2 years until the big move comes along. Today's massive cleanup and rescaping ended with one casualty and two stowaways that I found.

    Although the Blue Tang brought along a beautiful blue with it, it pooped so much and I was worried about how I would net it someday, so I decided to part with it. The Tomato Clown was so aggressive that it wouldn't tolerate the 2 smaller False Clown Fish, so it had to go.

    My Orange Striped Prawn Goby that I had for months was the casualty that got sucked into the siphoning tube. I didn't know it until I poured away the pail of brown dirty water and found the fish struggling in my sink. It was a sad thing but I don't wish to dwell on it further.

    To my surprise, I found a 2 inch Mantis Shrimp and a 2 inch hairy Crab. Even as I am typing this, the crab is attempting to escape from the trap I put it in.

    I realized my Chaetomorpha completely died out after I started running the NP reducing biopellets.

    Sadly, my Jebao Marine Aqua DC-6000 return pump died on me when I was doing the makeover. Looks like I have to head out to get a replacement pump tomorrow. By the way, since about 2 months back, my Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 HD lights blacked out on me every night at midnight for half an hour before resuming the lighting. I checked and reset the settings but it didn't help. Since it is for half an hour only, I decided not to pursue the matter.

    So anyway, the final livestock is as follows:
    • Fishes
      • Blue-yellow Damsels
      • Flame Angel
      • Royal Gramma
      • Yellow Clown Goby
      • Yellow Tang
      • 2 False Clown Fish
    • Invertebrates
      • Turbo and Nassarius snails
      • 3+1 Sea Urchins
    • Corals
      • SPS
        • Horn Coral
        • green Poccillopora and multiple frags
        • orange Cyphastrea
        • red Acropora digitata
        • green Poccillopora - 2 frags
        • red Montipora
        • red/brown Poccillopora
        • 2 pink Birdnest
        • green branching Stylophora
        • purple Montipora plate
        • blue Acropora browned out
        • Acropora valida
        • strawberry shortcake Acropora
        • 2 Radioactive Birdnest frags
        • red Montipora plate
        • unknown Acropora
      • LPS
        • Hammer Coral (purple green)
        • green Candy Cane
        • Duncan Coral
        • yellow Torch Coral with one head left
        • Bubble Coral
        • Goniopora
        • green/brown Frogspawn Coral
        • green Brain Coral
        • green Elegance Coral
        • red Brain Coral that bleached
        • green Frogspawn Coral
        • green Plate Coral
        • Orange Plate Coral
      • Mushrooms
        • green Ricordea yuma mushrooms
        • red mushroom
        • green mushroom
      • Soft Corals
        • Chilli Coral
        • Toadstool Leather Mushroom
        • luminous green Tree Coral
        • pink Rose Bud Tip Anemone
        • green Tree Coral
      • Polyps
        • purple Zoas
        • Fiery Red Zoas
        • 5 assorted Zoas
        • 2 green Palythoa
        • 3 green Star Polyps
        • 3 gold Clove Polyps
        • pink Zoas
        • green base purple skirt Paly
        • green base brown skirt Zoas
        • orange Zoas
        • Sympodium
    • Macroalgae (in sump)
      • red Bamboo
      • green Bubble algae
      The technical details are:
      • Jebao Marine Aqua DC-6000 return pump
      • Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 HD
      • Sanrise Aqua Pro (without wifi) 30 cm
      • Hailea HS-66A chiller
      • Skimz SN143 skimmer
      • Two Little Fishes Phosban Reactor running Phosguard
      • Two Little Fishes Phosban Reactor running NP reducing biopellets
      • Jebao Cross Flow CP 25
      • Jebao WP 25 Wavemaker
      • Tunze Nano Osmolator
      • Marine Magic Triplet Dosing
      it looked like a mess
      the Stylophora

      the red Acropora digitata frags

      the 2 Plate Corals














































      these are the few photos taken before the revamp






      one of the ugly corners





      this was after most of the corals were taken out

      a tub of gsp, Zoas, Acan, Torch and Duncan corals

      tub of sps, Goniopora, Cyphastrea and Gloves

      Aquarium 1 with sps, False Clown Fish, Blue Tang etc

      tub of Brain, Plate and Frogspawn Corals and Zoas

      the unwanted rocks with Mantis Shrimp and Hairy Crab

      the Hairy Crab



      the Mantis Shrimp



      it looked so pissed


      a FTS after the revamp

      I don't like the left side

      the 2 Clowns in their new home

      the dead Orange- Striped Prawn Goby

      the right side

      the left side

      the connecting bridge (left)

      the connecting bridge (right)