Reef Notes http://reefnotes.wordpress.com Creating a micro-environment in our livingroom Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:40:08 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ en hourly 1 http://www.gravatar.com/blavatar/04ac688bb1d532e5833a40d7703c0816?s=96&d=http://s.wordpress.com/i/buttonw-com.png Reef Notes http://reefnotes.wordpress.com Vacation Stress http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/vacation-stress/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/vacation-stress/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:40:08 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/vacation-stress/ ]]>

I’m just returning from one week hiking around Utah with the family and we put some neighbors in charge of watching over the tank.   You can’t imagine my relief to return and find that the tank was just fine without me for a week and maybe slightly better off since no one was moving the corals around on a daily basis! :)

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/vacation-stress/feed/ 8 raincityguide Moving of the corals… http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/moving-of-the-corals/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/moving-of-the-corals/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:22:51 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/moving-of-the-corals/ ]]>

I moved a bunch of corals around this past weekend…   As soon as I can get a few minutes of downtime (work has been busy, busy, busy lately), I’ll look to post a few photos and give a water quality update.   In general things are good… water is healthy although our Nitrates were a bit higher than normal (which is no detectable nitrates!).

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/moving-of-the-corals/feed/ 2 raincityguide Aclamating the snails and sea cucumbers… http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/adding-the-snails-and-sea-cucumbers/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/adding-the-snails-and-sea-cucumbers/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:32:44 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/adding-the-snails-and-sea-cucumbers/ ]]>

Adding the snails and sea cucumbers…, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

Here’s a fun shot of my son and myself adding the Reef Tank Tuneup to our tank.

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/adding-the-snails-and-sea-cucumbers/feed/ 0 raincityguide Full Tank http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/full-tank/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/full-tank/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:30:26 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/full-tank/ ]]>

Full Tank, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

Here is a full-view shot of our aquarium after we added the Reef Tank Tuneup. You’ll have to forgive the reflection of our patio! :)

Overall, everything seems pretty smooth two days after adding the coral, snails and two pink cucumbers…

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/full-tank/feed/ 10 raincityguide Yoyo Coral http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/yoyo-coral-2/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/yoyo-coral-2/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:27:37 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/yoyo-coral-2/ ]]>

Yoyo Coral, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

While the Yoyo is one of the largest specimens in the aquarium, I haven’t done much research on him… The reality is that he is HUGE and seems to grow bigger by the day. He dominates the left side of the tank.

For better or worse, my research to date has been focused on the animals in distress, but that is not a good reason to neglect this very cool coral..

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/yoyo-coral-2/feed/ 0 raincityguide Emerald Crab http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/emerald-crab/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/emerald-crab/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:22:38 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/emerald-crab/ ]]>

Emerald Crab, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

This is the best photo I’ve been able to take of our Emerald Crab so far…

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/emerald-crab/feed/ 0 raincityguide Right-side of the tank http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/right-side-of-the-tank/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/right-side-of-the-tank/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2007 06:14:26 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/right-side-of-the-tank/ ]]>

Wide Open Fiji Coral, originally uploaded by tyrsdomain.

Nothing new in this photo, but I really like it…

Both the Toadstool and the Leather Coral are wide open… Plus the photo has one of our snails and a clownfish! :)

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/right-side-of-the-tank/feed/ 0 raincityguide A Candy Cane Coral? http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/a-candy-cane-coral/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/a-candy-cane-coral/#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2007 02:36:26 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/a-candy-cane-coral/ ]]>

Our Reef Tank Tuneup arrived today around 11am (I wonder why the company emphasized it was a PM shipment? I must have misunderstood what the “PM” stood for…)

It was both a little more and a little less than expected.

First the “less”. They didn’t ship any crabs and we were suppose to get 12 microhermits. We definitely have a problem with the hair algae starting to take over in some areas and I was looking forward to the crabs helping out with this problem…   We also didn’t get the Hawaiian Turbo Grazer.   It is definitely a disappointment that the Indo-Pacific Sea Farms (IPSF) didn’t ship everything they said they would…

The little bit “more” is that they added a Candy Cane Coral (Caulastrea sp.) to the package. This required a bit more research than I had anticipated because I wanted to get him into our tank quickly. For the time being, I found a relatively empty place in our tank and glued him down. However, I’m a little concerned that it might be a little bit too much light for him. I’ll do some more research with the hope that I won’t have to move him again any time soon…

So far the snails they sent have been uninspiring in their adventurousness (i.e. most of them have not moved more than an inch seven hours after being put in the tank!). However, I’ll give them a full day to recover as some of them are likely night-eaters before I pass judgment on their health.

Overall, I’m a little disappointed, but that could change if the Caulastrea opens up and is able to light up a part of our tank…

Photos to come soon…

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/a-candy-cane-coral/feed/ 0 raincityguide Dueling Groups http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/dueling-groups/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/dueling-groups/#comments Thu, 15 Mar 2007 06:52:06 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/dueling-groups/ ]]>

It appears that there are two active fish groups in the LA area:

The S. Cal Marine Aquarium Society (out of Orange Co.) also looks interesting and just had a “frag swap”… Very cool.

]]> http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/dueling-groups/feed/ 2 raincityguide Reef Tank Tuneup to Clean Up the Hair Algae? http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/reef-tank-tuneup-to-clean-up-the-hair-algae/ http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/reef-tank-tuneup-to-clean-up-the-hair-algae/#comments Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:42:50 +0000 Dustin http://reefnotes.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/reef-tank-tuneup-to-clean-up-the-hair-algae/ ]]>

We went ahead and ordered the reef tank tuneup from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms…

So, as of Friday evening, we should have:

  • 3 Hawaiian Trocus Grazers (Trochus intextus)
  • 1 Hawaiian Turbo Grazer (Turbo sandwicensis)
  • 12 Nerite Grazers (Nerita sp.)
  • 12 MicroHermits (Calcinus sp.)
  • 12 Strombus Grazers (Strombus maculatus)
  • 2 Pinky Cuke (Holothuria sp.)
  • 6 Hawaiian Littorinid Grazers (Littoraria sp.)

We’re definitely look forward to this arrival as we don’t have too many grazers at the moment and I think this group will enjoy our influx of hair algae… Time will tell.

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