that's it, i'm starting my nano chronicle

[lemonpeel20]

ok another little update.... for christmas my husband hung my lamp for me :apimp:

he's the best
we have an almost 3 year old, so... this is good height on the shelf and it's aesthetically pleasing in the dining room...

 

[lemonpeel20]

so an update to keep my thread barely alive: the chromis' perished :angel1: , my kenya has what looks like brown jelly disease, but on the plus side my duncan and brain have taken on beautifully.

my theory: bristle worms. :smack: I read "part of my CUC, oh they don't hurt anything.." well, I have a good amount of some pretty good sized ones.

at night, my chromis' liked to rest in little caverns in the rocks, and i think they were stung by them.... and while reading about brown jelly disease not being so common on softies, only if picked on by fish or, you guessed it, bristle worms.

they are so big and bold :makefun: they ate a peppermint shrimp during the day and right in front of me.

 

[David Shaw]

Yikes, perhaps you should remove them then. They look massive to me :sinking:

 

[lemonpeel20]

i got one last night.... you woulda thought i'd saved the world. i was so excited, because they are so hard to catch... i've seen a trap online. my husband feeds my reefing addiction, A LOT... so we found a new LFS we're going check out probably tomorrow, so I'll see if they actually carry it.

oh yeah, he got me 2 spotted cardinals and a tank raised percula.
i told him to please not to surprise me... but i do love him so for wanting to "help"....

 

[QuentinB]

Hey, tank is looking great, guys! I do like the new rockscaping as well!

Sorry to hear about the chromis, though I've read that some people have had theirs randomly die as well. I think you're on the right track with the bristleworms though, good luck in their removal!

Can't wait to see pics of the new additions!

 

[lemonpeel20]

so this is one of my little guys

they're kinda shy when they know i'm looking...

then this little one is a little more out in the open, but he is so quick..lol, mostly blurry pictures...

anyway, just wanted to share an update.. Happy 2011 everyone!

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Pretty tank, fish and corals !

 

[QuentinB]

Cute cardinals! And I always love how active and involved clownfish get...

Again, looking great! Happy new year!

 

[lemonpeel20]

Thanks for the encouragement Quentin... But things are not going well for me as you you can read from my brain coral thread... the percula has started hiding after being the life of the tank... eating and swimming fine. I don't want to lost anything else. I'm getting pretty discouraged because the amount of filtration, lighting and equipment should be good enough to keep what I have. So what is the problem? water quality. i can't think of anything else. Anyone that knows me, knows how fastidious I am. And looking at my logging, pH maintained at 8.4, zero's across the board with spikes of < .25 ammonia every so often... and then I tested yesterday, and my nitrates are at 20, pH at 7.4, ammonia at <.25. :smack: i just don't know :help1:

 

[rubyfrogs]

Your tank looks beautiful! I am sorry to hear about your frustrations, I am in a similar situation with my 12G nano. It's been set up for about a year now and I still can't seem to keep much alive. I BARELY have any coralline growing, have 3 zoa heads left, 1 mushroom left, and have been through my fair share of fish and cuc. I currently have a cinnamon clown that is going strong, and a firefish. I check my water and have good filtration etc... but it seems like its one thing after another! I am so envious of everyone with their beautiful tanks thriving while my pidly little 12G cant even get coralline going lol. Best of luck to you and I hope that you have much success in reefing in 2011. I'll be watching your threads

 

[omerojs]

@ Lemonpeel20 and Ruby, do you guys have Sump? Skimmer? how often do you perform WC? and how much water do you change?
actually i have a 38 gallon that i tend to call the killer tank... since whatever i put in kind of dies lol... i know what the problem is... i dont have much time for WC and sometimes it takes me a month without touching it... i feed them ones a day with a frozen cocktail i make... i made the promise to myself to do WC every 2 weeks for 2011... about 20L every time... i hope that helps... keep up with the tank guys, you will see that if you do the regular WC it will come back to life... and remember the skimmer...

 

[lemonpeel20]

i have an aqua remora skimmer, once a week WC (usually 3 - 5 gallons)... I think the brain coral dying, taught my husband to never purchase without my authorization. At least my kenya looks to be on a better path

 

[omerojs]

Hey Lemon, what kind of lights do you have?... for what i see you take more care than i do... not a good thing for me to say..
about your skimmer, is that a HOB skimmer? do you see good greenish or brownish foam coming on the cup?

 

[rubyfrogs]

@ Lemonpeel20 and Ruby, do you guys have Sump? Skimmer? how often do you perform WC? and how much water do you change?
actually i have a 38 gallon that i tend to call the killer tank... since whatever i put in kind of dies lol... i know what the problem is... i dont have much time for WC and sometimes it takes me a month without touching it... i feed them ones a day with a frozen cocktail i make... i made the promise to myself to do WC every 2 weeks for 2011... about 20L every time... i hope that helps... keep up with the tank guys, you will see that if you do the regular WC it will come back to life... and remember the skimmer...

Hello, I don't have a sump or skimmer but I do water changes once a week, more if needed (I perform param checks every other day usually). When I do a change I usually do about 4 gallons, my tank is a 12 G but after live rock (about 20 lbs) and sand (about 10 lbs) I know there isn't 12G worth of water in there. I only do larger ones if my nitrates spike or something like that. I will keep plugging along...I am planning on getting my own RO/DI unit here in the hopefully near future

 

[lemonpeel20]

Your tank looks beautiful! I am sorry to hear about your frustrations, I am in a similar situation with my 12G nano. It's been set up for about a year now and I still can't seem to keep much alive. I BARELY have any coralline growing, have 3 zoa heads left, 1 mushroom left, and have been through my fair share of fish and cuc. I currently have a cinnamon clown that is going strong, and a firefish. I check my water and have good filtration etc... but it seems like its one thing after another! I am so envious of everyone with their beautiful tanks thriving while my pidly little 12G cant even get coralline going lol. Best of luck to you and I hope that you have much success in reefing in 2011. I'll be watching your threads

:hug1: well we shall learn together

 

[lemonpeel20]

Hey Lemon, what kind of lights do you have?... for what i see you take more care than i do... not a good thing for me to say..
about your skimmer, is that a HOB skimmer? do you see good greenish or brownish foam coming on the cup?

i have an aquatic life 4X24w w/lunar LEDs... yes, HOB with green crap in it everyday...

 

[rubyfrogs]

:hug1: well we shall learn together

Sounds good I got brand new bulbs 4 days ago, and ended up re-rockscaping after a rockslide oops, and I found a really cool piece of decorative barnacle live rock at the lfs today, and my boyfriend got the ok from me to get a little brain coral frag, so we have a little maze brain coral frag now, I hope this one does better than the LPS I tried before. I am going to take some pics I can't wait for everyone to see this barnacle piece Ive never seen anything like it...best part is the lfs guy gave it to me for free because it was so light and it was in with the cured live rock that they sell by the lb.
:happywalk

 

[lemonpeel20]

Sounds good I got brand new bulbs 4 days ago, and ended up re-rockscaping after a rockslide oops, and I found a really cool piece of decorative barnacle live rock at the lfs today, and my boyfriend got the ok from me to get a little brain coral frag, so we have a little maze brain coral frag now, I hope this one does better than the LPS I tried before. I am going to take some pics I can't wait for everyone to see this barnacle piece Ive never seen anything like it...best part is the lfs guy gave it to me for free because it was so light and it was in with the cured live rock that they sell by the lb.
:happywalk

ruby that's awesome :whstlr:


in the meantime, I have been aerating water since 5pm yesterday, and going to conduct a nice new WC. My duncan and zoas are looking like they are thriving. =] *sigh of relief* the percula (now dubbed frederick, lol) has been a LOT more social coming out and swimming around. and the cardinals swim around in their funny jerky like way. So, I'm going to keep my kenya kinda separated from the rest, as it's polyps still haven't opened up yet, but he's looking better... a little greenish hue from his trunk like before.... want to to keep the WC's up and hopefully try my hand at some other LPS' soon... :fingerx:

 

[glampka]

I noticed in post #29 that your pH was down to 7.4. Do you always check it around the same time of the day? pH readings will fluctuate throughout the day. Also have you used any Purple Up to help with coralline growth? If so, stop using it since it has been known to cause large pH swings. Your normal wc should be giving you the required amount of calcium that you need.

 

[lemonpeel20]

I noticed in post #29 that your pH was down to 7.4. Do you always check it around the same time of the day? pH readings will fluctuate throughout the day. Also have you used any Purple Up to help with coralline growth? If so, stop using it since it has been known to cause large pH swings. Your normal wc should be giving you the required amount of calcium that you need.

I always do my maintenance between 6pm and 9pm.... the only time i have to myself i don't dose with anything... i think things are looking better in my tank.. i think that 24 hour aeration really helped. :invisible