Not sure if anyone remembers me as I haven't been around for a while.
I haven't posted in a long while because nothing new has happened for me in this hobby. Over the past year I haven't done a thing to my tank except for feeding and maintenance.
Yes, since last summer 2007, zero dollars spent on corals and equipment. Just last week I broke down and purchased a new phoenix bulb to replace the last one which was 18 months old.
My tank is doing fine, and when viewing old photos, it was fun to see the growth of my corals. Other interesting observations for the past year....
- I stopped using phytoplankton DT and Reef Nutrition and I noticed a significant drop in my pod population,
- My candycanes and frogspawn are growing like weeds. Just recently I had to frag one of my canes and ended up giving them away as freebies
- I have gone thru the interesting population bursts...first colanistas snails, then vermatids, and now spaghetti worms.
- My last coral purchase in the summer of 2007 also introduced green bubble algae, aptasia, and red turf algae to my pristine tank. The red turf algae slowly took over two large rocks and it was thick, 1 inch deep. After getting tired of pruning it every week I did some research and found that many were having sucess with Mexican turbo snails to remove it. I purchased three mex turbos for my tank and in 2 weeks it was all gone ! The aptasia and bubble algae are the next to go. Recently purchased some joes juice and it seems to work well. Now I have to get a emerald crab.
- My fish, 2 clowns, 1 watchman goby, 1 firefish, have all settled into their territories and I dont plan on adding any new fish at this point in time. Honestly, I wish the firefish and goby would die because all they do is hide in their rocks all day long. I never see them except for feeding time.
- Deaths : No matter what one does in this hobby, death is part of the game. During the past year I have lost, 1 red mushroom, a montipora plate, and a small challace frag. Not sure as to the cause of death.... so it goes in a reef tank
For those interested, my standard maintenance schedule is
5 gallon water changes every week
b-ionic every day,
change carbon every 2 weeks.
change filter sock every 3-4 days
change rowaphos every 6 -8 weeks
Feeding - mysis, and formula 1 pellets once or twice a day
Future plans are to do nothing new. Just let the tank grow and mature. I have learned to control the MONEY PIT
LOL
Here are some recent pics from the last month.
