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Paul B

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The lights over my algae scrubber trough croaked so I re built the thing. Ok now this is what I am talking about, I went from 16 LEDs to 130 of them. I got it on 3 power supplies so we will see if it does anything to grow algae.
Today I got a pair of blue stripe pipefish. My last pair died after 3 years and that's about how long bluestripe pipefish live and they spawned continousely for two of those years. This pair hangs out together and I think they will spawn soon. I am hoping they find the baby brine feeder soon.
But I did have a problem of sorts. I removed the algae scrubber or trough for about 30 minutes to install the new lights over it. I don't remove the screen any more because it is fukll of corals, worms, amphipods and all sorts of things so I don't want to lose that stuff even though the design of the screen is so I can roll it up and remove it to clean. I will have to re think that soon. Anyway, when I put everything back together the skimmer went nuts, and still is. I am not sure if any thing chemically happened when I removed it for that short time but I don't think it was out of the water long enough to get any die off as I kept it wet with salt water. I think I may have an idea what happened, it just hit me. After I removed the trough, I cleaned the back top rim of the tank of salt creep. Much of that salt fell into the tank. I think that may be it. The long spined urchin climbed all the way up to the top of the water and his spines are sticking out of the water. He does that when he is mad at me. The skimmer is slowing down. all the corals look good and the new pipefish look like they need a room.
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It started yesterday like this, but I added more LEDs today
2013-04-03183631_zpsf7d5a902.jpg

This was just the reds
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Paul B

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Tank is doing great except I can't do my cleaning any more like I want to do. There are to many acropora growing and they are very delicate as is the montipora that my wife just broke a large piece off today. Of course when ever that happens, in my tank, and I am sure in yours, you have to glue it back someplace and it can never go back where it was so I got them all over the place. I like it better when they grow naturally in the shape they want to grow according to the currents and lighting. It is very hard now to stir up much of the substrait because I can't really move the rocks as they are all connected. I don't know how this will affect things in the future but this was the main reason I never wanted wall to wall corals. But I will deal with it and try to gently get around things to stir it up.
 

Paul B

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I am making a typhoon now with my diatom filters, I do this a few times a year and I found a large watchman gobi that I thought disappeared and he is much larger than I thought he would be. Changed color also. He was brown when I put him in, now he is yellow. Usually they go from yellow to brown. In an hour or so I should be able to once again see the back of the tank as it is a little scurvy now.
 

Paul B

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It's a good thing I took a picture of this guy last week before I added him to my tank as I will never again be able to get a picture of him as he hides all the time. He is searching for something and it looks like either worms or pods mostly on the roofs of caves. I am not sure if he is eating because he gets scared if I shoot worms near him but he still looks chubby so I guess he is finding something. Speaking of chubby, (no not me) my mandarin looks to be about ready to spawn again and I am hoping my clown gobies do also as she also looks ready as well as one of my threadfin cardinals. My tiny shrimp/gobi almost doubled in size and gets along well the older one so hopefully they will mate as they live in the same hole with the shrimp.
 

Paul B

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I only have her for less than a week and she never comes out, prefering to hunt in caves. But I don't know what she is hunting or if she is finding it but my tank has a lot of food hidden in it. I don't also know if she eats any of the food I feed as she always hides and has never swam out in the open. She is about one and a half inches. There is a store here that always has them but besides that place, I never see them.
 

Paul B

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This is weird, my large 4" watchman gobi first of all turned yellow, he was always brown. My last pair started yellow and then turned brown. But he always hid in the back and I wasn't even sure if he was still alive, but now I see he is in the same burrow with my striped shrimp gobi and the shrimp. The small shrimp gobi has to hang around at the entrance because he can't fit. I can't imagine how much room they have in there. Also my possum wrasse that I also thought bit the dust because I never see him is alive and fat as he came out today to eat worms and he is a huge lover of them.
 

Paul B

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No, I think it will be 43 in March of 2014. I started it in 1971 so I think 2014 will be 43 years, but my math is not that good.
I would like it to last 8 more years, then it will be fifty and I may take it down then as we may move to a smaller house and travel more.
I may be drooling and in diapers then also.

This is the guy that moved in with them, he is twice their size
 
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Paul B

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Being this thread is about my tank I would like to update it.
By the way Happy Mother's Day tomorrow.
My tank is running very well. There are no algae issues or anything else. All of my paired fish are spawning including the mandarins, 3 pairs of cardinals, clown gobies and fireclowns, one of which is 19 years old. (I think, give or take 2 years)
I still feed the same thing including blackworms, Mysis and clams every day with the new born brine shrimp but I added white worms which I raise in potting soil and feed Cheerios and Matzo's with fish oil on it. I am not sure if any of my worms are Jewish, but they seem to relish Matzo's. During the last Jewish holidays the supermarket gave away 10 boxes of Matzo's to everyone so I have a lifetime supply. The white worms eat a 2"X2" piece of Matzo in 2 days or 10 Cheerios. I like to feed these dry foods to the worms because it soaks up the fish oil really well, but it gives the worms horrible fish breath.
The Possum wrasse pictured above is coming near the front of the tank to get to the worms and is looking great. I would like to get another one to see if they mate. My shrimp/gobies also above should spawn as soon as the tiny one gets larger, but now that their tunnel and shrimp have been confiscated by the larger Watchman they are homeless and I don't know how they will fare like that. I am looking for another shrimp for them.
Next week I should be getting a Janss Pipefish. I ordered one from a wholesaler who owes me something. They are in stores here and are hard to find but one of the most beautiful pipefish.
I acquired this dragon faced pipefish a week ago and he spends his time hunting pods or eating the numerous new born brine I add every day.
The corals are growing nicely and I am running low on room because of the acropora, whenever I stick my hand in the tank, I break off a piece, then I have to glue it someplace and now those tiny frags are growing all over the place and making it difficult to do any maintenance in the tank. The montipora is giving me the same problem as that is also delicate and breaks off easily. I am trying to take a decent picture.


Copperband tried a few bites of the pipefish, but now ignores him

Whiteworms feasting on an oil infused piece of Matzo.

 

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