TJ: Mini-Sea: #12

Aquarium Status

26/03/2015

Five days after the last update, and the worse thing happened. My Clarkii jumped yesterday, and I couldn't revive it. It is completely heart-shattering.

The Clarkii is the only one I named. Piggybear was its name, as it ate like a pig and was as aggressive as a bear. It was super cute, super aggro, super fun to watch. It had so much character.

This is too much to bear. So I have decided to shut down this tank.
 

 In loving memory. May you rest in peace.

TJ: So Sinuous: #0v2

Aquarium Status

Introduction

So... things have not progressed with this. The aquarium I received was of amazing quality, but it just took forever, and there were parts missing, and then the lights didn't work and... I returned the setup. I really couldn't be bothered. It was really annoying me.

I also had a change of mind, and decided to attempt something quite different... it's not going to be a nano anymore. Not even a pico. I am going to attempt... a bonsai.

Yes, it is going to be pretty crazy.

But rather than setting up a bonsai like most would, I am going to attempt a mono-scleractinian bonsai, a.k.a. a tank with just one single coral. A single Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sinuosa).

Most bonsais will see some sort of soft coral being stocked, for they are slightly easier. However, that is not to say there hasn't been LPS or SPS being grown in bonsais. That is to say, of course, that what I attempt isn't something overly extremely special or whatever, but I guess it is gonna be pretty hard. And cool.

Alright, so let's talk about plans...

The Plan

My plan is to utilize a 1 litre fish tank (a bit less than 0.3 gallons), a hang-on filter, a tiny heater and a Marine Pure cube. For substrate, I have yet to decide between going barebottom or sand (which I will take from my existing tank). Will decide on that after the initial cycle.

I will set it all up, go through the cycle, and once ready, transfer some sand (if I decide to go that route), and double-check the cycle. Once it is all clear, either way, I'd move my Bubble Coral from my current 'main' tank over.

Here it is:

It's actually only about 3-4cm across.

You can see it in the FTS in the other tank journal towards the back to the left.

So I've in fact already have all the equipment. Just haven't had a chance to set it all up. Looking forwards to do so though!

Elegance

It isn't worth a tank journal all by itself, but anyways here is my Elegance Coral.

TJ: Mini-Sea: #11

Aquarium Status

21/03/2015

It's been a while! So after losing my Tomato Clownfish almost two weeks ago, I was really bummed out. But hey, gotta move on.

I have yet to decide what else to stock the aquarium with, and my fiancee and I have decided that we are moving houses early July - so it is a bit pointless to be fully invested at the moment. Especially since I am still injured.

This doesn't mean that I have given up on this tank. Au contraire, it is still a mini-reef, so I am still gonna sustain it.

So, update.

I've been letting algae run a bit rampant, as I didn't have a chance to do a water change until today. Besides cleaning the viewing panes, cleaning algae otherwise is rather pointless, as unless it is physically removed from the water, the algae would just float around and either re-attach, or die and feed more algae anyways. So the best time to clean algae is just before a water change. Especially if it is a large one.

I did an approximately 85% water change yesterday. The live stock is healthy, so I didn't mind doing such a large water change. Plus, I haven't done a water change for about a month, so it was time.

This is what the aquarium looked like before the water change:

Algae everywhere. Look at the colors of those corals tho!

Yes I know. SO MUCH ALGAE. Since I couldn't do a water change until yesterday, there wasn't actually much point in cleaning the algae, except of course the viewing panels - which quickly saw regrowths anyways.

Not that algae is that bad. XD People often have this misconception, but algae can only harm something else directly through one method: competition. Either for nutrients, lighting, space or whatever else. Otherwise, they are harmless. Good even, as they soak up excess nutrients, those that at elevated levels will harm stuff like corals. By the way, if you wonder why you'd clean the tank and algae springs right back, that would be because you did not remove the algae from the aquarium. Algae off the glass will come back rather quickly.

Sorry about the digression.

But yes, so much algae.

Check out my hand after I scrubbed all the sides off algae:

Some call it... 'hair' algae.

And that's just a tiny portion, stuck to my hands lol.

Anyways, with all the algae floating in the aquarium, I went ahead and did a water change with my hose-pump thing, draining out as much of it as possible along with the water.

Result?

You can still see some algae floating around - that was because I did leave some water behind, for the fish at least. They panicked a bit at first, but quickly regained their composure - fast enough to not see any panic by the time I could take this picture, like a minute after filling up the tank. If your fish are healthy and active, they should not mind such changes. Use that as an indication for how well you are caring for your fish (besides the occasional panic-inducing huge water change lol).

Corals too, will bounce back quickly if they are healthy. The above pic sees the corals all shrunk (except for the Bubble Coral towards the back).

This is how they look at night, a few hours later:

All the fish are congregating towards one corner. Begging for food as the usual. =.= Pigs.

And then today, less than 24 hours later:

Bloomin'!

So in conclusion, everything is going great. :D And if you want to really remove a lot of algae and prevent it from growing back quickly, give your aquarium a good clean just before doing a water change to remove all that algae.

TJ: Mini-Sea: #10

Aquarium Status

08/03/2015

Happy International Woman's Day.

Anyways my Tomato Clown jumped out whilst I was away over the weekend, either yesterday or today.

Never getting a topless tank again.

Short update but $@%$!@%!.