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[davidmohr]

Just a small update with a few pictures. I'm getting some small patches of cyano on the acrylic surfaces. This could be caused by insufficient flow from the powerhead or the corals are blocking the flow. I'm either going to modify the output of the powerhead, upgrade to a more powerful one or resort to cleaning manually more often which is a pain. I'm now supplementing daily with live or powdered phytoplankton and cyclopeeze.
As you can see the critters are expanding very well.







Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

I've pretty much done what I can do with stocking this tank as today I added a small frag of Sinularia sp., the rock it's mounted on is about 20 times larger than the frag so I'll have to trim that down. This is a so-so picture of it a few minutes after introducing it to the tank.



I also added a small frag of Nephthea sp., this is a so-so picture of it a few minutes after it was introduced to the tank.



I'll wait until they acclimate a few days and take pictures of hopefully fully opened corals.
I'm still debating the circulation in this tank, I just might add a second powerhead on the other side of the tank, though I'll have to do some slight rearranging.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

It's been 48 hours since the latest frags were introduced to the tank and both are doing as expected, I'll reward them with a feeding tonight. Here's a couple of pictures of the Sinularia sp.





And a couple pictures of the Nephthea sp.





I'm still brainstorming the circulation issue, one idea is to mount the powerhead in the back of the tank so it will only have a 4" bounce as opposed to an 8". That may increase the circulation enough. Tomorrow I'll look around for some mini pumps that may also work; heck maybe I can come up with a small wavemaker.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Yesterday I believe I solved the circulation issue. After staring at this pump for over a month I came to the realization there's an elbow on the output. <duh>
I removed the elbow and am now running a straight output, circulation has increased at least 10 to 15%.

Before:



After:


And that's cyano not coralline on the pump.

Today this tank was introduced to Chicago weather. It's been mostly 60's this Spring, today it hit 90 and is expected to stay warm for at least the next week. I don't have air conditioning and this tank is in a closed during the day room because of my cats. The corals were not happy when I got home. So I resorted to one of the oldest tricks in the reef business, place some ice cubes in a sandwich bag and float it in the tank.



The corals perked up fairly quick as it doesn't take much to cool off less than 1 gal of water as conversely it doesn't take much to warm it up. I may have to go to reverse lighting (run the lights at night) or invest in a cheap room airconditioner.



Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Well it seems my last update got erased by the latest reefs.org's server problem.
So I'll try to repost it.
We're still in our streak of 90F weather with more to go and I've had to place a fan by the tank for cooling, evaporation has gone way up, but this does seem to be working. Unfortunately it looks like the Sinularia sp and the Nephthea sp. will not survived the intitial shock. I should have anticipated this problem.
The rest of the corals are doing very well, the other critters as to be expected and there's been a big influx in the copepod population. The cyano problems seems to be easing a bit.


Sinularia sp. yesterday.


Full tank picture yesterday.


Full tank picture with fan yesterday.

An update update, last night the Cladiella sp. broke free from the toothpick and half of it was sucked into a small gap in the water pump. It's not looking very good at the moment but it looks like it will probably be OK with some tissue loss.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

We're still experiencing unseasonably hot weather though the fan has been able to keep the tank temperatures fairly stable now. I now have to topoff with about 16 oz of DI water daily. That doesn't seem like much but it is over 1/8 of the tanks volume.
Corals and critters doing fine, I'm still alternate feeding with DT's phytoplankton, powdered phytoplankton and Cyclopeeze daily. I will probably replace the Nephthea and Sinularia frags in the next couple of days.

Here's a lousy picture of some copepods working on the cyano.



A juvenile bristle worm.



A picture of the Cladiella sp. you can see where some tissue was lost (grey area on top) when it became entangled in the water pump.



A 3/4 tank picture.



Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

I've rearranged the tank somewhat, I've moved the pump to the back of the tank with the Bispira sp. on both sides. The Cladiella keeps breaking free at night and this time tangled with the Rhodactis sp. but it's hanging in there. I'm probably going to have to use fishing line to hold it.
I found some of what was left of the old Nephthea sp. frag under the rocks and remounted it, it looks like it may survive.
I put in another frag of Nephthea sp. and another frag of Sinularia sp. yesterday and they're adjusting to the tank conditions. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feed the tank as they should be completely open.


Pump now in back of tank.


Remains of old Nephthea frag.


New Nephthea sp. frag.


New Sinularia sp. frag.

btw Our heat wave ended 2 days ago, todays temperatures were in the 60's. They're predicting 90's again in about 7 days.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Well we're expecting more heat (90's) beginning tomorrow, hopefully with the pump relocation and the fan for cooling things should do fine. Here's a picture now of the surface aggitation and circulation I'm now getting.



Here's a picture of the Nepththea sp. it's slowly acclimating to the tank, unfortunately the Sinularia is not doing as well.



Here's a picture of one of the Rhodactis sp. at feeding time.



Here's a picture of a small piece of the Cladiella sp. that broke off from the main colony and wedged itself in the rocks, I'm going to leave it and let it grow into a new colony.



And here's a picture of a juvenile Nassarius sp. (there seems to be quite a few of them), notice the long pronounced proboscus.



Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Quick update, we're going through our second heat wave this Summer and the tank is holding steady at 81F.
Of course the fan is running 24/7, though topoffs haven't increased that dramatically (about 10 oz of DI water per day).

Friday
Sunny
HIGH: 98 LOW: 72

Saturday
Partly Sunny
HIGH: 93
LOW: 69

Sunday
Partly Sunny
HIGH: 92
LOW: 70

Today
Partly Sunny
HIGH: 95
LOW: 70

Tomorrow
Partly Sunny
HIGH: 92
LOW: 70

Corals are all expanding fully, critters are out and about, the only one suffering from the heat is me.









The only bad thing is the hermit crab tends to bulldoze pieces rock around so in the next dew days or so I'm going to have to rearrange the rockwork so it doesn't look so cluttered.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Important Update:
Please have at least one current photo (taken between July 1 and August 30st) posted to your thread by August 30, 2005. Without this photo, you will not be qualified for judging.

OK in case I never post again; I'm legal.
These were taken just a few minutes ago.










The white specks are not where I didn't clean the acrylic, those are copepods.


A mediocre full tank shot.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Since the contest is winding down, I figured I'd make it more of a challenge for myself. Because there is no skimmer and I'm feeding the tank fairly heavily on phytoplankton, zooplankton and oyster eggs I've added a Dendronephthya sp. and a Capnella sp. Both require fairly strong flow and constant supply of planktonic foods. This would be a case of don't do as I do but as I say (do not try this yourself unless you are absolutely sure you are able to supply adequate foods and care for these demanding corals) especially in a small tank.
Here are a few pictures of the Dendronephthya sp. and Capnella sp. just minutes after they were put in the tank.They don't look like much now but I'll post some more pictures after they acclimate and their polyps are fully extended.
I also added a small colony of blue colored Protopolythoa sp. for a contrast in color, these haven't opened at all yet.



Dendronephthya sp.


Dendronephthya sp.


Capnella sp.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Just some pictures of the Capnella sp. and Dendronephthya sp. after they acclimated. The Dendronepthya has readily consumed phytoplankton and oyster eggs, while the Capnella wasn't thrilled with the phytoplankton but consumed the oyster eggs. I'll try Cyclopeeze tomorrow. The Dendronephthya is always hungry.


Capnella sp.


Capnella sp.


Dendronephthya sp.


Dendronephthya sp.

Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

The Dendronephthya broke free fom its mount last night and decided to do a walk-about so this morning at 5:00am I had to remount it. Tonight it's hungry as always no worse for wear and no damage to other tank inhabitants.
Here are some pictures at feeding time, it looks like it's time to frag the frags as space is becoming a premium. I might have to start another nano. If I do I'll probably do another 1 gal or 2.5 gal with a 70W MH light for light loving critters.
I haven't cleaned the inside of the acrylic in a while as the copepods are enjoying the feast of diatoms and small patches of cyano.


3/4 tank shot


Full tank shot


Full tank shot


Capnella sp.


Capnella sp.
That whitish looking blob to the left is the old Nepththea sp. frag that is coming back very well.


Dendronephthya sp.


Dendronephthya sp. It's hard to get a close up of the polyp extension with the current and lighting.

The 2 frags of Cladiella sp. are somewhere in the back of the tank and I can't get a clear picture of them.

I wish I had room for a big tank again.


Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

Nothing really new, the tank and inhabitants are doing as expected and surviving our latest heatwave. There are a few mutant aiptasia I have to eradicate, they're coming back to life due to the heavy tank feedings.
I haven't fragged anything, I've just been repositioning things as they encroach on each other. Hopefully in the next month or so I'll have time to be able to start another nano.





Regards,
David Mohr

[davidmohr]

The tank inhabitants are still doing as expected and I'm now been feeding DT's Oyster Eggs along with freeze dried phytoplankton, DT's Phtoplankton and Cyclopeeze, alternating the foods twice a day.
I still have a few patches of cyano on the acrylic surfaces because the corals are blocking the flow. A soft bristle toothbrush works well to get in the hard to reach places.
The fan has been running 24/7 for about a month now; Chicago's Summer has been the warmest in ages. I'm anxious to be able to turn the fan off and I think the inhabitants will do even better without the higher than normal temps and constant water topoffs.









Regards,
David Mohr