Quick update on the slate clutch. Most of the fry are off the slate and cruising the corner now, baby brine twice a day plus a little microworm this morning. Pic below of the fry corner. Losses so far are maybe a handful, which I'll take. Anyone else run microworm alongside brine this early or do you wait until week two?
Got asked a few times lately so a quick mini guide. I lay the runner in a loose circle, never tighter than a coffee cup, and tuck it under the leaf stalks so it can't flap. Then damp paper towel over the whole root ball and the coiled runner together, inside a bag with air left in it. Cut runners only if there's no plantlet on the end, otherwise the plantlet is the whole point. Pic below of the s…
Pic below of my upside-down soda bottle on the shelf. I've been getting spotty hatches, maybe 50 percent, with about 28 grams of salt per liter and a heater loose in the water. Looking for what numbers other people settled on before I buy a proper hatchery cone.
Update from the 10 gallon orange neos. I started warming the RO in a bucket to tank temp and dripping it in through airline, and the berried female is now at day 6 with eggs still packed under her tail. Not calling it yet because day 8 is where the last ones dropped. Pic below of my bucket and airline mess. Will report back.
The sprouted bulb I planted shallow a few weeks back now has two pads touching the surface in the 120. Pic below of the hydrocoleus clumps I keep for shade, not the lotus, sorry. Lower stems underneath are starting to look pale so I think the lotus is shading them. Do you trim the floating leaves back or leave them to feed the bulb?
Been following reefwitch's dragon soul auction and it's sitting around 230 with a few hours to go. Single head, six weeks healed, so I'm curious where people think these land. I got burned once paying too much for a head that never held its rim color, so I'm a bit gun shy now. What do you look at before you bid on a WYSIWYG torch?
Moved a handful of colorata tops to the 120 under the brighter fixture about nine days ago. Top few nodes are blushing orange already but the lower leaves are still green. Running CO2 with nitrate around 10, no iron dosed yet. Pic below of the test tubes from this morning. Is this normal pace or should I add iron to push it?
Got a colony of orange neos in a 10 gallon and every berried female drops her eggs around day 8. TDS sits at 180 and I do a 15 percent change weekly with remineralized RO that reads about 170. Temp is 23C. Nothing aggressive in there except a few ramshorns. Anyone seen this stop after changing how they top off?
Update on the slate clutch. This morning most of them let go and are hovering in the corner, so inkfin's day 5 call was spot on. Airstone on low, lights still dim, first feeding of live baby brine went in an hour ago and I can see little orange bellies already. Pic below of the tub setup I'm moving the strays into.
Setting up for a few incoming frags this weekend and I realized my dip bucket habits have drifted over the years. I'm doing a coral dip for 10 minutes with an air stone then a rinse in clean saltwater before the frag tank. Curious what everyone else runs, and whether you dip everything or skip it for zoas that look clean. Pic below of my current dip station.
Update on the stubborn dwarf pea puffer. Day 5 without live snails and he finally ate frozen brine shrimp off the tweezers, then took two bloodworms right after. Pic below of the culture jar I'm now ignoring. Keeping a few snails around for treats only, otherwise he'll go right back to being picky.
Posted a couple weeks back about frogbit shading my crypts in the 20 long. Only been a few days since I trimmed roots and pulled half the cover, but there's already a tiny new leaf unrolling on the wendtii. Not claiming victory yet, just glad I didn't buy a new light. Pic below of the scape day mess from when I rearranged things, still sorting plants.
Pic below of the nano cube, I tied a few buce plantlets onto stones about two weeks ago with cotton thread and the thread is still visible. Some already have little white roots gripping the rock. Do you cut the thread at the first roots or wait for a month? Shrimp keep tugging at the loose ones.
Pic below of the drip acclimation bucket I use for new arrivals, which is how I noticed it. Hammer I've had for about a month, one edge of the skeleton is showing through and the tentacles on that side look thinner. Nothing obvious in the tank bugging it. Flow is moderate, nitrate around 8. Am I overthinking it or should I dip it again?
Update on the clutch from the other pair. Most of the wrigglers are bunched up in one tight clump on the slate and mom keeps picking up the stragglers and putting them back. Pic below of the setup. I know angels do this but it's my first time keeping this pair's fry on the slate this long. How long till you see them start wiggling off and free swimming?
