# Ska's 28 Macro Algae Display



## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Re-posting as all my threads and info have been lost.

Bought So Far:
Tank: 28gal 36x12x15" or 92x30x38cm total cost: $135
Ebay order: Hagen Glo Light fixture 36" 2x39 T5 HO Total cost: $144.96
Progressive Reef order: ATI blue+, ATI aquablue special: $83.68
Orders from JLA: OA Test Kit $54.95
Fiji Pink Substrate 20lbs $32.65
Coral Frenzy Food 56g $27.95
Hydor K1 $31.95
Hydor K2 $39.95
IO Salt 50gal $16.45
Sm Proscraper $5.55
NL All purpose food 80g $7.45
Seachem Reef Plus 500ml $10.55
Seachem Trace 500ml $10.55
Ebo Jagger 100watt heater $27.95
Tunze 9002 PS $179.85
Vertex Refractometer $49.95
JLA Total:$587.66
Bulk Reef Supply Order: 25lbs Eco Rox with shipping etc
Bulk Reef Supply Total: $114.13
walmart gloves: $5
Petland: LR $33
Peppermint shrimp $27
Percula clowns x2 $27= $54
Dragons tongue macro algae (free)
JLA: reef-roids $24.95
calcium addative $12.55
Kent iron and manganese additive $7.95
long proscraper $20.75
Coral from hockey nut $110:
1 multi coloured ricorda
1 purple branching gorgonian
3 rhodactus mushrooms
1 pink zoa
1 ice blue cloves
1 green spotted mushrooms
red macro algae
Coral from TangDaddy $110
3 zoa colonies
1 yellow/brown gorgonian
1 green with orange spot mushroom
1 blue mushroom
1 superman Rhodactus
1 blue ric
1 iceblue cloves
1 hawian feather duster, 11 head candycane and 2 pieces of LR with macro algae (red bubble and calpura) $70

Running Total: $1567.31

Free: Blades (science lab pilliging)
Turkey Baster (christmas gift)
1 5gal restaurant ice cream bucket (from uncle, looking to get more)
1 margarine container for food mixing and fert dosing 
2 1 gal milk jugs for tap water top off.

Yet to get:
1 5 gal bucket

Coral i still want: 
Rics, Yumas and mushrooms
macro algaes
Cloves (not gsp)
Sponges

Inverts and Fish i am considering (not all in the same tank):
Skunk cleaner shrimp
Fan worms
Coral Beauty angelfish
Lots of gobies
6 line wrasse









June 10, 2010








July 17, 2010








July 26,2010








Aug 2010








November 2010








July 2011


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

PICTURES!!!

My Son Logan 

















and my tank


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Congrats on your son, how old is he now?

Tank looks great so far, it will be nice when the fish get in.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Thanks. 
Logan was born May 5 so he is 6 weeks now.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Great day to be born, my youngest son who is now 17 was born May 5.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

update: Got some livestock These were not added at the same time. Fish were first then a week or so later was the shrimp then a couple weeks later were the coral and new macro algae. 
Peppermint shrimp, 2 percs, corals (multicoloured ric, 3 rhodactus mushrooms, green spot mushroom, pink zoa, purple branching gorgonian, red macro algae and ice blue cloves which didnt make it.)


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

alright well i got some more corals the other day. Im just letting them colour up now before i do some pics of them. My purple branching gorg isint doing good at all and is melting away. Im pretty sure its a lost cause but im leaving it in the tank just in case. My yellow/brown gorg is doing well but time will tell. I also picked up 2 blue leg hermits. I LOVE THEM!!!
and some bad news: my male clownfish decided to attempt flying. Needless to say i found him between my bookcase and tank stand about 2 feet off the ground stuck to the side of the stand. I had to scrape him off with a sheet of paper. No saving him 
the space was less than a cm. Dont know how he got himself wedged in there.
Got a new clownfish but im returning him because hes got no mouth.  Lips were ripped off him at some point at the lfs. Trading him in for another clown that has a mouth.

I am also considering getting a 3rd hermit crab just cause they are so interesting.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

So a few things have happened in my tank. The water got all cloudy for a few days and I was wondering WTF?? So I tested and noticed my trates were up a bit. I looked around, counted my livestock, everything was there... BUT, in the sandbed I noticed an open white clam shell. I thought, weird. I left the tank to clear out the cloudiness and it did. Then it got cloudy again and I looked around and noticed another clam shell. Then the water went clear again... then a couple days later cloudy again. I looked in the same spot.... Another clam shell. I grabbed a mirror to look at the underside of my LR and I couldnt see much but they are comming from that area. I wonder who is eating the clams... or are they just dying. Meh either way it doesnt bother me. They are hitch hikers and Im not getting mad at whom ever is enjoying fresh clams as much as I do 

I also watched something very freaky happen with my hermit crabs. My larger hermit had its claws in the smaller hermits shell. I thought "Nooooo" and in 2 seconds the large crab pulled out the smaller hermit in 2 pieces and flung him to either side and then immediately shoved his claws back into the shell. I watched in horror as the two pieces of little hermie floated and rolled along the sandbed hitting rubble and zoas as it went by. My poor little hermie. HOWEVER, 1 hour later I looked at my tank again and notice not 1 but 2 hermies. YES little hermie just molted. He was not ripped in half by big hermie. YAY!!! What a freaky thing to watch though. lol

I moved some corals around to make room for some new additions comming in September and then that will be it until next year. 

My husband; God bless him; bought me a fish from the lfs. Its on hold there and he says its for my saltwater tank. He says its really cool looking and its one that ive talked about before. Hmmmmm I wonder what it could be. Its in quarentine until the lfs deems it safe to send to a new home. Now im not allowed to go to the lfs until the fish is ready for pick up so I dont ruin the surprise.
Im actually more scared than excited. What if he bought me a puffer or a tang or something. eeek


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Gratz to the child!!

And thanks for sharing!!
Have you ever thought about writing a book? =) Cuz the way you typed everything about the hermies... it just sounded like "I CANT STOP READING"!! =)
Keep us posted!


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Pictures:








big hermie with claws in little hermies shell








blue ric








green with orange spot mushroom








superman rhodactious








some kind of new macroalgae... a type of bryopsis


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

alright so i got the new screen canopy built to keep anymore fish from killing themselves. Theyre stuck in their glass prison for the enjoyment of my son muahahahahaha. No but really its for their own good. 

Im also getting another order of coral in beginning of september so more pics middle of next month for the monthly update... with canopy shots too 

Coral i am expecting:
neon green sinularia
neon green candycane
green with pink tipped frogspawn
Green ric
Lariat zoas
Ice blue cloves (For the 3rd time; 1st time they were dead, second time they were dead so hopefully this time they show up alive)

I wont place another order now until next year. Now i am thinking of this for my tank:
xenia wall (different kinds of pulsing xenia), still want macro algae espically sargasseum, lots of different coloured rics, mushrooms with interesting patterns and i want to try some sponges and tube worms.

We also just took a trip to visit my baby neice and of course we checked out the pet stores. There was tang in one of the tanks and my husband said "HEY ITS DORY!" (I rolled my eyes) "Dont you want one of those for your tank?" (he was really trying to get me excited for this thing) "no, cant say i want one of those hun" (I explained why). He had a dissapointed look on his face and then i realized... OH SH!% he has a fish on hold for me at our local lfs..... is it a "Dory?" Dear god i hope not, but i feel bad now too.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Update: Sorry for the long delay.
Got my coral shipment in as promised. The fish my hubby got me was a Coral Beauty. Beautiful Fish!
She came with frayed fins and a spot on her eye. The spot turned to film and it surrounded her gill on one side, then her entire body. I treated the tank with prazi pro which is supposted to be reef and invert safe. Anyway it killed my pod population and clouded my tank for a long time. It turned to green water and eventually it went cloudy again. It was like that for a month before it started to clear up. Not even water changes helped. Today the tank is nearly clear again. Due to the lack of light I lost a few corals and am in the process of loosing more. Some however are doing better (go figure)

I lost: 4 monti caps, green spot mushroom, orange spot green mushroom.
Loosing: frogspawn,superman rhodactus, blue with green skirt rhodactus, possibly multicoloured ric
doing better: zoas and green sinularia


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

We need a pic. I dont have one of my tank yet but maybe this one of my halloween baby will do


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes we need a pic of the tank, but the one you posted is a great subsitute!

What kind of dog?

I see your from kitimat - our Daisy (rottie/shep/???) started out there, from what we were told from the spca, she's 11months now and full of piss and vinegar!

Sorry to hear your loosing a bunch of your inhabitants, not fun at all.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Hes a PB Chocolate Lab, gonna be 11 years old this Febuary 20th. We dont have an spca here anymore its a humane society. Aparently they have tons of dogs and cats there now because so many people are leaving Kitimat. We are getting a new shelter though to house all the animals. Its good because we have a no kill policy and there is very little room now for the animals
Im hoping to get a pic of the tank tonight but today and tomorrow are going to be super busy. So more realistically i will take a pic monday night but who knows. Hopefully soon.

It does suck to loose a bunch of inhabitants esp since its $$ down the drain. The ones that are suffering now im hoping will make a comeback.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

He's gorgeous! Both of them, wow 11 he's done well. We had to put our dog down in May b/c of GDV he was greatdane/rottie/lab, it was tough but then we found Daisy. She was taken to your humane society, I am assuming as the owner didn't want her or couldn't get rid of the rest of the pups. She then came down here to Maple Ridge, was adopted out for 3 months, those owners didn't want her anymore now she is ours !!! 

I had no idea you had a no kill policy, I think thats great!!! Thank goodness you are getting a new shelter. 

I look fwd to seeing a pic when its up.

Ya s/w is def more money then fw, so when you loose fish and corals its hard, Im sure.

Got my fingers crossed for the ones left for you


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

So, I went shopping today at the lfs looking to get a small piece of LR to put some pods in my tank; since my population went to pod heaven.
I ended up buying 2 rocks. 1 which had red bubble algae on it, very pretty as well as a bunch of calpura; grape and razor? I need to look it up. which i didnt want but oh well. second rock had a hawian feather duster on it. I took it home and found it had way more feather dusters on it. It has a few red ones and a few blue ones on it. Very cool. Lots of baby ones in red and blue that are under the rock right now. Im hoping they grow and stretch to the front where i can see them. Right now I can only see the hawian feather duster and the back of the blue one.
I also picked up another candycane coral. It has 11 heads on it. I got it for $34. I really love how they fluoress under my lights.

Anyway still no pics yet. Ive been super duper busy. Im hoping I will take one within the next couple of days.


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## thefishwife (Apr 21, 2010)

The rocks sound wonderful.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

They are so nice. I forgot to mention though that one had a lot of green bubble algae on it. I ripped it all off... well as much as I could and I ended up also finding 5 bristle worms living in it. I dipped it in FW and a few more came out as well as a starfish who died immediately.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

YAY i have a picture to post YAY.
Its a pretty bad one and its still pretty cloudy but its mountains away from what it was. It still has a long way to go but im optimistic.
PS I recieved some more macro algae from JLA


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Wow ok so its been a while. Heres an update in short.
Macro from jla melted because of lack of light from green water. Yea it was bad. I found out the reason for it though... dead peppermint shrimp although i didnt find out until i beat the problem.
I had to purchase a UVS to help with the problem. I had it on for almost 2 weeks and the water went crystal clear. Then i decided to trim/ pull up some macroalgae. There was a huge green plume that came out of the sand bed..... green water again. I turned on the UVS again for about a week and the tank was crystal again. I did another trim and the tank is still clear. It has been a month since it has been off.

The green water has taken its toll though. I lost a few corals and my macro suffered. Im actually trying to get it back to growing nicely.

I am looking for another lighting fixture now to boost my lighting and to add a 6500k bulb for the macroalgae. 
I am desperatly looking for different macros.
I would like to try red gracillera again (tang heaven), red grape, blue ball, and as many other types as possible. I have to buy everything online because there is NOTHING here.

I am also adding a few corals but those are mushrooms of various types mainly. As well as some softies if i can find them. I would love to try gorgs again both photosynthetic and non photosynthetic.
Here are some pics of the aftermath:


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

Alright so its been a while and I havent been on here as much as I should be. Heres an update none the less. 









Im expecting a macro algae order to come in any day now so once things get settled in after that I will take another pic of all the new goodies 

Oh yes, I also updated my lighting so now I have 4x39T5HO using ATI bulbs.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

I think my tank inhabitants are trying to tell me something. They're spelling it in the algae I forget to scrape off.


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Are u using any kind of tap water filtering? R/O or D/I? How about protein skimmer? Im new to salty but so far havent lost anything yet. But who knows! My tank is only 2 months old. Lol


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

I am just using straight tap that sits for at least 24 hours before I use it. I also put in a lot of additives for my macro algae. Actually I need to post a new pic as I just recieved a shipment of macro algaes and should post what my tank looks like now.


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

This are pics from right after arranging everything so its a bit foggy and there are bubbles shooting around everywhere from the skimmer going nuts.
FTS









Tiger Striped serpent starfish (hitch hiker)









Sargassum









Red feather 









Red calciferous (unknown)









Botryocladia (Red bubble)









Red mushroom (hitch hiker)









Halmedia optuna 









Codium









Calpura Profilera


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

So, last night I got curious and decided to look at my tanks night life. Very cool stuff. here are a couple of shots before I explain the weird sexual orgey I witnessed.

Candycane sweepers









Hydroids









And now for the weird sex
I was using my sons night light toy thingie to look into my tank and these little maggot things were attracted to the light. There were 2 colours; Pink/peach and blue/purple. There ended up being about 40ish around the light and they would follow it like one of those dog/cat lazer toys. Anyway, when they got to the sandbed I noticed that the blue ones would smear white goo along the glass. It was gross, looked like almost cooked runny egg whites or when a bug hits your windsheild and you have a spray of goo but it was white. And upon even closer inspection I noticed there were little dots in the goo. Then I realized... EWWW SPERM. Eggs too but EWWW. Kind of like salmon if you really think about it. But anyway here are some pics AND a video of the 2 coloured maggot things.










Money Shot... well not really all you can really see are the blue dot eggs under the maggot things and some film (sperm) around the eggs.









Video of these weird creatures


Ok and now a normal video of my tank. A tour basically.


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