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Hey Catherine, nice work on the tank. I can't wait until I get settled out here so that I can get a larger tank again. BTW, my house is still for sale in Calgary, I know its not what you are looking for but I thought I'd put it out there any way.:lol:

Thanks Danny!

I hate not having any big tanks, so I know your pain.

*soft inner type voice* "derassa avec sps"

We are stopping by on Tuesday. I've been working the Tattoo Festival all weekend on skates. I'm dying to come get my clam...this is probably the longest I've ever gone without buying something for my tank.

Tank is still kicking around, but I've been neglecting it this past month. I admit it, and it sucks. The SPS isn't growing, its just sitting there. My neglect, which is me not dosing every 3 or 4 days, has resulted in a bit of an alkalinity deficiency. While I haven't tested anything recently I can tell you just from looking that dKH is low, probably 5, Ca is low, probably about 340-380 (courtesy of the kalk. top off), and Magnesium is also probably a touch low. Its funny how in tune you become with your system when you are paying attention.

The fish are all still great. I had a week or two were I was so busy I kept forgetting to add daily nori, and frozen food. Eventually I was just tossing it a bit of pellet food when I could be bothered to remember. Most of the tangs are now aggressive grazers, constantly eating off the rocks, and not begging as often for food when you walk by. Yes, they do still come to the glass when you stand there, but they don't hound you when you walk by. While I feel guilty about only feeding pellet food, the lack of nori for those couple of weeks has had a positive impact on the tang's behavior.

I still need to find some time to head to RC to pick up my clam, and I hopefully will be able to start adding more SPS in the system again in late October, or early November. I am just so busy as of late that I have no time at all for anything that isn't work or sports.

Alright so it is official, we are moving in 3 weeks as of today, and the tank will be moving in 3 weeks and 2 days (October 5th).

Everyone here has been so awesome about lending buckets, boxes, etc. its amazing. I love CanReef!

Man I hate moving tanks. I dont envy you and your task ahead. I once moved 7 tanks and I cant express the stress that came with it. That was a couple years ago and since then all the freshwater tanks have either been shut down and sold or converted. And it sill stresses me out to move a tank. Probably to much reading of tank move disasters. Personally I have not experienced any losses with any of my freshwater moves and only a frag died when I moved the salty tank the last time. If you are prepared equipment wise and have a knowledgeable person or two helping you and get it done in a timely fashion ,all should be good. But yous two probably already know all this.

The only loss I've ever experienced directly from moving tanks is a kole tang when I moved back to Calgary. Then again there was the whole 28g long nano tank of SPS death... We have a system when we move tanks, so I hope this won't be any different.

You are right though, it can be very stressful. We've dedicated a whole day for tank moving and re-set up, so it should be okay.

I hit up RC today, and amazingly avoided coming home with more clams! I did come home with 3 SPS colonies, and ReVive coral dip to try out. I've been waiting for this product for a long time, and to have Kevin at RC bring it in for me is fantastic!

So as I was dipping the new colonies in ReVive I came to understand the reasoning for the "this is not a cleaning product" disclaimer on the package. It smells so strong! I'd forgotten how harsh some of the traditional cleaning products smelt!

Tonight we have some polyp extension, but not a lot. All these colonies had considerably better extension at the store. I am not sure how I feel about ReVive over TMPCC as my usual incoming dip of choice. The recovery time from the dip to have full polyp extension seems less with TMPCC, but who knows, this is only the first time I've used the product. The trade off between the two products though is that ReVive has some AEFW potential, and I think as a preventative its worth it. AEFWs scare the crap out of me.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0742.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0733.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0748-1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0758.jpg

Anyways, so I've decided I do not care for the AquaConnect bulb, or whatever the other non-XM bulb I have on the tank is. Colours don't pop, and SPS beneath it just doesn't thrive. Clearly this is not the bulb for me, and I will, after we move, change it out to something else.

Its nice to see my clams are growing. This gigas is now just about 1/4" away from the glass, however when the mantle is extended, it does touch the glass. When you have bigger clams sometimes it hard to see that they really are growing.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0740.jpg

This was the Vlamingi just after I had my hand in the tank to place the new colonies.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0735.jpg

Lookin' Good! I really like that coral in the first pic. What is it?

Heh, I miss babysitting that gigas! ;)

Not sure what it is. The other two colonies don't photograph well unfortunately.

The gigas probably misses all the other clam friends it made at your place!

I just wanted to share this thread, Gone Solar. Its an awesome idea and I wish for our big tank something like would be possible.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1457056

So a few reasons why you should keep up with your regular WCs and dosing. Apparently the kalk. reactor has been bypassed for the last week due to a stopped up check valve. I didn't know this until this morning.

Last water change was August 9th, so over a month ago, and it shows. Coupled with the lack of a kalk. reactor, and my numbers are looking pretty abysmal. Ca. 345, dKH 4!, Mg 1275, Nitrate 71, and phosphate 0.11. Water change is being prepped, and I will raise up the levels in the new water instead of just dosing the whole system as usual. Then I can come back and dose the tank. On the plus side my pH is great, and so is my temp!

Polyps are out on some of the new SPS. I also had Kevin rearrange some of the SPS in the tank. Hopefully the orange digitata, which isn't doing so well, will perk up and start to improve. It used to be on the right side of the tank at the bottom. Its counter part, a green digi, was just 3" above it and its doing better.

The sump is going to be completed today, and we've decided to drill the holes for the bulkhead after is assembled rather then wait for a bulkhead to drill it. This will give the silicone 2 weeks to dry, and if the sump doesn't get drilled before we move, then at least we can use it for water storage.

Alright so 9 hours after dosing just a few tablespoons of baking soda to raise my super low dKH I am now seeing the usual crazy polyp extension I am used to seeing when my tank is healthy. I'm sure that getting a few other things adjusted will result in more polyp extension, but for now I can actually see the change that just a little bit of baking soda has made.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0768.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0769.jpg

This is one of the new colonies, it was the one previously pictured as being dipped.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0771.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0773.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0774.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0778.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0779.jpg

All my frags from Wicked Frags are doing well.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0780.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0781.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0782.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0784-1.jpg

The lovely little colony that I bought which we all called the "bush coral"
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0783.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0785.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0787.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0790.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...DSC_0796-1.jpg

I was bored on Monday night and decided that I should upgrade my ghetto refugium. Originally I'd hacked the top of a pop bottle off and drilled various holes for some slow flow. Well it worked and a short time later the bottle was so full of cheato, that it was deforming the bottle slightly. There was also no more room to grow.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0803.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0804.jpg

My solution? Upgrade! The tank is now sporting, for just another 19 days, a ghetto fabulous modified milk jug! Things seem better, the cheato has relaxed a bit, and lost some of the pop bottle shape it was holding.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0801.jpg

I also forgot to take an after shot of the final product. My bad, I will post one later.

Cool idea for a ghetto grow-op. Did Kevin tell you about the tangs we got in last week(and probably clams today....shhhhh).

I just read that PM, now I am super excited!

The ghetto grow-op container is now full, hopefully it can last a couple of weeks then it can have its own sump space.

I would just like to proclaim that thanks to Red Coral I am now Queen of the Clams. I bumped my clam count up by 4, and can now boast 14 clams; gigas, maxima, crocea, derasa, and squamosas. I still want more...

I also came home with a couple of fish I'd put on hold. I also realized when I got home that I'd forgotten a fish, a mimic tang, that I'd put on hold last week. Anyways new fish are a powder blue, and a orange shoulder tang. Total tang count is now 8. The powder blue ate nori from the feeding stick less then 5 minutes after being introduced into the tank!

I also took a few photos of some of the tanks at the store. I want this super cool Stonefish, but don't think I have the time or cash to give it the life it deserves.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0823.jpg

These are top down shots of the clam tank. Some with the tank lights on and some with them off.

I of course took the two in the middle here, I couldn't resist.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0810.jpg

Close up!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0814.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0811.jpg

Took this home too!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0813.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0817.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0819.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0821.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0822.jpg

One of the seahorses Kevin had ordered in for another client
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0816.jpg

A couple of little frags that had just come in. I, for once in my life, used will power and didn't buy them!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0827.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0828.jpg

WOW 14 clams! You are indeed Queen of the clams. That blue one has incredible colour. Nice score.

So the ghetto milk jug refugium is doing well, its full already
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0806.jpg

The sump is finished, the tape is off, and its just waiting to be drilled. We will drill and install it after we move.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0805.jpg

Here is the powder blue, and the orange shoulder tang
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0847.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0851.jpg

Feeding time
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0841.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0870.jpg

This is when Kevin put his hand in the tank to put my clams in
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0883.jpg

The green clam
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0859.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0884.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0885.jpg

Its hard to see in this poor photo, but its got blue dots all over the mantle
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0886.jpg

A previously purchased clam that looked good today.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0890.jpg

I can tell I have low dKH again, I have cyano on the sand. We replaced the plugged check valve on the kalk. reactor so its up and running again. Kevin also played around with the calcium reactor when we got home, and we'll be putting it back online tonight.

I just got home from practice, and my doctor tang had jumped out of the tank, and right into an empty 5g bucket. This tang was top of the food chain, and wasn't getting grief from anyone, not even the new additions. I'm furious, this tank seems to lend itself to jumpers, first my original Vlamingi and now my prized doctorfish. I am so upset over this.

I feel so bad for you. It sucks to lose a fish.
Maybe it's time to come up with some kind of cover, if possible.

Yea, I would definitely look into some type of cover... Sorry to hear about your loss :cry:

While we do have a cover, it wasn't on at this moment. However no cover that lets in enough light is going to be able to hold in a 6" fish that is charging at the surface. It sucks, and it is what it is I guess.

Sorry Catherine (and Kev):sad:. If there is an up side, it is that now you have more room (like you were going to need it) to add say a sohal?

You guys are bad, tempting me with beautiful fish.

I think the Blond Naso taught the Doctor tang the bad behavior that lead to its death. The corpse was found with nori stuck to it. I was puzzled yesterday about it, and today it makes sense. I fed pellets this morning and the naso decided to make a pre-emptive charge at the incoming food and came half out of the water in its attempt. The naso and the doctor tang schooled and often were seen doing the same behaviors. I am thinking that the doctor was aiming for nori either on the surface and just jumped out in its excitement.

Sohol need a new home?

Still sucks to lose a showpiece fish like that.Sohal needs a home big enough for him. Hope it ends up in a tank worthy of it.

Are we talking the one that was in the back, or the one that was in the 180g up high with the lavender tang?

The one at the back is sold. The one with the lavender is presently awaiting adoption.

I'll discuss it with Sleeping Beauty when he gets up! I hear Sohol's can develop some serious attitudes. We'll have to see though.

Looks great. I haven't been on this forum in a while and i need some inspiration for when i get my 10g (really i will this time ;)) So from the bottom of my heart i ask you if i could get a full tank shot?:puppydog:

Christine you need to take the "can" out of that statement.!!!
Kevin

ok ok ok ok enough is enough CAtherine. I go offline for 3 months and look at the clams you have i love it they look great kido. how many is that

Your FTS from tonight. I was a bit hasty in my side shot, the gas was just cleaned, so it looks a bit hazy.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0893.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a/DSC_0897.jpg

Just 14!

Thanks so much. I very much appreciate you doing that for me :) I see you like your clams ;)

Thanks again
SeaSerpant

You are welcome!

Yes, I have a clam addiction! Just a little one.

So I will be adopting the Mata tang that was looking for a new home yesterday. Hoping to bring it home after we move, so maybe the 7th, or the 14th of October. I think this is going to be an awesome addition to the tank.