Mon, 02/14/2005 - 22:57

Tonight while the return pump was off, I was enjoying the tank. The two Tunze Streams continued to move 6000 gph, but it just doesn't look like it at all... nice and calm, the water crystal clear and serene. All the fish were out and about, waiting for their 9pm dinner, and it was just gorgeous.

My tank usually has some particulates blowing around, but not enough to be annoying. I'm hoping the new sump will resolve this situation. I've decided that the new sump will have a long narrow refugium in the back (under the tank), with a row of lights over it. That way all of the macro algae will have an abundance of light for growth, and the water will be steadily moving through it all, and over into the return. I won't be able to look in the refugium like I have in the past, but the reef tank is so appealing that I don't miss those late nights on my belly looking at the bugs anymore. ;)

Two nights ago, my Yellow Belly Hippos were doing their tornado dance again. They do it every night. I'm assuming the larger on is the male, and he does this forced swim around the other hippo, going around and around faster and faster. Usually the smaller one will duck into the rockwork if possible, then the male will do the same thing to Tucker (might also be a female?). He's quite the charmer, apparently. Anyway, I've always thought this is a mating ritual, and when I looked over due to the sudden splashing noise, I saw some milky stuff in the water briefly. It is my guess that this was a spawning session, and watched the smaller fish check that spot out about a minute later probably finding something to feast upon. Due to the circulation in the tank at that time, the cloud dissipated rapidly, in under 5 seconds.

The BTAs are continuing to grow nicely, all near each other. I feed them once or twice a week, usually some thawed shrimp that I cut up into small chunks. Each anemone gets a piece, and I make sure nothing steals their food, even if I have to toss some meat to the cleaner shrimp to keep them occupied. I've not noticed any bristleworms trying to steal the food like they used to, now that the BTAs are larger. Each one is about the size of a woman's fist I guess. It is hard to measure them, especially when you consider that their foot is deep in the crevices. Late at night, all three get huge, and stretch out during the dark hours. The clowns continue to swim in them, even though it pulls them away from their eggs.

Today, the weather was gorgeous. 76F on February 14 in Texas. Crazy. However, with such nice weather I was able to open up the doors and windows, and let the cool air blow through the house and fish room. The tank never went over 82F, and it saved me a little bit on the electric bill again. pH rose to 8.2, which is always a good thing.

All of the corals look very healthy and happy. I think I'll be shipping Nathan his pieces later on this week, and if so my tank is going to look a little more barren. At the same time I'm excited because I want to rearrange a few of my own corals, and mount frags from Nathan's colonies once they are out of the way. So while it might look like a step backwards, at the same time it makes room for progress.

This evening, I found that something broke a piece of my purple montipora digitata. Grrr. I picked up the piece and put it back in the colony, to help it grow back thicker.

And call me crazy, but I think this feather duster has speared my LPS coral. Do you see the tube coming out the other end of the tissue?! ;)