Here's the picture of the Alveopora I promised. I updated the ID page, now with 128 items identified.
While cleaning the 55g's glass today, I rearranged a few corals and rockwork to make things look better. It also makes it easier to clean the glass because I was able to sqeeze out a little more space between the reef and the front pane.
The Rose BTA looks good sometimes and at other times it looks near death. I updated that webpage today. If you've wondered how badly they can look, this is the page to see. :( Two 10g water changes were done within 24 hours to help clean up the water.
I did water tests today, and my Alkalinity is low on both tanks, due to the lack of B-Ionic. Additives were dosed to both tanks, so the numbers are actually much better (pH and Alk).
I added a new webpage for those concerned about flatworms.
It turns out I ordered the wrong kind of B-Ionic, so I ordered the right kind now. The wrong stuff is specially designed to be used with tanks that have high pH all the time. It is up for sale, as I can't ship it back.
Yesterday, I was able to net the Ocellaris (False Percula clownfish) from my 29g and put it in the refugium. I'd like to catch the larger female as well, so the BTA can be left alone for a while to finish splitting or grow. It is just not doing well with the clowns in it all the time.
My B-Ionic finally showed up, after 6 long weeks. I'm going to begin dosing with it immediately. Yay!
And the biggest news of all:
Day before yesterday, to my surprise, my Crown Conch appeared. It lives in the refugium under my 29g reef, and is always submerged beneath the sand where it can't be seen. I really enjoyed watching it travel around in the open, and took a number of pictures. There is a Mud Crab in that refugium as well, so I watched to see how they'd interact. Things weren't going too well, and I decided I would not watch things occur without intervention. Using a chopstick, I kept the crab away from the Conch as it traveled past the spot in question, and all is well.
My 29g had a strange event occur. As you may have read, my BTA split about a month ago approximately. Then about a week ago another little guy split off as well. I didn't bother trying to feed it because it was tucked away and frankly, I didn't see a mouth and figured it would perk up when ready. Apparently I waited too long.
I took some water tests today to see what is going on with the water chemistry. Results page
The 55g has 0 nitrates! Pretty hard to believe considering that I feed it more than in the past. I guess my DSB is working perfectly as well as the macro algae growing in the refugium. I need to switch out the light over my 29g's refugium to improve the growth in there too.
I'm really enjoying the fact that Peaches is always out when I glance at the 55g reef. Her bright orange color is striking, and the hot pink dorsal fin pops up often enough to see its vividness. Tucker, my Hippo Tang, is not quite a long as the Anthias, but seems to want to control her or at least keep her away from the food. Peaches holds her own quite nicely, at least for now.
Peaches, the Anthias I bought, is actually a Threadfin Anthias according to one site I read. She seems more and more comfortable staying out in the open, but does cautiously hide in the rockwork if I'm around the tank too long. Still, today she decided to stick around while I took a few pictures, and hopefully she'll end up being less and less camera-shy.
Chiquita, the Lemon Meringue Wrasse died today.
When I bought this fish in mid-2002, it was identified as a Yellow Coris Wrasse. Almost a year later, I was told that it was actually a Banana Wrasse. However, months later it turned out to be a Lemon Meringue Wrasse, because of its white belly.
