14 gallon reef tank making progress

[Sand dollar]

Reefs2go has 50% off corals sale today so placed a little order for Mother's Day gift to me


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[Sand dollar]

Finally made it home from the inlaws and all corals and fish look good, whew! My other RFA is still pissed from this morning and still moving, and of course it's towards the back and lower/hard to get to part of the tank. Can I say *frustrated* today :/ hoping that after things are calm for a while she will feel comfortable to come back out.


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[Autumnsky]

That was a lot to deal with!!! Was the dead RFA the one that had babies?

Cute crab though. And nice to find a good missing mushroom. Happy Mother's Day!

Can't wait to see the new stuff.

[Sand dollar]

No, and sorry for the venting. Boy, I was stressed! My husband said, I thought this hobby was supposed the be relaxing lol.

No, luckily my red one (the one that had the babies) is still here and is looking much happier today but not completely settled yet but atleast she has moved back towards the front of the tank and is opening.

I'm excited for the new stuff too, a few different gorgonians, sun coral and a dendro. My LFSs don't get these often and when they do they are larger and more pricey. The ones I'm getting are nano size which is perfect for my tank and the price was awesome. The 50% off is still going on today so would be worth a look. I got 6 total and with shipping it averaged out to $11/coral!!


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[Autumnsky]

Originally Posted by Sand dollar

No, and sorry for the venting. Boy, I was stressed! My husband said, I thought this hobby was supposed the be relaxing lol.

No, luckily my red one (the one that had the babies) is still here and is looking much happier today but not completely settled yet but atleast she has moved back towards the front of the tank and is opening.

I'm excited for the new stuff too, a few different gorgonians, sun coral and a dendro. My LFSs don't get these often and when they do they are larger and more pricey. The ones I'm getting are nano size which is perfect for my tank and the price was awesome. The 50% off is still going on today so would be worth a look. I got 6 total and with shipping it averaged out to $11/coral!!


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That is a good value, especially when they aren't available nearby. I just spent 20 minutes searching for a possible fish in my fish stuff drawer it was in the net and jumped, possibly in the tank but possibly not, and I can't find it in the drawer. (Hoping it was in the tank) Sometimes things are frustrating. And I can't believe how much stuff can get in one (file sized) drawer.

Yes, I have heard the near exact comment from my husband!

[Toffee]

Wow great tank you got there. I was wondering how u keep up with the cal, alk, and mag？ do you have a sump or just doing water changes often？ any dosing？love your tank

Btw your LFS is making me want to move there, everything is so cheap！ tangs are lIke 20 each, wow. My LFS runs sale at most like 30% off on a baby tang at 50 dollars.

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[Sand dollar]

This is my first order from them so I'll let you know the outcome! I got an email that my order will ship Wednesday so I should get them Thursday or Friday. I just ordered some small gorgonians, sun coral and a dendro, all small and all cheap. They all had several good reviews from people who had bought those items. When my LFSs get those in they are usually 6" or so and they want $20-40. I really need smaller ones anyway to fill in some of the small shady spots so I'm happy they had smaller options for a whole lot cheaper and this way I'll get a variety of colors for the same price as just one of the larger. I'm nervous about online orders for corals so don't do it often especially with the extra shipping usually making it not worth it unless you are buying a lot, but the 50% off sort of cancelled out the shipping so I decided to give it a try. Like you said my LFS has great prices so for the the bigger, more expensive corals I would prefer to buy local so I know what I'm getting and it doesn't get stressed by shipping.

Originally Posted by Toffee

Wow great tank you got there. I was wondering how u keep up with the cal, alk, and mag？ do you have a sump or just doing water changes often？ any dosing？love your tank

Btw your LFS is making me want to move there, everything is so cheap！ tangs are lIke 20 each, wow. My LFS runs sale at most like 30% off on a baby tang at 50 dollars.

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Thanks for the compliment! For a long time I didn't even check cal, all and mag. Always heard no need to dose on small tanks if you keep up with water changes. I will typically change out 2-2.5 gallons a week (tank is 14 gallons). I started having problems with my chalice receding and my lobo losing color and receding. I had my LFS test my water and they said it was low on cal and alk. So I started the 2 part dosing system for cal and alk and bought a red sea kit so I can check levels myself. Mag hasn't been low yet. Still trying to get my levels up with more frequent water changes and dosing, it was around 380 and 9.8 today so it's getting back up there and I've seen some improvement in growth and color.


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[Sand dollar]

I've been emailing with them about adding on to my order and they have been very responsive, friendly and helpful. She even honored the 50% off since my initial order was placed over the weekend with that special. Hoping the products are healthy when they get here, I'll update once they arrive!


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[paul87]

Originally Posted by Sand dollar

I've been emailing with them about adding on to my order and they have been very responsive, friendly and helpful. She even honored the 50% off since my initial order was placed over the weekend with that special. Hoping the products are healthy when they get here, I'll update once they arrive!


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Very cool! Hope it all arrives healthy!

[Sand dollar]

Well, after my stressful weekend I think most have survived unscathed. When my red nem went on the move it laid on my blastos and rubbed on 1/2 of a head of one of my euphyllia for a good part of a day. Hoping they bounce back, the other head and a half look just fine...just the one half looks a little shriveled. I'm worried for the blastos though, they never really recovered from the hairy mushroom and now the nem...luckily one head broke off a while back so it's still healthy and I can try to grow out from that, it already has two baby heads on it. Also, I found two more baby nems today, so I'm back up to five babies. I really thought all the stirring of things over the weekend would have buried any of the other babies, but here they are! I wish they would hurry up and show some colors and get a little bigger so I could keep up with them easier.


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[Sand dollar]

Went to get water and came back with blue scroll macroalgae, for free! I was looking to get some a while back, but couldn't find any locally and didn't want to pay shipping. I'm hoping it will cover my back wall.



Also got my replacement bulbs in the mail today, hope it will spur some new growth...especially in my zoas. I read in the reviews they changed the color of the actinic and it's true, way more purple looking with whites off. It's going to take a little getting used too but some colors are popping out more now. Took a few shots under the new actinic only, some top down views for fun too. They were just taken on the phone so not the best.












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[paul87]

That blue macro is nice looking! Don't think I've ever seen it in person. It seems that that red rock flower and those zoas have a little more 'pop' to them under the new actinic bulbs.

[Sand dollar]

Originally Posted by paul87

That blue macro is nice looking! Don't think I've ever seen it in person. It seems that that red rock flower and those zoas have a little more 'pop' to them under the new actinic bulbs.

Thanks Paul, I had never seen it in person either. It definitely needs the actinic to bring out the blue, but looks better both blue and white on because it's almost too dark with just actinic to see it. It is supposed to be a "good but not invasive" grower and very easy to pull off it it starts to creep somewhere you don't want it. Since I don't have a refugium on my tank I wanted to get some display macro for the nutrient absorption benefit and really liked the look of this one over the others, plus I don't have to give up real estate since it will grow on the back wall.


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[Autumnsky]

Great new macroalgae! I haven't seen any of that to buy either locally. Keep me in mind if you ever have to get rid of some.

Finding the baby nems again is awesome! They like to hide in the sand I hear. My Frilly one went all the way behind the rock and now came back out so I can see it again!

Your RFA is looking beautiful and happy. I planned to go get a new RFA today but had tank troubles so didn't make it there.

[Sand dollar]

Originally Posted by Autumnsky

Great new macroalgae! I haven't seen any of that to buy either locally. Keep me in mind if you ever have to get rid of some.

Finding the baby nems again is awesome! They like to hide in the sand I hear. My Frilly one went all the way behind the rock and now came back out so I can see it again!

Your RFA is looking beautiful and happy. I planned to go get a new RFA today but had tank troubles so didn't make it there.

I definitely will! I think it ships easy, 2-3 days so as long as we do it over the summer/fall it should be good. Once it grows out I'll let you know, I'll pass on the freebie and just ask for help with shipping 😃


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[Sand dollar]

Shipment arrived, acclimating now. nothing appears DOA. Some polyps are starting to open in the bucket already.




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[paul87]

Originally Posted by Sand dollar

Shipment arrived, acclimating now. nothing appears DOA. Some polyps are starting to open in the bucket already.




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Very nice color in those gorgonians! What else did you get? Looks like maybe a sponge and a green monti cap?

[Sand dollar]

That's a green cabbage leather, a small dendro, 5 head sun coral and the rest are gorges and whips, no sponges but I do want to get a blue one sometime. Just put it all in the tank, ran out of super glue so will have to move things around tomorrow. The orange whip is already completely open and the purple whip is starting to open. Love the red and yellow gorgonians, they are a lot bigger than I expected them to be. The blueberry ones are tiny tiny!! It did say in the description they were only 1", I just didn't realize how small that would look in the tank, lol. I'll get a full tank shot tomorrow when everything is happy. Here are a few teasers.








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[Toffee]

I am starting to worry if your corals are overstocked. Nice colored tank btw

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[Sand dollar]

Originally Posted by Toffee

I am starting to worry if your corals are overstocked. Nice colored tank btw

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Maybe, may be why calc and alk have been low, but I have seen a lot of tanks way more stocked than mine. Now that I have realized the deficiency I have been dedicated to correcting it. Since I started dosing I have seen my chalice grow two more mouths in a matter of weeks. Do you have any suggestions for keeping a happy nano tank with a heavy coral stock? I'm definitively all ears & want everything to thrive.


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