Dary's tank!

[Chris A.]

Thank you,

I keep low maintenance systems. Undetectable nitrate and phosphate around 0.02 ppm. However, not the multitude of fish that others keep. Ricordea species are robust and come in many spectacular colour combinations. They will survive pretty much anything and thrive. Some time ago, I lost many SPS to neodymium poisoning. The Ricordea loved it. They proliferated and got larger. They don’t require much light. They are aggressive and will try and digest or sting other colonies. To be safe, best keep an aquarium full of ‘em or keep them with Zoanthus polyps.

Ricordea yuma and Ricordea florida - Compatibility.

 

[Dary421]

Gotta love the ricordea’s they’ve always have been my favorites.

 

[Dary421]

. They look as if they came from outer space

 

[Dary421]

If my timing is right the powder blue tang has been in the tank for about 4 months now and is doing really good ,.... he still jostles with the fox face and scopace tang here and there for dominance (?) but it’s never a vicious fight to the death affair ,more like hey pardon me I’m coming thru sort of thing .
He has put on considerable weight and looks super clean.
Around the same time I put a matching set of bleenies in the tank too and they homesteaded on a large rock at the top of the tank ,...about a month. Or two ago they were gone ,... I thought that maybe they couldn’t acclimate to the tank and slowly sank into the abyss ,.... then the other night the main lights went out and the moon lights came on and there they were atop of the big rock again!!!
Kinda cool that they took up residence somewhere deep in the bowels of the tank to remain obscure but still be part of the community.
All in all no complaints, hope everything is well with everyone .

 

[Sniperhank]

Glad things are working out Dary. When I had things in balance, seeing all the neat things like pom pom crabs or sexy shrimp meandering around when you forget that they are in the system is pretty fun.

 

[Dary421]

It really is cool to see ,....years ago I thought I had lost a little shrimp only to have him appear out of the blue one day months later ., unfortunately I never saw him again after I got a triggerfish ,...hmmmmmm

 

[SeanMonster]

They have a simple rule at my lfs. Big fish eat little fish. [emoji16]

 

[Dary421]

Well....on my 69 th birthday all systems are “GO”,... tanks doing great along with all the inhabitants ,especially my sassy powder blue tang which I believe is now about a 6 month resident.
P.s. The oldman’s doing pretty good too !

 

[Sniperhank]

Congrats Dary, on another b-day and the tang still doing well.

 

[SeanMonster]

Happy Birthday Dary! Happy Tanking too.

 

[Dary421]

For the last couple of week my “ parameters “ have been rising and I was kinda puzzled because after 15 years or so of doing this I’m somewhat meticulous at keeping an eye on everything and trying to stop things before they get out of hand.
Soooo, while doing my weekly water change and general maintenance today I made a discovery that was a hmmm moment,….. now my oversized protein skimmer lives in a separate cut down water barrel away from the main tank and is plumed from and into the main tank from there,… while checking things out this morning I discovered that the skimmer was not operating,… usually I will clean out the skimmers collection cup whenever it looks like crap but it’s also connected to a large overflow collection canister so I’m usually not too concerned with the overall appearance.
Well,…when I discovered that she had shutdown for some reason the little “ duh” light came on for the reason of my rising levels.
Long story short I wrestled this beast out of it’s barrel and tore it all apart and found a small piece of clear plastic had wedged itself into the impeller preventing it from turning ,..well after replacing the motor with a spare one I had lying around she’s now purring like a kitten. , weird how crazy things can happen ,… I have no idea where that clear piece of plastic came from ,it might have been there for years and finally slide into position,… crazy !

 

[Sniperhank]

Glad it was an easy answer for you Dary. I had lots of issues like this because of skimmers.

 

[Dary421]

Kinda keeps you on your toes doesn’t it ?

 

[Sniperhank]

Kinda keeps you on your toes doesn’t it ?

Pretty constantly.

 

[Dary421]

Long time followers know of my struggles to keep a powder blue tang …. My last couple of attempts produced results which both lasted exactly 9 months before the inevitable happened,…. Well with bulldog determination I was bound and determined to try and succeed with one of these beautiful fish,…. I’m now happy to say that I just hit the 10 month mark with my newest powder blue tang with no apparent end in sight . This might not be a landmark to some but for me it’s a pop the cork moment !
I’ve got other tangs that have been in the tank for years but those pb’s are tricky .

 

[Sniperhank]

Glad that it finally turned out for the best Dary. It was a well earned victory.

Does that mean alien eye chalice is next?

 

[Dary421]

Re alien eye chalice ,…. Lol,…You remembered that ! Wow !!

 

[SeanMonster]

Dary, looking for Alien eye? I have two pieces off of my turkey platter-sized AE chalice that is healed ready for the lfs. I’d overnight if you were really interested. [emoji2][emoji2]

 

[Dary421]

Sean,… whoa that sounds like one heck of an alien eye chalice you have !!!!
As far as I’m concerned, someday I’ll get another one but for time being I’m cool ,…. My tank is so over grown with “ softies “ I’d hate to try and squeeze anything else in at the moment,.Thanks for the offer though

 

[SeanMonster]

No problem. It’s there if you ever change your mind. [emoji3]