Dorado
Member
Thanks Matt, that means a lot coming from you. I'm hoping that the changes I made will create a nice balance in color. And if not, it's always fun getting more frags.
Dorado's 3'x3' Cube
- Thread starter Dorado
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Dorado
Member
Thanks! Well, it sounds like the consensus is that I'll be safe pulling out that zoa rock. Now I just need to find someone who wants a 12" rock covered in zoas.
When I removed a large chunk of my sukarnoi, mine shot up just over 10dkh. I just stopped dosing kalk at night and turned down my reactor. I let it come back down on its own for two weeks. Who knows if it took a day or two days to climb that high? I didn't test until a couple days after removing the sukarnoi. I've never had an issue with alk rising or lowering, but I've had issues with nutrients doing the same.
Yeah, I really wanted to go to CFM, but when my power went out, I didn't want to risk not being home if something else happened. As it was, 44hrs without power really sucked. I'm just glad I had a gennie running the whole time, but wish I had turned on my LED bars for a while each day.
Anyway, check out corals.com or pacific east aquaculture for clams. There's a new guy in Woodland Hills that has clams, mostly maximas now, but I think he gets in different ones as well. His site is Reef Exclusive. I'm going to try and stop by his place this week and check it out. I've been eyeing one of his maximas for a while. I know Vivid gets in clams on a regular basis now, both wild caught (which I stay away from) and ORA clams. The only wild caught clams that I'll buy are noae (teardrop). If I see any squammies out there, I'll let you know. I'm looking for some small croceas and a purple/gold maxima (or another noae if I can find one?).
they didn't seem terrible to each other, but just seemed like every few months one would start hiding and disappear. i wish i had started with a larger group. i did 6, but one died in shipping and 1 female usurped the male i ordered almost immediately. so in retrospect i shouldn't have ordered a male at all. once i had a set group that's when the every few months disappearance happened
Dorado
Member
Wow, two days without power is rough, I hope everything is doing well.
So I tried ordering a maxima from Pacific East Aquaculture close to a year ago. It arrived in pretty bad shape and died shortly after. They were really nice about it and sent out a replacement but the same thing happened. I got a refund and decided that I wasn't going to buy clams online anymore. Thanks for all the information and looking out. I'll have to make my way over to vivid one of these days,
Dorado
Member
I added a couple of ring cameras to monitor the tank. The one monitoring the display will only be installed while I'm out of town for extended periods of time. The one in the stand will stay put.
I also installed the Kalk stirrer from Avast Marine. It's working great so far and has made weekly maintenance a lot easier. I'll eventually add a ph probe to the stirrer. It's a little frustrating that you need to add another module for every single ph probe that you add to the Apex system. Seems like they should give you at least two ports per module.
I was finally able to find a decent sized maxima clam. It was a little bit of an impulse buy and looking back at it, I wish I had waited. The clam wasn't fully open at the LFS but I had store credit and took a gamble. Since buying the clam, it seems like it opens a little less every day, but it is still sensitive and reacts quickly to fish and shadows. I've checked a few times for snails, seems clean. I'm starting to think that my yellow tang is bugging it. The clam's shell was bone white when I got it but is now turning green with algae making it irresistible to the tang which is constantly picking at the shell. I might try putting an egg crate cage around the clam or put the tang in a QT tank for a week to see if that changes anything. In an attempt to make the clam happier, I also added a small kessil pendant I had laying around right over the clam bed. I'd love to hear suggestions or thoughts on what to do with the clam.
ATL Joleen starting to grow nubs where rainbow granulosa colony used to be. SWOTR millie and BC Mr Neutron where birdsnest colony used to sit.
Orange Passion(top, where Aussie Gold used to sit) and no name green tenuis(below) starting to get orangish tips
No name Millie filling out
BC aquaticman, WD and Blue tip tenuis
Frag of Hugo's rainbow stag that I got from last CFM, still hasn't colored up yet
Pink Lemonade that as been basing out forever and finally starting to branch out
Pretty shot of Midas zoas
Side tank shot
I also installed the Kalk stirrer from Avast Marine. It's working great so far and has made weekly maintenance a lot easier. I'll eventually add a ph probe to the stirrer. It's a little frustrating that you need to add another module for every single ph probe that you add to the Apex system. Seems like they should give you at least two ports per module.
I was finally able to find a decent sized maxima clam. It was a little bit of an impulse buy and looking back at it, I wish I had waited. The clam wasn't fully open at the LFS but I had store credit and took a gamble. Since buying the clam, it seems like it opens a little less every day, but it is still sensitive and reacts quickly to fish and shadows. I've checked a few times for snails, seems clean. I'm starting to think that my yellow tang is bugging it. The clam's shell was bone white when I got it but is now turning green with algae making it irresistible to the tang which is constantly picking at the shell. I might try putting an egg crate cage around the clam or put the tang in a QT tank for a week to see if that changes anything. In an attempt to make the clam happier, I also added a small kessil pendant I had laying around right over the clam bed. I'd love to hear suggestions or thoughts on what to do with the clam.
ATL Joleen starting to grow nubs where rainbow granulosa colony used to be. SWOTR millie and BC Mr Neutron where birdsnest colony used to sit.
Orange Passion(top, where Aussie Gold used to sit) and no name green tenuis(below) starting to get orangish tips
No name Millie filling out
BC aquaticman, WD and Blue tip tenuis
Frag of Hugo's rainbow stag that I got from last CFM, still hasn't colored up yet
Pink Lemonade that as been basing out forever and finally starting to branch out
Pretty shot of Midas zoas
Side tank shot
Looking good! There could be a few things going on with the maxima. Was the mantle completely out at the LFS? Or was is slightly retracted in one area? The white growth at the upper margins of the shell is good, which means it was growing at the store. With mantle retraction there are two possibilities, either a fish is bothering it or it's PMD. I would put the clam where it will receive at least 350+ micromoles for 6-8hrs a day or you see new shell growth. If there's no new shell growth, then it's simply not getting enough light. If it's PMD, the only cure is a freshwater dip for 30 minutes.
Dorado
Member
The mantle wasn't completely out at the LFS but that might have been because it was getting blasted by an MP40, but the mantle was equally out. It didn't seem to have pinched mantle, but I performed a freshwater dip just in case a couple of days ago. The dip didn't seem to help any. After watching the clam for an extended length of time, the yellow tang just will not leave the maxima alone. The clam will start to open up and then the tang will pick at its shell causing the clam to close. After a minute, the cycle repeats itself. It's just strange because the tang pays zero attention to the dersea right next to it. All things considered, it surprisingly still seems healthy and reacts quickly to stimulus but I worry for how long. I hate to do it, but I might have to get rid of the clam sooner than later.
Yeah, keep an eye on the clam. If it keeps closing, that can cause stress and spend too much energy, which isn’t good. As long as you see new shell growth on the upper margins of the shell you’re good. You could pull the clam and scrub the shell free of algae, which may help deter the tang from grazing?
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Dorado
Member
That sounds like a good idea, I’ll give that a shot. Thanks
Dorado
Member
I splurged a little and just received a few frags that I ordered from therman on R2R. I'm excited to see what happens with these frags.
From left to right: BC Cricket Spine, Reefgen Blueberry Fantasy, Ari's Avalanche, RR Olympus, LFS no name
I'm trying to make a little more room for these frags, I took out an efflo colony that hasn't been doing much for me except spreading its base and taking up a lot of valuable real estate. I added a little overhang where it used to reside using some marco rock that I had in my sump, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm trying to imagine how it will look covered in coraline and SPS. Thoughts?
From left to right: BC Cricket Spine, Reefgen Blueberry Fantasy, Ari's Avalanche, RR Olympus, LFS no name
I'm trying to make a little more room for these frags, I took out an efflo colony that hasn't been doing much for me except spreading its base and taking up a lot of valuable real estate. I added a little overhang where it used to reside using some marco rock that I had in my sump, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm trying to imagine how it will look covered in coraline and SPS. Thoughts?
I personally have seen this tank up close and its beyond amazing 
great job Brian!
great job Brian!
Dorado
Member
Yeah, even as a frag, it’s beautiful. It was my must have in the order, I'm excited to see what how it grows
Dorado
Member
Thanks Joey!I personally have seen this tank up close and its beyond amazing
great job Brian!
Dorado
Member
Tim was great to deal with, very professional packaging and nice looking frags. I would definitely order from him again.
Dorado
Member
A few rando pics
Walt Disney April 2023
Walt Disney October 2023
Walt Disney April 2023
Walt Disney October 2023
You tank is looking incredible, such great color and growth!
