[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

On the good side Gene, you could call it a good thinning, and just keep on goin. Things don't really look all that bad aside from the fact that it isn't as full looking.
I think you are pretty lucky to have come thru that and still be looking that good.

Yeah, I kinda agree with you there, Charlie. You know, the biggest loss that I am upset about is my two cleaner shrimp that I had since 04. They had to be the biggest two Lysmata shrimps I had ever seen. At least 2.5-3 inches in length. I replaced them with two tiny ones, so I hope these two will grow as large and healthy as the two others did. In retrospect, two of the peppermint shrimp had survived along with the cucumber and the fighting conch. Go figure...
As far as corals go, the biggest colony that had suffered and had to be fragged, was the A.formosa colony on the left side of the tank. Green slimer had survived the ordeal and is now almost fully recovered. All clams had perished as well.
Here are some shots I took today to keep this thread going.
First, my A.periderion playing a "hostess with the mostest" role in the C.jardinei, which had suvived as well.





And a new watchman I added today.

[zhenya]

I also would like to add a picture to illustrate incredible recuperative powers of the acropora coral. The branch in the picture had been sheared off about two weeks ago with the bolt cutter(I couldn't cut it with the regular bone shears that I have because it's so thick). Here it is today already regrowing corallites, which should produce new branches in the future.



And also I would like to add updated picture of my lonely Pyramid butterflyfish. It is lonely because I lost one to the recent salinity issues that nearly caused my tank to crash.

[charlie]

So, let's see, it has been around 2 weeks since the disaster, your acros are still growing like crazy. Dr. Charlie thinks you have a very healthy tank Gene.

The little clown seems to like the elegance, maybe to much.

How big is the new watchman?

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

How big is the new watchman?

Charlie,

It's roughly 2 inches long. It is not yellow watchman goby but rather tanish in color, with some reddish brown stripes. I forgot where exactly it came from, although the sales person did tell me. My brain is not what it used to be...

[dougc]

Ooh, that is so weird! Your mention of losing your cleaner shrimp set off alarm bells for me. I though "Gee, I haven't seen my cleaner shrimp recently.". That set of a brief search resulting in the discovery of my cleaner lying dead in the branches of a montipora. I had that shrimp for somewhere between 2 and 3 years. Haven't had any problems with the tank so I will assume for the moment that old age was the culprit.

Sorry about your widowed pyramid. Tank still looks pretty good to me. I'm just glad my tank survived the Summer vacation season without major incident.

Doug

[rjs5134]

Gene, Stop that crazy talk... You were my first acquaintance in the hobby, you can't leave now that my tank is settling in. I still owe you a few corals in return. I have a few that are just about large enough to frag.

Sorry to hear about the vacation loss, I just made it through my first vacation without any losses. Hang in there, we'd miss your photos too much.

Let me know if you need help moving that tank.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by dougc

Ooh, that is so weird! Your mention of losing your cleaner shrimp set off alarm bells for me. I though "Gee, I haven't seen my cleaner shrimp recently.". That set of a brief search resulting in the discovery of my cleaner lying dead in the branches of a montipora. I had that shrimp for somewhere between 2 and 3 years. Haven't had any problems with the tank so I will assume for the moment that old age was the culprit.

Sorry about your widowed pyramid. Tank still looks pretty good to me. I'm just glad my tank survived the Summer vacation season without major incident.

Doug

Hi Doug,

I think average life span of these shrimp is roughly 2-3 years, so yours may have reached it;s rightful old age and passed on. I had my pair for over 4 years and I believe they would have lived today if everything stayed the same, or if I were home to prevent the sudden salinity change. Lots of things survived, though. Two peppermint shrimp lived through this, most snails survived as well and so did worms and pods(the smallest of all).
The interesting thing was that I observed a mass spawning of my miniature brittle stars, and when I say mass I mean there were hundreds of them coming out of woodwork and spawning. That may have been the signal but I assumed that I simply disturbed the tank too much triggering the spawning. I was fragging the heck out of some colonies, removing rocks and disturbing sand. I should have checked the salinity but I didn't and went back to my condo at the shore.
Oh, well...

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by rjs5134

Gene, Stop that crazy talk... You were my first acquaintance in the hobby, you can't leave now that my tank is settling in. I still owe you a few corals in return. I have a few that are just about large enough to frag.

Sorry to hear about the vacation loss, I just made it through my first vacation without any losses. Hang in there, we'd miss your photos too much.

Let me know if you need help moving that tank.

Hi Rob,

I don't think I will be living the hobby, however I may just downsize and have one small tank with simple livestock. Shrimp, small fish and some polyps could be the ticket...
Thank you for the offer and I may call on you when time comes to move the livestock.

[zhenya]

Got a new clam the other day. It's only about 1.5" in size and so far it is doing quite well.

[zhenya]

Well, I'm leaving for Florida bright and early tomorrow morning.., wish me luck that I return to unchanged condition of my tanks...
Got couple of new pieces for it, too... first the A.cerealis(I think)



And this one I believe to be a A.abrotanoides, although this identification is tentative at the very best. It is just above purple plating Montipora coral.



And here are couple other shots I took the other day, hope you enjoy. To my amazement the tank has recovered quickly and things begun to grow again.


Here's actinic shot before I fixed my ballast for the VHO's, only one bulb is lit at the time I took this shot.



As you can see in this next shot the colors are slowly returning to the colonies that survived the ordeal.

[charlie]

Very nice Gen. I am not gonna tel you the I told you it would come back.
I had all the confidence in the world that you would nurse it back to health.

[zhenya]

Thanks, Charlie!

Speaking of nursing back something...my butterfly went bonkers last week. What I mean to say that I found it swimming upside down, and in circles, then on it's side... Looked healthy and normal but swam like it was on on it's last leg. I took it to the store I frequent and gave it to a friend of mine that works there. He put it in a tank with ponies, but before that I gave it a dip with antibiotics as I suspected it could've been some flukes or something. Anyways, as you can see it is back in my tank again swimming just like he used to and eating like a pig again. Never saw such small fish go after PE mysis the way this fella does...

[charlie]

Wow, that is kind of strange Gene, but it is good news that he is back and doing well!!!!
Hope your tank is good to go when you get back!!!!

[Poseidon]

Good stuff Gene! I really like that clam image.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Good stuff Gene! I really like that clam image.

Thanks, Mike! I'm kind of partial to that image myself...

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

Hope your tank is good to go when you get back!!!!

Just an update for those who care...
It seems that I can;t catch a break lately when it comes to my 75g tank. Apparently fuse in the chiller went crops and when I came back on Monday the temperature read 89 degrees...
The amazing thing is that when I looked inside the tank most everything was thriving, even acropora corals and my sole clam. I replaced that stupid fuse and temperature is now OK, I sure hope in the long run I won't see any bleaching events happening. Will post more as things progress, or hopefully not.

[charlie]

If you haven't noticed anything by now Gene, you may be good to go. I hope so!!! Are you done leaving town for a while now???

[weez1959]

OMG!! and I was worried because my tank was hitting 86 this summer
I'm glad nothing died in your tank, that is really high!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

If you haven't noticed anything by now Gene, you may be good to go. I hope so!!! Are you done leaving town for a while now???

I think I'm done traveling for at least two or three month. Or so I was told...

Originally Posted by weez1959

OMG!! and I was worried because my tank was hitting 86 this summer
I'm glad nothing died in your tank, that is really high!

Thanks, Louise! I'm glad everybody survived my negligence, too...
This is the first time that I had issue with the temperature going this high. I used to run this tank consistently at 84 degrees without any problems at all, however, 89 is definitely asking for trouble. I think it must of happened as I was getting home on Monday and not any earlier than that. If it would be longer than a day or two most corals would have been stressed and maybe bleaching.

[charlie]

Well, hopefully, that will give you a chance to get things into top shape again for the holidays, huh????