Zibba's Reefs

[zibba]

Wow! I can not express how much I like your aquascape! It is simply gorgeous!

Thank you so much! Really appreciate the compliment.

MORE UPDATES......MORE PICS!! ...Plz haha

There's really a lot to update and I'm hoping to find time to do a proper update later this week. Stay tuned!

 

[zibba]

For the last 4-6 months, I've really struggled with the corals. Alk swings, AFEWs, and travel have all taken their toll. It's been a constant battle but I'm trying to stay patient and have been content enjoying the fish.

This male rhomboid wrasse is still a favorite:
Rhomboid Fairy Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

Rhomboid Fairy Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

The powder blue tang occassionally shows signs of ich (some cycles are worse than others) but it seems to be doing really well otherwise. It's well settled now and gets along pretty well, even with the convicts, which was my main concern.

Powder Blue Tang by E Z, on Flickr


This is the first photo I've gotten of the female/juvi pintail wrasse we added awhile ago. It's currently in the smaller tank and we're planning to move it to the bigger tank if/when it shows signs of making a transition to male.

Pintail Fairy Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

Similar looking fish right now, but this is a female lunatus wrasse. She's pretty reclusive but not because other fish bother her. I think she just prefers cruising the rocks vs. swimming out in the open. Can't wait for this one to turn male...
Lunatus Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

Blondie, the naso, is doing great. Leader of the tangs for sure:
Blonde Naso by E Z, on Flickr

Another submale wrasse, this is an 8-line fairy wrasse. Has doubled in size both length and girth...fat little pork-chop:
Eightline Flasher Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

The background was distracting in this picture so I got a little artsy-fartsy with it:
Lyretail male by E Z, on Flickr

Very excited about this wrasse: Katoi Fairy Wrasse. Haven't been able to get a good picture of it yet. Will continue trying though.
Katoi Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

This guy is the old guard -- one of the first fish we got. He's doing really well even if he's a "window-licker" -- literally cruises up and down the glass all day long.
Melanarus Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

The Katherine's Fairy Wrasse has been much more reclusive since adding the Katoi. I've seen it give some chase but this fish is still pretty active in the tank:
Katherine&[HASHTAG]#x27[/HASHTAG];s Fairy Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

Bryopsis has continued to be a pain and I manage it with manual removal. I've gone the Tech M route before but I'm hesitant (on my previous tank and it messed with my Alk/Ca levels for a long time and caused some corals to go down hill and -- worse -- the algae just came back a few months later) since I've had so many other recent issues with alk and coral health. But I though these pictures were cool despite the algae:
Crab by E Z, on Flickr

Fat LMB by E Z, on Flickr

Snapped a picture of the tiger tail cucumber -- actually, it split at some point and now I have a second creeping around in the rock:
Tiger tail cucumber by E Z, on Flickr

Currently, I'm most excited about these two fish in QT:
Psych head in QT by E Z, on Flickr

Red Tail in QT by E Z, on Flickr

I ordered a trio but the smallest female died on day 2. Major bummer but the fact that these two survived shipping, made it through one round of prazi and have been eating well, I'm stoked. I had been wanting a male psychhead for a long time. Fingers are crossed!

 

[gettaReef]

Love your updates! Beautiful fish and pictures. Keep fighting the good fight, things will balance out

 

[ECreefer]

Wow the fish are looking awesome! That male rhomboid is looking stunning and I've been wanting one for a long time as well. Hopefully you can get everything back under control and stable, just keep up with your consistency and I'm sure you will get past it all. Atleast you have lots of fish to look at in the mean time!

 

[zibba]

Love your updates! Beautiful fish and pictures. Keep fighting the good fight, things will balance out

Wow the fish are looking awesome! That male rhomboid is looking stunning and I've been wanting one for a long time as well. Hopefully you can get everything back under control and stable, just keep up with your consistency and I'm sure you will get past it all. Atleast you have lots of fish to look at in the mean time!

Thank you both for the compliments and words of encouragement!

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful as usual!

 

[hotnickz07]

Wow, i did not know you had your tank thread here. I have been using your light schedule that i found on RC, and i have to say i love it. Have you changed it since.

 

[zibba]

Beautiful as usual!

Thanks, rev! Hope you're well. I need to take a spin thought the site as I've been MIA lately. Lots to catch up on.

Wow, i did not know you had your tank thread here. I have been using your light schedule that i found on RC, and i have to say i love it. Have you changed it since.

Cool, glad you found the thread!

I think I posted a few minor tweaks to that thread but for the most part, it's the same. At one point, I tried peaking the blues around 90-95% and the whites at 55% but I've since backed them down to 80-85% and 45%, respectively. I'm still very happy with the lights and the lighting schedule.

If you have any specific questions let me know. And, if you want me to post up my current lighting schedule file, I'm happy to do so.

 

[SPotter]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. How did you combat the AEFW?

 

[hotnickz07]

Thanks, rev! Hope you're well. I need to take a spin thought the site as I've been MIA lately. Lots to catch up on.



Cool, glad you found the thread!

I think I posted a few minor tweaks to that thread but for the most part, it's the same. At one point, I tried peaking the blues around 90-95% and the whites at 55% but I've since backed them down to 80-85% and 45%, respectively. I'm still very happy with the lights and the lighting schedule.

If you have any specific questions let me know. And, if you want me to post up my current lighting schedule file, I'm happy to do so.

Please do i would love to see the new one. Thanks

 

[zibba]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. How did you combat the AEFW?

I appreciate that. I have not taken any drastic measures like pulling all of the acros out. I have pulled a few colonies out that looked really bad and dipped them multiple weeks in a row but I knew that was never a long-term plan. For the last year or so, I've just been blowing them off with a turkey baster. Having so many wrasses definitely seems to help my cause. Perhaps all of these issues are really tied to the AEFWs and I'm just playing ostrich. I keep saying, "I'll give it 6 months and reassess." I'm still of that mentality and want to get a better feel for how the acros do once the parameters are more stable. All that said, I really haven't added any new acros for a long time, which is fine because I don't have very much room left for SPS.

Please do i would love to see the new one. Thanks

Here's a link to the file in my dropbox folder: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7efymxinxgtcx7l/A.G.E. 450 (11.12.15).aip?dl=0

Hope it's helpful!

 

[hotnickz07]

Thank you brother. Ill take a look at it see how it looks. Gl with those aefw, they can be a pain to deal with

 

[jaguars4263]

I just read every page on this thread. All I can say is WOW!! I know you posted what you run your blues and whites at but what about the other colors? I don't have the director yet so I can see the schedule. Keep up the great work! TOTM vote for me.

 

[zibba]

Thank you brother. Ill take a look at it see how it looks. Gl with those aefw, they can be a pain to deal with

You're welcome and much appreciated.

I just read every page on this thread. All I can say is WOW!! I know you posted what you run your blues and whites at but what about the other colors? I don't have the director yet so I can see the schedule. Keep up the great work! TOTM vote for me.

@jaguars4263, thank you very much for taking the time to read through the build. In my mind, the tank has a long ways to go to be TOTM quality but I'm hoping to get things back on track to pull out the colors I was getting with my last tank and for the first 4-6 months that this tank was set up.

I've attached a picture of the lighting schedule graph to give you an idea of how the individual spectrums ramp throughout the day.

 

[gettaReef]

Just curious, how's that zeppelin frag doing? Remember it being a show-stopper.

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

Awesome and love your photography too.

 

[maroun.c]

Amazing setup and love the wrass collection as well as the amazing pics you take.
Good Luck with the AEFW a real pain indeed, I hope you manage to exterminate them without having to take out all your accros!

 

[zibba]

Just curious, how's that zeppelin frag doing? Remember it being a show-stopper.

It's such a slow grower! Seriously the slowest coral I've ever had. But it's still doing well and coloring up. I fragged it awhile back and put a piece in the bigger display. That frag is doing better and really looks like it wants to take off. I'll try to snap some pics of it.

Awesome and love your photography too.

@Reef_Hobbyist, thanks!

Amazing setup and love the wrass collection as well as the amazing pics you take.
Good Luck with the AEFW a real pain indeed, I hope you manage to exterminate them without having to take out all your accros!

@maroun.c, appreciate the compliments and the well-wishes. I hope the same thing!!!

 

[evolved]

Just curious, how's that zeppelin frag doing? Remember it being a show-stopper.

It doesn't grow fast enough for me to back it up.

 

[Kris Belgium]

great pictures, how do you get them co clear ?