Vaporize's Tank Journals

2011-02-10T18:57:00.002-05:00

2011-02-09T01:56:00.002-05:00

Wednesday March 28, 2007 - 30G Frag Tank (Top System)

2007-03-29T12:36:00.000-04:00

Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.1
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 9
pH: 8.3

Monday March 26, 2007 - 120G Display Tank All Tests

2007-03-29T12:34:00.000-04:00

Salinity: 1.026
Temperature: 79F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Phosphate: 0.1
pH: 8.1
Alkalinity: 9
Calcium: 400

Sunday March 11, 2007 - 120G Display Tank All Tests

2007-03-13T13:53:00.000-04:00

Salinity: 1.026
Temperature: 77.3F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
Phosphate: 0.1
pH: 8.1
Alkalinity: 10
Calcium: 400

Thursday March 1, 2007 - 120G Display Tank All Tests

2007-03-13T13:51:00.000-04:00

Salinity: 1.025
Temperature: 78.7F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Phosphate: 0.2
pH: 8.1
Alkalinity: 9
Calcium: 400

Tues Dec. 26, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All Tests

2006-12-26T23:38:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.025
Temp.: 77.7F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 8.5-8.6
Phosphate: 0.5
Calcium: 380
Alkalinity: 9 dkH

Sun Dec. 03, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All Tests

2006-12-05T15:49:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.024
Temp.: 77.4F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 20
pH: 8.25
Phosphate: 1.0
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 7 dkH

Saltwater Balloon Mollies?!

2006-11-20T12:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday vap and I went to get 6 freshwater mollies from BA Ken.

We got 2 white ones, 2 black ones and 2 gold ones...all for the low price of 2 for $1.99... :) Can't beat that price... :P

We wanted to do an experiment...can freshwater mollies live, thrive and possibly breed in the saltwater tank? Most importantly, will they eat any of the hair algae currently living in our tank?

Of course, we dripped the mollies for at least several hours... During that time, we walk walked and stand stand and watche a movie as well... When we checked on them periodically, they appeared to be breathing although not swimming much...maybe they were scared... :P So when the time was right, vap dropped each one into the tank. We were able to locate 2 white ones, 1 black one and one gold one... As for the others, we just hoped they survived and didn't die immediately upon entering the tank... :(

So, all in all, they seemed to be ok and swimming a bit...

Will have to check on them later to see what has happened since last night...

Tues Nov 7, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All Tests (Ca + Alk)

2006-11-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.025
Temp.: 78.4F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 10
pH: 8.38
Phosphate: 0.05
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 8 dkH

Fri Oct 27, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All Tests (Ca + Alk)

2006-11-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 10
pH: 8.0
Phosphate: 0.05
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 9 dkH

Mon Oct 2, 2006 - 120G Display Tank (Ca + Alk)

2006-10-03T12:37:00.000-04:00

Calcium: 300
Alkalinity: 9meg

Could IO salt really be the cause of such a low calcium level?

Fri Sept 29, 2006 - 120G Display Tank (Ca + Alk)

2006-10-01T02:53:00.000-04:00

Calcium: 300
Alkalinity: 10meg

Wed Sept 20, 2006 - 120G Display Tank (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-21T12:40:00.000-04:00

Calcium: 350
Alkalinity: 12meg

Fri Sept 15, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All Tests (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.3
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 350
Alkalinity: 10meg (old test kit = 4meg)

Fri Sept 8, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All tests (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-11T13:22:00.001-04:00

Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 8 (old test= 3.6)
Temperature: 80.3F

Fri Sept 8, 2006 - 120G Display Tank All tests (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-11T13:22:00.000-04:00

Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.1
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Phosphate: 0
Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 8 (old test= 3.6)
Temperature: 80.3F

Mon Sept 4, 2006 - 120G Display Tank (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-05T13:39:00.000-04:00

After adding some more Reef Builder today...

Calcium: 400

Alkalinity: 3.2

So adding more Reef Builder today caused the alkalinity to stay the same and the pink and green zoos are still opening up now...

Sun Sept 3, 2006 - 120G Display Tank (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-04T03:15:00.000-04:00

After adding the Reef Builder.....

Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 3.2

So the Reef Builder brought the alkalinity up a bit and the pink and green zoos are opening up now...

The calcium remains the same but it is still alright (within the range)...

Fri Sept 1, 2006 - 120G Display Tank (Ca + Alk)

2006-09-04T03:13:00.000-04:00

Calcium: 400
Alkalinity: 2.8

Maintenance: Sun April 2, 2006

2006-04-03T11:16:00.000-04:00

20G

Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.25mg/L
Calcium: 400mg/L
Alkalinity: 2.8meq/L

120G

Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 8.1
Phosphate: 0mg/L
Calcium: 400mg/L
Alkalinity: 3.2meq/L

Tank Measurements

2006-03-26T23:17:00.000-05:00

30G: 24 x 35 x 17

20G: 23.5 x 12 x 14

10G: 19.5 x 10 x 11.5

Suicidal Anemone

2006-03-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

Our bubble tip anemone in the 20G tank decided to take a walk on Tues when neither vapo or I was around to watch it...

Sadly, its walk ended at the powerhead where it got sucked into the power head and died...

The water got cloudy and vapo's mom place the 3 fishes (nemos) into our 30G tank in hopes that they will survive...

The death of the anemone claimed its own victims too in which the cleaner shrimps perished with the anemone...

Luckily, the fishes survived and things seem to be ok now... Thank goodness!

May the anemome and shrimps rest in peace now...

Maintenance: Fri. March 23, 2006 (120G & 20G)

2006-03-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

20G Tank

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.3mg/L
Nitrate: 20mg/L
pH: 7.9
Phosphate: 1.0mg/L
Calcium: 0.8 used - 400mg/L
Alkalinity: 0.7 used - 2.8meq/L

============================

120G Tank

Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 01.mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 8.3
Calcium: 0.8 used - 400mg/L
Alkalinity: 0.8 used - 3.2meq/L

Maintenance: Mar 10, 2006 (All Tanks)

2006-03-10T19:37:00.000-05:00

120 G
Salinity: 1.025
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 8.1
Phosphate: 0.25mg/L
Calcium: 420mg/L
Alkalinity: 2.8meq/L
===============================
20 G
Salinity: 1.027
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.5mg/L
Calcium: 410mg/L
Alkalinity: 2.8meq/L
===============================
30 G
Salinity: 1.026
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 5mg/L
pH: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.25mg/L
Calcium: 410mg/L
Alkalinity: 3.2meq/L

Maintenance for Feb. 17, 2006: 20G SW Tank

2006-02-18T00:51:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 10mg/L
pH: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.25mg/L
Calcium: amount used - 0.86 430mg/L
Alkalinity: amount used - 0.8 3.2meq/L

Maintenance for Feb. 17, 2006: 120G SW Tank

2006-02-18T00:48:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 5mg/L
pH: 8.3
Phosphate: 0mg/L
Calcium: amount used - 0.8 400mg/L
Alkalinity: amount used - 0.7 3.2meq/L

Crazy Glued Zoos

2006-02-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday vapo felt like doing some fragging and propogating on his own... :)

He crazy glued a few zoos onto a flat piece of rock...He tried using the Hold Fast putty by MarineL but somehow that didn't work and the zoos flew off if you touched them in the tank... :( So he decided that it was useless and decided to hot glue gunned the zoos onto the rock... LOL
Seems like it worked... :) I am glad... Nothing is flying off... :P

He is getting good fragging zoos...and we can not live without our crazy glue and now our hot glue gun... :P

5 Less Snails in the Tank

2006-02-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

Saturday, vapo found 5 snails for A and he met up with A at AquaP... :) vapo got back $10 for the 5 snails... :P It's all good since more cash in the wallet for more fish and corals... It seems that AquaP has seahorses... :) Good! i like seahorses but the waterflow is a bit too strong for them so they are flying across the tank involuntarily... :P Hehe...

Then I met up with vapo after lunch and we did our usual saturday fish trip to see the fishes... We went to NAFB...to check out their stuff but nothing new and no more sea hares to buy...which sucks... :P

Then we went to BA Ken to check out their weekly specials... nothing too exciting nor were there anything we really wanna buy there...

Afterwards, we went home... More fish watching there too... :) It's rather nice...

Slut and Snails

2006-02-05T12:40:00.000-05:00

Friday evening after work, we headed over to NAFB... :) We found out that J was back and hoped that he might have brought some corals or other livestock with him... We were right! :)

We ended up getting a sea hare for $25 and 16 snails at $1.99 each... The snails were a good deal... :P ...coz they were the good and more expensive snails... :)

We thought to give A about 8 snails since he wanted some snails as clean up crew...

Total Expense: $47

21lb Lettuce Rock Successfully In Tank

2006-02-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

Last night, we moved the 21lb lettuce rock into the 120G SW tank in the basement after weeks of curing... :)

We had to take out rocks, move rocks around and take out corals too...

Now the lettuce rock is successfully in the tank near the centre with 60% of rocks on the left and about 40% of the rcoks on the right... There is a big curve in the middle so we can put more corals in the tank now! :) The tank looks a lot more bigger and spacious... :) In fact, the depth is wider now...so it looks like a real feef... :P

I love it! :) But it did take us about 3 hours... I expected it... but now it's done and finished... I hope we don't have to move more rocks around... :P :)

Now all we need is more corals! :) I guess vapo will now have a good excuse to buy more corals...

Hopefully, more coral shipments will arrive soon...so we can check those out...

Salinity: 1.026

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We also changed the water for all of the 4 SW tanks in the base ment last night...as well... :) So we got a lot done....

Maintenance: Sunday Jan 30, 2006 (20G SW Tank w/Sun Corals)

2006-01-30T20:45:00.000-05:00

Salinity: 1.028
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 10mg/L
pH: 7.9
Phospate: 1mg/L
Calcium: used: 0.8 --- 400mg/L
Alkalinity: used: 0.8 --- 3.2meq/L

Heater Blows Up in the Tank!

2006-01-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

OH MY GOSH!

On Sunday, we checked the newly migrated 20G SW tank in the basement and we noticed the AC heater blew up...It literally blew up! It broke or in other words, it popped into at least 2 pieces... I am still wondering whether there are small pieces of glass in the tank, floating around maybe... :( I hope not! It will be so dangerous... :( :(

Anyways, the xenia has melted to the bottom of the tank and is probably still there...They are definitely not standing up and 'hupping'...

Also, the snails look like the have been electrocuted and it appears they may have become stupid because they got stunned... One of the cleaner shrimp is also stunned from the shock and all the sun corals appear to be alright...

Thank goodness, nothing too serious happened...

We hope everything will be back to normal soon...

Hope hope hope hope hope...

Migrating of the 20G SW Tank from the Kitchen

2006-01-30T20:13:00.000-05:00

So on Saturday night, vapo moved the 20G SW tank from the kitchen to the basement... :) At last, it is moved...

The 'rare' branching yellow sun coral came apart into 2 pieces now but it is still pretty big... :P

I heard from him that it took him at least 4 hours to migrate the entire tank and its population...Hehe... Unfortunately, I wasn't there to help so it might have taken that long... :P It was a big project but it is moved now and I think this will be its permanent position from this day on...

2oG SW tank is officially in the basement now...

OC and BA NM

2006-01-22T18:49:00.000-05:00

Today, after lunch, we set out on another fish trip but this time out of town... :) We headed out to Newmarket...

We wanted dto visit OC since we haven't been there before and might as well since we've been to most LFS in the area and out of town already...

It took us aoubt 30mins from my house to Newmarket... Along the way, we ended up seeing more and more snow on the ground... :P ...until we got to Newmarket did we (still) see a lot of snow on the ground... I guess the snow there didn't melt yet... :P

Anyways, OC wasn't hard to find and it wasn't a big store so we only stayed for about 15mins... I must say, they had a lot of flatworms, juvenile anemones (aka aiptasias) and bubble algae... All in all, the fishes and corals were alright and the prices were a bit on the expensive side...I guess it wasn't too impressive that we would go there again... :P

Next, we went to BA NM since we were already in the area...BA NM is only about a 5mins drive from OC... BA NM was definitely a lot harder to find since it was situated in a rather big plaza... The store itself wasn't too small... The only very good thing and rather impressive as well is their display tank... :D Evertyhing looked well settled in as if they were growing for years... I can literally say that it looked like a reef in the sea... :P They had a few gonioporas and they were thriving except for one... No flatworms or aiptasias or bubble algae that we can see... The design of the refugium was impressive too and it had mangroves growing it in and the design would allow them to grow and grow... Vapo says this display tank is the best...out of all the other BA stores... :P

We wanted to get the cleaner wrass there for $8.88 but it was a bit on the small side and definitely wouldn't be able to eat pellets which is what Vapo is planning to feed too all the fishes.. LOL

BA NM didn't have a lot of fish specials and it wasn't posted up in many places so it was difficult to know what specials they had...

All in all, it was an okay fish experience...

So we went back to BA Ken to see if they still had the any cleaner wrasse left... since they had 2 left when we went there yesterday... They did have one left and they had sold the other... We wanted the one that was sold since it looked a bit more healthier... :P Oh well, next time... Maybe the less healthy one would be alright in a few days so we can bring it home... LOL

Another fish watching day ended... ;)

J's Corals...

2006-01-22T02:09:00.000-05:00

So today we went to NAFB to see if they had any more purple tangs and to see how the corals were doing and especially to check out the Red Sea fishes... :P

The corals were doing ok, not bad at all but nothing over eye catching that would make us want to buy... :P As for the purple tangs, there was only 1 left but as we kept looking around a fellow fishperson self-served himself and caught the last on the purple tang! That's alright, we weren't that interested as they are too big and too agressive for our tank...

Next, we went to BA Ken to see what specials they had and to see if we can find any cleaner wrasses... :) They are on special for $8.88 each... :P We saw 2 cleaner wrasses there but they didn't look too healthy so we didn't get it and they still had about 5 flame angels left even though they were on special for $47.88... :P

After that, we went to Chapt. inside Kennedy Commons and purchased a book called 'Diving the World' for $19.97 + tax! :P There are many breathtaking pictures of the sea and seaforms as well as other natural wonders... The book was on sale, of course, or it would have cost over $100 (which we woudn't buy for sure)... ;)

After that, we went to J's to check out his shipment of corals and fishes and to see if there are any interesting things to buy... :)

We did notice a purple goniopora that was opened and looked relatively healthy... :) and a blue trumpet also caught our attention... While we were there, another fish couple dropped by to check out J's corals and they purchased several items including a very green zoo frag that i like... :) Of course, they left before us... LOL We seem to always hang around for a long time... :P Finally, we purchased the purple goniopora for $40 and the blue trumpet for $30 for a total of $70.

Total Purchases of the Day:

1. Diving the World book: $21.37
2. Purple Goniopora: $40
3. Blue Trumpet: $30

TOTAL: $91.37

Next, we went back home to put the corals in their rightful places...inside the 120G tank... :D Vapo put the previous purple goniopora we got from NAFB at the bottom of the tank because (it seems) gonioporas do not need a lot of light... :) Amazingly, at the bottom of the tank, it looks BLUE! :) A very sharp blue. Vapo also placed the purple goniopora we got from J's at the bottom too but it remained purple. It will take some time for it to get use to the new environment and to open up... As for the blue trumpet, it separated into 2 pieces on the trip home and now we have 2 blue trumpet although one is bigger (has more heads) than the other... ;)

The salinity seems to be ok too...1.026...

Maintenance: Friday January 20, 2006

2006-01-22T01:58:00.000-05:00

120G SW Tank in Basement:

Temp.: 78.1 F
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 5mg/L
pH: 8.1
Phospate: 0.25mg/L
Calcium: 440mg/L
Alkalinity: amount used - 0.8, 3.2meq/L

Goniopora Food?!

2006-01-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

In order to have a better chance for the purple gonipora to survive, we got some samples called Polyp L., which is literally food for goniporas...and is a new product... :)

It is a powder-like substance that you mix with the tank water and fed directly to the gonipora and other corals using a turkey baster or syringe... :)

So we fed that last night to the gonipora and surrounding corals, hope it will survive and open up beautifully... :)

We will keep our fingers crossed... :)

Pick your corals...

2006-01-16T15:49:00.000-05:00

The morning of Saturday January 14, vapo and I woke up at 7:30am to go to NAFB...because their shipment came in Friday night... :) so of course we had to go there and check out the corals... The prices of all the corals are the same...a big eye-popping $40!!!!! Now that is too tempting to miss out... :P

It just so happened that on that same day, RR was selling their shipment that came in too...Coincidence? I think not... :) NAFB's prices were more tempting...

So at 8:00am we arrived at NAFB only to see there were people hanging outside the store and in the parking lot already! :O Wow! These are really determined and dedicated fish people... :P Of course, vapo and I had an advantage so we decided to go to McD's for breakfast and just relax before the action begins... We even went over our plan of action... :P

At exactly, 9:00am the doors to NAFB opened and people literally poured right in... I went and did my thing and vapo went and did his thing and in the end...we succeeded...in getting 4 corals... :) plus one abalone... :P

CORALS:

(1) Purple Goniopora
(2) Frogspawn
(3) Blasto
(4) Green Mellon Mushroom

LIVESTOCK:

(1) Abalone

Each of the corals were only $40 and that is one deal that can not be beaten anywhere else! :) The abalone was a spontaneous purchase since it was only $15 and oh so cute... :)

We did encounter a few minor problems such as one of the tanks was a bit tall and vapo had to literally drape himself and put all his weight on the tank in order to reach the green mellon mushroom... :P Luckily, it didn't break... I think we we would have run right out if it did... ;)

So the total spent was: $175.00

After that we went back home to put the corals and abalone in their rightful places... :)

Next we headed to RR to see what they had there... As it turns out they had a lot of ricordeas and I must say, their corals look nice... :)

Hopefully, the gonipora will survive...

Let's see how it turns out later this week whe n vapo comes back... :)

Tank Maintainence....

2006-01-08T01:51:00.000-05:00

Water change for:
120G - 1.025
Kitchen 20G - 1.025
Tall 20G - 1.025
10G - 1.025
WTR LR curing tank - 1.026

DIY LR is soaking in saltwater from water change, to start seeding it.

Blue/Queen junvenvile angel added to K20G tank.
Fungus zoo removed from display tank into K20G for recovery.

OMG .... pgymy angel become giant angel~!!!

2006-01-07T22:42:00.000-05:00

So we went to our weekly weekend fish watching trip. We happened to went to BA Kennedy, they do not have the weekly special listed on website as usual. However they do have marked down corals ... however it seems only 20% or so, but their corals are not that cheap comparing to RR not to mention NAFB these days...

.... so we were watching fish and we suddenly see this very beautiful angel, it was marked as "flavicauda pygmy angel" and looks very pretty. It was only $29.99, so I was really surprised to see such a pretty pgymy angel for sale at that price; flame angel is $69.99 and coral beauty is $34.99 normally at BA..... so we kinda debated for 3 minutes or so and decided to try our luc, plus the angel actually looked pretty healthy no ich or stress. So we made a quick decision and bought it for $34.99.

So when we come back and tried to give an ID, found out that it's either a blue/queen angel in junvenile form. MY GOSH, I really wish it is a pgymy angel as I am not ready to have large angels in my reef.... I still wanted to keep corals. Right now it is only 2" long, hopefully it does not grow too fast. So far,it has been nibbing at rocks and stuff, so I don't think it will have any problem eating, it did tasted some brime shrimps and dead zoos.

Blue/Queen junenvile angel..
$34.99

Boxing Week Recap :)

2006-01-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

So here are the figures for Boxing Week 2005! :)

Corals from NAFB:
$285.00

BA Stores:
$159.82
$134.54
$402.38
$64.66
$60.92

Online JL Aqua.:
$650.58

RR Violet Anemone:
$63.00

WTR? Rock Purchase:
$120.00

Can. Tire:
$11.23

H. Depot:
$6.08

Da da da! The grand total for this year's Boxing Week is..................................

$1958.21

Eye Popping Number... :)

Clownfish aren't really that picky

2005-12-26T02:56:00.000-05:00

So after the male breeding pair clownfish died, the female one seems to mourn it for a few days.... well, until I moved my green bta hosting anemone from my 20G tank down to the 120G. They were fighting a bit here and there, the small one even wanted to take over the breeding female's rose bta, however the female blow it away. ... then they fight a bit.....

Next day when I woke up and took a look (make sure one did not kill the other), they were already both hosting in the green bta that the small one used to host. Seems like nowadays they are hosting together in that one bubble tip anemone, so there are actually two rose bubble tip empty without clowns :D Maybe I can get some black& white percual to host those.... if I can ever find some.

Pre-boxing day cleanup

2005-12-26T02:32:00.000-05:00

As boxing day is getting near and I have blew too much $ already, today we decided to spend some time at home doing some maintainence.

20G Kitchen tank

50% water change
Rocks with dark algae is treated with Mauric acid to descale: one xenia rock, one zoo rock & the big platform rock
The new sun corals are doing better. Jony's Orange sun coral is starting to open up, the NAFB yellow sun coral is opening up and eating fine
pH 7.9

120G Tank

Cleaned the hood for moonlighting
The clove polyps are half open, so are the new green & blue/red zoo colony but they should be doing better. Next time might want to avoid non-opening speciments.
Found out torch coral actually will eat like anemones, so will feed them too
Still no sights of Nassarius snails that I put in anywhere, maybe the substrate is still poisonious from the dead flatworm or medicine.... hmmm....

SW Tanks Maintenance

2005-12-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

All the saltwater tanks except for the 20G SW tnak in the kitchen got a water change... :)

120G Tank:

Salinity - 1.025

10G Tank:

Salinity - 1.026

20 G Tall Tank:

Salinity - 1.026

20G Tank:

Salinity - 1.026

Corals Galore (Part 2)

2005-12-24T14:06:00.000-05:00

Near the end of last night, we went to BA Ken's to see what else we wanted to get on boxing day... They has a lot of stock in the store, I guess they were prepariing fo the big busy day... :) There really much we wanted to get except for many the algae scrapper... :)

We left after awhile and guess what we did?! :) We went back to NAFB for a second round of coral buying... :P :P The owner(s) must have been surprised... Haha, this time, we stayed there for about an hour...and vapo ended up seeing 2 corals he wanted to get... :) I was happy for him and definitely not surprised... ;) He liked the sun coral that is rare according to the owner and we didn't really see it that often at other places... He also liked a coral that even the store owner doesn't know what it is... :P It looked like polyps on a rock...It is brown in colour... Of course, since no one knows what it is, I didn't really want him to get it... So I told him he could only get one.... :) Then he started hard-selling the coral to me... I asked him would he be sad if he could only get one, he said yes... If I let him get both, will he be happy, he said yes... Since I want thim to be happy, he got both of them... :D

Purchases:

1 Sun Coral: $40
I Unknow Coral:: $40

Total: $80

Then we went back to vapo's place to settle the corals in and do some maintenace... :P

Corals Galore (Part 1)

2005-12-24T13:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we woke up very early around 6am! :P We woke up this early just to get to NAFB for their massive boxing day sale... They were selling their new shipment of corals for $40 each! It is too big of a deal and sale to miss... It is too tempting and we couldn't miss out on it that's for sure... :)

We got there a little past 7am and there were already people inside the store choosing and picking up corals...It was definitely self-serve... :) Which of course, we love... Haha, everyone was going crazy and we bumped into C. He was there very early in the morning and was picking out corals already when we got there...and of course, he left earlier than us..haha...

So vapo went craxy... :P i was holding his jacket and the corals he and I picked out...so he can roam the isles and choose corals freely...It seems there were more guys there by themselves with noone to help them... ;)

We ended up getting 5 corals... One torch, two zoos (one of which is a surprise since it wasn't opend, we wanted to take a change on this one... :P) and one unknow coral that looks like a montipora with green on it... :) We didn't know what is was but it looked rare... ;)
We also got 2 big blue legged hermit crabs...

We stayed there for about 2 hours and many people who came before us left already... LOL but that's okay, we loved every minute of it... :)

When we finally did leave, we met up with a guy who wanted vapo's free plant cuttings... :) We met up with him at SP at Kennedy Commons... :)

After that, we went back to vapo's place to put the corals and hermit crabs in their rightful place... :)

Purchases:

1 Torch: $40
2 Zoos: $40 each, $80
1 Unknown Coral: $40
2 Blue Leffed Hermit Crabs: $3 each, got discoout so $5 for 2

Total: $205

Maintenance (TESTS) for Dec. 21, 2005 (All SW Tanks)

2005-12-22T02:18:00.000-05:00

20G (Kitchen):
Specific Gravity - 1.0265
Ammonia - 0mg/L
Nitrite - 0.1mg/L
Nitrate - 5mg/L
pH - 7.9 pH - 8.3
Phosphate - 0.25mg/L
Calcium - 450mg/L

10G (Basement):
Specific Gravity - 1.026
Ammonia - 0mg/L
Nitrite - 1.6mg/L
Nitrate - 50mg/L
pH - 7.9
Phosphate - 0.5mg/L
Calcium - NA

120G (Basement):

Specific Gravity - 1.0255
Ammonia - 0mg/L
Nitrite - 0.1mg/L
Nitrate - 5mg/L
pH - 8.3
Phosphate - 0mg/L
Calcium - 440mg/L

20G Tall (Basement):

Specific Gravity - 1.026
Ammonia - 0mg/L
Nitrite - 0.3mg/L
Nitrate - 20mg/L
pH - 7.9
Phospate - 0.25mg/L
Calcium - NA

***ammonia #3 (NH3 #3 Bottle ) need more***

***nitrate #3 (NO3 #3 Bottle) need more***

Reef Lobster: He's cute!

2005-12-20T14:40:00.000-05:00

So last night after dinner, we headed downtown to J's place to pick up the corals we reserved a few weeks ago...hoping that J didn't sell those... :)

J didn't sell the corals we reserved so we picked up some zoos, a sun coral and a reef lobster and J threw in two damsels for us to use to cycle the tanks... :) I really liked the lobster from the last time... :) I was happy J still had it...

J still had some slime in his tank and we gave him red slime removal medicine and we got all the corals and the lobster for $50.00 and the two damsels...

Purchases:

Sun Coral
Zoos
Reef Lobster $50.00 + 2 Free Damsels

Thanks J! :)

Sad day - breeding pair male gone

2005-12-19T01:24:00.000-05:00

... to our disappointment, mom announced the bad news that the male clown fish of my breeding pair is dead.... somehow got suck into the powerhead but I think it's dead before it got suck in because that powerhead is not that strong to kill a fish. Oh well, the female one seems to wander around all tank to try to find her mate, they lived together for 5 years, it is in deed a sad day for her. Poor girl.

pH Monitor Buy

2005-12-18T19:58:00.000-05:00

Today, vapo and I went to ORG around 1pm to meet up with a fellow fishperson to buy a PP pH monitor with ac adapter and probe for $75 off of him... It was a fair and a smooth transaction... :)

I must say, the quality of the corals and other livestock at ORG were good compared to other LFS but there were quite a few aiptasias lurking around in the tanks on the rocks and on the ground... :P The prices were bit on the expensive side for us...Hehehe...

Next we headed to BA Oakville since it was nearby and the quality of the corals and fishes were pretty good compared to other BA's...and they have a lot different things too... :) I like that... Of course, we didn't buy anything since Boxing day/week is just around the corner... ;)

Purchase of the day:

PP pH Monitor with AC Adapter and Probe: $75.00

pH Readings for all Sw Tanks (Sun Dec. 19, 2005)

2005-12-18T19:56:00.000-05:00

20G pH: 8.3
120G pH: 8.23
20G Tall pH: 8.04
10G pH: 7.96 and 7.85

The Big Day! Kill Those Lil' Pests!

2005-12-16T12:29:00.000-05:00

Finally, the day that vapo and I have been waiting for.................

Last evening vapo poured 2 bottles of flatworm exit! into his 120G SW tank because of the growing numbers of flatworms in the tank, mainly the red/orange ones...

Hopefully, 2 bottles are enough to kill the lil' pests... @_@ and won't kill the other living things... but according to vapo, the hermit crabs and fishes are acting weird as if they are dying... Luckily the corals are still doing well... just hope that the medicine WILL kill the flatworms and not the fishes etc. :)

Will keep an update on our progress!

More Updates

2005-12-05T12:02:00.000-05:00

So vapo has moved more of his corals from the 20G tank in the kitchen to the 120G tank in the basement... :) His corals are slowly migrating to the bigger tank with better lighting and a better waterflow... :P His fishes should be the last to migrate...Hehehe... Since he isn't here during the week, it will give his tank more time to cycle.. The more time the tank has, the better his fishes will adapt...

The other thing is, we can't see any of the red/orange flatworms in the 120G tank anymore!! :) It's a good sign because maybe they are dying off since the tank is still relatively new and there is nothing much to eat inside... I really hope that's the case so we don't have to pour a whole bottle of Flatworm Exit in the tank which might kill his corals and other living things... I say to becareful and hold off it for awhile... :)

It appears corals and the 2 breeding clownfishes he migrated from the 10G tank are doing well in the bigger tank with better lighting... :)

I can't wait to see how it looks when everything is complete and done... ;)

I just have to get some slippers and maybe a couch down in the meantime... :)

Big Live Oysters

2005-12-05T11:18:00.000-05:00

On Sunday afternoon, vapo and I headed over to BA Ken to see what livestock they have left from the sale...

They didn't seem to have much left and nothing too impressive... Let's just say, we didn't buy anything there... We are waiting for Christmas, hehe... but vapo did eat a hot dog... :)

Next, we went over to our friend K's place to see his tank and maybe get the overflow containers which K helped us glue back together... Thanks K! :)

I was looking for the linka starfish in his tank the entire time we were there and I couldn't find it...I think it will come out every so often for food... :)

Next, we went over to TNT supermarket to check out their seafood selection... :P I must say, they have a wide variety of seafood... :)

vapo couldn't resist and bought 5 big oysters... :) They were only $0.98 each...so that was definitely a good deal... We were looking for oysters that had a lot of stuff stuck to the shell... :) The more, the better...hehe... We had fun poking and touching the oysters... :)

Purchase:

5 Big Oysters @ 0.98 each... 5 for $4.90

Crab eating cuttlefish

2005-12-05T11:00:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, vapo and I decided to go to K's house to see the crab that vapo caught get eaten by K's cuttlefish... :P Haha, yes, vapo and I love seeing these kinds of things... K would give us an acro frag for the crab which is a pretty good deal...

We got there and we saw K's tank... We were definitely very impressed... We especially liked the centrepiece...a big acro with 2 colours... Unfortunately, we couldn't pick that one as a frag for the crab... :P

K took us to his room where his cuttlefish tank is and the cuttlefish looked like a rock... I figured it is hiding itself so he can prey on his food...Haha, smart... Once the crab was dropped in, it didn't move but the cuttlefish sneaked up behind it but not to close to the crab...it walked using two of his tentacles and he changed colour and kept on bobbing up and down, back and forth...waiting...and waiting...for the right moment... The poor crab still didn't move, maybe he knows he is food and gave up any chance for survival... vapo and I started to become restless and wondered if the cuttlefish will prance on the poor thing and gobble it up.

Then suddenly, the cuttlefish pranced forward very quickly and snatched the crab in its mouth! :O The whole scene took less than 2 seconds!!! He was that fast! So the cuttlefish caught the crab and moved back to his hiding place to devour the poor thing...He ate it in a few second...shell, legs, everything... :O He seemed to be pretty content after his meal... :P

vapo and I were amazed and it was fun watching... :) It seemed to be entertainment for us...oops... :P I wouldn't forget this and I don't think vapo would either... :)

So we decided to pick up one of K's small red/brown acro frag... :) It's very nice... We left K's place very happily...coz we saw something that was definitely very fascinating... :)

Next, we went over to BA Miss...to check things out...there was nothing very interesting and they were closing up soon too...Haha, so I guess they were kicking people out...

After that, we headed over to RR to check out what was left in terms of corals from the blow-out pre-Xmas sale... :) We got there and no one was inside...I guess we got there pretty late, past 6pm for sure... :P They still had some stuff left and most of the corals were around the $40 price range... vapo saw some zoos he liked but decided not to get it...I think the prices are still not that great even though they have been slashed quite a bit...but I guess not enough for vapo and I to fork out money to buy... ;)

Then we left and went back to vapo's place to play with his (free) acro frag... :)

Gave crab to K and got a free acro frag

Thank you crab...you died very nobly... vapo and I will not forget...

R's LED Lights vs. Can.Tire's LED Lights

2005-11-24T23:58:00.000-05:00

vapo was deciding which LED lights were better later that evening...

The verdict: He is leaning towards the R's brand LED lights which are a lot dimmer thus, it's perfect as moonlights and it is much longer than Can.Tire's LED lights... Plus, R's LED lights are cheaper with a 20 year warranty... ;)

Even though I can't see the difference in the brightness of the lights, I think I am leaning towards the R's brand LED lights too... :)

vapo will leave them on for the night and see the next day if any lights/bulbs are turned off...then we will know for sure... :)

Moonlights and other goodies

2005-11-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

Today, vapo and I went to the North York BA plaza to eat lunch and to pick up a tong from a fellow fishperson for our 20G tank...it's a smaller tong then what we have so it works well for the 20G tank... :) It was definitely a good deal!

Tongs: $5

Next, we went inside BA North York to see what goodies they have inside...They didn't seem to have much that we considered worthy of purchasing... :) Haha, we find the livestock and the equipments etc. a bit pricey... As for their display tank that is infested with red flatworms... It isn't as bad as before but you can still see the little buggers inside... :P they stay very still so if you don't look closely (enough), you will think they were algae! :) That's what I thought at first but vapo corrected me... :)

After that, we went to AquaP because we haven't been there in a long time...the owner might be wondering what happened to us since we haven't shown our faces in ages... :P Anyways, they didn't have any new shipment tonight but it might have came on Tuesday and now the good things are all gone... :) We did notice they have a lot of second hand tanks...which would be perfect for vapo's sump... :)

Finally, we trekked on over to BA Ken to pick up some more Nassarius Snails since they are still on special and they are really good guys since they do what they are suppose to... :P So we ended up picking up 10 Nassarius Snails... :)

Nassarius Snails: 1o for $19.90 (1 for $1.99)

Total (including tax): $22.89

For our last stop, we went to R to pick up some LED lights that we can use for moonlights...It is R's own brand too! A fellow fishperson and friend suggested which might be better than the lights we got at Can. Tire... :P WE FOUND IT! It is a lot less expensive than the lights we got earlier and it looks alright too...only $11.99 + tax and it's longer too, 17'! Have to wait until we get home to see how the lights compare to the ones from Can. Tire... Next, we got a bucket of calcium (R's own brand) for $11.99 + tax and a bucket of alkaline (R'S own brand) for $9.99 + tax! We believe these are good deals and a lot cheaper than the LFS... :p No wonder there weren't many buckets left as other fishpeople might have had the same idea... Only fishpeople will get these now...

R's Blue LED Lights 17": $11.99
R's Bucket of Calcium: $11.99
R's Bucket of Alkaline: $9.99

Total (including tax): $39.07

So our total spending for the day and night is: $66.96

I love spending time with vapo doing this, I love working together to do something... :) I will need to find some slippers and sofa for us to fishwatch soon... ;)

More pests! Flatworms!!!!

2005-11-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

Tonight, vapo and I discovered...FLATWORMS!!! @_@

It's the orange kind so it's pretty easy to see them in the tank... We saw a few stuck on the glass... Hopefully, there aren't many... I guess we will need FLATWORM EXIT... We have to kill those critters before the tank becomes infested like a certain BA store display tank... :P

We must kill them... We must get rid of them entirely...

Thank goodness the tank is still relatively new and still cycling...no fishies yet... :)

Maintenance: Nov. 20, 2005 (evening) for SW tanks

2005-11-20T19:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight, i did some testing on the 120G SW tank because vapo has another business trip but luckily it's just for a few days... :) The tank can just sit there and cycle... :)

120G SW Tank:

Salinity: 1.025
Temperature: 25.6C
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 8.1
Phosphate: 0mg/L
Calcium: 420mg/L
Alkalinity: 2.4meq/L (total amount of alkalinty: 0.6)

Added ro water to the 10G SW tank because salinity level getting too high... :)

I auto-topped off the 20G tank in the kitchen with 2 bowls of water...and for the 120G tank, vapo added more ro water to get the salinity to 1.025... :)

We spent a long time just watching and looking at the tank together...it is a very warm feeling... I have to find 2 chairs or get a sofa down and slippers for the basement so we can comfortably watch the tank for a very long time... :)

I do love watching the tank and the fishes...I hope to be able to do that with vapo for a long time, so long that it can be measured...

Savings at LFS

2005-11-19T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today is another one of our fish trip days... :) Our day started out around 10am and we headed over to RR because they have a big shipment that just came in with a lot of fishes and they are having a two day sale only, Friday and Saturday...

Once we got to RR, there were a lot of people there already who were interested in buying fishes... vapo and I saw a very large regal tang (I've never seen one so big and I don't think vapo has either), we decided that it was definitely an expensive fish... :P We didn't stay long since we couldn't buy fishes for the large tank yet so it wasn't ready. We could try, of course, but it's not worth it to dump money into the sea, literally... :)

vapo say a fish he really liked...we asked J what it was and he said that that fish is a Golden Angel...and it was also on sale too! The Golden Angel is...$85! So it was a decent price but we couldn't buy it of course... :) Maybe we will get it later...if it isn't sold already!

After RR, we went to visit BA Mississauga since it was a 5 minutes drive from RR... LOL Once there, we saw some Pacific Nassarius Snails for sale at $1.99 each...We decided to get 10 of those...Hahaha, they are suppose to be good things... Next, vapo wanted to get some peppermint shrimps for his 120G SW tank because of the aiptasias in the tank...hmm... The price for the Peppermint Shrimps was previously 3 for $19.99...Hehehe...vapo wanted to see if he could get those at the price again... It worked!! vapo called K to see if he wanted some peppermint shrimps (since we would be heading over to his place afterwards) and he said yeah (coz of the cheap price, I think)... :) So we got 6...

At the cash, the girl behind the cash register was not particularly bright so we really weren't responsible for their loss... :)

Next, we went over to K's place to give him the purple lika starfish $20 and the peppermint shrimps 3 for $19.99...Also, vapo needed help with gluing the overflow containers back which we got from another fellow fishperson for free! :) So from K, vapo got back $43 (the $3 is the tax from the peppermint shrimps)... :) K also gave us some food to feed the corals and/or fishes...To us, they looked more like curry powder... :P Hopefully, no one will eat it thinking it's curry...hahaha... But thanks K!

We went to BA Ken afterwards to see what was there...By that time, it was past 1pm so we were a bit hungry... :) so we got hot dogs at the hot dog stand outside the store...it was good...at least, I gobbled mine up quickly... :P I guess I was hungry...Haha... We got some Margerite Hermit Crabs for $1.99 each...so we got 5 of those... :) They looked pretty good I must say...

We went over to Can. Tire on McCowan and Sheppard to buy some X'mas lights... They are $14.99 + tax and 9' long. We made sure to get the transparent outer plastic with blue LED inside. This is good for moonlights and it looks nice too when turned on... :) So it was a good deal... :)

All the snails and peppermint shrimps went into the 120G SW tank... :) They all landed in there alright... Mission accomplished... :)

On a more personal note, I always enjoy my fish trips with vapo and it is something I look forward to... :)

Purchases:

Pacific Nassarius Snails: 10 for $20 (1 for $1.99)
Peppermint Shrimps: 6 for $40 (3 for $19.99)
Margerite Hermit Crabs: 5 for $10 (1 for 1.99)
Blue LED X'mas lights: $14.99

TOTAL: $84.99

Money Received from K's purchases:

Purple Linka Starfish: $20
Peppermint Shrimps: $23 (including tax)

TOTAL: $43.00

So today, we made $20 from the BA purchase... :) and got $43 back from K for the things we got for him from another fish person and BA Miss... Woohoo...so it wasn't a bad day in terms of savings...... :) WOOHOO!!!! OOOSSSHH!

Aiptasia .... MY GOSH

2005-11-19T00:52:00.000-05:00

So i was tank watching tonight and found out that the new batch of 2nd hand LR i got actually have aiptasia... ARRRRRRR.... I tried hard not to add peppermint shrimps in my tank because they will eat all my brown soft featherdusters, but looks like I do not have a choice but to buy them again... *sigh*.. those LR from cam were great b/c of all those little featherdusters... damn aiptasia....

Know where I can find cheap peppermint shrimps?

So many things to watch out for buying 2nd hand LR:

copper used
phosphate level in tank water
nitrate level in water
aiptasia
brown flat algae
avoid FOWLR LR
flat worms

More LR in the 120G SW Tank

2005-11-17T23:44:00.000-05:00

Tonight, vapo and I (I helped some) rearranged and placed M's LR we got from him on Tuesday into the 120G SW tank. M's LR weighs approximately 70lbs with some big and small pieces...which is good to stack and play around with... :) It took us amost 2 hours but that's ok...I don't mind helping him...

Next, vapo added more ro water to the tank to bring the salinity back down...

I saved a zebra hermit crab crawling on the floor! :) He is one lucky fella... :)

The look of the tank afterwards was worth it...I am sure vapo is pretty pleased with the progress thus far... I'm glad... :)

I think I can sit in front of the tank and just look at it... I suppose it means a lot to me since vapo and I started and worked on it since the beginning together...

Salinity: 1.024

Drowned new LR

2005-11-16T21:34:00.000-05:00

So for the phosphate test:
new LR in 120G tank water for a day, PO4=0.25,NO3=5
20G Kitchen PO4=0.25
120G with PO4 sponge = 0

LR + LS + other goodies

2005-11-15T23:32:00.000-05:00

So tonight, vapo and I headed into mississauga to pick up some live rocks and sand and other goodies from a fellow fish person, M.

It was dark and raining hard and the traffic was moving slow... Something funny that we noticed was that the houses jumped by 6's...meaning 2046 to 2052... :P That isn't something we are use to in Scarberia... :P It feels like 3 houses were missing inbetween the numbers...hahaa...

Anyways, once at M's, we picked up live sand and live rock, got some macro algae for free, 2 cleaner shrimps, 1 regal blue tang (for another fishperson), 1 purple linka starfish (for a good friend K, also a fishperson...M decided to give it to us for free, yeah!) and some miracle mud...

The total cost for all this stuff was: $290

Live Rocks + Live Sand: $200
2 Cleaner Shrimps: $30
1 Purple Linka Starfish: $20 (M said it was free but I guess he ended up charging us) :P
1 Regal Blue Tank: $40
Bunch of Macro Algae: FREE!!!

Afterwards, we had to meet up with the person who wanted the regal blue tang to give it to him...We met up him near the Sheppard subway station...and by this time, it was still raining and very windy... Luckily, he went through with the transaction and vapo got back $40... :) C wasn't able to pick up his linka starfish so vapo is keeping it in his tank for the time being... :P I hope it doesn't go bye bye... :)

Finally, we went back to vapo's place to put the things in their appropriate places... :)

===================================================================

Tests for M's Water (that we purchased the livestock in):

Salinity: 1.032
Ammonia: 0mg/L
Nitrite: 0.3mg/L
Nitrate: 0mg/L
pH: 8.1
phosphate: 0.25mg/L
Calcium: 430mg/L

Hopefully, the phosphate will go away since vapo has the rocks and sand running in his (old) 120G SW tank water...will have to check up on that...

vapo sifted through the sand for any rocks and foreign materials...and he has the rocks and sand running with filters and heaters ...

As for the 2 cleaner shrimps and linka starfish, vapo has put them in his 20G SW tank in the kitchen (for now)...He has also placed some macro algae in the 20G tank as well in the breeder box...

Maintenance: Nov. 14, 2005 (evening): 120G and 20G

2005-11-14T23:51:00.000-05:00

Maintenance - 20G SW Tank

Place the chilli red (aka leather) in the 20G SW tank
Changed 20% water for the 20G SW tank in the kitchen
Took out some mushrooms and ricordeas to be placed in the 120G SW tank

Maitenance - 120G SW Tank

Pour old water from the 20G SW tank to the 120G SW tank
Placed some mushrooms and ricordeas from the 20G SW tank to the 120G SW tank

Chilli Red

2005-11-14T22:38:00.000-05:00

Today, vapo called up a fellow fish person J who is lives in downtown Toronto...to check out his tanks and what fishes and corals he has to sell... :) vapo only did that coz he was in his downtown office...otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered... :P until J's shipment from Indonesia comes next week... ;) J says it is postponed to arrive on Monday...but unfortunately, vapo won't be in town that week...

vapo purchased a chilli red, at least that is what J says it is but seriously, vapo thinks it looks like a leather instead... LOL and it only costs $20! So that was still a pretty good deal... I love the colour, it's very sharp and i think vapo thinks so too; that's why he got it... :)

Purchase of the Day:

Chilli Red (aka Leather): $20

Maintenance (TESTS) for Nov. 13, 2005 (afternoon): 120G SW Tank

2005-11-13T23:53:00.000-05:00

120G SW Tank:

Salinity: 1.025

Note: vapo added some ro water to the 120g sw tank to bring the salinity level down from 1.026 to 1.025 which is ideal

A few minutes at BA North York

2005-11-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning started out alright...vapo had lunch with his family and I ate with mine... Then he came over to my place to pick me up...

We headed on over to BA North York to check it out. We have not been there in a long time... In fact, we never had anything to buy there... :P We just go there and complain about their livestock and display tanks, basically... LOL Which is all good fun...

One of the display tanks was infested with red flatworms... It is so bad that it's scary...shocking to say the least... However, today we saw the tank didn't have as many flatworms as we previously noticed... I think they replaced a few of the rocks with other things such as button polyps... :P I must say, it looks better...doesn't look as contaminted...

Needless to say, we didn't stay long there since we had nothing to buy...and we had finished our complaining... :)

Shipment deemed a disappointing one

2005-11-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Today, vapo and I woked up early to go to RR because they had a new shipment that came in yesterday. We saw some pictures of the some of the corals which were mainly ricordeas. I must say, they were beautiful and definitely very rare...at least I've never seen these before even vapo felt the same...and he know his stuff too... :P For me, I love colours and more colours...that's why I love zoos... :) They have so many different colours you wouldn't believe it... :P

So anyways, we made our journey into the 'sauaga area quite early and we got there a few minutes before 10am and RR was open already! Have to open early since many fish people were there... Honestly, I was expecting a lineup on a Saturday morning... LOL :)

Okay, so we went in expecting to see very beautiful and rare ricordeas... However, that was not the case. We were disappointed to see there were no ricordea colour explosions...which would have been eye candy for our eyes... :) All we saw were green ricordeas and more green ricordeas...how disappointing... :( I guess some die hard ricordea fans got their hands on them last night... :P but still, it proved to be disappointing considering we woked up early and droved all the way from scarberia to the 905 area...

However, vapo did manage to see a ricordea he liked and asked for my opinion...It was very green (which I liked) and I liked it too... :) so we got that after spending an hour at RR...haha... There were soooo many fish people there roaming the 2 isles that it got pretty crowded at times... :) Haha, I guess it was okay since people were sticking there hands in the big open rectangular tanks picking and looking at the corals... I say the owners were too busy and allowed for us to self-serve ourselves... :P Either that or they really don't mind... :P

The green ricordea was $120 since it was a colony... :)

Purchase:

Green Ricordea Colony on a Rock: $120

===================================================================

Vapo decided to put the green ricordea in the 120G SW Tank to see whether it will survive or not...so far it seems to be okay... :P

Maintenance (TESTS) for Nov. 12, 2005 (evening): 120G SW Tank

2005-11-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

120G SW Tank Tests

Time: 7:40pm

Temperature: ~24.2C
Specific Gravity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0 mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1 mg/L
Nitrate: 0 mg/L
Phosphate: 0 mg/L
pH: 8.1
Calcium: 420 mg/L
Alkalinity: 2.2 meq/L

Maintenance (TESTS) for Nov. 12, 2005 (midnight)

2005-11-12T00:30:00.000-05:00

120G SW Tank

Salinity: 1.026

=====================================================================

10G SW Breeding Clowns' Tank

Salinity: 1.027

=====================================================================
20G SW Tank

Salinity: 1.026
Things appear to be normal and stable...

Steal of the day...literally!

2005-11-11T19:17:00.000-05:00

Vapo and I headed to BA Ken's after work... It get's dark early now and probably because it's a friday night, there weren't many fish people in the store... :P

We went downstairs to check on the sky blue and green carpet anemones and the sky blue anemone is healthier...and its colour is a lot more blue and less neon... In fact, it looks healthy! You can tell that by its closed mouth... :P Its mouth is sealed tight... LOL It was only last week did we see it with its mouth wide open and looking like it will die soon... We are pleased to say that we will get it (maybe) if the 120G tank is ready... ;) Of course, vapo will do more research on neon coloured anemones and asking people lot's of questions...

Are neon coloured anemones dyed?

Now to the steal of the day... vapo noticed something funny... he saw zebra hermit crabs for
2/$2.99 in one fo the saltwater tanks...at least that is what the labels says on the tank...and there are only zebra hermit crabs in the tank... :P Looking closely at the zebra hermit crabs, their legs are black and orange stripes! vapo told me he never seen that before, he's only seen zebra hermit crabs with black and white stripes! I told him, "Those aren't zebra hermit crabs! They are tiger hermit crabs!" That got a good laugh from vapo... :P

We both agreed that these were definitely much more expensive than zebra hermit crabs...so we got them quickly, hoping no one knows it's real worth... :)

We literally walked out the doors with silly smiles... :D

Steal of the Day:

4 zebra(tiger?) hermit crabs : 2 for $2.99 4 for $5.98

Total Cost: $6.88

==================================================================

120G SW Tank: Livestock Addition => 4 zebra hermit crabs

Equipment Addition => 2x400W MH light + 2 NO Fluorescent Cover

Maintence (TO DO) for Nov. 11, 2005

2005-11-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

To do list:

1. Cut frags for a fellow hobbyist (met up at vapo's place)

2. Changed water for the 20G SW tank in the kitchen

3. Changed water for 10G SW tank

4. Changed water for 120G SW tank

5. Cut and taped the black background to the 120G SW tank in the basement

6. Rearranged the rocks to a better position

7. Put the 2x400W MH light + 2 NO fluorescent cover on top of the 120G SW tank which is the final setup for the tank

******************************COMPLETED*********************************

MAST Meeting and a Sweet Acro Deal

2005-11-09T22:13:00.000-05:00

Vapo is at the MAST meeting right now having a blast with so many fellow SW fish people around... :) The meeting takes place every second Wednesday of each month... :)

I wonder what he picked up from the auction... The last I heard from him was that he was planning to buy lot's... :P

===================================================================

NEWS UPDATE ON VAPO!!!!!

I just talked to Vapo on the phone and he excitedly told me (in a flurry) he purchased an ACRO frag for a low low price of $15!!!!!! Woohoo!!!! You can't find that kind of price for an ACRO (even if it's a frag) anywhere! It's pinkish purple and very nice looking... :) So that was Vapo's highlight of the day/night... :) I think he is pretty pleased with his frag...

Knowing him, I am positive that he would have gotten it...haha... I'm surprised he only got one thing but it's all good since he can save money for something else... ACRO is something he never tried his hands on and I know he would love to try but ACROS are expensive and at such a LOW price, how can he not buy it? :P His hands are itching for it... ;) Now, we just hope it will survive in his 20G SW tank with only a power compact as lights...before it migrates to his 120G SW tank in December... :) Hopefully, it will last that long...just have to put it up high in the tank...and watch it...

Keep your fingers crossed!

Purchase:

ACRO frag $15

Hurray for Good Deals!

2005-11-08T22:06:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Vapo was suppose to purchase IO 160G Salt and a few overfill containers and tube from a fellow SW fish person, L... I met up with Vapo at the proposed location for the transaction and L shows up...with a surprise... :) Supposedly, L asked for $50 for the salt and $25 for the containers...He decided, what the heck, he will give the containers to us for free!!!!! That's a $25 saving...to be used elsewhere... LOL

Next, we went to PJPC and saw some fishes and plants there, along with a few very cute puppies and rabbits but nothing too interesting in the aquatics department... We find the prices are a bit on the high side...

After that, we headed on over to AquaP because they had a new coral and fish shipment today...Interestingly enough, there was a fish we never saw before. The owner of the store said it is a potter fish (can't remember its name exactly) but it was small and beautiful with snake looking patterns. I can't imagine how expensive it will cost to buy it since the owner said he wanted to get another one but the fish was too expensive so he only got one... @_@ Other than that, the corals and the other fishes were about the same...

Of course, Vapo used the $25 he saved from the overflow containers to purchase a blood shrimp for $26 (discounted already)... :) and it is indeed a lot cheaper than most other LFS... :) in fact, he only had to chip in $1... because he saved the $25 from the previous transaction earlier tonight...if you think about it that way... ;)

I think Vapo was pretty please with his purchases and savings tonight, I am glad... :)

Purchases:

IO 160G Salt $50
Overflow Containers and Tubing FREE!
Blood Shrimp $26

Total Cost: $76

Big shipment week

2005-11-07T19:23:00.000-05:00

Seems like RR or perhaps NAFB might have shipment this weekend... gotta save up tons of $ to spend... too bad the 120G is not ready for primetime... waiting...

Purchases of the Day

2005-11-06T15:26:00.001-05:00

Vapo and I had trouble finding the background for his 120G tank which he purchased from AquaP a long time ago... I wonder where it went... @_@ Vapo found a good deal for gravel filters last night... :) ...which can be used to change water... ah ha!

So today, we went to BA Ken to pick up 2 gravel sucker (short and long) from a fellow fish person...The tubing in itself was a good deal.

The total cost for both short and long gravel filters: $10.00

Next, we went back to AquaP to buy 5 feet of background...We decided to use the black background for the tank but we would have preferred purple... :) vapo also got some mysis shrimp... The total cost?

Total Cost for 5 feet background and mysis shrimp: $20.00

After that, we went back to Vapo's place to change both his FW tanks...and to do some grass/plant cutting... :) Have more grass/plant cuttings to sell... Woohoo...

I say it's a jungle in his 7G plant tank... :)

Test Results for the 120G Tank

2005-11-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

These test results are the most up-to-date as I only did them today at around 12am... :) It has been a week since I've tested the tank and these are the findings:

Specific Gravity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0 mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1 mg/L
Nitrate: 5 mg/L
Phosphate: 0 mg/L
pH: 7.9
Calcium: N/A (can not test since we ran out of Ca #3)

Temperature: ~24.4 C

The conclusion? Not much fluctuation in the test results since last week except for a lower pH level of 0.2... So far, the tank seems to be doing alright...

Need Refills For:

Calcium: Ca #3

Addition To The Tank:

30lbs of LR

More Live Rocks for the 120G Tank

2005-11-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

Today started out well with breakfast/lunch (brunch?) at a local Hong Kong style cafe. Then we went off to AquaP to look at fishies and corals...seems like they have a lot more stock in the store since the last time we visited... :) It's actually getting pretty crowded! Anyways, there wasn't much to buy there so we left after awhile...

After that, we went to BA Ken's and there were quite a few people there already... The find for the day?

Sky Blue Carpet Anemone $129.99

Now that was beautiful, I've never seen one in that colour and so sky blue looking! H has, in his friend's tank but his friend only has a minature version of it... :P But it's all good...

Next we went on our mission for today...to pick up/purchase live rocks from C... Of course, we had to call first since C is notoriously known to be sleeping by someone... :) He was home that day and we happily and eagerly went over to his place. Once there, we bumped into a a buyer, after they left another buyer (a chinese family) came over...and coincidently enough, we met this family last week at C's place and at AquaP... :P It is indeed a small world but to me, I find it kind of warming... Fish people are so nice and they really wanna help you, they will give you so many tips and helpful information... H is like that and I love it... :)

Both H and I went and surveyed all the rocks available and finally picked 30lbs of LR at $4/lb... :) It's a pretty good considering we picked up so pretty large flat pieces... :) The cost for today?

Live Rock: 30lbs
$4/lb
====
$120

After that, we decided to go to SuperP to look around and they didn't have their new flyer out yet so nothing much to see... We did a quick look around and left... :)

Next we went back to H's place to finish up with the rocks and to do more fish stuff and watch tv... :D

Now that is what I enjoy and love doing with H...nothing special, nothing fancy just very comfortable, warm and happy...

A week with no food?!

2005-11-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

Today is day 2 since vaporize left for Montreal. He won't be back until Friday. I wonder how the fishes and corals are doing with no to minimal food... @_@ Especially the sun polyp in the 20G tank as it needs a special feeding regimen... :P The most maintenance required and with the highest possibility of casualties are the SW tanks...The FW tanks should be alright as they have been around for at least 8 months now... Hopefully, they will survive and there won't be any casualties...as vaporize and I have seen too many in the tanks already... Unless we can revive them...the corals, I mean... :) I doubt vaporize or I are ready to give CPR to the fishes...or to pump their hearts... :) But I really hope that nothing dies and everything is all nice and happy when vapo returns...

BA Ken Finds... :)

2005-10-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

Here are some latest BA Ken finds for the day:

(1) Neon Green Carpet $100
(2) 29G Perfecto Tank 30x12x18 $45

Also, we had to return 40lbs Carib Sea Seaflor Grey Sand at $59.99... :) We had to do it quickly before they caught us... :P

20G Ich Treament .... failed

2005-10-30T01:44:00.000-05:00

After using "No Sick Fish" medicine extensively for 2 weeks in my 20G tank. It does not seem like ich is totally healed.... so $75 spent might not be a good idea overall. Talking to C~m and other hobbist, ich in reef tank might be best to leave it on their own ... let them get healthy themselves... so that's what I am going to do.

My leaky seaclone is turned back on to skim some of $h!t I have in my tank for 2 weeks, probably do water change tomorrow before I go to YUL. Let's see what fish is left when I do come back from trip... historic information was not too optimistic.

JL's Coralife 500 Reactor Package

2005-10-30T01:38:00.000-05:00

This seems like a reasonable priced calcium reactor, including everything except pH meter for $500, that's like a lot cheaper than the standard ones out there for $1000. Even a friend of mine was selling his for 700 for DIY premade, so might not be a bad deal for a brand new one. I will check with aquapet to see if they can match such a price, perhaps x'mas sales will be much cheaper... woohoo.... K said that with very high sps stocking level, kalk dripping might not be enough.... so maybe I should spend on a 500gallon calcium reactor.... ... that probably means I have to change the design of my sump a bit... hmmm.... home hardware to cut baffles..
------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/creactor.php?product_ID=CR-C0500P

Coralife 500 Calcium Reactor Package includes all the equipment you need to get started. In addition to the reactor (see specs below) you will receive:
1-Brass Dual Gauge Regulator
1-High Precision Needle Valve
1-Solenoid Valve
1-10lb Aluminum CO2 cylinder

All for one great low price!

Reactor Information:
-Easy-Twist CA+ Reactor Chamber Cover (3” dia.) with pH Probe/Sensor Inlet Fitting
-Integrated Clear CO2 Bubble Counter and CO2 Check Valve
-Reactor Intake Media Strainer
-3’ Water Supply Input Tubing with Strainer
-Water Supply Control Valve
-Removable Self-Priming External Pump Clear Water-Flow Indicator Chamber
-3’ CA+ Reactor Output Tubing
Compact High-Grade Acrylic Construction Dimensions: 10" x 6" x 15"

Coralife 500 Reactor Package $427.25
Caribsea A.R.M. Reactor Media $18.95
---------------------------------------
Total: 446.40
Tax: 31.25
Shipping: 14.45
Order Total: $492.10

Salt and Coral Purchases

2005-10-29T21:32:00.000-04:00

Items purchased from C:

(1) 2 - 160G buckets of Instant Ocean Salt @ $50 each so $50x2=$100
(2) 1 - Orange Riccordia on a Rock @ $25

Total: $125

Seems like C is doing well on his sales... :) Many items are on hold or to be picked up... :P

Another minus $125 - which is not too bad

2005-10-29T20:05:00.000-04:00

Today ain't exactly what I call an interesting day but standard Saturday that starts with lunch & more LFS fish watching. Went over to Dufferin and surf down the traffic to the eM and checked out things, nothing in particular impressive but the stocking is pretty well and carries a wide range of things. The particular thing I see was:
Indo Rose bubble tip - $80, Green bubblte tip - $65, Seahare $35

Maybe I will dummy feed mine to make them split one day to support my future tank inhibitants.

The trip to C is always great, lots of chatting and fish talk. Traffic sucks thou coming back at Yorkdale, highly recommended people to take local instead of going from Dufferin to 401...

Hopefully I get more ricordias from RR next week. Hopefully PC got his macro from the freebieland ;-D

Spending:

($125) - Ricordia + I.O.Salt
$10 - Riccia plants sold

Miscellanous Water Test (C):
Ammonia 0, nitrite 0.1, nitrate 5, phosphate 0, pH 7.9, seems all good to go.

120G SW Tank

2005-10-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

Specific Gravity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0 mg/L
Nitrite: 0.1 mg/L
Nirtate: 5 mg/L
Phosphate: 0 mg/L
pH: 8.1
Calcium 380 mg/L
Temperature: ~24.9 C

Tank Inhibitant:
2 blueleg hermit, 1 zebra hermit

Action Perform:
- Berlin skimmer on full air input
- Eheim with phostphate absorber running
- Added LR from existing 20G tall tank to start off cycling