Octopus Proofing a Red Sea Max 250

[QueenB]

I use a Plastic Kitty Doody Scoopy to sift the round substrate up. Glad to finally see something going on in the tank other then water flowing.

I'm gonna add a few pieces of my live rock in today. As soon as I can decide on what pieces are heavy enough, and nice looking enough. I bought a beautiful piece of LR a few weeks ago to put in there because it had some gorgeous mushrooms on it. Unfortunately it now has baby red anemone's coming in on the same rock.
The home seller I bought it from had some that were enormous and gorgeous. They didn't look to be Bubble tip though, the strings are long and not bubbled like I norm see in my LFS. I would like to have maybe one of these kept in my spare 29g tank, depending on how large it actually gets. I have found four 1 & 1/2 inch anemone's on that rock, and 1 that moved off that rock onto my main piece going into the Octo setup. So a total of 5. Not sure how to move it without damaging it.
My 29g looks so crowded with all the mushrooms on the Lg. LR and some sort of Tree looking coral. Was really pretty, couldn't refuse it for $10 bucks. Also bought a Purple/Red Torch Coral, and a purple Ricordia Mushroom with some kind of spikey thing on it. I'll include some photos. Just to get some color in this journal. lol

 

[QueenB]

Look who grew his arm back! Soon as I stick a shrimp on a stick and it goes in that tank, he comes right out. But too fast for me to get an actual full body shot. I just may name him Speedy Gonzales. My blue leg Hermit got his legs back too since we traded the 6 line wrasse in on some small coral pieces. So body parts are surely growing back. I feel bad for them since I've had them for so long. But no worries on the Octo food, I won't have time to get attached to them. LFS has been getting in fiddlers every week.

 

[QueenB]

Please excuse the tank its a tad crowdy looking. Mainly cause of the net and the small refuge. There is small mushrooms and a red Anemone I just found while taking the photos. I didn't want them to get lost in the tank or filtration. I have so much Purple Algae all over everything. Especially the main piece for the Octo tank.

 

[DWhatley]

For whatever reason, spring always seems to bring lots of algae. I don't know if it is the attitude of the sun through the windows (not all the tanks face the same windows though) or something to do with the pollen in the air but every March my tanks grow so much of it that by the end of the week the glass is covered.

 

[iAlex]

I have a lobster too! Is yours active in the daytime at all?

 

[QueenB]

He is more active now that we took out the 6 line wrasse. Poor little guy. It's now a 29g Lobster Condo with 2 Clown fish roomies. lol We're moving the specific LR to the Octo tank, and rearranging the rock in his tank now so that it will be less crowded today. I'll take photos tonight, after we're done Octoscaping the RSM. lol

 

[QueenB]

Hail balls from the tornado that just missed us last week. I've never seen them this big before. Thank god we have a garage. Neighbors car needs a new windshield and body work done now.

 

[QueenB]

A quick photo of the 29g Biocube as we moved the main pieces I wanted in the RSM out.

The lg. Mushroom piece may be moved to the RSM once the tank is completely cycled. I'm debating, but thats where it is supposed to go. I'm trying to figure out how to get the anemone's off without hurting them. I was trying to lay a few pieces of LR on top of them to block our some of the light hoping they would move, but so far no such luck. Since I moved the shroom piece, I've found 5 more heads underneath. If they survive in the big tank, I'm gonna need new homes for them. They will surely take over the 29g tank.

I'm gonna email the seller I got the rock from on Craigslist and hope he sends a name and photo of what his look like now. they were so vibrant and RED. lol

 

[Joe-Ceph]

This is a new topic, so you should have started a new thread instead of hijacking this one. What category? I would say "Culture", or "Arts and Crafts". Just look through the list of forum categories and pick what seems most appropriate.

 

[iAlex]

That video was posted here awhile ago.

 

[QueenB]

Ok I have a new photo to post that has my RSM 250 in the background, but I finally finished my project. It looks nice in there, seems a bit crowded so we're talking about moving a wall section and opening it up a bit more. We didn't realize how big the table actually was until it was setup. but the tank is really coming along. Next photos I have a few questions.

 

[DWhatley]

Looking stellar! Love the table. There is an octopus one that I covet that has a similar base. You probably won't regret the bit of extra table space. Moving walls is never fun but the results are worth it. Keep in mind that you will need to fully cover the tank AND any filtration when you are tearing down or sheet rock sanding.

 

[QueenB]

I have tiny floaty things all over the glass that look like amphipods but super tiny. Been feeding the tank every night with a few drops of Phyto feast. The snail and few crabs that are in there are loving it, never seen them so active, but then again it's a huge tank and lots of room to play. lol Tank temp is still at 75 with lights on. I have the heater turned off, and the fans are great. 2 of them on each side and 2 in the back constantly blowing with the lights on. Daytime it's 75 with lights on for 10-12 hours. Normally 8:30 AM - 9 PM.

 

[QueenB]

Skimmer has finally started to skim. Forever it just bubbled no frothing of any kind, just tiny bubbles. If your squimish you might want to look away.

After my son's graduation cermony, I'll be on the hunt for a Chiller.

Tried craigslist with selling the old RSM 66g tank, but only a few have looked at it. They didn't care about the tiny crack in the frame, but they wanted the hood pump skimmer off the new one for $225.

I and said "I don't think so."

I'm never gonna be able to get rid of it. lol Husband looks at me each time someone comes and goes, he says "Your not keeping it." and laughs. I swear he is the !

 

[QueenB]

I learned how to set the Digital Thermometer. The guy at the LFS set it for me, but the high temp was 1 degree too high so I set it at 79. So far maintenance on it isn't too bad. It stays really clean and confined. I haven't seen any salt build up on it except the inside of the lid that I wipe off daily. The Skimmer gets pretty nasty and I change it daily. Yes I have calmed down on testing it everyday, I'm down to 4 times a week. Thats not too bad. lol Everything tests fine except Nitrates are up to 10, but Doing a water change this weekend so It should go down.