We're officially on month 11 of the project, can I get a whoop. Unfortunately, I do not expect eggs this year. Let me explain.
It all began in April of 2022, when I purchased my initial broodstock pieces at the Aquatic Expo. My lack of thought lead to me putting the corals in the tank right away, which would normally be just fine. However, one of the animals had an
Aiptasia stowing away on the base, and soon after the tank became infested with aiptasia anemones. Normally I'd just get a peppermint shrimp for this, however the aips were in the pipes and in my pumps, so no amount of biological weaponry would stop them.
Fast forward to September, and here's the dilemma. If I kept on going with my temperature and photoperiod cycles, there's no way I could prevent the remaining
Aiptasia from spawning as well, and the aip pips would no doubt overcome the
Cynarina pips! So I decided to halt my seasonal swings and await the proper time to dismantle the tank and start over. In November discouragement took root, I started getting lazy, all the good things, and I eventually shelved the project for a few months, moving the
Cynarina into my other nano tank for the time being while I waited for the right time to re-run their tank.
In that nano, in which a
Fungia had begun dying a few weeks prior, all five of my remaining animals contracted some sort of wasting disease, which particularly affected my two smallest and the largest one. Another 3 months of me not paying attention and here we are, back at square -1.
As of last night, I have started treating all five (and an LTA) with a medium dose of Ciprofloxacin, which I will maintain over the next week or until the dears are looking better. In the meantime, I will be photographing their progress and filming the process of the tank reset on the main system.
Tank is set up beside my Pinguicula propagation tank.
Now comes the fun part, making a new plan.
_I'm going to install a proper krisel in-between the tank and sump to collect eggs as they flow through the system. I forgot to plan for this in the initial build.
-The center baffle in the sump also collapsed, rendering it pretty much useless until I can repair it. I have no room for a grow out area anymore so tweaks will have to be made.
-A light with better controllability will be needed, so I'm going to be swapping my Noopsyche to another tank and replacing it with an old AI Sol. This can be tweaked and reprogrammed far easier.
-I will be considering flow direction in addition to lighting and temperature to further mimic seasonal currents.
-Current rock and sand will be replaced with new dry rock & barebottom to keep the tank cleaner.
-Biological filtration in the way of filter feeding organisms will be employed to a greater degree.
I've experimented with using filter feeders to collect waste.
So thank y'all for sticking around so long. Though I may not get pips this year, I will hopefully have the framework ready for them by next spring. Expect great things in the coming year.
Have a wonderful day and God bless.
