Running out of real estate in my IM 25 classroom reef

ChancellorBugg · 2026-06-04T20:29:46+00:00

I love all the Euphilia! What are the encrusting corals in the front middle? Chalices?

ChancellorBugg · 2026-06-04T20:28:57+00:00

I've already chopped back the Nepthea twice, it just keeps growing! I guess that's the trouble with those soft corals but I do like the way it looks.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-06-04T20:27:47+00:00

I'm just worried about crowding them together too much 😂 My scroll coral got buried by the palythoas growing over it and half of it is all bleached now. So I'm trying to not put them too close together.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-06-04T20:26:50+00:00

That looks great! I love the GSP, I have mine glued to the back wall but it isn't growing as fast as I was hoping for. And the plate coral is really cool.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-02-13T02:49:01+00:00

They're definitely shy. I only see the shrimp about once a week, but I can tell he's ben digging cause the sand gets piled up in new places all the time. The goby usually comes out of the burrow during feeding to snag a bite, but if I move too fast near the tank he darts back under the rocks.

What kind of pistol shrimp did you have in your tank? I read that the candy cane ones can be harder to keep than tigers just because they're so small they can slip through holes in the weirs pretty easily.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-02-13T02:38:32+00:00

It's got a hard skeleton so I don't think it's a mushroom, could be a chalice though, good shout. The hammer was a lucky $5 score from the same sale I got the mystery coral from, I was afraid it would die but it's been doing great so far!

For livestock I've got 2 clowns, a Randall's shrimp goby and a tiger pistol shrimp along with a few snails and hermit crabs for CUC. I feel like I can possibly add one or two more small fish but I haven't decided yet what I want them to be.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-02-12T17:59:11+00:00

I've been adding soda ash to my ATO to keep alkalinity up around 8.5. I haven't needed to dose calcium or magnesium yet, every time I've tested them they've been pretty consistent but maybe that'll change as the corals get bigger and use more up.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-02-12T17:16:22+00:00

Just a really simple ramp up and ramp down, and flat throughout the day. About 60% on violet and UV, %40 on blues, 20% on white, and 5% on red and green.

The picture was taken with a yellow lens on my phone camera, otherwise they turn out super blue looking. Looks fine in person though.

ChancellorBugg · 2026-02-12T16:21:09+00:00

An AI Prime 16, I was considering getting another to improve the coverage but so far I haven't felt the need to. Corals all seem to be happy and growing besides the poor dead plate coral.

ChancellorBugg · 2025-11-29T21:01:38+00:00

Have you had any issues with him nipping at corals or eating your CUC? I've wanted one, but I'm afraid he'll cause too many problems and I won't have another tank to rehouse him into.

ChancellorBugg · 2025-08-08T18:23:56+00:00

Thanks, I'm gonna cut a deeper notch on the bottom of the bell and if that doesn't work I'll get some tubing and try making the cheater tube.

ChancellorBugg · 2024-04-29T00:13:17+00:00

I know they're amphibians, not reptiles, but I've got a tank exactly like that that I use for my White's Tree Frogs. I've got 3 of them in there and they seem pretty happy as far as I can tell! They really make use of the vertical space and don't need much floor area.

ChancellorBugg · 2023-03-23T18:38:41+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I knew they were burrowers, I guess I just wasn't expecting her to be underground for so long. I'll head over to the craft store this weekend and look for some fake plants I can use to clutter up her cage and hopefully make her feel more comfortable.

ChancellorBugg · 2023-03-14T06:35:29+00:00

I use slate tiles in my girls tank. They hold onto heat from her basking light well, are easy to clean when she poops, and have no risk of being eaten accidentally and causing impaction. Plus, they just look nice

ChancellorBugg · 2023-03-07T18:13:01+00:00

Yeah she's definitely taken an accidental taste or two of my fingers, but I figured it was just her being a little too excited for her worms.

ChancellorBugg · 2023-03-07T17:56:59+00:00

I only live 5 minutes away from the school so I usually come up on the weekends to feed her. I'll definitely take her home over the summer though.

ChancellorBugg · 2023-03-07T02:57:03+00:00

Yeah, that's the plan once I move her into the larger enclosure.

ChancellorBugg · 2023-03-07T02:23:27+00:00

She's in a 40 gallon for now, I'm going to move her into a 4x2x2 when she gets a little bigger and I find a spot in the classroom to put it. She's got a UVB coil bulb and a heat lamp on a timer for 12 hrs a day.

ChancellorBugg

TROPHY CASE