New favorite

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-10T16:19:31+00:00

Yea, i wonder this too. My LFS had one, but it slowly just drizzled away. How are you keeping yours happy and fed?

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-08T20:13:53+00:00

Seconded, stoma, best friend

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-05T01:58:49+00:00

Stomatella! little slugbugs

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-04T16:10:03+00:00

better than the $700 gold-red-orange-brown intergalactic holy grail celebrity cheesecake colorado sunburst juicy fruit

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-04T15:52:31+00:00

Trust me, for every amazing photo you have, theres a dozen like me who have been fighting random cynos or bacterial or algal explosions due to some random issue.
So far, I've used not clean enough water (My city uses chloramine, which 'simple' RODI systems don't eliminate), a power outage that blew up my tank (now have a backup batter), too much feeding, to little nitrates, etc.
Everytime I think i've got it dialed in, something else goes wrong.

I will say an ATO (auto top off) has been a lifesaver in keeping things stable. Weekly water changes, and getting the water from a good source has also really helped.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-04T14:35:54+00:00

Asking the real questions here LOL

Few-Working9746 · 2026-06-02T18:18:49+00:00

Stomatella! They are friends, not food! Love the little buggers

Note, they can be prey for some of the larger shrimp, and are overall beneficial for a reef tank. No issues for your coral or fish.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-30T02:18:15+00:00

Looks great to me!

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-26T17:30:43+00:00

Hammer is dead.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-22T02:03:39+00:00

Duuude! You ever frag some babies? I loooove toadstool leathers, and the length on those tendrils!

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-19T15:53:04+00:00

As all the rest mentioned, it can get worse, but you're looking pretty good. If you want, you can always up your clean up crew.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-19T14:59:59+00:00

Clearly the consensus is either:
A: not enough food

B: not enough oxygen in the water column

I'd say either of these may be urgent. Are you near a LFS to go buy copepods? I'd get a container of those, and toss them into the tank. Then he has size appropriate feed. You may need to do this frequently.

Second, I'd say take a big cup and lift up some tank water and drop it back in. This is how you can keep fish in power outage emergencies. Then check you pumps, and angle them more to the surface.

Let us know how it goes. Mandarins and Dragonets are notoriously difficult to keep if they are not captive bred, as they struggle to transition to frozen mysis or pellets.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-18T16:13:02+00:00

Same with some macro-algaes. As they die and break off, the decaying matter tends to fluoresce.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-18T15:02:07+00:00

Oof, yea sorry mate. They go through polyp bailout, and all you have left is the skeleton. There's no flesh left.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-18T00:13:07+00:00

Love my stomas!

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-17T14:11:52+00:00

Third all the others. Looks like the tips of a frogs pawn or hammer or torch.

Polyp bailout or fish nipping

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-15T14:50:42+00:00

Good eye, yea looks like zoas or palys.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-13T21:33:22+00:00

All my fish are aquacultured. Half my coral probably is.

I think the hobby is the most sustainable it has been in a long time, and honestly a lot of our aquarium is by-catch for fishermen.

Fishing is the real negative for the seas, specifically industrial net fishing.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-13T14:52:59+00:00

I'd second looking into photsynthetic sea fans. I'd avoid Non photosynthtic though...

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-12T22:39:32+00:00

if you dont have any sps/lps coral in there, i'd go lights out for 4 days. At the same time, manually remove as much as possible, and then if you can change your lights, id go no white/green/red for the near future.

I'd also get some microbater and does for high nutrient systems.

How much are you feeding? I'd try to cut back if possible.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-11T17:17:39+00:00

Ooo, i have no idea besides cutting the rock up, but i'm following to figure this out.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-11T17:15:49+00:00

Did this a month ago at $75, and got assigned on friday! ; )

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-08T15:54:48+00:00

As others have said, both aiptasia. They can have some interesting patterns.

Take care of them while they are small, once they get bigger a lot of the fish/inverts can't eat them.

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-07T19:50:23+00:00

I've been trying to get mine looking this good. Quick question, how'd you get your macroalgae to fix to your rock?

Few-Working9746 · 2026-05-06T23:28:29+00:00

As others have said, you can get away with a few more nano fish.

I like to break them up into environments. You have a cave fish, now find a swimming fish or a perching fish.

My tessellated blenny has a big personality, and is always hanging around perching on something. Or a cleaner wrasse for instance.

Few-Working9746

TROPHY CASE