Myka's 90 gallon build & 3 province move (Pics Feb 6)

[mseepman]

Mindy,

The tank is looking great. You've done a wonderful job of making that tank take shape and made some awesome finds. That Gorg is drool worthy.

[Myka]

Cheers Mark! :)

I took some top downs today just through the water so they aren't that good, but they are kinda perty.

RBTA from The Reef Shoppe:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct2420094.jpg


I know, it's the cap again...but it's so photogenic! The rim glows, especially from top down. Also from The Reef Shoppe:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct2420093.jpg


Acropora squarrosa (?) from Fragalot:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct242009.jpg

Blue polyp pink birdnest originally from Coral Master, but I got the frag from another reefer.
Aug 16 (a couple weeks after I got it):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug222009-Copy.jpg


Today not much growth, but the color is improving. Polyps are just starting to transition purple-ish. 10 weeks time lapse. Oct 24:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct2420096.jpg



Coral Master's Rainbow Stylo (I got it as a frag from another reefer as well).
Aug 16 (two weeks after I first got it):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug1620093-Copy.jpg


Today not much color, but growing like a weed! 10 weeks time lapse. Oct 24:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct2420095.jpg

[Lance]

I really like that Cap. Never seen one like that before.

[hillegom]

I like the RBTA

[Myka]

Can you guys believe I finally hooked up the sump? :eek: Plugged in the EuroReef RS-180 too. There is only one minor leak in the plumbing, but I'm not impressed with my sump design. It's noisy. :neutral:

[mseepman]

Hey Mindy, I'm a firm believe that you are happier with things when you do them twice anyways...:twised:

[Myka]

:lol: But this IS the second sump!! :eek: Remember, I cracked the first one. :D

I have calculated the water space I need in the sump for a power outage, and I may need to make the first baffle shorter so I gain a bit more space. It in 9" deep, and the ER needs to be 6-8" deep. I only have room to prop the skimmer up one more inch...I think I should have made that first baffle 8", and then I can adjust the skimmer from there. I need to glue the bottom of the standpipes too so that the overflow box doesn't drain into the sump.

I'm crossing my fingers the power doesn't go out tonight before I finish up my testing tomorrow...I think I have enough room (even for the slowly draining overflow box), but it would be very close.

[Myka]

Wow, PE is awesome this morning!! :rockon:

Sump built to my specifications by Engineered Aquariums (aka sphelps). Thanks Steve! :)

Sump in action:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct25200910.jpg


Baffle and media rack details. I think I'm going to pull the first baffle, and replace it with a piece that is 8" tall instead off the current 9".
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct25200911.jpg


EuroReef RS-180. Currently sitting in 8 1/2" of water (it's on a rack), and manufacturer specs say 6-8", so it's a bit too deep (and not working as efficiently as it should), but due to my miscalculations, I don't have room under the sump to lift it much more, so I should replace that first baffle so I can get the water level a bit lower on the skimmer.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct252009.jpg

[Myka]

Today's testing results (all Salifert):

Calcium 350 ppm (oops, my dosing is off apparently http://www.zeovit.com/forums/images/smilies/redface.gif )
Alkalinity 8.45 dKH on old kit
Alkalinity 9.45 dKH on new kit
Magnesium 1185 ppm on old kit
Magnesium 1320 ppm on new kit
Nitrate 0.2 ppm (this is not usually detectable)
Phosphate undetectable
Potassium (forgot to test)


So, I have to adjust my dosing. http://www.zeovit.com/forums/images/smilies/redface.gif The new alkalinity kit is interesting because it comes with a 7.4 calibration solution. The new kit reads 7.4, and the old kit reads 6.4, which agrees with the difference in testing above. So that's interesting. I am concerned about the HUGE difference from the old to new magnesium kits. http://www.zeovit.com/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif I tried to retest with the old kit, but I didn't have enough reagent. So now I'm not sure...???

My targets are; calcium 410-420 ppm, alkalinity 8-8.5 dKH, magnesium 1350-1375 ppm.

Current Zeo dosing (changes due to increased water volume):
Sponge Power 1 drop daily
Coral Vitalizer 1 drop daily
Coral Snow 3 mL 2x per week
B-Balance 1 ml daily
Kent Lugol's Solution 1 drop 2x per week
Spur2 1.15 mL every 18 days or so

[Navarchus]

very nice pic's
job well done!

[JDigital]

That RBTA and Cap are absolutely awesome! :mrgreen:

Any FTS pics?

[Reef_surfer]

hey myka im new to the SW world and i think your tank is awsome... i like the pics and hope my tank is half that nice when its finished.. wouldnt mind stopping by sometime to ask some questions and maybe take a look at the tank since you have been in the hobby for quit sometime

[Myka]

The weirdest thing happened on Sunday night/Monday morning...half of one of my Lobos disintegrated. :eek: For no apparent reason. All other corals look great. There was nothing on the coral that I could see. Weird that only half of it died too. The flesh just fell off. So far the other half looks great, like nothing ever happened. Weird... I will post a couple pics later today (no time right now). You can see it (the green/pink Lobo) in the photo posted below between the Red Open Brain and the Red Lobo (I wish I had a program that would allow me to circle it). that was taken on Sunday afternoon, and you can see that the upper half is shrunken, and the bottom half is puffy. The shrunken part is the part that suddenly died.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the comments everyone. :D

Reef surfer...ya you can come by to check it out. I'm on-call working this week and weekend though, so it's not a good time now, but after that would be ok. Send me PM in a week or so.

Here J:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct2520092.jpg

[fishytime]

That sucks Mindy....did you have a fluctuation in one of your params?

[Myka]

My big three do fluctuate...I need to get on dosing more often. :neutral: As per my last testing (Sunday) my Calcium was down to 350, with alk up at 9.45 dKH. :eek: Mag was only a tad low at 1320 ppm. So I did bump calcium up...probably to 400 (I should test again). I'm still getting used to dosing the bigger tank, plus the demands keeping going up as I add corals all the time, and I have used a couple different products (with different concentrations) as I'm trying to use up a bunch of container bottoms. Maybe I should quit digging my own grave, and get my [poop] together! :crazyeye:

The most notable thing is that with the Poseidon now inline the temp is 2 degrees higher than before. Instead of 79-82 (lights off-lights on) it is now 81-84, which is much higher than I like it. I prefer it to stay under 80, but with halides and a Poseidon that is tough! I don't have any fans though, so I have them on the list of things to do asap (shoulda grabbed a couple when I was in Walmart today...dangit).

Whatever the case, I find it very odd that only one coral was affected when the rest of my corals are showing greater polyp extension than ever. I'm confused...

Another :twised: today...I found half a dozen Monti-Eating Nudis munching on one of my Montis. So I will have to keep a close watch on the Montis for the next few weeks. :snipersm:

With all the changes in the tank, plus the die-off of the Lobo I am having a diatom outbreak. :neutral: At least that is an easy fix! :p

Here's a pic of the damage to the Lobo:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct262009.jpg

[Snappy]

My big three do fluctuate...I need to get on dosing more often. I'm still getting used to dosing the bigger tank, plus the demands keeping going up as I add corals all the time,
For what it's worth Mindy to keep my parameters up I dose alk & ca (Randy's 2part) at a rate of 45ML per hour 24/7:razz:

Another :twised: today...I found half a dozen Monti-Eating Nudis munching on one of :snipersm:my Montis. So I will have to keep a close watch on the Montis for the next few weeks. If you have some keep an eye on any scroll (turbinaria reniformis) corals, they eat those too.

[don.ald]

does anything eat the nudi's---what are you going to do to eradacate them?

[Snappy]

does anything eat the nudi's---what are you going to do to eradacate them?
In my experience you need to remove manually.

[QuadrantKhan]

Any updates to your little tank crisis? Hope the corals stopped receding and that things are coming back to normal (especially the SPS, when it rains it pours, from my experience.)

[JDigital]

Gorgeous tank Mindy!

How are things with the tank? WE NEED UPDATES! :lol::mrgreen:

[Myka]

Woah, sorry guys!! I didn't see any replies after my last post. Somehow I missed the email updates.

When I first found the Nudis, I removed the coral (only one is infected at this point), and manually removed all the Nudis I could see. Then last week I found another half dozen, so I manually removed those as well I gave the coral a TMCC dip using a turkey baster to blast the dip at the coral. It was probably treated for 5 minutes or so. I haven't seen anymore since. The trouble with these guys is that TMCC will only kill the adults, not the eggs, which is probably how they made it into the tank - as eggs. I keep noticing adults as eggs hatch. They have only damaged a part of the coral less than the size of a dime, and I haven't seen any since the last dip about a week ago. I'm lucky for that, and also that I haven't seen any Nudis on any of my other Montis. I don't have any Turbinaria, so that's ok. I didn't know that Greg, thanks for the heads up on that! I'm crossing my fingers that they are gone for good now.

I'm still having some troubles... the diatom outbreak continues along with a very small patch of cyano. :neutral: I think this is a reaction from that Lobo partially dying. I'm still not entirely sure what triggered that. The rest of that Lobo, and the Lobo beside it continue to be unaffected. Same with the rest of the corals. The diatoms and cyano should be receding by now though...so I am concerned. I added another powerhead to the back of the tank that blows where the worst of the diatoms are and the cyano.

When this all started I noticed some white tips on a couple of my SPS, but after I checked my notebook I have now figured out that I dosed too much Potassium in one go. The tips have now colored back up.

The corals are all looking good at this point. Good PE on the SPS.

I added a fan to the sump, so the temp doesn't go up so much now. It is 79 with lights off, and 81 with lights on. So that's better. Still needs some work. I am working on getting a canopy made, but that could be some time in the making. I will install fans there too, and I think that will make a big difference. I would like to keep the temp under 80.

I recalibrated my TDS meter, and checked my RO/DI.
Tap water 184 ppm
After RO 13 ppm
After DI 0 ppm

So that is good, although I see my RO membrane will be needing replacement within the next few months.

I need to test the tank today, but I think my big three are much steadier now that I have been testing 3x weekly to get onnit. ;)

Right now my biggest concern is the continuing diatoms and little patch of cyano. This goes to show there is an imbalance in the system, and that is never good.

The lights are off right now, but I will take some pics for you guys later today.

[Myka]

I see two more Monti Eating Nudis on that Monti today...grr. I will have to pull it and deal with that today.

To get the yucky stuff out of the way...

Here's my patch of cyano:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov820098.jpg


Some of the diatoms:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov820099.jpg

Some algae that I thought was red Bubble algae, but now that it's grown into the shape it is now I'm not so sure:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov820094.jpg


The background of this photo you can see my patch of red turf algae. The frag is from Fragalot...came totally brown, but is showing some promise now. Mega huge PE on it (gets more than the photo shows):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov62009.jpg


And the better stuff...


Blue Rics from Wicked Frags (fast growers):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov620092.jpg


Green Sinularia from Bayside Corals:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov820093.jpg



Neon green Candy Cane that I picked up from a CanReefer in BC. Lost a few heads in the center in shipping, but otherwise looks great:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov82009.jpg



My (Uber)Supergrape Mille from Coral Master finally starting to show the Mille fuzzies, and already growing:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov820093-1.jpg

[Myka]

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

I took that purple rimmed green cap out to mount it onto a frag plug last night and.......


.........I dropped it into a sink full of HOT (fresh)water!!! :shocked!:

:bad-word:

Today it has died off about 50% with no purple rim remaining. :cry: It is brown mostly, but 50% of the polyps remain, so it looks like it will recover, but I am sooooooooooo disappointed.

[JDigital]

^^ That is brutal! Sorry to hear.

That red turf algae is a serious PITA.. I had that in the first creation of my 75, and it became so overwhelming I made the decision to shut down and cook the rock... Never did come back the 2nd time thankfully.

No idea what the red bubble stuff is though. That's a first sight.

Those Blue Rics are awesome!!:mrgreen:

[Lance]

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

I took that purple rimmed green cap out to mount it onto a frag plug last night and.......


.........I dropped it into a sink full of HOT (fresh)water!!! :shocked!:

:bad-word:

Today it has died off about 50% with no purple rim remaining. :cry: It is brown mostly, but 50% of the polyps remain, so it looks like it will recover, but I am sooooooooooo disappointed.



Oh Crap! Sorry to hear this.

[globaldesigns]

Your Super Grape is looking fantastic, mine is also starting to show nice polyp extension and is actually looking quite purple. At night it is actualy quite flourescent lime green now.

I can't wait for it to grow up, Hurry up ole Grapey, Grow, Grow Grow!

[Myka]

Thanks for condolences guys. It looks like only a very small portion of the Monti Cap will survive. :cry:

Thanks globaldesigns! I am really liking the Supergrape. It sure takes its time adjusting to the tank though doesn't it? I was wondering about it until I saw a couple others mention the same thing with theirs. Mine does show a bit of green fluoresce under actinics too...mostly the coralites.

[fishytime]

Looking good to me Mindy....Ive always found that monties seem to take forever to settle in, but once they do they really take off.....sorry bout the cap....on the upside the fresh water dip likely killed any nudis that may have been on it....hopefully it pulls through for you.

[globaldesigns]

Thanks for condolences guys. It looks like only a very small portion of the Monti Cap will survive. :cry:

Thanks globaldesigns! I am really liking the Supergrape. It sure takes its time adjusting to the tank though doesn't it? I was wondering about it until I saw a couple others mention the same thing with theirs. Mine does show a bit of green fluoresce under actinics too...mostly the coralites.

Yup, it is a slow one, but I am now seeing some good polyp extension, and the color is great, just need it to grow. 1 inch sucks for size.

[Myka]

Well, my tank is still having a bit of a disaster... it seems the Zeolites are sucking the nutrients out too fast and shocking my LPS. My brain corals and Acans look horrible with white spots all over them and some small "bite marks" of flesh missing. My Euphyllias, Blastos and SPS have never looked better though. Weird. Well, not weird that the SPS are happy.

Anyway, I've been collecting a bunch of frags lately:

~ 6 different Zoas
~ Crayola Plana Acro
~ Bali Tricolor Acro
~ Some other sweet colored Acros
~ Suharsonoi mini colony

This Fragalot Acro arrived brown as dirt, but ALAS! look at it now! It is getting quiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite nice!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2220094-1.jpg



Coral Master's Yellow Austera:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2220095-1.jpg



Another super cool Fragalot piece:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2220093-1.jpg



Suharsonoi (I think) from Bayside Corals:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2220092-1.jpg

[Myka]

My growing Zoa and Paly collection. I think the names are correct, but feel free to suggest alternatives. Some are new, and still need to color up. I have a few more not pictured yet.



Alpha Omega Zoas (?):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/AlphaOmegaZoas.jpg


Goldstar Zoas:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/GoldstarZoas.jpg



Darth Maul Zoas:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1220094-1.jpg



Peach Dream Palys:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/PeachDreamPalys.jpg



Pink Rays Palys & Green Zoas (I don't think the green ones really have a name):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/PinkRaysPalysGreenZoas.jpg



Lunar Palys (need to color up):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/X-MenPaly.jpg

[Myka]

Woohoo 10,000 views! Thanks for looking everyone! :D

Some coral pics today.

Acropora multiacuta:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov2820098-1.jpg



Japanese Superman Zoas:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov2820099-1.jpg



Japanese Yellow Jacket Zoas (even though they are green, kinda silly name, no?):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov28200910.jpg

[StirCrazy]

Woohoo 10,000 views! Thanks for looking everyone! :D



10 900ish, not bad at all concidering 9K of them are waiting for the picture of you beside your tank :wink:

Steve

[Myka]

:o Maybe you will get lucky Steve. ;)

[StirCrazy]

:o Maybe you will get lucky Steve. ;)


WhoooHoooo.. :faint: after all I have looked at this thread about 8K times :mrgreen:

Steve

[Myka]

LMAO. I put pics in the "pics of yourself" thread...did you see those? Maybe a Zoa bikini is in order - with my luck I would get Palytosis (palytoxined? palytoxinized?).

[StirCrazy]

LMAO. I put pics in the "pics of yourself" thread...did you see those? Maybe a Zoa bikini is in order - with my luck I would get Paly-tosis.

Hmmm.. that would definatly be interesting, but I would suspect you would end up with a pretty good rash :mrgreen:

Steve

[Myka]

Well, as my LPS' demise continues my SPS thrive...

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec52009.jpg



Yay! the polyps are finally green on my ORA green birdnest! :D
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec5200910.jpg



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec5200911.jpg



This Acropora multiacuta has gone from pink and yellow to pink and neon green in the mere 2 weeks it has been in my tank:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec5200912.jpg



Lots of growth on this piece:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520093.jpg



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520094.jpg



This one looks nicer in person...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520095.jpg



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520096.jpg



Coral Master's Bird of Many Colors finally has many colors!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520097.jpg



A couple LPS that haven't been affected:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520099.jpg



This piece looks better than it ever has:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520092.jpg

[Ellie_A]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520094.jpg


Is this the one that I got from you?

Good to see that your SPS are doing well

[Myka]

Yes, that's the one Ellie. How is it doing? :)

[Ellie_A]

Yes, that's the one Ellie. How is it doing? :)

It is doing well, doesn't have the purple tips yet but is growing. Was it originally from Snappy?

[christyf5]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec5200911.jpg



Where did you get this one/whats it called? I just realized I lost that one in the tank crash and can't remember where I got it from :neutral:

You have some great corals, any FTS?

[Marlin65]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec520094.jpg


Is this the one that I got from you?

Good to see that your SPS are doing well

Do you have a name for this I have a fair bit of this as well?

[Myka]

The purple tipped one is Acropora nana I believe, I don't have a common name for it. I didn't get it from Snappy. Funny thing is that when I acquired it the whole piece was a deep rich purple, and it has lightened to its current state. I prefer how it looks now. I have plenty of purple. :lol:

The peachy/grey one with the green tips may be Acropora horrida. Tough to tell until it grows up. It is often called Alien Freckles or Alien Eye Acro. I got my piece from Fragalot, but Snappy carries this one too. :)

Thanks for the comments Christy! I don't have any super recent FTS. I post my most recent FTS at the top of page one. I think that one is from October...?

[Myka]

I visited Kelly at The Reef Shoppe yesterday and picked up:

~ Purpley-blue Acropora lokani with light neon green polyps
~ Red Acropora jacquelineae (?)
~ WICKED navy blue mille with green corallites and reddish polyps
~ pointy-tipped neon green body birdnest with brownish polyps
~ blunt-tipped birdnest with whitish polyps

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec920096.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec920092.jpg

[Leah]

Mindy,

I keep looking for a full tank shot.

[Myka]

I just tried taking some. I suck at it. I will post the best one.

[Leah]

Your pictures are great, not sure what you are talking about.

[Myka]

Thanks, but the FTS aren't any good. I can never get them to focus or balance the colors well. My SPS need to grow out.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec920092-1.jpg

[Leah]

Your corals from Kelly are amazing and we need a recent F.T.S.

[fishytime]

I agree your pics look good to me:wink:...some pretty schweet schticks you got there Mindy...gonna be amazing when they fill in a bit...Do you use a tripod?...I found that really helped with my FTSs..

[Myka]

Thanks Doug! I can't wait for it to grow out in the next year. Should be looking respectable by then I'm hoping with any luck!! I don't have a tripod...maybe I should try that out.

[Snappy]

Things are looking pretty groovy.

[Myka]

Thanks Greg! "Your" frags are all doing really well. The Bird of Many Colors is a real fast grower, and is showing awesome coloring now that it has acclimated to my tank conditions.

[Myka]

Here's a FTS with the halides on:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec102009.jpg



Meet Fulgy (boyfriend named him):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec1020094.jpg

[Lance]

Is that 'sposed to be "Fugly"?

[Myka]

Yep, do you see him? I think he's cute.

[Delphinus]

Do you have a cover for your tank?

I just lost my filefish to jumping, so .. didn't think they were much for jumping they way they like to lie low, but ... well, guess any fish can jump. Anyhow, just a heads-up.

[Funky_Fish14]

Myka;

Your tank and setup look fantastic! Great job on it!

And dang, nice blue rics! haha (not the only nice coral you've got, but they definitely stand out!).

Cheers,

Chris

[Myka]

Well, I finally got around to figuring out how to read that stupid KZ Kalium test kit. (btw GRRRR) So I am now confident that my potassium is 380 ppm +/- 10 ppm. I'm interested to see the results of maintaining potassium. I have heard great things, and my expectations are substantial (I loathe disappointment).

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

Hey Tony! I don't have a cover on the tank. The lights cover most of the open area, but it's still an open top. My tank is mainly occupied by fish known to be jumpers though. :eek: I hope to have my canopy built in January (but I'm a procrastinator).

Thanks Chris! Those blue Rics are farly fast growers too. They have sweet neon green mouths.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov620092.jpg

[Myka]

Well I did some renovations in the tank. I'm going to sell a few of my LPS; Froggy, Hammer, and Galaxea I think. Need more room. Added another 10 lbs of live rock, and moved a bunch of the corals around. I need to move the Gorgonian a bit, but I ran out of epoxy so I gotta leave it for now. Accidentally de-homed one of my Jawfish though. I appologised to it, but he gave me the tail and dove in one of the other Jawfish's burrows. Oops.

Oh, and both of my RBTAs nailed me real good! Welts all up my arm. Quite intense right away when I brushed against it. In a weird sort of way I think it's pretty cool. I tried to take pics of the stings on my arm, but I can't bend that way. :lol:

I will get some pics of the tank oncce it clears up. It's a bit foggy from digging in the sand.

[Myka]

I'm selling a couple of the LPS, and after that I will finish up the right side of the tank. The white rock on the right is the new addition.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan22010.jpg

[mseepman]

Myka,

The tank is looking great. It's funny to hear you say "I'm selling some LPS" after some of our tank discussions of the past. I'm so glad you went SPS. I know that you have the talent and the know-how to have a great tank full of SPS so I'm looking forward to the updates.

[StirCrazy]

Lookin good, are the SPS on the right on a powerhead?

Steve

[Myka]

Oops, Steve the frags rack is mounted on a Mag Float. :D
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, it's been a long time with no updates! :eek:

I have been working out of province since the beginning of February, so I have a tank sitter looking after the tank. I had moved into the full Zeovit system running the Zeolite rocks in a reactor, and the whole 9 yards. Three weeks ago I ditched the Zeovit system, although I continue to run the Zeolites in the reactor. I'm not using any Zeovit additives aside from K-Balance to dose for potassium. I decided to ditch out on the Zeovit because it was difficult for the tank sitter to maintain, but primarily because I have been disappointed in the results, and have found little relief in my algae blooms.

I have been battling some algae. It all started in December when I had a tank sitter (not the current one) look after the tank over Christmas, and did a fine job of culturing cyano. :eek: After that the manageable amount red and green bubble algae in my tank really bloomed. I also fight with some Halimeda and Grape Caulerpa which have found a foothold in the tank. I put my GFO reactor back online as well which I haven't used in over a year. I bought a second reactor to run carbon since I had been running it passively.

In March my last bucket of IO ran out, so now I'm using H2Ocean. I haven't noticed a difference. :lol: Although the lower alkalinity out of the bucket is nice, and the main reason I decided to change brands. I was getting 11-12 dKH out of IO, and the H2Ocean is 9-9.5 dKH.

So, my algae battle plans...clean up the tank, increase flow, raise alkalinity, add 8 Emerald crabs, continue manual pruning.

I decided to try raising alkalinity from 7-8 dKH to 9-9.5 dKH to help decrease algae. I just recently made this increase so I can't tell if it is helping. I also raised calcium to 430-440 ppm to maintain the balance.

In order to increase flow near the sandbed, and decrease settled detritus, a month ago I removed some larger LPS corals that were on the sand, and I moved all the Zoas from the sand into a system of their own. Detritus used to settle around the corals in the sand. I also removed about 15 lbs of sand from the left side of the tank which was left deep for the Jawfish. They are happily settled on the right, so there is no need for the deep sand on the left. I also thoroughly vacuum the sand all the way down to the glass to remove detritus.

It is tough to keep the tank under control when I only see it every 2-3 weeks for a couple days, and the tank sitter isn't quite as tedious (anal) as I would be (hehe).

I had to treat the tank with Interceptor after some red bug infected frags fell into my sump (they were supposed to just be floating to keep temperature, but the container leaked. :neutral: That was April 27th. The Interceptor killed the two Emerald crabs, and caused a few SPS to have some very minor bleaching and/or browning, essentially it went off as expected. Two weeks ago I added 8 Emerald crabs. Well, last Saturday I noticed red bugs on one of the Acros...the one that was mainly affected in the last infection. Grr...it seems to be a magnet. I managed to catch 4 crabs, 2 died, and 2 survived the treatment.

So now some of the corals are again a tad bleached and/or browned...but I will post up some pics anyway. :D

Here's a pretty new Lobo I picked up last week:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201013.jpg



This Trachyphyllia has finally recooperated from the Filefish's teeth:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201018.jpg



This red Acro is a pretty sweet piece, but because of its location it is very difficult to photograph:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201016.jpg



Here's a new Acro...possibly a Candlelight, have to wait for it to color up:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201011.jpg



I love this deepwater...blue with neon green polyps. Finally starting to color up:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201015.jpg



This is the red bug magnet - an Alien Freckles Acro...bleached out:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July120103.jpg



This awesome tabling Acro I got from Doug...not sure on the ID, but it grows like a weed!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July120105.jpg



This is my current favourite SPS in my tank. It originated from Fragalot. The skeleton is hard to see in the photo, but is white with the green polyps and purple tips. Love it. Very slow growing.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July120107.jpg



Another Fragalot Acro:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July120109.jpg



Snappy's Bird of Many Colors...mainly pink for me, but gets green and blue hues when my tank is doing better:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July120108.jpg



Here is a really cool Birdnest I got from The Reef Shoppe. Hard to get the color to show up in photos, but the skeleton has a lovely green color to it, with some pink. Polyps are light....not sure what they will do:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201014.jpg



True Bali Tricolor...lackin colors. :neutral:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July120102.jpg



My favourite Aussie Gold Torch showing some good growth:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July1201012.jpg



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/June272010.jpg

[Skimmerking]

Mindy I really like your tank as it looks now, the SPS gives it that special pop.

looks good

[Myka]

^ Change your name?? Thanks for your comments. :)

[Myka]

So yesterday I decided to check the calibration on my hydrometer which I do every few months. I have a few hydrometers, but the one I use daily is the Deep Six. I have had it for 2 years, and remarkably it has actually been accurate from day one. So I test my tank with the hydrometer - 1.026, then I test with my refractometer - 1.030! Then I carefully recheck using the same sample for each check. Yep, that hydrometer is now reading 0.004 lower than actual. Yikes! So starting yesterday I slowly lowered my salinity down to 1.026 which also dropped my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium which I slowly bumped up. I think I used up half my test kits today. Ugh.

So let it come to awareness yet again! Don't trust those dang hydrometers - recalibrate often!

[Skimmerking]

Mindy I can't beleive that you are still using a hydro meter shame on you

[Myka]

:lol: I just use the hydrometer for daily checking. It's quicker and easier. I tell you though, I'm going to start using my refractometer more often. I can't believe the hydrometer held steady for so long, then so quickly went outta whack!

[Myka]

Red Bug Battle - Round 3! :mmph:

Last Thursday I noticed my Alien Freckles Acro (the one most affected in the first infestation) was lightly covered in red bugs again. :mmph: I treated for a second time as described above. Last night I notice a few RBs on the AF Acro AGAIN! So I'm going to break off as much of the AF Acro I can (it is short growing and very encrusted), give it a 2 hour strong Interceptor bath, and put it in my Zoa tank. I will use a pipette with boiling water to kill the remaining part of that coral. I'm hoping I can get away without treating the tank again.

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

My SPS corals' colors continue to improve since I ditched the Zeovit and started running my GFO reactor again. As expected, the Halimeda and Grape Caulerpa are significantly repressed as well, but surprisingly the Bubble algae seems to be showing a bit of die back. I can only cross my fingers! These red bugs are just hindering my attempts to use Emerald crabs to graze the Bubble algae, and that is getting frustrating.

[fishytime]

aw geez Mindy.....that sucks.....RBs are definitely a tough one to get gone..... I hope you can nip it in the butt.....

[Myka]

I don't have anything to complain about compared to you Doug. :( Most people seem to get good results on a single dose of Interceptor, I think I am the exception.

[Myka]

Ok, now I am confused. I look at the AF Acro a couple times today looking for RBs. I can't see any today. I used a siphon to suck off all the rock yesterday, including some detritus that accumulates near the AF Acro. What are the chances the RBs I saw yesterday were dead ones from last week's treatment that were somehow still stuck to the coral??? Boy would that be awesome. I didn't notice the RBs moving yesterday, and I did think that was a bit odd. Either way, I'm chiseling that AF Acro out of there today...I need to move it anyway since it gets too much light to color up properly where it is. I'm going to put it on a plug and drill a hole in the rock so I can remove it for RB dipping in the future since it's turning out to be such a magnet.

[Myka]

An update is long overdue!

I am very pleased with the results of ditching the Zeovit system. Back to the basics!! :D I'm on my second rotation of GFO now. I still get the same phosphate test result of 0.008 ppm using a Merck kit. The rampant Grape Caulerpa growth has slowed down, and the red and green bubble algae has finally backed down some. The 5 or 6 Emerald crabs may be helping too! ;) I used to rip the Bryopsis off my clams in clumps every couple weeks for about 8 months. That was the only place in my tank that had Bryopsis...and try as I might I just couldn't get it to stop growing on them, and now it is gone. The day after I put GFO back online (about 8 weeks ago now), there appeared a black cyano on the top rocks in my tank directly under the halides. It is persisting to this day. Not sure what is up with it. I'm hoping with good maintenance it will cure itself. Also getting a bit of cyano on my sand...I need a couple bigger powerheads.

So far so good on the RBs. *fingers crossed* However, I noticed one of my Validas browning out...I know what that means, and most of you Acro keepers probably know too. The first corals to get an AEFW infection are Validas. Hooray! Wtf?? I mean seriously??? Is my tank cursed this summer or what?

So I pried out the two infected colonies and a couple bonus colonies and gave them all a 20 minute dip in TMCC scraping eggs off beforehand. All except the Alien Freckles Acro...he's special, he got a 45 minute dip because I forgot about him! :eek: He survived. That Acro has taken a real s**t kicking this summer. He's nearly all bleached out, but the neon green polyps are still neon as ever. Go figure. LOL

I would post up a FTS, but the tank is a mess with Acros laying all over the place (haven't glued them back down yet). :neutral:

So here are some pics of non-Acros! :D

Def not an Acro...Tuxedo Urchin (after I pulled off all his decorations):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug252010.jpg



New Stylo that is too far from the glass to get a good pic:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug242010.jpg



Ok, so here IS an Acro! This one is red, but I'll be darned if the camera will pick up the color very well...hmmmph.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520102.jpg



Meteor Shower Cyphastrea:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520104.jpg



Oh I lied again, another Acro. This one is a deepwater of some sort that is finally coloring up...has SWEET neon green polyps:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520105.jpg


A couple Goniopora frags. These ones have a good track record for survivability:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520106.jpg



Blue Rics:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520107.jpg



Palau Nepthea:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520108.jpg



Favia (one of my oldest pieces):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2520109.jpg

[Myka]

I just fed the fish, and what comes creeping out of the rock? A Eunicid worm!:faint: My luck! So far I don't think it has caused any troubles, but it is pretty small still. It's body was about 3mm diameter, and I saw about 4" of body.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2620104.jpg



Got a FTS today too:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug262010.jpg



Candlelight Acro that was a brown blob in my tank for almost a year is suddenly bursting with growth and color:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug2620102.jpg

[Myka]

Added some photos. Including the Eunicid. Eek.

[hillegom]

How are you going to catch him?

[Myka]

How are you going to catch him?

Tomorrow I have to remove a bunch of rock to catch a fish. I know which rock the Eunicid is hanging out in so I will give it a freshwater dip. If that doesn't work I will squirt some soda water in the holes. If that doesn't work I will dip it in PraziPro. That should get him for sure.

[Myka]

I have finally beat the Valonia plague!!! :whoo:

In celebration, and because I am finally fairly happy with the way my tank is looking, I think it is time for a top to bottom update (mostly for my own records actually!! lol). Here is what I have goin on now:

Tank is 90 gallon 48x18x24"
Sump is ~30 gallon 30x16x14"
Halides are 2x250w DE w/ Plusrite 20,000K bulbs (look like 13,000K to my eyes)
T5s are 2x39w Fiji Purple and UVL Super Actinic
Halides 12pm-7pm
T5s 8:30am - 9:30pm

Return is Poseidon PS3
Skimmer is EuroReef RS-180 with gate valve mod semi-wet skimming
2x150w VisiTherm heaters
PhosBan reactor with 300 mL GFO changed every 6 weeks
Carbon run passively in a bag in sump for 48 hours once per week
BRS Drew's Dosers (x2) for Calcium and Alkalinity

Tunze Osmolator ATO
Tunze 6055 on single controller
Koralia 3 (x2)

50-60 lbs live rock (many years old)
<1" aragonite sand (Caribsea Special Grade)
3 lbs coarse shells n stuff for Jawfish (Caribsea Super Reef)

ZEOvit Coral Snow 3mL once per week
ZEOvit Spur2 3mL once a month or so to lighten SPS
Magnesium and Potassium added to water changes
10 gallon weekly water change

Temp 78-80
Specific Gravity 1.026-7 (refractometer)
Ammonia not detectable (API and Salifert)
Nitrate not detectable (Salifert)
pH 8.2 (Hanna handheld digital meter)
Calcium 420-425 ppm (Elos)
Alkalinity 8-9 dKH (Elos)
Magnesium 1350-1400 ppm (Salifert)
Potassium 380-400 ppm (Korallen Zucht)

I took a bunch of fish out recently and replaced them, so now I have (in order of addition):
Pearly Jawfish
Sharknose Goby
Hector's Goby
Picasso Percula Clownfish (F)
Platinum Percula Clownfish (M)
McCosker's Fairy Wrasse 2" (F)
Candy Hogfish 2 1/2"
Peppermint Hogfish 2" (still in sump)

Orange Lip Conch (x2)
Fighting Conch (x3)
Ring Cowrie (x2)
Astraea snail (x3) (all diff species)
Nassarius snail (small white kind)
Banded Trochus snail
Emerald Crab (x4) (one big one banned to sump)
Tuxedo Urchin
Black Brittle Starfish (4+ yrs old)
Stomatella snails (many, self reproducing)

Rose Bubble Tip Anemone (x2)
Squamosa Clam
Gold Teardrop Maxima Clam
Photosynthetic Gorgonians (x5)
Palau Nepthea
GSP on back glass

Brain (x5)
Candy Cane (neon green)
Duncan
Torch (Aussie Gold)
Acan (x2)
Blue Ridge
Pipe Organ (green)
Cyphastrea (x3) (Meteor Shower, Toxic, and decadia)
Fox
Ricordea (x4 colors)
Goniopora (x2) (pinks)

Acropora (x8) (Bali tricolor, Candlelight, Red, etc)
Deepwater Acropora (x2) (blue one and yellow one)
Birdnest (x4) (Snappy's blue polyp pink and Bird of Many Colors, ORA Green, and a sweet green and pink)
Stylophora (x2) (Snappy's rainbow and a red one)
Pocillopora (sweet green and pink)
Millepora (x2) (Snappy's SuperGrape and a red one)
Porites (yellow)
Monti cap (green w/ purple rim)
Monti samarensis (orange w/ green tips)



I think that's all the nitty gritty details.

Some near future lighting changes:
Halides PFO pendants w/ IceCap electronic ballasts w/ Phoenix 14,000K SE bulbs
Tek 48" T5 retrofit kit

Oh, I had to move a Jawfish to another tank because the Candy Hogfish kept diving into the Jawfish's burrow and upsetting him. So I just moved him out, and there is only one Jawfish still in my reef. The Blue Assessor is also in another tank, as well as the big male Banggai, and the big female "normal" Percula clown.

I'll get some pics next weekend maybe. I have a halide burned out right now, and some of my super high light Acros are not impressed!

[Myka]

Must post pictures to get a response, eh?



Burned out halide and all:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1120106.jpg


Frag rack:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct112010.jpg


Deepwater Acro coloring up nicely nowadays:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct11201018.jpg


My favourite birdnest. Tiny polyps. Pink with iridescent green.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1120103.jpg



Snappy's blue polyp pink birdy:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct11201011.jpg


Snappy's Bird of Many Colors:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1120107.jpg


Meteor Shower Cyphastrea:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct11201015.jpg


Lobophyllia.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct11201016.jpg


Ricordea.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct11201017.jpg


Duncan.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct11201019.jpg

[MitchM]

Must post pictures to get a response, eh?
...

lol...
What do you mean, "I took a bunch of fish out recently and replaced them, so now I have (in order of addition)"..?

How does one do that?

Things look good, BTW.

Mitch

[Delphinus]

Mmmm pictures. Must .. respond .... "Looks great!"

The words looked all pretty and stuff too, but I likey the pick-choors evan moar!!1!

[globaldesigns]

I agree with Tony, love pictures and your tank looks great!

[Rbacchiega]

you know, I know they're just sort of "run - o - the - mill" in terms of SPS.....but birdsnests gotta be one of my favorite corals of all time.

[Lance]

Niiiiice! That Cyphastrea is really the "Bee's Knees!"

[Myka]

Thanks for the comments everyone, and Randi I agree! Birdnests are my favourite, and I am regretting giving away my "plain ole" pink birdnest in my tank redesign.

lol...
What do you mean, "I took a bunch of fish out recently and replaced them, so now I have (in order of addition)"..?

How does one do that?

Things look good, BTW.

Mitch

Thanks Mitch. Well, the Percula Clownfish was easy to catch, she's not scared of the net, so I just scooped her out. The other fish I caught when I redid my tank a couple weeks ago. Which reminds me, I should have poster before and after photos.

So, a little history...on Sept 10 I decided to rip my reef apart, redo aquascaping (for better flow), remove some fish I couldn't catch, remove a Eunicid worm, and give away some corals because there were just too many!

As per this thread (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=67931), here is my result.

Sept 10:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept102010.jpg



Sept 11:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept1120105.jpg





And then, notice the growth a month later. Check out the top rock on the left. It has the blue polyp pink birdnest, a tabling green and blue Acro, the blue deepwater Acro, and the pink w/ green iridescence birdnest too. Almost an inch in a month on some pieces! I think they like the changes! That dang Caulerpa is really outta control though! Now I can't wait to get my new lighting going. :D
Oct 11:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1120106.jpg

[Myka]

My Sharknose was up to something weird...I think he has been watching my Jawfish too much!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTTO9z3YimY

Oh, and ignore the f'ugly SPS on the right. That's called a bad case of "fallen and forgotten"!

[chris88]

how do you find the sps and sofites together? Any issues. I love the green softie you have on the right side of the tank!

[Myka]

Hey Chris, I can tell you that my SPS got a lot better coloration when I removed the Zoas into their own tank even though I was running quite a bit of carbon to try to conquer the chemical warfare. I may find I need to remove or trim down the GSP at some point since surprisingly it known to be one of the more chemically aggressive corals. The green softie on the right is a Palau Nepthea.

[fishytime]

cute vid of the little sharknose Mindy...looks like a long project moving it a grain at a time:mrgreen:.....and nice rics btw...

[Myka]

:lol: It is a continuous project for Sharky!

Video of Picasso in rose Bubbletip Anemone. The nem is quite pink, but video doesn't show it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2QPPjXY0xA

[reefwars]

:lol: It is a continuous project for Sharky!

Video of Picasso in rose Bubbletip Anemone. The nem is quite pink, but video doesn't show it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2QPPjXY0xA


wow beautiful video mindy that bubble is gorgeous and i love the name "peacefull reef" cheers:):)

[freezetyle]

really like the new rockwork. That birds nest (pink one on the left) had an unreal amount of colour change. Looks much better

[Myka]

Thanks reefwars! What's more peaceful than a clownfish in an anemone? That's my happy place too. :D

Ya, thanks Jon! Those FTS are 2 weeks apart, and if I open them both in a viewer on my computer I can switch back and forth from one to the other. The color change is surprising, but what was really impressive was the growth! It's harder to see when you can't go back and forth between the photos, but if you look closely you can see huge growth especially on that tabling Acro and the two birdnests on the left.

[Myka]

My Candlelight Acro is almost in good enough condition to post a photo. What a fussy coral!! It took the coral 10 months to even start to color up. It was totally poo brown for 10 months. I just about chucked it out.



I received this as a teeny frag from a friend who said it was Fragalot's Elegant Purple Acro (you can see it under SPS section on first page I think). You can see mine has different colors from different conditions. It is currently my favourite SPS in my tank. I love the white base.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct182010.jpg



Here is a sweet Goniopora frag that does well in captivity. Growing like a weed. Eats small pieces of meaty foods too.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1820104.jpg



My red Acro that I'm still trying to get a good pic of. I fail once again. My camera doesn't pick up red very well...maybe it's my settings.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1820102.jpg



Another favourite of mine. Acropora lokani (deepwater):
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1820103.jpg

[Myka]

I just took a bunch of top down photos. :D

I finally got a half decent photo of that red Acro!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420104.jpg



The white based Acro:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420103.jpg



The finickiest coral in my tank that I always struggle to get color out of; Candlelight Acro:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420106.jpg


One of my slowest growing corals; Snappy's Supergrape Mille:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov14201013.jpg



One of my oldest corals:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420109.jpg



Gold teardrop Maxima:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420108.jpg



Dunno why my Squamosa looks yellow in the photo?? ...It has blue edges!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420107.jpg

[lorenz0]

Have the same issue with my millies at first. Don't worry once they get a base and they feel its time, they explode. Happened with my supergrape as well

[Zoaelite]

Candlelight Acro:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1420106.jpg

Sure seems your doing something right WOW that's a nice color up if it was brown for that long.

Have the same issue with my millies at first. Don't worry once they get a base and they feel its time, they explode. Happened with my supergrape as well.

Same thing happened in the Bro's tank, he picked up a completely white supergrape that remained white for about 3 months and then BANG the thing colored up and just took off.

[Dez]

Awesome pictures Mindy.

[lastlight]

I really hope my supergrape ends up looking like that. It was shaggy for a bit but now seems to be putting it's energy and polyps into encrusting. I'm also noticing on my other millis that they really looked much better once fully encrusted then those branches start popping out the sides like a bad acne outbreak.

[Rbacchiega]

I really hope my supergrape ends up looking like that. It was shaggy for a bit but now seems to be putting it's energy and polyps into encrusting. I'm also noticing on my other millis that they really looked much better once fully encrusted then those branches start popping out the sides like a bad acne outbreak.

When I had one it was a slow starter, right until the frag encrusted the plug...then the thing took off....

EDIT (wtf....NOW there's an edit button?!?!)....great looking corals Myka...colors are fantastic.

[Myka]

That Supergrape frag was born mid-Oct 2009! It has always had good color, but pretty much did nothing until about 6 weeks ago it encrusted the frag rack and started putting out a bunch of new branches.

Zoaelite: Omg, that Candlelight Acro is such a pain in the butt. I bought it Sept 10, 2009 and it was ok colored, but the brown was moving in hard, although I figured "It'll color up real quick". Two days after I bought it, it was 100% dark brown. :twised: In Nov 2009 I fragged a small piece off and gave it to a friend with a real nice SPS tank. In July 2010 it started to show a bit of growth on the tips, and this new growth had some color! Now, there is about 1 1/2" of new growth with the color, but the older parts of the coral remain brown. The brown has lightened up a bit, but I don't know if it will actually color up or not. The frag I gave my friend just started growing and showing color now too. So, that was 10 months of full on brown before there was any growth or color. Now, I can tell it's time to change my GFO because the colors fade. It is SO finicky!

[Myka]

I'm excited to grow this Pocci out:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov14201015.jpg



Palau Nephthea:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov14201016.jpg



Funny looking Nemos who haven't decided to love eachother yet:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov152010.jpg

[Rbacchiega]

and a nice jawfish photoboming them both.

[Myka]

:lol: Randy, that's SO what's going on. He's such a jealous Jawfish!

Inspired by "sweet ride"s photography skills I set out to take a few decent shots today. Much to my dismay I think I should invest in a better camera! I tried taking photos underdeveloped as he suggested, moreso than usual. This is what I managed:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov192010.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920105.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920104.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920103.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Nov1920102.jpg

[sphelps]

The last one is a beauty!

[sweet ride]

your getting there!! what ISO are you shooting at and are you using a tripod?

actually better yet what camera are you using?

[Myka]

Thanks Steve! That one turned out ok, but I find that coral is easy to take pics of. The other ones I seem to have a hard time focusing on. As you can tell the others are out of focus.

sweet ride: Thanks for checking out my (non)skills! :D I usually shoot at 100 or 200 ISO. The above photos are all 200. No tripod. Canon G7.

[sweet ride]

Thanks Steve! That one turned out ok, but I find that coral is easy to take pics of. The other ones I seem to have a hard time focusing on. As you can tell the others are out of focus.

sweet ride: Thanks for checking out my (non)skills! :D I usually shoot at 100 or 200 ISO. The above photos are all 200. No tripod. Canon G7.

I wouldn't say that, all you need is a little practice. This one am sure you might have already heard, if you are shooting through the glass your lens need to be parallel to the glass. And the on other thing is when your shooting is all the flow in your tank turned off completely, just because if your shooting at 100 or 200 any motion on the subject will show unless your shooting at a high shutter speed.

[Myka]

I wouldn't say that, all you need is a little practice. This one am sure you might have already heard, if you are shooting through the glass your lens need to be parallel to the glass. And the on other thing is when your shooting is all the flow in your tank turned off completely, just because if your shooting at 100 or 200 any motion on the subject will show unless your shooting at a high shutter speed.

Ya, I try to shoot straight through the glass most of the time, and I do turn the flow off. Shutter speed is anywhere from 1/4 to 1/60 depending on how much light. Obviously I try to have high light so I can turn up the shutter speed. Do you suggest a different ISO?

[sweet ride]

Ya, I try to shoot straight through the glass most of the time, and I do turn the flow off. Shutter speed is anywhere from 1/4 to 1/60 depending on how much light. Obviously I try to have high light so I can turn up the shutter speed. Do you suggest a different ISO?

unless you have a very steady hands here is that is one of the reason why your photos are a little blur, and it's not your focusing. when you shoot freehand I would recommend at the very least shutter speed of 120, or even 200. to compensate with this try sooting at 400 ISO.

[Myka]

I took some pics of my other tank (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=63960&page=7) yesterday too (post #63).

Thanks, I will try your suggestions. I keep meaning to buy a tripod, but it's one of those things I never seem to remember to do. :lol:

[BlueTang<3]

Any new pictures :wink:

[Myka]

Hehe...no not right now. A couple of my new little buddies weren't impressed with the Coral Rx dip. They will be fine, just need a couple weeks to color up again. I will post pics when I'm back for Christmas.

[Marlin65]

looking good love the duncan shot A+

[Myka]

New lights today! Only took me a year and a half to get them finished! :o Tank is now sporting 2x250 SE Phoenix in PFO reflectors on Vertex ballasts and a 2x54w Tek retrofit with UVL Super Actinics. Yes, I said single end Phoenix. :D Got those puppies from The Reef Shoppe. I think they are a bit bluer than the DE version, but just as much pop. Very nice bulbs. With the new halides and new actinics though the tank is rather blue...will look better in a week when they all burn in. Sure is nice to have lighting across the entire 48" length! Some of you may remember I just had a 36" fixture on there up until now.

Aside from the new lights, I'm getting some cyano growth on the rock pile on the right. Possibly caused by the Coralife 10K halide that was on that side of the tank for the last couple months. So hopefully that will resolve with the new bulbs. Also getting a bit more Valonia again, so I added another Emerald crab (have two now).

Some of my brain corals are slowly receding for some unknown reason. My old Favia, two Lobophyllia, and a Platygyra. I have no idea what's up with the Favia or one of the Lobos, but the other Lobo had a frag fall onto it and damage it which started the recession. It continued to recede quite a bit after that although I think it is on the mend now. The Platygyra I bought already partially receded (from stray voltage) in mid-November. It looked like it was on the mend a week after I brought it home, but has suddenly started receding again. It's now down to just a toonie size, and I would be surprised if it recovers. I would be sad to lose it as it is quite a nice Australian piece. :(

Last time I was having issues with brain corals it was from my Filefish feasting (he was re-homed), and possibly also because of sudden use of Zeolite rocks (sucks nutrients out aggressively) which i'm not using anymore. This time, neither could be an issue and I have no idea what's happening with them. :eek:

So...here are the new lights. As usual, the GSP on the back wall of the tank is not out. It seems to know when I take the camera out and it disappears!
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan12011.jpg

[Skimmerking]

Mindy the tank is looking SWEET GIRLY and those LPS and leathers on the right should be in my tank .:lol:

[Myka]

Thanks meester! I really need to get around to drilling plugs into the rock. I hate epoxy. I always knock colonies off the rock. At least I finally got the lights done...maybe in 6 months I'll have the rock drilled. :o

[Lance]

Looking good! That Bird's Nest in the left center: It looks pinkish on top and yellow on the bottom. I assume it's the lighting, but it looks pretty cool.

[fishoholic]

Looks good Mindy, funny though that the gsp is camera shy, I bet it looks cool covering the back wall.

[Myka]

Looking good! That Bird's Nest in the left center: It looks pinkish on top and yellow on the bottom. I assume it's the lighting, but it looks pretty cool.

It is pink and yellow-ish. It is pink skinned, but the skin all fluoresces lime green/yellowish. It is one of my favourite corals in the tank.

Looks good Mindy, funny though that the gsp is camera shy, I bet it looks cool covering the back wall.

It is always camera shy, but look I caught it out! Actinic shot, but hey at least you can see it!

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan22011.jpg

[Myka]

I got this really cool Micro Capture USB Magnifier for Christmas that takes video and photos too (not very high quality though). It's pretty cool looking at a bunch of stuff in the tank. I caught these pictures of my Jawfish:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec282010-1.jpg



I think he noticed me... :lol:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec2820102.jpg



One of my latest acquisitions (using regular camera, not magnifier). It was damaged in shipping, but I couldn't resist the perty colors! :p
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec92010.jpg

[plutoniumJoe]

Awesome shots.

[Myka]

Thanks Joe. :)


Sorry about the grainy photos (ISO 400), but here's a couple more.

New photosynthetic gorgonian Rumphella aggregata:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan3201113.jpg



And ole Goldie:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan320116.jpg

[Delphinus]

I love your Rhump. (:lol: Why should Doug and Brett have all the fun.) It has to be one of my favourite ps gorgs, gets a really nice shape and colour to it.

[BlueTang<3]

how are the frags doing ?

[fishoholic]

The gsp looks cool when its out and I love how the jawfish is looking at the camera as if to say "Excuse me....but enough with the pic.'s already!" :lol:

[Scubasteve23]

Myka what kind of camera are you using?

[Myka]

:lol: Tony! I hadn't seen the Rhump before, it is quite attractive. Hehe...

Hey Wes, the frags are doing well. The Bonsai did not take to the Coral Rx dip very well and I lost about half of it, but the rest are doing very well. :)

Laurie, I have a short video of the Jawfish looking at the camera too, but it's choppy off the USB Magnifier.

Steve, the pics of the Jawfish were taken with a USB Magnifier, and the rest were taken with a Canon G7. I don't have the Magnifier in front of me so I don't know the brand name. Most of the pics from the G7 are grainy on this page because I had it on 400 ISO by accident.

[Myka]

Wow, I haven't posted on here in a long time! The tank has been a polluted dump since the tank sitter was primarily looking after it for 8 consecutive months. :eek: I have also been using an under-sized skimmer (SWC 120 Cone) on it since I got fed up with the EuroReef overflowing and needing adjustment which the tank sitter wasn't good at doing. So the under-sized SWC was the better option. Still, the SPS were browning out, and LPS were happy as a clam! There has also been little growth in the last 6 months, and a healthy covering of cyano over most of the sand. :eek:

I finally had enough and started dosing Prodibio Bioptim and Biodigest (aka BioClean) in mid-June. What difference! I'm sold on this stuff! I also ordered a SWC 180 Cone :D from The Reef Shoppe which will be arriving on Tuesday. Woohoo!

I am now home full-time, no more working out of province so I can clean up the tank finally! Yesterday I switched out the GFO which had been in there since April. :o I also removed the carbon which had been in there since April too. I will add some fresh carbon back in next week since it will be enough shock to the system to add fresh GFO.

The SPS aren't very impressive right now, so I took some pics of some of the LPS for you guys.



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/June18201113.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July292011.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/June1820112.jpg


This guy has a third mouth on the other side. Nice piece.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July2920112.jpg



FTS from July 3. I should have taken before Prodibio FT photos to compare. This is 3 days after the second dose.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July3201112.jpg

[Flash]

looks amazing!!!! where did you find that multicolored open brain???!! stunning!

[noirsphynx]

WOW Mindy! Just gorgeous LPS!! Your tank is looking great!

[Myka]

looks amazing!!!! where did you find that multicolored open brain???!! stunning!

The Brain came from Bayside Corals. Believe it or not, it's actually a bit bleached right now, it colors up much nicer.

WOW Mindy! Just gorgeous LPS!! Your tank is looking great!

Thanks! At least the LPS are happy!

[fishytime]

lookin good there Girly......love the scoly:wink:

[Myka]

Thanks Doug. :)

Here Bean, I took a better pic for you (I fed it...looks nicer when it's not wrinkled): :D
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July312011.jpg

[Aquattro]

That's a polluted dump??? Can't wait to see it "cleaned up" :)

[fishytime]

that is a sweet piece Mindy.....I have a similar one......not quite as colorful as yours......a friend of mine called it a rhasta brain:mrgreen:

[don.ald]

looking at that FTS one would never know you were away for 8mths. looks great!
the Prodibio -- do you use it in addition to the GFO? or is it on it's own.

[Myka]

That's a polluted dump??? Can't wait to see it "cleaned up" :)

I am only taking pics of the pieces that are doing well, and not taking any pics of the cyano either. I will take a pic later today when the lights have got the cyano up and rip snorting. I should do an RIP thread for all the corals I have lost since I have been away. :(

that is a sweet piece Mindy.....I have a similar one......not quite as colorful as yours......a friend of mine called it a rhasta brain:mrgreen:

Haha, great name!

looking at that FTS one would never know you were away for 8mths. looks great!
the Prodibio -- do you use it in addition to the GFO? or is it on it's own.

Well, the GFO was burned out when I started using the Prodibio. I just put some fresh GFO back in there. So, now I am using them both together. I'm going to start dosing Zeovit Sponge Power too. I was actually away for a year and half, but was home regularly and did half the waterchanges. Just the last 8 months I haven't been home much at all, and most of the waterchanges were done by the maintenance company. They are not as thorough as I am when cleaning, and the under-sized skimmer has not been helping! I'm hoping the tank will take a turn around in the next 6 weeks or so.

[Myka]

Ok, this is a painful post...

...I came back from a trip to BC on Aug 17th to find a frag fell down and was standing upside down like a frickin tripod ON my frickin Scoly! :eek: Never in my life have I ever seen another 3-mouth Scoly. I don't think I'm going to save it, and if I do I doubt it will still have 3 mouths. Here it is today as I am slowly losing the battle:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug3120116.jpg



On the brighter side, through the tears I can see some up and coming pieces:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug3120112.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug312011.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug3120114.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Aug3120115.jpg

[fishytime]

that sucks about the scoly Mindy.....I feel for ya.....similar thing happened to mine......except my mishap was a frog spawn and the scoly slowly died over a couple weeks.....I knew it was going to die so I snagged another one from the shop:redface:

[fishoholic]

That sucks :sad:

[BlueTang<3]

Mindy those scolys are extremely hardy, I came back from holidays and mine was completely buried. I had shrunk down the probably a dime size and now its back to full size. Took about 3 months or so to recover tho.

[Myka]

The mouths are gaping on it Wes and it won't eat, I think it's a goner.

It was showing feeder tentacles so I was feeding it some Fauna Marin LPS pellets, but it wouldn't eat them. I received some New Era pellets and have been trying to feed it those, but it won't take them either. I tried PE mysis, no luck. My brine shrimp eggs aren't hatching, otherwise I was going to feed it some NHBBS. I will try some frozen foods today. It grabs onto the food, but then lets go.

I moved it yesterday to a place with less flow but more light.

[ALang]

When we were on holidays, Mom allowed an acan to topple onto a totally P**sed-off frogspawn. :sad:
Sometime you just need to let it be. It may not feel like eating for a while, poor thing. But I have seem some that did come back, albeit after a long while. Maybe worth keeping at a corner and see if it heals.

[Myka]

My tank isn't a very good LPS tank right now. I'm having troubles with a few brains over the last 6 months. I had a healthy looking Lobo slowly recede to death for no apparent reason, and I have a Symphyllia that's slowly receding real bad right now and I have no idea why. So I'm worried that whatever has been ****ing off those brains may affect the recovery of this Scoly. The Scoly has been off in a corner up until yesterday I traded it to a place where an Acan echinata was real happy. I am actually looking at some of my Asterina starfish lately and wondering if one of them is predatory. I was fighting a cyano outbreak for awhile too after coming back home, but it is under control now.

[ALang]

Well, you might have gotten to the LNS where LPS don't do well, and your SPS are.

Best of luck.

[Myka]

Thanks ALang! :) I wish I was at LNS, but I'm still making up for being away for most of the last year and a half. The tank has really suffered in that time. There was a layer of detritus on the sand, and a layer of cyano on top of that! I cheated and used ChemiClean to zap the cyano a couple days ago. Now I'm at home permanently I can do the maintenance on the tank and get it back into shape. It could be the toxins that cyano releases that were affecting the LPS. Combine that with a lack of carbon, and that could be the issue. Fresh carbon a week ago, fresh GFO today...things should be turning around soon!

[Lance]

Sorry to hear about your Scoly Mindy. It's a beauty too. :sad: I had almost the same thing happen to me. A large turbo snail pushed my scoly over and it landed upside down onto a hydnophora. Needless to say, it was fried! Hopefully yours comes back for you.

[Myka]

Hey Wes, you might be right...the Scoly has made a turn around! Big and puffy (what's left of it) the last couple days.

Lnace, these sorts of things hurt don't they?
---------------------------------
So here the detailed update:

The tank has really taken a beating this year since I was out of province until mid-July, and then had 3 weeks of holidays. Tank sitter was looking after it and is not as picky as I am regarding maintenance. It was so bad that there was a layer of detritus covering fairly large portions of the sand which was then covered in cyano, and hair algae was just starting to sprout up. Eck!

I finally got around to looking after the tank this week. I did a 20% waterchange vacuuming all the sand real well. Then I cheated and ChemiCleaned it to get rid of the cyano, following that with another 20% waterchange and vacuum 48 hours later (as per instructions). Over the last couple weeks I also replaced the GFO and carbon that had been in there since April. At the beginning of August I replaced the skimmer with a SWC 180 Cone, and am very happy with this skimmer! Great buy at the price point, and a powerhouse of a skimmer.

For anyone familiar with the Sicce PSK-2500 pumps that come with many of the SWC skimmers, I replaced the stock needle wheel with a Red Devil and so far have had no issues with re-start. I did a bunch of Googling and discovered the Red Devil seems to solve the re-start issues on all counts I could find.

I also started dosing potassium again a couple days ago as I quit back in February I think it was. As expected potassium was sitting around 250 ppm. I am up to about 350 ppm right now on my way up to 400 ppm and you guys should see the polyp extension! What a difference. :rockon:

I am happy to say that the tank has bounced right back, and is now on the mend. Whew! It's nothing to brag about yet, but it is definitely doing much better in just a few weeks. The color difference from a week ago to today is pretty impressive if I do say so myself...I'm surprised actually! :eek:

I was messing around with some macro shots yesterday...I was trying to get accurate representation of color. I edited shadows to black out the background to make the photos look prettier because I can't figure out how to make my camera do that. LOL. Anyone know that trick? Colors are pretty accurate when I put them up on my plasma tv.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept420113.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept420116.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201121.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept420118.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201117.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201120.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201124.jpg

[bkelly]

great photos Mindy!
I love that rasta mulit color.
and thanks for all your help lately.
brent

[Myka]

Thanks Brent, and you're welcome!

[fishytime]

those is some pretty sweet macros there Girly

[Lance]

Yup, I'd say you have the macros down pat now. :biggrin:

[Myka]

Thanks guys!

[Myka]

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201125.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201127.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201129.jpg

[Myka]

Well, apparently I'm not over the hump yet...there has been diatoms on the sand since the last update, and some cyano starting up again. Those patches of hair algae that were starting up two weeks ago have grown now too. So...apparently it is still a toxic waste dump! :eek:

I should test phosphate today to see if my GFO is burned out already. I tested nitrate yesterday, and saw just a hint of color in the water...so maybe 0.1 ppm? I tested in the morning while the sand was still white for a better test. I'll do a waterchange today too. Potassium has been up to 400 ppm for a week now. I don't see any changes yet.

One other thought is I recently switched back to IO. I have done one waterchange with 50/50 IO/H2Ocean, and one waterchange with just IO so far.

[Myka]

I'm interested to see what this Milli does. I rescued it as a browned out, mostly receded, 3/4 dead piece. I chopped off all the dead branches, stuck it in the tank, and forgot about it. Now it is turning yellow...I hope it stays yellow, but I see some blue and green showing up too. Hmmm...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept112011.jpg



Yesterday's FTS. I wish I could get better at FTS. I really need to get those corals off the sand too.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept1120114.jpg

[fishytime]

Um.... Not a milli Mindy..... Polyp structure isn't right:wink:.... Starting to look good whatever is is tho..... So does the FTS

[Myka]

Um.... Not a milli Mindy..... Polyp structure isn't right:wink:.... Starting to look good whatever is is tho..... So does the FTS

It was a Milli when I cut the branches off. :wink: Let it grow, it will be a Milli again. :D

[Sunee]

Great pics. Your tank is so colourful!!

[fishytime]

It was a Milli when I cut the branches off. :wink: Let it grow, it will be a Milli again. :D


why do I like arguing with you Mindy?:biggrin:........ if thats a milli...... I will...........buy you a coral of your choice (within reason of course, no scolys) next time I see you at the shop......the polyp structure isnt right, the coralite shape isnt right, the shape of the tips isnt right......heres your branch less "milli" base and heres mine.....you cant tell me these are the same type of coral:wink:....


http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept112011.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/Fishytime%202/IMGP5764.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o19/fishytime/Fishytime%202/IMGP5808.jpg

[Mechaninano]

Hey Myka,
What type of clownfish is that (the one in the middle picture with less white). Thanks

[lorenz0]

i'm going to have to agree with doug on this one. Doesn't look like a milli, i would think its a tenuis before a milli. interested to see that beast branch out, looks like it has some cool coloring

[Myka]

why do I like arguing with you Mindy?:biggrin:........ if thats a milli...... I will...........buy you a coral of your choice (within reason of course, no scolys) next time I see you at the shop......the polyp structure isnt right, the coralite shape isnt right, the shape of the tips isnt right......heres your branch less "milli" base and heres mine.....you cant tell me these are the same type of coral:wink:....

i'm going to have to agree with doug on this one. Doesn't look like a milli, i would think its a tenuis before a milli. interested to see that beast branch out, looks like it has some cool coloring

It's possible I'm not remembering which coral it was. It could be that I didn't look at the branches very close when I cut em off...they were only about 1" long and encrusted with coralline. Tenuis is a good guess...especially with the colors. It does look a lot like this one doesn't it:
http://www.aquaticartinc.com/images/corals/acro_tenuis.jpg



Hey Myka,
What type of clownfish is that (the one in the middle picture with less white). Thanks

She's a grade a ORA Picasso.

Great pics. Your tank is so colourful!!

Thanks Sunee...here I thought it was bland. :lol: I think our own tanks always look nicer through someone else's eyes.

[BlueTang<3]

Hows the scoly?

[Myka]

Hows the scoly?

Here's a pic from a week ago. It looks about the same now. It has definitely perked up since I posted that first pic.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept4201110.jpg

[dreef]

Very nice FTS Mindy..we don't care what you think :P That's the thing with acropora i like the most,a palette of colors.If you like yellow i have a golden yellow milli i'm bringing back from a very low light former life.

[lorenz0]

It's possible I'm not remembering which coral it was. It could be that I didn't look at the branches very close when I cut em off...they were only about 1" long and encrusted with coralline. Tenuis is a good guess...especially with the colors. It does look a lot like this one doesn't it:

It has similar features... the polyps are throwing me off though. A.Tenius ussually have thicker polyps where yours has really thin ones. Your going to have to jeep us updated on that piece

[reefermadness]

Wow....great job Myka.

[Myka]

Thanks Darryl. :)

Very nice FTS Mindy..we don't care what you think :P That's the thing with acropora i like the most,a palette of colors.If you like yellow i have a golden yellow milli i'm bringing back from a very low light former life.

Haha, thanks. :) If it's from low light, are you sure it isn't a bleached out green? Post a pic if you want, I would like to see it! :D

It has similar features... the polyps are throwing me off though. A.Tenius ussually have thicker polyps where yours has really thin ones. Your going to have to jeep us updated on that piece

I will post pics as it grows. It's getting green and bluer everyday...slow grower though so far.

[Myka]

The flesh suddenly fell off the Scoly yesterday. :cry: Why is it always the expensive pieces that have accidents and die? This hobby can be soooo depressing sometimes. :neutral:

[JMes]

How's your Scoly doing? Was it able to pull through?

[Myka]

Thanks for asking JMes...the post right above you says it died. :(

[Myka]

Well, my tank is trying to crash, and I'm half-heartedly trying to stop it. I've been trying to clean up the tank after it being in the hands of a tank sitter for 8 months and the tank is resisting.

Here's the low down...

Calcium 420 ppm (Elos)
Alkalinity 8 dKH (Elos)
Magnesium 1350 ppm (Salifert)
Potassium 400 ppm (Elos)
Ammonia not detectable (Salifert)
Nitrate trace (Salifert)
Phosphate trace (Merck)

Prodibio Biodigest and Bioptim dosed on 1st and 16th of every month (started in June)
Zeovit Sponge Power 3 drops daily (started in July)
Calcium and alkalinity dosed via dosers.
250 mL BRS pelleted GFO changed every 6 weeks (not changed Apr-Aug)
300 mL Kent carbon changed every 6 weeks (not changed Apr-Aug)

Nitrate and phosphate were tested this morning before the algae fired up for the day, but I still don't trust those numbers.

When I quit working out of province and came back home in mid-July there was raging cyano covering most of the sand, and SPS colors were fairly pale. I had a lot on my plate at that time, so I pretty much ignored the tank until mid-August. I then did some waterchanges, vacuumed the sand, replaced resins, got in there and started cleaning things up. Cyano was knocked back, but still persisted. I cut back on feeding, and cut out frozen foods entirely. Cyano still persisted, and I ran out of patience.

In mid-Sept I dosed the tank with ChemiClean which didn't completely knock the cyano out...maybe 90%, but coral colors improved 50%. I was told to dose Biodigest weekly by a rep for 3 weeks right after the ChemiClean (and stick to the regular dosing of Bioptim) to help get the nitrifying bacteria up to snuff. This caused the tank to break out in a bacterial bloom of 2" long snot. Brilliant. Now the cyano is back to where it was when I started, and hair algae is just starting to tuft up pretty much everywhere.

Anyway...tomorrow, or maybe the day after I'm going to siphon the entire sandbed out of the tank, and hopefully catch the Jawfish to move him into a different tank (with sand). While siphoning the sand out I will probably end up doing a 30% waterchange. I am considering modifying the sump for chaeto harvesting, but that would mean putting the sump (and skimmer) off line for at least 24 hours. I'm also considering another dose of ChemiClean...I know it won't get rid of the problem, but it will at least get rid of the toxins that cyano releases. I'm also going to quit dosing Prodibio and Sponge Power until this is all under control.

At this point, I'm paranoid I'm going to wake up in the morning to massive RTN. I think the tank was too dirty for too long and the rocks absorbed a bunch of nutrients which are going to continue to leech for a long time.

I know the tank is close to the verge of collapse, and I just want to put my head in the sand. I have some really big projects on my lap right now, and I soooo do not want to deal with this right now. :neutral:

[Myka]

...and a big flash of light just came from the sump, and then sizzling and red hot burningness. Apparently a heater was feeling a bit explosive tonight. I'm glad I was around for that.

[Hawkaholic]

WOW...if its not one thing...its another.:sad: Hope everything is ok.

[Myka]

Ya, when it rains it pours!!

I managed to get about half of the sand out today while only changing about 12 gallons of water, so that's good. I left the sand that was piled up around the Jawfish burrows because there's no way I can catch him where he is right now. I also have a Melanurus Wrasse that sleeps in the sand, and a couple of Fighting Conchs. The corals have better PE now, but that's probably because of the waterchange. I'm going to try to be more consistent on the waterchanges...I've been slacking.

[brizzo]

*waves*

[StirCrazy]

...and a big flash of light just came from the sump, and then sizzling and red hot burningness. Apparently a heater was feeling a bit explosive tonight. I'm glad I was around for that.

good catch.. mine went while I was sleeping and wiped out my entire tank.


Steve

[Myka]

Nazarine! You stranger!!

good catch.. mine when while I was sleeping and wiped out my entire tank.


Steve

Ugh! How did it wipe the tank out? :eek:

[StirCrazy]

Nazarine! You stranger!!



Ugh! How did it wipe the tank out? :eek:

didn't , spark and such.. controller for the heater welded its self on and I woke up to coral soup. tried saving stuff but with in 3 days four 5gal buckets of skeletons was all that was left.

Steve

[Myka]

OMG. :eek: That would be heartbreaking! I use two small heaters, and having just one stuck on is not powerful enough to wreck havoc.

[reefwars]

hey mindy i hope everything gets back on track with your tank yours is by far one of my faves here.sorry to hear about the scoly:( i had a heater go crazy on me a while back got stuck on the on position and when i got to the tank it was 90 degrees nothing harmed thankfully as i had no really sensitive corals in there:)

keep battling you will win:):) cheers

[StirCrazy]

OMG. :eek: That would be heartbreaking! I use two small heaters, and having just one stuck on is not powerful enough to wreck havoc.

yup so did I, two 250 watt heaters on a system with 150 gal of water, but it happened when I had the corals in a temp tank as I was removing the sand bed from my main tank. so one 250 watt heater in a 75 gal tank.

Steve

[Myka]

I took a FTS today...got most of the sand out now and the tank looks much better.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1520116.jpg

[reefermadness]

Looks real good..... glad things are getting better.

[Leah]

Tank looks good Mindy! What is the blue fish? Do you still have the cutie pie Tang???

[Myka]

Thanks for the comments! The tank has been running here for 2 1/2 years now, and I'm finally at a point where I'm fairly happy with it! :lol: When I move it into the new tank and glue all the corals down again then I should be quite happy! :D

Leah, that is actually a Melanarus Wrasse! He is very blue. He was a she until about 3 weeks ago he started changing into male, and turned this lovely blue color. I will try to get a close up pic of him. His fins are almost as blue as a Mandarin's fins.

[fishoholic]

Your efforts seem to have payed off, your tank is looking good :thumb:

[muck]

Glad to see the tank is looking up for you Mindy. From the FTS you would never know you were having issues recently. :wink:

[Myka]

Muck, you have no idea how close it was to crashing. It was trying real hard for about 3 days. It bounced back though, and the colors are better than they have ever been on the SPS, the LPS are taking a bit longer to perk up.

Thanks Laurie, it was stressful for a few days that's for sure. That's what I get for staring at it in annoyance instead of doing waterchanges.

Leah, he's a close up of the Melanurus:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Oct1620112.jpg

[Leah]

Beautiful fish Mindy! Can't believe you could get such a good shot of him. :biggrin:

[Myka]

Soooo...I refilled my alkalinity doser yesterday around noon, and plugged it into the wall instead of the timer to refill the dosing tubes (I let i run dry...oops). I set a timer for 10 minutes so I wouldn't forget. I remember to timer going off, but apparently I didn't go unplug the doser! WTF?!!! Anyway, this morning I walk by the tank and I usually glance at the doser vessels in habit to check if one needs refilling and the alkalinity is HALF EMPTY! I left it on for 20 hours! :eek: I tested calcium at 430 ppm and alkalinity at 17 dKH. I have no idea why calcium is so high as the high alkalinity should have yanked the calcium down...maybe the high alkalinity is preventing the inhabitants from utilizing calcium and alkalinity. Anyway...I added a bunch of calcium hopefully bumping it up to 500 ppm which will help draw the alkalinity down a bit and also help to balance it a bit better. Of course I ran out of one of the liquids for the calcium kit (it didn't feel that empty rrrg!). I just did a waterchange yesterday so I didn't have new water mixed up yet, but I have it mixing now. Everyone looks happy, so I won't bother doing a waterchange unless someone shows stress. They are tough. I hope... :eek:

Some other changes in the tank...added a 200 micron filter sock to this tank. I bought a doser and some Kalk to start adding Kalk, but had a brain fart and ordered a slow doser instead of a fast doser, so that project is on hold. Kalk should help a bit while the rocks are still leeching nutrients. I bought everything to modify the sump for a Chaeto filter as well. Back to basics! :)

The "Melanurus Wrasse" is actually a Grey Head Wrasse! He is almost done changing into a male now...He has changed a bit since the last pic. I was looking at him a couple weeks ago thinking, "He just doesn't quite look like a Melanurus, and he's getting sooo big!" So I did some searching around and found out he is a Grey Head which I'm not familiar with! Thankfully the Grey Head is essentially the same personality as a Melanurus, but I can expect him to get another 1 1/2" on the Melanurus! The female Melanurus and female Grey Head look very similar and I guess he was mislabeled right from the wholesaler because I special ordered him. I didn't notice the difference...actually I didn't know there was a similar looking wrasse in existence! So...long story short...he has turned into one big @$$ wrasse! :eek:

[Delphinus]

Ouch, good luck with the Alk thing.

Interesting about the wrasse. Man they look pretty similar. At least the size difference is only 1.5" and not something more profound!

[Myka]

Oh, no kidding Tony! Could you imagine if he got 15" like a Red Coris? That would suck. It's bad enough he will get 6"...with just a 90 gallon tank there isn't a lot of wiggle room. He seems to be very similar in habits to the Melanurus...hunts bristleworms like they are the devil. Constantly picking at rocks, and picking at the inside of SPS colonies (not hurting them). He hasn't hurt the Peppermint shrimp that's in there. There have been a few empty snail shells in the last few months, although I haven't actually seen him picking at them so I don't know if he has anything to do with that or not. I'm going to add a Yellow Wrasse (H chrysus) as soon as I find one, so that will be a good test to see how much of a jerk he's going to be. I took all the other fish out of the reef, and am going to concentrate on making it a wrasse dominated tank. Should be interesting...

[fishoholic]

Yikes! Glad to hear everything seems ok.

[Myka]

Thanks Laurie. :)

So far so good. Adding the calcium did exactly what I was hoping it would do; it precipitated a bunch of calcium and alkalinity out of the water column. Precipitate all over...powerheads are white. :lol: I will test later, and see how much progress there is. Corals still look fine.

[fishoholic]

Thanks Laurie. :)

So far so good. Adding the calcium did exactly what I was hoping it would do; it precipitated a bunch of calcium and alkalinity out of the water column. Precipitate all over...powerheads are white. :lol: I will test later, and see how much progress there is. Corals still look fine.

That must be a bit of a relief :biggrin:

[Myka]

My RBTA has been moving around for the last week. Not far, just 6" or so, and he is on his own island so he can't do much damage as long as he stays attached. Freakin nem is stressing me out waaaaaaaaaay more than the alkalinity being at 17 dKH. :lol:

[fishytime]

My RBTA has been moving around for the last week. Not far, just 6" or so, and he is on his own island so he can't do much damage as long as he stays attached. Freakin nem is stressing me out waaaaaaaaaay more than the alkalinity being at 17 dKH. :lol:

See!......nems is evil.....Ive been sayin it for years......they pick a time when you are already vulnerable and torment you with threats of moving

[fishoholic]

My RBTA has been moving around for the last week. Not far, just 6" or so, and he is on his own island so he can't do much damage as long as he stays attached. Freakin nem is stressing me out waaaaaaaaaay more than the alkalinity being at 17 dKH. :lol:

One of my maxi minis decided to take a walk awhile ago, very annoying. I see him every once in awhile always in a different spot. Wish he'd pick a spot in the open where I can see him and stay there!

Hope your RBTA settles down

[Myka]

Walkin nems is scary in a tank full of coral! :eek:

The alkalinity is down to 11 dKH this morning, so it precipitated nicely for me. Just have a white tank now. :lol: I guess I'm cleaning pumps this weekend...it could be worse!

[Myka]

Just for fun, here are some photos 1 year apart.

Jan 2, 2010:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan22010.jpg



Jan 1, 2011:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jan12011.jpg



Jan 1, 2012:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/IMG_3028.jpg
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=52501

[Casey8]

Myka, what is your secret to growing the sps corals too fast ?

[hillegom]

Myka, what is your secret to growing the sps corals too fast ?

likewise, whats the secret?

[Myka]

They don't all grow fast. I have some that grow painfully slow. I have two frags that I've had for 2 years that haven't grown any significant amount. Besides that, the less I mess with things the faster they grow. The KISS theory goes a long way. :D

[fishytime]

thats quite the evolution Mindy....looks good these days.....and as you know KISS is my mantra too:wink:

[Myka]

I am not the KISS extremist that you are Doug! Your particular KISS theory gives me nightmares! :eek:

Just a note, that Purple Frilly gorgonian just right of middle grows really well for me. I frag it regularly to keep it the same size otherwise it would overgrow the tank. I have fragged off probably just about the same amount that is there, so it has almost doubled in 2 years. My other photosynthetic gorgs are typical gorgs and don't grow very fast at all.

[Nano]

Very nice Mindy, I think I have tank envy ;)

[reefgirl189]

It really is beautiful and that's just from the pictures. I'm sure it's absolutely stunning in person.

[Mrfish55]

I really like the scape on this, things are filling in real nice.

[reefwars]

the less I mess with things the faster they grow.

my biggest rule for myself.....leave it alone and let it grow lol less is more...tank looks stellar , way up there in canreefs best tanks i love the pattern your gsp is growing :):)

[reefwars]

I am not the KISS extremist that you are Doug! Your particular KISS theory gives me nightmares! :eek:

Just a note, that Purple Frilly gorgonian just right of middle grows really well for me. I frag it regularly to keep it the same size otherwise it would overgrow the tank. I have fragged off probably just about the same amount that is there, so it has almost doubled in 2 years. My other photosynthetic gorgs are typical gorgs and don't grow very fast at all.


i couldnt get any growth from my purple frilly gorgs i ended up making a bunch of frags for people i hope they did better for them then me...lots of PE but no real height, maybe it was just the tank at the time lol :):)

[Nano]

speaking of not messing with anything, I went to move some zoo's today, cause they looked like they were stretching to get past my palys for light, and there was easily 50 heads on the frag compared to 10 when I bought it 3 months ago! so I just moved it slightly into the light, but other then that, yeah dont mess with anything like they say! It works lol.

[Myka]

Notice anything different?

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Feb520122.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Feb520123.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Feb520124.jpg

[gregzz4]

Took me awhile to spot it. Where did it all go?

[Myka]

It went to a bunch of different homes. I can't move it into the new tank, and I have been wondering if there was chemical warfare as it is known to be one of the bad ones. It will be interesting to see if there are any changes.

[BlueTang<3]

I think it looks cleaner now with out all that grass:wink:, but either way your tank looks sweet.

[Myka]

I think it looks cleaner now with out all that grass:wink:, but either way your tank looks sweet.

I agree. Every time I look at it I think...gee it looks cleaner/tidier. :mrgreen: I can't say I miss it, although it did look nice. I saved some for myself that I plan to make a gorgonian island in the tank where I can put all my photo gorgs and use the gsp as grass on the island. Hehehe...probably won't look as cool as I am imagining.

[reefermadness]

so nice and clean......looks great.

[muck]

I agree... looks much better now. :mrgreen:

[Myka]

Heh, thanks! Here I thought the GSP looked cool. :lol:

The polyp extension is definitely more than usual, so that's a good sign. I bought some Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7 and BioFuel to try out. So far, I've never been able to find a probiotic type system that I have been completely satisfied with. Time to experiment...again. ;)

Oh, a couple weeks ago I chucked some Chaeto in the sump with a light on 18 hr reverse photoperiod. Still fighting nutrients...I'm almost ready to rip the tank apart and take the rock out to cook it. I'm replacing 300 mL of GFO every 4 weeks. Ridiculous...

[Myka]

EDIT (while I can): Oops...wrong thread. LOL

[Myka]

I'm doing a Brightwell Aquatics NeoZeo Method Experiment (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=83275) in the Product Review forum. It has a rundown of the trials and tribulations of the 33 months the tank has been running.

I added some critters in the last while, current fish list: Grey Head Wrasse, 3x McCosker's Fairy Wrasse, Yellow Coris Wrasse, Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse, Bangaii Cardinal, Tomato clown. I have ordered another Tomato clown and 3 Yellow Tail Damsels (hey I like them!).

Some future additions I am considering (not all of them obviously): Blotchy Anthias, Hooded Wrasse, Helfrich's or Purple Firefish, Orange Back Wrasse, Orchid Dottyback.

[es355lucille]

Wow! Nice tank!

[Myka]

Long story short, in early April I decided to pull the GFO and try vodka and Microbacter7 dosing. I dosed for about 6 weeks. I built up slowly, and followed the "famous dosing schedule" and I managed to slowly brown out all my SPS by about 99% and near the end of the 6 weeks I lost half a dozen small pieces. I was quite stubborn about making it work. http://www.saskreef.ca/forums/images/smilies/icon_confused.gif When I started losing pieces in early May I quit dosing the vodka and MB7, and went back to the trusty GFO and Prodibio dosing in mid-May. I've had good luck with Prodibio before. So, now I'm starting to get some color back, but the tank still looks like poop. So much for experiments. Argh.

When I did the vodka dosing, most of the SPS went brown, but some of them bleached out. The ones that I lost were ones that bleached. Two of my favourite colonies were two of the pieces that bleached and when they started to RTN at the base that's when I threw in the towel on the vodka + MB7. I found a pic I took of the one colonies:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/May62012.jpg



This is what it looks like in its prime:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept10201122.jpg



Also, in the beginning of March I moved most of my LPS out of the 90 and into the new 50. In the process I basically pilfered the 90 and it looked a bit barren. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of how bad it looked. Between the tank looking awful, and me killing my main camera in Hawaii in May I haven't taken many pics since.

Here it was halfway browned out, partway through the vodka dosing. When I pilfered the corals out, I took almost all the rock out of the right hand side of the tank, so it was quite bare looking.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Mar102012.jpg


So, Canada Day weekend I moved the last of the LPS and Gorgonians out of the 90 and put about 40 lbs of live rock into the 90 to fluff it back up. Finally, after 18 months of putting it off, the tank doesn't have a million corals on the sand! It still needs A LOT more color to develop back again, but here is how it looked shortly after the re-aquascaping on June 30th...

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Jun302012.jpg

[reefwars]

looks like you did some fragging as well, so is this going to be sps only now??

[Myka]

Yeah, I chomped down the large birdnest on the left, and the birdnest on the right is not in the new pic because it was in the sump when I took the pic. I forgot it in the sump for a week, but is now back up in the display, and is a cool white color (lol)...it is starting to get color back. I think everything else is still in there. It is amazing how much more room there was when I took out all the LPS. This tank is now 98% SPS. It would be 100% SPS if I could peel the Meteor Shower Cyphastrea off the rocks and that is not very possible...

[Leah]

Tank is still nice. Is that a Squarespot in the last photo? Do you still have the Kole Tang and if so has it changed in color?

[Myka]

Leah, I sold the Kole Tang a long time ago. I can't remember why...he either started picking on corals or he was picking on another fish. Last I heard he was normal Kole coloring again. Yes, that's a Squarespot Anthias...he's cool he eats out of my fingers.

[Myka]

Wow, I haven't updated this thread in over a year... :o

I guess the short story is I was working in Alberta from October 2012 to April 2013. My tank had a rough winter in the hands of the tank sitter with massive hair algae growth. I lost my large Snappy's Rainbow Stylo due to the hair algae. :( I replaced the Stylo with a new mini colony of the same lovely piece (thanks to my frag sharing). I lost several smaller pieces too including most of my Birdnests. The hair algae has been very tough to get out of the large Austera and I was afraid to lose it as well. Since the hair algae was sucking the nutrients out of the water in such efficiency, the SPS were all very pale and thin skinned from essentially "zero" nutrients in the water column. My D-D Merck phosphate kit showed no color change and neither did the API nitrate kit.

In order to save the corals, I had to feed the water column in the evenings for the benefit of the corals. In the mornings I turkey basted the hair algae to blow the detritus out, and twice per week I used long tweezers to pull as much hair algae out as possible.

In June of this year I decided to give biopellets a go after I've been watching everyone's experiences with them over the last few years. I was very nervous about this, but the hair algae was at such a density that it was very difficult to eradicate - especially when having to balance algae removal with coral feedings. That's a tough balance.

I bought a Reef Dynamics BPR 135 biopellet reactor and some Vertex biopellets. To avoid cyano outbreak, I started with a meager 50 mL of biopellets on June 8th. I know it takes 3 weeks to establish bacteria in the reactor, so around that time I increased my evening coral feedings. I started to see a bit of a difference around 3 1/2 weeks. At 4 1/2 weeks, on July 10th, I added another 50 mL of biopellets. The reactor has been running this way since and I have continued my evening feedings.

The hair algae was officially gone mid-August though I am still working on increasing SPS coloring. While at MACNA I lost a large fish that wasn't removed from the tank (I just found bones), so when I came back from MACNA there was a return of the hair algae in the large Austera. I'm really not sure why the fish died as it was in great condition and had been in the tank for 6 months.

Water parameters:

Calcium 420 ppm (Elos)
Alkalinity 7.5 to 8.0 (Hanna Checker)
Magnesium 1350-1400 ppm (Salifert)
Potassium 380-420 ppm (Elos)
pH 8.1 morning, 8.3 evening
Phosphate 0.008 ppm (Merck)
Nitrate undetectable (API)
Salinity 35 ppt (1.0264)

Here is a photo journal.

It looked fine on July 15th 2012 (I added a couple rocks - the white ones)...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/July152012.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/Myka82/media/July152012.jpg.html)

It looked pretty bad on December 22nd...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Dec22012_zps9894bb32.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/Myka82/media/Dec22012_zps9894bb32.jpg.html)

It looked really bad in April (no pics), although a bit better by May after working on it for 6 weeks even though it was a bit bare from coral loss...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/May2320133.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/Myka82/media/May2320133.jpg.html)

And now today it's finally starting to look pretty good again...
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Myka82/Sept820132.jpg (http://s85.photobucket.com/user/Myka82/media/Sept820132.jpg.html)

[lastlight]

Looking great. I'm also battling some pale coloration and apparently not doing as well as you.

[wreck]

looking good!

[Dearth]

I understand your pain on the hair algae when I had my small tank up and running I had a battle to keep it under control while it never killed any coral it did promote a lot of algae growth making the tank look ugly.

Hopefully things continue to go better for you also I found out from a friend that he keeps 3 electric blue hermits in his tank 2 of them eat the hair algae like there is no tomorrow while the third sifts the sandbed might be an option worth looking at.

[wayner]

Are you running LED's over this tank now?

[kien]

wow, great turn around and recovery Mindy! Many people would have either thrown in the towel or done way too much too quickly to try to "fix" their tank resulting in a much more worser tank. Your course corrections were much more precise and methodical. Like a BOSS :biggrin:

[mseepman]

Tank is looking good Mindy.

[lpsreefer]

i always have something go south when im on vacation also....

i lost my purple tang while at macna....

tank looks good now! :)
keep up the pics!

[Scythanith]

Those stags look great Mindy! I hope I can get mine into a similar state down the road :)

[Myka]

Hopefully things continue to go better for you also I found out from a friend that he keeps 3 electric blue hermits in his tank 2 of them eat the hair algae like there is no tomorrow while the third sifts the sandbed might be an option worth looking at.

Thank you, it looks like it is on the mend now. I did forget to mention that I add 10 Mexican Turbo snails in May, and about a month ago I removed all my small snails (Cerith, Astraea, Ring Cowries) and added 8 Scarlet Hermits. The hermits won't bother the Turbos, but they will eat smaller snails. I think I'm going to add another 8 Scarlet Hermits. However, I was impressed that the Tang that died was completely cleaned up when I got from MACNA, so the clean up crew is efficient indeed!

looking good!

Thank you!

Looking great. I'm also battling some pale coloration and apparently not doing as well as you.

Thanks Brett. How are you trying to improve color?

Are you running LED's over this tank now?

No. The lights are still 2x250w SE Phoenix and 2x54w KZ Super Blue.

wow, great turn around and recovery Mindy! Many people would have either thrown in the towel or done way too much too quickly to try to "fix" their tank resulting in a much more worser tank. Your course corrections were much more precise and methodical. Like a BOSS :biggrin:

Thanks Kien! It is a long road when it is so far gone.

Tank is looking good Mindy.

Thanks Mark!

i always have something go south when im on vacation also....

i lost my purple tang while at macna....

tank looks good now! :)
keep up the pics!

Thanks! Yes, it was a Tang I lost too. It always makes you wonder what the heck happened.

Those stags look great Mindy! I hope I can get mine into a similar state down the road :)

Thanks Scott. I'm sure yours will look great. It just takes time. :)