I'd guess because you keep disturbing the sand -lol

I never used to clean it
This stuff just showed up one day and won't go away
Guess I'm stuck in a circle now

Honestly, I'd leave it for a while and see if the tank balances out. IMO, messing around with the sand in a reef isn't good. Mine is pretty clean and I haven't touched it in years.

Be done with the sand Greg. Go with tile lol. I love it. Urchin keeps it shiny and its easy to clean

I had something similar happen to me and I've just finished the three day complete darkness cycle which took care of the carpet algae (I believe mine was a minor cyano due to a dead giant strawberry hat snail which I spotted after a few days (so didn't have the time to take it out right away).

Some corals have doubled in size since last year, and some have done nothing
I've been on a bit of a rollercoaster with dosing so ... it is what it is for now

Sorry I don't have more time right now, or a better camera
There's some growth happening but my POS Sony isn't up to it

Another member stated they would come by one day with their 'Big Camera', but that hasn't happened, so this is all I have

Hey, look, pictures !!!

Picked up a Porcelain 'nem crab

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps4ac209c4.jpg

Although it wasn't my intention, it went right for our nems the next day
I only bought the little feller as I thought it's very nice looking
Unfortunately the nems aren't looking very bubbly as of late
I don't know why
I hope to solve this soon
I suspect it's a lack of suspended nutrients and extreme lighting as that's the kind of system they came from
I haven't been blasting the nems with light 'cause, if you've been following along, my SPS were suffering bleaching
I've been feeding the 'nems once monthly and hope things turn around soon

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psb5a774c4.jpg

A FTS, just for posterity
And look, there's actually fish in this pic :wink:

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps031cb0a6.jpg

Ouch that big guy bleached hard. I'm recovering from some of that myself. Nice score with the crab I really want to have a few of those again. Fascinating critters.

that's looking good man. I love those arches!

Great rock work Greg and now finally everything is starting to grow in. Looking good buddy!

Greg, but time we got a pic update. The tank is really taking off, especially thar gorg! let's have more tank progression pics from here on! :biggrin:

Thanks everybody :smile: I hope it starts to fill in a bit faster now

I recently received an RD1 from DA. I've removed the RKL Head Unit from the QT and wired everything into the RKL, with the RD1 on the QT door
Now I'm able to play with the RKL from the sump room. And because I have 2 SL1s I was able to add 2 more switches to the system.
I put a float in the skimmer cup and another in the chaeto tank.
I love having more powerbars too. Pretty much all the automation I wanted is now in place.
One last thing may be a Net module; so I can freak out while I'm away and send texts to my tank sitter :lol:

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...pse2a80679.jpg

A couple weeks ago my skimmer was acting up and it turned out there was a bug stuck on the fresh air intake I put out the window.
I picked up a breather filter so that won't happen again

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps90e35bf3.jpg

The green birdsnest isn't as bleached as it looks in FTSs

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1f48f0f2.jpg

I played with my camera settings a bit
This is about the best I can get

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps75cc059d.jpg

Time for some growth pics

6/28/12
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01225.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps7235491e.jpg


8/15/12
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps76986d0c.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psa8218afe.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3696fe69.jpg


8/28/12
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps023bf14c.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps275ef5a4.jpg


8/31/12
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1de6c7ca.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...pse35c1006.jpg


9/13/12
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps54c0b530.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps57df5f5c.jpg


9/13/12
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8dd7c097.jpg

8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psedd9913f.jpg


Yellow Coris (Junior)
3/15/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps5e621872.jpg

3/15/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps26b8d518.jpg

He's already as big as our Lubbock's (Asrai)
8/24/13
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps5cfb651f.jpg

I picked up a 1LB piece of LR from J&L for the chaeto/fuge tank
From now on, I'll try to remember to refer to it as the fuge as I've given up on chaeto
A few days ago I plumbed the fuge pump directly from the first sump chamber, so now it's getting unfiltered water
The new rock

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psbe9a8e75.jpg

I currently have a piece of filter material in the fuge for the stars and pods to live in and will put the rock in once I'm comfortable thinking it's pest-free
Last night I found this little one in the rock and am setting it free in the DT
That's my thumb nail it's sitting on

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps4dd6ab02.jpg

Then, after getting a pic of the rock, I find this teeny crab

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psb38e3ceb.jpg

I'm going to bait a glass and we'll see how many there are :smile:

Tank looks fantastic. Great Job. And that crab is very peculiar looking. I don't think I've ever seen one like that before.

Wow that crab looks cool! And you even have a mini-me version! :-)

Great pics and tank. Too high tech for me lol! Cool growth pics as well.

As you may remember my SPS were suffering from low nutrients
I cut my GFO use in half, started feeding the corals, and near doubled the fish food

Well, the corals are bouncing back, but what I initially thought was algae is looking more and more like green and red cyano :sad:
This may explain my not so pulsing xenia ...

I tested my PO4 today and (bad me) it's up to 0.24
So now I'm back to regular GFO use, and back to siphoning the sand 'till I get this under control
I'm also skimming a little wetter than before

I'm going to try this route before jumping on the Chemiclean bandwagon

So, on the plus side, my bleached corals have gone from pale and white to colorful and some even a bit brown
The green birdsnest is almost normal again, and the green slimer is actually green. But the tricolor is mostly brown
And I guess the RBTA likes the water as it's gone from 2 to 4 since Aug

Hopefully I can find a balance sometime soon

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps89fb7ffb.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps02a9aeb6.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps49c7b6ad.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps51439552.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps5b3ce9ab.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...pse7959376.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psf1119d0e.jpg

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps33635626.jpg

Cyano is good hermit crab food.

Cyano appears to be calming down
Forgot to do a PO4 test tonight before the weekly WC. C'est la vie

Just fired up the QT, so stay tuned for some new fishies :wink:
And possibly some more tank issues, but I need more fish poop for the corals, so I'll deal with things as they occur

Currently have 5 RBTAs and am wondering if they are splitting so fast due to irritation from the porcelain nem crab ?
They are splitting at a much smaller size than they used to
I'm monitoring what is going on and thinking I may get rid of the crab

Our clown, Goober, isn't being hosted, but spends much of his day patrolling the nem area, swimming between all of the tentacles, and keeping the emerald crabs away and such
The claws come out, but the clown eventually wins through sheer persistence with his constant poking/nudging
I'm OK with him not beating up the nems by being inside them and we enjoy the show when a critter gets too close to the area
Goober (aptly named) will even shake away trying to scare off snails :rolleyes:

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...pscda8259c.jpg

Clowns are awesome! My nem split this week too, beating on moving so all three clowns have a nem to host! Tank is looking great!!

The QT is alive again
I spent more than planned, but isn't that always the way with this hobby ?

I'm going to have to be extra vigilant for awhile with clean water, but it's worth it
I bought a Neon Goby, Redhead Goby and a Purple Firefish
For Wrasses, I bought a Melanurus, a Filamented Flasher, and a Solar and a Whipfin Fairy

Everybody ate live last night, and all 5 big guys ate NLS for lunch with the gobies possibly nibbling on leftovers
Tonight I tried the Nori clip and the wrasses went bananas for it, with the firefish cleaning up the leftovers
So far so good

There's been no squabbling, and the gobies hang out together

I'm also really happy with the quality of the fish from J&L as all these guys have good-sized bellies and (fingers crossed) no visible signs of disease

No time for decent pics right now, but here's a FTS with everyone visible

http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...psb119ff66.jpg

That's a nice haul of fish you have there. I've been looking for a couple of nice wrasses to add to my tank

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Hey Greg what page is it where you've set up your quarantine tank? Is it plugged in to your main system or is it seperate? I've dug an old tank out of my junk pile and will now be using a quarantine for future fish purchases. Nice fish you've grabbed. I was reading about you feeding more etc and your coral growth. I took my filter socks off line last Jan. My corals took right off since. If your not using them for micro bubbbles it might also help in their growth as well.

If you have your quarantine plumbed into your main system ,then there wouldn't really be any point in quarantining , as you would risk introducing any possible disease into the main system.

Yes thanks i'm aware of that:biggrin:. I was just curious as I was wondering where that hose went from his internal pump.

Hey Greg,

Can you comment more on your green cyano? Do you have any more photos? Was it ever kind of neon-y in colour?

Nice new additions! Your tank is looking really good regardless of the cyano.

Thanks guys. I'm very happy with our new fish

Bill, the QT is on page 15 and is totally separate, but is now connected to my RKE instead of a separate RKL. It has it's own ATO as well

If we're thinking the same hose that goes up, that's for the 'fuge. That pump is now in the skimmer chamber so it's unfiltered
If you're looking at the black hose that goes left, that's for the UV/Chiller circuit

I've thought about removing my socks but still have to ponder the arguements before I make a choice

I think that there are different levels of quarantining. Some QT systems are completely separate and disconnected from the main system. This method would be for treatments, etc. However, I have in fact seen QT systems that were attached to the main display. The point of a QT system that is attached to the main display would be to simply house a new fish and adapt them to tank conditions slowly. This allows them time to recover from shipping/moving without the added stress of being picked on by the established tank inhabitants. In this way you're kinda giving them their own room and time to adjust. This would also be a good time to adapt them to any foods that they might not otherwise be accustomed to. Certainly though, as you said, this method of QT'ing does not eliminate your risk of introducing disease into your tank, nevertheless it does serve a purpose.

Thank you

No more pics at this time
It was a light neon green on the sand, as well as some light red. It was never thick in the DT but held tons of bubbles
The stuff I scraped out of the 'fuge was the thick slimy red stuff

I upped my GFO back to the normal amount and siphoned the cyano from the sandbed, as well as removed it all from the 'fuge
That was a week ago Friday
The 'fuge is still clear and the sand is only barely 'infected'

I do believe it started because I was trying to saturate the tank with food for the corals, and I let my PO4 get too high

Good to know its 'beatable'. I've been dealing with it since the flood, I can barely stay ahead of it. I am still kicking myself that 3 missed water changes could have such a long standing impact.

Thanks for the reply.

What do you mean by this? I'm hoping my tank won't be too heavy for my floor

I just never liked how I could make the tank move by walking heavily in the middle of the living room
The tank was against a 2x6 load-bearing wall, but the joists span 12'
If I was worried about it I would have installed a jack post or a support wall downstairs, but I didn't want another storage room in the recroom :wink:

Both an Engineer and a builder friend told me to relax, but don't have a dozen people in the living room at one time

I'm not 100% sure that my green stuff is cyano
I was thinking it's more an algae than a bacteria as it's so light colored

Guys in QT are doing very well and getting along 'swimmingly'

Ya, I said it

They all have names but 1, so they better make it into the DT :wink:
No signs of diseases etc and all eat very well
Nori, NLS pellets, mysis and some fortified brine shrimp I need to use up

Thanks to Brad for posting sometime last year about putting foams in the sump to seed a QT filter
I did this last time around in May, but killed the bacteria with meds :twised:
I think the foams sat for a few months this time, and I've already put more in, just in case

I've been using Stability and an Ammo Alert, as I've always done, and never saw any NH3, even with my Elos kit
We've been checking the badge at roughly 7am, 12pm (lunch feeding), 2-3pm (after lunch), 6pm, and 10pm (2 hours after dinner feeding)
I've checked with the Elos kit every night at roughly 6pm and nothing ...
Tonight I tested 0.5 NO2 and a trace of NO3
Looking good, considering there's 7 fish (11" or so) in a 20g

I can't wait to get these guys into the DT, although I'll have to transfer them in a couple batches a week or so apart (when the time comes) and Stability for the DT for a week each batch

Greg....you are the MOST patient person I have EVER seen, not only in THIS hobby but TILL this time of MY life! :surprise:

(Sorry for CAPing some of those words :redface:)

Looking forward to pics of them wrasse! I had picked up a melanarus too a few weeks ago when I was over at JL...

Try having a 120 lb goofy lab running around, he uses the fish room as a launching and landing pad up and down the stairs!! Tank def moves, fish think someone's coming to feed them all the time!! :lol:

+ 1000

Tank is looking so good Greg! Love the new fishes, hope you share their names soon!

I don't know about that, but maybe someone should start a poll :lol: NOT

It's my Reef OCD Raied :wink: I MUST keep the DT safe ... even if I lose some guys in the QT (which happened last May)
But to tell you the truth, there are days where I fight with myself to stay patient!!

Cool Wayne! Great fish. I love it
This is the one I can't come up with a name for yet ...

Let's see some pics in your build thread
I haven't had a chance yet to get any good ones of ours, but I want to post some soon

Thanks Sheena!! (Sorry I skipped over your last post)
I'm almost proud of our DT now

Maybe you could teach your Lab to feed the fish :razz:
Oh god, I just had an image of a dog throwing up in a tank. Mmmm, food
I'm out there right now. Today was my last day and I start my new job Monday, so I'm kinda school-girl giddy and am having barley-pops for dinner :drinking:

I'll put their names up as soon as the Melanurus has one, but it'll take me some time as I feel such a beautiful fish deserves a great name

:lol:

I gave up on being patient. Oh wait...I never was :redface:

Ha