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It's such a great idea :razz: You have to admit, though, that I got some sweet frags :mrgreen: Better pics will come later ... |
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Today's readings are looking good
I didn't expect to see any drastic drops in params with such a small amount of coral, but I'm going to stay on top of it anyway :wink: All but 1 coral have lots of PE I've been in contact with the seller and am hoping to get an answer as to where this particular coral was most happy in his tank SG 1.025 Temp 78.9 - 79.3 pH 8.12 @ 5am ( still dark, but ambient morning light ) pH 8.21 @ 11pm ( lights out, moons on 11% ) Mag 1400 - 1450 KH 8.5 Ca 410-420 NO3 trace PO4 not measureable I'd like to see my Mag drop a bit, but am happy enough with the Alk and Ca for now I haven't started dripping Kalk yet as I haven't found a vessel I like, so I have been dosing Alk as needed ( in small doses ), but haven't had to add any yet since the addition of the new corals Hopefully this week I'll find a nice container of some kind for the Kalk dripping I bought some live phyto today for the corals and I'll start with feeding 2-3 times/week, although tonight may tell me how much they want I don't want to feed daily yet as the small corals are still acclimating, and the current algae is semi-under control With all the LR I've added to the sump, the drain section is staying amazingly clean, but we'll see what happens once I start feeding fish in the DT :wink: The QT dudes are doing well Today was 2 weeks for the Clown and PJs, with this coming Friday being 2 weeks for the Bangaii Everyone is eating well, although not all the same food - fussy little kids I'm looking @ about July 27th before I will add them to the DT, barring any visible signs of infection This'll put them @ 6 weeks in the QT and then I can start looking for a Tang to munch all the algae that's keeping me busy :smile: Lastly, I defrosted the office beer fridge today I don't know why I didn't store the frozen food in it until now, after all these years of keeping it in the kitchen fridge :lol: The office beer fridge freezer section is large enough to hold all 17 flats of food I have stock-piled :rolleyes: Plus, besides beer, pop and extra jarred people food, there's plenty of shelving for the new phyto, and somewhere to hold the defrosted dish of food for the QT dudes I guess that's enough for today Thanks for following along :mrgreen: |
I'll add my lights as I'd like opinions, and I can look back on it
Lights are 8 x 54w T5s 12 hours Blue Plus ATI 11am to 11pm 9 hours Aquablue Special ATI 12pm to 9pm 5 Hours Blue Plus ATI 1pm to 6pm 2 Hours Fiji Purple and Superblue KZ 2pm to 4pm |
Oooh, new frags from a buddy ... thanks Carrera75 :mrgreen:
Pics to come soon ... Rics, Mushrooms, Palys, Candy Canes, Hammer and GSP I know, I don't want palys and GSP, but I will control them with rock placement .... Some awesome Rics, a totally gorgeous neon Candy Cane, kool Hammer ... Pictures may show how awesome Daniel's stuff is, or not ... Blue mushrooms, Red mushrooms, .... They look so awesome on my rocks :smile: So, pics to come soon ... |
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Thanks for the warning
I've had to move the salt content foods already :smile: |
I pulled the rock out that has the polyps on it as I see I'm already going to have to pluck what has spread
Here's the new critters Lava and Aussi from apexifd Great colors - crappy camera :razz: http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01224.jpg http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01226.jpg And a bunch from Carrera75 Neon green candy cane http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01225.jpg Red and Blue mushrooms http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01223.jpg Green, Orange and Teal rics http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01222.jpg Green with Pink hammer http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01221.jpg Some palys http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01228.jpg And finally, some GSP ( no, you didn't - yup, I did ) I'll keep it to the rock island http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01227.jpg And a so-so FTS - no fruit stand here I'll have to break out the tripod and turn off the blues next time I'm seeing signs of the coralline spreading :biggrin: http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01229.jpg |
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I'm quite happy with how clean it's staying so far |
Forgot to post awhile back about the PJs
The one who wouldn't eat had me concerned as it wasn't eating anything live, so I tossed in some NLS pellets and, BAM, holee was he hungry :biggrin: I've since been feeding both PJs pellets I've got the Clown and Bangaii eating Blood Worms, Cyclopeeze and Mysis - all fortified with vities, and some garlic for good measure I'm going to try to spot feed the Clown and Bangaii with some idea in mind to turn them onto pellets I may try the clam shell trick All is happy for now :wink: |
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I started using some carbon today, so here's both reactors running
http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01236.jpg I'm going through a LOT of filter socks right now I currently use 4" x 14" nylon mesh ( not the felt ones ), and the tank is burning through anywhere from 3 to 6 per day, and the skimmer is making lots of brownish-greenish muck that I clean out every few days or so I hope this daily swap-out routine changes once the algae calms down I'll do some research on socks - nylon vs felt Double-checked all params today and, as far as I can tell, there's no reason why anyone should be unhappy With that said, the GSP hasn't fully opened for 2 days, but I've read that's not uncommon, so I won't worry about it for now Hammer, Frogspawn, Zoas, Rics, 'Shrooms and SPS are all opening / having PE during the day, and some have major PE after lights out, so I'd say all is good so far .... Seeing some SPS growth too :smile: Speaking of params; DT Free and total NH3 0 NO2 and NO3 0 PH4 such a small trace, may as well be 0 pH 8.2 Sg 1.025 Temp 79 - 79.3F KH 7.5 Ca 410 Mg 1300 QT NH3 0 NO2 0 NO3 1.5 PO4 0.03 pH 8.1 Temp 79 - 79.4F KH, Ca and Mg TBA With a 10% WC on the DT, I get enough of a bump that it's lasting all week So, looks like I won't need to drip Kalk yet ... until the SPS start to take off :smile: Next couple of weeks will let me know if I'll need to add Mg, but for now I think the salt mix will be enough Having to rescue Margarita snails daily. Seems they maybe find themselves in front of the MP10s when the flow patterns change, or something, so they need to be righted here and there I'll probably replace them with some others soon Happy tank so far, just waiting out the fuzzy/stringy hair algae phase |
very impressive looking sump....almost looks mechanical, like the engine room on a sub or something.....now, the challenge will be keeping it looking like it does today:razz:
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I'll post some more pics tonight for future reference ... |
Sump pics for future reference
2 Months after Salty, and 1 Month after latest LR added to Dt and Sump Some sand got past the socks that I will eventually :rolleyes: remove ... http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01242.jpg http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01239.jpg http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01240.jpg http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01241.jpg |
If you've been following along, you'll know I have been haphazardly battling hair algae
I've been told it will eventually go away, but I don't see how, when it feeds on PO4 and releases it back to the water colum whenever I mess with it I did a couple stupid things ... 1 - I let it grow 2 - I tried to scrub it off the rocks, which probably only spread it throughout the whole tank I stupidly thought I could filter it with socks and keep it under control Well, that didn't work I should have just started trimming it, and siphoning it, once it became an issue Now I'm using it to set the flow for my powerheads :rolleyes: I'll say it has been useful to the point where I am happy with the overall flow in my tank .... I've tried picking it off the rocks and siphoning to a point, but I can't keep up So, to my chagrin, I bought some critters today 6 Mexi Turbos, 2 Long Spine Urchins and a Sea Hare Don't fret the poor dudes I just added ... Once their jobs are done, I will pass them on to other reefers :biggrin: We'll see how the LFS staff recommendations work out If it doesn't, I won't mention them If it does work out, I'll praise them :wink: Pics later once they are zoomin' 'round :smile: |
I have tried similar suggestions in my tank to battle GHA. So far, I've got a mix of snails and hermits, Starry Blenny, 2 Tuxedo Urchins, and a Seahare. The only thing I'm missing is a "partridge in a pear tree." To top that, I'm also running RowaPhos passively.
The critters do a decent job mowing GHA down to a certain degree, however GHA always comes back. In my situation, I am suspecting PO4 leaching from my LR. I don't know if you'll be in the same boat with me Greg. I am awaiting my last resort that is expected to arrive on Friday.....FozDown! I have heard great things about this product. It is even supposed to remove PO4 from LR, which in my case will solve my problem. I will keep you posted as soon as I receive some and start using it. |
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Yup, I'd say I have PO4 leaching as I added some new LR last month that wasn't fully cured
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I've got GHA issues in my DT that I'd prefer to get control of before cutting a piece of the ORA Purple Stylo, ORA Bird of Paradise, ORA Cali Tort. The GHA might grow over the fresh cut instead of healing first. I've attached pictures from ORA in case you don't know what they look like. Purple & Green Acro http://img.tapatalk.com/6031980c-a7ce-6aa1.jpg Purple Stylo http://img.tapatalk.com/6031980c-a7e1-4286.jpg Bird of Paradise http://img.tapatalk.com/6031980c-a8ec-094a.jpg Cali Tort http://img.tapatalk.com/6031980c-a9b8-daca.jpg |
Those are very nice
I too would like to get my HA under control and before adding any more corals PM me when you're ready and we'll talk |
I was going to post pics of the new cleaners, but there's no point as we've all seen them before, and they aren't zoomin' 'round, as I hoped they would
Lookin' for a way to exfoliate your fingerprints whilst getting to know every nook and cranny of your LR ? Spend hours plucking algae by hand :smile: In all fairness to our algae-eating dudes, there's just too much for them to keep up with, and some are not touching the longer stuff at all The Hare is going over most of the lower half of the tank, but it's not doing much other than cleaning off already cleaned areas The Urchins are acting like the Mail Carrier and constantly treading the same patches And the Turbos are pretty much the same as the Urchins, except they hardly move around at all up 'till now This is one of the Urchin's paths, with the Hare coming along behind to grab the leftover easy stuff; http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01244.jpg So I'm trying to give them a hand and today I spent a few hours plucking it and dipping my fingers in a cup of RO to rinse it off This is an example of how unfair a Boss I've been Before; http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01243.jpg After picking; http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01245.jpg After brushing and blasting with the baster; http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01246.jpg I'm going to try this approach for awhile, instead of the brush cut and water change route Lots of sock changes and blasting rocks with the turkey baster for awhile after will probably spread it around again, but it can't keep growing forever as I'm not feeding the tank I realise some of the algae will get past the socks, but we'll see how it goes I've also turned off half the T5s and backed off the hours of the remaining ones. I hope the SPS aren't to peeved about this ... I'm off to buy more socks :smile: |
I bought 6 more socks
I am now blasting the rocks with the baster every 5 mins for the next hour after scrubbing and I'll see where this gets me ... I am still adamant that if I do this enough, I may get a grip on things I now have 15 socks to rotate :rolleyes: |
English composition has never been my strong point .... so suffer ye all who enter here :razz:
This is my new plan I am going to scrub the LR everytime I see some hairy stuff I don't like, blast the LR with the baster for an hour or so, and change socks until they don't plug up .... Not the greatest plan, but it seems to be working, so I am going to fly with it Better than trying to give the HA a brush cut and siphon out the water everytime I get to it Not that there is anything wrong with that idea, but I can't change that much water whenever I feel like it ... The Sea Hare hasn't been doing much ... "And a bell was ringing in the village square for the rabbits on the run" That's an excerpt from a Paul McCartney song, in case you young bucks didn't know :razz: So, the little bugger is pretty slow. I'm keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't starve ... We're going to call it Ricochet Rabbit ... Changing socks seems to be my new job ... I've been using IO salt and I have found it's very high in Ca Carry on my wayward son ... I'll post more later :razz: |
Time for some more critters
Since I'm now able to see through the hair algae, it appears we have a couple of Aiptasia. I counted over 20 :surprise: I feel the tank is mature enough, so I bought 2 Peppermint shrimps today I've been acclimating them for a couple hours and am going to now plop them into the DT before the lights go out Hope they're hungry dudes :wink: Until the QT fishies go in, I'll feed the shrimps once a week, but only after all the aiptasia are gone :lol: Forgot to mention ... I would have bought some berghias from Bill, but I spotted a crab a couple days ago ... |
Hey Greg,
I was just looking over your build thread to see how the 75g is doing as I just got one last night (upgrade here I come) as well and I wanted to give you a tip on the HA. I had some HA growing in my 34g cube and tried pretty much everything besides a sea hare and strawbery top hat snails. Only visual progression was to let it grow and prune it weekly. Needless to say I've spent over 100$ in additives, scissors, brushes, you name it and the only thing that did the trick was a strawberry top hat snail which a fellow canreef member gave me while I was buying some clams. I was a little scheptical at first since these guys are quite strong and big which allows them to knock over corals quite easily, but to my surprise the snail cleaned the entire tank of all algae (this includes rocks and back wall) without any coral casualties... I suggest trying one as they are inexpensive. |
Have you thought about attacking the algae with H202?
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Thanks to both of you for the thoughts/tips
I'm trying to let the algae run it's course as the LR can't leach forever Don't forget, the tank is still maturing and things will change I'll keep the ideas in mind just in case :smile: |
Boring updates ...
The sea hare is still poopin', so I'm not worried anymore about it starving The turbos have finally started to move around The urchins have been on the move for a couple of days, even during the day, and are also poopin', so all is lookin' A OK for now The new peppermints are settling in alright. They haven't eaten the aiptasia yet, but I'll give them another 5 or 6 days before I worry about feeding them I installed a new dryside today, so now both MP10s have new motors and I have them turned up to 75% with virtually no noise :smile: Just over 2 weeks to go, and the first batch of fishies go into the DT :smile: I'm going to start trying them on different foods now Tonight is going to be an experiment with freeze-dried SW plankton soaked in DT water and a touch of GarlicPower Next time I'm out I'll see if I can find some live clams and maybe some scallops If they don't like the scallops, I know Donna and I will :razz: Skimmer is pulling out dark, dark stuff Even wet, it looks kinda like bad coffee I'm off to clean the cup and we'll see what happens next ... Glad to see someone's still lookin' :lol: OK, nevermind the plankton idea Nobody wanted it .... I'll save it for when they're bigger |
I've decided to go with a bud's thoughts ...
I'm going to keep the lights on their regular schedule so the SPS don't pale and let the algae run it's course that much faster Mostly posting this just to document it :smile: |
Any new pics?
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Nothing worth posting, but thanks for asking
Everyone has seen the recent critters I added ... Once the corals grow a bit more I'll post some growth shots Until then, unless something extraordinary happens, like I catch the crab, move along, nothing to see here :mrgreen: |
Well, the crab killed the sea hare :sad:
Hare was MIA on Saturday and we had to go out, so I spent little time looking for it Sunday I found it ... In the 'ceiling' area of the big swim-through, crammed against the rocks ... what was left of it anyway I first spotted it with a hermit having lunch After determining it was really dead, I tried to remove it with my fingers to no avail I had to pry it off the rocks as it's butt end was half stuffed into a hole When I pried more, as it came out, claws came with it and then let go I'll assume the crab grabbed it as it slid over the opening in the LR No way it died first as it was against the 'ceiling' of the swim-through Poor little dude He was doing really well too - nice, dark poops and roaming all over I am currently trying to trap the little bugger as he has also tried to eat a margarita snail. I saved the snail and am using raw shrimp for bait He's been smart enough that when I spotted his main opening with a flashlight, he covered it with some rubble :surprise: |
Success :mrgreen:
This is my crab trap. Raw shrimp on a piece of rubble with a couple wraps of string. 2 nights of rotting meat proved to be too tempting :lol: http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01255.jpg Hard to believe, but this is the hairy-legged little bugger that killed my 3" sea hare http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01270.jpg http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01273.jpg I suspect it also ate all my bristle worms and brittle stars, if that's possible, as I've not seen any since I put that new LR in I'm going to introduce Mr Crab to Mr Mantis @ J&L :twised: I picked up a used Tunze ATO for the QT from Bblinks. The tank goes through a couple litres a day :surprise: While I was @ Rich's, I saw an absolutely stunning frag that I just couldn't pass up A branch broke off and it fell in a hole, never to be found again, otherwise I would have glued it Thanks for an awesome piece Bud !! http://i749.photobucket.com/albums/x...d/DSC01284.jpg |
Too bad for the hare and its good you got the little bugger.
I'm just in the process of upgrading my 34 AIO cube to a 75g and boy does it take forever to fill this thing up with water... Also if you can try a strawberry top hat snail for algae :) |
Glad you caught the little bugger. I will give that contraption a try this weekend see if I'll get lucky and catch a crab or two myself.
Glad you like the green birdsnest, there will be more coming your way.:wink: |
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I have a half dozen Astrea snails. Aren't they the same ? I also have a half dozen Turbos |
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