Yeah BABY! My colors are coming back!
 

My colors are starting to come back!

I've added some sand and a whack of new fish and feed them 3 times a day (added fish include 6 green chromis and a yellow tang). I've also been able to stop dosing Zeovit additives. Additional changes have included: removing the filter sock and performing weekly 5 gallon water changes (previously bi-weekly).

I still have some corals with significant bleaching on the upper portions of branches but I'm hopeful that based on the recovery so far those corals will recover over the next couple weeks.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/v...g?t=1269826346

sweet!!!!

OK stopped zeo?

removed the sock?

feed 3 times a day?

do tell more i dont get it?

I didn't "stop Zeo" per se because I'm not running a Zeo system. I was just using some of the additives to try to feed the corals while I had poor coloration and have since stopped using amino acids, Pohl's Coral Vitalizer, and Pohl's Xtra. I stopped these because I was hoping that the addition of the fish, additional fish feeding, addition of sand and removal of the filter sock would make more food available to the corals. And thus far I'm seeing pretty dramatic results.

looking alot better than your previous pictures. good to hear about your progress

Wow thats awesome. Fish poop to the rescue!
Love the white sandbed *sigh* lucky bastard :razz:

BTW, your aquascaping puts me to shame every time I see it :hail: Side photo please?

Looks great. I love you scape, very unique.

This is the only side I can take a pic of. The tank is shoved into the corner and I can't get far enough away from it on the other side to even take a pic.

And if anyone is reading this and uses a Canon G10 please feel free to share some settings and photo taking hints because I still can't take very good pics.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/v...g?t=1269837122

Fish Poo! - looking good Andrew!

Thanks!

Don't forget about the sand - I assume it's helping trap some detritus to drive up the organics in the tank.

Also, I feel like I have a lot of fish in a 50g tank:

6 Green Chromis
Yellow Tang
Chalk Basslet
Sixline Wrasse
Saddleback Clown

Does this seem like a lot of fish to you guys?

It does "seem" like a lot but only because of the numbers. They're all fairly small fish (except for the tang) and if you find that your tank can't handle it I'm sure you could remove a few.

Have you tried using the white balance on the camera? That might help. I find any blue lighting really wreaks havoc on the usual settings (which is why my regal tang is always purple in photos).

With the skimmer your running I would'nt say you have too much fish.

I don't think it is a lot of fish but I note you have a tang in a two foot tank.
Your tank is too small for tangs.
Canadian, I think you know that tangs require swimming room. If you watch them they scoot from one end of the tank to the other unlike many fish that kinda just hang around.
That is why large tanks (6 foot) tanks provide the optimum size for keeping tangs. They can do what they do best, swimming.

you do realize that in the wild tangs tend to stay close to a specific area. now not all trypes of tangs but the common ones that you find as reef fish tend to stay in a spicif area like yellows and others. so. if there diet is met they don't need a tone of room and if you have a SPS tank with high flow they get plenty of exercise as it mimics the current they swim against. now I don't want to turn this into a tang argument as that wouldn't be fair to Andrew.

looking good by the way Andrew. I like the island you created, one of the nicer looks I have seen.

Now back to the tang, I think it is fine as it is small and has lots of room compared to its size, no need to self apointed tang police here.

Steve

Tank looks great, love the rock work

Yes, Steve but the tang looks 3 inches now and although yellow tangs don't get huge they grow to 5-6inches in no time.
The tank is only 24inches long so there is no room for the tang to swim.
Basically she has only 12 inches to swim taking into account she has to turn around at both ends.

LOL. :D I knew that posting a pic of the tank would eventually beget the ire of the tang police. The tang does not demonstrate any signs of ill health and is 2". If it begins to show signs of poor health I will remove it from the tank immediately.

Naesco, I know you feel strongly about this. And I respect your empathy regarding the plight of tangs in captivity. With that said, respect the fact that I am keenly aware of good husbandry practices and will ensure that my livestock demonstrate signs of good health in captivity and act accordingly if things change for the worse.

Love the tank, I may have to look into a (smaller) cube. Gah, I just downgraded :lol:

Thanks Steve. And thanks for the backup with Gebietsführer Naesco ;)

I am aware of your experience in husbandry and that is why I added 'I think you know' to my post. Your pictures evidence your experience.

You did ask for a comment on your fish and for the benefit of new reefers I re-stated my concern for keeping tangs in small tanks.

As stated above, I appreciate your concern for proper care for tangs Naesco. As much as people resent the "tang police" I agree that informing hobbyists about appropriate/ideal husbandry is certainly productive even when it's not what they want to hear. Additionally, I don't believe that my "experience" precludes me from being scolded if necessary. And that's why I noted that I would remove the tang immediately if it demonstrated any signs of declining health.