IM 25G Lagoon Tank Build

[Synthesis]

Figured i would give an update. Tank is doing really well these days. Still battling with some small patche of bryopsis but its very manageable. My bigger issue is bubble algae and emerald crabs seem to be worthless for this. Any thoughts on curing this??

My flickr account is all screwed up otherwise I would have some new tank shots to show off.
I have added 8 SPS since my last update:
Cali tort
RR Pink Cadillac
Red Planet
Pink Lemonade
Red Diablo
Orange Setosa
Purple Voletta
Green birdsnest

Couple new fish: Royal Gramma, Purple Firefish Goby
Lost a fish: Yellow clown goby


Everything seems to be happy though. I have struggled to maintain my parameters unfortunately. One particular area is Calcium which is baffling me. I use IO Reef Crystals and do a water change about every 2 weeks now. But my Calcium is ALWAYS around 600. My alkalinity I dose daily to maintain 9dkh. Magnesium around 1400. I do not get how my calcium can be this high all the time. My red sea test kit cant even measure it thats how high it is. Never experienced this before. What could cause this?? I can't say I am overly happy with my coral growth either so something seems to be preventing the uptake of Calcium.

Thoughts?

[Frogger]

Bubble algae is a tough one. Some say Vibrant helps more say it doesn't. Manual removal is the most reliable, although this will be a never ending battle.

I once had a Sally Lightfoot Crab eat them like crazy (many many years ago).

Confirm your calcium readings with a completely different (brand) test kit. Have you tested the newly mixed salt? I know Reef Crystal can sometimes mix high but not in the 600 range.

[Synthesis]

That's a very good point to test the new saltwater. Its such a trusted saltwater that I didn't think it would mix high. I use the red Sea Pro calcium test kit and it's recently ranked best tester for calcium by BRS so I can't imagine it's the test kit. TBH, my calcium has always measured high since I owned the test kit. So at least it's consistent 😊.

I will test the calcium for the new water next time I do my water change.

[Dearth]

Emerald crabs are IMO a waste of time plus they generally will only eat bubble Algae only if nothing else is to be had plus they are known to kill other crabs, snails and small shrimp

I've had bubble algae in my tank for 4 years now I do manual removal which keeps it in check however it is very unlikely that it will be eradicated

I used vibrant twice and both times bubble algae came back with a vengeance so I am not a fan of it

personally I would manually remove what you can and if able remove rocks and scrub them and do it when you change your water. You most likely won't be rid of the algae but it will be manageable

[Synthesis]

Thanks for the feedback on the bubble algae. Sounds like I am doing everything I can then to keep it in check. It's spreading but it's not causing any harm. In areas it's building up I just remove during water change. I certainly prefer it over bryopsis which I have also been removing manually to keep in check.

I did have an outbreak of red slime algae for a period of 2 weeks. Not sure why it appeared but I decided to try out Chemiclean and I have to say that i HIGHLY recommend this for red slime algae. It completely removed it within 48 hours and it has not returned in the 2 months since. Great product.

[Synthesis]

So I tested newly made water with reef crystals and did the test. It also measured at 550ppm. This is of course higher than the Red Sea test kit will go in a single test, so what I do is add more drops to see when it finally turns blue than do the math on that. So it might not be perfect measurements but it's close enough. So it's the reef crystals causing the calcium to be high. I mix at 1.025 specific gravity.

This is strange...wouldn't someone else experience this? I have been using reef crystals since inception and have always had calcium really high. So i know it's not a result of a bad bag. It does say right on the bag that it has added calcium.

Would the high calcium impact SPS growth in a measurable way? My alk, ph and magnesium are all at ideal levels.

[Sidius]

Nice tank build!

How have you liked the bare bottom tank? I'm debating going that route with my tank upgrade. I like the natural look of sand but the maintenance on it is annoying.

With regards to the bubble algae.. I'm fighting off a small outbreak of it as well. I started using Vibrant twice a week at the recommended dose and it's made a huge difference. I'm not seeing any new spots and what's there is dying off slowly. I added an emerald crab as well in the hopes it would help but so far I've seen no evidence the crab has touched it.

[Synthesis]

Ok managed to get my flickr account fixed. So here are some tank photos taken back on July.8th before my big SPS purchases



Both the green chromis's passed within 2 weeks of being added. Was disappointing. I am also in the process of losing my clown fish. He suddenly stopped eating and has got really skinny. I tried many types of food. My other 2 fish ate everything without issue.

[Sidius]

Ya I had the same thing happen with a Banggai Cardinal. I lost one during a lengthy power outtage (30+ hours) that was eating like a champ and the one I bought to replace him, would not eat anything I tried. Though you mentioned he suddenly stopped eating so I'm assuming he was eating everything previously?

The tank looks great!

[Synthesis]

Ok so here are some up to date photos