33 Gallon Reef

[Sidius]

Quick update.. Things are going well but there are a couple new things I'm monitoring... A little over a week ago I trimmed my chaeto back (removed half) and there seemed to be a nitrate + phosphate spike after. It wasn't insane but the nitrates went from around 2-3ppm up to around 25ppm and the phosphates went from almost undetectable up to around 0.1. They have both been dropping slowly (seemingly as the chaeto grows back, the nutrients are dropping) and after a couple small 4 gallon water changes they seem to be back down to better levels. Nitrates are back down to around 8-10ppm and phosphates are back down to around 0.03-0.05. It's very possible the rise in nutrients was also caused by a snail dying or something. It seems like they're all accounted for but it's hard to get an accurate count of my Trochus and Cerith snails since I have 10 of each and they're never all visible at the same time (hiding in or behind rocks).

I've also started slowly switching my salt over to Red Sea Coral Pro from IO Reef Crystals over the last 3 weeks (each week I use a tiny bit more CP salt and a bit less RC during my water changes) and I've noticed that slowly during that time, my yellow tipped austera seems to have had some tissue loss around the base. I'm watching it closely. It could be completely unrelated but hopefully it doesn't continue. Aside from that small tissue loss on the base, the coral seems happier than ever and has colored up more than ever before on the rest of the frag. If it continues to lose some tissue at the base, I may try clipping off the top/healthy part and tossing the base?

Lastly, I found a pretty cool phone app called Aquarium Note. I doubt it's a new app but it is new to me. Great place to keep track of maintenance, track growth or issues, keep a log of changes, livestock, gear, take pics, etc. It also has a handy tool for reading color charts when testing your water parameters.