D Z's garage frag tank(formerly CAD 34G Mini)

[CronicReefer]

Yeah, thats the plan. I have never done either pods or phyto, but it doesn't sound too hard. The pods sound pretty easy, the phyto seems pretty straight forward, you just need to make sure not to contaminate the culture. I have been using Algagen Phycopure in my tank daily, which is supposed to help the pods reproduce in the tank, but that gets expensive fast. Having my own pod and phyto culture would definitely be ideal. The only thing I am worried about is the only place I have to set it up the cultures is in my garage, which can get somewhat hot in the summer.

I was dosing seachem phytoplankton 1-20 um every 3 days for a while and that kept my pods going pretty well in the DT. My clowns used to eat on them all the time too so it makes great food for everyone in your tank and I know the corals will enjoy the pods as well. I'm not sure if the garage is the best idea, I know pods can tolerate cold pretty well but I have heard high temps is not so good for them.

[D Z]

I was dosing seachem phytoplankton 1-20 um every 3 days for a while and that kept my pods going pretty well in the DT. My clowns used to eat on them all the time too so it makes great food for everyone in your tank and I know the corals will enjoy the pods as well. I'm not sure if the garage is the best idea, I know pods can tolerate cold pretty well but I have heard high temps is not so good for them.

Well, I guess I could keep the pods in a 5 gallon bucket next to my tank in the AC. Its more the phyto that I would need room in the garage for, as you need to set up multiple cultures and they need a dedicated light. I wonder if the phyto would be ok in higher temps.

[CronicReefer]

Well, I guess I could keep the pods in a 5 gallon bucket next to my tank in the AC. Its more the phyto that I would need room in the garage for, as you need to set up multiple cultures and they need a dedicated light. I wonder if the phyto would be ok in higher temps.

I've seen large scale phyto vat cultures just kept outside in the sun, I think some algaes are much more tolerable of warmer waters (they are plants after all). You could probably keep a pretty large phyto culture in a 2 gallon jar. Macro algae in the DT (if it's something you want) will help keep pods repopulating the DT.

[D Z]

I've seen large scale phyto vat cultures just kept outside in the sun, I think some algaes are much more tolerable of warmer waters (they are plants after all). You could probably keep a pretty large phyto culture in a 2 gallon jar. Macro algae in the DT (if it's something you want) will help keep pods repopulating the DT.

Hmmm, interesting, I cannot find anything regarding temp for nanno phyto, which is what I was planning on culturing. Alas, I think I am just going to hold off on the phyto for now as just buying phytofeast every 1-2 months is not that bad in price. I am going to still give the pod culture a shot this weekend and just see how it does in the garage for now. Maybe if I keep it in the back of the garage right next to my refrigerator, it will stay at a low enough temp for the pods to still thrive. We shall see.

[cnseekatz]

I found this on my glass, should I be concerned?

Looks like a dried up drop of salt water. Rub it with your finger!

[D Z]

 

I found this on my glass, should I be concerned?

Looks like a dried up drop of salt water. Rub it with your finger!

 

Unfortunately, it was on the inside of the glass and looks like some kind of flatworm, just not sure what kind.

[cnseekatz]

Unfortunately, it was on the inside of the glass and looks like some kind of flatworm, just not sure what kind.

 

I was just teasin...

[CronicReefer]

Hmmm, interesting, I cannot find anything regarding temp for nanno phyto, which is what I was planning on culturing. Alas, I think I am just going to hold off on the phyto for now as just buying phytofeast every 1-2 months is not that bad in price. I am going to still give the pod culture a shot this weekend and just see how it does in the garage for now. Maybe if I keep it in the back of the garage right next to my refrigerator, it will stay at a low enough temp for the pods to still thrive. We shall see.

As long as the temp doesn't get too high above reef conditions I think it should be fine. Good luck with the culture, it will save you tons of money in the long run and pods go a long way in keeping mandarins fat and healthy.

[D Z]

As long as the temp doesn't get too high above reef conditions I think it should be fine. Good luck with the culture, it will save you tons of money in the long run and pods go a long way in keeping mandarins fat and healthy.

i actually found a thread last night where a rep from Reef nutrition was talking about having success culturing tiggers up to 90 degrees, so hopefully I can duplicate that in my garage. I highly doubt it will get above 90 in the back of my garage, even on the hottest day of the summer.

[D Z]

Did another large WC last night. Parameters look pretty good this morning:

Sal 1.024

Cal 410

Alk 9.5

Mag 1280

 

Everything looked pretty happy so far except im having a wierd issue with my torch. That small head that fell off a while back didnt make it and yesterday i found that another bigger head let go. Unfortunately, another head looks like it might be starting now too. It looks like its just not handling the flow well but i dont know why it would be a problem just all of a sudden.

 

On a good note, the wellso is looking good. Took this vid last night after a target feeding. OJ makes an appearance as well, he loves the camera!

 

Edit, vids not quite done uploading, Ill post it in a few minutes.

 

Oh and I got the setup for my pod culture all ready to go, juat need to add pods. I should be heading out this afternoon to see if I can find some. I think im gonna do tisbe pods after doing more research. Wish me luck!

[CronicReefer]

I recommend you swing by Top Shelf today if you get the chance. They have got some really nice inventory in for super low prices (they were selling SPS frags buy 2 get 1 free two days ago) and they had huge colony size pieces for under $100. Your torch coral could be growing new heads despite the polyp loss. My frogspawn just dropped like half of its polyps two months and I thought it was dying but it grew two new heads at once instead and looks great now.

[GTi]

Unfortunately, it was on the inside of the glass and looks like some kind of flatworm, just not sure what kind.

Take a look with a magnifying glass. Might be snail eggs. There will be lots of small white dots in it. Or it could be something else. I have a lot of snail eggs from my colonistas which are going crazy.

[D Z]

I recommend you swing by Top Shelf today if you get the chance. They have got some really nice inventory in for super low prices (they were selling SPS frags buy 2 get 1 free two days ago) and they had huge colony size pieces for under $100. Your torch coral could be growing new heads despite the polyp loss. My frogspawn just dropped like half of its polyps two months and I thought it was dying but it grew two new heads at once instead and looks great now

Well, maybe i will have to stop by top shelf then. Its interesting that you mention new growth othe torch as I have seen some places on the skeleton that look like it might be starting some new heada. Fingers crossed that is whats going on here.

 

Take a look with a magnifying glass. Might be snail eggs. There will be lots of small white dots in it. Or it could be something else. I have a lot of snail eggs from my colonistas which are going crazy.

You might be onto something there. I looked at some pictures of some snail egg sacks its very similar to what that looked like. I havent seem it or any more again since I took that picture so im not too worried at this point.

 

Vid didnt load so Illhave to get to that later.

[D Z]

Well, I had a nice weekend. We made it to the pool for the first time this year on Saturday. It was pretty hot, but very nice. The water was still pretty cold so that was a nice retreat from the Florida sun.

 

I went out yesterday to try to find some Tisbe Pods. I was going to go up to Top Shelf, but my wife already wanted to go to Waterford to shop so I just ended up at Living Reef instead. I had called around already and no one local had tisbe pods, anyways, so I am just going to order them. I picked up another bottle of tigger pods to through in the tank for now, but should get some tisbe's this week to start in the culture.

 

While I was at LR, they were having a blowout sale on some mediocre looking SPS frags, $10 each, buy 2 get 1 free. So I figured, now that my tank is a little more dialed in, I might as well try a couple frags to see what happens. I got a purple milli that is a little browned, but already had some PE last night. I also got a light blue acro with yellow tips and what I believe is a small nub of a pink milli, but very minimal PE. So we shall see how they heal and color up in my tank....fingers crossed.

 

Oh and here is that video of the Wellso that I promised. Make sure to watch in full HD!

[D Z]

So I have been trying to dose daily so that my tank will be more stable on parameters for my SPS. I started this 3 days ago, and my initial values were:

 

Cal: 410

Alk: 9.5

Mag 1280

 

I want my alk to drop a bit more and be in the 8's, so I have not been dosing any alk hoping it will come down some more naturally. Calcium I have been dosing at 5ml/day. Mag I dosed about 8 ml of 1 time and that is it, as I plan to just do mag periodically as it is needed. So after 3 days of 5ml/day of calcium, here is where I am:

 

Cal: 425

Alk: 9.8

 

The alk I think is only up .3 due to inaccuracy in the test kit and with how I was doing my testing before. I think I have a better way to test now that should be more consistent, but we shall see. The Calcium has gone up 15ml in 3 days so I guess 5ml/day is too much right now, so I think I am going to stop dosing for 5 days, test again, and see what my average daily drop is.

 

I guess my biggest question is, is it normal to not be consuming much at all in calcium/alk? I mean, I know I do not have much stony coral, but the tank is using less than 5ml(roughly 5ppm at my water volume) of calcium/day at this point. Is that normal, or is it a sign that something is not right? My guess is I am just not getting much growth due to instability in the past. Therefore, I am not using up much calcium/alk. Am I on the right train of thought here?

[Arce]

So I have been trying to dose daily so that my tank will be more stable on parameters for my SPS. I started this 3 days ago, and my initial values were:

 

Cal: 410

Alk: 9.5

Mag 1280

 

I want my alk to drop a bit more and be in the 8's, so I have not been dosing any alk hoping it will come down some more naturally. Calcium I have been dosing at 5ml/day. Mag I dosed about 8 ml of 1 time and that is it, as I plan to just do mag periodically as it is needed. So after 3 days of 5ml/day of calcium, here is where I am:

 

Cal: 425

Alk: 9.8

 

The alk I think is only up .3 due to inaccuracy in the test kit and with how I was doing my testing before. I think I have a better way to test now that should be more consistent, but we shall see. The Calcium has gone up 15ml in 3 days so I guess 5ml/day is too much right now, so I think I am going to stop dosing for 5 days, test again, and see what my average daily drop is.

 

I guess my biggest question is, is it normal to not be consuming much at all in calcium/alk? I mean, I know I do not have much stony coral, but the tank is using less than 5ml(roughly 5ppm at my water volume) of calcium/day at this point. Is that normal, or is it a sign that something is not right? My guess is I am just not getting much growth due to instability in the past. Therefore, I am not using up much calcium/alk. Am I on the right train of thought here?

For a tank with barely any stony corals, sps or lps, thats fine. If nothing is consuming it it wont change. If you start adding alot more stonies you will see a consumption increase

[D Z]

For a tank with barely any stony corals, sps or lps, thats fine. If nothing is consuming it it wont change. If you start adding alot more stonies you will see a consumption increase

That's what I figured.

 

I would love to start adding more SPS, but first I want to see how these 3 new pieces do. So far they seem to be doing fine. Not tissue loss, and I believe they have somewhat colored up since bringing them home. The purple mille has had pretty good PE and the other 2 are getting there. I'll post some pictures soon. I actually took some last night and was planning on posting them today, but forgot my SD card reader...smh!

 

Oh and for anyone else interested, I heard from Aquamaxx yesterday that they will definitely be bringing out their version of the JNS WS-1 skimmer in late April(just in time for my birthday), and the first units will be distributed through Marine Depot. You better believe one of those will be mine.

 

 

[D Z]

Monday Morning update!

So after 5 days with no dosing or testing, here's where the tank was at last night:

 

Phosphate: 0.00

Nitrate: 3 -4 ppm

Calcium: 415(down 15 ppm in 5 days)

Alk: 9.8

Mag: 1210

 

So I dosed about 10 ml of mag, which should bring me back to around 1300. I also did 5ml of Calcium which should bring me to around 420.

 

Moving forward, the plan is to do 3ml of calcium and 2ml of mag daily. Then, when alk decides to start dropping, well figure it out from there.

 

And I took a couple quick pics of the tank and some of the SPS. The SPS, both old and new, seem to finally be happy and starting to color up. I have had pretty good PE off most of the pieces for the past week or two. I'm pretty happy with how the tank has been going. Let's hope that doesn't all go out the window when I leave for Las Vegas for 4 days next week.

 

New orangish/pink acro. Really looking forward to seeing some more color out of this one.

20150327_184205 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

 

New Purple Mille, another one I really am looking forward to seeing color up.

20150327_184316 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

 

And the new blue with yellow tips acro. This one should really be nice as well, but has a lot of coloring up to do. It was in pretty bad shape at the LFS, with almost no PE. Have seen a little PE since I brought it home, but still not much. Still pretty though.

20150327_184346 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

 

A shot at the old Pink Lemonade. It looks about like this when I brought it home from AlexB a while back. It went through a rough spot and browned out pretty bad, but now its back to this. Now its time to really bring out the color and shot for the nice yellow and pink like I have seen.

20150327_184205 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

 

And a shot of my nonamed green acro. Im still at a loss on what to do with this thing. It has nice green color and PE on the base where all the new growth is, but still no PE on the rest of the frag. It is starting to get some color on the rest of the frag so I am holding out of doing anything, but had thought about cutting off the top at the base and letting it just grow back out. Well see...

20150327_184248 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

 

And just a quick, down and dirty cell phone FTS...

20150329_215144 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

[D Z]

So my wife has been at home all day trying to get some cleaning and organizing done before our trip to Vegas next week. Unfortunately, my 5 month old has been giving her a really hard time about putting him down today, but she just sent me this pic with the following caption: "The only way he has let me put him down all day!" I think we have a prodigy on our hands.IMG_4446 by cchsoracle, on Flickr

[lilmatty5dimes]

That's awesome. I've done that a few times with my son.

[Reefkid88]

Sticks are looking awsome Randy. I think you got the last of the gems left in that tank man. I think the new pieces you'll be getting this weekend will fill everything in nicely. But secondly,your pictures though man,awesome as usual.

 

I'm glad your new addition is loving the tank,that's always a good sign. Hopefully he keeps it up and you can start him a Pico in a few years. That's be fun.

[D Z]

That's awesome. I've done that a few times with my son.

Its so cool how much he loves watching the tank. Anytime I am home hanging out with the boys, if my youngest starts crying I just sit down with him on my lap in front of the tank and he immediately stops and just starts watching the clowns.

 

Sticks are looking awsome Randy. I think you got the last of the gems left in that tank man. I think the new pieces you'll be getting this weekend will fill everything in nicely. But secondly,your pictures though man,awesome as usual.

 

I'm glad your new addition is loving the tank,that's always a good sign. Hopefully he keeps it up and you can start him a Pico in a few years. That's be fun.

Thanks man! Yeah, there wasn't much else in that tank that really looked any good. Im looking forward to grabbing those sticks from you on Saturday! I may be getting a sunburst anthia this weekend as well. Things are coming along!

[Reefkid88]

There's really isn't. Until they frag up some of the mariculture colonies,there won't be any good sps there. Their stock is shotty as of right now. I bet man,everything will fill in super nice. I can't wait to see this tank on a few months. Really ? I saw you had said something to Alex about it,but didn't know if it was 100% going to happen or not.

[D Z]

Monday Morning update! Tank is doing great! I'm really starting to understand what it is like to see your tank and just know that everything is dialed in and stable. Parameters are testing very consistantly. This was from Friday:

 

Nitrate: 2

Cal: 420(will continue with 3 ml per day for now)

Alk: 9.8

mag 1220(started dosing again at 5ml per day)

 

Im getting ready for our trip to Vegas. I am a little nervous to leave the tank, especially now that I have it dialed down so well, but it should be in good hands with my sister in law. She has as tank of her own and I have taught her pretty well, so she should be fine.

 

I picked up some more SPS over the weekend from ReefKid. He was trying to get rid of a few things and gave me a nice little SPS pack. I got a green granulosa, sunset mille, red wine acro, hawkins echinata, and 1 other frag that I am unsure of. Everything is a bit browned out, butI have a new frag rack coming today, so everything will just go up in the rack for now until it colors up. Ill take some pics after I get back from Vegas. Hopefully, they will color up a bit while I am gone.

[Reefkid88]

Safe travels on the trip dude !! I'm sure the tank will be fine while your gone. I wouldn't worry too much though. I'm sure everything will acclimate well while your in Vegas. Let me know how the pieces did while you were gone !!