Tuffryu Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 Tank is looking good, nice choice of lighting. Thanks man! Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 Some minor updates. Had to get rid of that pink Xenia crap. It grows too much and spreads everywhere. In it's place, I added some rubble that I glued together along with another bird's nest. (Morning light mode) I so don't wanna be at work today. Happy Monday folks. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 Great morning shots! Thanks Teeny. I think I might purchase a lens for my iphone. I've seen some pretty decent results with them. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 I lost my first acro yesterday due to RTN (Rapid Tissue N-something), and man was it gnarly. I couldn't even take pics of it because it was so horrific. Kinda reminded me of that Indiana Jones movie where the guy's face melts - ugh. That's was some serious stress added to my day. First off, when you see it happening, the flesh is literally falling off and the coral is bleaching - ALL within 24 hours. It happens fast. The acro (pictured in the top left in the post above) was caught from the wild which may be partially the reason. Needless to say I went into frantic, nerd-out, water testing mode last night as I was starting to doubt my reef-keeping abilities. Turns out, the water params were pretty spectacular. SG was at 1.024 and temp at a steady 75. I may upgrade my test kits soon, but all other corals are doing well. I was like WTF - just didn't understand. I had to do some research on causes. I also went to seek guidance from the LFS Jedi Council and consensus was that it just happens, even when water is in good condition. Shit happens. Happy Star Wars Day everyone Link to comment
teenyreef Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Sorry to hear about that! STN is definitely not fun, but like you heard today, sometimes it just happens. I just had one of my frags STN today, but I know it's because when I recently put it on a new plug, I accidentally broke it off the encrusted base, and that was just too much stress. At least, I HOPE that's all it was, and that I'm not about to get a bunch of other corals dying One thing you might consider it investing in a more accurate test kit to nitrates and phosphates. The API nitrate kit will tell you if you're under 5, which is the most important thing, but once you're at that level, it's really important to make sure that you're nitrates and phosphates are low but not at zero. If they are at zero, it means you're either at risk of starving the corals of nutrients, or it's because you have an algae problem due to high nutrients and they're causing false test results. You don't seem to have an algae problem, so I think you're OK. It's OK to keep going as you are since clearly the tank is doing great! I'm just suggesting it as something to look at if you're concerned about whether your parameters might have caused the STN. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Sorry to hear about that! STN is definitely not fun, but like you heard today, sometimes it just happens. I just had one of my frags STN today, but I know it's because when I recently put it on a new plug, I accidentally broke it off the encrusted base, and that was just too much stress. At least, I HOPE that's all it was, and that I'm not about to get a bunch of other corals dying One thing you might consider it investing in a more accurate test kit to nitrates and phosphates. The API nitrate kit will tell you if you're under 5, which is the most important thing, but once you're at that level, it's really important to make sure that you're nitrates and phosphates are low but not at zero. If they are at zero, it means you're either at risk of starving the corals of nutrients, or it's because you have an algae problem due to high nutrients and they're causing false test results. You don't seem to have an algae problem, so I think you're OK. It's OK to keep going as you are since clearly the tank is doing great! I'm just suggesting it as something to look at if you're concerned about whether your parameters might have caused the STN. Dude you always come thru with words of wisdom. Thank you. The starving tank thing is something I've been reading up on, and yes there are chances of this happening in the tank. I've increased my acropower dosage slightly, but am also looking into sps coral food as well. I bought a sapphire damsel so that may also help increase nutrients. I may even stop using chemipure for a while and just use carbon/floss. Totally get what you're saying about the algae problem causing false readings as the algae may be soaking up what little nutrients are in the water - but I think I'm clear of that problem. +1 on the test kit. I think API works well for tanks starting off and cycling, but not sure if they're as accurate as I want them to be. Sorry to hear about the frag. Never break them off their encrusting surface! LOL I learned this after reading about it. I've cut around the base of the plug to keep frags in tact. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Reef roids is a great coral food but nothing's better than fish poop Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 Reef roids is a great coral food but nothing's better than fish poop Bahahaha. Good point! Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 9, 2016 Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 Some new additions. I got a Sapphire damsel who seems to like the tank. Just need it to produce some waste. A favia frag down below the birdsnest was a good $5 piece. Also some awesome orange/red zoas next to the favia that are unfortunately closed in the pic below. I tried moving the green pavona to make room for the favia, but ended up breaking him up into 3 pieces So I have a few pavona pieces placed all over the tank. I piece is left of the favia below, and another piece is where the recent acropora died. (Midday light mode) Happy Mother's Day! Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 Just in from amazon. The Flipper is an awesome scrubber - nothing much more to say! I have lots of coralline algae growing on the back glass and it has cleared it completely. Great piece of equipment. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 Lame post, but hope it will help anyone with a clogged Aquaclear HOB filter. The unit stopped working after turning it off to feed the tank. I was like WTF - it's only 6 months old! So I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned but no luck. I took the motor off and rinsed it very well but still nothing. I already had my laptop out by this time and was adding the new filter to my amazon cart. LUBE BABY... A little youtube searching and I found a page that explained what was happening. So apparently the propeller and the rod post that holds it in tend to 'stick' after some time, requiring some lube to make the propeller move freely from the rod in order for the unit to work again. Problem solved. LMAO. 2 hours of my life I won't get back. Link to comment
santiago.salazar Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Just in from amazon. The Flipper is an awesome scrubber - nothing much more to say! I have lots of coralline algae growing on the back glass and it has cleared it completely. Great piece of equipment. I'm curious, why are you scarping off the coralline algae? I thought it was a good thing? Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 I'm curious, why are you scarping off the coralline algae? I thought it was a good thing? Hi santiago, I guess it depends on the person. Lots of people do like it and yes it is a good thing when it's growing on rocks and stuff. I don't like it on the glass as it makes the tank look dirty to me. This is purely my opinion, which is why I scrape it off for a cleaner look. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Happy Friday! Nothing new to report, but have to admit I am thinking about moving to a shallow tank We'll have to wait and see. I really need a camera or a lens for my phone. (morning shots) Link to comment
teenyreef Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Looking great! A shallow tank would be cool Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 Looking great! A shallow tank would be cool Thanks man. Yea the ADA 60f is something I've been eyeing for a little while now. Gorgeous tank and has the length I want to keep more fish. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 Some shots with the iPhone macro lens. It's aight. Need to play with the lighting some more to get cleaner shots. (Night mode) Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 This just happened. Bam! Delivered a few mins ago was my ADA 60F. Will start a thread in the nano area folks as these pico threads are going to shit. Not sure when I'll set this up as I have a ton of house projects but hopefully in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for some awesomeness. Happy Memorial Day weekend! Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 So i'm taking slowly taking apart my corals from the live rock in order prepare for the transfer over to the ADA tank. I'm having to do this because the rock that's in there will need to rest sideways given the height of the new tank, which means the frags will need to be reattached throughout. I made a very ghetto egg crate coral holder until I get my oceanbox holders. I'm planning to switch to a new salt. Currently using Kent but I'm not happy with the PH and recently learned that they rarely test their products for quality control. I went thru a bad batch and levels were completely off in all places. I've only seen and heard great things about Red sea coral pro and will start water changes using this stuff. The best part of this stuff - from what many people have told me - was that the alkalinity and ph levels. Stay tuned for more. Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted June 5, 2016 Author Share Posted June 5, 2016 Damn the weekend goes by too fast. Anyways, I'm continuing to take frags off and temporarily sitting them on the eggcrate. I bought this birdsnest frag when it was like an inch long for $10. I seriously cannot believe how much this thing has grown. I did a small 5% water change with the coral pro. Can't wait to see how it goes. Birdsnest always shows growth. The orange monti cap frag I got for free a few months ago and now it's doing well too. When I got it, it was the size of a something like a fingernail clipping. Good times when things in the tank do well. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I like that DIY frag rack. I'm glad everything is going so well. That birdsnest has really grown! Link to comment
Tuffryu Posted June 6, 2016 Author Share Posted June 6, 2016 I like that DIY frag rack. I'm glad everything is going so well. That birdsnest has really grown! Haha, dude that DIY rack is a piece LOL. The acrylic one you recommended is coming today. Birdnest is doing well indeed. 6 months in and growing strong! Link to comment
markalot Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 That salt is so high in KH, be careful! I prefer blue bucket and larger water changes. KH for blue bucket is around 8. Link to comment
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