Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[ninjamyst]

I just want to say thank you for your tips on more frequent water changes and blowing detritus daily. While I still have algae in my tank, they are not growing as fast as before. I haven't fed my corals in 3 weeks but they look happier than ever, probably from the daily detritus cloud and fish poop. My birdnest's STN stopped for now, and I have noticed growth with my other SPS. I hope the color will brighten up soon. Once more algae is removed, I will start feeding corals again.

[Nano sapiens]

I just want to say thank you for your tips on more frequent water changes and blowing detritus daily. While I still have algae in my tank, they are not growing as fast as before. I haven't fed my corals in 3 weeks but they look happier than ever, probably from the daily detritus cloud and fish poop. My birdnest's STN stopped for now, and I have noticed growth with my other SPS. I hope the color will brighten up soon. Once more algae is removed, I will start feeding corals again.

 

I'm glad that the extra cleaning is having a positive effect, as it should. Personally, I'd start light feeding of the Birdsnest, if nothing else, to help it recover faster and start growing again. And keep the fishies fat and healthy!

 

The WC is a good time to remove algae. If left in the tank, it tends to trap detritus and creates it's own nutrient rich micro-environment so that it grows even more. You'll also be reducing overall phosphate in the system, some of which is bound up in the algae tissue.

 

I noticed some red Cyano growing in a few places a few weeks ago and that's my 'red flag' that I have too much detritus buildup somewhere in the tank. I started to clean under each base rock each week with my WC (as well as thoroughly clean out my back chambers) and I woke up this morning and now it's all gone.

[ninjamyst]

I have some red cyano that was growing on my GSP. I used a toothbrush to get some of it off. What do you recommend to use for green hair algae? It's so slippery that it's hard to pull off. There's always some left behind. Toothbrush doesn't seem to do much.

 

I do feed my fish every day with pellets so hopefully corals are getting some leftovers. But as soon as more algae clears, I will slowly target feed SPS more. I do give my anemone and frogspawns 1 or 2 pellets weekly.

[Nano sapiens]

I have some red cyano that was growing on my GSP. I used a toothbrush to get some of it off. What do you recommend to use for green hair algae? It's so slippery that it's hard to pull off. There's always some left behind. Toothbrush doesn't seem to do much.

 

I do feed my fish every day with pellets so hopefully corals are getting some leftovers. But as soon as more algae clears, I will slowly target feed SPS more. I do give my anemone and frogspawns 1 or 2 pellets weekly.

 

A couple years ago I remember a few small patches of 'Hair Algae' (likely Bryopsis), but it never proliferated and eventually went away when I started maintaining the tank properly. Try a hard bristle brush and what you can't get off make sure it isn't a detritus trap by blasting regularly. Hermits may/may not help.

 

Pellets are nutritional dense, but also contain a good amount of phosphate. Alternate with frozen and flakes (low phosphorus) so that you aren't continuously adding just pellets to the system

[german82]

a question? as you remove the dust that accumulates on the surface, and you taste it someday put skimmer?

thanks

[Nano sapiens]

 

a question? as you remove the dust that accumulates on the surface, and you taste it someday put skimmer?

thanks

 

There is no accumulation of dust on the surface since the tank has the typical slots that allow water to enter the back chambers. Not sure about "...and you taste it someday put skimmer?" (I try not to taste my tank's organics)

[Nano sapiens]

Just got back from a trip to coral heaven...Palau

Before I get to Palau pics, I had to keep my tank running for 2 weeks straight without supervision. Here's the concept that I used successfully in the past (only difference is I used an auto feeder this time).

My ATOs normally provide a week or so of top off and I dose Kalkwasser therein. I had to figure out how to get them to dose for two weeks, so the obvious solution was to decrease the evaporation by half by wrapping the top with SaranWrap and leaving a 1" gap in the back for air exchange. I also increased the percentage of Kalkwasser in my ATOs to compensate for the reduced evap:



Since I have two Clownfish, I decided to try setting up an old Eheim auto feeder that I bought back in the '80's, but had never had the occasion to use. Before I left I set the feeder to dispense ~10 pellets once a day:




As can be seen in the next photos...10 pellets a day was a bit too much






I had adjusted the Alk parameter in the tank before I left to a higher than normal 10 dKH in anticipation of a slow drop due to food input fueling coral growth. When I got back, the Alk was lower than I though it would be at 7.0 dKH, but not too bad considering. SG was unchanged and Cal had dropped from 460 to 420 ppm.

On the plus side, all the corals look just fine. A WC and a bit of cleanup and things are almost back to normal again (it'll take a little while to get rid of the visible cyano):




On to Palau All I can say is 'Wow'. I've been wanting to visit Micronesia for 20+ years, so taking this trip with my son was a dream come true. I'll let the pics speak for themselves and then relate, coral wise, what I observed over 4-5 days of continuous snorkeling:









My son snorkeling. Nice water, eh?



Non-stinging Jellyfish in a 'Sea Lake'.



Sorry for the blurry pic. I had intended to use my camera underwater, but it went goofy after this pic due to the tropical/salty conditions. This is from a cove packed full of LPS (colorful 'Brain Corals' of many, many types).

For a change of pace at the end of our week's trip, we visited a local freshwater stream with our snorkel gear:

 

 

 

I'm still a big fan of freshwater fish and inverts, so this was so cool to do. There are over 40 fish species in Palau, and in this one stream I found 5 of them. One 2" species, possibly Stiphodon sp (pelewensis?), was absolutely gorgeous with the protective male having a bright neon blue/green horizontal streak (pic copied from a 'Loaches' forum):




Coral Habitat Observations: On this trip I attempted to really focus on the coral reef habitats in regards to growth, lighting, etc. We snorkeled reef crests, drop off, sheltered 'sea lakes', lagoons, and everything in between. As expected, Acropora species were most abundant and varied out in the more open areas where light was strongest for many hours and current was relatively chaotic and swift. Lots of plating corals deeper down, too. However, some lagoons had an abundance of one or two Acro species. One lagoon area was just packed thick with colorful LPS, Lobophyllia (mainly) plus Favia, Favites, etc. The current was laminar according to the incoming or outgoing tides and visibility was constantly reduced due to this lagoon being on the receiving end of a mangrove swamp's nutrient laden outflow. Due to the high surrounding rock walls, the amount and intensity of light received was quite reduced (~3 hours of direct sun and the rest of the time indirect light and shade). Even with the high nutrients, there was very little algae present due to herbivorous activity. I noticed quite a bit of damage to the shallower, unprotected reefs which was mainly caused by the recent Haiyan typhoon that ravaged this area of the Pacific. And yes, intensely lit, shallow water corals are nearly all cream or brown. The richest coral coloration that we could see snorkeling was actually in the shallow, semi-shaded areas immediately surrounding the rock islands. Nothing like direct observation to really get a sense of which coral types grow best in which environments.

[Fryguy0201]

This tank is my inspiration!

[Nano sapiens]

^^...That's nice to hear.

[Fryguy0201]

^^...That's nice to hear.

 

I love your Ricordea .

[Rehype]

Looks like a truly awesome trip nano....great photos and the tank still looks perfect

[Nano sapiens]

I love your Ricordea .

 

 

 

Thanks, I like 'em too

 

 

Looks like a truly awesome trip nano....great photos and the tank still looks perfect

 

 

 

Thanks, and yup, it was a fantastic week and not so easy to leave.

 

When leaving a running tank for a couple weeks it's impossible not to worry a bit over it. I was quite relieved to see that it hadn't turned into a 'Coral Soup' while I was away.

[RollaJase]

Wow, Palau looks awesome, I'd like to try and get there sometime. I like your evap reduction method. I'm planning a trip for the end of this year for 4-6 weeks and have been struggling to think of ways to ensure my tank is alive when I return. Might have to train mum/dad up to do a bi-weekly water change for me.

[Nano sapiens]

Here's one's that a few Clam Lovers might have a hard time swallowing:

 

 

The Clam Chowder in the aluminum foil is...wait for it...'Reef Clam'. These are farm raised in shallow water, so probably one of the Tridacna species...and the "Best dang chowder I ever 'ad"

[4x5]

Looks delicious.

[Nano sapiens]

Looks delicious.

 

I drool on my keyboard every time I see the pic

[jedimasterben]

What's strange is that everyone that I know that has eaten a giant clam says that the meat is really bland by itself.

 

 

But yeah, they're grown by the hundreds of thousands and sold for food all over the world, export for aquariums is probably no more than a couple of percent.

[Nano sapiens]

This clam was in a delicious coconut sauce. It was fantastic!

[Nano sapiens]

Checking all params today (one day after return from 2 week vacation) and I had the first ever PO4 reading at .0.015 (Salifert - highest res) due to 2 weeks of excessive pellets and no WCs.

 

At these higher nutrient levels the LPS expansion/growth has been astonishing for just a two week period. Particularly happy are the Lobos, Acans and the larger Zoas. All SPS have also had growth spurts.

 

However, I'll be reducing the growth rate a bit to keep from having to prune all the time and get the Cyano problem back under control. I'd rather have slower growth and a clean tank vs. fast growth and a constant cyano battle.

[gena]

WOW! What a trip!!!!! Thanks for sharing that with us. Looks like a dream come true. I have to ask....what's with the dead fish? The clam chowder looks great, but why the creepy dead fish?

[Nano sapiens]

WOW! What a trip!!!!! Thanks for sharing that with us. Looks like a dream come true. I have to ask....what's with the dead fish? The clam chowder looks great, but why the creepy dead fish?

 

'Creepy Dead Fish'... . That's a typical fried fish (in this case, a reef fish of some sort), Pacific Islander style and my son's favorite (Mmmmm, tasty!).

 

If I were to show you the native food I ate in Palau...we'll, lets just say you'd be 'shocked'

[jedimasterben]

On 2/3/2014 at 11:53 PM, Nano sapiens said:

Do you know what the fish was? It almost looks like a Siganus rabbitfish.

[Nano sapiens]

Do you know what the fish was? It almost looks like a [i[siganus[/i] rabbitfish.

 

Yes, I believe that it was indeed a Rabbitfish based on the dentition.

[hey]

Yes, I believe that it was indeed a Rabbitfish based on the dentition.

 

Makes me want a rabbit fish tank, pretty delicious looking fish heh.

[gena]

 

'Creepy Dead Fish'... . That's a typical fried fish (in this case, a reef fish of some sort), Pacific Islander style and my son's favorite (Mmmmm, tasty!).

 

If I were to show you the native food I ate in Palau...we'll, lets just say you'd be 'shocked'

I'm sure it's delicious, just doesn't look too appetizing LOL. Now that I know it's not a decomposed fish that you found on the beach I can see it's been cooked. Do they smoke fish there too? It kinda has that smoked fish look.