Professor's 40 Breeder

[plainrt]

Thanks, I really appreciate that. I sometimes wish I went with the 30BR like you did though. I love the shallow look.

 

-Prof

 

 

Yeah so do i but i have been thinking of maybe getting a 40b to switch out with the 30b.The few extra gallons may be nice.Im gonna sleep on it a bit though.

[Professor]

Yeah so do i but i have been thinking of maybe getting a 40b to switch out with the 30b.The few extra gallons may be nice.Im gonna sleep on it a bit though.

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, huh?

 

Played around with my camera a little bit this afternoon and think I took what probably passes as my best macro shot to date of some new shrooms I picked up this weekend. What do you think?

 

 

Got Macro????

 

 

Weetie,

This one is for you. I have the Caulerpa species that you can see and there is also some Chaeto buried in that mess as well. I plan to do a big pruning in the next couple of days so I can send you a good chunk (maybe gallon baggie size?). The Caulerpa is very invasive and spreads worse than the clap in a brothel, so you may not want too much of that to start with. What you see there is just over a month of growth from a lunch bag sized amount that I started with. Let me know what you need.

 

-Prof

[Professor]

I was playing with my camera some more and was able to create a panaramic view of my tank by stitching three shots together. I am posting this because while I was looking at the picture basking in my new photography prowess I realized something looked wrong with my tank. Really, really wrong. Then I realized that I had captured all of my fish twice in the final picture! So now I get a good idea of what my tank will look like when I add some more clowns!!!

 

 

 

-Prof

[Hero]

Tank looks great! Great job on the stand btw.

[Professor]

Tank looks great! Great job on the stand btw.

 

Thanks for the compliment!

[Deleted User 6]

Prof! Everything's lookin' good. Love that mass of caulerpa in the fuge

[Professor]

Prof! Everything's lookin' good. Love that mass of caulerpa in the fuge

 

Thanks D.

 

So far everything is trucking along pretty well. No new additions of as yet. Fighting a bit of dino or cyano on the sand bed and want to get that licked first.

 

Pics later.

 

-Prof

[Weetabix7]

What do you think is causing the junk on the sandbed?

[Professor]

What do you think is causing the junk on the sandbed?

 

Probably Phosphates or silica. Nitrates are 0. I have a phosphate test on order and went ahead and started running Phos-ban. I think it is an issue with my water source. I found the maintenance card under the RO machine at Wally-World where I have been getting my water since I set up the 40 and the log showed an excess amount of TDS for the last 6 months. Lord only knows what else is in there. Figures.

 

I think it is time to bite the bullet and get my own RO unit. I will probably go back to distilled for WC's until I get one ordered and installed.

 

-Prof

[Weetabix7]

Distilled sounds like a good idea for now.

[Professor]

Distilled sounds like a good idea for now.

 

Mt thoughts exactly. So far I have been able to keep the junk confined to the sand bed, but it is still nasty and means something needs fixin in my tank. I really think it's Dino's vice Cyano which means I am in for the long haul getting rid of it.

 

-Prof

[Phyto4life]

nice tank

[Professor]

nice tank

 

Thanks Phyto!

[Professor]

Thought it was about time for some updated shots of the tank. Everything is trucking along so far and I am slowing beating back the Dino's on the sandbed. Real happy with the tank so far and all my corals are starting to bust loose and start to grow. Starting to think about maybe adding some new additions. Maybe some Acans or SPS. Anyway, on to the pics!

 

FTS (sorry for the blur)

 

Nems!

 

Right side showing the Monti I finally busted up and mounted. It is starting to encrust and is getting it's green color back. Hopefully it will regain it's original neon green over the next few months.

 

Left side. Nothing special going on here. Lots of open space for new frags!!!

 

 

-Prof

[seabass]

Looking good!

[Needreefunds]

Oh so very mice Prof!!

 

 

edit: mice?

 

[Professor]

Looking good!

 

 

Oh so very mice Prof!!

 

 

Thanks Gents!

 

-Prof

[Professor]

Well I have hit one of those points in the hobby that can be so frustrating. As I have mentioned I have been battling an issue with Dino's (that I am now thinking may be cyano?). Lots of WC's, manual removal, decreased photoperiod, increased flow, reduced feedings etc. I decided to run to the LFS to grab some more Phos-ban and also picked up a beautiful pink tabling acro frag. The were out of Phos-ban so I got Kent Phosphate Sponge. I get home, acclimated the frag and placed in it the tank and put the phosphate remover in a power filter after rinsing well per directions. Checked the tank before bed and all was good. Checked tank before leaving work this morning and all was good. Checked tank when I got home this evening and all was NOT good. My small birdnest frag is totally bleached white (like neon white) and my green monti's are bleaching as well, although they still seem to have tissue I can see no polyp extension. They are a weird brownish-gray color. The new tabling acro however looks great with polyp extension and good colors. My BTA's, and softies all seem fine and the fish are good.

 

So I did a quick WC, removed the phosphate sponge and started running carbon. All parameters are good and temp is fine. Now it is time to wait and see if my montis will recover. The birdsnest is a complete loss, but I am hoping I can nurse the monti's back.

 

So, two changes to the tank yesterday - phosphate remover and new frag. Which is the culprit? My gut tells me that it was the phosphate remover, but it is weird that the new frag is the only SPS doing well. Maybe chemical warfare? The other SPS are down flow from the new frag (MP20). I just don't know. I am going to just sit and watch and do another WC tomorrow.

 

It's frustrating as my Monti was just starting to color up real good and then this happens. Just have to be patient and see what happens.

 

-Prof

[Weetabix7]

I'm sorry Prof, I totally understand your feelings.

I hope that your SPS that have been negatively affected pull through and color back up for you.

[Professor]

I'm sorry Prof, I totally understand your feelings.

I hope that your SPS that have been negatively affected pull through and color back up for you.

 

Thanks Weetie. I know that you have been there. I usually don't use any filter mediums other than occasional carbon and have only used these phosphate removers in the last couple of weeks. I am not impressed. I plan to go back to au natural. It has worked for me for years. If the phosphate remover is the culprit than I am paying for my impatience.

 

Hopefully my monti's will recover. The birdsnest frag was a salvage that started at about 1cm long with three little branches it was putting on new growth and coloring up. Time will tell.

 

-Prof

[Deleted User 6]

Aw man Prof, that sucks! I don't trust Kent for anything but Mg supplement and Lugol's. I've heard too many horror stories. I really hope everything pulls through!

[Professor]

Aw man Prof, that sucks! I don't trust Kent for anything but Mg supplement and Lugol's. I've heard too many horror stories. I really hope everything pulls through!

 

Thanks. Lesson learned I guess. Everything in the tank seems ok except for the SPS. I loved my monti's though and really hope they recover.

 

-Prof

[Needreefunds]

Thanks. Lesson learned I guess. Everything in the tank seems ok except for the SPS. I loved my monti's though and really hope they recover.

 

-Prof

Hang in there Prof.

 

Fingers crossed for coral recovery.

[Professor]

Hang in there Prof.

 

Fingers crossed for coral recovery.

 

Thanks NRF.

 

Update: I think the montis are going to pull through. I am seeing polyp extension at night and the color has lost that gray-look and is a uniform brown color now. I don't see any obvious tissue recession so I think I am in the clear. It will probably take them several months to color back up, but I can live with that. The birdsnest was a total loss and the new pink tabling acro I got when this fiasco started looks great. It not's encrusting yet but polyp extension is good. One of my GBTA has moved into a cave in the shade but that doesn't concern me. He is either going to split or get tired of being in the dark and move back into the light. I'll throw up some pics later when the lights come on.

 

On another note I have been doing careful observations of my fuge, as this is the first time I have run one. One of the big things I noticed is that I get absolutely no micro algae on my glass in the fuge. Also, I am fighting a dino/cyano problem in the display but have none in the fuge which is much lower flow. Both the display and the fuge are lit by T5HO and are running current bulbs right now. Nitrates are undetectable. Based on this I am seriously contemplating adding macro to the display. I think there is a correlation between physical contact with the macro and nuisance algae control. With the macro being run "remotely" in the fuge it is doing a fantastic job with Nitrates, keeping pH stable etc, but I still get micro-algae on the glass in the display and have the issue with the sandbed I am slowly winning. I know pods like to eat micro-algae, but I don't feel I really have that significant of a pod population yet to where they are keeping a 20 gallon sump, most of which is fuge, clear of micro-algae. It makes me wonder if macro algaes excrete alleopathic substances to compete for space/nutrients with other forms of algae? Thoughts?

 

-Prof

[supernip]

could you be so kind as to give me the dims on the maxijet nj3000? Im thinking of using one to power an aio 16in cube. Also, how do you like it? quiet, heat issues? It was this or an eheim compact+