Joe Dirt Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 I've gotten all my zoas from Tenor here on NR. He's out of thousand Oaks. Amazing stufff. I've got some zoas that aren't doing so good because my water is too clean. I may end up trading or giving them away to someone with water that they'll thrive in. Link to comment
twan Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Update, especially that Strawberry Shortcake Acropora! Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 As soon as I get home, I'll update what I've for in the works. Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Update, especially that Strawberry Shortcake Acropora! Yeppers! Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 For Twan (I known it's a little blurry, camera sucks): to be continued... Link to comment
gena Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Looks like the SS is doing GREAT!!!!! What's with the ninjas? Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Dosing The way I saw it, I had three choices on how to setup my tank for automated dosing: Get a stand alone dosing pump like a Bubble Magus Get an Apex controller and three individual pumps (my preferred option) Get an individual pump and set it up on an electrical timer The stand alone pump has hobby grade pumps and I wanted something that was more durable and could have more options as far as controllability is concerned so this wasn't an option. The second was going to cost a ton of cash, albeit worth it, I just couldn't justify it right now. The third option is what I settled on for now which I can build upon and turn into the second option in the future. I will only be dosing Alk for now. I only use up about 30ppm of Ca and about 60ppm of Mg a week. I don't mind dosing those manually for now. On the other hand, I use up about .7 dKH a day! That is getting to be a PITA. I'm happy with my decision and I'm glad I didn't shoot from the hip and spend too much. I'll order my stuff today or tomorrow!!! Corals I ended up cutting out my ORA tricolor. It never fully recovered from the peroxide and Alk issues and was starting to STN pretty bad at the base. I cut 2 frags of spots that were healthy. Time will tell. That opened up a huge spot for a showpiece. So I have put the strawberry shortcake in its place. I did things differently this time and kept everything on the plugs to see if the corals like the spots I chose. A little epoxy and CA for a temporary hold. So far the corals love their new spots. The pearlberry is doing fantastic. I really love that coral and wish I had a good camera to take pics of it. It's so pretty. Here are some pics. June FTS Some of my zoas on the other hand aren't doing as well. Others are doing fantastic. Seems like hit or miss. I attribute most of my zoa losses from the skimmer keeping the water clean. Who knows. Algae Ahhhhhhhhh!!! I can't seem to get this damned algae under control. I feed my fish every other day and I stopped feeding the corals a long time ago. I need to get some macros, but in the mean time I'm beating my head against the wall. It's so very frustrating. My water always tests o PO4 from my Hanna checker and I do big WCs every week. I don't understand why this algae still keeps persisting. I contemplated starting up my quarantine tank again with the T5s and start my DT over again with dead rock. Algae is such a pain. I'll keep fighting the good fight and wait to start my new tank with dead rock one day. Link to comment
gena Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Looks awesome, CJ!!!!! The algae you mentioned...is that the bryopsis we got from our LFS? If so...it's a losing battle. I seriously don't think it's beatable!!!!! It's evil Nothing I did would make it go away. I think the only choice was to start over with a new tank and new rock. Maybe if I kept the NC12 running for a few years with ultra low nutrients it would disappear...but who wants to wait that long? Now I just need to be super careful not to introduce it into the new tank. If there are strains of bryopsis...this is the worst of the worst To be honest...I don't even see it in your system at all. Do you pick it out constantly? You mentioned macros to outcompete it? Didn't work for me either. Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Looks awesome, CJ!!!!! The algae you mentioned...is that the bryopsis we got from our LFS? If so...it's a losing battle. I seriously don't think it's beatable!!!!! It's evil Nothing I did would make it go away. I think the only choice was to start over with a new tank and new rock. Maybe if I kept the NC12 running for a few years with ultra low nutrients it would disappear...but who wants to wait that long? Now I just need to be super careful not to introduce it into the new tank. If there are strains of bryopsis...this is the worst of the worst To be honest...I don't even see it in your system at all. Do you pick it out constantly? You mentioned macros to outcompete it? Didn't work for me either. Yes, it was from the ric I bought at the LFS. I am getting hair algae too. Not bad, but it's there. I do pick at it all the time and scrub the rocks with a tooth brush. I also have a bristle worm problem. I'm really tired of the algae problem. This sucks. Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Dumb asss question, but do you still have a varied multi species cuc??? BTW, my zoas still look like shiit. Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Dumb asss question, but do you still have a varied multi species cuc??? BTW, my zoas still look like shiit. I do. I made an order with reef cleaners. I think mixed reefs are difficult to maintain. My SPS are happy though. Link to comment
twan Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Joe Dirt thanks for the new pics! Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 Joe Dirt thanks for the new pics! looking good joe. No problem and thanks guys. Link to comment
gena Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Yes, it was from the ric I bought at the LFS. I am getting hair algae too. Not bad, but it's there. I do pick at it all the time and scrub the rocks with a tooth brush. I also have a bristle worm problem. I'm really tired of the algae problem. This sucks. I think the hair algae is actually the bryopsis. It looks a lot like Hair algae. I have the SAME exact stuff going on in my tank. I have the hair algae looking stuff and the typical bryopsis fronds. It DOES suck I'll be so happy to dump my rock, when the time comes. I'm going to experiment on it first though. Peroxide does nothing for it. Sure for a couple of weeks, but it comes right back everytime. This algae is the worst. Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 I'm turning the lights off for a couple days to see if that helps the GHA. I'm also going to order my dosing stuff today. Pretty excited. I want to automate things more. I'm busy lately and I don't want the tank to suffer. I can foresee an Apex sooner than later. Link to comment
gena Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I'm turning the lights off for a couple days to see if that helps the GHA. I'm also going to order my dosing stuff today. Pretty excited. I want to automate things more. I'm busy lately and I don't want the tank to suffer. I can foresee an Apex sooner than later. I'll try the lights out approach too, when I start my experiment Maybe my tank can be the guinea pig for finding the way to beat bryopsis As long as I don't contaminate the tank itself, I'd be up for it Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 I'm contemplating a machine gun and a flame thrower. I'll try lights out first though. Link to comment
gena Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I'm contemplating a machine gun and a flame thrower. I'll try lights out first though. Curious...have you ever dosed Coral Amino by Brightwell? Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Apex is on my list as well. Just need to do a little more research on which one first. Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 Curious...have you ever dosed Coral Amino by Brightwell? I dosed the amino by Seachem. I forget the name. It's the one with Aminos and trace elements. I stopped. I think it contributed to the GHA. Plus, it drove my skimmer crazy unless I left it off for and hour. I placed my order! No more dosing Alk for me. Also, no more low grade chemicals for my tank. Apex is on my list as well. Just need to do a little more research on which one first. I'm a tech junkie with an iPhone. There is no choice to be made. Only money to save. Link to comment
gena Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Congrats on the order I think aminos are like steroids for bryopsis. Link to comment
Joe Dirt Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 Me thinks you're right. Link to comment
gena Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Me thinks you're right. I have a theory that the aminos soak into the rocks and continually feed the bryopsis. Eventually with very low nutrients introduced to the tank, the bryopsis will die-ff since the aminos will be depleted. One things for certain, I will never EVER dose aminos again. NEVER Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.