My 20-Gallon (Tall) Softie/lps Nano-Reef!

[21093r53]

you bulbs work just fine i would reccomend ati or giesmann bulbs

[Fishgirl2393]

Pictures!

[Fishgirl2393]

Where should I place the chalice? Mid-way up, lower, where? I want it to do well.

[Acielot]

Lower to start since it is a LPS. It you feel that it isn't getting enough light move it up to halfway.

[Fishgirl2393]

OK. Thanks. I just know that those corals are (somewhat) lower light corals. They are so pretty though.

[Fishgirl2393]

Did a water change today and added a dose of Microbacter 7. The mushrooms have been (all) reproducing lately so I have several more than before, the green star polyps are encrusting the rocks I have them on (separate from other corals so they don't take over) and all other corals seem to be doing well too. The chalice is not the same color as before (the purple areas have changed to a more pinkish color) but it seems to be doing well and I equate the change in color to the different lighting. I do, however, need to replace the bulbs in my T5HO fixture because the I think the 10,000K bulbs have changed spectrum significantly and that this could be contributing to the color of the chalice too.. I will replace those first and then the actinics. The actinics still look OK (but they're not new, so they need replacing too). I have bulbs on order at my LFS (a different kind than they had).

[Fishgirl2393]

I've been dosing Microbacter for the past few days. I turn the protein skimmer off for the recommended 4-hours and then restart it. Hopefully this helps make my tank more stable in the long run. My corals all look good (the chalice included since it looks fantastic!) except I'm wondering if the Montipora needs more or less light or something else. It seems to be getting lighter. So, what does it need (more light, less light, etc)?

[jedimasterben]

Lighter colors means bleaching.

Or poor acclimation.

[Fishgirl2393]

Lighter colors means bleaching.

 

Or poor acclimation.

It has been in the tank a while so I am guessing it is bleaching... Move it down in the tank?

It is still colored, just much lighter. This all happened in a few days is all.

[Fishgirl2393]

I'm not getting new lights anytime soon but what do you guys think of these?

http://www.aquatraders.com/LED-Aquarium-Lighting-featuring-5W-CLIP-p/56741.htm

http://www.aquatraders.com/LED-Aquarium-Lighting-featuring-5W-p/56743.htm

 

To me (who doesn't know much about LED's) these look promising. What do you think?

[jedimasterben]

They look anything but promising. If you cheap out with LEDs, you regret it and up paying more to buy a good fixture taking a heavy loss on the one you bought before. Pay the extra and get a Reefbreeders value fixture.

[Fishgirl2393]

Like I said, I don't plan to get a new fixture any time soon. I was just interested in this new supposedly "better" fixture. Can someone explain what about them looks bad? I am interested in why they are bad. Like I said, I don't know much about LED's since I don't have them.

[jedimasterben]

That site sells cheap chinese shit, to sum it up. The Chinese do some things well, and one of those is mass producing cheap LEDs. They are very low output and have horrific color. You'll be clamoring to get your current lights back on your tank, and you'd be out $135.

[Fishgirl2393]

OK, thanks. I'll take your word for it since I've never used their LED's before. I do like the Odyssea T5HO fixture that I currently have (from AquaTraders) but since I've never used their LED's, I won't ever consider them. Tank looks good today. I'm still watching the Montipora and may move it down slightly tonight.

[Eclipse]

Yeesh, I just caught up on reading this thread. Seems like you've had your ups and downs, which I hope was a learning experience since now you know how to handle similar situations, and the tank itself is looking good! Are there any fish in there? Sorry if you said so earlier but I skipped a few pages.

[Fishgirl2393]

Yep, it was a learning experience. And once I got rid of whatever cyano "bug" I had it was much better. No fish currently. I'm going to add a royal gramma as soon as my LFS gets one in for me.

[Fishgirl2393]

LFS got the new bulbs in (they previously only had Coralife brand) so I got one today (I'm doing the bulbs slowly so I don't shock the corals). The light is definitely brighter and seems to have better color. I replaced one 10,000K with a Wave Point 12,000K bulb. Next up with be replacing one of the actinics. After that, I'll continue till I've got all new bulbs.

[Fishgirl2393]

OK, so my candycane has looked bad for a few days now (4 or so). I don't know why it does this every so often. It not only shrinks up (I know corals do this) but the skeleton shows through the polyps (like torn flesh) and it just looks really bad. It has recovered every time it has done this but I want to find out why it is doing it. I've moved it down in the tank and all the other corals look good.

Parameters are as follows:

Ammonia/Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: less than 5ppm

Phosphate: extremely close to 0 (based on Hanna meter borrowed from reef club member)

Calcium: 460ppm

Alk: 10dKH

pH: 8.0-8.1

SG: 1.024

Any ideas? I really want the coral to do well so I want some help here. Was it too high in the tank and getting too much light? Was it getting too much flow? Something else (if so, what?)? The weird thing is that it has done this before and has recovered (with no moving the coral)

[Acielot]

How is the chalice doing?

 

If they are both doing it would suspect that something is up with your pH or kalk levels swinging. One I brought up my magnesium my chalice stopped receding. it could just be a coincidence though.

[Fishgirl2393]

Chalice looks great! It extends feeders at night and looks really nice during the day. Closed brain looks good too. Everything except candy cane looks good. Is it possibly too much flow? I did move the power head a while back and I guess that it when this started happening (it seems that way). Would it act like that with too much flow?

[Acielot]

If the flesh is getting sheared by the current it would, but then it wouldn't be healing back as you describe.

 

 

I would just move it to a new spot to see if it stops happening. Upstream of the chalice perhaps since the chalice is extending well. And definitely put it upstream if you do move it unless you want their sweepers to come out and play.

[Fishgirl2393]

I'm not sure why it seems to heal itself (that's the weird part). It's been a while since the candycane looked bad in this way (a few months) so while I don't remember doing anything specifically, I guess it is possible I've shifted flow when it has looked bad. The last time it looked bad, I was still trying to decide where to place the powerhead in the tank, so flow could very well be the problem. The flow DID change with the montipora addition (more flow directed at the monti, which is the same rock the candy cane was on). The reason I think it is current is because the polyps on the side facing the powerhead look bad but the ones that are sheltered by the other polyps look a lot better. Hopefully it will start to improve soon (I am not home so I don't know how it looks today). Yeah, I know about the feeders! The chalice has really long feeders at night so I'm very cautious of where I place it and other corals.

[Fishgirl2393]

Candycane looks somewhat better (it has looked better the past few days) down on the sand bed. I think it is the flow though because it usually likes higher light. But I'm glad it looks better.

[Fishgirl2393]

Got an accurate nitrate kit today (finally!)! Nitrates are 15ppm. NitrITES show (on both API and the new one since the new one I got does nitrite and nitrate) to be a little high (0.25ish) which is weird. I dosed Microbacter7 last night, could it be that? I can't think of any other reason since it has been 0 up until now. Candycane seems to be slowly improving and all other corals look good (Kenya trees are mostly closed up today, which I suspect could be the nitrite because they show the slightest little change in water quality it seems). So, overall, things seem good. I like the new kit (it is a Seachem test kit) and love that it has a reference test to make sure the kit is correct.

[Fishgirl2393]

Any idea why my nitrITE would be high? Could it be the microbacter7?