Fishgirl2393 Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 New tank is set up. The corals (while not "happy" yet) are opening up slightly. The fish seems OK and it looks pretty good (considering it was just "set up") but I'm waiting till everything gets acclimated to the change before posting pictures. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 Corals seem happy. Will post some pictures as soon as I can! Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 Corals and the fish are still doing great! The chalice has changed back the original color with the place it is currently in (it had changed color and I wasn't happy about it) and seems to be doing great. I see sweepers at night (they're long so I have to be careful about future placement of corals!) and sometimes feed some brine/mysis when the sweepers are out (not often, but I do it occasionally). The candycane also puts out sweepers (the favites has to have food put on it but will take it in at that point) and seems much happier where I now have it (moved it when I changed the tank out). I found yet another new mushroom that is a bud off a blue 'shroom. So, overall, things are going great! Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Everything still looks good (corals are all great and chalice has some new growth on it!). However, for a while I've had some VERY light cyano growth here and there and can't figure out why. It's not bad at all (nothing even close to what I had before) and is NOT getting worse (it's also not getting better). The nitrates are about 5ppm and the phosphate is as close to 0 as I can get it (0.02 or so it seems) and I'm running phosphate removing media. All other parameters are in check. There is lots of flow in the tank so it can't be that. Lights are on maybe a little bit too long (the lights are sometimes on for 11-12 hours so the tank can be shown to people or looked at instead of 8-9 that the timer has them on). So, should I just leave the lights alone (on for 8-9 hours ONLY) and see if that helps? Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 So, for the past few days (since the last update) I've not been doing anything to keep the timer from turning the lights off (they are only on for 8 hours in other words) and I still have light cyano growth. It could be the one old bulb that really needs to be replaced (a 10,000K bulb that is about 1 1/2 years old) I guess. I have been replacing the bulbs slowly because with the last bulb replacement, I had a mushroom (on the sand) that bleached (I've since moved it to a shady location to see if it will recover since it is still opening up). I assume that the new bulb caused this (any other ideas about cause are welcome) so that's why I'm taking the bulb replacement slow. Any suggestions are welcome! Also, I know every tank is different but, in general, would it look better to have a purple bulb replace the 10,000K or is replacing it with a 12,000K going to look better? My current bulbs are one 12,000K, two actinic, one 10,000K (the one that needs replacing). Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Share Posted January 17, 2014 I just did some testing to see if anything was "off" in the tank. The alk is 8 dKH (low), calcium is 500ppm (very high) according to my Salifert kit, and pH is about 7.7 (also low). I had to go and get some new buffer (Kent Marine Pro-Buffer dKH) because my old buffer was out of date and when I tried mixing it (it was a powder), it looked REALLY weird (it didn't look "normal") so I didn't add it to the tank. I figure the low alk/pH and the high calcium is a possible contributor to my very slow coral growth. I've been battling high calcium (I'm sure some of you wish you could have high calcium!) for a while now and the alk (over the last few tests) has started to drop because of it. So, I'm going to be testing and adding buffer to get things fixed and stable. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 I haven't replaced them yet but I got the last bulbs that I needed to have all new bulbs in my fixture. Got a 12,000K and a purple one. Hopefully, the new bulbs will make a difference in the cyanobacteria growth (since there were 2 old bulbs still). Quote Link to comment
Eclipse Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I can't really tell you about your parameters with regards to coral growth, but you really should NOT rely on buffer, it's really only temporary and will do nothing in the long run. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Oh I know I don't need to rely on buffers. I've got the pH and alk where I want them (8.1 and 9dKH) and I'm going to see if I can keep it that way without adding buffer. I think the calcium levels of 500ppm are the cause (it's come down slightly to 495 based on Salifert) of the low pH/alk and the only cause of the high calcium that I can think of is the salt mix (I'm going to test some freshly mixed soon to see). Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Newest test results (added buffer AFTER these tests): pH: 7.8-7.9 Alk: 7dkh--this is the reason I added buffer Calcium: 480-485ppm (YAY! It's coming down!) Added some new SeaGel yesterday for phosphate control. Still have cyano on the sand. Don't like it and if it won't go away on its own soon, I'm going to do what I really don't want to do and use ChemiClean. However, I'm thinking that it HAS to be phosphate because the light bulbs are all new now so I am going to get a reef club member to test the phosphate with a Hanna Checker first (I've used a kit but want to double check). Corals look good and fish is healthy. Quote Link to comment
LarryMoeCurly Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I have not been keeping up with this tank, but calcium comes down 20ppm per 2.8 dKH. I do not know what the "buffer" is that you are using, but in order to raise alkalinity, simply dose baking soda using the BRS calculator until it is where you want it (but don't raise it more than about 1 dKH per day). Do you know your magnesium level? Also, is there a particualr reason you will not use chemiclean? I have been contemplating using it and have read great things about it. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 The buffer is Kent ProBuffer dKH. Thanks for the info about calcium vs alk! My magnesium level is about 1300 or so.I don't have any experience with ChemiClean so I can't say for sure but I know a couple of people in my local reef club have lost some sensitive SPS corals when using it (and they used it correctly). But I don't like the cyano on the sandbed so I may use it anyway. Oh and just tested nitrate: 5ppm! Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 My candycane coral seems to be doing OK but I feel like it would do better if it didn't have hairy (I've been told bryopsis algae) on it. Suggestions to get it off for good (I usually just prune it periodically but it grows back really fast)? Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Still need suggestions to get rid of bryopsis on candycane but the cyano is going away after the addition of new phosphate removing media (so it probably was phosphate causing it). Also, I know my lights are not as bright as many but I'm going to have to move my favites coral down in the tank because it got SLIGHTLY bleached with the changing of the bulbs. Only the top part got bleached (the part closest to the lights) so I know it is bleaching and not something else. But if anyone has suggestions to get rid of bryopsis, I would be very happy to hear them. Quote Link to comment
Acielot Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Blackout and vigorous cleaning with H2O2 I have almost got Mine under control but it still blooms around the zoas. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Thanks!!! I'm going to do some work on the tank today and will try the H2O2 (I've used it before so I know what to do/what not to do). Quote Link to comment
Acielot Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Good luck. Hopefully yours is not the super invasive stuff. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 It hasn't gotten on anything but the candycane so hopefully it is not TOO hard to get rid of. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 I can't believe I'm posting this because I live in an area that doesn't usually get snow/ice but anyway... My area is expected to get an ice storm today/tomorrow and I need to know what to do in the event of a power outage. I have a battery-powered air pump (and I can run my skimmer off it if I need to) but I'm not sure what to do to keep my tank as warm as I can. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment
TwiceBanned Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I can't believe I'm posting this because I live in an area that doesn't usually get snow/ice but anyway... My area is expected to get an ice storm today/tomorrow and I need to know what to do in the event of a power outage. I have a battery-powered air pump (and I can run my skimmer off it if I need to) but I'm not sure what to do to keep my tank as warm as I can. Any suggestions? I'm in the same boat here in north GA. I plan on manual circulation and DIY heat packs on the fire place. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Thanks. I'm in Mississippi so I'm also going to have ice/snow/sleet. Quote Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Generator, if no power goes out then return. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 No ice storm. Weather people were wrong. There's a bit of ice here and there but nothing major and no power outages. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 Just did a 3-gallon water change on reef using Oceanic salt and distilled water. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Tank is still doing well overall. Chalice is still holding on (looking somewhat better also!) though I've lost the favites I think (I suspect the cause of ALL this was an alk spike that wasn't caught in time based on some reading I've done, talking to other local hobbyists, etc.). Picked up some cerith snails tonight. Quote Link to comment
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