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

[reefernanoman]

 

Here are the claimed PAR values. Not "intense", but serviceable unless you are SPS dominant. Obviously the deeper the tank, etc. etc.

 

On a side note. I have the fresh water version of this light(I think), but mine is 48 inches and I can change the color spectrum whenever I want to. My African cichlid peacock fish look very nice under it.

[Fishgirl2393]

I'll get pics when I can. Have a test tomorrow so I'm studying a good bit.

[Fishgirl2393]

I promised I'd post pictures when I got time. Here they are (they're not great because they were taken with my tablet)! The tank is doing well and the new lights are amazing. I'm even getting pink/purple coralline algae growth on the back glass (this is something that I never had before) so the tank seems to be healthy. I tested the nitrate this morning (will test calc and alk when I get back from class) and it was about 2ppm. I am planning to get a few more corals soon. BTW, the mushrooms on the bottom (red and purple) are usually much bigger than in these pics but the lights had just finished ramping up when I took the pictures so they were not fully opened.

[Fishgirl2393]

Well, the tank is doing well but I lost my lawnmower blenny the other day (I think it was older because it was very large compared to others I've seen and had in the past). It just starting lying on the bottom the day before it died (no signs of parasites, bacterial infection, etc.). It was eating well a few days before that so I'm not sure. But anyway. I tested the tank today and the parameters are as follows::

Nitrate (Seachem kit that has been proven accurate with calibration solution): 2ppm (this stays this way, which is awesome!)

Phosphate (Salifert kit): 0.00ppm (don't quite believe that but whatever)

dKH (API kit): 8

pH (API kit): 8.0

Calcium (Salifert kit): 425ppm

[Fishgirl2393]

Yesterday afternoon I bought a favia coral. It is on a frag disk (not a plug) and is already encrusting over the disk edges. It's pretty large for a frag.

[vlangel]

Hope it does well. Cute pics of the fish above.

[Fishgirl2393]

So, the favia is not doing too well. It was set at mid level in the tank (on the rock that connects the two rock piles) at first but it seemed to be getting lighter in color, so I moved it. Now, I'm not sure what is going on because it has an area on the back with no flesh and the edges too. Here are a couple of (bad) pics from my tablet (my camera batteries are not charged)... any ideas?

[Fishgirl2393]

Anyone?

[Markburns43]

Don't be worried to much shade it alittle and it will most likely heal up I've had to play that that game with a few of mine, seemed to like alittle shade if the lightning was to intense, seems like that's wats happening

[Fishgirl2393]

Well, I did shade it for a while (week and a half to two weeks) and it seemingly got worse, not better. Because of that, it makes me wonder if it was the light. At the LFS, they had it in a tank with Fluval Sea LED lights (not strong, but this was not their tank for high-light corals) and it was pretty close to the top so it should have been getting a fair amount of light (it was also showing encrusting growth). The area in the middle makes me wonder if it is a pest or something (I have asterina stars but I haven't seen them on it). Any other thoughts?

[Fishgirl2393]

So I just wanted to give an update on the tank. Things are going well for the most part (corals and fish are doing good) but I am still fighting some nasty stuff (hoping it is calothrix cyan and NOT Dino). I am currently in the middle of a chemiclean treatment, which if the stuff is calothrix, should work.

[Fishgirl2393]

The chemiclean seems to have helped some (stuff is not completely gone but is MUCH better) and after the water change (where a lot of dead stuff that the chemiclean killed was removed) the tank looks better. I dosed some Dr Tims Eco Balance after the water change and, other than a bacterial bloom that lasted a day, everything seems to be good for now.

[vlangel]

Glad to hear that the tank is still doing well. Would enjoy some pics sometime, maybe when you get everything under control.

[Fishgirl2393]

I'll try to post pics either tomorrow or Friday if I can. I am very happy that the chemiclean worked for the most part because it means that I likely don't have dinoflagellates (which has been my fear for a while). I'm still going to deal with some remnants for a while, I know, but I think things are trending in the right direction.

[Fishgirl2393]

I'm getting very frustrated.... The chemiclean seemed to help somewhat but now everything is back to being covered in yellow/brown goop. It is not stringy nor is it really mat like. The corals seem OK but are not growing much if at all. The levels are as follows: nitrate (seachem test kit that has been calibrated) less than 2ppm (near 0), phosphate (Salifert) 0ppm, dKH 9, pH 8.0, calcium 435ppm. I am not comfortable using chemiclean again because it made my gorgonian recede some (it has come back over that area again). Suggestions???

[HarryPotter]

Blast everything to get out the GOOP?

[Fishgirl2393]

It is some sort of algae/dinoflagellates/cyano. It is really nasty and after scrubbing it off, it comes back within days.

[HarryPotter]

It is some sort of algae/dinoflagellates/cyano. It is really nasty and after scrubbing it off, it comes back within days.

Well algae is not dinoflagellates nor a Cyanobacteria, a picture would help!

[Fishgirl2393]

I'm aware they're not the same thing (I've just had differing opinions on which of the three it is by people on here and hobbyists around in my area)! There is a pic on the page in the link (below) but I can post another tomorrow once the lights are on again.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/368039-dino-or-cyano/

[Fishgirl2393]

So, I've battled the whatever it is (I REALLY think it is dinoflagellates because of the way it looks when it grows but I don't know for sure) and right now, things look good. I did a water change and, with the water to be discarded, took the slime-covered rocks and scrubbed them off. They now look really good and I hope they stay that way. I also have removed a significant amount of my substrate (over time so I don't shock the system) and that seems to have helped as well. I have gotten some new corals lately including a rainbow acan, hammer, duncan, and micromussa. The corals are all doing good (I've had the duncan and hammer for a few months now since I got them before my last post). I will post pics as soon as I can.

[Fishgirl2393]

So, since I last updated, the slimy stuff came back with a vengeance and I was almost ready to re-start the tank. But after talking with another member of our reef club who has battled dinoflagellates before, I tried H2O2 dosing (by itself it helped but did not completely get rid of the stuff), dosing a probiotic (Dr. Tim's EcoBalance, which also did not work by itself), added AquaVitro Purfiltrum, and also did one other thing (below) that I was simply SHOCKED that it worked (in combination with the other things listed above).

I started using dechlorinated tap water to top-off the tank (not for water changes!). For some reason (I think my nutrients were out of balance some how from using the store-bought distilled water), this completely got rid of the nasty slime (almost positive it was dinoflagellates of some species) and it has NOT come back (going on a month now). It was kind of amazing. I am looking at getting some sort of tap water filter to remove MOST of the bad stuff in it but not all (I tested our water and found it is not that high in nutrients to begin with) so that I can keep most of the other algae types from thriving. I added a Starry Blenny (van Gogh) a few weeks ago and it has helped a lot with keeping hair algae in check (I had a tiny amount on one rock but he has mostly picked it off now). Corals still look good. Will post pictures as soon as I can.

[jack1978]

Tap water......good choice.

Glad to see you're learning.

[Fishgirl2393]

Tap water......good choice.

Glad to see you're learning.

You know, whatever works works. I know tap water is not a good idea long-term (and I cringe every time I use it because I know what can be in it) which is why I'm looking at other options. We have a member of our reef club who is truly an expert (DVM and PhD) and he said he thinks that with dinoflagellates (which he has battled, as I said above) it is about something being out of balance (and NOT just "excess of nutrients") in the ecosystem (probably bacterial he thinks). He has noticed that in nutrient-deficient tanks, dinoflagellates tend to take over if they get introduced and that the only way to battle them is basically what I have done (H2O2 to kill the dinos, probiotic to out-compete the dinos, and adding some nutrients through some method be it adding them via dosing specific ones or whatever to help the other bacteria flourish). I may look into RO/DI water instead of distilled or I may SLOWLY go back to distilled. I am NOT sticking with tap water long-term though. However some people on here have used tap-water to add nutrients to a nutrient-poor tank (when new or just too low nutrient and the corals start not doing well) so it can work if you are careful.

[vlangel]

Nice to see you back fishgirl!

[Fishgirl2393]

Nice to see you back fishgirl!

Thanks! I've been on here but not posting much lately. I've certainly been following your tank and upgrade! It looks great!