ArabTanker's Next Chapter - Photo Dump On Every Page

[ArabTanker]

Aleoepathy is coral warfare. Only carbon and water changes will help it, and it would be good to seperate anything close together. Don't put arrgessive corals in front of a powerhead either for now. In regards o the algae, try to find out phosphate levels.

 

I could do another water change today. Or I could go to pets smart or something and get some carbon. I have two phosoban reactors sitting around.

Only zoas are close together. And the shrooms.

Is a hammer coral agressive?

 

I'd go ahead and toss that xenia. No sense in leaving it and letting it rot in the tank. I'd pull those zoa/pally frags and dip them, they could have something crawling on them irritating them and causing them to close up like that. I had that problem a bit back and I just kinda "let it ride" and I ended up losing several frags.

 

I tossed it right after the photo.

I dipped two of them last night. The two that have been closed up for a while. Im waiting to see if they make a recovery.

How many times should I dip a week?

 

This is a very cool thank, nice work! How are you liking that light?

 

Thank you. And im not sure yet. I mean - I like it. But the light could be the reason the coral are closed up. Who knows. I did just receive some blue LEDs that I am going to retrofit into the fixture as moon lights. Tested them out last night and they looked sweet.

[markalot]

The hammer you have Is very aggressive. Good looking but one of the more aggressive Hammers. I have a toxic and a peach, peach never produces stingers, toxic does all the time.

[ArabTanker]

Are you sure? I've never seen its stingers.

What kind of flow do they like? What kind of lighting? Do your shrink a lot?

[FishBrawler]

Are you sure? I've never seen its stingers.

What kind of flow do they like? What kind of lighting? Do your shrink a lot?

Feed the tank and you will see stingers probably!

[Zia]

IMO, when your tanks new and on the nano scale. There's little room for error. especially while its still in its new tank syndrome phase.

So far you done everything well in getting it setup and cycled. It just needs to chill out for a bit. Kinda like set it and forget it for awhile. Hold off on fish and corals for a bit. Get comfortable with testing all your water parameters and getting your water chemistry consistent for at least the next month. Try to keep your temp and PH as stable as possible. All the extra dipping of corals, be sure to be rinsing the frags in a separate bowl of tank water before putting them back in. So you can reduce the amount of coral dip that gets in the main display. Switch the focus to your water chemistry and equipment. Make sure your filtration's running smoothly and at optimal performance i.e. skimmer, pumps, etc...

Dial in the tank itself and focus on the engine of the ride (the Sump) make sure its purring. One thing this hobby requires alot of, which i seem to have little to none of is, Patience. Like a fine wine, a reef tank gets better w/ age.

[ArabTanker]

IMO, when your tanks new and on the nano scale. There's little room for error. especially while its still in its new tank syndrome phase.

So far you done everything well in getting it setup and cycled. It just needs to chill out for a bit. Kinda like set it and forget it for awhile. Hold off on fish and corals for a bit.... Dial in the tank itself and focus on the engine of the ride (the Sump) make sure its purring. One thing this hobby requires alot of, which i seem to have little to none of is, Patience. Like a fine wine, a reef tank gets better w/ age.

 

Got it.

 

Back to R&D mode. But this time. There wont be much D. Just a lot of boring R.

[ArabTanker]

The hammers health is starting to decline. Any advice as to what to do? I would hate to see this thing die.

I just started to run carbon in a reactor today. I tested for phosphates and it came out low. Small traces - cant tell with the api test kit.

[Jackal_Knight]

oh man, sorry to hear about your hammer. Any of your other corals doing better?

[ArabTanker]

oh man, sorry to hear about your hammer. Any of your other corals doing better?

 

Some of the zoas are starting to open up slowly. Some of them are still shut. Part of the acro's flesh came off. I think its going to be a loss. Other than that everything is the same.

 

Thanks. I just moved the hammer to a less flow area. I thought they liked flow.

[markalot]

Reactor, n a new tank? Simplify, the hammer needs food. Bag of carbon somewhere is good, water changes to keep phosphate down. Do you even have any bioload?

[Spirofucci]

If your params are good, think about getting your first fish so you can start some bioload going in there. Imo, zoas are not the greatest first corals as they can be very finicky. Just leave them alone and see what happens.

 

Also, algae is a good thing!

[ArabTanker]

Reactor, n a new tank? Simplify, the hammer needs food. Bag of carbon somewhere is good, water changes to keep phosphate down. Do you even have any bioload?

 

The hammer wont take food. Most people say they dont feed their hammers. Just coral and a cuc. I did feed marine snow twice. I think thats whats causing all the extra nutrients.

 

If your params are good, think about getting your first fish so you can start some bioload going in there. Imo, zoas are not the greatest first corals as they can be very finicky. Just leave them alone and see what happens.

 

Also, algae is a good thing!

 

I'm going to hold off on the fish until I find out whats causing this algae bloom. I was okay with algae during and right after my cycle - but not this far after it.

[markalot]

I don't mean to feed the hammer directly, I mean it needs food from the water.

 

New tanks will always go through the uglies as everything balances out, slowly, over 6 to 12 months. If you starve the tank trying to prevent algae then some of your corals will starve because you have no fish to produce waste to feed them.

 

 

[l2d4]

What do you think of the FNI light fixture? Would love to hear anything you have to say about it. I'm considering one of these tanks as an extra setup and don't quite want to pony up for an excessive, imo, ati fixture.. I might consider only two bulbs. IDK...

Thanks and BE PATIENT.

[ArabTanker]

I don't mean to feed the hammer directly, I mean it needs food from the water. New tanks will always go through the uglies as everything balances out, slowly, over 6 to 12 months. If you starve the tank trying to prevent algae then some of your corals will starve because you have no fish to produce waste to feed them.

 

I still feed a minimal amount of Marin Snow just to get some nutrients in the tank.

Im still a little turned off about having a fish producing all that waste. I want to make sure nothing is wrong with the setup first.

 

What do you think of the FNI light fixture? Would love to hear anything you have to say about it. I'm considering one of these tanks as an extra setup and don't quite want to pony up for an excessive, imo, ati fixture.. I might consider only two bulbs. IDK...

 

Thanks and BE PATIENT.

 

Great light. I mean. It is what it is. You put t5ho bulbs in it (comes with it) and it powers them. Only thing I was weary of was the fact that you cant independently control the bulbs on the two bulb fixture. I wanted to be able to turn off the white light so I can use the blue bulb as a moon light. Nonetheless - I bought a 24" blue LED strip and placed it inside the fixture behind the bulbs. Works like a charm. Let me know if you'd like some pictures.

 

Thanks for the advice haha. Im trying.

[patback]

FYI, the blues would be too strong as a moonlight I believe.

[l2d4]

Great light. I mean. It is what it is. You put t5ho bulbs in it (comes with it) and it powers them. Only thing I was weary of was the fact that you cant independently control the bulbs on the two bulb fixture. I wanted to be able to turn off the white light so I can use the blue bulb as a moon light. Nonetheless - I bought a 24" blue LED strip and placed it inside the fixture behind the bulbs. Works like a charm. Let me know if you'd like some pictures.

 

Thanks for the advice haha. Im trying.

Pictures of the build quality would be great. That's what I'm really getting at. If/when cash flow allows it, I would strongly recommend switching to a pair of quality bulbs by ATI or a similar brand.

 

You shouldn't use the blue bulb as a moonlight anyways. That bulb is much too strong for that function. Corals need sleep just like us .

[ArabTanker]

Pictures of the build quality would be great. That's what I'm really getting at.

 

Sure. I could get you some tomorrow.

 

---

 

Merp. Tank is pissing me off.

 

Hammer coral is real shriveled up. It inflates very slightly every night but when I turn the lights on it deflates again. Any ideas?

 

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wtf is this?

 

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And damn it!

 

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[Chew_Magna]

wtf is this?

 

Snail eggs.

[markalot]

Could the flow be too strong for the hammer?

 

Honestly, though, it might just be the age of the tank. The hammer and family are more sensitive that other LPS corals, and so many things are happening in a new tank that we can't measure.

[ArabTanker]

Pictures of the build quality would be great. That's what I'm really getting at.

 

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The LEDs I put in. Still have to actually install them and run the wire through the fixture.

 

http://s172.photobucket.com/user/coipo/media/IMAG0821.jpg.html'>

 

 

Could the flow be too strong for the hammer? Honestly, though, it might just be the age of the tank. The hammer and family are more sensitive that other LPS corals, and so many things are happening in a new tank that we can't measure.

 

I though that was the problem. So I moved it to a very low flow area. Still no improvements.

 

---

 

Tank still looks horrid. Hammer is still doing bad.

 

Here are my parameters.

 

 

PH: ~8.4

SG: 1.022-1.023

Phosphates: ~0 ppm maybe <.25

Ammonia: ~0 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 0 ppm

Ca: ~390 ppm

Light cycle is about 12 hours a day.

 

Is everything okay? Anything look wrong?

[l2d4]

 

 

The LEDs I put in. Still have to actually install them and run the wire through the fixture.

 

 

 

 

I though that was the problem. So I moved it to a very low flow area. Still no improvements.

 

---

 

Tank still looks horrid. Hammer is still doing bad.

 

Here are my parameters.

 

 

PH: ~8.4

SG: 1.022-1.023

Phosphates: ~0 ppm maybe <.25

Ammonia: ~0 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 0 ppm

Ca: ~390 ppm

Light cycle is about 12 hours a day.

 

Is everything okay? Anything look wrong?

Thank you for the pictures.

 

Shorten the light cycle by a couple hours. Did you acclimate the corals to your lights? What kind of lighting were they under before?

 

Specific gravity needs to be 1.025 or 1.026. Get this up!

[patback]

Salt is on the lower side, but I've seen people successfully keep a tank thriving at 1.020. Your leek is fine IMO, as long as it stays stable. Lower the light cycle a bit and see how it goes.

 

Salinity.... Not leek. I hte that my new phone autocorrects so much stuff that isn't spelt wrong.

[ArabTanker]

Thank you for the pictures.

 

Shorten the light cycle by a couple hours. Did you acclimate the corals to your lights? What kind of lighting were they under before?

 

Specific gravity needs to be 1.025 or 1.026. Get this up!

 

No problem.

 

Shortening the light should be no problem. I didnt acclimate them to light. Most of them were under some expensive LEDs and T5s. The guy I buy them from has a whole ceiling full of high end fixtures for all his tanks.

 

I thought about raising it a page or two ago but decided against it. After some research I found that keeping it constant is more important than what its actually at. In any case I could raise it over the next month or so but I don't plan on it.

 

Salt is on the lower side, but I've seen people successfully keep a tank thriving at 1.020. Your leek is fine IMO, as long as it stays stable. Lower the light cycle a bit and see how it goes.

 

Salinity.... Not leek. I hte that my new phone autocorrects so much stuff that isn't spelt wrong.

 

I will try that out.

LOL

[ArabTanker]

So. Things are still pretty bad. After talking to Zia I decided to get a skimmer for the system. I picked up a SCA - 301 skimmer off eBay.

 

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I never planned on getting a skimmer so I (stupidly) didnt make a chamber big enough to hold it in the sump. Nonetheless, I wanted to go bb in my fuge anyhow so I just took the sand out and put it in there. While adjusting the skimmer I accidentally broke the aerator. I just used a standard airline tube and superglued it in place. Seems to be working fine. But just incase - I called SCA and they were very kind. They are sending me a new aerator tomorrow.

 

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http://s172.photobucket.com/user/coipo/media/IMAG0853.jpg.html'>

 

As you could see. Micro bubbles everywhere. Is this normal? They are coming out of the bottom of the blue pipe. Im assuming it just needs to break in. It is already collecting brown water witch is cool.