Penny's Lane-A BC29 Journey. Retired

[Pjanssen]

So a little disappointed with my LFS today. I've been going there for a couple of years, and always trusted their opinions and advise. Talked to a guy today who I've seen there before but never talked to. He seemed like he knew what was going on. Long story short-Saw a beautiful bright green seagrass wrasse. Asked a little about it, would it be suitable in a 15 gallon? 1" sanded at most?  "Yeah, no problem, only gets to be about 3 inches. Passive fish, won't bother my little gobies. It's $60.00, but I'll let it go for $50.00". Hmmm. That's an expensive fish to lose. Ima think on it, store is open until 4 O'clock. 

Live Aquaria:

"The Sea Grass Wrasse should reside in a 70 gallon or larger aquarium with a 2-4 inch sandy bottom in which it can submerge itself since it sleeps in the sand. It may be kept with fish that are aggressive or larger than it is, but should be housed with more passive fish as a juvenile"

[Pjanssen]

6 minutes ago, seabass said:

Instead of bumping it up higher, I'd just try to keep it stable here.

Okay, that was my thinking too. Will test again tonight to make sure it doesn't continue to drop.

[Pjanssen]

Alk dropped down to 8.5 by 9 pm so I turned the autodoser back on and programmed for just 1 mm of each alk/ca at .5mm 2x per day. Also manually dosed a few drops of each since the timer is not set to go off until midnight for alk and 1 am for ca

[teenyreef]

I think you've got the right idea. Now that alk is back where you want it, resume dosing to keep it stable. In my tanks, every time I go through a change in alk consumption, it takes a couple of weeks to stabilize at a new dosing level, and I have to check almost every day until it stops changing.

 

Don't worry about the idaho grape color, mine have been the exact same shade of reddish brown for much of their lives. They only get nice and purple when the parameters are on point and they are getting plenty of light. They will grow under almost any level of light, but seem to only get grape-ey under high levels.

 

I've been super busy at work this summer and have neglected my tanks a bit as well. But busy at work is nothing compared to being busy helping ailing parents, so don't feel guilty - you're paying attention to what's important!

[Pjanssen]

2 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

I think you've got the right idea. Now that alk is back where you want it, resume dosing to keep it stable. In my tanks, every time I go through a change in alk consumption, it takes a couple of weeks to stabilize at a new dosing level, and I have to check almost every day until it stops changing.

 

Don't worry about the idaho grape color, mine have been the exact same shade of reddish brown for much of their lives. They only get nice and purple when the parameters are on point and they are getting plenty of light. They will grow under almost any level of light, but seem to only get grape-ey under high levels.

 

I've been super busy at work this summer and have neglected my tanks a bit as well. But busy at work is nothing compared to being busy helping ailing parents, so don't feel guilty - you're paying attention to what's important!

Thanks John

Just moved the in-laws into an assisted living facility-YAY! Still on the phone with them several times a day, as they are dazed and confused to say the least. But hopefully it works out for them (and us), but honestly I think they need more intensive care. We shall see.

 

The idaho grape is currently sitting about mid tank, but I guess I should move it up some?

 

Hopefully I get the alkalinity stabilized sooner rather than later. Daily or twice daily testing for a while is the plan. Also going to pull my carbon and just run floss for awhile since I should be back on track with regular water changes.

[teenyreef]

I wouldn't move the monti until you see alk stabilize for at least a couple weeks. Monticaps are tough, but the one thing I've seen that will get them is a sudden change in alk. They lose almost all color, and it's chancy whether they pull through.

 

I just went through that in my 10g for the second time. I'm getting ready to post a picture of the damage in my 10g thread.

 

Years ago, we moved my mother-in-law into a memory-loss facility less than a month after losing my father-in-law. It was really tough at the time, but she actually is doing so much better there than we ever expected. She's now the longest-lasting resident by years 🙂

[Pjanssen]

After 2 doses of alk/ca (total 1mm each part), alk is up to 9, up by .5 since last night. Seems like a big climb for a small amount of fluid. IDK, maybe the doser is malfunctioning? Will check levels again tonight to check on consumption. I might have to manual dose until I can figure this out. Ugh.

[Pjanssen]

It appears that maybe I didn't hit the enter button on my doser after the last adjustment I made so maybe it dosed maybe it didn't. Alk is down to 8.3, but Ca is above 480-so maybe one pump dosed and the other didn't. Or it could be that the tank is consuming more alk than Calcium. The last dose of Alk should have been at noon today and it is now almost 9:30 pm. With only dosing 1 ml per day, and my doser only capable of 1/2 mil increments i can only dose 2 times per day. I'm not really worried about the numbers. I didn't post yesterday, but alk was at 8.7, so it's not dropping rapidly. I may go back to no dosing and rely on more frequent water changes again.

That all being said, the tank is looking okay. Seeing some polyp extension again on the pocilliporous. Monti caps are looking pretty good. and everything else seems to be humming along.

Toadstool looks like crap though, not seeing any signs of recovery. Oh well.

[Pjanssen]

Pulled the carbon out of the tank to see if I could go without it. There was a little bit of Cyano before, but now:

I put the carbon back in.

 

With dosing still at just 1mm per 2 part, alk is down to 7.9-Getting closer to natural seawater.

[Pjanssen]

Okay, so I've been a little busy this year. Nothing exciting, just more work. The tanks are sorely neglected and I'm once again thinking maybe I should get out of the hobby. But I do love my tank when it's kept up 🙄. So...today I did a 50% water change, changed the carbon, turned off the lights and covered with a blanket. See you in 3 days! reassess and probably do a fluconozol treatment.

[seabass]

15 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

The tanks are sorely neglected and I'm once again thinking maybe I should get out of the hobby. But I do love my tank when it's kept up 🙄.

We all feel like that sometimes.  You don't even feel like spending the time to clean 'em up.  However, the joy returns as the tank(s) improves.

 

Sometimes consolidation of tanks makes sense (or even downsizing).  It must be manageable, or things can get out of hand quickly.

[Pjanssen]

40 minutes ago, seabass said:

We all feel like that sometimes.  You don't even feel like spending the time to clean 'em up.  However, the joy returns as the tank(s) improves.

 

Sometimes consolidation of tanks makes sense (or even downsizing).  It must be manageable, or things can get out of hand quickly.

so true. actually, my IM 14 is doing really well, so I wouldn't want to mess it up by trying to consolidate with the 29.  But only one little fish, and 1 RFA to contribute to the bio-load helps. I can go a few weeks without a water change with no real side effects except a little film on the glass.

[Pjanssen]

I'm going to rebuild this tank! I called Marine Depot all set to buy a sump based on their recommendation, only to find out that in order to run a sump with this setup, I'd have to do some modifications to install the overflow box. Not too big of a deal, except that the top would have to be removed, which means I need to replace my lights. I feel this tank has served me fairly well over the years, but it's time to move on.

I was looking at the Aquamaxx low iron 33 cube, but it is out of stock and with the china tariffs probably not going to be in stock for awhile. They had a 24 gallon, but I'd rather go up in size than down if I'm going to do this. I want to keep the same stand, so I have a limited foot print to work with. This is what I'm leaning towards right now:

Mini 40 External Overflow Aquarium - NUVO-EXT 40 Gallons - Innovative Marine

I would love and welcome any and all kinds of advise and opinions. Thanks

 

 

[SeaFurn]

From what I’ve seen and read that is a nice tank! And it’s on sale right now! 

 

I agree about going up in size especially if you can get it to work with your current stand. 

 

What are are you thinking as far as a sump and lighting goes? 

 

 

 

 

[Pjanssen]

9 hours ago, SeaFurn said:

 

 

What are are you thinking as far as a sump and lighting goes? 

 

 

 

 

Pretty sure I'm going with the Eshopps Nano for the sump, It's one of only 4 that I could find that will fit inside my stand. As far as lighting goes, I was thinking of the AI 26 or the Nanobox duo, but they both seem to be out of stock everywhere. So now I'm not sure. Splurge and go with an Ecotech, or maybe a Kessil? I think they both need some kind of added control though which I don't have (or have the budget for).

[Pjanssen]

After 3 full days of blackout, there is a noticeable reduction of algae, but I know without further action it will come right back. It doesn't appear to be bryopsis so I'm not sure that Fluconozol is the way to go. Although I've read that it will also work on GHA, which I'm pretty sure is a lot of what I have. Tonight will be another major water change along with as much manual removal as I can. Will also add a little more GFO to my carbon. The light schedule and intensity has been reduced. I'd really like to get this cleaned up as much as possible before transferring to a new tank.

[Pjanssen]

Adding everything up that I would need to rebuild this tank and I'm over $1100.  Thinking I might as well go with a brand new Red Sea Reefer!

[Pjanssen]

Did another 50% water change and removed as much algae as I could. Definitely looks better, but thinking another 3 day blackout might be a good idea.

[Justind823]

A new red sea reefer would be a great setup! Sounds like you're on the right track with the algae. If you're thinking about a Duo you could always hit up Dave and have him make you one. 

[Pjanssen]

 

Not the best photo, but you get the idea. Taking out the anemones freed up a lot of space, and loosing all of the Acan colonies unfortunately freed up even more. I've also lost some zoas and some of their vibrancy. Algae issues seem to be under control for now. Still working on my options for upgrading this tank without blowing the bank account. I'll try to get a better picture at some point.

[Pjanssen]

Also want to point out in the picture the baby toad! After totally beheading, it has fully recovered and spawned!

[seabass]

5 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Also want to point out in the picture the baby toad! After totally beheading, it has fully recovered and spawned!

Oh, cool.

 

This is a great little reef.  Have you shopped your local stores for a new tank?  Online shipping for glass tanks seems to cost so much.

[Pjanssen]

1 hour ago, seabass said:

Oh, cool.

 

This is a great little reef.  Have you shopped your local stores for a new tank?  Online shipping for glass tanks seems to cost so much.

Thanks. Marine Depot has free shipping, but yes I am also trying to support my local store. Really just trying to decide between a whole new set up or sticking with the cube format

[Pjanssen]

and on a fun unrelated note, this guy is living in my backyard

[billygoat]

2 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

and on a fun unrelated note, this guy is living in my backyard

 

That is so cool! Who needs a fancy paludarium when you can just go outside? 😁

 

Really nice tank by the way! It seems you've been down of late because it is not quite what it used to be, but I am just seeing it for the first time and I think it is very beautiful. 😊