Mark's 150 (NanoBox Retro)

[markalot]

Update on the Montipora Eating Nudibranchs.

 

One group is working on the Spongodes that encrusted under one of the birdsnests.

 

 

Inexplicably there was another group working on an orange digitata on the other side of the tank and they stopped. Got full, got bored, what?

 

So with the camera out I'm looking for some good shots and, oh look! The goby was nice enough to get in the shot for a size comparison.

 

 

I'm so glad they feel comfortable enough to stroll around the tank.

 

It's most likely heading to this rainbow or superman monti I have mounted way down near the bottom of the tank.

 

 

Not all bad news though. My nearby LFS got a bunch of female Lyretails in and she decided to poke her head out. As the lights dimmed she started schooling with my 6 cardinals.

 

 

You can see that damn nudi even in that pic.

 

.. and I broke down and got a Foxface to help with the bubble algae, but of course he likes the red algae growing on Kats frags. I thought I was going to finally be able to grow this stuff.

 

 

I also picked up a new brain coral. This is nice turquoise to the eye but in the photo all I get are shaded of green. Not exactly sure what it is. Perhaps a Goniastrea?

 

 

Begging for food.

 

 

Yet another cool shroom from my old 46.

 

 

My new custom BML list arrived a couple of days ago. I am quite pleased with the color. Not too blue, not too yellow, and the 420nm violet, which look just a bit darker than royal blue, does add some pop to some of the corals in front. It's most noticable on the blue/green disc of the Duncans.

 

[Polarcollision]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/eb/index.php

[markalot]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/eb/index.php

 

Yea, I've read that. Best plan for me is to either lose all the montis and let them starve, or tolerate them and see if they can really kill all of my Montipora. I don't have the time or energy to dip and scrub.

[Polarcollision]

Yea, I've read that. Best plan for me is to either lose all the montis and let them starve, or tolerate them and see if they can really kill all of my Montipora. I don't have the time or energy to dip and scrub.

 

Eh, I'm always hopeful for solutions. Hate that feeling when loss of creatures we've put so much effort into seems imminent. Understand not having the time to scrub everything. I feel the same way about that wiry red algae taking over my rocks. It traps detritus which is probably feeding the dinos--I guess-- since it only grows on top of the algae mats. Feel like tossing my hands up and quitting some days. Well, maybe clip a frag off each one on a frag rack or something? At least there'd be *something* to come back from.

[markalot]

Eh, I'm always hopeful for solutions. Hate that feeling when loss of creatures we've put so much effort into seems imminent. Understand not having the time to scrub everything. I feel the same way about that wiry red algae taking over my rocks. It traps detritus which is probably feeding the dinos--I guess-- since it only grows on top of the algae mats. Feel like tossing my hands up and quitting some days. Well, maybe clip a frag off each one on a frag rack or something? At least there'd be *something* to come back from.

 

The thing is, with these nudis, success stories are few and far between even with radical intervention. You read stories about people QT'ing montis for 2 months and then being hit 6 months later. I hate losing coral, but I'm also fascinated with the life cycle of these beasts. For example, this morning there is no additional loss on that spongodes I pictured above. Why? Did my one lipped six line get to them? Is there something in the water that ends up killing the larger ones? Once well fed do they start cruising the tank for other food sources?

 

I expect (hoping actually) that the damage will increase exponentially over the next few weeks IF they have been laying eggs on multiple montipora.

[markalot]

The MP40 on the left side has been making horrible noises lately, especially at lower RPM. I thought I had a failing wet side and during a mini water change last night it really started making noises so I took it out and cleaned it.

 

 

Sometimes it shows I only have 3 years experience in this hobby. Good grief what a horrible slimy mess. Once back on and set to full speed for alignment the crap stirred up in the tank was a sight to see. I had been running on significantly reduced flow for how long? Might explain some pesky muck growing in a few places. I will clean the right side MP40 tonight.

 

The Foxface is settling in nicely, though I have to admit being a bit disappointed he hasn't spiked "Righty" yet. My two yellow tangs inhabit the left and right side of the tank, so I call them accordingly. Lefty is the one who scarred me but is not a bully, Righty is a first class ass. There is a dead zone in the middle of the tank where neither tang will work so some hair algae is cropping up. Bring in the Foxface who cares little of what the tangs think and there goes the algae.

 

The female Anthias might have eaten cyclopese yesterday, but spit out some as well. Not a good start to a fish I need to get eating fast. The male immediately starting eating PE Mysis but the female is uninterested. I've got frozen, pellets, flakes, and garlic drops to try to encourage her to eat.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Foxface eating any bubble algae yet?

[markalot]

Foxface eating any bubble algae yet?

 

Nope, and I kind of doubt he will since biological controls have never worked for me. I'm working on a hose setup that I can use to suck a lot of these out, and I wonder if improved flow due to the lack of pump maintenance won't help as well.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Nope, and I kind of doubt he will since biological controls have never worked for me. I'm working on a hose setup that I can use to suck a lot of these out, and I wonder if improved flow due to the lack of pump maintenance won't help as well.

Not sure on the flow, I have a good amount of flow in my tank and siphon out the bubbles when I do a water change but they are multiplying and a fairly consistent rate.

[markalot]

Not sure on the flow, I have a good amount of flow in my tank and siphon out the bubbles when I do a water change but they are multiplying and a fairly consistent rate.

 

Yea, they say manual removal is a must, I just hate manual removal. My biggest issue is the siphon I use has a small opening at one end that bubble algae can get trapped in and I have to de-clog on a regular basis. I'm looking for a better solution.

 

It's been too long without any graphs!

 

 

What do people with controllers normally do? Set the heater temp higher so it's forced to stay on until kicked off by the controller? This heater is perfectly capable of keeping the tank at 79 but not if it keeps shutting off.

[JDigital]

Yea, they say manual removal is a must, I just hate manual removal. My biggest issue is the siphon I use has a small opening at one end that bubble algae can get trapped in and I have to de-clog on a regular basis. I'm looking for a better solution.

 

It's been too long without any graphs!

 

 

 

What do people with controllers normally do? Set the heater temp higher so it's forced to stay on until kicked off by the controller? This heater is perfectly capable of keeping the tank at 79 but not if it keeps shutting off.

 

 

With my Apex, I set the temp on the heater to whatever I set the max temp to be on my Apex. Things start shutting off when my temp reaches 82 degrees, so the dial on my heater is set to 82.

 

Unfortunately I run halides, so my temp rises and drops by about 3 degrees daily.

[NorthGaHillbilly]

Hey man, sorry it took so long, heres a picture, old one, of those clove polyps, I havent gotten home before the MH goes off in a week

 

https://flic.kr/p/outoUm'>https://flic.kr/p/outoUm'>Untitled by https://www.flickr.com/people/125603963@N06/'>North Ga Hillbilly, on Flickr

[markalot]

Hey man, sorry it took so long, heres a picture, old one, of those clove polyps, I havent gotten home before the MH goes off in a week

 

Those looks to be the standard Clove Polyps, like these: http://www.pacificeastaquaculture.com/Lightning-Strike-Clove-Polyps-Prodview.html

[markalot]

The Foxface was munching on bubble algae

 

So this arrived today. I measured carefully to make sure it would just fit when I ordered it, and it was damn close, but it fit. This raises my topoff amount from 5 gallons to around 7.5 gallons.

 

 

Random shot, lights are dimming down so hard to get the right color. If you look down toward the middle bottom you'll see the superman monti and no hair algae left at all. Go Foxface!

 

 

Buck tooth is hard to get a picture of, but I did catch one fairly clear shot of him zipping across the tank.

 

 

The female Anthias. Her tail has healed up well but some of the fins are still ragged.

 

[Sk8n Reefer]

The Foxface was munching on bubble algae

 

So this arrived today. I measured carefully to make sure it would just fit when I ordered it, and it was damn close, but it fit. This raises my topoff amount from 5 gallons to around 7.5 gallons.

 

 

Random shot, lights are dimming down so hard to get the right color. If you look down toward the middle bottom you'll see the superman monti and no hair algae left at all. Go Foxface!

 

 

 

Buck tooth is hard to get a picture of, but I did catch one fairly clear shot of him zipping across the tank.

 

 

The female Anthias. Her tail has healed up well but some of the fins are still ragged.

 

Awesome on the foxface! That is good news- to bad they won't fit in my Nuvo 16- I was just skimming through your other builds- impressive- I've never had the discipline to run multiple tanks - one always suffers so I just stick to one.

[NorthGaHillbilly]

It looks like your sump is seriously detritus free

[Veng]

Seriously.... Looking at sumps w/o refugiums really makes me want to go dark sometimes... I think one day, after I win the lotto, and build my dream tank, I'll build a two compartment stand that has a refugium that's lit, and a dark rest of the sump, so I can have a pretty sump like that.

[markalot]

Awesome on the foxface! That is good news- to bad they won't fit in my Nuvo 16- I was just skimming through your other builds- impressive- I've never had the discipline to run multiple tanks - one always suffers so I just stick to one.

 

Thanks, but my 29 gallon is a complete mess at the moment.

 

It looks like your sump is seriously detritus free

 

 

Seriously.... Looking at sumps w/o refugiums really makes me want to go dark sometimes... I think one day, after I win the lotto, and build my dream tank, I'll build a two compartment stand that has a refugium that's lit, and a dark rest of the sump, so I can have a pretty sump like that.

 

Thanks. I have just about every spare pump blowing detritus around in the sump so it either gets skimmed out or pushed back into the display. My turkey baster never leaves the sump area, just in case I need some extra oomph. I'm thinking of a simple drilled acrylic refugium to place in the space to the left of the sump. I think I could use some extra export and running the lighting opposite could help with the high co2 / low ph issues.

[Veng]

 

Thanks, but my 29 gallon is a complete mess at the moment.

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I have just about every spare pump blowing detritus around in the sump so it either gets skimmed out or pushed back into the display. My turkey baster never leaves the sump area, just in case I need some extra oomph. I'm thinking of a simple drilled acrylic refugium to place in the space to the left of the sump. I think I could use some extra export and running the lighting opposite could help with the high co2 / low ph issues.

Unless you seperate the light, you'll end up with algae & coraline everywhere and on everything down there. I'm a fan of the benefits of a fuge, but they've got there downsides as well.

[markalot]

Unless you seperate the light, you'll end up with algae & coraline everywhere and on everything down there. I'm a fan of the benefits of a fuge, but they've got there downsides as well.

 

Yea, I was looking at it last night. It would have to be elevated so I can drain it via gravity back into the sump. I could probably do something to block "most" of the light but probably not all of it.

[Veng]

 

Yea, I was looking at it last night. It would have to be elevated so I can drain it via gravity back into the sump. I could probably do something to block "most" of the light but probably not all of it.

I've seen people do stacked sumps, where you've got a refugium sitting above the sump on a shelf. The designs that I've thought worked the best end up with a filter sock in to the refugium, and a second filter sock in the lower sump. The first filter sock is your standard filter sock for fine mechanical filtration, while the second filter sock is corser, designed simply to catch bits of cheato attempting to escape the refugium.

[markalot]

I've seen people do stacked sumps, where you've got a refugium sitting above the sump on a shelf. The designs that I've thought worked the best end up with a filter sock in to the refugium, and a second filter sock in the lower sump. The first filter sock is your standard filter sock for fine mechanical filtration, while the second filter sock is corser, designed simply to catch bits of cheato attempting to escape the refugium.

 

I'm not a big fan of socks ... and yet another flood potential if the return gets clogged with muck. hmmm.

[jedimasterben]

running the lighting opposite could help with the high co2 / low ph issues.

Unfortunately, for the volume that you have in your system, the volume of your refugium would need to be exceedingly large and extremely well-lit to do what you would need it to do. You'd be better off either building or buying an algae scrubber to do that, as hair algaes are much more efficient at CO2 removal than any 'typical' macroalgae that I'm aware of.

[markalot]

I'm having a bleaching episode. Not all the corals, but most of the acros. Being paranoid about AEFW I took over 100 macro shots and no sign of any pests, just lightening skin and loss of color. The biggest loss is on the Bonsai colored acro. Seeing that I measured over 400 par on most acros I've dimmed the lights from 90W/100B peak way down to 65W/70B peak, same photo period.

 

One of the corals that looks good and shows no signs of bleaching is that Katropora. Here's a picture of the base though, showing intense green in the shaded areas. I figure it can certainly survive less light for a while until I figure out a good intensity for the Razors+new BuildMyLED strip.

 

 

A couple more monti pics before they are gone.

 

Capitata

 

Setosa

 

So then I put the camera in rapid shot mode and took literally 130 pics and came out with 3 winners, including the female clown, finally.

 

One Lip, the sixline who had some kind of accident a few days after I purchased it almost a year ago.

 

 

Female Clown, 2.5 years old now. Why the long face?

 

 

[Veng]

 

I'm not a big fan of socks ... and yet another flood potential if the return gets clogged with muck. hmmm.

A properly designed system has a bypass for the sock, so even if the sock is 100% clogged, it shouldn't cause a flood.