Arkayology Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Ark - while you are hanging out in here, take a look back at my last pic of my pink lemonade frag. You are pretty knowledgeable on SPS. Have you ever seen anything like that? I was talking to Alex B earlier and he thinks it may be an infection of some kind. It's really weird. I have seen some reference to similar behavior online, but no definitive resolution as to what caused it or how to treat it. Yeah, the bubbly tips? I've seen people on other sites talk about this issue and nothing seems to be certain. I did have it happen once on one of my acros and I thought it might be related to high alk. What do you keep your alk at? Is it stable? I've also read that it is possibly an infection. Link to comment
D Z Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Yeah, the bubbly tips? I've seen people on other sites talk about this issue and nothing seems to be certain. I did have it happen once on one of my acros and I thought it might be related to high alk. What do you keep your alk at? Is it stable? I've also read that it is possibly an infection. Well, over the past 4 or 5 months my alk and mag have been all over the place due to me trying the Tech M method to eradicate bryopsis. After dosing enough Tech M to bring mag up to around 1800, I realized my alk spiked up to almost 11. For some odd reason, I took a lot of effort to get it back down to a somewhat normal range. The tank hasn't really been growing that much, so it didn't drop much by means of consumption. Then, I was doing large water changes with water that was at 7-8dkh, and it would barely budge from 10dkh. I finally gave up chasing numbers and stopped testing all the time. A couple days ago, I tested for the first time in about a month and alk was down to 9.4, which is the lowest its been in months. Link to comment
ReefWeeds Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Ohh also, forgot to mention, I got my new IM Gormet Defroster yesterday. I tried it out really quick last night and it seemed to work ok. I think I need to find a better spot for it. I put it in the back right corner of the tank as it is somewhat "hidden" there, but I don't think it was getting enough flow to properly tumble and break up the food. I'll play around with it more tonight. On another cool note, I finially can talk a little more about what I am doing for all my sps frags. The clear frag rack has just been a temporary solution while I decided what I wanted to do. Ultimately, I decided a tower would be too much work and probably would not look quite the way I wanted so I decided to go with the Alternative Reef and have them make me a custom magnetic rock structure that will hang on the back wall. It will go in the dead space above the torch to add some filler to the middle part of the tank. It just finished up and should be shipping to me in the next couple days, but here are the pictures that they sent me. I can't wait to see how it looks in my tank covered with SPS frags! DSC_0231 by cchsoracle, on Flickr DSC_0234 by cchsoracle, on Flickr DSC_0232 by cchsoracle, on Flickr DSC_0233 by cchsoracle, on Flickr wow, that is really cool! Link to comment
RollaJase Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Been a long time since I last checked in, everything is looking great though, nice job . Link to comment
D Z Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 wow, that is really cool! Thanks Stella! Been a long time since I last checked in, everything is looking great though, nice job . Thanks man, things have been looking quite nice in your tank as well. Also, I loved seeing the pictures from SEA. I have to see that with my own eyes one day. Link to comment
D Z Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Took another video this past weekend. I wanted to show everyone how amazing this tamarin wrasse is doing in the display so here is a vid from feeding time. I was feeding LRS while taking this video.Make sure you put it on full HD for the best viewing. Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Thanks man, things have been looking quite nice in your tank as well. Also, I loved seeing the pictures from SEA. I have to see that with my own eyes one day. My pleasure . Things have definitely been better on my end, nothing has really gone as planned since this time last year haha. Planning an upgrade though so things to look forward to . SEA aquarium and Singapore in general was fantastic. If you ever get a chance to visit the aquarium I highly recommend it. I have a heap more photos from the aquarium (a few hundred really) but far too many just didn't look good enough to me to post haha. Link to comment
D Z Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 My pleasure . Things have definitely been better on my end, nothing has really gone as planned since this time last year haha. Planning an upgrade though so things to look forward to . SEA aquarium and Singapore in general was fantastic. If you ever get a chance to visit the aquarium I highly recommend it. I have a heap more photos from the aquarium (a few hundred really) but far too many just didn't look good enough to me to post haha. That's usually the way it goes. For every 20 pictures you take, only 1 or 2 is any good. Yeah, I'm excited to see what you end up doing for your upgrade. Link to comment
D Z Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Today is one of those days where I just feel like quitting. I have been having such a hard time with my SPS frags. It seems like every time I add a new frag, it does great and colors up, exhibits great PE, and then starts to loose tissue after being in the system for about 3-4 weeks or so. The pinkish green unknown acro I had RTN'ed over the weekend while I was out of town and now my hawkins has burnt tips and the bule with pink polyps acro has some tissue loss as well. Yesterday I contemplated just selling what it left and trying again in another 6 months, but then decided not to give up. I told myself to just keep trying. I planned on going home tonight to work on the tank and was excited about it.....then I just got a call from my wife telling me that she found the sunburst anthia dead in the QT. It has been a very timid fish from day 1 in the QT. It has pretty much hidden 99% of the time in the QT. I have seen it come out every once in a while, but for very short periods of time. My guess is that it was not eating, although I tried to take a look last night and it didn't look too malnourished. Now I really just feel defeated.... Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Today is one of those days where I just feel like quitting. I have been having such a hard time with my SPS frags. It seems like every time I add a new frag, it does great and colors up, exhibits great PE, and then starts to loose tissue after being in the system for about 3-4 weeks or so. The pinkish green unknown acro I had RTN'ed over the weekend while I was out of town and now my hawkins has burnt tips and the bule with pink polyps acro has some tissue loss as well. Yesterday I contemplated just selling what it left and trying again in another 6 months, but then decided not to give up. I told myself to just keep trying. I planned on going home tonight to work on the tank and was excited about it.....then I just got a call from my wife telling me that she found the sunburst anthia dead in the QT. It has been a very timid fish from day 1 in the QT. It has pretty much hidden 99% of the time in the QT. I have seen it come out every once in a while, but for very short periods of time. My guess is that it was not eating, although I tried to take a look last night and it didn't look too malnourished. Now I really just feel defeated.... We all have these days my friend. I can't remember how many times I wanted to throw in the towel with my tank. We all have our ups and downs but I believe it makes us better reefers. I'm sure you will work out what the problem is. All I can say is test, test and test! and keep track of the results. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I couldn't agree more. We've all had these moments. Shit,I still get them. Imagine yourself in my shoes man,a pico (2 gallons) trying to keep everything happy lol. Remember when I went full retard and tried Zeo in my tank and slaughtered like 11 new frags ?! Most frustrating time out of the 6 years I've kept reef tanks. I know the feeling,I have pieces that look amazing then RTN the next day. Just keep pressing forward and once you get over that hump,it'll be smooth sailing. Link to comment
GTi Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Hang in there. You'll get it sorted out. Link to comment
kimberbee Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 That sucks, but we all know how you feel! Keep at it and good luck! Link to comment
D Z Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Thanks everyone. This hobby definitely has its ups and downs. When I got home last night I could tell immediately that the anthia had just not gotten enough food. It is such a difficult species. Not really sure what I want to do next. I think I might just give it a little while on adding more fish and focus on enjoying what I have now. The tamarin is doing very well, so I have that to be happy about. As for the SPS, I think the tank is still just struggling to balance out. I checked my Alk last night and it is still up at 10. I though it had dropped to 9.4 about a week and a half ago, but I must have been wrong on that measurement. I am heavily contemplating taking out all the SPS and housing it somewhere else for another month or 2 while the system matures some more. Alex B offered to hold it all for me so I may take him up on it. I am starting to see 2 small spots of coralline growth so that is a great sign that things are moving in the right direction, just taking a long time as every good thing in this hobby does. I am thinking that 2 months with no SPS will be a good time to really get myself into a groove with the tank, finish the light upgrade, and let the parameters stabilize. Plus, Alex's tank is looking so fire right now, which will only be good for my frags. Link to comment
Reefkid88 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Damn,sorry about the fish man. That really sucks,but with due time everything will get right,just hold on there. If I was still right down the road,I'd hold stuff for you,but I'm a ancient mile away now.. But at least Alex is willing to hold the stuff for you,so that always helps. If you want to get rid of anything,let me know and I'll make a trip out there. Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Just in case I missed it. What salt are you using for your mix and are you dosing trace elements? Link to comment
D Z Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Just in case I missed it. What salt are you using for your mix and are you dosing trace elements? Red sea blue bucket. No, Ive thought about dosing trace but just never gave it a shot. Link to comment
RollaJase Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Red sea blue bucket. No, Ive thought about dosing trace but just never gave it a shot. For Blue Bucket the Alk readings you posted above seem a bit high. Blue Bucket should mix in at around 8dKh and you say you tested it up at 10dKh. Have you checked your salt mix for the right salinity after you mix it? Mixing in at a higher salinity when doing water changes will increase the trace elements in the new water, this can cause swings which the SPS won't appreciate at all. I had a similar issue for a month or so, wondering why my readings were spiking. Turned out to be an incorrectly calibrated refractrometer telling me my salinity was lower than it really was. I was mixing water at 1.030 instead of my usual 1.026, that alone was enough to swing alk up almost a full dKh before the ballance was rectified with my auto dosing. Link to comment
D Z Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 For Blue Bucket the Alk readings you posted above seem a bit high. Blue Bucket should mix in at around 8dKh and you say you tested it up at 10dKh. Have you checked your salt mix for the right salinity after you mix it? Mixing in at a higher salinity when doing water changes will increase the trace elements in the new water, this can cause swings which the SPS won't appreciate at all. I had a similar issue for a month or so, wondering why my readings were spiking. Turned out to be an incorrectly calibrated refractrometer telling me my salinity was lower than it really was. I was mixing water at 1.030 instead of my usual 1.026, that alone was enough to swing alk up almost a full dKh before the ballance was rectified with my auto dosing. I completely agree, which is why I have been so confused lately. My Alk was fine for a while, but it spiked when I was purposely overdosing Kent Tech M to try to kill bryopsis back in January. I have tested my water change water in the past to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong and at that time, it tested at 7.8, which is right where it should be. Ever since the incident where my alk spiked from the tech m, I have not been able to get it back down into the 8's. It has held steady around 10, even when I do a larger water change at around 40-50% of my water volume. It has been like this for about 5 months now and I really am at a loss as to what to do. I am bringing all of my SPS frags to Alex B's house tonight so he can hold them for me for a couple months so this can get sorted out. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I had a chance to test my refractometer against a digital pinpoint one and realized that it was calibrated to high, therefore my tank was at about 1.022 - 1.023. I have since corrected this and I will actually check my refractometer and tank water against the digital one again tonight. Link to comment
D Z Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 So I just went through my entire thread start to finish and tried to log all of my testing results as well as any problems that occurred into an excel sheet. My intent was to try to visually see if I could attribute all coral loss to certain incidents that happened. It seems like there was definitely a trend to loosing SPS frags when either Alk fluctuated or salinity changed by more than .001-.002. Also, it became very obvious that the torch loosing heads was due to salinity fluctuations. Now this isn't really news to me. I realized already that my tank has had plenty of its fair share of issues, but it is nice to analytically see it on paper. This makes me feel better about relocating my SPS for the next couple months, as I know what my goal is now. Steady salinity and alk! First, though, how do I get my alk to drop below 10 and back into the 8s. Obviously, after I get the frags out, but anyone have any ideas? Link to comment
NanoFever Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Sorry to hear about the tank troubles! I have been running into some issues too with a bad batch of salt so I feel your pain! I have lost 5 SPS so far. Link to comment
D Z Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Sorry to hear about the tank troubles! I have been running into some issues too with a bad batch of salt so I feel your pain! I have lost 5 SPS so far. Damn, sorry to hear that. I'm sure you will get back to stable pretty quickly. Link to comment
NanoFever Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Damn, sorry to hear that. I'm sure you will get back to stable pretty quickly. Same for you dude! Love that wrasse you got! Link to comment
D Z Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Same for you dude! Love that wrasse you got! Thanks dude. Me too, I just hate that it goes to sleep so early. It is usually in the sand sleeping by like 6pm, which I am almost never home from work by then, let alone hanging out in my bedroom at that time of the night. Link to comment
NanoFever Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks dude. Me too, I just hate that it goes to sleep so early. It is usually in the sand sleeping by like 6pm, which I am almost never home from work by then, let alone hanging out in my bedroom at that time of the night. HAHA my wrasse does the same thing but not that early. Mine goes to sleep as soon as the lights start to dim on my LED's. Link to comment
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