Orangutran Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Stupid snail. O well a good excuse to upgrade. No I never heard of those hydroids either. Honest eh, I found out about this "digitate hydroid" by accident, just clicking on a thread in R2R and I'm like, waitaminute, that's in my tank! lol Hope all is good on your end! 1 Quote Link to comment
Dank Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Glad to see other fans of the chromis. I really like them. But agree completely, they may be cheap, but they are tough to keep. Lost all three about 6 months ago. Just added 4 new ones and lost one already. The other 3 look strong, but its a bit of a challenge. Started feed twice a day to see if that helps. 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Glad to see other fans of the chromis. I really like them. But agree completely, they may be cheap, but they are tough to keep. Lost all three about 6 months ago. Just added 4 new ones and lost one already. The other 3 look strong, but its a bit of a challenge. Started feed twice a day to see if that helps. How big is your tank? My pair of chromis have been fine for the last 6 months, maybe they are a couple? Good luck with your 3 remaining! Yeah, try upping the food, since they feed often in the wild. Quote Link to comment
Dank Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 How big is your tank? My pair of chromis have been fine for the last 6 months, maybe they are a couple? Good luck with your 3 remaining! Yeah, try upping the food, since they feed often in the wild. Around 20 g in dt. Another 5-8 in sump. That's the plan. Regardless they are fun to watch and move throughout the water column. 1 Quote Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 About those hydroids, do yours look like this? (pic from google). I didn't realize there was such a thing either. I have had a single one in my tank since I set it up. It is right near my birdsnest, but I haven't seen any other ones for the past 5mths. It also doesn't seem to bother my coral. I feel like these ones arent as bad as the colonial type. If I have had one for five months and don't see any other ones, and my corals are all thriving- I would say it is no big deal. (atleast not in my tank) I thought it was a worm of some sort. Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 About those hydroids, do yours look like this? (pic from google). I didn't realize there was such a thing either. I have had a single one in my tank since I set it up. It is right near my birdsnest, but I haven't seen any other ones for the past 5mths. It also doesn't seem to bother my coral. I feel like these ones arent as bad as the colonial type. If I have had one for five months and don't see any other ones, and my corals are all thriving- I would say it is no big deal. (atleast not in my tank) I thought it was a worm of some sort. Yes, that's what it looks like in my tank. Like you, I thought it was a harmless worm. I probably have 10 that I can see, and I remember plucking one that was close to my monti that was causing tissue damage. Just keep an eye out for them. Even melev is not sure if they are that bad.. http://www.melevsreef.com/node/357 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 When it rains, it pours... This morning before work, I noticed bubbles in my return, so I go downstairs and see my pump sucking air! Long story short, there is a leak in my sump somewhere!! Couldn't find the source with a quick inspection, as I had to drop off my wife and daughter! I suspect the leak is caused by my 2x4 stand not being perfectly square. I had shimmed it best I could. Anyway, I'm gonna look into a metal stand from home depot or something, and need to build a new sump! Anyone have suggestions for metal stands? There goes my weekend… (on top of this, some punk graffitied (tagged) my garage door, which backs into a lane way! I just don't understand this tagging shit, they need to find a new hobby, or take some hard drugs and die… yes, I'm pissed) 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 I think I will use a rubbermaid brute container as a sump…. I don't need anything fancy for the basement, and it's more forgiving with my current wonky stand! Need to find this: http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Commercial-FG9S3100GRAY-Gallon-Capacity/dp/B016UT9VRC 1 Quote Link to comment
Elizabeth94 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Yea, I am not quite ready to say these hydroids are a major issue since I have had a single one for months without any negative side effects. I am almost tempted to take it out, but I enjoy any "harmless" reef life in my tank. I usually don't pull anything weird unless I find out they are the spawn of satan. Good idea on the brute sump. My lfs has had one running for the 17yrs they have been there. They had to replace the actual glass display once, but never the plastic brute sump. They are pretty much indestructible 1 Quote Link to comment
Justind823 Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I think I will use a rubbermaid brute container as a sump…. I don't need anything fancy for the basement, and it's more forgiving with my current wonky stand! Need to find this: http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Commercial-FG9S3100GRAY-Gallon-Capacity/dp/B016UT9VRC Sorry about the leak! That's the worst. I have used large tupperware, 5 gallon buckets and a rubbermaid as a sump in the past. The HDs around us usually have a good assortment of rubbermaids so it shouldn't be too hard to find. 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Around 20 g in dt. Another 5-8 in sump. That's the plan. Regardless they are fun to watch and move throughout the water column. Chromis' are like a poor man's Anthias! lol 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 Yea, I am not quite ready to say these hydroids are a major issue since I have had a single one for months without any negative side effects. I am almost tempted to take it out, but I enjoy any "harmless" reef life in my tank. I usually don't pull anything weird unless I find out they are the spawn of satan. Good idea on the brute sump. My lfs has had one running for the 17yrs they have been there. They had to replace the actual glass display once, but never the plastic brute sump. They are pretty much indestructible I'm pretty jittery when it comes to pests, burn first, ask questions later. But these hydroid things would be too difficult to annihilate. Sorry about the leak! That's the worst. I have used large tupperware, 5 gallon buckets and a rubbermaid as a sump in the past. The HDs around us usually have a good assortment of rubbermaids so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Thanks, need to stop off at HD or Walmart on my way home. I didn't even tell the wife there's saltwater in the basement this morning… Hopefully it'll be all dry when I get home later. 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 New FTS? Pleeeeease Here you go--semi FTS! Thought I had posted this, from couple months ago. Not much has changed, except my setosa and red monti aren't doing so well. They are still growing, but losing some colour (getting lighter). Might be because my nitrates and phosphates are at 0 (salifert), and I have read they don't like that? 1 Quote Link to comment
Sharbuckle Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Great shot, i gotta get a black background for my 29g 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 Great shot, i gotta get a black background for my 29g Thanks, I saw a tank on here with a really light blue background that looked pretty awesome! But then you'd have to keep it clean... Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 So I never found the leak in the sump after I got home that evening, and my guess is that the water was splashing out cus my filter floss got clogged... I went thru with a new sump anyway, cus the 20L sump I made had too many noob flaws: 1. Not enough space in my drain/skimmer chamber 2. Not enough flow in the "fuge" section, which I never used as a fuge in the end... 3. The return chamber was too large, so I believe half a gallon of water had to evaporate before it triggered the ATO! Introducing my new sump!! Loving it so far! Nice open space to take out equipment to clean. I used a small container as a "baffled" return chamber. So ATO would be triggered only after a bit of evaporation. You can see the piece of rock to keep the container from floating away when water dropped too much. Water level for the skimmer can be adjusted by raising or lowering the return container, with eggcrate below it. And tons of left over space for frags or fuge if I need it! 3 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Hey, its very functional and for a basement sump, thats what counts. Ease in cleaning equipment is real nice too because if thats too hard it tends to be put off until another day, and another day after that day! 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 11, 2016 Author Share Posted May 11, 2016 Lately, my monti's (branching and encrusting) are fading in colour, over the course of 2-3 months. Not sure if it's related to lighting or water parameters. The skin colour is not as intense, and less polyp extension. Growth is still good. I have reduced my lights by 10-15%. Here are my water params, all with Salifert kits (I feel like a real reefer now!) Nitrates: 0 Phosphate: 0 Calcium: 400 Alk: 8.0 Mag: 1185 Temp: 78˚ Salinity: 1.026 Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated, to improve the corals. Do I need more nutrients? Feed corals? Is my cal/alk/mag out of whack? Quote Link to comment
Matteo Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 mmmm I dig it! Who needs a super fancy sump!? 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Just a few ideas - mag is low and although it's probably not the source of the problem, it's an easy fix. Zeros for nitrates and phosphates is usually not good, and could be part of the problem. Do you get any algae or cyano? 1 Quote Link to comment
Orangutran Posted May 12, 2016 Author Share Posted May 12, 2016 Just a few ideas - mag is low and although it's probably not the source of the problem, it's an easy fix. Zeros for nitrates and phosphates is usually not good, and could be part of the problem. Do you get any algae or cyano? Thanks teeny, so I gotta look into raising magnesium… What should I target? A quick research shows 1250-1350? This whole equilibrium thing between the 3 elements confuses the crap outta me! I do not have cyano at the moment, and have the usual film algae on the glass. Sometimes a bit of furry brown algae on a rock before my hermits clean it up. I don't think it's a huge issue, but I could be wrong. I'm actually trying to feed a bit more the last week, to see if it'll dirty up the water a bit. Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Honest eh, I found out about this "digitate hydroid" by accident, just clicking on a thread in R2R and I'm like, waitaminute, that's in my tank! lol Hope all is good on your end! Well that was fortuitous! I also browse R2R and even have a build thread but its in the seahorse/pipefish topic. I rarely look at any other topics because I am on 5 forums(4 of them I only look under seahorses however)so I could spend my whole day doing nothing else, LOL. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Thanks teeny, so I gotta look into raising magnesium… What should I target? A quick research shows 1250-1350? This whole equilibrium thing between the 3 elements confuses the crap outta me! . BRS is doing that video series on the 52 weeks of reefing with the BRS 180. They did a very good job of explaining how alk, CA and Mag work together and maintaining a good balance. They of course put in a plug for their products but its not so biased that the info is inaccurate. I have learned a lot from watching them. I will try and look up which week they covered that. 1 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 Starting at week 29 they discuss alk, CA and mag. Then in the following weeks they get more detailed about ways to administer dosing like kalkwasser, 2-part and so on. Check it out. 1 Quote Link to comment
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