davy jones Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 The Randall goby lives with the pistol shrimp, I'm afraid if I add a second they will kill eachother Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Update.. Going to try some new stuff, my coral just looks... off. And i cant keep alk up with waterchanges alone. On saturday i ordered a new salt to try, HW MarineMix reefer. This is the stuff BRS recommends and i like the levels it has. It is a tad spendy but i figure one box will last me 4-5 months so its worth a try. I also ordered Kalkwrasser as i planned on just adding it to my ATO to help with my alk issue (calcium has always been elevated, the last test i did finally had it to an acceptable range) But after talking to a few people and a thread i posted here it doesnt seem to be that easy. It was a general consensus not to dose kalk using a gravity fed float valve ato (like that on the reefer) so i was going to have to get a pump of some sort anyways. I decided if im doing all that i might as well just get some actual supplements and went ahead and ordered some of the Red sea ones from BRS (with the $20 of reward points for a shipping delay of my salt) So since i live in minnesota i will have my shipment tomorrow (if they dont delay shipping again.. but if they do ill likely get another $20 of points so i wont complain too much) I ordered: Red sea foundation ABC+ kit 1kg (all the elements and the color program in one powder. All balanced as well.) Foundation A 500ml Foundation B 500ml Foundation C 500ml Reef Energy A+B I chose to get the foundation elements separate as well in case my tank doesnt use them in a balanced method. I also went with the Reef Energy after reading a lot of good reviews on it. I already have a bottle of NoPox at home so i didnt need to order that. I am considering ordering a jebao DP-4 dosing pump and having the 3 liquid foundation elements in there and the nopox in the 4th container. This is so i can still do the daily doses while im away from home (the ABC+ is a daily dosage of a powder mixture) but not certain on this. Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 Dinos or whatever i have are back as of about a week. I think the skimmer being off is to blame. (used epoxy, skimmer just overflowed no matter the setting for 2 weeks.) Tonight i have access to a microscope so i am going to try and identify what i have, this will let me know what i need to do for next steps. Lost the large purple montipora and the red montipora is showing signs of STN from the bottom side. I believe the alk swings from the dinos to blame. However all of my acros and birdsnest are doing just fine My hammer coral are both showing tissue rescesion and dont get as inflated as before. I dont know what the cause of this is. They arent in heavy flow, not too much light but not shaded, nothing near by to hurt it, no pests i can see.. I think its either the rox.8 carbon or a lack of nutrients in the water. I plan on using Red Sea's reef energy to see if that makes them perk up a little. 1.025 salinity via refractometor ph 8.1-8.4 via apex Cal 370 via Hanna checker Alk 7.6 via hanna checker Phos 0.00 via hanna checker Ammonia 0 via api Nitrates 0 via api Nitrites 0 via api I wanted to figure out my daily alk and cal consumption for dosing before my vacation but ive been too busy so hopefully a waterchange and a best guess will suffice.. Plan on changing about 15 gallons tomorrow (whether its dinos or not.. i will be gone for 9 days so ill need to stabilize atleast the alk and calcium for my girlfriend to watch the tank. Im gonna try to have her dose a small amount of both every day or 2 just to help keep it from dropping too much.) It will be smaller than i think is needed just to be sure there is no precipetation. Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Hammer corals still receding flesh. I think its because of the added carbon to remove the toxins from the dinos. And of course the stress from the dinos themselves. I leave for 8 days tomorrow in which i will not have any access to check on my tank, cant even check using the apex. so hopefully my girlfriend is able to keep things alive until i get home to keep trying to kill the dinos. Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 My corals are dying. I hate this. Seriously this is making me want to get out of the hobby. Why are my euphillia and zoas all dying while my acros and birdsnest are fine? Is it because of the extra carbon im running to get rid of the dino toxin? or is it the dinos them selves? is it low nutrients? The fish are fine.. The clean up crew is fine.. the ricordias are fine.. Thoughts? What can i do to atleast get my euphillia doing okay again? Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 =(. can you get your skimmer back up after the water change? what about using purigen while your skimmer is off to get rid of any harmful organics? I am battling diatoms / brown algae in mine and things are not pretty either. I never had dinos before so can't offer much help but best of luck! Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Skimmer is running good finally. I always have purigen in running passive as well as the rox.8 carbon in a reactor. I've read so many damn threads on dinos and treatment and they all say different things and some contradict eachother and for every 1 person saying x worked 3 people said it did nothing and it's very frustrating. The hobby isn't fun when I just sit and watch things die no matter what I try. Link to comment
phillyclownfish Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 I have diatoms in the 170 due to the new sand. If I don't feed for a day and do a water change the tank looks so much better. Hopefully a few water changes will fix your issue. Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Dinoflagellates aren't the same as diatoms, diatoms are from a new tank and silicate in the water. Dinoflagellates are a single called organism that ruin hopes and dreams and are fueled by Satan's hatred. Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Update. Did 3 days lights out over vacation and had a friend dose 10ml h2o2 every day. I continue dosing this still. on sunday i did a 15 gallon waterchange, expecting dinos to slightly bloom back up like usual but i needed fresh water. However they didnt bloom.. Yesterday marked an interesting turn of events.. I noticed on my frag rack there is NO signs of dinos, which this is typically the first place they show up for me. So i then looked at my bryopsis which the dinos take a liking to as well.. Clean.. I also noticed for the first time in months an astrenia star on the glass.. Im not out of the woods, but i think im heading down the right path finally. I am going to do another waterchange tomorrow or friday as well. My alk consumption seems very high.. While i was on vacation i had my girlfriend dose .5dkh worth of alk a day and when i got home and tested it showed up at 6.1dkh. Over the course of the day i got it back up to almost 7dkh and ive been working on raising it as well the last ocuple of days but i havent tested. I might end up buying a doser of sorts. Im thinking the jebao as its $70 on amazon right now. I did a dip using seachems reef dip on my euphillias on monday and they look much better than they have in about a month now. So im hoping they will start to recover if i can get the water params right and stable. My orange digi is still STNing from the base, but i believe that is due to the alk. If it continues much farther im going to frag it a couple of times and do a reef dip as well. I hope i dont have to. My pink lemonade has a little STN from the tips, again i believe due to alk but it isnt getting worse. Hoping it will heal itself as its only a little bit. Ive started feeding much heavier as well as dosing red sea reef energy a+b and 2 little fishes marine snow. I think this is helping. Finally some good news. Im hoping that things turn around now! Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 how often you change / clean your filter socks? i find mine start to overflow after 3-4 days Link to comment
davy jones Posted January 28, 2016 Author Share Posted January 28, 2016 how often you change / clean your filter socks? i find mine start to overflow after 3-4 days Ive never changed my filtersocks yet and im sure i need to. In the beggining they lasted 2-3 days, now they go around 5-7, which im sure they are no longer 200 micron which is why they last longer. However unless im taking pictures i dont want the water to be 100% particulate free, i like having some floaties around in there! Link to comment
davy jones Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hello Everyone, Ive been away for some time due to the fun of purchasing a house! I close may 13 and will be moving about 10 minutes away from where i live now. On a tank related note, things have been getting neglected and going downhill on account of house hunting and such in all my free time. However last night i did a 20 gallon waterchange and ordered a few tank items per the Girlfriends request (she will be taking care of the tank for a month while im away at military training.. ill have 0 access to phone or internet or anything to help her) So i ordered an apex DoS and some ESV B-Ionic 2 part to help maintain levels while im away. As well as the fact that waterchanges are not keeping up with consumption anymore and im too busy/forgetfull to dose the tank daily by hand. Bryopsis has definitely taking hold of the tank and is doing its thing right now. However the Dinoflagellates are much much less than before, i can go a few weeks without noticing a buildup of them anywhere. An old friend of mine and my girlfriend did some not so great things while i was away for a week and purchased a yellow tang for the tank and a strawberry dotty back.. So needless to say the tank is definitely overstocked right now as well as the fact my tank is too small for a yellow tang long term. The 2 barred rabbit fish i have been holding for a friend now also seems to be more permanant that planned as his daughter threw a marble at his tank and broke the front glass spilling everything all over the floor. He is not going to set up another tank. So now the goal is to get the coral and fish healthy enough to survive the move from the apartment to the house. Ive done tank moves before but never with this much coral or any sps. I am very worried about how this is going to go and how im supposed to do the move. I am probably going to offer beer and pizza for anyone on the local forum that can help and has experience to do so. AAAANYWAYS ill have pictures up tomorrow of the current state. But be warned, its not pretty! Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 You got this, it's going to work out. Congratulations on the new place. Link to comment
davy jones Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Thanks! Yeah lots of work needs to be done but itll be okay! one step at a time lol Link to comment
davy jones Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 Video taken last night. 4k resolution for those of you with fancy monitors/phones Enjoy! Link to comment
bmac16 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Nice video, reef looks good! Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 congrats on new house! the tank will come around soon. I am curious how you plan to move it? It's a pretty heavy tank / stand.... Link to comment
davy jones Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 congrats on new house! the tank will come around soon. I am curious how you plan to move it? It's a pretty heavy tank / stand.... Thanks! the house wasnt in the plans but rent went up and interest rates are low and one thing led to another and we bought a house lol As for the move.. Its gonna be tough. Im gonna ask for help on the local forums but as of now here is my plan. The house is only 10 minutes from where i live now. Tank will be the Last thing to be moved. I am going to install brackets to hang the lights from before we move the tank, then im gonna drain the water into totes and buckets as well as make some fresh salt water for the buckets as well. (more on this later) Im going to place the rocks with coral attached in seperate 5 gallon buckets if i can, and the rest of the rock will go in a tote or 2. As soon as the rock and fish are out of the tank and in totes im gonna take and load the tank (with the sand and just enough water to keep it covered) and stand and load it into the vehicle (with helpers) then load the stand and go. Ill have another vehicle bring the coral and rock and fish behind us. I plan on having a full tanks worth of water made at the house and ready to go, I use a salt thats not too high in parameters so i think ill use 80% new saltwater and 20% old water. Then ill try and scape something similar and add everything to the tank as quick as possible to reduce stress. If i have to ill rescape once everythings in the tank for a day or so. Im expecting to lose a couple coral (unless i can nurse them back to good health before the move, unlikely) and maybe a fish or 2 in the move. Is there anything you guys think im missing or think i should do as well (i.e. fresh batch of pods, some bacteria additive etc.) Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 sounds like a pretty good plan. i am sure the corals and fish will be fine. seems like a short commute. the hard part will be moving the actual tank and stand... we bought our house a few months ago for the exact same reason, low interest rate. and more space for a big tank =P. Link to comment
davy jones Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 sounds like a pretty good plan. i am sure the corals and fish will be fine. seems like a short commute. the hard part will be moving the actual tank and stand... we bought our house a few months ago for the exact same reason, low interest rate. and more space for a big tank =P. I am hoping the tank doesnt get scratched or damaged in the move.. the stand im a little less worried about. Thats probably my biggest fear. Along with the fact that many of my sps have encrusted onto the rock finally, i dont want them to bust off Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I am hoping the tank doesnt get scratched or damaged in the move.. the stand im a little less worried about. Thats probably my biggest fear. Along with the fact that many of my sps have encrusted onto the rock finally, i dont want them to bust off try not to expose SPS too long to air. Every time my SPS is out of water for more than 5 - 10 mins, they turn white.... Link to comment
davy jones Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 try not to expose SPS too long to air. Every time my SPS is out of water for more than 5 - 10 mins, they turn white.... I didnt think about that.. Ill make sure to be careful about that. All of the sps are on 2 different pieces of live rock, so im thinking one of the rocks ina tote (dont think itll fit in a 5 gallon bucket) and the other rock in a 5 gallon bucket. Ill probably take the supporting rocks and place on the bottom of the bucket as best i can to keep the sps rocks from shifting too much or tipping over and breaking the encrusted ones off. Snapped a couple of shitty pictures last night, didnt have time to adjust my camera settings for the tank even. However this is Day 1 of using the Apex DoS and ESV-2 part. I want to keep a log here and try to post progression pics every 15 days or so to see if it makes a big difference in growth and color. Link to comment
davy jones Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 Looking to get some input. Throughout all of this mess my acros have been doing fine, so have my stylo and birdsnest. Now ive lost 1 birdsnest completely, one is 80% dead and another is 25% dead. They just turn white underneath the polyps and eventually the polyps start dissipearing and then thats it for the coral. My green slimer lost its nice green color other than the coralites and the polyps. Now the tips of the corals have turned white and are losing polyps. A microlades got burnt tips on all of the new growth, and it just continues to do this. My cali tort is encrusting faster than ive ever seen it go My SSC is changing to the right colors, encrusting and starting to grow new branches My tennius is encrusting like crazy. So far Ive shut off my carbon reactor that has been running rox.8 carbon as i read that it can cause burnt tips I turned down led intensity although i think i might need to go the other direction.. Wish i had a par meter to test. Ive tried more and less flow in the tank, cant tell a difference either way although i think less flow makes everything look better for a day or 2 and then they get worse ALK @7.7 via Hanna and roughly the same via red sea (give or take .2 for testing error) CAL @430ppm via hanna PH 7.9-8.2 via apex Temp 78-80 with an average of 79 Total swing of ~1 degree throughout the entire day Salinity 1.025ppm via red sea refractometor Phos .02 via Hannah Checker Mag 1250 IIRC via red sea (about a week and a half ago.) I set up a doser for 2 part, and raised the alk from ~6.5dkh to about 9dkh over the course of a week and a couple days, i dropped dosing a little after that and now im steady around 7.7dkh. What bothers me is these things have done awesome through all of the dinos and ups and downs this tank had. Many of them grew very quickly and continued gorwing and coloring up throughout all of this. Then they started declining a little over a month ago, which i attributed to the alk swings due to Manual dosing and missing days and such. I bought a doser and set up 2 part, and now my sps are declining even more. On the flip side My lps and soft corals that have been slowly shrinking and receding have perked up and are looking better than ever for the most part. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment
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