Anthrax & Gangs! 50G SCA

[Pinner Reef]

i have a little re-purposed pimento jar. i put my frozen stuff in there and mess around with a baster and tank water until its defrosted

 

I do something like that when feeding the corals. Otherwise I just do it lazy style

[thecoralbeauty]

5 gal water change this morning. it's quickly becoming a weekly habit, which is probably a good thing.

 

skimmer is finally skimming away.

 

it's a LITTLE wet- but that seems to also depend on the day. i suppose it's not the worst thing in the world.. its better than not skimming anything at all. if anything it's pulling MORE gunk out this way, right?

 

i've noticed my hawkins echinata has turned a weird grey color. is it up too high? its on the top rock with my other sps. (cali tort, pink birds nest, slimers, pearl berry, etc)

[HarryPotter]

same. i use a pimento jar to squirt some tank water in with a baster.

 

got off work early. took a FTS per harry's relentless pestering, and now am off to try to get my hair into victory rolls for the 50's thing tomorrow.

 

 

And a throw back to the 20L:

 

And my favorite picture I think I've ever taken of a tank:

YAYYYY FOR FTS

[jedimasterben]

Wet akimmate is less efficient overall (as it pulls more water than anything) but its better than not skimming at all. Also keep in mind that any time you feed anything frozen, which is oily, the skimmer will lose its foam head for at least an hour or , so if you like your head in after feeding and doing maintenance, etc and see it with no foam head, then don't worry

If it continues to skim wet and the outlet is fully open, raise it up by a half inch and see if it skims more dry.

[thecoralbeauty]

Wet akimmate is less efficient overall (as it pulls more water than anything) but its better than not skimming at all. Also keep in mind that any time you feed anything frozen, which is oily, the skimmer will lose its foam head for at least an hour or , so if you like your head in after feeding and doing maintenance, etc and see it with no foam head, then don't worry

If it continues to skim wet and the outlet is fully open, raise it up by a half inch and see if it skims more dry.

not sure what you mean by the outlet being fully open?

[jedimasterben]

not sure what you mean by the outlet being fully open?

The blue outlet of the skimmer, where the water comes out. You twist that to tune the water level inside the skimmer body.

[thecoralbeauty]

The blue outlet of the skimmer, where the water comes out. You twist that to tune the water level inside the skimmer body.

oh. yea. got it. yea I'm still fiddling with that part.

[jedimasterben]

oh. yea. got it. yea I'm still fiddling with that part.

If it is skimming wet, then open it up a bit more. I can't remember if the MAX setting is full open or full closed, but I would fully open it if it is skimming wet, and then if it is too dry after a day or so, then adjust it by half of one of the numbers on the skimmer and leave it for a day and see if it gets it where you want it.

[thecoralbeauty]

If it is skimming wet, then open it up a bit more. I can't remember if the MAX setting is full open or full closed, but I would fully open it if it is skimming wet, and then if it is too dry after a day or so, then adjust it by half of one of the numbers on the skimmer and leave it for a day and see if it gets it where you want it.

cool. for this one, the lowest number is open the highest. i'll go from there.

[thecoralbeauty]

So, still no spots. No idea what it was, whatever it was, but it has not come back. So that's good. Fish are still eating tons and behaving normally.

 

In order non-fish news, my skimmer is now skimming dry- nice coffee color skimmate.

 

Also, my pearlberry is getting some teal color back!! Hawkins echinata is still a greyish gross color, but i'm hopeful

[vlangel]

So, still no spots. No idea what it was, whatever it was, but it has not come back. So that's good. Fish are still eating tons and behaving normally.

 

In order non-fish news, my skimmer is now skimming dry- nice coffee color skimmate.

 

Also, my pearlberry is getting some teal color back!! Hawkins echinata is still a greyish gross color, but i'm hopeful

I have an SCA skimmer and it skimmed wet for probably a month before it settled and began to skim dry. Now I get dark brown stinky sludge, Eeewu! But it's good because I prefer it in the skimmer cup as opposed to the tank.

[teenyreef]

And my favorite picture I think I've ever taken of a tank:

I think this is one my favorite fish pictures ever. They look so happy together

I'm glad to hear things are looking up!

[thecoralbeauty]

spots have never returned. whatever it was isn't expressing any symptoms in my fish. things seem to be growing well.

got the skimmer dialed in thanks to ben's directions.

 

the cheato i got turned white and died... strange. i have enough light over my fuge for the xenia i have down there to be happy, so i don't think that's it... i wonder if i don't have enough nutrients in my water? hm.

[D Z]

spots have never returned. whatever it was isn't expressing any symptoms in my fish. things seem to be growing well.

got the skimmer dialed in thanks to ben's directions.

 

the cheato i got turned white and died... strange. i have enough light over my fuge for the xenia i have down there to be happy, so i don't think that's it... i wonder if i don't have enough nutrients in my water? hm.

Morgan where ya been?

 

I had a feeling you might not see the spots come back. Thats great news. My guess on the cheato is not enough nutrients due to the tank being so new.

[thecoralbeauty]

Morgan where ya been?

 

I had a feeling you might not see the spots come back. Thats great news. My guess on the cheato is not enough nutrients due to the tank being so new.

the week before winter break is INSANE at a middle school. especially teaching special education and having to write modified testing schedules for kids on my caseload.

 

also had a fun field trip using public transportation. 4 mile hike back to campus. in the snow. in dress shoes. after dark. haha oh my life sometimes.

 

but, next week is winter break. and i may think about what i want to do with the tank now that things *seem* to be ok.

[righttirefire]

Test! If you're showing po4 or No3 you should have enough. My system runs at 0 "undetectable" nitrates, 0.08 phosphates and my chaeto grows... it sucking up all the nutrients

[thecoralbeauty]

Test! If you're showing po4 or No3 you should have enough. My system runs at 0 "undetectable" nitrates, 0.08 phosphates and my chaeto grows... it sucking up all the nutrients

showing no po4 or no3. so i bet thats what it is- too clean still.

with the additional feedings i had done amidst the "ich scare of 2015" as I'm now calling it, i had some diatom blooms- don't they act as nutrient export in some capacity as well? hm.

[metrokat]

spots have never returned. whatever it was isn't expressing any symptoms in my fish. things seem to be growing well.

got the skimmer dialed in thanks to ben's directions.

 

the cheato i got turned white and died... strange. i have enough light over my fuge for the xenia i have down there to be happy, so i don't think that's it... i wonder if i don't have enough nutrients in my water? hm.

It's a new tank, i do not think there are enough nutrients. Doubly so if you are running anything else like carbon or GFO.

[teenyreef]

It's a new tank, i do not think there are enough nutrients. Doubly so if you are running anything else like carbon or GFO.

This. I learned it the hard way in my old tank when it was new and all my macros died because I was trying so hard to keep nutrients low. Some day I'll have nice things like macros again

[thecoralbeauty]

This. I learned it the hard way in my old tank when it was new and all my macros died because I was trying so hard to keep nutrients low. Some day I'll have nice things like macros again

I have a month old bag of chemipure in there but thats all im running.

 

will nix it the next time i clean things out. just gunna let things keep getting dirty.

 

should i even be skimming right now?

[metrokat]

I have a month old bag of chemipure in there but thats all im running.

 

will nix it the next time i clean things out. just gunna let things keep getting dirty.

 

should i even be skimming right now?

Skimming does remove nutrients. It depends on what you are trying to achieve. If it is measurable nitrates and phosphates then you can intermittently turn the skimmer on. As for macros, wait on that till you get a constant measurable reading. Believe it or not I actually dosed phosphates when I transferred to my new tank a year ago. My corals had started necrosing.

[ReefWeeds]

This. I learned it the hard way in my old tank when it was new and all my macros died because I was trying so hard to keep nutrients low. Some day I'll have nice things like macros again

This statement made me laugh because everything in your tank is nice

[Fishstiks]

^ This

Your tank is always nice....lol. I have plenty of nice red macros, if/when you are ready for some, let me know, I can drop some in the mail for you.

[thecoralbeauty]

Finally tried some aptasia x- I have lazy peppermint shrimp. I tried it on my tinker bell palys, too. And kept the carbon in there for good measure- unsure whether it actually killed them or not yet.

 

Also got a starburst Monticap frag. It's so beautiful next to the Idaho grape I have from gena

^ This

Your tank is always nice....lol. I have plenty of nice red macros, if/when you are ready for some, let me know, I can drop some in the mail for you.

Not sure if this was to me or Stella- but in a few months I would definitely be interested!

[HarryPotter]

Finally tried some aptasia x- I have lazy peppermint shrimp. I tried it on my tinker bell palys, too. And kept the carbon in there for good measure- unsure whether it actually killed them or not yet.

 

Also got a starburst Monticap frag. It's so beautiful next to the Idaho grape I have from gena

Picture of Starburst? Love that one!

 

Need more photos!