Cronic's 75g Reef (100% Biological Filtration)

[CronicReefer]

So this is what my dottyback likes to do for hours at a time. Didn't really expect him to be such a sand sifter but I do have a lot of worms crawling around.

 

[CronicReefer]

Went down to WWC today to check out all their chalices they have in stock and I buy an anemome and Tyree rainbow stylo instead. I highly recommend checking out their website if chalices are your thing. It was only $35 for thr anemones since they were a bit bleached but still healthy otherwise.

 

Green BTA

 

Current FTS

[CronicReefer]

Well I guess the anemone has found a spot it likes. At least I can say it's still visible . The clowns of course seem none the wiser and continue swimming in their corner despite the anemone only six inches behind them...

 

 

[oysterk]

Sweet tank, sorry to hear about the SPS.

[CronicReefer]

Added another "test" coral today along with a couple of emerald crabs. I also grabbed some silversides to feed the anemone (I see a lot of breeders recommending these) and my lobster. The platygyra and the stylo are still both doing well and not showing any issues so far so I'm going to continue adding corals as I see fit. Looking to add another 15 or so frags to allow plenty of room for everything to grow into larger colonies. Probably going to get a few chalices in a month or so as well. I'm currently looking at a nice orange one and probably a red one and a blue one.

 

Purple Polyp Birdsnest

[CronicReefer]

Some random pictures from around the tank today. I think the clowns are starting to find their way to the anemone as well

 

[CronicReefer]

My clownfish started hosting my BTA some time last night while I was at work . Been waiting a long time to finally see this. The anemone seems to like it as well as its nice and puffed up.

 

 

I took a video but its not the best angle since you can't see it from the front of the tank and the sides of my glass I don't scrape hardly ever.

 

[CronicReefer]

Got a picture of my clown fish sleeping in her anemone before the lights come on this morning. It seems like she really loves the anemone now.

 

[CronicReefer]

Just got back from my favorite LFS with some great new SPS frags. They pretty much always do buy one or buy two get one free so I got a great deal and picked up five new frags.

 

Green Pocillipora

 

Blue Monster

 

GARF Bonsai

 

Green Acropora

 

The fifth I couldn't really get a clear shot of. It is an acro with a nice blue base and bright yellow tips.

[CronicReefer]

My Seneye monitor finally arrived yesterday and I was able to take some PAR levels for my tank. The sand bed seems to be around 50-80 @4000-5000 lux and around 125-250 @6000-9000 lux from the middle to the top depending on location (2xT5 bulb and 2xTruelumen Blue LED strip lights). All the corals seem to be really happy with these levels and they are staying colored up nicely with great polyp extension. The sulfur denitrator I built is also working amazingly well. My nitrates have gone from around 40 to less than 10 over the course of 8 weeks and still falling. I feed frozen foods twice a day along with silversides for the lobster 2-3x per week and 1x per week for the BTA. Currently doing 15% water changes per week for DSB maintenance as it is still maturing with micro fauna and needs the surface layers disturbed to release detritus. I feel like things are finally coming together for the tank as it matures .

 

Made a trip down to WWC today and got some nice montipora frags: a grafted cap and a purple cap. Some pictures of the new corals and a FTS.

 

WWC Grafted Cap

 

Purple Cap

 

Unnamed Acro (I know it is a "designer" frag)

 

FTS 7.14.16

[CronicReefer]

Found a fresh molt from my lobster this morning. That makes almost 5 months to the day since her last molt. I remember when I first got her she would molt every 6-8 weeks, so I'm guessing she is now a full grown adult. I'm always amazing at how much detail you can see in the molt, even down to the sensory hairs on the shell. It seems like the new silverside diet isn't causing any issues which I'm glad because they pollute the water much less than the LRS.

[CronicReefer]

FML...just discovered montipora eating nudibranches on my two new frags today . Dipped both but not sure if my WWC grafted cap is going to make it. The purple one seems okay for the most part though. First time in two years I ever saw a coral pest. I'm just glad it wasn't anything too serious.

[CronicReefer]

Well I guess it's time for another tank update. Lost all the SPS frags I had bought in July to an accidental overdose of alkalinity. To say the least, I was pissed and haven't been interested in buying corals since then. I decided it was time to attempt this SPS thing again since my LFS was just about giving frags away. Got five SPS frags this week and a WWC Vivid Riddler with 10+ eyes. All my others livestock has been doing great and thriving, especially the anemone. Future livestock plans is a Panda Goby but I plan on adding a pocillipora colony first as I would like to see the symbiotic relationship the fish forms with the coral.

 

Some pictures and a new FTS

 

I have an emerald crab that has formed a symbiotic relationship with my frogspawn. You can kind of see him peeking out from underneath the polyps in this picture.

 

Acro

 

Red Setosa Montipora

 

Tyree Stylo

 

Acro

 

WWC Vivid Riddler

 

FTS 9.11.16

[CronicReefer]

Found a decent size Pocillipora at the LFS which will be the future home for my Panda Goby(s). From everything I've read they only survive well in captivity through hosting a pocillipora like they would in the wild. I'd like to get a pair but I'm not sure how I feel about them laying eggs on the coral. I've been really interested in finding fish/invertebrates that have symbiotic or commensal relationships with other organisms. I have been looking to possibly buy another anemone for a certain type of shrimp that will host them. I will probably look more into the shirmps after I establish the pocillipora and acquire the panda goby.

 

 

A bit brighter FTS this time

[MedievalITGuy]

That sucks to hear you lost all of your SPS, but the tank is still looking good.

 

I have to agree with you about symbiotic relationships. They're fascinating, and I'd love to see what you end up with in here. Especially since all I'll have room for in my tanks is a goby shrimp pair.

[markalot]

Good luck with the SPS this time around. Too low is better than too high, so make your mistakes on the low side. This comes from someone who did not react fast enough when I saw Alk rising and lost a lot of corals due to the goof.

[CronicReefer]

That sucks to hear you lost all of your SPS, but the tank is still looking good.

 

I have to agree with you about symbiotic relationships. They're fascinating, and I'd love to see what you end up with in here. Especially since all I'll have room for in my tanks is a goby shrimp pair.

Haha I wish I could have a shrimp/goby pair but my sand bed is not good for creating tunnels.

Good luck with the SPS this time around. Too low is better than too high, so make your mistakes on the low side. This comes from someone who did not react fast enough when I saw Alk rising and lost a lot of corals due to the goof.

 

Thanks for the advice. I know it was probably a lot worse for you just because of the time you spent growing yours. I feel like such an idiot because I forgot that Reef Snow contained carbonates and I accidently raised the alk from 8 to 10 in less than 24 hours because of it. Your corals are looking amazing now btw, especially after that slick new light upgrade.

[CronicReefer]

It's been a long time Nano-Reef! After my pocillipora died that I had purchased back in September I was done with buying corals for a while. At the beginning of the year I decided to change some things as far as filtration goes for my tank because something was not working for SPS and even my LPS were starting to have issues. I removed the Chemipure-Blue, stopped using GFO, and replaced bio-cubes with one Brightwell NO3 Brick and I started dosing Reef Bio-Fuel (15mL/day) and Microbacter7 (20mL/day). I also bumped up my temp from 78F to 81F. This has made a "big league" difference since I switched about 6 weeks ago. I have had a ORA Birds of Paradise, ORA Red Plant, and Mystic Sunset that are GROWING! I also grabbed some acans and a favia which are showing visible signs of growth as well. My LFS had a beautiful 5" Tomini Tang for only $50 and since they are a smaller species (and one of my favorites) I had to bring it home. He is very active and eating like a fat pig. Anyway, enough talk and a few pictures. That anemone in the FTS is the same one that is pictured earlier in my thread, it has done extremely well on a diet of whole silversides.

 

[CronicReefer]

My clownfish has laid her third batch of eggs in the past 4 weeks and its the largest one yet, at least 100 eggs. Ever since I've increased the water temperature the male and female have started spawning on what seems to be a regular cycle which is nice to see. 

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

Baby fishies!  That's so cool!  So which one has the lucky fin?

[CronicReefer]

Some pictures of all the new corals. Everything has been healthy and growing. Growth is painfully slow since they are all frags but it seems like my new filtration is keeping the SPS happy.

 

This chalice is just amazing for color.

 

This one...not so much

 

This is actually an LPS coral called a Hydnophora. This picture is a little old, it has become much more yellow recently.

 

Big chunk of some purple montipora

 

ORA Red Planet, very bright red but very slow growing

 

Tidal Garden Ice Fire Acropora, very nice blue acro

 

BioReef Green Goblin Anacropora, I really like this corals growth pattern when they get large. It is also growing faster than all the others.

 

Took this picture of my anemone during a water change. The clownfish is about 2" long for perspective.

 

And finally a FTS

[WV Reefer]

I like it!  

 

 Glad I found this today.... I'm preparing for my own 75 Gallon. 

[Lula_Mae]

Frags are looking nice!  Clowns look happy, too!

[CronicReefer]

6 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

I like it!  

 

 Glad I found this today.... I'm preparing for my own 75 Gallon. 

Thanks, it has been quite the adventure but things seem to be getting better with time. Good luck with your new tank. 

5 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Frags are looking nice!  Clowns look happy, too!

Thank you. The clowns are doing great and still laying new eggs about every two weeks.

[Subsea]

Very nice tank. I like your methods and enjoyed reading thru the thread.

 

How did you fare during the hurricane? 

On a side note, I have been in the eye of two hurricanes.  One as a child in Lafayette, Louisiana.  During the worst of the storm at night, everything went quiet.  Went outside and could see the moon and stars.  Very erie to hear the eyewall approaching.  My second  hurrican eye experience was in the Gulf of Mexico on a drill ship operated by ODECO.  We had completed the well and were preparing to move the ship to another location.  With 10,000' pf drill pipe in the bottom cargo decks, we were as stable as we could be, instead of being top heavy with pipe in the derrick.  Everybody on the rig was evacuated but ten critical personnel that remained.  Our anchor handling boats had removed 4 of 8 anchors but left to beat the storm into port.  In the middle of the storm, the two anchors on the bow broke and we got into the trough of 30' - 40' waves.  It was touch and go for about 12 hours.  With the stern into the seas things settled down somewhat.  At about 3AM, the wind abrutely dropped but not the waves. When the wind reversed direction it beat the waves down and we realinged with the bow into the wind.  The next morning, there was 3' of diesel fuel in the cargo compartment next to the engine room.  Not a good place to be.

 

Sorry about rambling.  It sparked a memory.