Pjanssen Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 One of the Chromis' is missing already . No tile surfers around and there is nothing in my tank that could eat him. I don't even think my little clean up crew of snails only could finish him off in just a couple of hours. Alien abduction. 3 1 1 Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Chromis are unusual. They are very social, and hang out in shoals. However, (in our tanks) they tend to slowly kill each other off until there's one left. I'd guess that the shoals are much larger in the wild, changing behavior, and spreading out any aggression. 6 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 21, 2019 Author Share Posted September 21, 2019 I don't generally do water testing on this tank, as I never intended on doing any dosing and just relying on water changes to replenish elements. But since I'm not liking how this tank is progressing I decided it is time to start testing. So today, without any dosing ever, Alkalinity is at 9.8 and Calcium is only 370. Phosphate was reading at .5, and Nitrates 25 which I know is incredibly high, but I had just done a heavy feeding so I'm thinking maybe they are false. There is not a strand of algae in there. I will test again later. Alkalinity test may also be off. I noticed the regent expired in May. I wouldn't think that would really matter, but I'll replace it anyway. Also tested Iodine which was 0.01. I wasn't expecting any to be in there, but I guess with the Fuel dosing there are trace amounts. I will be increasing the amount of Fuel from 1ml 2x week to 2ml 2x week (I always start dosing at 1/2 the recommended amount), which should help bring the iodine up to a healthy .03 for the zoanthids and maybe they will color back up. Not sure what to do about the high All and low Calcium if subsequent testing proves results. Last week I started feeding Reef Chili daily, in addition to the phyto and oyster eggs that I had been feeding. Also started dosing "Fuel" aminos. The Ricordea are looking a little puffier, and I think the Gorgs are extending more polyps. Maybe I can get this tank headed in the right direction again. Ordered a screen top from @This guy is extra salty, so when that comes in I will fish Rover from his hideout in the back chamber and hope for the best that they all get along. I really want to try a sail fin blenny again some day. 4 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Glad to hear things are starting to turn around. I personally think this tank is pretty cool even just as it is, but I know how frustrating it can be when something is off with a system and you just aren't satisfied with it. I look forward to seeing how it shapes up in the coming weeks and months. 😊 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 Retested Phosphates and Nitrates this morning. Nitrates still at 25, but phosphates closer to .25 than .5. So much for my theory that the tank is too clean. Planning a water change today. Will continue to keep the carbon out for now and continue to dose Fuel and feed fairly heavily. I don't think I need to be concerned with the Alkalinity and/or Calcium numbers right now, even though the Alkalinity is a little high in relation to the Calcium. 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 Did a 2 gallon water change this morning (approximately 20%) and waited several hours to retest. Numbers are close to the same: Alk 9.8, Ca up to 380, PO4 between .1 and .25 so down just a little, and NO3 still at 25. Dosed 1/4 tsp. Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium which if my calculations are correct should raise Ca by 12 mg/L. Will retest tomorrow night to see where we are. Plans for the future are to start adding Kalkwasser to my ATO 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 After turning the pump off for feeding this morning, it decided not to turn back on. Fortunately I have a Koralia Nano that I put in for flow until I can replace it. Marked the glass where the water level is because without the pump the ATO sensor will always be submerged so I will have to do manual top offs for a couple of days. It's always something! 2 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 I'm a little stumped. Testing results showed Alk went up to 9.9 and Ca remained at 780 after dosing Calcium Reef Advantage yesterday. I wasn't looking for big increase in Ca, but 10 mg/L. Also did not expect Alk to rise at all. Ordered new Sicce pump. Should be here Wednesday. Rover has jumped back into display tank and #1 is chasing him around. 🙄 *lol 780!! That would be 380 on the Ca! 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 I'm actually not so sure Rover is jumping into the back chamber, but rather going through the grates of the return. Also probably swam back into the tank via the return pump hook up, since it is not there at the moment and just a hole where the tubing goes. IDK. I was just standing right here by the tank and didn't hear a little splash or see him jump. It's all just speculation.Guess I should research a fish guard or something though. 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 Further investigation: Tested my water change water, which is natural ocean water that I buy from the LFS. This is the only water that I've ever used and it always tested close to 7dKh and 420 Ca. I stopped testing it awhile ago because it was always consistent in the past. But...9.8 dKh and 380 Ca. explains a lot! (but not the fact that the Calcium advantage didn't raise the calcium level at all). So, faulty test kits? possibly the Alkalinity (hannah) as the regent did expire several months ago. Doubtful that the Calcium test (salifert) is faulty though, as it doesn't expire until 2020 sometime. Also want to look at the numbers from my 29 to see what they were on Saturday. Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 So I don't think it's the test kits. Tested my 29 and Alk 8.0, Ca 400. Just out of curiosity I tested my RO water as I go through about 2 cups a day-alk of RO water is only 2.5. Haha-If anything it should help lower it. 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 last night i dosed another 1/4 tsp of RAC in hopes of bringing calcium up some. This morning still testing at 380. just out of curiosity I mixed a solution of the RAC in a cup of tank water to see what I would get. As expected, I couldn't get a reading, so I've concluded that there is nothing wrong with the test kit or the RAC. Just can't figure out why it won't bring the level of the calcium in the tank up. I dumped the test calcium solution into the tank. Will test again tonight. Can't test Alkalinity right now because I am out of reagent. In the middle of a restless night, I came up with the name of Skippy for #1. Don't know why, but it was just a random fleeting thought that I'm going to stick with. Now just need to come up with a name for he Cromis 2 Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 It's nice that Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium contains some magnesium. However, I still wonder if magnesium might be low. Achieving proper alkalinity and calcium numbers requires good magnesium levels. 1 hour ago, Pjanssen said: Will test again tonight. Good luck! 3 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 Good point about the magnesium @seabass. It has occurred to me, but I've not gotten around to testing it. Maybe I can get to that tonight. For now it's off to work I go (hi ho hi ho) 3 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 Came home from work and tested for Ca-Yay! It's up to 410. Can't test Alkalinity because I'm out of reagent. Also thought I had a Magnesium test kit but I can't find it, so both of those are coming from Marine Depot in a few days I guess. Will stop dosing until I get those test kits. 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 29, 2019 Author Share Posted September 29, 2019 Water change day. i'm still not happy with how the inhabitants of this tank look. There was some algae growing on the tips of one of the gorgonia, and the corky just doesn't seem happy. Did a rather large water change, 35-40%. Added carbon with some GFO to the media basket. New test kits arrive tomorrow so will get testing done tomorrow evening. Skippy is still chasing Rover all over the place. Poor little guy, I'm surprised he hasn't had a heart attack. At least he's still in the main tank. Awaiting delivery of new lid from @This guy is extra salty. The chromis seems to have settled in, and now comes out from her little spot under the rocks when she sees me. 4 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 I'm so glad to see you keeping up with this system and not just writing it off and starting over, even though you aren't satisfied with the way it's going recently. Your BC29 is an amazing aquarium, so I know it's just a matter of time before the pieces fall into place in this system as well. Hopefully those sharknose gobies will sort themselves out eventually too. I saw mine hovering around the overflow grates today and immediately thought of you. 😂 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 7 hours ago, billygoat said: I'm so glad to see you keeping up with this system and not just writing it off and starting over, even though you aren't satisfied with the way it's going recently. Your BC29 is an amazing aquarium, so I know it's just a matter of time before the pieces fall into place in this system as well. Hopefully those sharknose gobies will sort themselves out eventually too. I saw mine hovering around the overflow grates today and immediately thought of you. 😂 Not giving up on this system, probably ever. I love that it represents the reefs from where I live and play. Thanks for the vote of confidence. If I can get it looking half as good as your Caribbean biotope I will be happy. 3 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 Tonights test results with all new test kits Alk-6.3 Ca-420 Mg-1260 I'm glad I didn't continue dosing the RAC(calcium) until I could retest the Alkalinity. I'm wondering if my last batch of saltwater was wrong. Normally I use Natural Ocean water, but maybe somehow I ended up with whatever salt mix they (the LFS) use. IDK, but I guess I should test the water before I do water changes. Ugh. I still want to start supplementing, and I think my best option is probably kalkwasser since I can add it to my ATO reservoir. I'm trying to do some research on it, but not getting very much information except by companies selling the product. Anybody know how to figure out how much product to add to your ATO? Magnesium is on the low end of acceptable, so I'm hoping continued dosing of the fuel will help with that. I took some pictures this morning, but they are so bad I'm a little embarrassed to post them! JK, they are bad but I'll get them up loaded shortly. 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 The purple whip doesn't look too bad. It was early in the morning so all of the polyps were not yet extended. To the eye, there does not to be as much Algae on this yellow gorgonian as appears on camera. Poor thing probably can't breath. There was a snail on it earlier so maybe it will eat some of the algae. More to come in a minute or two 4 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 The purple whip doesn't look too bad. It was early in the morning so all of the polyps were not yet extended. To the eye, there does not to be as much Algae on this yellow gorgonian as appears on camera. Poor thing probably can't breath. There was a snail on it earlier so maybe it will eat some of the algae. More to come in a minute or two Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 The other yellow whip looks a lot better. The corky just looks bad. Color is off-polyps should be closer to a white, and they extend more than they should. It should be compact and fuzzy. I moved it up higher onto the rocks to see if it needs more light. 3 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 The purple frilly has lost most of its polyps.😪 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 Just a grouping of the mess 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 And a FTS. It looks bad with the corky up where it is. Will have to do some rearranging once I get thins stable and figured out 2 Quote Link to comment
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