Dark Side of the Lagoon

[CarolinaShoreReef]

3 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I once went on vacation for a few weeks and had my mom do the water changes  She never had an aquarium in her life. She did great!  

Haha that's awesome! My one vacation of one week is the only one I'm worried about bc my whole family goes. I could have my cousin do it but he told me everything would probably die with him.. ?I'd rather buy an ato ?

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Just wondering, and you've probably already addressed this but I'm reading through this thread from the start, are you still manually topping off? Do you go on vacations and if so do you just find someone to top off for you? I know, stupid question but I just can't trust anyone with it lol. 

No. I haven't been on vacation in yrs and I have no one around me that can take care of my cats or tanks.

 

I'd have to hire someone.

 

I still top up manually every morning.

With 3 sw, 1 Pico, and a beta tank it would be ridiculously expensive for ato's and really I have limited space around my tanks.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

No. I haven't been on vacation in yrs and I have no one around me that can take care of my cats or tanks.

 

I'd have to hire someone.

 

I still top up manually every morning.

With 3 sw, 1 Pico, and a beta tank it would be ridiculously expensive for ato's and really I have limited space around my tanks.

Yeah I hear you, those things get expensive. Well I hope you get a vacation soon! 

[vlangel]

5 hours ago, Clown79 said:

No. I haven't been on vacation in yrs and I have no one around me that can take care of my cats or tanks.

 

I'd have to hire someone.

 

I still top up manually every morning.

With 3 sw, 1 Pico, and a beta tank it would be ridiculously expensive for ato's and really I have limited space around my tanks.

Vacationing with seahorses can be tricky too, because they have to eat twice every day.  I fixed that by buying live ghost shrimp.

 

I also do not have an ATO but my sump is in the basement and it doesn't evaporate too fast.  If I bought glass tops just for vacations it would slow it down even more.

 

My sister is my fish sitter and she understands saltwater so she does a great job.

[Zuma]

Beautiful tank!  Do you have only 1 AI Prime lighting it up? Impressive.

[Clown79]

51 minutes ago, Zuma said:

Beautiful tank!  Do you only have 1 AI Prime lighting it up? Impressive.

Thank you.

 

Yes, it's only 1 Ai Prime (not hd).

 

I had to lower the settings too since the tank is shorter and rocks are higher. Things were losing colour.

[Zuma]

5 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Thank you.

 

Yes, it's only 1 Ai Prime (not hd).

 

I had to lower the settings too since the tank is shorter and rocks are higher. Things were losing colour.

Cool, looks great. I'm considering picking up an AI Prime for an IM 20 that I just acquired which is basically the same dimensions as your 15.

[Cannedfish]

Just wanted to poke my head in and say I love your aquascape (and tank in general)!

[Clown79]

23 hours ago, Zuma said:

Cool, looks great. I'm considering picking up an AI Prime for an IM 20 that I just acquired which is basically the same dimensions as your 15.

I ran the same light on my 15g.

 

I had no issues with the light. I love it. I was so hesitant dropping the $$ on it but so glad I did.

19 minutes ago, Cannedfish said:

Just wanted to poke my head in and say I love your aquascape (and tank in general)!

Thank you.

 

I have been meaning to update all my journals.

 

I've had a food trials with 2 of them but nothing serious but good info to share for others.

[WV Reefer]

Whew!  Just caught up..... not sure how I got so far behind! lol

 

The tank is looking really nice.  

[Clown79]

36 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Whew!  Just caught up..... not sure how I got so far behind! lol

 

The tank is looking really nice.  

Lol. I write a lot.

[xthunt]

Update?

[Christopher Marks]

Now that I know which way is up, how's this reef doing these days @Clown79? 😄

 

I'd love to see it ❤️ 

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Now that I know which way is up, how's this reef doing these days @Clown79? 😄

 

I'd love to see it ❤️ 

Tanks been doing good.

 

I had some hiccups with my sand bed and some sort of algae on it. 

 

I went through a period of removing and washing sections of the sand which helped but did not get rid of it so then I removed some sand and only left just enough for aesthetics.

 

The sand bed and algae issue has now been corrected.

 

Seems that any time I try to use amino or vitamin dosing this occurs so I am back to less is more theory.

 

I tried doing chaeto in my back chamber but that was a bust. Tried 2 different lights and the chaeto just shrunk down to nothing.

 

I can't seem to keep macro algae! I've tried chaeto and dragons breath.

 

I also lost my Starry Blenny. No matter how much nori I fed him plus added veggie pellets, he just wouldn't plump up. He was very skinny and I suspect he died from that as there was no signs of disease.

 

Besides that all has been good.

 

I've had lots of growth with my birdsnest, my monti cap, my monti digi, my acans, blasto, and my orange plate.

 

My plate coral was purchased as a baby and was smaller than a dime, its grown quite a bit in a few mnths.

 

I'm hoping to get a midas blenny in the near future. My qt is already started.

 

Pics aren't the greatest. I can't seem to get the colours to pop in full tank shots.

[Snow_Phoenix]

37 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Tanks been doing good.

 

I had some hiccups with my sand bed and some sort of algae on it. 

 

I went through a period of removing and washing sections of the sand which helped but did not get rid of it so then I removed some sand and only left just enough for aesthetics.

 

The sand bed and algae issue has now been corrected.

 

Seems that any time I try to use amino or vitamin dosing this occurs so I am back to less is more theory.

 

I tried doing chaeto in my back chamber but that was a bust. Tried 2 different lights and the chaeto just shrunk down to nothing.

 

I can't seem to keep macro algae! I've tried chaeto and dragons breath.

 

I also lost my Starry Blenny. No matter how much nori I fed him plus added veggie pellets, he just wouldn't plump up. He was very skinny and I suspect he died from that as there was no signs of disease.

 

Besides that all has been good.

 

I've had lots of growth with my birdsnest, my monti cap, my monti digi, my acans, blasto, and my orange plate.

 

My plate coral was purchased as a baby and was smaller than a dime, its grown quite a bit in a few mnths.

 

I'm hoping to get a midas blenny in the near future. My qt is already started.

 

Pics aren't the greatest. I can't seem to get the colours to pop in full tank shots.

That plate coral is adorable. Sorry to hear about the Starry. Blennies can be tricky to feed at times. I find the smaller blennies (eg. clown blennies) harder to keep. I wonder if feeding it macro would have helped? Mine ate all my Galaxaura in the fugebox within two days. I let him have it, since he still hasn't touched any pellets yet in my tank. 

[NanoRox]

That Plate coral is great!  I have a green one but it never extends like that.  

[hinnenkm]

Tank is looking beautiful and that plate 😍

[Christopher Marks]

Thanks for sharing @Clown79, it's gorgeous, and lots of coral growth! I like the new minimal sand bed, that sounds like that was a good move to clear up your issues. That's too bad about the starry blenny, you tried your best though!

[A Little Blue]

7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Tanks been doing good.

 

I had some hiccups with my sand bed and some sort of algae on it. 

 

I went through a period of removing and washing sections of the sand which helped but did not get rid of it so then I removed some sand and only left just enough for aesthetics.

 

The sand bed and algae issue has now been corrected.

 

Seems that any time I try to use amino or vitamin dosing this occurs so I am back to less is more theory.

 

I tried doing chaeto in my back chamber but that was a bust. Tried 2 different lights and the chaeto just shrunk down to nothing.

 

I can't seem to keep macro algae! I've tried chaeto and dragons breath.

 

I also lost my Starry Blenny. No matter how much nori I fed him plus added veggie pellets, he just wouldn't plump up. He was very skinny and I suspect he died from that as there was no signs of disease.

 

Besides that all has been good.

 

I've had lots of growth with my birdsnest, my monti cap, my monti digi, my acans, blasto, and my orange plate.

 

My plate coral was purchased as a baby and was smaller than a dime, its grown quite a bit in a few mnths.

 

I'm hoping to get a midas blenny in the near future. My qt is already started.

 

Pics aren't the greatest. I can't seem to get the colours to pop in full tank shots.

 

I also didn't have much luck with chaeto. If you are still interested in running mini fuge, try Sea Grapes. It grows super fast and it haven't failed in nutrient export task.

Sorry to hear about your blenny. You did what you could. Tank looks healthy and thriving. 

[roll_the_dice]

Tank looks great!  Love the rock work.  I am going to add some rock to my tank and think I will pick up the Caribsea Life Rock as well.  Didn't know they had bacteria injected...Thanks for the tip!

 

I have a 30 gallon JBJ RL...do you think 1 AI prime HD would be enough light for my tank or do you think I would get shadowing?  I will be doing mainly SPS.  My other choice is a nanobox duo.  Maybe I can try the AI Prime and if it isn't enough buy another...and still be about the same price as the Nanobox.

[specore]

8 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I tried doing chaeto in my back chamber but that was a bust. Tried 2 different lights and the chaeto just shrunk down to nothing.

 

 

Sorry to hear that.  This light worked for me.  I use it behind the tank along with the inTank fuge basket and my cheato has been growing consistently.  

[Clown79]

Time for an update.

 

I can say I have the sand bed issue fixed. I have not seen any algae in it which makes me a happy camper:)

 

Removing some of it, adding new Purigen, and adding more CUC did the trick.

 

I don't know what algae it was but I am thinking @seabass was correct. I think it was a diatom algae on the new sand bed.  Thanks Seabass! 

 

I don't recommend Caribsea Aragonite dry sand. It's the cheapest one but it has the most dust I have ever seen and no matter how much washing and rewashing, it never truly seems to let up.

I didn't have this issue with their other sands besides the black caribsea.

 

I tried doing chaeto. I really wanted to go the natural route but it just didn't work out.

 

My first batch did well for a few weeks but a lot of detritus built in it even though I had floss in the basket before the chaeto. I did wash it in SW to remove it each week but slowly the chaeto was loosing colour and size.

 

I then got a new batch of chaeto and tried a grow light. Wow, within 2 weeks it had melted to nothing.

 

Seems like me and macro doesn't work.

 

I have recently moved a rock to change the look at the front and open up some room on the sandbed...for more corals:)

 

I added a superman blasto, it's so pretty, I couldn't pass it up and I got a great deal on an orange acan so that came home too.

 

Most things have been doing great. My sps continue to grow, the monti cap is really growing. My chalice which is a slow grower is finally attaching to the rock it's on.

 

My orange plate is super happy and really full. I think it's my favourite.

 

My gold hammers have split which is great but I lost 2 heads on my purple tipped hammer and the frogspawn my clowns host has started losing a head. I am not sure why.

I am leaning towards the drop in nutrients. My nitrates went from 10 to now reading 0(API) which means with Salifert it would read 2.

 

or maybe it was from the increase in white lights i had added so I changed my lighting schedule to what I used to run but with the David Saxby Schedule.

 

I have done nothing to change the nutrients. If anything I am feeding my corals more often and doing waterchanges less often.

 

My lighting schedule now has certain colours ramp up for 30mins to peak and then ramp down for 30mins. This gives the corals strong lighting for a period of time but then a respite from the intensity.

 

12pm - 2pm ramp up

 

whites from 2pm - 4pm 19%@ peak, 14% @ drop

                     4pm - 6pm  12 % @ peak, 10% @ drop

                     6pm to ramp down 9% @ peak, 5% @ drop

2pm - 8pm

RB   95% @ peak, 75% @ drop

B      90% @ peak, 70% @ drop

UV   80% @ peak, 60% @ drop

V      80% @ peak, 60% @ drop

 

Red and green 4% with no increases and drops for 4hrs

ramp down starts at pm - 10pm then moonlighting from 10pm - 2am 

 

I want to eventually get my UV's and Violets where the blues are and drop the blues. It's the BRS ABS setting which has proven to be really good. I will do this slowly.

 

The only other change I made was a few months ago I started using Red Sea Blue bucket salt and I really like it. Super consistent and I like the parameters. I really like Aquaforest but it was costly for the amount of salt.

 

Besides that, not much else has gone on.

 

i want to add a Midas Blenny but I have to wait till Oct to order it. Per my LFS that's when the area will ship out fish due to the temperatures.

 

[roll_the_dice]

Great update!  Nice pictures as always.  Did I miss what lights you are using--AI Prime?

 

Interesting about the Chaeto--I just added chaeto this afternoon with a JBJ Nano Glo.  I am curious of the growth I may or may not get and if the pH swings will be more stable.

[Clown79]

16 minutes ago, roll_the_dice said:

Great update!  Nice pictures as always.  Did I miss what lights you are using--AI Prime?

 

Interesting about the Chaeto--I just added chaeto this afternoon with a JBJ Nano Glo.  I am curious of the growth I may or may not get and if the pH swings will be more stable.

Ya it's an Ai Prime I use on this tank.

 

I tried 2 different lights with no success. Chaeto is not very picky on lighting so I assume its nutrient issues.

 

I don't test ph so I myself can't say if it did anything for mine

[specore]

47 minutes ago, roll_the_dice said:

Great update!  Nice pictures as always.  Did I miss what lights you are using--AI Prime?

 

Interesting about the Chaeto--I just added chaeto this afternoon with a JBJ Nano Glo.  I am curious of the growth I may or may not get and if the pH swings will be more stable.

This is my 30L

 

Before cheato:

 

After cheato:

 

pH runs a little higher, but the swings are about the same even with running cheato from 7pm to 12pm