Dark Side of the Lagoon

[Clown79]

So sorry for the lack of updates. It's been quite a year for everyone.

 

Lots of stuff has happened in this tank this year. 

 

I removed the monti cap because it had become so large other corals were having issues getting light. I shut down my 2.5g so I added a few of the corals from that tank and moved out other corals from the lagoon into my 20g nuvo.

 

I slightly rearranged things. I removed a rock that was full of paly's/zoas. They spread like wildfire and were starting to grow over my  chalice. I figured the chalice would win in the event of anything but it doesn't seem to have long sweepers like hollywood stunners. 

The chalice was growing but I decided to remove it from the rock. I lucked out that only a small amount of flesh had to be cut and then I popped the original plug off the rock.

 

The chalice did really well and has already started spreading. after removing it from the rock I could actually see that it was full of orange, yellow, and some purple flesh. 

 

The Tyree toadstool has quadrupled in the lagoon since removing it from the pico tank. My yellow toadstool is gigantic, it curls its body to stay in the water.

 

My monti digitata, setosa, and rainbow encrusting have grown alot. The digitata has a bunch of new growth appearing. My blasto's have a bunch of baby heads growing which is really cool.

 

I added the elegance from my nuvo into the lagoon and it is much happier, there is more room for it and the clowns are loving it. They immediately took ownership of it.

 

I did have a few issues in the tank.

First was my salinity. I suddenly had a jump and it's because the calibration fluid for the refractometer was no longer accurate. I have had this happen twice now, it appears once the bottle is about 3/4 done is when it's no longer reliable.

 

I ensured it wasn't the refractometer by testing with RODI.

Corrected the salinity issue within a few days and now I check my refractometer before waterchanges with both rodi and calibration fluid. The extra 2 mins it takes ensures I don't have a similar issue again.

 

My corals did react poorly to the increase in salinity. My birdsnest started RTN and same with my stylo. I lost a few heads on my hammers. I ended up losing the birdsnest, it just didn't recover. It sucked, it was one of the oldest corals I had and had been fragged so many times.

 

With salinity being off, Alk can start fluctuating and I suspect that led to a bunch of issues.

 

Luckily the stylo and hammers were saved.

 

The next issue I had was my temp. My colbalt neotherm went to craps and my temp was dropping and increasing even with the inkbird. Thank goodness for the inkbird because the alarm sounded when the temp dropped to 74 and when it increased to 82.

 

Tried everything with the heater but resetting it didn't work.  I then had the problem of my temp continuously increasing. My corals weren't very happy with these jumps.

 

The neotherm doesn't work like the standard heaters like jagger and I think thats where the problem start. Luckily it was still within warranty although I am not using the replacement. I am using my aqueon pro instead which fits well and works well.

 

The neotherm is the only heater I have ever owned in 20yrs that has malfunctioned in this matter. The only other heater I had issues with was a Hydor, that just didn't keep  temp very well.

 

 

 

I had to drop my lighting percentages.  Switched over to the BRS  AB with lower whites.

My plate was not doing well and now under a bridge to get shade. My brains were losing colour, hammers were getting pale, and my toadstool was bending itself to get away from the light. 

2 blasto's that seem to like lower light had some damage and are slowly repairing.

 

 

I have always struggled keeping nitrates so I started using Brightwell Neonitro which has helped. I haven't had to dose in a weeks.

 

I recently started using RedSea  Reef Energy AB +. I have started with half the recommended dose and not daily. I like to start things out carefully to monitor how things react and nutrient levels as well.

It's really cool how fluorescent green the tank turns when you feed it.

 

 

over all this tank has had some ups and downs this year.

 

Now what I really want to add this year is a scoly. I have wanted one for years!

 

[Clown79]

Here are some pics. They aren't that great, i was using my hubbies cell which i am new to.

 

[Clown79]

[Brewer]

Enjoyed reading your thread! Getting on a 20 gallon fusion and this was helpful 🙂 beautiiful progression with percieved ups and downs.

 

What is water change schedule now?

[Clown79]

48 minutes ago, Brewer said:

Enjoyed reading your thread! Getting on a 20 gallon fusion and this was helpful 🙂 beautiiful progression with percieved ups and downs.

 

What is water change schedule now?

Thank you so much.

 

I try to be detailed and i like sharing the ups and downs because it can help others. Aquariums are not plug n play perfection😊

 

I do a waterchange on my tanks every 7- 10 days but i keep them smaller now to prevent low nutrients.  I'd say about 2 gallons a week.

[Clown79]

So my clowns have started getting very aggressive. My blenny was attacked and couldn't leave his little hole or the female clown would go after him and my poor bangaii was being herded to the back of the tank by the clowns.

 

The clowns were even going after nassarius snails that got too close not to mention they were moving all the sand constantly which was covering my corals and creating a snowglobe in my tank.

 

My clowns never really swim around but stick to a small area of the tank but recently would leave just to go after the other fish.

 

So I have removed the clowns which are housed in a 5g bucket right now with filter, heater, light, and liverock. They are already hosting the liverock covered in gsp.

 

I have to figure out a permanent situation. I don't want to let them go, they are my oldest fish but I have limited space for another tank. We want them in a room we actually use where we still can enjoy them.

 

I have only my kitchen counter which my old 10g nuvo doesn't fit well so I have the option of a topfin 8g cube which will fit much better. its 11.7x11.7x14.7

I think they will be fine in a smaller tank since these 2 clowns have never been swimmers.

 

The tank will be a very minimalist look with just the clowns and minimal rock with a few corals. No sand since the clowns don't like it. lol

 

I now have the Starkii damsel in the 25g with the bangaii and blenny since my clown in my 20g didn't like the damsel and always chased it.

 

so I will update more once I get a new tank and home for the clowns.

[Brewer]

Sounds like a challenge. Good luck with the new set up!

[Clown79]

57 minutes ago, Brewer said:

Sounds like a challenge. Good luck with the new set up!

Wasn't too bad switching the fish or catching them.

 

Finding a spot for my nuvo 10 is going to be a challenge.

[debbeach13]

How is this tank doing?

[Clown79]

Unfortunately i had to make the decision to shut down both my lagoon and 20g.

 

I now only have a 10g with my original clowns. I went back to where i started.

 

 

It was a difficult decision but it was necessary. 

 

I think i will do a cichlid tank with the lagoon in the future but for right now i have to take a break.

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

I'm glad we aren't losing you all together, and still have a tank running, Clown! 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

I'm glad we aren't losing you all together, and still have a tank running, Clown! 

I don't think i would have left here either way. I likw helping and chatting with everyone

[A.m.P]

Have to do what's right at the time, hopefully you'll be able to upsize again down the road, in the meantime it's great that you'll still be around to help folks out and I'm glad you were able to keep a system up and running.

[Clown79]

Thanks so much everyone. It was a hard decision but i have no tanks now.

 

I won't be leaving here. I enjoy helping others and chatting with all the great ppl here

[Clownfish king]

That is.....sad. I remember when u helped me with an old thread.... hopefully you will get back into the hobby once u feel like it again! This has been a hard year for all. Also hope ur dad gets better! Will miss seeing ur updates though.

[Firefish15]

Hey @Clown79, thanks so much for sharing this awesome journal! I’m in a similar situation now, got a 10g that I want to upgrade to the IM 25 lagoon. 
Very inspiring, seeing all the ups and downs of your tank. Hopefully you’ll be in a place to get back to reefing before too long!