empresto's 18.1 gallon build

[Christopher Marks]

1 hour ago, empresto said:

Wow, been a while since I posted.  Sure has been a quick summer.

 

Tank is doing great!  Corals have grown like weeds and fish are doing well.  Also, my wife gave me $100 to LiveAquaria for my birthday, so I have new life in the QT talk almost ready to be added to my display!  I got a Purple Rimmed Danae Monti, Sanjay's Galaxy Astreopora, an ORA Shark Nosed goby, and an ORA misbar clown to par with my other, much larger, clown.  If the pairing doesn't work out, I guess I'll have an excuse to turn the QT tank into another full fledged tank; what a hardship... 😉

 

Below is my latest FTS.  Still have that annoying algae on the left rock, but it doesn't spread to anything other than the powerhead and the return pump nozzle, and pulling out the big patches is really easy.  Sure wish the sea urchin would eat it, but it does add some nice movement to the tank.  I'm about ready to frag off a couple parts of the larger corals to try and encourage them to grow in a direction I prefer.  Wouldn't hurt if my LFS was interested in a trade!

 

Welcome back @empresto, your nano reef is looking great, lots of growth in all of your SPS! Looking forward to seeing the new additions.

 

How has it been having the quarantine tank? Have you kept it up and running continuously since March? It's definitely great to have one when you can!

[empresto]

Thanks @Christopher Marks!  The fun part for me about the SPS growth was that I didn't quite notice it until I took a 1 week vacation with a friend checking in to feed a couple times while I was gone.  When I came back, it just blew me away how much everything had grown and then I looked back at pictures and noticed what I'd missed looking at it every day.  Shows how important it can be to photo document!

 

The QT tank went down after march because the little 4 gallon I was using was just too unstable for my liking, plus the DIY ATO I built for it failed in a way that could have caused a flood (sensor leaked water into the sensor and stuck on).  I took it down and changed out for an old 10 gallon I had in the basement, drilled a hole in the tank for the optical liquid level sensor for the DIY ATO so it couldn't leak again, and that system has been as stable as my main display.  This one I think I'll be leaving up.

 

Today I actually plan to move over the new corals and the goby to the display tank and hope to catch and introduce my original clownfish to the new clown both in the QT tank since that will be unfamiliar space for the older bigger fish.  Hopefully that is enough of a change to make the larger one receptive to a mate.  We'll see!  Worst case scenario, the QT becomes the permanent home of the smaller clown. 🙂

[empresto]

Introducing new life to new places has gone well.  Corals had their polyps out within an hour of introduction and the clowns have not been very aggressive toward each other, so that's a good sign.

Here is the goby and my blenny hanging out.

 

I've also got the corals light acclimating on the sand bed with some egg crate.

And here is the QT tank.  I have the main tank light off since the corals aren't in that tank anymore.

 

And I tried to get a shot of the clowns, but it's hard to get them to pose... 🙂

 

All in all, a successful transition for all.  Once the clowns have had some time to settle into a rhythm, then I'll move them back to the display tank.

 

I've also had so much growth form corals in the main tank I'm about ready to start a few frags from the pocillopora to get it to stop shading the montiporas.  So, there may still be good reason to keep the QT tank running; frag tank!

 

[empresto]

Tank is still doing pretty well.  I've been managing to reduce the algae in the display with a new stiff bristle brush I got from amazon.  Also got my new corals placed in the tank and the clowns are now getting along really well.  Only annoying thing is that my Neon Goby decided he didn't like living in the display so took the overflow waterslide to the first chamber of the sump and claimed that as his new apartment.  I've tried to fish him out of there, but every time I go to catch him he swims under the baffle and sits there until I go away.  Guess he just wanted his own private residence.

 

Pictures!

 

This is my new montipora as well as my giant stylophora in the background.  The stylo grew from just a 1.5" stick back in April.

 

Also have had amazing growth from the older two montis.  Don't mind the green encrusting algae on the glass in the front left corner...  The hermits were defending it from my scraper the last time I cleaned the glass... 🙂 

 

My new astreopora is the lumpy red/purple frag in the middle.  Its got awesome green polyps that come out of the bumps.

[empresto]

I've also made some accidental frags from the birds nest and the stylo which live at the front of the tank on a bit of egg crate for now.

[empresto]

Finally managed to catch my little sump dweller.  I was doing some scheduled maintenance on the return pump so the water level in the sump was up and the little goby decided swimming over to the more accessible chamber was a good idea.  I agreed and caught him and now he's the only resident of my QT tank.

 

New FTS:

 

Finally making progress with getting rid of the algae from the rock on the left.  

 

Also, I've made some more frags and moved all the frags from the display to the QT tank so that my urchin will stop moving them all over creation.  The frags really are doing much better than they look in the picture.

[empresto]

Wanted to share something that I noticed today: when removing a significant quantity of algae from your sump and your display all at once, remember that your alkalinity demand may go down in relation to that.  I forgot about that about a week ago when removing a large chunk of cheato from the fuge after not having removed any for a couple months and then this morning doing my weekly alk test, wondered why it had cone up a whole point and a half without a change in dosing.  Algae. 🙂

 

Wish I could remember where I read it, and maybe it was a few places, but marine algae is able to procure carbon from alkalinity when there is not enough CO2 in solution in the water column.  Something to remember, especially if you are making a huge algae change.

[empresto]

Hard to believe it's been over a year now since I first added saltwater to this tank!  It's sure come a long way and had incredible coral growth!

My custom stand is holding up well.  It was definitely a good idea to use epoxy to finish the solid maple top.

 

Around the new year I got a bonded pair of High-Fin Red Banded Gobies, some replacement snails for the ones eaten by the hermit crabs, and three new frags!  They are out of QT now.  The far right frag on the rack is Strawberry Shortcake, the other two were just pretty 🙂  They should color up again once they settle into their new home.

 

Also, my candy cane pistol shrimp loves having new friends.  He had dug a new burrow entrance within an hour of the introduction of the gobies.  Before that, I wasn't entirely sure that he was still in the tank, but assumed that was the clicking sounds I had been hearing.

 

The other two inhabitants are doing well.  The blenny has made the monti caps his throne and the murderous clown continues to live the single life after killing off its friend a couple months ago.

 

I also love the way things glow at night.  I wish I could get a good picture of them, but I have a number of ball anemones that came on the LR when I bought it (they are actually more closely related to mushroom corals).  They are mostly clear when seen during the day, but they have these awesome green and opalescent tentacle colors at night under the moon lights.  I've also found that I have a growing limpet population and a small army of baby trochus snails.  There is always something new and exciting to find in the tank; this is probably my favorite part of the hobby 🙂 

 

It will be fun to see what this looks like in another year 🙂 

[empresto]

I see it's been a while since I updated my thread. 🙂

 

Tank is doing well, but I've had some cyano off and on.  It seems to be subsiding some now; I think it's been feeding off the green hair algae I've had since the tank started which has recently been receding.

 

Stuff is growing really well!  The new frags I got after Christmas have all been glued down now and seem happy.  The birdsnest coral from that group has already doubled in size.

 

My astreopora and red monti cap have been unhappy the last couple weeks as a result of driving Nitrate and Phosphate to zero trying to thin back the cyano.  I've again started dosing a small amount of KNO3 in my ATO and the two have been perking back up, slowly.

 

Current maintenance routine is:

• Feed daily a cube of either frozen Hikari Mysis, Spirulina Brine Shrimp, or Mega-Marine Algae along with less than 1/16th tsp Reef Roids.
• Auto dosing BRS Pharma Grade 2 part (currently 24ml each daily; the new sps seem to have cranked up the mineral usage A LOT! 🙂 )
• Fill the ATO reservoir about every 7-8 days as needed.  Add appropriate amount of BRS Pharma Mg to ATO water to keep stable; amount determined by twice weekly testing compared to known addition from previous ATO reservoir fill.  Add 200mg KNO3 to ATO water to keep a trace amount of NO3 available for corals to photosynthesize.
• 25% water change every couple weeks.
• Clean glass and change filter floss as needed/remembered.

I've also sent in two ICP tests, one in July, and one in January, just to get a feel for how well I'm doing.  The one in July had a number of things that weren't great, so I did a number of water changes to fix that.  From then on I've been following pretty much what I have listed above and in January there were only a couple elements that were a little elevated, one of which was Potassium (shocker, since I'm dosing KNO3 😉 ), and the other Lithium, but neither so high as to have them suggest I do anything about it.  So that felt good 🙂  Since I've only been on the BRS Pharma grade 2 part since about the same time in January, I'm interested to see how the ICP results come out in another couple months since dosing chemical impurities are a possible source of Lithium.

 

In other news, my wife and I are expecting in July, so I'm sure that will have some kind of impact on the tank 😉  Sure is exciting though.

[Christopher Marks]

On 3/16/2019 at 8:50 AM, empresto said:

In other news, my wife and I are expecting in July, so I'm sure that will have some kind of impact on the tank 😉  Sure is exciting though.

Congratulations @empresto!!! 🎉

 

There's been tremendous growth showing in your SPS corals, the two pillars in the aquascape are becoming so sculptural!

[empresto]

Thanks @Christopher Marks !  We're super excited!

 

The growth of the sps really snuck up on me; I was looking at some pictures form a few months ago and I almost don't recognize the tank 🙂  I've been having to dial up my dosing pumps every couple days just to try and keep alk at 7dKh.  Amazing how quickly those corals can suck up minerals.

[pricewayne]

Love your coral placement and growth!! So awesome to see how things can change over a year.

 

Have you liked the eflux powerhead? I’m thinking about replacing mine (had to modify my current one to protect my anemone and it’s turned into a mini airplane in-tank airplane jet lol). Leaning toward the eflux since it has built in foam protection.

[empresto]

Thanks @pricewayne!

 

The eflux has been good and reliable.  I have found that the foam cover does need to be cleaned regularly (weekly for best performance), and can occasionally get blown off the pump if some meandering sea urchin or curious blenny decides to tug on it.  I've actually removed the foam piece for now since I've found none of my fish can actually fit into it anymore (guess I've been feeding well... 😉) and have found that to be less maintenance.  I've been thinking about getting a second one for the back of the tank where I have a slight dead zone for flow.

[pricewayne]

19 minutes ago, empresto said:

Thanks @pricewayne!

 

The eflux has been good and reliable.  I have found that the foam cover does need to be cleaned regularly (weekly for best performance), and can occasionally get blown off the pump if some meandering sea urchin or curious blenny decides to tug on it.  I've actually removed the foam piece for now since I've found none of my fish can actually fit into it anymore (guess I've been feeding well... 😉) and have found that to be less maintenance.  I've been thinking about getting a second one for the back of the tank where I have a slight dead zone for flow.

Awesome - think I’m going to go for it 🌊

[empresto]

So, not a lot of change in my display tank, but... my wife approved me building a coral propagation tank!!!  Got a 40 breeder at Petco for $40 and then slapped together a quick pine stand and some plumbing with an Eshopps overflow and a 10 gal sump (my old QT tank).  I got another eFlux DC Flow pump for the return.  Black ABS on the bottom of the tank much like the BRS/WWC YouTube videos suggest for their bear bottom tanks.  I am using the light from my old nano tank for the display for now (probably will upgrade later) and used some old planted tank lighting for the fuge.  Another Rpi system with a couple BRS dosers and we're in business!  Just need to do some tending of wires and things and it will really look nice.  Plan for in the tank is to add some levels of black egg crate propped up on some rocks.

   

[empresto]

Boy what a spring/summer!  Spring was busy as it usually is for me since part of what I do involves a higher-ed institution and then my son was born in late June 5 weeks early!  Mom and baby are doing great 🙂 

 

My display tank has weathered all of the resulting neglect really well.  Honestly, growth has been good and everything is well colored!

 

Unfortunately, something happened in my new frag tank after I had added a number of large frags from the display right around the time my son was born so I didn't really have time to investigate, but there was a lack of nutrients about the same time the alk spiked and my theory is that cause all the sps frags to bleach and then die and now I have the resulting algal bloom...  haven't really had time to take care of it yet.  As you can see, GSP will live through anything.  Also, I had a monti frag that made it through this too.

The fish in the frag tank suffered no issues 🙂

[empresto]

I should also mention, without having my aquarium controllers running these two tanks, neither of them would have made it.  Auto dosing, ATO, notifications about temp and ato reservoir level, and other automations are a lifesaver when life changes and the amount of free time available goes down drastically 🙂 

[Christopher Marks]

Sounds like you've had quite a busy summer @empresto, congrats on your son! Hopefully you can get your frag tank back on track before long, it looks like the nano has lots of potential new frags to take 🙂 

[empresto]

Man, nearly a year since the last time I posted on here...  My son is already 13 months old...

 

My tank is still kicking; had some setbacks in the last few months due to lack of maintenance; running two businesses and being a stay-at-home dad really hasn't left much time to take care of the tanks.  Even still, all the fish are fat and happy, so that's something 🙂 

 

The main issue the tank suffered was a low nutrient situation due to cutting back on feeding and changing the nitrate supplement I was dosing from KNO3 to B-Ionic.  Nitrate and Phosphate both went to undetectable at this time.  Unfortunately, since I hadn't done a water change in a long while, I initially mistook the signs for a need for water changes, thinking it was a trace elements shortage, which further exacerbated the low nutrient situation.  This also caused alk uptake to drop quickly.  High alk in the tank combined with low/zero nutrients makes for unhappy corals.  I lost my birds nest and stylo colonies due to this.  Also, if you want to eradicate GSP from your tank, this kind of neglect seems to do the trick...

 

In spite of all this, the montis and acros I have are doing fine.  Also my LPS corals and blue-green sympodium are still doing well.  

 

It seems like I've got the tank on an upswing again now, so hopefully we can keep this trend going 🙂 

 

Here are some pictures of the tank as it is currently:

FTS

 

Montis

 

The other rock...

[Christopher Marks]

Great to see you @empresto! Time sure is flying by 🙂 

 

Those montipora are so cool with all the layers stacking up. Have you fragged them much to keep them from crowding out other corals? That's too bad about the birds nest and stylophoras, but at least everything else is doing well. Keep up the good work on encouraging it back.

[empresto]

Thanks @Christopher Marks!  I think those montis are my favorite part of the tank.  They've gone from two 1-sqr-inch frags to the giant colonies (for a nano tank 😉) that I have now.  I have fragged them a couple times.  The first time I got some store credit at my 'local' LFS (it's about 1.5 hours away, but totally worth the drive: New Wave Aquaria, Plymouth, MN ), but the second time was right before my son was born, and almost everything coral died in the tank while we were adjusting to that.  I'm about ready to frag a bunch more again.

[empresto]

Finally rebooting the 40g frag/quarantine tank!  I've got the wrasse and other live specimens from the 40 in a tote on the floor of my living room for the time being.  This time I'm opting for sand in the bottom of the tank as I think the lack of surface area was one of a number of destabilizing factors with the original setup.  I'll post some pics once I've got it refilled and the water clears.

[empresto]

And now its December...  I'm not really sure what happens to time some days...

 

Tanks are doing well.  I discovered at the end of October that my refractometer and refractometer recalibration solution were both reading low (i.e. when the refractometer read 1.026 the actual tank salinity was closer to 1.029).  No good, but explained some of the strange coral recession I was seeing, all of which has stopped now that I have tank salinity back in check.  Montiporas are all back to growing about a mm a day again.  As a side note: if you are trying to remove GSP from a tank, high salinity killed my GSP before it had any obvious affects on my SPS (not a recommended course of action, just an observation... 😉 )

 

FTS

 

Red and Purple Monti Cap., Montipora Danae, and Strawberry Shortcake acro.

 

I've also gotten the 40g rebooted.  It is doing fine and the fish in there seem to be super happy.  Coral frags I add to it from the main display are still having trouble, but that may be due to the janky light situation (I'm using an old AquaMaxx NemoLight which I used previously on a 4g cube cranked up to 100%.  The GSP under it seems to flourish along with a bit of algae, but I'm not sure its spectrum is totally optimal for other corals, and clearly the spread is lacking for a 40B).  If I'm lucky someone will get me a gift card for Christmas to help fix this. 🙂  In the meantime, it's a pleasant FOWLR+GSP.

[empresto]

Greetings!

 

Tanks are still plodding along.  I upgraded the light on the 40g to a Radion XR30 and it has been game changing for the health of that tank!  Frags that go in do very well now.

 

Unfortunately, I went on a much needed weeklong vacation about 2 months ago and had an alkalinity spike in the display tank that week.  As a result the acros in that tank started to STN.  I managed to save most of them by fragging them and moving the frags to the 40g (should have done this sooner for the strawberry shortcake as it was the first coral to show issues, but I was too slow on that one and lost it).  Everything else seems to be happy still, and I've got parameters back in check, but the acros will live in the 40g for a while as they recover.

Pre-vacation

Post vacation (this is also after attempted fragging)

 

Overall, everything is doing pretty well.  Montis are still growing about a millimeter every couple days and I've had some mushrooms in the display I added a while back that have multiplied.

FTS of the Display Tank

 

FTS of the 40g (Don't mind the algae, it's receding.  Seems the XR30 was also good for the algae, not just the corals 😉 )

 

I really like how the center rock in the display is looking right now!  It's got multiple colors of coralline algae, as well as some sponges.

 

Also, the frags in the 40g look great too (again, pay no attention to that algae... it's on the decline)

 

The astreapora on the end of the display tank has really grown in the last couple months and has the most amazing colors.  The picture doesn't do it any justice...

 

[empresto]

This tank is still doing well.  Upgraded the lighting on this tank to a Radion XR15 Pro back in early August and everything has better color after this change.  Inhabitants have been happy ever since the recovery from the post vacation alk issue noted in the above post.  Really it is just continuing to be a fairly low maintenance tank.

 

Current FTSs