HippieSquirrel Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 I know you should test your numbers at the same time each day but I got home from work last night too tired to do them.. so today 12 hours later I decided to run everything. I’m really glad I did. Up till now I have just checked pH and salinity. That salifert ammonia reader was useless, it had been reading <0.05 ppm since the day after I added the ammonium chloride. I figured it would be off by maybe 1 ppm..... here are my readings as of 10 am with API. FYI this would be 5.5 days from adding the bacteria and 2.5 days since the last dose of ammonia. Ammonia: 4 ppm (I will not be dosing more.. I was probably fine with the first dose, nevermind the second) Nitrite: 5+ ppm (I have never seen it so purple before.. so at least it is cycling) Nitrate: 5-10 ppm pH: 8.0 Salinity: 1.025 The only thing I’m concerned about is my pH I think I’d prefer it closer to 8.2. Granted this could be because I took the reading before lights were on but my normal readings were still between 8.0-8.2. Any thoughts on raising it? Or is it not as big a deal as I think? Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted February 7, 2018 Author Share Posted February 7, 2018 Went to LFS yesterday, got a pound of live rock rubble to try and seed/speed up the cycle. I just scattered it around. Looks kinda messy and full but in a good way. So far no noticeable hitch-hikers... Now to the real reason I’m posting.. after my trip I am now reconsidering my idea to go skimmerless. Just because it can be done without doesn’t mean it should and it also couldn’t hurt right..? Besides my wallet! So I got to thinking that it could only help the stability in the tank.. thoughts? In my mind they only make sense when a tank is overstocked or if you over feed.. otherwise you shouldn’t have an excess of organic matter building up. However, it might be nice to have that security net since nanos are less forgiving and I’m bound to make a mistake or two... The LFS has an Eshopps PSK-75H 20% off should I just go for it? Nothing new but here’s a shot that looks a bit better than the last.. still workin on those camera skills! Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 I had planned to go to the store today to pick up some critters, unfortunately I still have high nitrites and my nitrates are through the roof.. so progress is just not as fast as I hoped (LFS has 50% off all livestock starting today I just hope they’re not out of everything by the time my cycle ends ). I also decided to add a black background cause I think I will be getting a skimmer. I don’t see the harm in it and I want my inhabitants-to-be have the best quality of life I can afford. Tonight will also be the night that my light gets proper suspension above the tank! I’ll update with a picture on how it’s set up. WC tonight and for tomorrow! Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 Things are (were) going good. However I have run into my first issue. My Ca and Mg are high... today my tank tested this with the red sea foundation kit, and similarly a couple days ago. Alk - 8.7 Ca - over 500 (best guess ~540) Mg - over 1600 (best guess ~1800) Salinity - 1.025 pH - 8.2 To me this would make some sense since alk is on the low end... problem is when I test a batch of freshly made SW this is what I get: Salinity - 1.026 Alk - 11.5 Ca - over 500 (based on the color I get using 1ml its higher than the tank by 20-30ppm) Mg - over 1600 (no clue how high) In an attempt to raise the Alk and bring down Ca I did add 8ml of Foundation B today just to see what would happen, based on the chart it should only raise Alk to ~10. I don't really have an explanation other than my test kits bad or my salt is bad which I figure are both highly unlikely... Also there is no visible precipitation of anything in my tank or buildup on any of the surfaces. I am familiar with titrations, I have a BS in Bio and a Minor in Chem. Other than comparing my current test kit to another or a different brand does anyone have any ideas or theories? Any help would be much appreciated! Quote Link to comment
Sharbuckle Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Sorry i havent had time to read the last few posts. Im having high Ca issues as well. What type of salt are you using? Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 11 minutes ago, Sharbuckle said: Sorry i havent had time to read the last few posts. Im having high Ca issues as well. What type of salt are you using? No biggie, Red Sea Coral Pro Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Continuous mixing seems to have fixed the issue, I still have high ca and mg though.. FYI this all happened after I added critters otherwise I would’ve waited longer, they all seem to be doing great though! Update! Inhabitants: Sheldon -Tailspot blenny He spent his first 2 days hugging the algae magnet till I coaxed him off it . 3 - random hermits... supposed to be blue leg 1 - scarlet hermit 2 - mini zoa colonies - being sold as frags 1 - RFA (dubbed Rodney after he hitched a ride on one of the hermits which made me think of hot-rod for some reason) Then almost a week later I added: 1 - brownish red finger leather.. thought it was stony, didn’t get the chance to hold it at the store it was unlabeled in the random frag section.. i put it in the corner so it doesn’t mess with anything else I put in the tank. 1 - pocillopora I think.. if anyone wants to ID that’d be great! I’ll be moving it up to the right side of my rock work today! Picture skills still being honed, I got a lens kit today the macro lens does help! Polyp extension has been excellent on the leather and the stick. The zoas seem to be finicky but there are times in the day that they’re all out in full. Rodney has eaten well and seems to be happy. Sheldon is still skeptical of me.. with my work schedule there will be 2-3 day periods where he only sees me briefly but when I’m on my off days he seems to warm up and not care if I’m near the tank and continues to graze on the rockwork and duck in and out of it which i find both cute and quirky. They really do have tons of personality. Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Quick update: I have added a Reef Octopus BH90 to the tank a week ago now, I was worried about it being over sized but it seems to be fine after I raised it off the rim by about an inch. I think it is almost done breaking in. Sort of noisy when near the tank but not terrible. I couldn’t help myself, I found a few stunning RFAs and had to get them, along with two more zoa frags and an acan or micromussa mini colony.. nothing to compare it to for size but I am leaning towards micromussa. I also added a pair of black ice snowflakes, originally I was looking at phantoms but I’m glad I fell in love with these at the LFS. I like the little bit of orange still on their faces.. names still being determined. I think I am done with fish, I’d rather be under stocked than overstocked/pushing it even if I’m over skimming. The hermits have been shell hopping which I find amusing. I don’t know who’s who anymore! Oh! I almost forgot, think one of the zoa polyps got moved to a piece of rubble, that or I have new ones! I only noticed it last night after lights out so I couldn’t tell which type it was. Could Rodney have moved it as (he) was changing positions? (He) decided to move closer to the Zoas over the weekend. Needless to say the investigation will commence tonight! Ill work on adding pictures! Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 It’s been a little over a month but I’ve kinda crammed in as many frags as I can right now... never would’ve thought a frag rack would be so desired! Yes i I have a couple acros. Not intentionally, I found a great deal on a green forest millipora and aquamarine stag which based on some research seemed hardier and along with the rest of my order I got two freebies (no ID yet). I can’t prove it due to shoddy picture skills but I’m 99.99% convinced my pocillopora has put out some new growth.. that or the polyps are extended way farther in its new spot making it appear bigger.. either way it’s looking fantastic! The gorg is supposed to be a purple brush and photosynthetic, the polyps aren’t nocturnal which is good but they’re white and my understanding is that those are generally associated with NPS. What signs should I look for to determine if it is in fact photosynthetic, if it isn’t I don’t want to kill it.. My only other concern at the moment is my purple torch, it’s still adjusting to my tank so it’s been retracted. It seems to be getting better each day. I placed it on the rockwork because I didn’t have room on the sandbed so I’m assuming it’s light intensity. I wanna give it time before I move it again. One month(+) FTS: Extras! Last two are the unknowns, the color in person is brown/red on the two branched one and pinkish with white polyps on the short one.. if anyone wants to make a guess I’d appreciate it! 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 I love your livestock choices. 1 Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 My new job has a bit of a rough schedule, I’m back on nights now for the next two months and I get to fully appreciate the moonlights. It’s really nice to be able to enjoy my tank when the rest of the world goes to bed and I’ve got nothing to do. Something you can’t do with freshwater. Side note, I’ve noticed my clowns started sleeping in the front right corner of the tank.. is that hosting behavior or just a spot they feel comfortable in? Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 So I have suffered my first loss.. one of my two clowns went carpet surfing. I learned my lesson, the lid is back on. So it looks like I now have room for another fish. Do clowns fair better in pairs or do they not care and that’s more a human preference? Everything else is going well though! The millipora has started regaining its green coloration. I’ve spotted a couple new acan heads. Only problem coral is the torch extension is still poor after a week+, gonna try moving it to a lower flow area after I free up some room on the sand. Other than that algae has picked up, not sure if it’s over feeding or if I need to increase water changes, starting with water changes first. They never hurt! 1 Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 Okay. So I’ve had this “torch” for a while.. and well it’s been fine. I thought it was shriveled but the more I look at it it looks happy just not elongated. Not sure why it took me so long to notice the shape of the tips but this is actually a hammer isn’t it... Good news would be its happy! Bad news I was sent the wrong thing and it’s way too late to complain . Beginners mistake, not the worst one to make! Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 I believe I just found a monti eating nudi on my red monti cap. I immediately removed it, I'm guessing it was an egg that escaped dipping. I'm gonna continue monitoring but are there any further measures I should be taking? I assume where there is one there are more? Quote Link to comment
StephLionfish Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 On 3/7/2018 at 4:24 AM, HippieSquirrel said: Side note, I’ve noticed my clowns started sleeping in the front right corner of the tank.. is that hosting behavior or just a spot they feel comfortable in? Who knows, clowns are weird If you notice them never leaving the corner, then they're indeed being hosted by it. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take up residence in that big hammer, though. Your RFAs are gorgeous, are they local? Did you happen to snag a pic of the nudi? Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 7 hours ago, StephLionfish said: Who knows, clowns are weird If you notice them never leaving the corner, then they're indeed being hosted by it. I wouldn't be surprised to see them take up residence in that big hammer, though. Your RFAs are gorgeous, are they local? Did you happen to snag a pic of the nudi? I decided it was just a sleeping habit since that’s the only time they did it, my remaining one decided to move to the other corner ever since it chased the other out of the tank.. we shall see if that changes when the replacement arrives. I’m thinking they might take to my new torches though, hopefully they aren’t too rough. Luckily no interest has been shown towards the hammer so who knows! I got all but the first one from Austin Aqua Farms, It’s been hard not to keep buying more. I need a bigger tank first though! Maybe I’ll get a few more after I move some to my Pico. I did not unfortunately, in removing it from the monti I kinda smashed it with my tweezers.. it was small, white, fuzzy, and terrifying. There’s a white spot on my monti where I found it. Quote Link to comment
StephLionfish Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 It usually doesn't take too long for corals to get used to clowns grinding up against them, anyways My lfs had some mini carpet anemones last month, and I wanted to impulse buy them so bad. Do you plan on having any anemone dwelling inverts? I've personally decided that no nudis are good nudis, at least in nanos. Anything that instantly nuke a tank is bad news. When my hitch-hiking herbivorous nudis started to stave and almost crashed my tank (mind you, they are not even half the size of a pencil eraser), I turned strongly against them. Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 2 hours ago, StephLionfish said: It usually doesn't take too long for corals to get used to clowns grinding up against them, anyways My lfs had some mini carpet anemones last month, and I wanted to impulse buy them so bad. Do you plan on having any anemone dwelling inverts? I've personally decided that no nudis are good nudis, at least in nanos. Anything that instantly nuke a tank is bad news. When my hitch-hiking herbivorous nudis started to stave and almost crashed my tank (mind you, they are not even half the size of a pencil eraser), I turned strongly against them. I would love to get a pair of porcelains however each time I’ve made a purchase somewhere online they’ve been out of stock, but one of these days I will! I did acquire a pocillopora crab and he’s taken a liking to my green pocillopora! I love him/her! My Pico will have 2 pederson shrimp though, hoping they’ll host the RFAs but I’m not positive they will. I can can see how that’d turn you off to them, I only am familiar with the names of the common bad ones but I’m with you I’d like to stay away from them also. I was really hoping I’d lucked out but we all have to experience it sometime right? Quote Link to comment
StephLionfish Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 I love the Pedersons, but a pair of them is pretty hard to find. Sps crabs are adorable when they get defensive, lol. I’ve never seen them grab anything, they just thrust their claws out. I feel like they’re so small that if they actually did grab ahold of something they’d just get yanked out. Some day when my confidence in sps is high enough, I might try some. We are fortunate in this day and age that all of our issues have been documented somewhere on the web by someone else already. Things that are simply a nuisance now could have been the destruction of a whole system twenty years ago. Bryopsis, for one. Not too long ago, you couldn’t just go buy some fluconazole (sp?) to clean it out. Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 I actually fed him with tweezers the other day! One of the most simple but rewarding moments ever! I noticed him reaching for it from his home while I was feeding the clown and gave it a shot. Pulled the mysis right out they’re surprisingly strong, I had to battle with it to separate it from the frag plug it grabbed onto during acclimation. You are right about that, I couldn’t imagine what it was like 10-20 years ago without all the resources we have now. No wonder my parents never let me try it when I was a kid. My dad is still kinda surprised that I’ve been able to accomplish what little I have so far. Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 Not much to report, got hit with the uglies hence the lack of posts.. however they’ve mostly gone away aside from some red stuff and some hair algae. Nor does it help that I have frags everywhere and haven’t gotten around to placing them properly so the tank is a bit of a mess but in a good way. So far I have only lost one frag (Hopefully it stays that way ) a small green tip torch head, couldn’t tell ya why cause the two head Indo gold torch from the same seller looks fantastic! They were close and I’m wondering if the gold torch stung it. Gotta work on separating these two though to be on the safe side... Hmm what else, oh I got a phantom clown, to replace the unsolved fishicide, from cultivated reef! Shipping and communication was fantastic. The size difference is noticeable but great because there’s been absolutely no aggression. Still a bit skittish when I’m in the tank or using tongs but eating well when I back off a bit and overall a very healthy, beautiful, and active fish! Also I believe my lights are causing my picture issues. No other light on any tank has ever cause the bars like I get when I take a picture of this tank. Maybe it’s some strange frequency the LEDs are on..? I’m not electrically inclined so idk if that’s accurate but that’s my best guess. Quote Link to comment
MrsK Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 46 minutes ago, HippieSquirrel said: Shipping and communication was fantastic. I had the same experience with Cultivated Reef. Definitely two thumbs up. 1 Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 22 hours ago, MrsK said: I had the same experience with Cultivated Reef. Definitely two thumbs up. Yeah, I only wish they could do combined shipping cause I would’ve found an excuse to get more frags! However they’re shipping from multiple locations so it’s completely understandable. Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted April 15, 2018 Author Share Posted April 15, 2018 Finally glued down my frags, my only regret is not finding a more aesthetically pleasing place for the gorgonian.. but the polyp extension has been great and algae has been less of an issue with the higher flow. Overall my first superglue mounting experience was less difficult than I thought not sure why it seemed so difficult in theory. Currently still working on the algae, I’ve narrowed it down to a combination of increased feeding and the ~5-10% water changes each week didn’t seem to be cutting it. So I’ve upped it to 3 10-15% water changes every two weeks and have begun manual removal as best I can. So far I do believe I am seeing results from the increased feedings, the pocillopora is still over doubled in size, is developing some interesting colors and has begun encrusting and most if not all of the acropora frags have begun encrusting. I’ve noticed my green/blue Favia has also completely covered its plug and is working on making it to the rock work. I also added a peppermint shrimp to take care of a few aptasia that I haven’t been able to remove by hand. I’ll be watching carefully to make sure it doesn’t turn to my RFAs. Anywho, enjoy the pics! FTS uglies and all: Pocillopora, monti (showing nice growth now too), and Favia (this one really pops regardless of color spectrum): Jack’o’lanturn, loving this one. Started just with the raised triangle portion in the center maybe 2 weeks ago if that. Probably my favorite, indo gold torch, only problem is my lighting doesnt catch the full color of this coral unless I crank up the blues and purples. Even so it’s still beautiful. Quote Link to comment
HippieSquirrel Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 One of the baby RFAs has reappeared! I thought I’d lost them when I rearranged some of the corals and rocks or they just weren’t able to survive. But this afternoon much to my surprise I found one sitting between the others and about 5x bigger than when I first found them! There were maybe a dozen that I counted originally so hopefully more will start popping up! Quote Link to comment
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