121a's IM 20G - A Return After Five Years

[btmedic04]

very nice! be sure to post pics of the fuge as im very interested in that set up

[vegasgundog]

On 10/7/2018 at 6:35 PM, ReefGoat said:

I have heard about these orange gel filters you can use over phone cameras. Then there's also apps for taking photos of reef tanks. Not sure what their names are though. So I'm no help there  You may be able to adjust the white balance on your stock phone editing app as well. I noticed that my Reef Breeders looks really well in the pictures when I adjust the lights settings to all the way white with 50 percent royal blue. The blue washout goes away. Just a couple things to try.

 

On 10/7/2018 at 7:53 PM, 121a said:

I did see the orange filter, might give that a go. I did try the app, it is so so. I think I need to spend more time with adjusting the lights. I think I will try the 100% White and 50% RB.

I have a galaxy s9. Messing around I found the PRO setting for the camera. I have been able to adjust everything where pictures come crisp and clean. I looked at orange jell filters and to me everything looked orange.

[vlangel]

Nice looking tank.  How did the new ycg adjust?  That is a cute pic of your firefish!

[121a]

On 10/31/2018 at 4:01 PM, btmedic04 said:

very nice! be sure to post pics of the fuge as im very interested in that set up

Of course! I have a bucket of sand currently that dried out, I'm debating using tank water from a water change to get the sand seeded a bit before starting the fuge. I also need some LR rubble to stock the fuge with. Might be two weeks or so.
 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 4:13 PM, vegasgundog said:

 

I have a galaxy s9. Messing around I found the PRO setting for the camera. I have been able to adjust everything where pictures come crisp and clean. I looked at orange jell filters and to me everything looked orange.

 

I have an iPhone and while the camera is spectacular for normal lighting conditions, it is not great for the tank. I am looking into getting a cheap digital camera. I frequent estate sales and they can often be had for pretty cheap.

 

On 11/1/2018 at 6:22 AM, vlangel said:

Nice looking tank.  How did the new ycg adjust?  That is a cute pic of your firefish!

Thank you! The YCG named Yogi, has adjusted great! He is usually always out or visible. We had some issues with him eating mysis shrimp so we switched to brine and he is loving it! Definitely a great addition to the tank overall. 

[121a]

Over the weekend we stopped at our favorite LFS and picked up another Onyx Clown for Axle. Been in for 48 hours and so far so good. Axle isn't showing any aggression towards his new mate. Hoping it stays that way. The new clown in another tank with another onyx at the store so hoping all remains well.

 

I also bought some LR rubble and have a bucket of sand 'cycling' with the rubble, old tank water, sand, chaeto, and moss algae. Not expecting much of a cycle considering the sand was dry but rather have it do it in a bucket than affect the tank itself. Also debating creating a larger fuge light. My current light grows chaeto like a mofo so if anything, I would probably just duplicate it.

 

I also recently added a Kenya Tree but it started dropping arms and then wilted away. I know they can be strange corals but this definitely was the coral dying off. Luckily though one of the arms it dropped ended up affixing itself to a rock front and center. That piece seems to be doing well. Not sure what caused the main colony to die off. All parameters are in check. 

 

Also, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, my current SPS corals, three montis and two stylos have full polyp extension but are slowly fading and some are even turning white. The monti on the top left of the tank is growing and the growth is white but the polyps are remaining their natural yellow. Not RTN or anything. 

 

Parameters of last check are

NH3 - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 0 to 1

PH- 8.12

Alk - 10

Phosphorus - 5ppb

Temp - 78.5

Salinity - 1.024

Ca and Mg not tested, but Ca has consistently been 450+ and 1400 for Mg.

 

[121a]

Here is an update, finally. The CPR fuge is up and running. Some additions as of yesterday. 

 

 

https://flic.kr/p/2cVw2WN 

 

IMG_9241

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the fish in one shot! 

 

 

 

 

CPR Aqua Fuge

 

 

 

Top Down

 

[LJ-Precision]

Love your setup, great looking tank

[121a]

On 11/28/2018 at 8:03 PM, LJ-Precision said:

Love your setup, great looking tank

Thank You!!!

 

Minor Updates

• Yogi the yellow clown goby went missing for a few days. He appears to have gotten sucked into the back part of the tank. Luckily we found him alive and well, took about 15 minutes to get him out but he is back in the main display now, nice and happy
• Alk is getting difficult to maintain, definitely need to be dosing to keep it above 8.0. I am using about 7.5 - 10ml of Two Little Fishies Part B per day. Ca seems to be OK and Mg is actually elevated
• Things are growing but I am still having a little trouble maintaining SPS coloration
• Started dosing phyto and upped the feedings of coral and fish

Might look into a more suitable method to keep Alk stable, possibly looking into a Jebao dosing pump.

[121a]

A few updates, tank is going well. Lost one monti suddenly. Just bleached out. Other SPS appear to be doing ok. I have purchased an calibrated a Jebao DP-4. I will be dosing sodium bicarbonate in order to keep alk stable. I took base line readings yesterday and should have a good idea come Friday how much alk is being consumed. Ca and Mg appear to be fine, if not high. Those should be maintained through water changes. 

 

We did add an additional acan to our garden and a birds nest coral. Our other addition was a Sexy Shrimp (names JT). 

 

Considering adding a skimmer and some film and bubbles have been present but have not decided on that yet. 

[Christopher Marks]

Happy new year @121a! That's too bad about the montipora, but otherwise it sounds like everything is on track with your nano reef. Looking forward to seeing a fresh FTS 🙂 

[121a]

Been a while since an update so here it goes...

1. I don't believe the sexy shrimp made it. I haven't seen him since a few days after adding him. 

2. Yellow clown goby also perished. 

3. Second clown fish also perished. I think he couldn't handle the stress from the other clown, she was a complete jerk to him. 

4. Coral wise, most things look good. I can't seem to keep the colors as vibrant as I'd like. the SPS also started bleaching again but slowly, overtime. It is not an RTN situation. 

5. My digital refractometer apparently has been reading way low. The corals as of recently started looking unhealthy. Zoanthids weren't opening. Torch heads retracted. So I tested the Alk, right at 8.1 which is my target. Nitrate is registering at 2.0. PO4 is detectible, I think it was like .05ppm. Well, for the sake of ruling everything out, I broke out the refractometer. Tested the water and saw that the salinity was sky high. I couldn't believe the result so I tested the refractometer with RO/DI water. Adjusted the unit to zero it out. I also have 1.026 test solution and then calibrated the unit to that. As luck would have it the digital refractometer was reading .009 LOWER than what my actual is. I was at 1.036 SG. 

 

So now after my salinity spiked at 1.036, I am in the process of slowly lowering it back to the standard 1.026. Luckily no livestock have been lost yet. I suspect the change was gradual. I do about 3 - 4 gallon water changes per week. The digital unit was reading accurately about 3 or 4 months ago. Shockingly my acan garden is all poofed up and doesn't seem affected. Some of the SPS definitely don't like it. 

 

My plan for lowering is to take out about 1/4 - 1/2 gallon of saltwater per day and replace with fresh water. I started the process yesterday and while typing this, I realize the the RO/DI water that I'm using is most likely going to affect my Alk, Ca, Mg levels due to it not having, well, anything in it. Any thoughts on how to compensate for this? Would a better idea be to do gradual water changes with lower salinity water? Or just remove like 2 cups of tank water and replace with 2 cups of lower salinity water? I also have two part A B that I can add to the RO/DI water.