Dawn's 56 gallon natural nutrient reef.

[teenyreef]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Oh wow...see that sounds difficult to me lol but I suppose because I never tried. I may have to give this a shot on my next tank that isn't an aio.

 

You are very creative! Which is a wonderful thing to have.

I laughed when I read Dawn's response. Anything starting with "All I did was..." followed by "four colors of spray paint" sounds difficult to me! I really admire talented artists 🙂

[vlangel]

5 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Oh wow...see that sounds difficult to me lol but I suppose because I never tried. I may have to give this a shot on my next tank that isn't an aio.

 

You are very creative! Which is a wonderful thing to have.

You can do it!  I have confidence in you.  Just practice on some paper first!

[vlangel]

1 hour ago, teenyreef said:

I laughed when I read Dawn's response. Anything starting with "All I did was..." followed by "four colors of spray paint" sounds difficult to me! I really admire talented artists 🙂

Ok teeny, I did go to the Art Institute of Pgh so maybe I am taking for granted some things.  I do know that most people are more artistic than they think they are, however.

[vlangel]

I ordered ghost shrimp for the seahorses and found out that my supplier handles other saltwater live things, like coral, inverts, macro algaes and even fish!  Since I was already paying shipping he could combine and I could save if I wanted other stuff.  I was like, O yeah!  Wednesday I will be getting 250 ghosties, 3 emerald crabs, 3 nassarius snails, 2 pine cone macros, 2 bottle brush macros and 1 mermaid fan.  I am excited!

[Lula_Mae]

23 minutes ago, vlangel said:

I ordered ghost shrimp for the seahorses and found out that my supplier handles other saltwater live things, like coral, inverts, macro algaes and even fish!  Since I was already paying shipping he could combine and I could save if I wanted other stuff.  I was like, O yeah!  Wednesday I will be getting 250 ghosties, 3 emerald crabs, 3 nassarius snails, 2 pine cone macros, 2 bottle brush macros and 1 mermaid fan.  I am excited!

Do they offer micro brittle starfish, stomatellas, limpets, anything like that?  I am on the lookout lol.

[vlangel]

32 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Do they offer micro brittle starfish, stomatellas, limpets, anything like that?  I am on the lookout lol.

Unfortunately no, and I just got a text that he could not get everything I ordered either.  He is going to send me what he did get so we shall see.

[vlangel]

I syphoned out bubble algae.  It hasn't been as bad in my tank as in days gone by.  Maybe because seahorse manure is richer than fish.  Anyway I was able to get all I saw.  Of course I am not so naive' as to believe I got it all.  I've been around the block a time or two, LOL!

[vlangel]

This is how the tank looks today.  Tomorrow there should be more green, when my order with my ghost shrimp come in.

[seabass]

What do your cardinalfish eat?  So far, my Banggai cardinalfish only eat mysis.  I'm going on a trip soon and I will only feed dry (using an auto feeder) for about a week.  I'd hate to think that they won't eat anything for nearly a week.

[vlangel]

39 minutes ago, seabass said:

What do your cardinalfish eat?  So far, my Banggai cardinalfish only eat mysis.  I'm going on a trip soon and I will only feed dry (using an auto feeder) for about a week.  I'd hate to think that they won't eat anything for nearly a week.

I have not tried to feed them any flake or pellets.  They will eat nearly anything frozen however.  I know that does not help you with your trip though.

[seabass]

Thanks, I'll probably have someone stop by at least once to feed them some frozen (pre-measured - then just dumped in the sump and let the return pump disperse it).  That's not exactly how I do it, but it should be easy enough for a novice to perform.

[vlangel]

I have greatly increased the flow in this tank in hopes that the cyano will slowly go away.  I want to explore every natural option first as I really do not want to try anything chemical, although I do run carbon to absorb softie toxins.

 

I bought this dual powerhead a month ago but it was so big and intrusive that I was not going to use it.  I've changed my mind.  It should be better for the coral as well.  Already they seem to be liking it.

[vlangel]

My macro algae arrived late afternoon today but I am very pleased.  I definitely got more than I paid for since he could not give me exactly what I ordered.  I got 3 shaving brushes, a mermaid fan, a lg halimeda, some ulva and a red macro that I do not know what it is.  I got 4 or 5 emerald crabs and 1 is red.  Also another pom pom crab, and a multitude of nassarius snail.

 

I only had time to temperature acclimate them before I had to run.  Now the lights are low so no pics until tomorrow.

[vlangel]

Here a pic!  I realize that the stress of shipping might make them die back a bit.  I will just let them be.  I really do love shaving brush!

[debbeach13]

Good luck. Would love to see them grow out.

[vlangel]

5 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Good luck. Would love to see them grow out.

I am hoping for the best but we shall see.

[Daniel91]

Looks great! Where do you get your macros from? Seems like a good selection 🙂

[Tamberav]

Nice macros! I also have cyano that showed up on my sugar sand over the last 2 days. I think it is because the GHA was dying so now something decided to take its place. Grr! But hey... at least it isn't dino, right? 😄 I already own a never-used chemi-clean but want to avoid chemicals if I can.

[seabass]

6 hours ago, Tamberav said:

...want to avoid chemicals if I can.

That's the prevailing sentiment.  However, some chemicals aren't particularly destructive.  Personally, I'd rather dose Chemiclean than peroxide.  Not sure when Chemiclean got it's hands-off reputation.  I think it came from many people recommending that you need to fix the cause, not just rely on chemicals for a solution (which is true).  But I don't hesitate to use Chemiclean to deal with a little cyano.  I consider it more like help in dealing with excess organics.

[Tamberav]

I would not dose peroxide either although I have spot treated with it before.

 

There are some reports of chemiclean and deaths or stress but possibly due to toxins released by large amounts of dying cyano.

 

My main reason for not using chemiclean is it's just unsightly cyano but it's not actually bothering corals or anything at this point so no real urgency. Plus I have some easily stressed sensitive fish. 

 

 

7 hours ago, seabass said:

That's the prevailing sentiment.  However, some chemicals aren't particularly destructive.  Personally, I'd rather dose Chemiclean than peroxide.  Not sure when Chemiclean got it's hands-off reputation.  I think it came from many people recommending that you need to fix the cause, not just rely on chemicals for a solution (which is true).  But I don't hesitate to use Chemiclean to deal with a little cyano.  I consider it more like help in dealing with excess organics.

 

 

 

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

There are some reports of chemiclean and deaths or stress but possibly due to toxins released by large amounts of dying cyano.

Chemiclean oxidizes trapped organic sludge.  The instructions tell you to increase oxygen levels during treatment.  My guess is that these reports were due to stress as a result of low O2 levels.

[Tamberav]

Yeah I'm not saying it can't be safe just that I'm not too worried about the cyano at this point. I use prazipro and flucozole in my reefs so it's probably not much different. 

 

I know I have left over issues from neglect and a broken light over summer and am going to have to keep tackling them anyways so my hope is the cyano goes with it naturally and I don't trade any type of pest for dino.

 

1 hour ago, seabass said:

Chemiclean oxidizes trapped organic sludge.  The instructions tell you to increase oxygen levels during treatment.  My guess is that these reports were due to stress as a result of low O2 levels.

 

[vlangel]

17 hours ago, Daniel91 said:

Looks great! Where do you get your macros from? Seems like a good selection 🙂

Thanks Daniel, this was my first order of macros and inverts from this supplier.  My husband found him on ebay and I have been ordering ghost shrimp from him for probably 2-3 years.  He has been great to deal with.  His user name is something like: at your_door shrimp.

[vlangel]

15 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Nice macros! I also have cyano that showed up on my sugar sand over the last 2 days. I think it is because the GHA was dying so now something decided to take its place. Grr! But hey... at least it isn't dino, right? 😄 I already own a never-used chemi-clean but want to avoid chemicals if I can.

Amen to it not being dinos!  I hope not to use any chemical interventions as well.

[vlangel]

3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

 

 

My main reason for not using chemiclean is it's just unsightly cyano but it's not actually bothering corals or anything at this point so no real urgency. Plus I have some easily stressed sensitive fish. 

 

 

 

 

 

My cyano is not real bad either and also is not hurting anything.  It makes me crazy but not crazy enough to use a chemical fix, at least yet.