Azure "Melancholia"

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

Goodday kind reefers! Before I jump over to my future plans and the setup I have in mind, please allow me to introduce myself.

 

My name is Jeff, 33 years old and I'm from the Netherlands. My interest in the reef aquarium started a while ago and it kind of hit me by surprise really. A few months back I went through some pretty rough times and during one of many sleepless nights I bumped into an article about the "Walstad Method" for freshwater tanks. From there I started reading about freshwater tanks, first the low tech ones, then the high tech ones and sooner rather then later, I saw a video about saltwater tanks...Now that was when I truly became fascinated. So much so, that even though life wasn't treating me all too well, I would find so much distraction in reading and learning about saltwater tanks. The different kind of fish, so many different types of corals and other inhabitants like invertebrates, but also the water parameters, light and flow needs of the reef and feeding habits. That In all honesty it was one of the main things that pulled me through the last couple of months, my significant other being the other. And the best part of it? There is still so, so much to learn!

 

Because I have read that patience is one of the most important characteristics of a successful reef, I figured I would buy something new for the setup every week, while in the meantime I would keep reading, watching and making plans for the final setup. Right now I have the following bits and pieces;

 

 

• 4 Stage RO/DI unit
• 4 Salifert test sets (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH)
• Salifert Refracto check
• Refractometer
• TDS/EC meter
• Flipper Nano
• Two Sicce Voyager Nano 530 gph (2000 l/h) flow pumps
• Turkey Baster

 

The fun I got from picking all this was amazing and it really had me looking forward to the following weeks every time, yet it also gave me time to read up on things. I am planning on buying the aquarium itself and the sand/rocks all at once, so I am almost there. Next up are the buckets for mixing my saltwater and a heater.

 

For the aquarium I am not entirely sure yet what to do. Either a combination of the following;

 

• Waterbox Cube 20 (20 gallon)
• Tunze DOC 9001 Skimmer
• Tunze Osmolater 3155
• AI Prime HD light

 

or a;

 

• Red Sea Max Nano, 20 gallon AIO

 

As for the sand and live rock, I am leaning towards a combination of dry rock and live sand from Carib Sea. Seeing as SPS is considered a lot less beginner friendly and I have no aquarium experience whatsoever, I will start with soft corals and perhaps some LPS. The plan is to dive into both types of coral and other livestock, when the tank is cycling. Dosing, a possible refugium etc. will be of later concern. I am definitely interested in those concepts however as I would like to create the best possible environment for both corals and fish.

 

The reason I named the tank (and journal) "Melancholia", is because years ago I was fortunate enough to dive at the reefs of the Maldives. That was when I first got fascinated by the sea and all of it's habitants, never imagining that years later I would have my own bit of reef at home. Thank you for reading my first journal post and I hope you guys could occasionally help me out with the beginner troubles I will definitely run into.

 

[WV Reefer]

Welcome to NR! 😀

[Nano sapiens]

Welcome!  Fascinating hobby, for sure, and one that can last a lifetime.

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

@Nano sapiens & @WV Reefer 

 

Thank you for the kind welcome! Your displays are so inspirational and were one of the first I saw on Nano-Reef, really liked the stories behind the tanks as well. I mean as a total beginner, without an aquarium and all of it's peripherals, it can be quite overwhelming getting your head around setting up a tank and imagining having a tank in the near future. Stories like yours make it a tad easier to get a grip on what is needed, what to expect and how to prepare. Aside from being lovely reads!

[WV Reefer]

2 hours ago, Azure Phoenix Reefing said:

@Nano sapiens & @WV Reefer 

 

Thank you for the kind welcome! Your displays are so inspirational and were one of the first I saw on Nano-Reef, really liked the stories behind the tanks as well. I mean as a total beginner, without an aquarium and all of it's peripherals, it can be quite overwhelming getting your head around setting up a tank and imagining having a tank in the near future. Stories like yours make it a tad easier to get a grip on what is needed, what to expect and how to prepare. Aside from being lovely reads!

 

Thank you. ☺️

 

Cant wait to see what you build.  

[Nano sapiens]

4 hours ago, Azure Phoenix Reefing said:

@Nano sapiens & @WV Reefer 

 

Thank you for the kind welcome! Your displays are so inspirational and were one of the first I saw on Nano-Reef, really liked the stories behind the tanks as well. I mean as a total beginner, without an aquarium and all of it's peripherals, it can be quite overwhelming getting your head around setting up a tank and imagining having a tank in the near future. Stories like yours make it a tad easier to get a grip on what is needed, what to expect and how to prepare. Aside from being lovely reads!

 

Glad that you found the tank threads of interest.  As you go through the setup process, just remember to maintain focus on the basics that coral need to thrive...and lots of patience  😊

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

So, here we go, first post after setting up the tank, back in december 2018. After cycling, adding livestock and corals, I ran into some trouble. Namely high phosphates and nitrates. All the other parameters seemed to be stable except those two. This lead me to believe, that the first batch of corals I introduced, slowly but steadily died over a period of a few months. This worked quite demotivating, add up to that a period of a busy, constantly interrupting daily life, and the overall health of the tank deteriorated quickly. 😥 I've made a couple of dedicated threads, where you as NR community was really helpful and kept me going really. So thank you once again for that!

 

Then a couple of weeks ago I figured I was not going to give up. I really enjoyed the hobby in the beginning, loved the livestock (which all survived luckily) and was determined to make it a success, so to say. I reserved a weekend to clean up the tank, inside and out. Made a new schedule for water changes, testing and keeping the parameters in check. In other words, I restarted, with a bit of a vengeance. 😀

 

I thought updating my aquarium journal would be a nice addition to part two of "Azure Melancholia". So let's start of with some photo's. Since I am giving most of the livestock names, I guess it would be nice to introduce them, through dedicated images. Over the next couple of weeks I will take a lot of photo's and introduce most of the inhabitants and I will try to give regular updates as well.

 

So here goes (please forgive me for being so cheesy though 😇)

 

The newest addition, my Yellow Clown Goby "Cheeks"

 

Before Cheecks, "Taily" the Tailspot Blenny joined

 

Of course the CUC consists of many inverts, but one of my favorites is the Conch, part of the "Salty Life Cleanup Group"

 

One of the newer corals, Alien Antivenom Zoanthid

 

Last but not least, another member of the cleanup crew, an amphipod. Now, is it just me, or is this a fairly large one?

 

Currently I am having a bit of a cyano breakout. I am trying to really not overfeed this time, and just spot feed the fish and carefully watch not too much of the food reaches the sandbed. I am also looking into a small reactor (Aqua Medic Multi reactor S) to run some GFO and Carbon. Phosphates and nitrates remain high, ~1ppm PO4 and 25ppm NO3, eventhough I am doing weekly waterchanges and daily maintenance. I am not running a skimmer, cause I have yet to find one that fits the sump part on my Waterbox 20. So the GFO/Carbon reactor is kind of my last resort to bring PO4 and NO3 down.

 

Thank you for having a look at my journal and all feedback on the cyano and GFO/Carbon is more then welcome! Looking forward to do regular journal updates and watch the aquarium turn into a genuine, proper reef.

 

 

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

Let's see if I can get a grip on the elevated po4 levels. They seem to consistently over 1ppm, even hours after a 33% water change. I'm thinking it might have been absorbed by the rock and sand and is now continuously leaking into the water column? Going real slow on the Rowa by the way, read a lot of horror stories about stripping the tank of all of it's po4 and basically wiping out all corals. Going to try 25% of the total recommended amount of Rowa for a 20g and see what happens. 🤞🏼🤞🏼

 

 

 

[EvanSPS6]

Nice thread mate! I'll definitely be tagging along to see your progress. I'm running a similar build too, waterbox cube 20 with AI prime HD.

 

As for the skimmer, I am waiting for my Reef Glass air driven protein skimmer to arrive. I havnt seen a lot of people running air driven skimmers lately but given the size of the tank I thought it may be appropriate.

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

Thank you for the kind reply and the follow! I'll be sure to check out your journal as well! Curious how your waterbox 20 unfolds.

 

Keep me/us posted on that skimmer as well, looks really interessting and I really like the small footprint of it.

 

I've been running the rowaphos and carbon for about 4 days now and it looks like I'm seeing a reduction in cyano or at least I hope that is it what I am seeing, haha!

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

The Micromussa lordhowensis who pulled through the darker times of my nano;

 

And the newest member of the reef inhabitants;

 

Really considering buying a phone lens to take some better photos. What lenses do you guys use, if at all of course? (The downside of older SLR cameras is the need for a  transer of the images to a computer and post processing the in order to use them om forums or social media)

[Wonderboy]

Very nice work so far! And quite a fun read, too! Tagging along  :]

[Ratvan]

Gorgeous Photo's. I use the Coral Lens kit from Mantis for smart phones and tablets.

 

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

Small update, with a question. Recently I bought a green torch coral. After reading up on them and going through some youtube vids etc. I went out and bought one. My question is, is it looking alright like this?

 

 

It is in a fairly low-mid flow area, at the lower tier of the reef. At first glance it seems like it is doing alright, however, to be entirely sure, I figured I'd ask you guys for some feedback. Does this little frag look alright or is it extending it's polyps too much? 

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

Small bump for a bit more visibility, hoping one of you guys could confirm my initial thoughts or help out with some feedback about the torch coral 😀. Thanks a bunch!

[billygoat]

52 minutes ago, Azure Phoenix Reefing said:

Small bump for a bit more visibility, hoping one of you guys could confirm my initial thoughts or help out with some feedback about the torch coral 😀. Thanks a bunch!

I'm no expert, but it looks alright to me? If anything it seems to have tentacles that are a bit short for a torch; usually they have long, flowy tentacles that blow in the current. How's the flow on it?

 

We have a lot of reefers here on N-R who have been keeping beautiful torches for many years, so hopefully one of them will chime in and offer you some more relevant words of wisdom. 😊

[Ratvan]

On 1/4/2020 at 11:32 AM, Azure Phoenix Reefing said:

Small update, with a question. Recently I bought a green torch coral. After reading up on them and going through some youtube vids etc. I went out and bought one. My question is, is it looking alright like this?

 

 

It is in a fairly low-mid flow area, at the lower tier of the reef. At first glance it seems like it is doing alright, however, to be entirely sure, I figured I'd ask you guys for some feedback. Does this little frag look alright or is it extending it's polyps too much? 

Looks good to me, appears that yours has a couple of heads (maybe more) 

The Polyp extension tends to be determined by the flow, as long as the tentacles are not short and stubby it appears to be happy. 

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

On 1/5/2020 at 10:33 PM, billygoat said:

I'm no expert, but it looks alright to me? If anything it seems to have tentacles that are a bit short for a torch; usually they have long, flowy tentacles that blow in the current. How's the flow on it?

 

We have a lot of reefers here on N-R who have been keeping beautiful torches for many years, so hopefully one of them will chime in and offer you some more relevant words of wisdom. 😊

The flow is fairly low, it's placed nearly under my aqamai kps pump and it also gets some indirect flow from the return. I do notice the tentacles get a bit longer when I turn on my Sicce pump in the back of the tank, which provides some extra flow at almost the same height as the torch (it's quite low in the tank)

 

10 hours ago, Ratvan said:

Looks good to me, appears that yours has a couple of heads (maybe more) 

The Polyp extension tends to be determined by the flow, as long as the tentacles are not short and stubby it appears to be happy. 

As far as I can determine it has two heads. What had me "worried" was the white under the tentacles. I've read some things about the "flesh" of euphyllias being visible and I was not sure if the white part was said "flesh".

 

Thanks a bunch for your replies, it's quite the relief! 😁

[billygoat]

5 hours ago, Azure Phoenix Reefing said:

Thanks a bunch for your replies, it's quite the relief! 😁

No problem! It's really a beautiful coral. Do you have any photos of the rest of the tank? How's everything else looking in there?

[Azure Phoenix Reefing]

On 1/7/2020 at 4:31 AM, billygoat said:

No problem! It's really a beautiful coral. Do you have any photos of the rest of the tank? How's everything else looking in there?

Thank you for the kind words! I actually do have a few more photos. Currently I am taking them with my phone, however I am going to buy a mirrorless camera soon, so hopefully the image quality is going to improve soon.

 

First three members of the little home reef, Alfred the cleaner shrimp and Duir & Druien the clowns;

 

Next inhabitant, Tailey the Tailspot blenny

 

Next up, Cheeks, the Yellow clown goby;

 

Here is Cheeks chilling on a few of his favorite zoa's;

 

Duir and a Leptastrea;

 

 And last but not least my latest acquisition, a Green Bubbletip Anemone;

 

Here's to hoping the clowns will appreciate it and start hosting 😅.

Currently I am also "fighting" a vermetid snail plague, or well, I am trying my best to ignore them and hope they will eventually starve. And I also have sea lettuce " problem" atm. Treating that the same way as I do as the vermetid snails.

 

I'll see if I can take a few more photos soon!