Fluval 13.5 on a Husky Cart

[billygoat]

5 hours ago, pricewayne said:

Phew!! I wasn't sure what to think of her moving to the glass lol. She has much better water flow now that the powerheads back in action.

Don't worry; during the crisis you made all the right decisions all in a row. It's a fairly large and very beautiful BTA, and I am happy to see that it is on the way to recovery. 🙂 The only thing you have to be concerned about now is the possibility of an infection setting in while the anemone is injured, but with proper light, flow, and feeding that hopefully will not be a concern.

 

In the meantime, how's the rest of the tank looking? Everything else getting along well?

[pricewayne]

16 hours ago, billygoat said:

Don't worry; during the crisis you made all the right decisions all in a row. It's a fairly large and very beautiful BTA, and I am happy to see that it is on the way to recovery. 🙂 The only thing you have to be concerned about now is the possibility of an infection setting in while the anemone is injured, but with proper light, flow, and feeding that hopefully will not be a concern.

 

In the meantime, how's the rest of the tank looking? Everything else getting along well?

Everything else is looking good! My duncan started sprouting 2 more new heads -- brings the total to 8 lol -- 3 fully grown in and 5 on the way. Still haven't landed on permanent placement for my frags -- am thinking I'll wait to glue them down until the anemone seems to have a more long term hold somewhere in the tank. Also hoping to read up on growth patterns to try and account for once I'm ready to remove plugs and glue them to rock.

 

Gwen snatched at a spot-fed piece of silverside this morning! Wasn't a fan of the shrimp at all for some reason -- I'll stick to offering silverside for now.

[billygoat]

6 hours ago, pricewayne said:

Everything else is looking good! My duncan started sprouting 2 more new heads -- brings the total to 8 lol -- 3 fully grown in and 5 on the way. Still haven't landed on permanent placement for my frags -- am thinking I'll wait to glue them down until the anemone seems to have a more long term hold somewhere in the tank. Also hoping to read up on growth patterns to try and account for once I'm ready to remove plugs and glue them to rock.

 

Gwen snatched at a spot-fed piece of silverside this morning! Wasn't a fan of the shrimp at all for some reason -- I'll stick to offering silverside for now.

Waiting to glue down the frags is a great idea imo, especially since the 'nem is clearly not in a permanent location at the moment. Has she been moving around any more since crawling up onto the glass?

 

Feeding is definitely another great sign! She'll be back to full strength in no time.

[pricewayne]

Lots happened last week.

 

Updates:
Latest on Gwen (my BTA): think she's gonna be just fine. She's stayed bubbled up and open, her mouth has stayed closed, she's eating a small cut of silver side each morning, she's moved from the glass wall and planted herself to the back rock. She's not on my preferred side of the tank, but I'm not messing with her -- hoping she'll bounce back and move to a more preferred location eventually.

 

 

Did have a scare on Saturday morning -- thought she'd eaten George, my fire shrimp but luckily was just his molt lol. Didn't manage to eat it all, but I let her munch until she dropped it. 

 

Latest on Powerhead: ordered the Current USA eFlux (660 GPH) since it wasn't too expensive and has a stock foam intake cover. Power isn't as strong (hindsight, wish I'd ordered the more powerful one) and it is a bit noisier than the IM desktop powerhead I was using previously. Hope it quiets down.

 

Pump Upgrade: ordered the Sicce Syncra 1.0 (251 GPH) pump. I'd been planning to eventually upgrade, but given the decrease in power with the eFlux I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Significantly more flow -- and paired to the eFlux it seems to be working well. Just added yesterday morning so we'll see how it keeps up. The Fluval stock pump was absolutely silent... this one is not -- getting some rumbling/vibrations. Want to let it do its thing for a week or so -- if I'm still getting lots of noise, maybe I'll try turning it around or find someway to pad it to reduce noise.

 

Corals:

Still planning to remove frags from plugs and glue them to my rock once my BTA seems to be in a more long-term location... it is taking an immense amount of self control. Hate looking at those plugs lol.

Everything appears to be doing well -- only exception is the pink nepthea that was growing on one side of the leather coral frag never opened up. Leather is doing great though. 

Duncan: easily the most growth I've seen so far. 5 new heads are popping in -- pics below.

 

 

Finger Leather: believe it's normal, but this one will close//shrivel up each night once lights are out. Begins reopening and fully expands each day. Amazes me how much this guy can shrink and expand.

 

Monitoring:

Coralline//Algae//Cyano: I'm seeing the beginnings of some coralline take root -- pinks, purples, bright greens and dark greens it seems. Excited to see how they'll encrust in the long term. I did notice a few patches of cyano last week -- it began couple days after the BTA incident and believe it was due to the decrease in flow//water movement while I kept my powerhead off. To be safe, I started basting rocks few times a day once bubble patches appeared and reduced my lighting duration by one hour. Added the eFlux powerhead on Thursday and the cyano patches have already began to decrease in size. Can see a little bit of it in the first pic of my duncan (bottom left you'll see some small bubbles). I'll keep monitoring.

 

Water Params:

Started daily alk, calcium and magnesium testing (Red Sea kit) so I can calculate if it's time to start dosing (and how much to dose). I know I need about a week of tests to best gauge my tank consumption. I'm hitting reset -- missed a couple of tests when my BTA hit the powerhead and since I've done a few water changes to help rectify that issue. Assume it will be best if I test daily without all the standard day-day interruption (ex: water changes). Did my weekly water change this last Saturday -- by this coming weekend I should have a much better picture of consumption.

 

Last week's tests:

 

Next Projects:

- Need to purchase materials for DIY mesh lid

- Still need to purchase/research hardware to hang NanoBox light. Should be arriving this week so I'll be hitting Home Depot today or tomorrow.

- Testing water params and dosing plan if needed

[billygoat]

I applaud your testing and record-keeping! Such dedication is rare in this hobby. And you got a NanoBox as well? I can't wait to see this system six months from now. It will truly be a wonder to behold 😉

 

And Gwen is looking perfectly fine! I am so glad to see that she recovered. Kind of a shame that she has relocated to a sub-optimal spot, but, well, that's just how it goes with 'nems I guess 😄

 

Definitely looks like cyanobacteria and possibly some species of film algae are beginning to crop up here and there. Have you added any additional clean-up crew members in the past few weeks? It's starting to look like you might be able to support a few more snails in there.

 

I applaud your patience on gluing those coral frags 👏 I say give it just awhile longer to see if the 'nem decides to go on a magical journey!

[pricewayne]

3 hours ago, billygoat said:

I applaud your testing and record-keeping! Such dedication is rare in this hobby. And you got a NanoBox as well? I can't wait to see this system six months from now. It will truly be a wonder to behold 😉

 

And Gwen is looking perfectly fine! I am so glad to see that she recovered. Kind of a shame that she has relocated to a sub-optimal spot, but, well, that's just how it goes with 'nems I guess 😄

 

Definitely looks like cyanobacteria and possibly some species of film algae are beginning to crop up here and there. Have you added any additional clean-up crew members in the past few weeks? It's starting to look like you might be able to support a few more snails in there.

 

I applaud your patience on gluing those coral frags 👏 I say give it just awhile longer to see if the 'nem decides to go on a magical journey!

Thanks for the support!

Only new CUC I've added since the first batch is an emerald crab and three tiny nassarius snails (I think they are so neat). Nassarius snails likely aren't the best algae helpers though -- seem to stick to the sand bed and hunt leftovers. Good thinking on getting a few more snails... sounds like a good excuse to swing by a LFS tomorrow lol.

[billygoat]

8 hours ago, pricewayne said:

Thanks for the support!

Only new CUC I've added since the first batch is an emerald crab and three tiny nassarius snails (I think they are so neat). Nassarius snails likely aren't the best algae helpers though -- seem to stick to the sand bed and hunt leftovers. Good thinking on getting a few more snails... sounds like a good excuse to swing by a LFS tomorrow lol.

Nassarius snails are great for keeping the sandbed clean of leftover food, but unfortunately they are purely scavengers and have no interest in algae. You might want to look for a Turbo or Trochus snail; those would be more likely to stick to the rocks and keep 'em looking clean. Limpets have also worked out really well for me as far as cleaning the rockwork goes, but you might want to avoid them in a coral-heavy tank as they have a tendency to accidentally graze on the edges of SPS colonies when they get bigger.

[pricewayne]

1 hour ago, billygoat said:

Nassarius snails are great for keeping the sandbed clean of leftover food, but unfortunately they are purely scavengers and have no interest in algae. You might want to look for a Turbo or Trochus snail; those would be more likely to stick to the rocks and keep 'em looking clean. Limpets have also worked out really well for me as far as cleaning the rockwork goes, but you might want to avoid them in a coral-heavy tank as they have a tendency to accidentally graze on the edges of SPS colonies when they get bigger.

Sweet. How many trochus snails would you recommend? I’ve got one turbo and the poop is just insane lol. Mayyyybe one more turbo ? But I’d prob go for trochus since they’re smaller 🤔

[Daniel91]

Trochus and Astreas are both lawnmowers. 

 

I would personally only add one of each, just because you don’t want to starve them.

[pricewayne]

1 hour ago, Daniel91 said:

Trochus and Astreas are both lawnmowers. 

 

I would personally only add one of each, just because you don’t want to starve them.

Sweet. Hope I can get out of my office this afternoon with enough time to make it to LAX aquarium! Get the feeling it’s gonna be a crazy work week.

[Daniel91]

No update? Get to it! 😄

[pricewayne]

49 minutes ago, Daniel91 said:

No update? Get to it! 😄

Ha! I know, I've got to get on an update -- work's been in full takeover past couple weeks. BUT, some awesome progress on the tank. I'll get a proper update in today or tomorrow.

 

Quick updates:

- Gwen, my BTA: doing great, full bounce back but still has itself footed at the back of my rock. Will eventually try to gently encourage a move (more on this plan in my update later).

- corals are doing awesome. Added a couple new ones I'll get in.

- with work being crazy, I ended up caving and just bought the IM DIY lid kit instead of a run to the hardware store -- it looks great, though.

- still testing kH, Ca, Mag -- I think after this week's tests it will be time to start dosing.

- my nanobox came in and got it mounted -- LOVE it. Significant difference from stock lighting.

- working on a project hit list: refugium, future livestock and coral plan, equipment mods//upgrades, etc.

 

Stay tuned!

[billygoat]

9 hours ago, Daniel91 said:

No update? Get to it! 😄

I was waiting too! 😁 Can't wait to hear more about it, and see some pics of your progress.

[pricewayne]

Weeks have been flying by with work, life, this tank and my new tank! Started a pico tank for the contest that started this month 🙂

Here's a link to that journal -- still in cycling mode right now, but I'm diggin' it so far!

 

 

Ok, onto my main updates!

 

Livestock Updates
Gwen (my BTA): finally built the courage up to encourage her to move from the back of my display -- added some light direct flow and she slowly scooted herself around the rock. Right now she's planted her foot in an awesome spot, so fingers crossed she'll stick to it.

 

 

 

Emerald Crab - first molt: my emerald crab had its first molt a week ago... easily more than doubled in size. Total trouble maker -- swear it thinks it runs the tank, but I've loved having it. Spot hand feed it every few days with a tiny tiny square of seaweed and it goes nuts for it. Sadly, I'm considering taking it back to my LFS -- with the growth and attitude combo, it seems to cause more agitation than I'd like. Its favorite go-to spot is literally on top of my finger leather -- not harming it by any means or trying to eat it, but the finger leather shrivels up and not the happiest.

 

 

 

New frags: I've added a pink grafted montipora, birdsnest and a pink zoa -- all seem happy. The birdsnest has extended its polyps and stays quite "fuzzy". I've seen it retract its polyps a few times -- specifically when my emerald crab goes for a walk all over it. I think I'll end up moving the zoa over to my pink pico tank once it's cycled.

 

 

 

Still drives me nuts to see frag plugs lol. Hoping my BTA will settle in a better location and I'll finally be able to remove the plug discs and glue things down.

 

Future fish: I won't be adding any new fish in any immediate future. I am still interested in a mandarin dragonet but I want to plan appropriately for sustainability -- I know that means: established refugium hosting macro algae and pod population, general tank stability, potential QT tank. For now, my only actionable plan is to get a refugium plan and get to working on that -- regardless if I end up wanting a mandarin, I'd like a refugium with macro algae -- may allocate a back chamber or get a sump setup outside the tank. TBD. Stay tuned!

 

System Updates

Powerhead: ordered the 660GPH eFlux few weeks back -- bought it to replace my IM desktop powerhead since it had the foam cover fitting to protect my BTA. The output flow just wasn't working for me on the eFlux though. Then I made the (expensive) realization that the foam covers actually fit my IM desktop so dropped that back in with the eFlux cover and have great flow & nem protection. Ordered a 3 pack of the foam covers and I'll replace as wear/tear occurs.

 

IM DIY Lid Kit: ordered & assembled. Straightforward assembly, but it did take me a few hours last weekend to cut the frame and get the mesh lining in... couldn't deal with the mesh being unaligned lol.

 

Nanobox: got it in and mounted and I looooooove it. The difference from the stock Fluval lighting is incredible. Dave did a great job with my custom frame color -- couldn't be happier. I battled myself on how I wanted to hang mount it -- from the ceiling? from a wall mounted pipe? from a pipe mounted to my Husky tool cart stand? Finally came up with the idea to use a hairpin table leg mounted to my wall and drop the light from it. Got the table leg from Ikea for $15. Later down the line, I think I'll paint it black and I'm on the hunt for a bronze or silver drawer knob or pull tab to screw into the end of the table leg. Still need to clip the excess wire -- want to be sure it's at the right height before I cut it too short and have to reset the entire hang lol.

 

 

 

 

Scape

Made some edits to my rock scape. The long spine-like coral skeleton was basically the entire length of my display tank and while it "fit", it felt a bit cramped. Was losing out on some sand bed real estate and I've been wanting to prop it up on a new piece of rock to allow more mid-high level coral real estate. So I removed it, took a hammer to the back most piece to shorten it -- it worked, but it also cracked in the dead center lol. Wasn't a big deal, just threw some epoxy in to bond the crack back together. Added a new piece of rock in to prop up and I like it. May need some slight maneuvering to get it perfect, but not sweating it for now.

 

 

Sorry for the glare -- I'll grab a better pic tonight once it's dark out lol. Hopefully can see the new rock I've added and get the idea.

 

Dosing

I've kept up with alk/mag/ca tests.

- kH had a graduated decrease from 3.2 meq/L to 2.8 meq/L, or 9.0 dkH to 7.8 dkH over the past 7 days

- My calcium levels oddly fluctuated? Started 420ppm, went up to 430-440ppm mid-week and back at 420ppm last night. Maybe I'm misreading my tests? Not sure if this is at all normal or to be expected.

- Magnesium followed similar pattern with my calcium. Started at 1320ppm, up to 1360ppm mid-week, 1400ppm end of week and leveled back out to 1320ppm last night.

 

Every time I've started to research dosing plans/how-to's I've been pulled away by work or life -- I still need to cut time out to understand what type of dosing plan I want to commit to, what brand I'll invest in, how I'll dose (manual or system). Welcome any tips//thoughts 🙂

 

Next Projects

- Dosing plan

- Coral scape plan

- Refugium with macro algae plan

- Evaporation still isn't bad, even with removing my lid and adding the nanobox I'm only needing to top off once a day. I think eventually I'll want an ATO just for the convenience.

- Feel I'm forgetting something... Anyone have recommended equipment//fun projects//ideas to throw on my radar?

[billygoat]

Great updates! Everything seems like it's moving along very well, which is certainly wonderful to see. And your BTA looks beautiful! Very lovely coloration. You'd never guess that it was nearly pulverized by an impeller just a few weeks ago. 😉 

 

Congratulations on your NanoBox; my understanding is that they are basically the best lights you can get for growing corals. I'm considering getting one myself, as they seem to be very highly recommended by pretty much everyone.

 

Also I love your aquascape! That big diagonal slab makes for a very interesting display. Is that an actual piece of coral skeleton?

 

As for future equipment, I definitely recommend getting an ATO. In the beginning I was on the fence about it as well (mostly because it seemed like a waste of money since I had no trouble keeping up with evaporation on my own), but after getting one I found that it gave me a lot of peace of mind to know that my salinity would remain rock solid with no effort at all on my part. It saves a surprising amount of time as well; only after I installed my ATO did I realize how often I'd checked my sump chambers to see if it was time to top off!

[pricewayne]

3 hours ago, billygoat said:

Great updates! Everything seems like it's moving along very well, which is certainly wonderful to see. And your BTA looks beautiful! Very lovely coloration. You'd never guess that it was nearly pulverized by an impeller just a few weeks ago. 😉 

 

Congratulations on your NanoBox; my understanding is that they are basically the best lights you can get for growing corals. I'm considering getting one myself, as they seem to be very highly recommended by pretty much everyone.

 

Also I love your aquascape! That big diagonal slab makes for a very interesting display. Is that an actual piece of coral skeleton?

 

As for future equipment, I definitely recommend getting an ATO. In the beginning I was on the fence about it as well (mostly because it seemed like a waste of money since I had no trouble keeping up with evaporation on my own), but after getting one I found that it gave me a lot of peace of mind to know that my salinity would remain rock solid with no effort at all on my part. It saves a surprising amount of time as well; only after I installed my ATO did I realize how often I'd checked my sump chambers to see if it was time to top off!

Soooo relieved my nem had a full bounce back. The tips around her edges are still growing back in, but I’m shocked by how well and how fast it’s bounced back.

 

And thanks on the scape compliments! I somehow lucked out finding two great pieces - the large back rock and the long coral skeleton — yep, it’s a skeleton! Or so I was told. Would love to find out what it was bc I love it so much. A piece I think I’ll easily hold onto forever. It was dried when I got it and bone white — it’s been neat watching it transform into living rock.

Here’s a pic from day one.

 

 

Curious, what ATO did you go with? Any top of mind recommendations on which to look into?

[billygoat]

7 hours ago, pricewayne said:

Curious, what ATO did you go with? Any top of mind recommendations on which to look into?

I ended up getting a Tunze Nano 3152. The XP Aqua Duetto and AutoAqua Micro 120P also seem to be popular options. I've also read that DIYing an ATO is not all that hard, but I didn't trust myself to get it right and decided to just buy one to avoid flooding my floor. 😅

 

There are all sorts of fancy reservoirs you can get, and I have seen a few that are quite nice, but I just use a food-grade plastic 2 gallon bucket with a few holes drilled above the waterline to let tubes and wires through. I fill it up about once a week.

 

Many people also like to add a bit of kalkwasser to their RO top-off water to help buffer alk. If you decide to go this route, one neat trick I read about somewhere here on N-R is placing a piece of eggcrate under your ATO pump. This helps prevent the pump from getting encrusted with calcium deposits that precipitate out of the kalk solution.

[pricewayne]

Aight -- tried to snap some better pics today. Struggling to figure these angles out though. Need to remind myself to do this again tonight so I can lose some of the glare.

 

I'd love any input/feedback on my coral placement!!

 

FTS -- for the life of me, I can't figure out the best angle for this. Think it will be easier at night.

 

Few shots of the front:

 

Bit reminiscent of Michelangelo

A little sparring.

Staghorn crab will move to my Pico tank once cycled (it's such a cool crab).

Some more sparring.

George the fire shrimp demanding attention. My Duncan's been a bit moody past couple days -- nothing too bad, but not as open and full as usual -- sort of a thicker/puffier texture lately instead of the typical wide open//more string like polyp texture.

 

"Front" (wide front facing side) shots:

George demanding attention, again

Guarding Gwen, my BTA... from George.

Hermits keep bugging my zoa

 

View from above

 

[billygoat]

Lovin' all the pics! I can't wait to see this tank in like a year, once it is fully stocked and everything has started to grow in. Imagine that big, tall rock on the right with a huge shelf of Montipora and a giant birdsnest growing off of it! I bet it's going to be a sight to behold.

 

The two clowns are your only fish in there so far, right? +1 to your decision to not add any more. I think two is the perfect number of fish for this system.

[BearTheSquare]

I see you’re matching the Nanobox to that montis color, that’s going to look great once it’s grown out!

[pricewayne]

29 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Lovin' all the pics! I can't wait to see this tank in like a year, once it is fully stocked and everything has started to grow in. Imagine that big, tall rock on the right with a huge shelf of Montipora and a giant birdsnest growing off of it! I bet it's going to be a sight to behold.

 

The two clowns are your only fish in there so far, right? +1 to your decision to not add any more. I think two is the perfect number of fish for this system.

Thanks!! Yeah, I’m really pumped to see how it starts growing out. I think I’m going to eventually add another really interesting branching SPS at the dead center top of the tall rock piece — think it could be awesome.

 

Yep, clowns are all I have now fish wise. Considering adding a mandarin dragonet but it will be quite some time before I decide to or not. Want to be sure everything is well established, have a thriving pod population and then assess if it’s feasible to add.

 

26 minutes ago, BearTheSquare said:

I see you’re matching the Nanobox to that montis color, that’s going to look great once it’s grown out!

You’re onto me 🤓

I found one more monti cap I’m going to pick up this weekend.. it’s a darker piece to contrast the bright pops of the two already in there. I need some color variation — hadn’t even realized until the nanobox was up how much green I was adding in lol.

[Daniel91]

Solid pics! You should look into a neon green Toadstool - gives great color, movement and a rapid grower!

[pricewayne]

3 hours ago, Daniel91 said:

Solid pics! You should look into a neon green Toadstool - gives great color, movement and a rapid grower!

Toadstool is on my list!!

I need to update my first journal entry -- think I want to keep my equipment and livestock list up to date there so I have it in one place. Also think I'll add a list of future planned coral pieces I'm considering adding (I keep making more lists of lists of lists).

[Tigahboy]

That pink nanobox light is sick!  I like the clear lid, and yes, the colors really pop both on and under that light.

[pricewayne]

4 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

That pink nanobox light is sick!  I like the clear lid, and yes, the colors really pop both on and under that light.

I love it. It's a struggle to see the Fluval stock light on my pico tank, now that I know what a difference it makes hahaha. I'm trying not to break the bank on that setup but suspect I'll have an upgraded light of some kind before the competition is out.