ReeferWade Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Figured I should start a journal since I've started to learn so much after making a few mistakes. The pics are right after setup. The tank was started on 2/23/19 with this setup: 10lbs Caribsea Liferock 10lbs Caribsea Live Sand About a week after setup I added two b/w clownfish to help cycle it as well as adding Fritz Zyme 9 nitrifying bacteria. 2 Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 Over the last week I was told that corals aren't as sensitive to the cycling process so I added a few corals, by a few I mean quite a few. I also got a firefish, I know, I know. Corals: Orange Zoanthid Green Zoanthid Cabbage Leather Green Star Polyp Toad Stool Leather Pulsing Xenia Rainbow Acan Favia Hammer Green Chalice Finger Leather Coral Alveopora Encrusting Hydnophora I've been keeping an eye on my levels and my ammonia and nitrites were very low, almost 0. I tested again this weekend and my Ammonia is at .2 and Nitrites at about 1.0. With some help from some very nice people on here and the folks at Fritz Aquatics the consensus was that the Purigen and the Chemipure that I put in was getting rid of the phosphates that the nitrifiers need to convert to nitrates and stunting the progress. That and I was moving too quickly, which I have a tendency to do but swore I wouldn't do it this time. I removed the Purigen and Chemipure and did about a 25% water change, am going to feed less and was told by Fritz that it should correct in a couple of days and get right back on track. I'm not touching it until it levels out. Lessons learned, hopefully others can learn from my mistakes as well. I hesitated to put any of this on here but with hope it'd help someone else from making the same mistakes so I relented and posted it. Be kind to me 😉 I almost forgot, I added the intank media basket and an Aqami KPS wavemaker as well. 3 Quote Link to comment
Scotty Amen Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 56 minutes ago, ReeferWade said: The tank was started on 3/23/19 Time traveler? 1 Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 16 minutes ago, Scotty Amen said: Time traveler? Oops!! 2/23/19 Quote Link to comment
NuisanceAlgaeCultivator Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 I assume you mean 2/23/19, that said the last picture makes the tank look like it's been running a while already. Looks very nice so far! Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 Yeah 2/23, and thank you Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 Figured it was time to take a new FTS: Lots has happened in the last few weeks. My Nitrites are at near 0, almost undetectable and everthing is super happy! All corals are flourishing and fish are quite happy. I have learned so much along this process and am really enjoying everything. 5 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Looks quite lovely so far ^^ Here's hoping that the good times continue to roll! Don't get discouraged if some massive algal blooms or other obnoxious problems appear in the near future though. Your tank is richly stocked, but it's also still very young! Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 3 minutes ago, billygoat said: Looks quite lovely so far ^^ Here's hoping that the good times continue to roll! Don't get discouraged if some massive algal blooms or other obnoxious problems appear in the near future though. Your tank is richly stocked, but it's also still very young! I appreciate that and totally understand. I'd be the first to admit that I didn't do everything the "safe" way but I am where I am now and am going to deal with what is thrown my way. I have had some algal blooms but nothing too major yet. I just stay on top of everything and hope for the best. I can be a little neurotic about cleaning and testing so we'll see how it all goes. 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 34 minutes ago, ReeferWade said: I can be a little neurotic about cleaning and testing so we'll see how it all goes. I've found that being neurotic is actually a major asset in this hobby 😉 I think your attention to detail will serve you very well. Following along! Quote Link to comment
Scotty Amen Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 That sure is a pretty tank! Your clowns are gorgeous. Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Scotty Amen said: That sure is a pretty tank! Your clowns are gorgeous. Thank you! I appreciate that! Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 Lots of change to this tank and very entertaining. Doing my best to be hands off and just let this tank be so it can grow. Most everything is happy in it. The finger leather I just split off so it's a little grumpy but goes in and out of being beautiful and being pissed anyway. Thank you all for being so kind and helpful! While I haven't done everything "by the book" or the traditional way I have learned so much. 1 Quote Link to comment
colinadam Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 Great looking tank, I am setting up a Biocube 16 this weekend, will be sure to follow your progress. Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 3 hours ago, colinadam said: Great looking tank, I am setting up a Biocube 16 this weekend, will be sure to follow your progress. It’s a great tank, feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions! Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Loving this tank. Things are settling in and getting comfortable. Switched a few of the corals over to my other tank so this one isn’t so crowded. 1 Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Current Stock Corals: Lots and lots of different Zoas Duncans Green Star Polyp Rainbow Acan colony Green Acan colony Orange Acan colony Hammer Green Chalice Finger Leather Coral Alveopora Pulsing XeniaInverts: Rose Bubble Tip Anemone Orange Bubble Tip Anemone Livestock: 2 Darwin Clown Fish 1 Lawnmower Blenny 1 Firefish 1 Emerald Crab Various hermits and snails 1 Cleaner shrimp Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 So much change going on.... thanks to some recent advice from @WV Reefer I made the decision to go fiterless. I do have a biocube skimmer running as well as some seachem matrix to help support some pod population but beyond that she's au naturale! We'll see how it goes. I'm going to try this along with feeding "a lot" less. No more spot feeding the corals and only very light broadcast with benereef. Really interested to see where this goes and will report back for sure. A lot of the current stock has changed so here is an updated list. Will update pictures later. Current Stock Corals: Lots and lots of different Zoas Green Star Polyp Different Acans Frogspawn Hammer Green Alveopora Pulsing Xenia Leptastrea Elegance Coral Gorgonians Inverts: Rock Flower Anemone Livestock: 1 Darwin Clown Fish, 1 regular Oscelaris Spotted Mandarin Six Line Wrasse 1 Emerald Crab Various hermits and snails 1 Cleaner shrimp 1 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 18 minutes ago, ReeferWade said: So much change going on.... thanks to some recent advice from @WV Reefer I made the decision to go fiterless. I do have a biocube skimmer running as well as some seachem matrix to help support some pod population but beyond that she's au naturale! We'll see how it goes. I'm going to try this along with feeding "a lot" less. No more spot feeding the corals and only very light broadcast with benereef. Really interested to see where this goes and will report back for sure. A lot of the current stock has changed so here is an updated list. Will update pictures later. Current Stock Corals: Lots and lots of different Zoas Green Star Polyp Different Acans Frogspawn Hammer Green Alveopora Pulsing Xenia Leptastrea Elegance Coral Gorgonians Inverts: Rock Flower Anemone Livestock: 1 Darwin Clown Fish, 1 regular Oscelaris Spotted Mandarin Six Line Wrasse 1 Emerald Crab Various hermits and snails 1 Cleaner shrimp I’m happy that I could be of some help 😊 We need a current pic! Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 45 minutes ago, WV Reefer said: I’m happy that I could be of some help 😊 We need a current pic! As soon as the lights come fully on i'll get some! 1 Quote Link to comment
ReeferWade Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 Update photos: 2 Quote Link to comment
WV Reefer Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 12 minutes ago, ReeferWade said: Update photos: Looks nice. 😊 Quote Link to comment
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