Ratvan's Old School Pico - Rockwall Pico v2

[Punk_Rock_Blenny]

On 5/30/2019 at 10:26 AM, Ratvan said:

Urgh waiting is killing me. Spotted a couple of worms this morning

Also started to notice that I have some random loose Zoa Polyps floating around the bottom of the tank, probably as a result of my bungled fragging attempts

 

 

I think I will fish these out and see if I can get them to attach to some rubble, will stuff these in the HOB and hope they grow out.

I was considering gluing these direct to a plug but they're tiny

 

 

 

Those Worms!! I thought it was a starfish of some sort initially. Did you have any luck with attaching the stray polyps to anything?

 

22 hours ago, Ratvan said:

So for better or for worse I received my Corals this morning, left them floating in my Betta tank as per usual (same temp). While this was happening i cleared out as much algae as possible and reintroduced the water back into the tank. After filtering through a lot of floss. 

 

I ordered 6 Montipora Frags and got two Freebies. Always awesome.

 

 

And also some Frag Holders. My apologies rushed shots as have to leave the office for the day shortly. but wanted to get them in and photos posted. 

 

So I put both my Danea on a twin frag holder. Purple and Blue

 

I placed the Greens on the second twin holder. Superman and the second is a Freebie

 

The orange and Mystic went onto the 7 way holder along with some of my Zoa's that i needed to lift (stretching) 

 

Well, I reached the upload limit quickly today. 

 

 

They look really cool, a bit dull but that's from the shipping? On the picture of the Greens (the first one) what are those tiny little tubes next to the coral? Did you dip these? Sorry for all teh questions, trying to learn.

How do they look today? I know you said everything looks terrible, but how?

 

Are you sure this is your first Saltwater Tank? You seem to have the knack for it

[Ratvan]

@Punk_Rock_Blenny. I have an area of rubble in my HOB that I have covered with Craft Mesh and have plopped the polyps into that with some broken shells and small rubble pieces. I'll see what happens. Not expecting too much so if i do get something it'll be a nice little bonus. I wanted to at least try and grow them, without it costing me too much

 

On the Superman Green? I think its some sort of Filter Feeder, I've seen some really tiny strands emerging but is far too small to pick up and details. I have my eye on it regardless after the Nudi issue and still fighting the algae, which maybe two different types? Anyway again seems less this morning, also running the lights seem to have less and less build up now. Maybe something is beating it out for nutrients? Who knows?

 

Which on the subject my Parameters have dropped since adding the SPS's yesterday. Now sat at PO4 0.5 and Nitrates at 10 PPM. Would like the PO4 to drop slightly so will retest after the weekend, planning on keeping my eye on these readings. Maybe actually test rather than waiting for something to be weird or before adding something new. 

 

Yeah everything looks duller than yesterday, i'll start panicking if it is still like this next week. When i say terrible I mean that all of the colour seems to be missing from the base flesh, but the polyps are still brightly coloured? 

 

Also my Zoa's (Cool Citrine especially) are starting to pump out babies since being elevated. They began growing at the sand level but after moving them the polyps have exploded in size and can see new baby polyps poking through the Zoa mat. So I guess I'm going to have to frag to keep in check and looking nice. 

[Punk_Rock_Blenny]

Is that sort of bleaching normal? 

Those Zoa's are pretty

[Ratvan]

9 minutes ago, Punk_Rock_Blenny said:

Is that sort of bleaching normal? 

Those Zoa's are pretty

Pass. My entire SW history (apart from 2 weeks Clown fish sitting) is in this thread. 

I work on an idea that Corals will take up to a week to settle down 

Plus the LFS Water Issue as well could be causing it

*Shrugs*

Too soon to tell is what i'm putting it down to

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

 

Which on the subject my Parameters have dropped since adding the SPS's yesterday. Now sat at PO4 0.5 and Nitrates at 10 PPM. Would like the PO4 to drop slightly so will retest after the weekend, planning on keeping my eye on these readings. Maybe actually test rather than waiting for something to be weird or before adding something new. 

Why not change out most of the water?  New saltwater made from RO/DI or distilled should be free of phosphate and nitrate.

[Ratvan]

Just now, seabass said:

Why not change out most of the water?  New saltwater made from RO/DI or distilled should be free of phosphate and nitrate.

Curiosity

[seabass]

Your new corals might be reacting poorly to the current water parameters.  Just a thought, and just one possibility.

[Ratvan]

 

18 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Curiosity

Not really a lot i can do about this until Monday, I'm not going to the LFS and had to shed out a load this morning on my car. 

I got a fortnightly order of RODI (5 Gallons) arriving every other Monday and have bought some Salt to mix.

Currently only have access to Dirty LFS water which is not ideal

I'm in the market for a decent RODI to set up at home for when that tank goes salty

Just irritating that i asked only after buying and using their water since set up 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I'm actually secretly jealous of your blue and purple montis. I had a purple one briefly until my douchebag hermit fed it to my hairy shroom and killed it. Otherwise, I haven't been able to acquire those colors here and I'm still looking. 

 

Can't wait to see all the coral grow out in time though. Tank is going to look awesome in a few months time. 🙂 

[Ratvan]

Just now, Snow_Phoenix said:

I'm actually secretly jealous of your blue and purple montis. I had a purple one briefly until my douchebag hermit fed it to my hairy shroom and killed it. Otherwise, I haven't been able to acquire those colors here and I'm still looking. 

 

Can't wait to see all the coral grow out in time though. Tank is going to look awesome in a few months time. 🙂 

Thanks and wow, that sucks. Not had any incidents from Penny for a while now. Thankfully 

Still need to work out lighting for these and positions in tank (and now water)

Waiting for them to grow over the plugs before I try any of my idea's

In other news Benny now takes Flake and Pellets as well as live. Very happy about that

 

[Ratvan]

4 hours ago, seabass said:

Your new corals might be reacting poorly to the current water parameters.  Just a thought, and just one possibility.

They seem to have started getting colour back now, so should be interesting to see how they look on Monday. I think it was me constantly fiddling with them when adding to teh tank, and shipping as well

[A.m.P]

You know, people aren't kidding about the distilled, it's just as good as RODI water if not slightly more expensive, a few jugs at the grocery store will only set you back a couple bucks and will work fine, it's what I use. Also the mystery corals look like lepto to me (the second could actually be pavona because of the visible heads but I'm no expert, if you start seeing enormous sweepers and insane growth it's pavona), glad your nutrients and dino's are improving and honestly don't know what to think about that LFS, that's dangerous and irresponsible. 

Also as someone who literally cannot stop monkeying around in the tank for one reason or another, I can confirm it ticks sps off just as much as LPS they just show it differently lol...

[Ratvan]

5 hours ago, Amphrites said:

You know, people aren't kidding about the distilled, it's just as good as RODI water if not slightly more expensive, a few jugs at the grocery store will only set you back a couple bucks and will work fine, it's what I use. Also the mystery corals look like lepto to me (the second could actually be pavona because of the visible heads but I'm no expert, if you start seeing enormous sweepers and insane growth it's pavona), glad your nutrients and dino's are improving and honestly don't know what to think about that LFS, that's dangerous and irresponsible. 

Also as someone who literally cannot stop monkeying around in the tank for one reason or another, I can confirm it ticks sps off just as much as LPS they just show it differently lol...

If I want a decent quantity rather than multiple small disposable plastic bottles I would. Can only find .5l multipacks. Can find larger online but again single use and fuel costs. Sadly not really an option unless I order regular bulk and by that point I'm down the cost of a 5 stage unit...

[A.m.P]

It is very odd that your grocers don't carry gallon jugs of distilled water.

[Ratvan]

6 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

It is very odd that your grocers don't carry gallon jugs of distilled water.

Well firstly metric system so litres. Can get 5 litre ones (1.2) but I cant really reuse those as much as the smaller ones. Recycling is a massive ballache and I get fined if over weight/volume. 

[A.m.P]

Ah fair enough, some stores this side of the puddle have a dispenser to refill with distilled for about half-cost, not sure if they've got a similar system near ya'.

[Ratvan]

Used to before I moved. Not one nearby that I've found or heard of and I've asked. Luckily not on a water meter so can use all the tap that I want. Which is precisely 0. So yeah. 🤪🤯 round and round and round I go

[Ratvan]

Monday morning Greetings, to you all

 

 

So lights are on "Acclimation Mode" couple of clicks on each channel for 3 hours, then off for 1.5-2. Then back on again for 3. 

Been running this over the weekend and I can start to see the traces of the colours coming back, have also done a quick WC this morning.

 

PO4 is now 0.25

NO3 is 10-20PPM

 

Am I doing this acclimation correctly, place the frags as low as possible and gently raise them now and again?

[Wonderboy]

It sounds like you have a safe approach - glad to hear you're getting more color. To clarify, does the light turn all the way off after 3 hrs? Or does it just lower intensity?

[Ratvan]

Just now, Wonderboy said:

It sounds like you have a safe approach - glad to hear you're getting more color. To clarify, does the light turn all the way off every after 3 hrs? Or does it just lower intensity?

All off. Its an Asta 20 LED on a Timer Switch. I can set a programme (Channels on at % ish) and have on or off

[Wonderboy]

That is definitely one approach. How many collective hours are the lights 'on' each day? There's several ways to acclimate corals including

starting them in shadowy areas of the tank and then moving them out/up or physically raising your fixture and slowly lowering it again every day. Most aquarists run there lights for 10 - 12 hours a day; though 6 - 8 hrs is sufficient. Having the light on for shorter durations will aid in keeping neuissance algaes at bay, but If your fixture is programmable and you're not seeing diatom overpopulation, you can lower the intensity and keep it on for mostly a standard shift (6 - 12 hrs) and have it increase it's volume daily.

[Ratvan]

Collectively the Asta 20 is on for 6 hours a day with a 1.5-2 hour gap at midday (this is when tank gets direct sunlight). Have algae issues still (not much today)

I'm thinking of changing the acclimation as my Zoa's are staying mostly closed with this little light, might hide the Monti's in the shaded area's as suggested

Sadly not a programmable light but I can add a click or two to each channel every week or so (that was the plan)

[Wonderboy]

That sounds like a good routine - most algae issues aren't really issues (more like necessary environment responses) and can be held in check with the right CUC and water changes with tanks on the small side. I like what you're thinking though, I would run your lights an extra hourish before and after the direct sun. IME, 4 hrs of a specific spectrum is minimum subjection for sustained productions of most photosynthetic critters/algaes. A click or two every other day or so until diatom or coral responds should work fine from there.

[Ratvan]

Quick shot of my Duncan (Top Down)

 

I had been thinking it looked different from Friday, might be popping out another head (12o'clock on photo)

[Ratvan]

Morning All

 

Next issue now that the algae seems to have gone away for a bit, fairly sure all the new coral is gone apart from this guy

 

Looks to me like it has been eaten? Nudi's? Different Nudi's?

 

Everything else is bone white, hard and has no scent, think i have lost it 😞

 

Have currently left them in the tank in a shaded spot, might give them a few weeks before I bin them.

Hope i'm wrong but doubt it at the minute