Kait’s Kiddo Lagoon

[NaturallyKait]

24c so 75f. Which is lower than the tank (which runs usually around 26c). It’s actually still cooler than that outside, typically around 15-20c lately. It’s going to get a lot warmer soon. 

[NaturallyKait]

The tiny reefer got some new friends today. 

 

Still debating lighting upgrades. Really leaning toward a Kessil a80. I know they’re not super powerful but I don’t need big guns power with no SPS, and I’m not opposed to another upgrade later if I need to. I know a lot of people like the Prime HD and it’s my second choice, but I hate the disco ball look. We’ll see. 

[Gravity]

I vote for the Kessil they are very nice light. Also helps they are plug and play. You can also adjust to your visual preference without impacting spectrum for coral growth. One a80 should be fine for LPS/Softies. Two a80 could get you some sps. Or you could go with an a160. 

 

[NaturallyKait]

3 minutes ago, Gravity said:

I vote for the Kessil they are very nice light. Also helps they are plug and play. You can also adjust to your visual preference without impacting spectrum for coral growth. One a80 should be fine for LPS/Softies. Two a80 could get you some sps. Or you could go with an a160. 

 

That’s my exact thought. I really like the idea of the Kessil logic and it always having the right spectrum. The a160 would be ideal but out of my budget right now, unless I happen to find a good deal on a second hand one but that’s harder here in Canada. I’ll probably start with the a80, then buy the controller later. I can add another a80 down the road if I want to. 

[Brock0019]

loving the tank. what clowns you going to get?

here are my beauties

[NaturallyKait]

21 minutes ago, Brock0019 said:

loving the tank. what clowns you going to get?

here are my beauties

We’ll be getting regular ocellaris clowns, the tiny reefer likes Finding Dory and that’s what he wants for his tank. When I eventually set up my tank I’m getting black snowflakes though. 

[NaturallyKait]

It’s official, this tank is soon to be Kessil powered 😎 I’m excited I’ll have it from the beginning with corals and it’ll help the tank keep cooler. 

 

Next goal will be an ATO, because I’m sure evap is about to jump up. Right now it has next to none thanks to the lid. 

 

Our replacement nerite died yesterday. I don’t know why those specific snails just don’t seem to do well in this tank. The astrea bought at the same time as the first nerite is still going strong, along with the trochus we got on Saturday and the hermit crab. The YCG is doing great! Eats like a little pig and loves to watch us walking around and beg for food haha. I’m so glad he eats well, I’ve heard so many horror stories of starving clown gobies! 

 

 

Still dealing with algae, diatoms and some green algae on the rocks. I think I may do an extra midweek water change tonight and give the glass a good scrape down to see if that will help. 

[Cpl_Wiggles]

My YCG was my favorite. He would literally swim up front and center to take as soon as I walked in the door from work, like he was greeting me. Much less needy than a dog.

 

Don't worry about the nerites - they cycle through fairly frequently. 

 

I try to adjust the flow in my BioCube a little different each day - but I didn't have my diatom bloom until Month 5 or so. I did remove some rocks and scrub them with a toothbrush (not my personal one) and with water changes they went away. Now the only algae I have is due to overfeeding my tank I think, which is a ratio of CUC and feeding cycles. 

 

Looks great!

[NaturallyKait]

18 minutes ago, Cpl_Wiggles said:

My YCG was my favorite. He would literally swim up front and center to take as soon as I walked in the door from work, like he was greeting me. Much less needy than a dog.

 

Don't worry about the nerites - they cycle through fairly frequently. 

 

I try to adjust the flow in my BioCube a little different each day - but I didn't have my diatom bloom until Month 5 or so. I did remove some rocks and scrub them with a toothbrush (not my personal one) and with water changes they went away. Now the only algae I have is due to overfeeding my tank I think, which is a ratio of CUC and feeding cycles. 

 

Looks great!

Our YCG is the same, if we’re walking around in front of the tank he follows us. He has definitely figured out that people = food haha. 

 

I’m not stressing too much about the diatoms. I know they’ll fizzle out eventually. I’m definitely looking forward to them being gone though lol. Not the most attractive look in the tank haha. I’m sure over feeding is a factor for us too, the goby is so small that getting pieces of mysis small enough tends to end up feeding too much. I’m going to slowly beef up the CUC as we go though so hopefully they will help. 

[NaturallyKait]

Hopefully our last FTS before the new light gets here.

 

The store I ordered from emailed me to say there’s a small delay in shipping, something I ordered was on the way to them before they could ship out. Still hoping it arrives next week. 

 

Our astrea snail has grown quite the algae colony on his back. It’s very amusing. The tiny reefer points to it and giggles which makes us all laugh.

 

I think I need to invest in a phosphate test kit, just to make sure it’s not super high fuelling the algae growth in the tank. The diatoms I know will die off but the green stuff on the one white rock is starting to grow a little longer. I’m thinking maybe GHA? It’s the same stuff that’s growing on the snail. 

 

 

 

[Cpl_Wiggles]

Check your carbon. Could be leeching phosphate. I had to switch to Marineland Carbon which is guaranteed phosphate free. Otherwise, good flow and water changes help manage, with the occasional scrubbing. Also check for any natural light sources shining on your tank. It doesn't take much sunlight through a blind to start photosynthesis. Maybe bump an hour off your day cycle. 

[NaturallyKait]

18 minutes ago, Cpl_Wiggles said:

Check your carbon. Could be leeching phosphate. I had to switch to Marineland Carbon which is guaranteed phosphate free. Otherwise, good flow and water changes help manage, with the occasional scrubbing. Also check for any natural light sources shining on your tank. It doesn't take much sunlight through a blind to start photosynthesis. Maybe bump an hour off your day cycle. 

I am due to swap out my carbon anyway and need to buy some, so I’ll look into that. The tank gets a small amount of sunlight for less then an hour in the morning but that’s it. I did consider light when we set it up, but we were limited in places to put it. The only other option was right in front of a baseboard heater which I was worried wouldn’t be a good idea. We could always move the tank if we need to. 

 

As for lighting schedule I’m about to change everything up when our new light arrives so maybe I’ll consider it then. 

[NaturallyKait]

New light shipped today, but not the screen top kit. I’m excited about the light, but hesitant to install it without the screen because I don’t want the goby to jump. With our luck we’d wake up and find him on the ground. 

 

Also, we had our first power outage since the tank went up the other night. It was planned so I was prepared with a battery operated bubbler, but it was only planned for 15-30 mins so I just waited it out to see if we’d need it. Sure enough it was only out 10 mins so no biggie. However the tank is on a wifi power bar so I can turn individual plugs on and off without having to reach for the power bar but when the power came back none of the equipment did. Thankfully I was awake and fixed it before bed but now I’m worried. I’m going to have to find another plan for a power bar. I don’t want to risk that happening without us home and the tank going without power for an extended period of time. 

[NaturallyKait]

This arrived today. Now I’m just eagerly awaiting the screen kit which is apparently shipping direct from innovative marine. Fingers crossed it gets here soon. 

[billygoat]

On 6/24/2019 at 7:02 PM, NaturallyKait said:

New light shipped today, but not the screen top kit. I’m excited about the light, but hesitant to install it without the screen because I don’t want the goby to jump. With our luck we’d wake up and find him on the ground. 

 

Also, we had our first power outage since the tank went up the other night. It was planned so I was prepared with a battery operated bubbler, but it was only planned for 15-30 mins so I just waited it out to see if we’d need it. Sure enough it was only out 10 mins so no biggie. However the tank is on a wifi power bar so I can turn individual plugs on and off without having to reach for the power bar but when the power came back none of the equipment did. Thankfully I was awake and fixed it before bed but now I’m worried. I’m going to have to find another plan for a power bar. I don’t want to risk that happening without us home and the tank going without power for an extended period of time. 

Wifi power bar! That sounds very fancy. More moving parts always increases the risk of equipment failure though, so you might want to get a manually-operated power bar just in case something goes south. I find this one to be very nice because it has recessed switches, which means you can chunk some bulky adapters into it and still be able to operate it normally. You can also get it in black.

 

Congrats on your new gear! I also use an A80. At 15 watts it's not the most powerful light, but as long as you're not growing anything too demanding (I don't) it is a nice energy-saving option that is also fanless and therefore totally silent. If you end up getting the Kessil Spectral Controller for it sometime down the line, make sure the controller you purchase comes with a 3.5mm unit link cable. Some of Kessil's newer controllers (like the Spectral Controller X) include a K-Link cable, which is for their fancier lights, but do not include the 3.5mm cable that the controller needs in order to interface with the A80.

[Ratvan]

How is your Goby doing? Still eating like a pig?

[NaturallyKait]

8 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Wifi power bar! That sounds very fancy. More moving parts always increases the risk of equipment failure though, so you might want to get a manually-operated power bar just in case something goes south. I find this one to be very nice because it has recessed switches, which means you can chunk some bulky adapters into it and still be able to operate it normally. You can also get it in black.

 

Congrats on your new gear! I also use an A80. At 15 watts it's not the most powerful light, but as long as you're not growing anything too demanding (I don't) it is a nice energy-saving option that is also fanless and therefore totally silent. If you end up getting the Kessil Spectral Controller for it sometime down the line, make sure the controller you purchase comes with a 3.5mm unit link cable. Some of Kessil's newer controllers (like the Spectral Controller X) include a K-Link cable, which is for their fancier lights, but do not include the 3.5mm cable that the controller needs in order to interface with the A80.

Yeah I considered a manual switch bar, but I can’t reach the power bar behind the tank (I’m short lol) and wouldn’t be able to do maintenance without help. That was the appeal of the wifi. 

 

Im not planning on any demanding corals at this point. Just softies, maybe a few LPS. I decided if for some reason I decide to delve into some SPS down the road I’m ok with having to buy a second a80 to have enough light. I am eventually planning on the controller. I looked at the difference between the regular and the new X and it looks like the new one will work with the 3.5mm link, it’s just not included so you have to buy one separately. We’ll see, that’s probably a few months down the road anyway. 

2 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

How is your Goby doing? Still eating like a pig?

He’s doing great! A little bottomless pit. He eats frozen mysis and even flake food. He’s so much fun, and I’m really relieved he eats so well! 

[Ratvan]

7 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

Yeah I considered a manual switch bar, but I can’t reach the power bar behind the tank (I’m short lol) and wouldn’t be able to do maintenance without help. That was the appeal of the wifi. 

 

Im not planning on any demanding corals at this point. Just softies, maybe a few LPS. I decided if for some reason I decide to delve into some SPS down the road I’m ok with having to buy a second a80 to have enough light. I am eventually planning on the controller. I looked at the difference between the regular and the new X and it looks like the new one will work with the 3.5mm link, it’s just not included so you have to buy one separately. We’ll see, that’s probably a few months down the road anyway. 

He’s doing great! A little bottomless pit. He eats frozen mysis and even flake food. He’s so much fun, and I’m really relieved he eats so well! 

Mine is the same, a bottomless pit. I do wonder how much I need to feed. 

Little worried about over feeding him and developing issues

[NaturallyKait]

14 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Mine is the same, a bottomless pit. I do wonder how much I need to feed. 

Little worried about over feeding him and developing issues

I have the same concerns. It’s hard to measure such a small amount. Especially from frozen food. I’m sure it’s contributing to my diatoms. 

[billygoat]

1 hour ago, NaturallyKait said:

Im not planning on any demanding corals at this point. Just softies, maybe a few LPS. I decided if for some reason I decide to delve into some SPS down the road I’m ok with having to buy a second a80 to have enough light. I am eventually planning on the controller. I looked at the difference between the regular and the new X and it looks like the new one will work with the 3.5mm link, it’s just not included so you have to buy one separately. We’ll see, that’s probably a few months down the road anyway. 

When I purchased my Kessil spectral controller X from BRS and discovered that it did not include the cable I required, they were kind enough to send me the necessary cable for free. Ironically I eventually ended up buying a new cable anyway because I wanted to get the one with a 90 degree adapter, so the freebie cable is now sitting in storage as a spare. 😅 But I have to imagine that most retailers will help you out in a similar way if you find yourself with a controller but not the cable you need. It's certainly quite a vexing situation.

[NaturallyKait]

Last night I tested out the Kessil during my water change. I love it, and I’ve been eagerly waiting for the screen top kit to come so I can use it full time. 

 

 

I just got an email from the company I ordered the light and screen kit from. They can’t fulfil the screen kit after all. So I’ve been waiting for nothing. Argh. Now to find another one I like and wait all over again. I’m half tempted to just order the BRS kit even though I know I’d regret it because of the fees to import it into Canada and the exchange rate, plus the IM one didn’t need clips to mount it to the aquarium which was a big selling point. 

[NaturallyKait]

New friends came home from the LFS with the tiny reefer this weekend. 

 

Don’t mind the algae, that was right before a water change. It’s looking much better now. 

 

The new hermit and the other one we already had get into some shenanigans and amuse the tiny reefer on a daily basis. He really likes them. 

 

In other news, I ordered a different screen top for the tank. Still waiting for it, so still don’t have the Kessil up and running 😞

 

The probe on my inkbird rusted. Contacted them and they’re replacing it with the new plastic probe that won’t rust. Hopefully it’ll be back up and running soon. 

 

Other than that, I’m just continuing to clean the hair algae out of the tank during water changes, waiting for the diatoms to completely go away and hopefully soon we’ll be ready for coral and the tiny reefer can get the clownfish pair he’s not so patiently waiting for. 

 

[NaturallyKait]

It’s finally here! 

 

 

Hopefully we can get the screen top built tonight and it’ll finally be Kessil time! 

 

Replacement inkbird arrived too. Their CS was great and now I have the plastic rust proof probe 👍🏻

[NaturallyKait]

Took a few days because the kids are all sick but we are finally Kessil powered 😎

 

Tomorrow I really need to dial in the colour and intensity on it, but I’m so glad it’s finally up! I have no idea what I’m doing with the colour haha, I guess we’ll see. I’m thankful for Kessil logic lol. 

 

I dropped into the LFS today in hopes of buying a hanna phosphorous ULR checker but the only one they had in stock had expired reagent, so I wasn’t about to pay full price for it. The guy there today was just filling in for someone and isn’t one of the usual employees so next time I’m in I’ll talk to the owner and see if they’re going to get more in. I was eyeing up the corals though and they had a few pretty zoas. I’m pretty tempted now that the lighting is set up. 

[billygoat]

Looks nice! That light has worked out pretty well for me so far, so I hope it ends up meeting your needs too. 😊 At 15w it's definitely not the strongest light on the block, but as long as you don't plan to grow anything too demanding I imagine it will be just fine.

 

Kessil logic makes it pretty easy to tune the color; you basically just find a setting that you like the look of and keep it in that neighborhood all the time. Any plans to pick up the Kessil Spectral Controller?