Thetravelguy Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 Its been nearly a month since my mini crash. It was not nearly as awful as I had once thought. I gave the tank nearly a month to recouperate, monitered my params, watched my coral and made sure everything was good. I only ended up loosing one coral, my chalice. My hammer, GSP, zoas, ric, all survived. This last week I have found myself a new clown. I had desired a nice designer clown but couldnt bring myself to shell out the cash for one. Its a choice I slightly regret, but in time itll be fine. I got a new Oce and hes very active. Very fun to watch. I hope he decides to host something. I also replaced my tailspot blenny. I loved my last guy. The new tailspot is very very timid, I havce only seen him a couple times since adding. We will see if he gets over it or is just a permenant hider. I found a new (to me) LFS that is farther away but their coral selection (and prices) are A++. Their fish selection is meh. But coral yes yes yes. For black friday weekend they offered a tremendous deal on corals and inverts. So today I came home with a cleaner shrimp (always loved them) and 6 new coral ...... Everyone seems to be doing quite well. im loving my new scape and when stuff starts to fill in (come on gsp) I think itll look spectacular (of course im biased). I brought home a new chalice ( I thought it was a hollywood stoner, but now that it is home im not so certain. Its base is awfully thick) a favia a duncan frag a meteor shower cyphastrea frag a gorgeous and very neon candy cane and lastly a spontaneous acro frag that I havce no clue what it is. It was super cheap (like $10) so I figured why not try it. Im very excited to be continuing on this adventure. The tank is looking better than ever and im hoping it will just get better! 2 Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 Things seem to be improving on the daily. It appears my trumpet coral has a head that’s splitting. My Duncan is happy happy, very full and bright. My hammer is looking more full and I think it *might* be growing a new head 🤞🏻. The growth is kind of heard to see due to the coral placement but it looks like it maybe! I did discover an asterina today. He was hanging out on my GSP (which hasn’t opened in a couple day’s) so I snatched him up and threw him out. Wouldn’t you know it the gsp opened a few hours later? I have some aptasia that’s come in on my favia 🙄. I’ll have to get rid of that. It’s on the base of the coral so I’ll have to be careful. Ive started noticing an ever so minute growth of coraline. Which to me is very exciting. I know it can become pestilential but I’ve never really had it before so I’m excited about it. anyways updates are basically all good. Very much enjoying this tank 😊 ps. The pictures from today are off my phone. They aren’t the greatest but 🤷🏻♂️ I’m excited to find an app that will let me alter the white balance before I take the photo. Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Most asterinas are harmless. The coral-eaters are larger and kind of mottled, whereas the more common scavengers are smaller and white. It may just have been bothering your polyps a bit by virtue of walking on them, rather than actually hurting them. 1 Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted December 17, 2019 Author Share Posted December 17, 2019 Tank is doing pretty well. Kenya tree has been shriveled up for almost a week, can’t figure out what’s wrong. Params are normal and healthy. I’m wondering if I may have been Damaged when I moved stuff around. But it appears normal. I understand Kenya tree may do this from time to time so we’ll see. picked up an awesome 3 headed blue trumpet for $10. Also picked up a good sized toadstool. It was a bit of an impulse buy but I wanted to try it out. i had a huge empty spot in the back corner than needed filling so... I filled it 🤷🏻♂️. last but not least I introduced my final tank mate the canary wrasse. I thought I lost him the first day and tore the tank apart. Couldn’t find a trace of him. Come to learn he’s a sand digger- I had no idea. After a few days he showed his gorgeous face. I absolutely love the coloring. On the hunt for more eyuphs now. Hard to come by locally it seems. 2 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Gorgeous Canary Wrasse, have you spotted it waking up yet? Nothing quiet like seeing a sleepy little fish face poking through the sand Going to bed like a yellow cruise missile is pretty funny too 1 Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted December 17, 2019 Author Share Posted December 17, 2019 Just now, Ratvan said: Gorgeous Canary Wrasse, have you spotted it waking up yet? Nothing quiet like seeing a sleepy little fish face poking through the sand Going to bed like a yellow cruise missile is pretty funny too No so far I’ve missed both! Either he’s nowhere to be found or out swimming about. I’m sure one day I’ll see it though! 1 Quote Link to comment
billygoat Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Looks fantastic! Good to see everything is still going strong. I'll second @Ratvan on that canary wrasse - absolutely beautiful animal. 2 Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 I’ve been battling red slime for a few weeks now 😩. Can’t seem to find the source. My nitrites are all nice and low. Ive cut back to only about 6 hrs of light a day, aside from very indirect light from a nearby window. I’ve thought low flow could be an issue, I have the stock pump in the back, a jebaeo 10 wave maker going pretty hard and I just added The smaller koralia (or however it’s spelled). So one would think there’s decent enough flow. im thinking there may be some other outplaying issue. I’ve got nothing in my second chamber, so I have room to add note filtration. What should I try? I’ve got carbon and filter floss in the first chamber. And I have phosguard I throw in sometimes. I don’t want to create a bigger problem by messing stuff around. on a more positive note I picked up a 28 biocube used locally for cheap so I’ll be looking to make an upgrade. I plan to just cycle the new tank then add stuff slowly. I want to minimize loss (not that I have THAT much, but still) Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 What are your parameters? Cyanobacteria can overpopulate when you have too little nutrients. Cyanos and pest algaes thrive in low nutrient conditions with no competition. What you really want is to have enough nutrients to support a myriad of non-pest algaes, since having plenty of those will let them compete with each other and the pests for space and nutrients. The more biodiversity, the less pest overpopulation. In short, you may actually want to feed MORE, and not add any filter stuff. In fact, maybe stop the phosguard. It'll hep a bit if you remove the big mats of it as they grow. But, remember, it's just unsightly. As long as you keep any sessile inverts turkey-bastered clean, the cyano won't hurt anything. Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 1/10/2020 at 12:50 PM, Tired said: What are your parameters? Cyanobacteria can overpopulate when you have too little nutrients. Cyanos and pest algaes thrive in low nutrient conditions with no competition. What you really want is to have enough nutrients to support a myriad of non-pest algaes, since having plenty of those will let them compete with each other and the pests for space and nutrients. The more biodiversity, the less pest overpopulation. In short, you may actually want to feed MORE, and not add any filter stuff. In fact, maybe stop the phosguard. It'll hep a bit if you remove the big mats of it as they grow. But, remember, it's just unsightly. As long as you keep any sessile inverts turkey-bastered clean, the cyano won't hurt anything. In all my time fishkeeping somehow I never knew the lack of excess could be equally harmful. I’ve always been too concerned over having perfect water. My params when checked were pretty clear. ph-8 ammonia - slightly elevated, but found the source. A frag had fallen between some rock work and when I found it it was mushy and foul. nitrate and nitrite both dead- 0 salinity at healthy 1026 I guess try to feed more, as suggested? I removed phosguard. And hope that works. I also rearranged my rock work in hopes of getting some better flow in the tank to eliminate dead spots. Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Yep, that's your problem right there. Feeding more is the simplest solution. At least daily for the fish, and start or increase feeding your corals. Also, as long as your added-by-water-change parameters (calcium, alkalinity, etc) stay at reasonable levels, reduce water changes. Test your water frequently to see how things go, and do a water change only when needed. A lot of people try for ultra low nutrients, but it's not the best strategy for the vast majority of aquatic animals. Works OK for fish, but keep in mind that your corals and algaes absorb nutrients from the water to feed. When they're starving, the pests that can work with ultra low nutrients start growing, and absorb what little traces of food there are. 1 Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 On 1/13/2020 at 12:30 PM, Tired said: Yep, that's your problem right there. Feeding more is the simplest solution. At least daily for the fish, and start or increase feeding your corals. Also, as long as your added-by-water-change parameters (calcium, alkalinity, etc) stay at reasonable levels, reduce water changes. Test your water frequently to see how things go, and do a water change only when needed. A lot of people try for ultra low nutrients, but it's not the best strategy for the vast majority of aquatic animals. Works OK for fish, but keep in mind that your corals and algaes absorb nutrients from the water to feed. When they're starving, the pests that can work with ultra low nutrients start growing, and absorb what little traces of food there are. That makes complete sense I just, dunno, never followed the train of logic there. I appreciate the explanation. I’ll try feeding more and hope that helps out 👌🏻 Quote Link to comment
Thetravelguy Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 Alright so I need some serious help with the tank. It’s got a problem and I cannot figure out what it is. My params are clean (no ammonia, nitrate and nitrite low but no longer dead zero, ph stable at about 8.0 ) And I cant get red of red slime and stuff is dieing :(. Chalice is gone, as is one of my candy canes and even my toadstool. The toadstool was the first to go actually. Zoas seem perfectly happy 🙄 and my brain seems rather unaffected. ive done several large water changes (always distilled) in hopes of cleaning out the system. Fish seem perfectly happy as do the shrimp. But my corals are dropping like rocks and I can’t figure it out. My Kenya tree is shriveled and looks awful so I know it’s not happy. Any advice? Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 I'd stop doing water changes. What's "low" on your nitrates? The corals might be starving, and the red slime will thrive in bad conditions. Use a turkey baster to wash thick areas of slime loose so you can suck it up. Be sure to use it to keep the slime off the corals, as well. Try feeding your corals, especially the sickly ones. Don't bother with the zoanthids, they generally won't eat. Quote Link to comment
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