Barebones 20H Reef Tank

[Steemax]

Random photo dump from today with my cell phone including current FTS and side shots. Everything is doing great, the elegance still keeps opening bigger and bigger. The shear size of this thing is scaring me. I should slow down the feeding 😄.

 

[A.m.P]

Wonderful camera work.

[Steemax]

4 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

Wonderful camera work.

Thanks! best I can do with my S8

[Steemax]

Video time... Had to move a few corals around as the BTA decided to take a walk again and sting my Nepthea and Duncan. It's like it's attracted to the Duncan. This is the 3rd time I've had to move the Duncan because it goes right up against it 😅. 

 

 

 

[Steemax]

Well i'm trying my hand at a clam, and it just so happens to be a more difficult species, the Maxima clam. In the 15 years of reef keepign i've never had the guts to try one. I've been eyeing this little guy for a few weeks now at the LFS and it's been doing good there. I had them show me the foot and everything looked ok. It's light blue and about 3". First I cleaned what I can with a tooth brush to make sure there weren't any pyramid snails. Then I placed it in the tank yesterday starting off with the lights off before they turned on and started their ramp up. Slowly moved it up to the top where it should be getting a healthy amount of light from the Hydra. I also glued in a big hermit shell as a barrier between the BTA and the clam even though the current is pushing the tentacles away from the clam you can never be too sure. 

 

The first day it only opened half way and was very skittish reacting to even people entering the room a few feet away. Today it's open even more and looking beautiful. 

 

For now i'm leaving it alone and keeping my hands out of the tank to allow it to settle since it's only been 24 hrs to this point. Also going to be checking my Alk/Ca daily to monitor for sudden drops as i've heard clams have a tendency to uptake a lot more than corals.

 

[Steemax]

Noticed my hammer coral finally split into two heads along with new tentacle growth! Plus the 3rd one growing from the base. Also some extra bonus photos, clam is doing good and is open more. Also just realized the insane size of my plate coral when viewed from top down. Color comes out better this way as well. 

 

[mfield16]

Tank is looking very, very good. 

[Steemax]

28 minutes ago, mfield16 said:

Tank is looking very, very good. 

Thank you!

[Steemax]

Just a random update... My BTA Is bothering my clam. I watch the clam bite down on one of the tentacles two days ago, it's caused it to recess a little on the bottom so i'm worried. Unfortunately the clam has anchored itself down so it's not going anywhere. This was a mistake on my part for not having some ruble rock on hand for it to attach to. I ordered one of those fancy anemone cups. I'm going to attempt to remove the anemone and place it in one of those. As of today the clam is looking better and seems to be recovering.

 

Despite all of that I've had to up my Tropic Marin AFR dosing by double since introducing the clam. I've also had to start dosing nitrates now. Adding 2ppm worth to the fresh saltwater mix to equal 5ppm in the tank was enough before but 2 days later it's showing unreadable amounts. I'm not sure if this is the clam up-taking it or what. Either way I take that as a good sign that the corals are using the nutrients in the water for growth. 

 

In case anyone is interested I keep my major parameters as such or at least try my best to: 

Nitrates: 5

Phosphate: 0.1

Calcium: 430

Alk: 11

Mag: Pending test kit

Temp: 79F

 

I've also noticed a few small patches of coraline algae starting to grow on the back glass. Yay! 

 

Last but not least I ordered one of those Mame glass protein skimmers that use a lime wood air stone. Should be here tomorrow. Excited to try it out as I hear good things. 

 

Anyway, that's all for now....

[Steemax]

Mame skimmer installed, a lot smaller than it looked in pictures and videos. let's see how this thing works. So far nothing, assuming it's going to need some time to break in. 

 

[Steemax]

Well my after using Aiptasia-x i noticed a ton of baby Aiptasia sprouting everywhere, some even between my Zoa's. Really unsightly and before they start growing over everything I placed an order of 8 Berghia Nudibranch's from Salty Underground. They also had a 4 head Kryptonite Candycane I couldn't resist adding to the order for just $25!. I may have gone overboard with the amount of Nudi's but there are too many Aiptasia to count at this point. I'll try catching as many as I can after they're done and paying it forward to a local reefer. 

 

I'll update once these guys get in. 

[Steemax]

My package had a slight delay, they delivered it late afternoon instead of by 10:30 am as it should have been... Never has UPS been on time to my place. The package came very cold, the heat packs had been exhausted. I quickly acclimated the Berghia and put them in, they went in fine and even laid some nice swirly eggs right away on my rockwork. The Kryptonite didn't look so hot though. I took a gamble and did not dip it in an effort to avoid further stressing it out. It had come undone from it's frag plug too so tried to glue it back on but it came out sloppy. I hope it recovers, we'll see. In other news the Mame skimmer is kicking butt and Tropic Marin dosage had to be increased again by 0.3ml!!! Damn is this clam thirsty. 

 

 

[Steemax]

Today marks exactly the 3rd month mark for my tank so I figured I'd post up some updated pics. Everything is doing great.

 

This morning I woke up to see the two largest Aiptasia had vanished over night so the Bhergia's have started their bidding! Now for them to make their way to the million tiny ones all around the tank. 

 

The Kryptonite is recovering well from the shipment. I had unfortunately gotten some superglue on one of the heads but it doesn't seem to mind it. 

 

My Maxima clam is also doing great and i'm now seeing tons of small purple Coraline algae growing on the back glass.

 

[Steemax]

Well as of this morning I can't spot a single aiptasia. Not even the ones in my zoa's. Geez I should have just ordered two. 

[Steemax]

Some random pics from today.... You can see all the new white shell growth on the clam which is exciting. Also the Kryptonite has made a good recovery from shipment and is looking plump. Tank is still spotless of any Aitpasia so that's great. Not much else to report here, everything is growing at a good rate. My only issues are good ones to have I guess. My elegance must have grown some as it's now touching both my Acans. Leather coral is closed today as it's finishing up it's shedding process. 

 

[Steemax]

A frag I had ordered came with some GHA. I thought I had removed it manually before putting it into the tank but I guess not. Shortly after I had been battling a GHA outbreak. I finally decided to try Vibrant. Well it immediately killed off the GHA but Cyano exploded everywhere. Here's where we are now... I don't know what to do and I want to avoid using red slime remover.

 

 

 

[A.m.P]

Could try Peroxide dosing the tank, or spot-treating the cyano patches (which would likely be more effective).

[Steemax]

1 hour ago, Amphrites said:

Could try Peroxide dosing the tank, or spot-treating the cyano patches (which would likely be more effective).

I'll look into it if I don't see any improvement for sure. For now i'm going to reduce my light intensity alongside balancing parameters and maybe beefing up my CUC with some sand sifters as i'm still on the 2 trochus snails and 3 blue hermits from the beginning.

[Steemax]

 

[Steemax]

 

[Mystichrome]

Your tank is absolutely stunning! 

 

I have two questions... I see that your tank is rimmed. How is that ATO working out for you, in terms of keeping the water level above the rim? Been on the fence about getting one because I can't stand seeing the water line on a rimmed tank. 

 

What bracket mount do you have for your lights? Did you have to do anything to get it to stay on there well?

 

Again, quite possibly my favorite tank on here!