25 cube

[HippieSquirrel]

Hello again nano reef!

 

New FTS:

 

 

It’s been about a year since I’ve been active with reefing, everything kind of fell apart after my 80g shallow build was put on hold due to a bit of oversight on my part.. (electrical issues 😅).  After that my temporary/quarantine tank became my only tank and it wasn’t set up with that intention so I lost interest.  I finally realized I had all this equipment lying around and here we are.  I picked up an aquamaxx 25g cube and overflow and pulled some of the unused equipment out of the basement.  Not the massive dream tank or the 80g but until I have a more stable situation this will work nicely!  I’m just hoping I can get some real results this time around.  

 

 

 

I’ll be getting turbo start today, once cycled I’ll be transferring my fish, inverts, and surviving coral slowly to this tank along with my mp10 and nanobox mini.  Still can’t decide if I want to seed the sump with my live rock.. there’s some bubble algae and aptasia for sure not sure what else.  

 

 

 

Please excuse the mess of cords, going to try and build a little cabinet to go to the left of the sump to hide those and various tools/fish food.

 

Thanks for reading!

[HippieSquirrel]

First time using an apex had it up and running for over 24 hours now but have run into some issues.. I submitted at ticket after doing a bit of searching and found nothing helpful but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask?

 

Has anyone had some outlets become unresponsive?  No power surges in the house and there's no way I maxed out the wattage etc, only had the 2 heaters and return pump running whenever this started.  I have power to 5 and the rest I can't use (4, 7, & 8).  I had used them before also (fuge light and skimmer as seen in pic above), and tested them with the heaters that are working in the remaining outlets - when I turn them on using fusion the corresponding light on the energy bar lights up but there is no click like before and no power given.  The power log is not recording everything and goes blank every so often giving me a red (!) next to the voltage but eventually comes back but only for 2/3 of the working outlets.  

 

Luckily this sort of thing is happening when I only need my heaters and return pump!

[HippieSquirrel]

Sometimes I can be a bit dense.. all I needed to do was unplug and re-plug the energy bar into the outlet.  😅

 

I'm running a Duetto ATO currently and the pump failed - with help from Joseph at XP Aqua I was able to figure that out and he sent a replacement very quickly.  Really happy with the customer service!

 

As far as the tank is concerned it took me a while to dial in the overflow but I have a decent handle on it now, the skimmer is breaking in, and I have added all my critters from the 15g to the tank/sump along with some rock.  I did have to bring a VERY large aptasia along with one of the RFAs that wouldn't leave its piece of rock but it is in the sump and hopefully the nem will move and I can remove the aptasia.  Otherwise the rock was overall very live and clean - not nearly as bad as I feared - so I transferred about a third of it to the tank/sump.  CUC reinforcements arrive today from Reef Cleaners and some gracilia - going to try that in the fuge instead of chaeto to start we shall see how it goes!  Ill update pics tonight - gonna play with my new lens!

 

I cannot make up my mind about the sand bed, part of me feels its fine and part of me feels its too deep.. guess I'll make a decision if I get a burrower of some kind, I only have room for a 1-2 fish probably maybe 3 if they're all tiny.  I've wanted a Forktail blenny for a while but that would severely limit the last fish probably would only get a yasha pistol pair if I did that.  I'm also tempted to do a six-line but I am worried about aggression in the smaller footprint.  Unfortunately the sump isn't livable long term if I have issues, and again I would be limited if not fully stocked at that point.  Something else that caught my eye over on DD was a pygmy red rooster waspfish.  Very pretty, cute, and different but it would probably eat or sting all my fish on purpose or accident sooner or later.  Not worth the risk.  Currently I don't plan to add anything new for at least a month.

[HippieSquirrel]

I have been getting some weird readings in testing so I want to figure this out before getting new coral.

 

pH:

API: 7.8 

 

Apex:

he last couple days have been "stable" at about 7.25-7.3
After re-calibrating this morning it was reading 7.92.. I'll be monitoring it but it is still a bit low.

 

Alk:

Hanna:

1/9 - 6.8 dKH

1/13 - 7 dKH

1/15 - 7.1 dKH

 

Red Sea:

1/13 - 6.44 dKH

1/15 - 6.44 dKH

 

Ca has been 395 on 1/13 and 1/15 using red sea.

Mg I only tested on 1/13 and was 1480 - a little high for blue bucket but that doesn't bother me as much.

Specific gravity has been stable at 1.026 - my refractometer has been in line with the conductivity probe.

 

I am not sure what is off.. my test kits may be bad - they aren't expired (will be in march) but they are about a year old I think.  Is it possible to be getting an Alk of about 6.5-7 using blue bucket?  It should be higher, I might believe it if my Ca was dropping but it isn't.  So I will be re calibrating the pH probe.. I may need to order an ICP test just to figure out if my kits are telling the truth.  I don't want to start dosing if I don't have an explanation for the low pH/Alk.  Anyone have any theories?

 

I stopped by a local place I hadn't heard of before - Reefwise in Lisle, IL - it was a nice little shop!  A huge step up from my usual place!  It was very hard not to bring a couple easy sps back with me but I want to figure out my parameters first.  The guy working there said he would look into getting some Tracey's Damsels in their next order - if I can get a trio I think those will be my last fish.

 

Working on pictures, I can't find my whatever lighting/camera settings I used to use but these will give you an idea of the state of things.

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Things have been going good, pH seems to have been low due to the Alk being low.  I finally mixed my two part up just to have on hand and to dose as needed until things are growing enough to require consistent dosing but I added some to bring parameters into the preferred ranges and pH went up as expected and it seems to be MUCH more stable now which is really nice.  

 

The red gracilaria hasn't been doing much of anything.. I read somewhere that it prefers cooler temps which may explain its lack of growth, I have been feeding heavily and nitrates have been between 10-20 ppm and there have been diatoms which seems to be going away in favor of a bit of hair algae.  So I ordered some chaeto from algae barn along with some pods.  Hopefully that will fix the algae but overall it hasn't been terrible just need to clean the glass every couple days.  

 

I found one baby aiptasia - going to try and remove it when I have my hands in the tank next.  

 

Coral growth is good!  The acan has rebounded wonderfully - I never expected it to reattach itself to the skeleton after half of the polyp/head was bailing out but it has been puffy and polyp extension has been excellent.  The blastos are doing well - I added live baby brine a couple days ago and they went nuts I haven't seen blastos fully expand like they did I hope more feedings like that will help their growth.  I am surprised I don't see live brine more often as a reef practice.  I know the nutrition is minimal but isn't that a staple of coral in the ocean?  I never cultured them when doing freshwater because the world of salt was scary to me back then but it is SO simple.  I figure I can use for coral/snacks and grow the rest to adults and gut load them for added variety in diet.  I wonder what dosing from a culture would do.... I assume that's what NPS systems do?

 

I have also picked up a few new inhabitants with more on the way.  About a week+ ago a pygmy red rooster waspfish showed up again on DD and I pulled the trigger after another bout of research.  I knew it was a risk but I am - so far - extremely glad I took it.  He has been a really beautiful and interesting addition.  He has shown no interest that I have observed in any of my other fish - I don't think he could even go after Sheldon (my tailspot) if he wanted.  He is a predator so I am still working on weaning him onto frozen but he has yet to show interest in anything other than small shrimp.  My fire shrimp and red line goby have been just fine with him.  

 

After some mix up with lion king names he was dubbed Mafusa 😅 but I like it so oh well lol

 

 

I also grabbed some variation of a birdsnest which has branched a good amount since going in the tank - though a couple hermits have chipped a few of the tips off 😣, a mystic sunset monti, and a candelabra gorg.  This week I have a few more coral to get the tank started, as well as a BTA and a few more RFA's.  

 

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Messing with the white balance really helped with pictures, going to try and figure out the blue lighting ones to get better coral pics later.

 

These were taken during feeding time right before I moved corals around.

 

 

 

 

[DNR88]

I like the look of it, can become very nice when it all starts to grow. 😊

[HippieSquirrel]

This is going to be tons of notes on the last couple weeks since adding more coral, a fish, and starting Alk/Ca dosing - it will be a bit wordy.  Ill be adding new pictures this week!

 

 

The tank is running smooth enough, minor diatoms and hair algae on the glass but the last week or so the growth has been slowing.  I only have to clean it about once a week now.  I am attributing that to getting the skimmer to produce, I still have to tweak it every so often but when its working the cup gets filled pretty quick.  The only parameter that is undesirable is nitrate at about 20-40 ppm the last two times I tested though I only have an old API nitrate test so I will be re-testing when I get a better kit this week.  Weekly ~15% water changes seem to be keeping it from rising higher than that but I would prefer at least 10 ppm.  

 

Unfortunately my chaeto and gracilia are doing pretty much nothing... which I don't get because the phosphate is stable at .2 so there should be plenty of nutrients.  My only complaint with the sump is that at this smaller size the refugium section is rather tall and doesn't move the algae so it just sinks and the surface coverage is rather narrow.  I am wondering if the light is insufficient at this depth but I don't wanna buy a kessil or something on a whim.   So I am debating trying brightwells chaetogrow or building a chaeto reactor instead.  I am going to give it a couple weeks before I change anything, I want to give the fuge a chance to establish itself.

 

I also wish my pH would stabilize, it constantly fluctuates between ~7.9 and ~8.2 sometimes going up and down multiple times a day.  However there isn't a strict pattern that it follows either.  In the grand scheme of things .3 isn't a huge range but it makes me uneasy - is this the kind of thing that will work itself out over time?  I haven't researched fluctuations specifically like mine but it isn't an issue I have heard of outside of lighting schedule/refugium stuff and dosing issues.  I should also mention it seems to be independent of my dosing schedule and my fuge lights are opposite of my tank lights with an hour overlap on both ends.

 

 

In the meantime there have only been 4 issues with the critters:

I lost a six-line due to unknown causes he was in the tank for 2 weeks, he injured himself on my return pipe I believe shortly after adding him, the clowns may have been beating on him when I wasn't around and Mafusa may have stung him.  He was active and eating well so I really can't say was did him in.  I found out my CUC is effective because within 24 hours all I found was a bit of tissue attached to the jaw and a clump of flesh stuck on my mp10.

 

The RBTA I think has died, it shrank shortly after getting it and stayed that way, mostly just looking pathetic - yesterday it had detached from the rock and was upside down for a little while.  No idea where it is atm.  I am assuming nitrates are the problem here, though my female clown has aggressively hosted or at least shown interest in all BTA I have tried introducing so that could be a problem too.  I would have waited but I didn't anticipate having issues getting my refugium going.  

 

The candelabra gorgonian came to me with a bit of tissue on one branch that didn't look too great - this has begun spreading.  Meanwhile my other gorgonian has recovered the damaged bits of flesh.  So I assume nitrates aren't helping, maybe its more sensitive, though the necrosis of flesh might be a disease.. right now my only plan is to monitor it closely and see how it goes.  If I can get nitrates down maybe it'll bounce back but if not I doubt I'll be able to do anything about it.

 

The last problem child is my mystic sunset monti - it seems to be losing tissue slowly, I did move it to the top ish part of the rock which as I am typing this.... I am probably burning it...  I will move it back to the sandbed and see if it recovers.  Again nitrates could be a factor but the other sps seem to be okay with it.  

 

 

The acro is brown now, though I think it kind of was before it had a subtle green tint so I hope it comes back.  The skeleton looks strong though.  

 

 

Fun stuff:

I got a golden mushroom - they called it a golden dragon mushroom,  I can't remember if its a rhodactis or ric but its pretty and it split almost immediately after entering the tank.  Now I figure that was stress however both are doing really well!  They're both nearly back to the size of the original mushroom! ~ dime sized.

 

The pink and yellow/green palys I got are putting out new polyps.

 

I think all 3 alveopora are putting out new polyps too but I am not certain.

 

The rest of the coral are kinda just there, they seem healthy and are feeding well as far as I can tell but I don't see a ton of visible growth atm.  Hopefully as things continue to stabilize that will change!  

 

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Here are some photos from march 4th that I forgot to post:

 

Rare full shots of Mafusa - do not regret adding him to the tank at all.

 

 

FTS before nitrates started causing problems:

 

 

Looking at older photos again I think the alveopora have colored up despite my nutrient problems especially the pink one in the back.  I'll explain the issues and steps being done to correct them in another post.

Here is a side by side comparison 2 months apart - no growth really and they're not fully open in the more recent one but I think the color is better which is nice to see.  Not the clearest photos just using cropped random ones I already had.

 

March 4th top // April 27th bottom:                                                                                                                              

 

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Alright so, tank is still up and running but the nitrates have finally caught up to me and there is now a hair algae problem.

 

Current FTS: excuse the HA, haven't done my wc this week yet.

 

 

I gave the fuge some time to sort it self out and it had started growing about mid/late march - at this point nitrate was back down to about 20 and phosphate was still about .2 ppm.  It isn't a very large fuge so I decided to prune some of the unhealthy and nuisance algae coated parts to help give more of the healthy parts to reach the light.  That may have been a mistake, because after that the entire fuge has been taken over by nuisance algae.  For whatever reason neither macro can compete with the nuisance hair and slime and cyano and whatever else is in there. 

 

Current state of fuge: 

 

 

Nutrients jumped back up to all new highs of ~40 ppm nitrate and .26 ppm phosphate by April and maintained there till mid April.  Since the fuge didn't bounce back and wc weren't helping any I decided to look for a more hands on approach.  So two weeks ago I started carbon dosing using vinegar because its cheap, available, and less likely to cause cyano according to some sources.  My nutrients are now at 20 nitrate and .14 phosphate which is the lowest I have ever had my phosphates.  Now I can't 100% say this was all the vinegar because as of a few days ago I finally figured out how to tune my skimmer and it is consistently pulling dark skimate out which is great.  However I doubt the skimmer is doing all that and some of it should be because of the carbon dosing too.  I will have to wait and see if this will yield long term results but things seem to be going in the correct direction for now which is good.  Lots of people seem to have great success with carbon dosing and if all it costs is vinegar and another dosing pump I'd rather do that than try to deal with this mess of a fuge anymore.

 

Skimmer:

I am more of a visual learner and I read/watched videos on tuning skimmers etc but none of it ever really clicked until I sat down and really tried to figure out what it was doing and how it works, after that it was easy.  For me at least none of the stuff I researched really explained skimmers properly or at least without visual aid I didn't grasp the content.  So it took me an hour or so of fiddling with the skimmer one night but I finally got it!  Wish I had done it sooner or maybe I wouldn't have run into some of the issues I am having now.

 

 

Couple more photos will be in a second post - running out of room in this one, nothing great but I want to document the progress.  Still hoping I can get this going in the right direction.  On a positive note, all the fish are happy and the LPS and softies don't seem to mind.  Also super gluing the two aiptasia seems to have stopped the spread, no others have popped up that I have seen.  The SPS are really suffering with the nutrients which sucks.  However all but 2 have been hanging on so far, I just hope I can get things to an acceptable level before they give up.

 

 

[HippieSquirrel]

Large and Small + Tons of HA I need to clean:

 

 

Somehow one of the crabs ended up in the skimmer chamber 😅 

Need to remember to move it back... 

 

 

Forgot to mention, since I have had time on my hands of late due to current day I decided to try and hand sew some curtains out of black jean material I found in stashed away.  It was a great way to kill time.  I will never hand sew anything again but they get the job done.  They don't look the best but they aren't bad either.  

 

 

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy with their fishes!