The Raena Reef - IM Nuvo Fusion 40

[monkeytrumpets]

Current FTS June 11, 2020

 

 

 

Equipment:

• IM Nuvo Fusion 40
• AI Hydra 32 HD
• Finnex 150W heater
• Inkbird temp controller
• XP Aqua Duetto ATO
• Tunze 9004 Protein Skimmer
• Sicce Voyager Nano powerhead
• IceCap Gyre 2k
• MightyJet Midsize return pump
• Random Flow Generators
• IM Media Basket
• InTank Fuge Basket
• CheatoMax Fuge Light
• 5-stage BRS RO/DI sytem
• Reef Saver dry rock x 40lbs
• CaribSea Aragonite special grade

 

Livestock:

• Mated pair of ocellaris clownfish
• Neon goby
• Yellow clown goby

 

Corals:

• Monti cap
• Cyphastrea
• Florida Ricordea
• Long polyped toadstool leather
• Acans
• Blastos
• Zoas
• Frogspawn
• Hammer

 

Other:

• Rock Flower Anemone

 

I'll come back and update when I've got more time, but wanted to get my build thread started.😊

[WV Reefer]

10 minutes ago, monkeytrumpets said:

Current FTS April 2, 2020

 

 

Equipment:

• IM Nuvo Fusion 40
• AI Hydra 32 HD
• Finnex 150W heater
• Inkbird temp controller
• XP Aqua Duetto ATO
• Tunze 9004 Protein Skimmer
• Sicce Voyager Nano powerhead
• 5-stage BRS RO/DI sytem
• Reef Saver dry rock x 40lbs
• CaribSea Aragonite special grade

 

I'll come back and update when I've got more time, but wanted to get my build thread started.😊

Very nice! 

[monkeytrumpets]

15 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Very nice! 

Thank you!

[billygoat]

Awesome! Love to see these Nuvo 40s - as we were discussing earlier, I think this tank has ideal dimensions for many things. 😉 Can't wait to see where you take it! I'll be following along.

[monkeytrumpets]

15 minutes ago, billygoat said:

Awesome! Love to see these Nuvo 40s - as we were discussing earlier, I think this tank has ideal dimensions for many things. 😉 Can't wait to see where you take it! I'll be following along.

I think there might be a spot over on the right side that is in desperate need of a gorgonian.  I'll need to play around with powerhead placement so it doesn't get too much flow, but it just seems to me like a gorgonian might be a good choice for a tank such as this... 😉

[monkeytrumpets]

Found a few free minutes, so I wanted to add some details to the thread.  After my pico crashed due to a Lemony Snickett-esque series of unfortunate events, I took a few years off from reefing.  I've been itching to get another tank going for a couple of years now, but kept putting it off.  The reefing bug finally bit me hard last fall, when we took our daughter, Raena, to the Omaha zoo, and went through the aquarium.  Seeing her light up while looking at all of the tanks got me muttering, "We need a reef tank again."  I started doing research not long after to see how much had changed since the last time I had a tank set up, and away we went.

 

The current plan is to be primarily LPS and softies.  I've got my heart set on a hammer and/or a frogspawn, and I don't think it's possible for me to set up a tank without some sort of Florida ricordea garden.  A wise soul suggested it might be worth trying a gorgonian, so they're on my list as well.  As far as fish go, I'm thinking something along these lines:

• Green clown goby or citron clown goby
• A pair of Ocellaris clowns
• Bangaii cardinal
• YWG or orchid dottyback

  

At the moment, the cycle is in full swing.  I kicked it off with some Dr. Tim's One and Only, and ammonium chloride.  I overshot my 2ppm ammonia by a bit, so my test isn't able to show a drop in ammonia levels yet, but my nitrites are rising, so I'm happy.

 

I'm trying to plan out my cleanup crew for once the cycle finishes.  We have an LFS in town, but I haven't had great luck with invertebrates from them in the past, so I'll probably have to order them online.  Any suggestions for species and numbers for this tank would be greatly appreciated.  I've thought about going with something like a 30 gallon snail-only crew from reefcleaners, but I honestly have no idea how many duders is too many duders for a tank this size without any fish in it yet.

 

 

[monkeytrumpets]

The cycle continues!  Ammonia dropped below 1ppm for the first time since my initial dose of ammonium chloride.  Nitrite test is reading 1ppm, but that's the max range for the Red Sea test, so it could be higher.  I'm currently just leaving it alone until ammonia and nitrite both read below 1ppm, and then I'll add my second dose of ammonium chloride.

 

I added Bio Spira last night to reinforce my microbial minions, and to hopefully increase the biodiversity of the bacterial population in the tank.  I turned off the return pump for 15 minutes, and just let the powerheads circulate it around in the display.  Hopefully they will find some nice homes in the rock and sand.  

 

Dropped the Tunze 9004 in the left-most rear chamber, though it's currently off.  I know there is a lot of back and forth on running a skimmer during the cycle, but I'm hoping to get it through the break-in period prior to adding livestock.  It'll stay off for 48 hours after the addition of Bio Spira, but after that I will probably let it run.

[jonanator]

How are you liking the Hydra32? I am contemplating that or the AI Prime 16HD... I probably won't be doing SPS in my Nuvo40, so thinking the 16HD might do that trick?

[monkeytrumpets]

On 4/13/2020 at 9:07 PM, jonanator said:

How are you liking the Hydra32? I am contemplating that or the AI Prime 16HD... I probably won't be doing SPS in my Nuvo40, so thinking the 16HD might do that trick?

I don't know that I can give an honest review, as I haven't had it on much.  I let myself turn it on for a little bit in the evening, when I'm testing water parameters, but I've mostly had it off since the tank is still cycling.  To my eye, I feel like I get pretty good coverage with the 32.  For LPS and softies, I get to turn the light way down since the coral won't want or need crazy PAR, but it's nice to know I can increase the light if it looks like the coral could use it (or if I add SPS towards the top of the tank).  I plan to run a similar spectrum to what BRS suggested LPS/Softies for the Hydra 64 over a 60 gallon cube.  I know it's not a 1:1 comparison, but it should be a good starting point.  Youtube linkey

[monkeytrumpets]

We're getting close to being able to add some critters, but we're not quite there yet.  The tank will break ammonia down from 2ppm to 0.2ppm in 24 hours, but it takes a bit longer to break down the nitrites.  I'm not in any huge hurry, so I'll happily keep adding ammonium chloride, and testing while I wait for my minions to populate the tank.

 

I added my other Sicce Voyager Nano, and adjusted the location of the original one to create what I'm calling "the janky gyre."  Both powerheads are mounted so they point behind the rocks, and it makes a nice circular flow around the front of the tank, and back to the powerheads.  At some point I will need stronger powerheads, but for right now, they're doing a good job of keeping things from settling on the sand (a dog hair got into the tank, and I watched it circle around for a while before finally getting pulled into the back chambers and into the filter pad).

[monkeytrumpets]

Still cycling, but I've replaced the Sicce powerheads with an IceCap Gyre 2k.  I like how much more control I have over type and volume of flow, and the tank looks much nicer with it near the top, where I really don't notice it from the front.  The Sicce powerheads are good pumps, but I didn't like the look of them both in the tank.  The Sicces have migrated to my 32 gallon trash can, where I've got saltwater mixing for my post-cycle water change.  Not gonna lie, being able to mix one big batch of salt water every month and a half or so will be super nice, compared to mixing individual buckets for each water change.

 

I had the lights on for a bit while I was sitting on the couch last night, and managed to convince our coonhound to sit with me.  Had to snag a photo:

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, monkeytrumpets said:

Still cycling, but I've replaced the Sicce powerheads with an IceCap Gyre 2k.  I like how much more control I have over type and volume of flow, and the tank looks much nicer with it near the top, where I really don't notice it from the front.  The Sicce powerheads are good pumps, but I didn't like the look of them both in the tank.  The Sicces have migrated to my 32 gallon trash can, where I've got saltwater mixing for my post-cycle water change.  Not gonna lie, being able to mix one big batch of salt water every month and a half or so will be super nice, compared to mixing individual buckets for each water change.

 

I had the lights on for a bit while I was sitting on the couch last night, and managed to convince our coonhound to sit with me.  Had to snag a photo:

Aww...... cute doggo 

[monkeytrumpets]

3 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Aww...... cute doggo 

Thanks!  Finn is helping us social distance by BAROOOOOO-ing any time anyone goes by on the sidewalk.  We've tried to explain that as long as they're 6' away, it's fine, but he struggles with measurements.

[WV Reefer]

Just now, monkeytrumpets said:

Thanks!  Finn is helping us social distance by BAROOOOOO-ing any time anyone goes by on the sidewalk.  We've tried to explain that as long as they're 6' away, it's fine, but he struggles with measurements.

I have a husky, so at my house it’s a wooooo-hooo to alert. 😄

 

[monkeytrumpets]

We're finally done cycling the dry rock!  I did a 40%(ish) water change to bring down nitrates, but they're still reading off the charts on my nitrate test (RedSea kit only goes to 50ppm, but after testing again following the water change I muttered "holy crap, how much nitrate did you guys make???").  I'm currently making more RO/DI water to swap out as much of the water in the tank as I can to try to bring them down to a more reasonable level.  My current plan is let things hang out for a couple of days after I drain/refill the tank tonight, test everything, and then hopefully get some fish ordered!  I wish I could get fish in town, but I lack confidence in the LFS nearby.  When I was wandering around in their fish room prior to coronatine, they had several dead fish chilling out in their displays, which did not make me feel great.  Every LFS has die-off, but these had clearly been there for a while....  On the plus side, they have a really nice frag tank, that looks to be well cared for, so when I'm ready for corals, I hope to pick up some pieces locally.

 

I've got my eye on a mated pair of ocellaris clownfish.  I'm a little nervous about adding two fish at once, but I would rather get them already paired up, and hopefully not have them beat the tar out of each other for a month or two until dominance is established (assuming they ever do get it sorted out).  I'll have some amquel on hand just in case, but I'm hoping since this isn't a super small nano, that it will rise to the challenge.  I had originally planned to get a captive-bred yellow clown goby to start, but can't find one for love nor money at the moment.  I keep revising my stocking plans as I do more research, and am currently planning on:

1. Mated clown pair
2. Yellow clown goby
3. Hybrid cleaner goby
4. YWG, orchid dottyback, something else?

All but the clown goby seem to be easy to find as captive-bred, and it seems like they should all get along OK together.  I keep reading that Banggai cardinals can get rather aggressive, and I'm looking for a more peaceful tank, so they've been dropped from the list.

[monkeytrumpets]

Another big water change last night.  Drained the tank down to just above the sand, and pumped out most of the middle chamber, then put freshly mixed water back in.  Nitrates are finally reading around 15ppm (high, I know, but I'll bring them down with some 20% water changes over the next couple of weeks).

 

I am kicking myself however, as I managed to drain several gallons of water onto the living room floor in the process.  I had finished filling the aquarium, unplugged the pump I was using to move water from the buckets into the tank, and without thinking about it, set the end of the plastic tubing on the towel I had laid out on the floor.  There was enough water in the tube to start a siphon, and I ended up emptying the rest of the bucket of water right onto the carpet.  Thankfully I got it mostly cleaned up before the wife noticed, or else I'm sure I would have landed myself in the dog house.  I talked to her about it, but since it was already dealt with, she was very understanding.  Nothing quite like running around like a crazy person getting towels and fans to reinforce the lesson to be extra careful where  you set things down, especially when you're distracted.

[monkeytrumpets]

It's been a flurry of activity the last couple of days.  After letting things hang out for a few days following the big water change, I ordered my first fish, a mated pair of ocellaris clowns from Pacific East Aquaculture.  I cannot say enough good things about them.  This was my first time shipping fish (I've done inverts and corals in the past though), and Dolores and Teddy (shout out to my fellow Westworld fans) arrived happy and healthy, well packaged, and were zipping around the tank in no time.  I even got a phone call from Pacific East Aquaculture later that afternoon to make sure my fish arrived alive and healthy, and to make sure I was happy with them.

 

NOW KITH

 

I drip acclimated them, and they have been happily exploring the tank for almost 24 hours.  No ammonia or nitrite spike yet (and hopefully I don't have one), but I'm paranoid, so I'll keep testing to be safe.  Added an ammonia alert badge to the tank as well.  I have AmQuel on standby, but if I have it and never use it, I'll be a very happy camper.

 

I've been fiddling around with the app that controls the gyre, and feel like I'm finally getting it figured out.  The way they structure triggers, presets, and modes was not initially very intuitive, but I'm to a point where I'm comfortable with it.  I definitely like that it's less obtrusive than the two Sicce powerheads I was previously using, and the gyre does a good job keeping things in suspension.  During the day it's on random, somewhere between 25% and 35% at any given time.  I did add a 2 minute "Stir s*** up" routine where it does a sine wave from 25% - 75%, which kicks garbage up off of the sand bed and back into the water column a couple of times a day.  Dolores and Teddy must like the current, because there are definitely lower-flow spots in the tank that they've discovered, but they tend to swim into high flow areas, ride the current, and then swim back to their starting point.  Fishy roller coaster I suppose.

 

I'm starting in on the first wave of the uglies.  I've got some brown growth in a few places on the rock.  With live rock that came with loads of hitchhikers, I never worried about adding a clean up crew too soon, but with cycled dry rock, I don't want to starve a bunch of snails.  I contacted reefcleaners, and they recommended going ahead with a 40 gallon CUC, but that just seems like way too many snails for how little growth I have so far.  42 dwarf ceriths, 11 nassarius vibex, 20 florida ceriths, and 16 nerites sounds like a lot of dead snails after a week or two.  If I halved those numbers, would that still be too much?

[monkeytrumpets]

Today has been rough... My adorable orange bulldog fish have been turning their wee noses up at the flake and pellet food I had for them, and the male now has two white spots and a cloudy eye.  Parameters seem to be ok, though nitrate is high at 20ppm (can't seem to get it any lower despite water changes, though them not eating the food I have offered to this point is certainly not doing me any favors).  Emergency trip to the LFS for refrigerated/frozen food, and some polyp labs medic.  A blend of Rod's Food, baby brine, and mysis later, and they were zooming all over the tank munching things.  One problem down at least.  Now to fight the ich monster...  I've got a UV light coming in Saturday so I plan to run it and PL medic, and hopefully this little guy keeps zipping around eating baby brine.

[WV Reefer]

On 5/6/2020 at 10:59 AM, monkeytrumpets said:

It's been a flurry of activity the last couple of days.  After letting things hang out for a few days following the big water change, I ordered my first fish, a mated pair of ocellaris clowns from Pacific East Aquaculture.  I cannot say enough good things about them.  This was my first time shipping fish (I've done inverts and corals in the past though), and Dolores and Teddy (shout out to my fellow Westworld fans) arrived happy and healthy, well packaged, and were zipping around the tank in no time.  I even got a phone call from Pacific East Aquaculture later that afternoon to make sure my fish arrived alive and healthy, and to make sure I was happy with them.

 

NOW KITH

 

I drip acclimated them, and they have been happily exploring the tank for almost 24 hours.  No ammonia or nitrite spike yet (and hopefully I don't have one), but I'm paranoid, so I'll keep testing to be safe.  Added an ammonia alert badge to the tank as well.  I have AmQuel on standby, but if I have it and never use it, I'll be a very happy camper.

 

I've been fiddling around with the app that controls the gyre, and feel like I'm finally getting it figured out.  The way they structure triggers, presets, and modes was not initially very intuitive, but I'm to a point where I'm comfortable with it.  I definitely like that it's less obtrusive than the two Sicce powerheads I was previously using, and the gyre does a good job keeping things in suspension.  During the day it's on random, somewhere between 25% and 35% at any given time.  I did add a 2 minute "Stir s*** up" routine where it does a sine wave from 25% - 75%, which kicks garbage up off of the sand bed and back into the water column a couple of times a day.  Dolores and Teddy must like the current, because there are definitely lower-flow spots in the tank that they've discovered, but they tend to swim into high flow areas, ride the current, and then swim back to their starting point.  Fishy roller coaster I suppose.

 

I'm starting in on the first wave of the uglies.  I've got some brown growth in a few places on the rock.  With live rock that came with loads of hitchhikers, I never worried about adding a clean up crew too soon, but with cycled dry rock, I don't want to starve a bunch of snails.  I contacted reefcleaners, and they recommended going ahead with a 40 gallon CUC, but that just seems like way too many snails for how little growth I have so far.  42 dwarf ceriths, 11 nassarius vibex, 20 florida ceriths, and 16 nerites sounds like a lot of dead snails after a week or two.  If I halved those numbers, would that still be too much?

Let’s hope they don’t meet the same fate as Delores and Teddy........especially poor Teddy. 😄

 

Oh no, I should have read further. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Hope they are ok. 🙁

 

[monkeytrumpets]

3 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

Let’s hope they don’t meet the same fate as Delores and Teddy........especially poor Teddy. 😄

 

Oh no, I should have read further. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Hope they are ok. 🙁

 

As you would expect, Dolores is fine, it's Teddy who has the...unhealthy thing happening to his head...  As long as he keeps eating, I'm holding out hope that he'll pull through though.

[monkeytrumpets]

Hadn't updated this in a hot minute, so I should probably make a post...

 

Things are moving along nicely in The Raena Reef.  I added a small CUC last week to keep the little bit of green algae in line.  They seem to be staying on top of it, so that's good news.  I seeded the tank with EcoPods from AlgaeBarn.  I haven't seen any of the little suckers roaming around (pretty sure the clownfish have been munching any visible pods), but there are so many nooks and crannies in the rockwork that they should hopefully set up shop and get to reproducing.  To keep the pods fed and happy (and somewhat to out compete nuisance algae), I've been dosing OceanMagik.  Nitrates are still reading a little higher than I would like, but 20% weekly water changes are slowly bringing them into a more reasonable range.

 

The clownfish seem to be doing great.  The more I observed the male, the more I suspect it wasn't marine ich, but was more likely that netting him to get him into the tank beat him up a bit.  I did a full 10 day course of medic just in case it was ich, and his white spot has healed up.  His poor eye is still looking cloudy, but hopefully it will heal up.  They're getting a pretty varied diet, and I'm admittedly overfeeding them, so I'm hoping to set him up for success.

 

With some actual bioload on the tank, the skimmer is officially broken in, and has quieted down a lot.  It was pretty loud early on, but being able to open the air valve all the way without it filling the collection cup with tank water has made a big difference.  I can still hear it, but it fades into the background "tank noise" now.  Before it was like I had a tiny jet engine in the living room.

 

Still waiting on seeing some visible coralline growth before adding corals, but I'm thinking next week I may order the next fish.  If I schedule shipping/delivery for the following week, it will have been a month since adding Dolores and Teddy.  I'm hoping I can track down a captive-bred clown goby, but if not, I will probably go with a neon or hybrid cleaner goby.

[monkeytrumpets]

We've got our first corals in The Raena Reef!  I picked up a few inexpensive frags from the LFS, and they're settling in nicely.  I've got the hydra in acclimation mode to give our new residents time to adjust to the light.

 

The monti cap should do well over the arch, and it should be a long while before I have to worry about it shading anything beneath it.

 

 

 

The cyphastrea are digging their spot near the bottom of the scape.  They get good flow, without being blown away, thanks to the gyre.  Also pictured, the accidental monti cap frag that broke off while removing the original frag from the frag plug.  I stuck it to the rock to see if it grows.

 

 

 

I have a new fish arriving tomorrow, so I've got the acclimation box in the tank.  It's currently serving as coral jail for this ricordea that just does not want to stay stuck to anything in the tank.  I'm hoping that having it in a very low flow spot will give it time to attach to this piece of rubble, and then I can move it to be with the rest of the ricordea.  The frag had this little guy, and a larger one the same color, with 3 mouths.  I've been struggling to get a good photo this guy's big brother though.

 

[monkeytrumpets]

Welcoming a new resident to The Raena Reef: Gil - the neon goby!

 

He spent the first 24 hours hiding in a little cave, but has started coming out more to explore.  He still likes to stay pretty close to his network of hidey holes, but it has been a lot of fun to watch him pop out, explore a bit, and then disappear back into the rocks.  As an aside, I love how many nooks and crannies are in the Reef Saver rock.  It's made for all sorts of places for Gil to explore, and I get to play Where's Waldo trying to figure out which opening he's going to pop out of next.  The clowns haven't bothered Gil, and everyone seems to be content to go about their business.

 

In the same shipment, I also got a green long polyp toadstool leather.  It has started opening up today, after spending most of yesterday sulking.

 

I realized I need to be better about keeping my old FTS in this thread, so I can come back and see how things have changed over time.  In that spirit, here is the previous FTS, followed by an FTS I took this afternoon.

 

 

We're coming out of a wave of the uglies nicely, due to both the clean up crew, and getting my nitrates down to a more manageable 2-5ppm (does everyone else struggle with comparing shades of pink on the test kit color charts?  I sometimes think I'd be just as accurate throwing a dart at a board with measurements printed on it).  I'm wary of getting my nitrates too close to 0, so I plan to keep monitoring them, and may run my protein skimmer less if they fall too close to 0.  I tend to be a heavy feeder though, so it's nice to have to worry a little less about the amount of food I'm putting into the tank.  I plan to start by backing down to 10% weekly water changes, and keep monitoring.  With corals in the tank, I've started paying more attention to pH and alk (both are sitting solidly at 8).  I need to get test kits for calcium and magnesium.  I've been doing 20% water changes, so they should be ok, but I would rather know for certain.

 

I also augmented my CUC with a second wave from reefcleaners.  I had under stocked the CUC initially as there wasn't a ton for them to eat right away, but now that there is more fish/food waste, and visible algae in the tank, I dropped the hammer on sizing up to a more appropriate number of duders for the tank. 

 

[monkeytrumpets]

Life has been a little crazy this month, so I haven't been great about updates.  Things are going pretty well for the Raena Reef.  The fish are getting along great.  The neon goby and the clowns are buds, and I have yet to see any aggression (other than Dolores reminding Teddy who's in charge occasionally).  I've got some good coralline growth happening on the rocks, and the cyphastrea and monti cap have both grown a bit since adding them.  I've added a few new corals to the display, and it's been fun watching them settle in.

 

Acan Island

 

Zoas (no idea what variety, but I liked the colors)

 

Frogspawn

 

The frogspawn was a frag from the tank of one of the LFS employees.  He happened to be there when I picked it up, and was telling me that he got it from a professor at a local college, who has had the mother colony in Des Moines for something like 22 years!

 

I also added a red/orange chalice frag, and a small SPS frag I've been affectionately referring to as "the stick."  The stick is happy, in that it hasn't bleached or had any tissue damage, but I'm not getting great polyp extension on it.  Current plan is just to continue to keep my parameters steady, and let it get used to the light and flow where it is.  I didn't do myself any favors when I changed salt mixes, though... 

 

I had been using HW Marinemix, since it came with the "kit" I'd picked up, planning to transition to NeoMarine.  The HW salt mixed at a pH of 8, and an alk of 8.0 dkh on the nose, every time.  Come to find out during my regular water test that NeoMarine mixes closer to 7.5 dkh.  Naturally I noticed this AFTER doing a water change, and my alk had dropped to 7.7, and my pH dropped closer to 7.8. I'm thoroughly annoyed with myself that I didn't test my water change water to see how it compared.  Lesson learned, though now I'm debating what I want to do going forward.  Part of me is tempted to go back to HW when I've got about half of this bucket of NeoMarine left, and do a month or two of 50/50 NeoMarine/HW to slowly transition back.  The rest of me is wondering if I want to just stick with the NeoMarine.  I don't plan to continually dose alk supplement to get the alk back up to 8 dkh, because I'm more worried about it just staying consistent than I am about hitting a specific target.  I guess I'll just have to go stare at the tank and do some more mulling...😋

[monkeytrumpets]

"Wow, 4 months in, and no major algae outbreaks." - Me a month ago

 

"Ah dangit..." - Me this month

 

Call me Lemony Snicket, because month 5 was a series of unfortunate events.  The male clownfish one day decided to stop eating.  He didn't initially appear stressed, his fins looked fine, but unfortunately he decided he no longer wanted any of the food offered to him.  It was very disheartening to watch pellets and mysis bounce off his head, and he just continued to not eat.  This led to me putting WAY more food in the tank trying to convince him to eat something.  Unfortunately one day I found him drifting listlessly around with the current.  He could hardly move at that point, so I made the hard decision to euthanize him.  That's where our troubles began...

 

My nutrients rose with all of that extra food in the tank, and despite my best efforts to change enough water to keep them down, what little algae I had on the rocks went ham, and seemingly overnight I have a lovely forest of GHA.  I had a little bit of cyano in a back corner of the tank, but it also took off.  Couple that with a bleaching incident in which I accidentally turned off the acclimation mode on my Hydra, and it's been a heck of a month (for two weeks after the event, I muttered "buttons aren't toys" to myself, so hopefully that lesson sticks).  I lost the chalice and a cyphastrea, and bleached the hell out of two montipora frags, but thankfully the montipora is recovering, and coloring back up.  

 

Behold my shame:

 

 

On the bright side, the LPS and softies are thrilled with the state of things.  I've got new zoanthid and acan polyps on most of the frags, and the frogspawn and hammer are happily inflated and swaying in the current.  I watched and waited for a few weeks after Teddy's demise, and the other fish were eating and behaving normally, so I felt comfortable trying to pair Dolores up with a new beau.  An LFS in town had some very pretty captive bred black ocellaris clownfish, and after watching the owner feed them, I brought one home.  Dolores keeps him limited to a small area of the tank, diving after him when he ventures too far out, but he's starting to get the pecking order figured out, so her dives are less frequent.  After the first couple of days, they started sleeping together in the same corner of the tank, so they're seemingly on their way to pairing up.

 

I've converted one of the rear chambers into a refugium.  I dropped in an InTank fuge basket with some chaeto, and mounted a chaetomax light to the rear of the tank, on an alternate cycle to the tank lights.  I siphoned out all of the garbage from the rear chambers, and cleaned the return pump.  This weekend I plan to pull the skimmer and gyre to give them both a good cleaning.  I regularly siphon the sand bed during water changes, (but missed it this week in favor of siphoning the rear chambers).  My plan going forward is more of the same.  Get garbage out, manually remove the GHA I can, and keep nutrients in check.  We'll see how it goes...