murphs_reef 92G - retired, thanks guys

[Murphs_Reef]

Things are looking good on the sand bed

 

And chromis still awake at this hour 

[Murphs_Reef]

Top down

[Murphs_Reef]

Mike the mussel has really opened up to me recently 🤣

[Murphs_Reef]

The bit of the worm I can see here is 4 inch

 

[Murphs_Reef]

So productive morning. Got a plan now to fix the pipework and either have the sump turned around or the pipework swapped over so it's actually flowing the right way...

 

The emergency drain will go into the correct drain section with the drain pipe itself so both pipes can have cups or socks under them.. that will help out with detritus a lot.. appreciate that I will likely have to dose phosphate or feed more to find a new balance for a while after.  Replacing the pipe work, we will swap out the ball valve for a gate for better control.

 

This will give me room to put my fuge in which will only be for pods, will have a small amount of live rock in there to host them.. man Im sick of buying pods every week so this is a very welcome upgrade.  

 

New soft close hinges ordered to replace the rusted mess that are there now as well. Oh and new adjustable soft close catches as the current ones cant be adjusted.  

 

Once all that's finished off I will consider my new or additional lighting.  

[Murphs_Reef]

My sump, absolutely devoid of life 

[mitten_reef]

4 hours ago, Murphych said:

My sump, absolutely devoid of life 

that doesn't look like sand...what is it?  no I don't mean the critters, I literally am interested in what the substrate is.  cuz some random dude on R2R was going on and on about finding/ID-ing perfectly round media with uniform size, and this might just be the first time I see one.  i really thought he was full of 💩

[Ratvan]

8 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

that doesn't look like sand...what is it?  no I don't mean the critters, I literally am interested in what the substrate is.  cuz some random dude on R2R was going on and on about finding/ID-ing perfectly round media with uniform size, and this might just be the first time I see one.  i really thought he was full of 💩

Looks like Biofilter Mini Balls to me, could be wrong though

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AQUARIUM-FILTER-MEDIA-CERAMIC-REMOVE/dp/B07PBLQ57H/ref=psdc_471512031_t5_B07PBLPR8Y

 

[Murphs_Reef]

18 minutes ago, mitten_reef said:

that doesn't look like sand...what is it?  no I don't mean the critters, I literally am interested in what the substrate is.  cuz some random dude on R2R was going on and on about finding/ID-ing perfectly round media with uniform size, and this might just be the first time I see one.  i really thought he was full of 💩

That is square mantis bio blocks side on 

https://www.aquacadabra.com/products/mantis-bio-filter-blocks?variant=15417975799874&currency=GBP&utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping feed&gclid=Cj0KCQiAys2MBhDOARIsAFf1D1epErm2sY9sVvRDyqbeiBwwBn44FbfSzRgvU8a8PQq5Hk_e9-d2cX8aAoZaEALw_wcB

 

[mitten_reef]

1 minute ago, Murphych said:

That is square mantis bio blocks side on 

https://www.aquacadabra.com/products/mantis-bio-filter-blocks?variant=15417975799874&currency=GBP&utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping feed&gclid=Cj0KCQiAys2MBhDOARIsAFf1D1epErm2sY9sVvRDyqbeiBwwBn44FbfSzRgvU8a8PQq5Hk_e9-d2cX8aAoZaEALw_wcB

 

 

12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Looks like Biofilter Mini Balls to me, could be wrong though

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AQUARIUM-FILTER-MEDIA-CERAMIC-REMOVE/dp/B07PBLQ57H/ref=psdc_471512031_t5_B07PBLPR8Y

 

I figured it would be something of that sort, just wasn't sure if it's loose or brick.  thank you both for answering my curiosity.  

[A.m.P]

1 hour ago, mitten_reef said:

that doesn't look like sand...what is it?  no I don't mean the critters, I literally am interested in what the substrate is.  cuz some random dude on R2R was going on and on about finding/ID-ing perfectly round media with uniform size, and this might just be the first time I see one.  i really thought he was full of 💩

I thought the same damn thing until I noticed they were clumped together into a biobrick lol.

The stuff linked to seemed interesting though, I might have to throw some of that in my rear chamber.

[Murphs_Reef]

3 hours ago, A.m.P said:

I thought the same damn thing until I noticed they were clumped together into a biobrick lol.

The stuff linked to seemed interesting though, I might have to throw some of that in my rear chamber.

Yeah the life seems to get attracted to the blocks really well... Stomatella snalls, copepods, amphipods, britte stars, bristle worms.. the whole shooting match in a few square inch.. 

[Murphs_Reef]

 THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE REEF SHOP! 

 

Gorgonian

 

Zoa Rock Assorted Colonies

 

Super Green Mushroom Single Head

Lost this to my daughter's tank... Gutted as it was lovely....😰

[Murphs_Reef]

New colony Looks good today

 

[Murphs_Reef]

 

All going good... BUT why do my parameters never drop?!? Bad testing? Maybe.... BUT BAD EVERY SINGLE WEEK!?!

• Big Coralline growth -  ✅
• LPS skeleton growth - ✅
• Soft coral going mad - ✅✅

 

CURRENT PARAMETERS 

Temp (Inkbird): 25.3 °C

NO3 (Salifert): 5.0 ppm

PO4 (Hanna): 0.1 ppm

SG (TMC): 1.026

pH (API): 8.0

KH (Salifert): 9.6  dKH 

Ca (Salifert): 475 ppm

Mg (Salifert): 1500 ppm

 

due to high emotions with this topic I feel I need to bring in the big guns..... @mcarroll!!!?????

[mcarroll]

If it's fair to say that you have a low density of stony corals, then I think that may be all the explanation required.  

 

I didn't scan all 22 pages of the thread, but on a quick look back I know see one stony....a small Euphyillia.  LOTS of polyps, and even a leather....those might even be retarding the growth of the stony (or stonies) you have in there.  (That's a known side effect of the terpenes that leather corals deal in.)

 

That would cover alk, ca and mg at least.

 

Temp I'll assume is consistent and not lower than 25.3c.

 

If you're not seeing NO3 or PO4 move either, then that's slightly peculiar but not inexplicable.

 

Remind me how are you feeding the tank?  

 

If your corals are particularly sated they can reduce or cease uptake of dissolved nutrients.  (...to preserve the coral's internal balance of nutrients, et al.  There are at least 3-4 articles saved in the Coral section on my blog that talk about this or aspects of it.)

[Murphs_Reef]

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

If it's fair to say that you have a low density of stony corals, then I think that may be all the explanation required.  

 

I didn't scan all 22 pages of the thread, but on a quick look back I know see one stony....a small Euphyillia.  LOTS of polyps, and even a leather....

I have a bit of LPS but not massive density 2 Branching Hammers, Duncan, really large hand sized Indo Torch.

Also have small frags of War Coral, Scolymia,  Acan. 

the rest as you seen are made up of leathers and a large volume of polyps..

 

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Temp I'll assume is consistent and not lower than 25.3c.

Inkbird set to a Min 25.3 and max 25.5°c 

 

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

If you're not seeing NO3 or PO4 move either, then that's slightly peculiar but not inexplicable.

It is a bit bouncy as below (3 month view) NO3 between 5 and 10 and PO4 between 0.00 and 0.1.

(Fyi It looked a bit more chatty in Nov as I have been testing a bit more and looking at how the filter sock impacts nutrients, as I'm wondering if I want to replace a sock for a cup. There is a link but the nutrients don't go up beyond 0.1 PO4 before I change the sock so not sure it's worth the change.)

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Remind me how are you feeding the tank?  

I'm feed well but not excessive, equivalent to 1 frozen cube a day of a mix of TMC marine complete food shots, Frozen mysis blocks, Frozen brine shrimp and spirulina, Calanus food pellets, Live copepods, Reef snow, Nori sheets

8 hours ago, mcarroll said:

If your corals are particularly sated they can reduce or cease uptake of dissolved nutrients.  (...to preserve the coral's internal balance of nutrients, et al.  There are at least 3-4 articles saved in the Coral section on my blog that talk about this or aspects of it.)

I'll have a read 👍🏼

[seabass]

Any chance that you are replenishing minerals during top offs?  Or are you topping off with zero TDS water?

[seabass]

You might also be getting some replenishment of elements through dissolution of your rocks, substrate, or even dead coral skeletons.

[Murphs_Reef]

On 11/20/2021 at 8:36 AM, seabass said:

Any chance that you are replenishing minerals during top offs?  Or are you topping off with zero TDS water?

Yeah I use RO via an ATO only with TDS being between 0 to 2, never higher. 

I do top off once a month with just under a litre (so that's about a 1% water addition) of mixed salt water at 1.30ppm, as slowly  reduces due to removing salt water for testing, stuff that comes out on my hands, etc. So I guess although it's not a lot, if the uptake of elements is low, it might be just enough to counter the drop..

 

Though the amount of coralline growth alone (nevermind the LPS), I would have expected more demand on CA. But who knows. 

 

On 11/20/2021 at 8:42 AM, seabass said:

You might also be getting some replenishment of elements through dissolution of your rocks, substrate, or even dead coral skeletons.

Yeah possibly I do have new rock periodically as I have been slowly evolving my Scape? 

[Murphs_Reef]

Gorgonian is starting to open up but is this what good looks like?

No idea what type it is or if it has a name? @banasophia any ideas?

 

[banasophia]

6 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Gorgonian is starting to open up but is this what good looks like?

No idea what type it is or if it has a name? @banasophia any ideas?

 

Looks great… looks like it may be the same as mine, which I’m not sure but think may be a grubes. The polyps on mine open up varying degrees in my different tanks. It grows pretty fast and will attach to things it touches like the glass or rock. 

[Murphs_Reef]

15 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Looks great… looks like it may be the same as mine, which I’m not sure but think may be a grubes. The polyps on mine open up varying degrees in my different tanks. It grows pretty fast and will attach to things it touches like the glass or rock. 

Oh really?! That's brilliant thanks, it's a funny little thing but really does interest me. 

[mcarroll]

On 11/20/2021 at 4:20 AM, Murphych said:

Though the amount of coralline growth alone (nevermind the LPS), I would have expected more demand on CA. But who knows. 

Can you take a bigger sample and use half for testing at home and use the other half to take to the LFS for comparison tests?  Even one set of matching tests wold be reassuring.  Could do that a couple times to be really sure.

 

Like I said it's not inexplicable, but it's an unusual state of balance if all is as it seems in the test numbers.  (Don't jinx it!) 😉👍🤞

[Murphs_Reef]

18 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Can you take a bigger sample and use half for testing at home and use the other half to take to the LFS for comparison tests?  Even one set of matching tests wold be reassuring.  Could do that a couple times to be really sure.

 

Like I said it's not inexplicable, but it's an unusual state of balance if all is as it seems in the test numbers.  (Don't jinx it!) 😉👍🤞

Yeah cheers for the reply. It's definitely a good call.. I'll see if one of the fine People at my LFS will help me out 👍🏼