murphs_reef 92G - retired, thanks guys

[Murphs_Reef]

On 2/28/2021 at 1:13 AM, seabass said:

I know everywhere says to keep them in groups (normally in odd numbers of five or more).  However, they tend to pick on each other until there is only one left.  I'd be inclined to keep just the single chromis.

Yeah I was on the fence this morning after doing a bit more reading so decided to hold fire. 

 

But then I didn't 5 dropped in 🤣👍🏼

[Murphs_Reef]

Reverted back to my original username 2015 style to celebrate 6 years of being on nanoreef ,👍🏼

[afcajax73]

looking good made, all progressing well and filling out nicely!

[Murphs_Reef]

Anyone who says custom perspex lids bend under the lights doesn't know what they are on about #flat #solid #BentAsFu#k

[seabass]

That sheet is pretty thin.  I've seen thicker acrylic bend under reef lighting.  My T5 lights warped the removable tops on my 100 gallon tank.  I've considered making new ones out of thicker stock.

[Murphs_Reef]

26 minutes ago, seabass said:

That sheet is pretty thin.  I've seen thicker acrylic bend under reef lighting.  My T5 lights warped the removable tops on my 100 gallon tank.  I've considered making new ones out of thicker stock.

😂 jokes. It's just till my jump guard arrives. I'll do the same as I did with the nano. Where I cut the perspex to fit inside the jumpguard on top of the mesh. With a few 2 inch holes cut out. Works a treat and looks the dogs nuts 

[seabass]

At least I don't have to take the top off to feed my fish.

[Murphs_Reef]

9 minutes ago, seabass said:

At least I don't have to take the top off to feed my fish.

Looks good. Let some of that condensation out 👍🏼

[Murphs_Reef]

This guy just took a full table shrimp the greedy little beast. You can actually see it sticking up inside his disc. He won't want feeding for at least another 15 minutes ,🤣

He's back in the DT now for a while.. risky business 

[Murphs_Reef]

Will need another tin of rock but FTS so far 🤣🤣 

I cIeaned off the rock that had a lot of GHA on it and it's now in the sump in darkness for a while to make sure it doesn't return.  

 

[Murphs_Reef]

I'm really going to need some help from some heavy weights on GHA here @seabass @Ratvan@mcarroll

so where we are is:

5ppm nitrate

0.02 phosphate (bringing this up just a tad)

Lighting is 7 hours main with 30nmuns ramp up and down each end.

• UV and violet 75%
• Royal blue and blue 50%
• Cool white 20%

The red, green and Moon light are all off. 

 

Spent 3 hrs picking off GHA and cleaned down the loose frags of all visible algae. 

 

Skimming very light at the moment. 

 

But still it's coming back... I am missing something. Are the lights ok? 

 

Full parameters 

• pH 8.0
• Temp 24.5°c 
• Phosphate 0.02
• Nitrate 5pmm
• Ca 420
• Mag 1320
• Alk 8
• SG 1.025ppm 

 

Are there any more details you need?

[Ratvan]

22 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Will need another tin of rock but FTS so far 🤣🤣 

I cIeaned off the rock that had a lot of GHA on it and it's now in the sump in darkness for a while to make sure it doesn't return.  

 

Its getting there, looking good

7 minutes ago, Murphych said:

I'm really going to need some help from some heavy weights on GHA here @seabass @Ratvan@mcarroll

so where we are is:

5ppm nitrate

0.02 phosphate (bringing this up just a tad)

Lighting is 7 hours main with 30nmuns ramp up and down each end.

• UV and violet 75%
• Royal blue and blue 50%
• Cool white 20%

The red, green and Moon light are all off. 

 

Spent 3 hrs picking off GHA and cleaned down the loose frags of all visible algae. 

 

Skimming very light at the moment. 

 

But still it's coming back... I am missing something. Are the lights ok? 

 

Full parameters 

• pH 8.0
• Temp 24.5°c 
• Phosphate 0.02
• Nitrate 5pmm
• Ca 420
• Mag 1320
• Alk 8
• SG 1.025ppm 

 

Are there any more details you need?

Is the GHA rock in the sump at the minute? Nothing jumps out at me from your water

 

How many Turbo snails do you have? Do you motivate them? (i.e pick them up and put them on plucked areas)

 

It could very well be a combination of lighting and not enough CUC, can you try and shift the light spectrum to more blue and less white at all?

[mcarroll]

13 minutes ago, Murphych said:

But still it's coming back... I am missing something.

Phosphats are probably a little low to support rapid growth of competitors of all kinds.  Sounds like you're on that already...shoot for something north of 0.05 ppm for the foreseeable future.  (No such thing as too much IME so don't be meek about correcting this.)

 

The algae re-growth makes it sound like you could be missing herbivores.  What is in your cleanup crew?

[Murphs_Reef]

Cheers gents! See below:

 

6 x Banded Trochus Snails 

3 x Cerith Snails

3 x Turbo Snails

1 x Astrea Snail

Emerald Crab

 

@Ratvan yeah the rock is sumped. I spent hours cleaning it down (in a bucket of tank water then washing it in clean salt water mix)

[mcarroll]

Just now, Murphych said:

Cheers gents! See below:

 

6 x Banded Trochus Snails 

3 x Cerith Snails

3 x Turbo Snails

1 x Astrea Snail

Emerald Crab

 

Sounds like you're just lacking in quantity.  Try adding another Astrea (or equivalent) and see how it goes for another 2-3 weeks.  Add another one if it's clear they still aren't keeping up with regrowth

[Murphs_Reef]

1 minute ago, mcarroll said:

Sounds like you're just lacking in quantity.  Try adding another Astrea (or equivalent) and see how it goes for another 2-3 weeks.  Add another one if it's clear they still aren't keeping up with regrowth

Grand will try this.. so we are saying about 0.05ppm phosphate? That's an interesting number right there... I was always thinking around 0.03 is golden.. ? 

 

 

[Ratvan]

Just now, Murphych said:

Grand will try this.. so we are saying about 0.05ppm phosphate? That's an interesting number right there... I was always thinking around 0.03 is golden.. ? 

 

 

I try and keep mine at 5ppm nitrates and 0.05 phosphates. Easier for me to remember and see on the kits.

 

But yeah just pluck for a few weeks, add a snail, watch and repeat if necessary. I think my RSM took roughly 4-6 weeks to balance out the CUC. As i didnt want too many and have to start feeding them too 

[Murphs_Reef]

You know I was on the fence with bringing the coral and rock over with GHA on it from the nano and how I might dip it all or not. After all the dicking around with leveling it and installing the new living room floor I was out of steam so just dumped it all in the big tank.. what a bell end move that turned out to be.. bigger tank more space for GHA to spread it's wings 🤣🤣🤣

[Ratvan]

Just now, Murphych said:

You know I was on the fence with bringing the coral and rock over with GHA on it from the nano. After all the dicking around with leveling it and installing the new living room floor I was out of steam so just dumped it all in the big tank.. what a bell end move that turned out to be.. bigger tank more space for GHA to spread it's wings 🤣🤣🤣

I would have done the same to be honest, BUT i would have put it in the sump where the water enters and with no light so if any loose strands were present it would get stuck in the baffle, skimmer, baffles etc before going into the return pump. 

[Murphs_Reef]

5 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

I would have done the same to be honest, BUT i would have put it in the sump where the water enters and with no light so if any loose strands were present it would get stuck in the baffle, skimmer, baffles etc before going into the return pump. 

Yeah man. I wish I did. All the coral looks good now.. my man Duncan was almost totally covered but looks a treat now. 

[Ratvan]

3 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Yeah man. I wish I did. All the coral looks good now.. my man Duncan was almost totally covered but looks a treat now. 

When did you change your name? 

[Murphs_Reef]

17 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

When did you change your name? 

Yesterday I think it was. Changed it back to the original username aka my surname 🤣 

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Murphych said:

so we are saying about 0.05ppm phosphate? That's an interesting number right there... I was always thinking around 0.03 is golden.. ?

Phosphate levels can be hard to wrap your head around.  For quite some time we've been told to keep phosphate levels under 0.03 ppm to limit excessive algae growth.  However, there have been many examples of healthy, mature tanks with elevated phosphate levels (of up to 0.10 ppm).  I'm coming to believe that 0.03 ppm of phosphate should be considered more of a minimum level.  So targeting phosphate between 0.03 and 0.05 ppm might be a reasonable range; however, levels as high as 0.10 are likely acceptable.

 

Most of us have battled algae in our reef tanks.  Plus, I still believe that algae growth can increase as nutrient levels increase.  However, herbivores, manual removal, and competition from corals and coralline algae may help control it.  While some algae is actually quite natural and we shouldn't necessarily try to completely eradicate it, there are certain species which may cause us more problems than others; so eliminating these problem species might still be worth more extreme measures.

[Murphs_Reef]

It's very interesting indeed. Im going to lift phosphate up a little bit over 0.03 to see how I get on. I won't go balls deep and get to 1.0 rather flirt with the notion to see what it looks like for a couple of weeks with some more snails. 

 

I'll admit that even after trying vibrant for 2 months and watching your experiment @seabass I'm still sitting half cocked with a bottle of vibrant in the hand. 

[seabass]

44 minutes ago, Murphych said:

I'm still sitting half cocked with a bottle of vibrant in the hand.

My impression of Vibrant is that it might be a helpful tool to get rid of certain macroalgae species (like turf algae).  However, I feel that it comes at the cost of biodiversity (and possibly certain stony corals).  Green hair algae wasn't fully eradicated, and it actually seems to be increasing now that dosing has stopped.  Personally, I don't really feel that it's the right tool for fighting GHA; and certainly not what I originally thought it was going to be.