Kinda's Large Tank Adventure (LTA)

[Kindanewtothis]

My coral beauty is harasing my "orange" zoas colony....

 

Not eating I thing, just nipping here and there. I knew the risk but now I'm considering my options. 

[Kindanewtothis]

@seabass

[Kindanewtothis]

[mcarroll]

Provide more frequent feedings.  If necessary...Eheim's auto feeder is a very reliable choice, and flexible in scheduling up to 8 feedings per day....also uber simple to set up.

 

Rearranging your rockwork might help, but also disturbs your corals.

 

Swapping out the fish is another option.

[Kindanewtothis]

37 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Provide more frequent feedings.  If necessary...Eheim's auto feeder is a very reliable choice, and flexible in scheduling up to 8 feedings per day....also uber simple to set up.

Sounds good!

 

38 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Rearranging your rockwork might help, but also disturbs your corals.

Sounds risky and hard with the other corals nearby. Last resort.

 

39 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Swapping out the fish is another option.

Thinking about it, catching it would be hell. Will try more frequent feedings.

[Kindanewtothis]

My halloween hermit finally change its shell for the first time. It never took any shell I provided it but I found a mixed shell bag at the dollar store and the hermit took a really big one

[seabass]

My dad has been having some medical problems, so I'm out of town helping out.  Not much time to check in right now.

 

If there is any algae amongst the zoanthids, then it could be nipping at that (which could be irritating the zoas).  But I always assume that they will eventually nip at coral.

 

Yeah catching it without taking out all of the rock would be difficult.

[Kindanewtothis]

14 hours ago, seabass said:

My dad has been having some medical problems, so I'm out of town helping out.  Not much time to check in right now

Sorry to hear that. 🙁

 

14 hours ago, seabass said:

If there is any algae amongst the zoanthids, then it could be nipping at that (which could be irritating the zoas). 

Could it eat coral 💩? I used reef-roids and theses zoas were closed for some time and then 💩 a lot.

[mcarroll]

4 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Will try more frequent feedings.

I forgot to add, just in case, "more frequent ≠ more food".  

 

To the extent possible, try to average the same amount of food that you've been feeding (or only a little more).  The object is really only to spread the total amount you feed out over more feedings per day.

 

Imagine having the munchies for 24/7, but you're only allowed to raid the fridge for 10 minutes once or twice a day! 🤤 You might nip at coral too!!  🤣

[seabass]

3 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Could it eat coral?

It definitely could.  That's why people warn others about keeping dwarf angelfish.  If they were always model citizens, they'd be a much more popular fish (colorful, open water swimmers, good size, hardy, not usually super aggressive).

 

Keeping nippers well fed has been reported to help; but it isn't a guarantee that it won't develop a taste for certain corals.  IDK, it seems like this happens more frequently as they get older.

[Kindanewtothis]

6 hours ago, seabass said:

It definitely could.  That's why people warn others about keeping dwarf angelfish.  If they were always model citizens, they'd be a much more popular fish (colorful, open water swimmers, good size, hardy, not usually super aggressive).

 

Keeping nippers well fed has been reported to help; but it isn't a guarantee that it won't develop a taste for certain corals.  IDK, it seems like this happens more frequently as they get older.

I wanted to say coral poop.

[seabass]

Oh,.i.see.  I wouldn't think that an angelfish would be interested in any wastes.  IDK, maybe freshly fed foods trapped amongst coral (but I'm simply speculating about that).  I believe they are more likely to be nipping at algae or pods (or even coral itself).

[Kindanewtothis]

3 hours ago, seabass said:

  I believe they are more likely to be nipping at algae or pods (or even coral itself).

I think you are right, when the CB pass by these zoas, it seems to be looking for something and doesn't touch the corals anymore. It have no interest for LPS... for the moment.

[Kindanewtothis]

Found a deal on a hammer (3 heads). It's green and mauve. Once in my tank it looks a lot like the ones I already had 😅

 

Also isolated the new zoas on small island rocks. I think I will move the ones the CB is nopping at. It a medium rock but it's worth a try.

[Kindanewtothis]

Starting to look like something !

[Kindanewtothis]

Back from the LFS!

[Kindanewtothis]

[Kindanewtothis]

More fish = more food = more Po4?

 

Still dosing a little each week. Po4 usually around 0.03 > 0.06

 

No3 is 10 > 13 every time I test

 

Refugium light is on 12h.

 

On my tonze skimmer, I only had an air intake valve. Now there is also that long vertical rod on my skimmer and I don't really understand what it does 

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Now there is also that long vertical rod on my skimmer and I don't really understand what it does

What model of skimmer?

[Kindanewtothis]

23 minutes ago, seabass said:

What model of skimmer?

https://aquariumdepot.ca/products/simplicity-120dc-protein-skimmer

[mcarroll]

I think it's a flow-adjustable standpipe....to control how fast water can leave the skimmer.

 

Can't say I'm familiar with that brand tho so can't offer tuning tips other than when it gets to fine tuning, make your adjustments SMALL and make them based on the previous day's skimmate, not based on how the skimmer is running at the moment.

[seabass]

https://www.simplicityaquatics.com/blog/protein-skimmers-how-to-tune-a-protein-skimmer/

 

[Kindanewtothis]

3 hours ago, seabass said:

https://www.simplicityaquatics.com/blog/protein-skimmers-how-to-tune-a-protein-skimmer/

 

Thanks. How often to you clean a skimmer? 

[seabass]

I empty and clean the cup daily.  The rest, maybe once a month.

[mcarroll]

8 hours ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Thanks. How often to you clean a skimmer? 

If you tune it right, you clean it how often you want to – it will fill up predictably once you have it and your other routines with the tank set.

 

A dirty skimmer neck reduces skimming performance.  If a skimmer is run with a dirty neck most of the time it seems to drive some algae growth, especially cyano.

 

So I like the cup to fill daily because that seems to keep the skimmer neck from fouling up.  

 

But...

 

If you want to increase the intervals between cleaning to longer than daily WITHOUT reducing the rate of skimming, you can install a hose fitting on the cup (at least with most skimmers it's possible) so it can drain into a larger reservoir for skimmate.  (It should be same size or larger than your ATO reservoir to avoid skimmate floods.)