Kinda's Large Tank Adventure (LTA)

[Kindanewtothis]

Ammonia update:

 

50 gallons: 0 

 

10 gallons: 2.4...

[Kindanewtothis]

Suprise this morning, the anemone moved out of the hole it was in. Just a couple inches away from where it was. It did not touch the corals.

[Tired]

Yeah, it'll do that. Keep an eye on it, and if it starts moving, get the corals out of the way. Don't try to stop the anemone from moving or redirect it, that won't help and you might damage it. 

[Kindanewtothis]

[DevilDuck]

I have to say, your tank is looking great!

Anemone and fish seem to be healthy and happy. I know you kinda jumped into this head first, but so far it looks like things are really working out for you. 

[seabass]

@Kindanewtothis, maybe it's time to either start a reef journal, or have this thread moved into the journal forums.  You can start a new thread if you wish, but you'd have to make a request to move it.

[Kindanewtothis]

3 minutes ago, seabass said:

@Kindanewtothis, maybe it's time to either start a reef journal, or have this thread moved into the journal forums.  You can start a new thread if you wish, but you'd have to make a request to move it.

Yeah we've gone far from the first topic.

[MotherofAnimals]

Holy wow, that anemone is GORGEOUS! It's so big. I love it. If I'm being honest, as a noob myself, I was shaking my head at some of the things you did. Still, I gotta say this has been a fun, educational, and nail-biting saga, lol. The group of people who have been so informative and patient for now 19-pages of dialog is so heartwarming. It really illuminates the "community" of this forum. No one got mean, everyone gave constructive criticism and tough love, and for now, you're ultimately succeeding. It really makes me feel comfortable knowing I can post here and get help when/if I need it. I hope you start a reef journal because I'll definitely be following along. Great job @Kindanewtothis and I wish you continued success!!

[seabass]

If you move it, you can rename the title to anything you want.  I don't know, maybe something like, The "Magnificent" 50. 

[Kindanewtothis]

57 minutes ago, seabass said:

If you move it, you can rename the title to anything you want.  I don't know, maybe something like, The "Magnificent" 50. 

I'm also new to forums... How do I ask for it to be moved?

[seabass]

You can send Christopher Marks a message, or tag him to get his attention in any specific thread.

 

For the title, I'm now liking: Kinda's "Magnificent" 50

What do you think?

 

Here... I'll ask him for you.  @Christopher Marks, Kindanewtothis would like this thread moved into the Aquarium Journal forums.  Thanks so much!

 

 

[Kindanewtothis]

20 minutes ago, seabass said:

For the title, I'm now liking: Kinda's "Magnificent" 50

What do you think?

With the help you gave me you deserve to name it.

[seabass]

Thanks!

 

But it's your thread, and tank.  We just offered suggestions, this was all your creation.  Call it whatever you like.

 

 

Edit: Hey I see it's been moved.  Thanks again CM!

 

@Kindanewtothis, to change your title, just edit the very first post in the thread.

[Kindanewtothis]

Question: while cycling a tank, do you test anything else than ammonia while the ammonia spike? Should I wait for the ammonia to be gone to test nitrit?

 

Ammonia is still 2.4 today.

 

I'll try to keep on sharing what's going on in the tanks and I'm sure I'll have tons of questions. If you guys want and have the time, your input will be appreciated. I want to thank everyone again for all this. N-R.com is a big part of the hobby that I enjoy.

[seabass]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

while cycling a tank, do you test anything else than ammonia while the ammonia spike? Should I wait for the ammonia to be gone to test nitrit?

In this case, you only have to test for ammonia.  You can test nitrite and nitrate if you want, but it's not necessary at this point.  After ammonia is undetectable, you should test for nitrate and do a large enough water change to bring it down to your target level (I'd say somewhere between 5 and 10ppm).  Nitrite is typically of little concern to me.

 

However, when dosing ammonium chloride to establishing a biofilter on dry rock (the fishless cycling method), it's not a bad idea to test nitrite as well.  This is because if either ammonia or nitrite exceed 5ppm, then the process slows down.  A water change to lower these values below 5ppm will get things back on track.

[Kindanewtothis]

Other topic, the mushroom. It looks like it's clearly spliting in 2. The other one no so much...

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Kindanewtothis said:

Other topic, the mushroom. It looks like it's clearly spliting in 2. The other one no so much...

Try placing it in low light. Mushrooms often shrivel up when in more light than they like.

[Kindanewtothis]

2 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Try placing it in low light. Mushrooms often shrivel up when in more light than they like.

It's been on the sandbed and wasn't opening. It's just 3-4 inches from the bottom and also the height then the other mushroom.

[Kindanewtothis]

They are almost the same height

[Kindanewtothis]

Feeding time!

[seabass]

I'd just leave the mushrooms alone for awhile.

 

Out of curiosity, what are your tank's nitrate and phosphate levels?

 

 

Edit: It's nice to see everything out and about.

[Kindanewtothis]

11 minutes ago, seabass said:

I'd just leave the mushrooms alone for awhile.

 

Out of curiosity, what are your tank's nitrate and phosphate levels?

That's the plan, I glued it there a week ago and I'm not touching it.

 

Nitrate between 0 and 5

Phosphate 0.25

[Tired]

I would try to get the nitrate up a little higher. You generally want it slightly over 5ppm. 

 

About the orange mushroom... are you sure it's a mushroom? Because I see it's on a coral skeleton. It kinda looks more like a reasonably extended blasto to me. Can you take a picture from another angle? 

[Kindanewtothis]

24 minutes ago, Tired said:

I would try to get the nitrate up a little higher. You generally want it slightly over 5ppm. 

 

About the orange mushroom... are you sure it's a mushroom? Because I see it's on a coral skeleton. It kinda looks more like a reasonably extended blasto to me. Can you take a picture from another angle? 

How do I get the nitrate higher?

 

I'm sure it's a mushroom, I saw it open at the lfs. Here are some other pictures. Sorry for the snail photo bomb. Glass needs to be cleaned but I try to keep my hands out of it so the RG isn't stressed.

[Tired]

Less water changes, or more feeding, will raise nutrients. In your case, I would avoid doing water changes until the nitrate is higher, unless you see that your trace elements (calcium, magnesium, alkalinity) are low. You should also make sure you're feeding plenty- your fish should be fed at least once daily, and your LPS will appreciate being fed once a week. 

 

When the orange coral was open, did it look at all like this in shape? Ignore the color, this is probably wildly exaggerated, and just look at the shape. 

https://chaosaquaculture.com/product/xxl-violet-blasto/

 

Does that blurry green coral at the bottom of your pictures always look that color? It looks a bit bleached from these angles, but that could just be the photos.