RDA’s 6 Gallon Long

[PeterU]

I'm waiting until I have extra money so don't have one yet myself but a lens filter might make it pop out better.

 

https://www.polyplab.com/products/polyplab-coral-view-lens

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

I'm breaking one of my rules for this tank (i.e. no filtration), but the water has always had this slight haze to it from the sand when I first set everything up and I'm sick of it 🙃 so I pulled out my trusty AZOO Mignon 60 filter and slapped it on this tank to run overnight (or until the water is clear). I added a little carbon as well as a filter pad so hopefully it will help pull all of the debris out of the water column. We'll see. 

 

Also a late night grocery shopping trip yielding me spying a cheap water jug with a spigot on it. I thought to myself, "Huh, that would work really well for water changes..." 7 dollars later and I was the proud owner of that there jug and let me tell you, I am the water changing meister now! But really, this stupid jug has changed my life. Super easy to measure water and add the appropriate amount of salt now thanks to the graduated indicator on the side. It also doubles as my workout when I shake it to mix saltwater 👍 Idk it's the simple things in life right? 😅

 

Coral are all doing well, except my duncan is being a little moody (hence the extra motivation for the temporary filter), but nothing too bad. I also moved the light and wave maker controllers up near the tank for easy access. They may or may not have messed with the whole "clean look" thing I'm trying to do so I'll either 3D print a case for them to help control the mess of wires and clean things up a bit, or just put them back where they were, I'm not sure yet. 

 

Other than that everything is just chugging along.

 

Enjoy the cellphone pics and make it a great week 😊

 

 

 

 

"The Jug" aka saltwater on tap

 

RIP cable management.

 

 

[Firefish15]

I would think no filtration would be difficult to pull off, especially for a brand new tank. 

Maybe down the road when it’s matured some, you can try weaning it off and see how things respond.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Yeah things tend to linger when there is no filtration. The filter is just temporary to clean things up a bit, but you're right, as the tank matures it should be a lot easier for everything to stay clean and clear. It's just a little hard right now as there is very little biodiversity due to the tank being so new. So until then I expect to use this filter every now and again to help stay ahead of things.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Update on how things are coming along!

 

 

We are full bore into the ugly stage. Diatoms a pleanty and hair algae is loving life. I took all of my coral out of my 1.2 gallon pico cleaned them up and placed them in this tank. Obviously though, some things like algae carried over. I was a little worried about throwing my pocillopora in this tank as it's so new, but it seems to be doing okay for now. I also moved all of my snails and hermit crabs over to this tank which has really subdued the intensity of algae.

 

 

I'm doing 40% water changes weekely and that seems to keep things in check for the most part. I still have the filter running on the tank as it's still cloudy (wondering if it's a mild bacteria bloom?) but the cloudyness and of course the filter doesn't seem to be hurting anything so I'm not too worried. I still need to print out a box for my controllers. I ended up deciding that they will be mounted on the side of the bookshelf; I still have easy access to them, but they aren't an eye sore either.

 

 

I've been pleased so far with the Nicrew LED. At the moment I have it set to both channels at 100% for ~9 hours a day. The last one hour being only blues. I was always a "neon colors/all blue lighting" kind of guy as I really enjoy the fluorescence of corals. I've wanted to try a more natural daylight style of lighting, but was a little nervous that I would just see drab brown corals all day. In some ways that is indeed the case, colors in this tank are much more soft, but it's kind of growing on me. Either way I still have an hour of all blues before the light turns off so I get my fix haha. My nightly routine tends to consist of sitting at my desk reading and enjoying my reef tank fall asleep.

 

Not a bad view for the end of my day 🌊

 

Thanks for stopping by and happy reefing everyone.

 

 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Over the past few weeks things in this tank have gotten better. Diatoms are now dying down. Also the cloudy water has been getting a lot better. I honestly don't know if the filter I put on this tank helped at all with that? Other than the small amount of carbon as well as the filter floss providing more area for bacteria to grow, I think the tank itself maturing is, my guess, the largest contributor to things clearing up. The hair algae on the frag plugs really hasn't grown much surprisingly too (thank goodness haha). I do have one aptasia hanging around still. I probably should get rid of it, but I've been slow to do so 🙃 

 

I'm coming to the point where I feel comfortable adding more coral in here and maybe, MAYBE, even a fish. I do have some idea of what I want, but it's just a waiting game of when my LFS has them in stock as well as finishing up the initial cycle of the tank. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and happy reefing 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[Firefish15]

Nip that aiptasia in the bud! You know better! 😂

 

Glad things are progressing nicely!

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

8 hours ago, Firefish15 said:

Nip that aiptasia in the bud! You know better! 😂

I do know better 😂 I think that this weekend my bottle of aptasia-x is going to see some use haha. 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Went to pick up some groceries this afternoon and on my way back my car took me to my LFS (how crazy is that?)

 

Always enjoy talking to the owner and staff there. I picked up a yellow/reddish/pinkish millepora, a green/pink tenuis, and a small purple tentacle plate coral. My pocillopora has been doing well and growing, so I decided to try my luck with more demanding sps. The tank that they were in at the shop didn't have high lighting on them which works to my advantage transfering them to my tank. Excited to see how they all do 😁

 

 

 

 

 

[Ratvan]

That plate coral is beautiful 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

6 hours ago, Ratvan said:

That plate coral is beautiful 

Yeah I love it! They had an orange fungia with purple tips which I thought was amazing, but it was also out of my budget. I've been wanting to get my hands on one for a while as they're one of my favorite types of coral. I'll have to get a time laps of it eating one of these days when I feed the tank 😁

[Ratvan]

58 minutes ago, Chowder's Reef said:

Yeah I love it! They had an orange fungia with purple tips which I thought was amazing, but it was also out of my budget. I've been wanting to get my hands on one for a while as they're one of my favorite types of coral. I'll have to get a time laps of it eating one of these days when I feed the tank 😁

Yeah mine was awesome, it used to move aroundthe sandbed when my conch consistantly moved it 😂

[greenerdayz]

13 hours ago, Ratvan said:

That plate coral is beautiful 

Agreed!

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

I've been really trying to dial in the whole balance thing with this tank. My SPS and zoas are doing great, although a few of my LPS (duncans and plate coral (not the plate coral!! 😭)) are really not happy, but my hammers are loving life? The sudden drop-off in algae growth and such leads me to believe my nutrients are a little low, despite weekly water changes. I don't really feed all that much (maybe once every other week?), so maybe I need to up my feeding schedule? I have a few other things I wanted to look into, but we'll have to see.

 

 

Right now I'm just continuing with water changes and small feedings. I do have some things coming in the mail that might help with getting this tank on track, but will help with the aesthetic of the aquarium regardless I hope. Also was toying with the idea of swapping out the Sow-3 with a smaller hygger wave maker, but if I did do that it wouldn't be for a while.

 

Anyways, thanks for stopping by and happy reefing! 😁

 

 

[kimdawg]

I love this tank and your rock scape.  I can never go that minimal because I think I am a hoarder.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

18 hours ago, kimdawg said:

I love this tank and your rock scape.  I can never go that minimal because I think I am a hoarder.

Thanks! I also have those tendencies haha. I have a specific look I'm going for so I think twice before buying something. Also taking your significant other to the LFS with you helps keep things in check as well 😂

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Kind of a crazy evening for this tank. A few weeks ago I noticed the shelf that this tank sat on was warping. Enough so that I could run, with ease, a piece of cardboard under the length of the tank just about. Not wanting it to crack like an egg I got a newer stand for it. In the process I moved the tank next to my office desk as well. Moving the tank itself wasn't so bad, but rehanging the light was a massive pain haha. This time I used 1/16" cable. A bit overkill, but I think it looks alright.

 

Everything is open and happy for the most part a few hours after the move. I noticed that I have those pesky rust brown flatworms everywhere. I would like a small damsel or wrasse of some sort to help me take care of them, but flatworm exit might be the better choice for a more permanant solution. Or heck, maybe both haha!

 

Another issue that I've been having is a constant tank full of cloudy water. It's not bad when you look at the display face on, but length wise it's very obvious that something is up. My best guess is bacteria as it kind of comes and goes (but never fully clears up), but either way I'm unsure on how to fix this? Water changes don't help (I do 30% every week). I wanted to keep this tank filterless, but I'm tempted to get a canister filter for it to better deal with bioloads/help keep things stable. Idk, tell me what you think.

 

Happy reefing and Happy Halloween 🎃🐠

 

 

 

[A.m.P]

There are multi-sponge canister filters out there, provided you clean the sponge out once a twice a month they're pretty great.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

5 hours ago, A.m.P said:

There are multi-sponge canister filters out there, provided you clean the sponge out once a twice a month they're pretty great.

Yeah, I was thinking an Oase thermo 100 with some small lily pipes to get the heater out of the tank and add a little more flow. We'll see though, that probably won't happen for a little while longer if I end up doing that.

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

The cloudy water problem persists.

 

Ugh.

 

I've upped to weekly ~40% water changes as there is now a very thick film that covers the service of the water despite it having heavy water movement. Kind of smells as well so I'm running a bit of carbon too. I really don't want to change the vision of this tank being filterless, but dang, this has been an issue for what seems like since this tank was set up. I haven't been feeding the tank so I'm curious on what is making these tiny bacteria proliferate so much. The rock? Sand? My RODI water? The salt mix I'm currently using? These are all options.

 

Sticking to a more natural method in dealing this this whole issue, I am really intrigued with the idea of fighting bacteria with bacteria. I've heard some people claiming success using BIO-Spira/Dr. Tims/Microbacter 7. Even PNS ProBio seems interesting to use. Pretty much my plan is to outcompete the bacteria causing the bloom by dosing more diverse strains/beneficial bacteria. It may not work, but with my subjective understanding it wouldn't hurt anything if I tried. I have also upped the flow on the wavemaker and reduced the photo period to 8 hours (previously was set at 10 hours). We'll give it a go and I'll tell you all how it goes!

 

On a positive note, my SPS frags have been encrusting and overall growing nicely 🙌 

 

Here's an all blue pic of the tank this morning after a water change. Enjoy.

 

 

[johnnyvega252]

On 11/1/2021 at 2:07 PM, Chowder's Reef said:

The cloudy water problem persists.

 

Ugh.

 

I've upped to weekly ~40% water changes as there is now a very thick film that covers the service of the water despite it having heavy water movement. Kind of smells as well so I'm running a bit of carbon too. I really don't want to change the vision of this tank being filterless, but dang, this has been an issue for what seems like since this tank was set up. I haven't been feeding the tank so I'm curious on what is making these tiny bacteria proliferate so much. The rock? Sand? My RODI water? The salt mix I'm currently using? These are all options.

 

Sticking to a more natural method in dealing this this whole issue, I am really intrigued with the idea of fighting bacteria with bacteria. I've heard some people claiming success using BIO-Spira/Dr. Tims/Microbacter 7. Even PNS ProBio seems interesting to use. Pretty much my plan is to outcompete the bacteria causing the bloom by dosing more diverse strains/beneficial bacteria. It may not work, but with my subjective understanding it wouldn't hurt anything if I tried. I have also upped the flow on the wavemaker and reduced the photo period to 8 hours (previously was set at 10 hours). We'll give it a go and I'll tell you all how it goes!

 

On a positive note, my SPS frags have been encrusting and overall growing nicely 🙌 

 

Here's an all blue pic of the tank this morning after a water change. Enjoy.

 

 

Hey Chowder, good looking tank man! I would try the MicroBacter7 it definitely helped with mine. It did take about 3 days for me to see any noticeable effects... Now my tank is cleaner than before the bacterial bloom started. When you dose, do 4 drops of the liquid per 1 gallon of water volume. If you read closely on the bottle it says you cant overdose the stuff, but another bacterial bloom could happen if you abuse it. Good luck man nice SPS you got going there! I'm too chicken to try anything other than stylos and montis haha XD! Acropora scares me!

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

On 11/3/2021 at 12:02 PM, johnnyvega252 said:

Hey Chowder, good looking tank man! I would try the MicroBacter7 it definitely helped with mine. It did take about 3 days for me to see any noticeable effects... Now my tank is cleaner than before the bacterial bloom started. When you dose, do 4 drops of the liquid per 1 gallon of water volume. If you read closely on the bottle it says you cant overdose the stuff, but another bacterial bloom could happen if you abuse it. Good luck man nice SPS you got going there! I'm too chicken to try anything other than stylos and montis haha XD! Acropora scares me!

Awesome thanks for the tips! I ended up going with Seachem's Stability and am dosing 1ml every day. It's been a few days since and things seem to be clearing up a little; hopefully the trend continues!

 

Thank you! They are still just little nubs, but they seem to be happy with just weekly water changes for now. 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

After a few weeks of dosing 1ml per day of Seachem's Stability, things have really cleared up, that and all of my corals seem to be more full and are doing good! I'm currently running a few rounds of flat worm exit which is working, corals don't seem to mind, but all of my snails are dead. Oops. Once I'm done with treatments I'll have to go pick up a few more. 

 

I think I'm almost done with stocking this tank. I might get some sort of small wrasse or something like that, but I think it's about time to sit back and let things fill in 😊

 

Happy reefing everyone.

 

[Squid_reef]

Clear as crystal -  it's looking very neat! 
Great SPS you got. 

I'll be watching alongside too 😇

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

Still have a bit of surface film/gunk (ha, so much for the "skimmer" on the filter I got smh), but I was at my LFS this evening and I spotted this little guy in the back of one of the tanks. He now lives in the lower flow area of my little reef; still blows my mind that a worm can be so amazing 😄 

 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CWfHwt8DYQR/?utm_medium=copy_link