Sea of Stars

[TimeOrMoney]

Big change in Ph after having the windows open for a couple hours. How to keep it consistant.....

[TimeOrMoney]

When I first 'designed' the aquascape, I tried to do it in such a way that it would 1. Maximize flow in the back and corners of the display from the powerhead and maximize flow to the front and surface from the rear chamber pump, 2. Try and get the inhabitants to stay toward the front so everyone can see them when they are out and about, and 3. Try to have as much negative space as possible while still maintaining a lot of surface area for coral to grow in the future. 

 

The Emerald Crab immediately chose this spot and for good reason. The current pushes food directly into that location. Amazing that it would realize that immediately. 

 

These two are always right in the front middle, when they are out. Happy about that. They seem to enjoy eating about a quarter cube of frozen food at a time. They disregard any additional food until a few hours later and theyre hungry again. So maybe half a cube per day and split the feedings. 

 

[TimeOrMoney]

[TimeOrMoney]

All is well. CuC not in yet.. Preoccupied.. Nitrates hang around 0 to 5. Weekly 5g WC. 

 

I got a media basket from InTank which of course is very nice. However, for my purposes it wasnt necessary. I should have gone with 2 hanging filter floss ...things. I like to use a large bag of chemi pure just because, and when that bag is in the basket the water doesnt flow through it. Too big I guess. Maybe when I add coral Ill put purigen or something in there. Gonna order a floss hanger for the other side as well because man that floss traps a ton of crap. 

[M. Tournesol]

If you don't have an ammonia / nitrite / nitrate problem, you shouldn't add Purigen. If I were you, I would buy it for security and wait to see how the corals react without Purigen before adding it. Having too low ammonia/nitrite/nitrate can also be a problem for corals.

[TimeOrMoney]

30 minutes ago, M. Tournesol said:

If you don't have an ammonia / nitrite / nitrate problem, you shouldn't add Purigen. If I were you, I would buy it for security and wait to see how the corals react without Purigen before adding it. Having too low ammonia/nitrite/nitrate can also be a problem for corals.

Yes, I did forget about that. Thanks. As above, it seems that the Trates hover around 5ppm. Im about to test it now after about 8 days without WC. 

[TimeOrMoney]

Hmm. Really stumped on why nitrates are so high. I feed a little once or twice per day and have done 2, 5g WCs for the last 2 weeks. Change floss. There's only 2 fish in there and an Emerald Crab. Jeez

 

[M. Tournesol]

Denitrifying bacteria, which turn nitrate into nitrogen, are slow to grow and require a low oxygen environment who is "complicated" to have in a reef tank (anaerobic bacteria). The more common consumers of nitrate are algae and coral.
Since you don't have any of the above, your nitrate is accumulating.

 

[TimeOrMoney]

45 minutes ago, M. Tournesol said:

Denitrifying bacteria, which turn nitrate into nitrogen, are slow to grow and require a low oxygen environment who is "complicated" to have in a reef tank (anaerobic bacteria). The more common consumers of nitrate are algae and coral.
Since you don't have any of the above, your nitrate is accumulating.

 

Did not know coral consume nitrate. Im thinking about trying to run a 5g refugium in a seperate tank pumped out of the rear chamber of the display. Low flow. 

[M. Tournesol]

9 hours ago, TimeOrMoney said:

Did not know coral consume nitrate. Im thinking about trying to run a 5g refugium in a seperate tank pumped out of the rear chamber of the display. Low flow. 

Corals need nitrate and phosphate like algae 👍. Very low nutrition can thus pose problem for corals. Ultra low nutrient reef tank have pastel colored SPS (a desired color for some) which is a sign of stressed corals.

[TimeOrMoney]

On 9/13/2021 at 3:12 AM, M. Tournesol said:

Corals need nitrate and phosphate like algae 👍. Very low nutrition can thus pose problem for corals. Ultra low nutrient reef tank have pastel colored SPS (a desired color for some) which is a sign of stressed corals.

Thanks! I did know about the low nutrient levels, but was not thinking that Nitrate and phosphorus were nutrients. That explains a lot. Hopefully I can get some coral in there this weekend. 

[TimeOrMoney]

Im enjoying the personality of these Firefish. Pretty funny. Plopped the first coral in today. GSP. Small frag, but that's what I wanted. Seems happy already. Hoping to completely cover that left rock where the Firefish live. 

[TimeOrMoney]

LFS got a YUGE shipment of tiny bby Clowns. I wanted all of them. 

[TimeOrMoney]

Week's vacation. Nitrates high. Big WC. Topped off, etc. Things look pretty good. The GSP and its rock are officially algae free thanks to the Emerald Crab and flow. The mat color has become a lot more purple than when I got it. It's going to look great. 

 

 

Noir shot

 

 

[TimeOrMoney]

So, my Emerald Crab is turning white, and really dark green/black... Weird

[TimeOrMoney]

This is pretty cool! Comes in individual bags..

 

 Nothin much has changed. Nitrates continue to be kind of high.. gonna do 2 large wc and see where that goes. No clue why Nitrates are high at all

 

A

[Murphs_Reef]

What's the number in them, how high is high? 

[TimeOrMoney]

16 hours ago, Murphych said:

What's the number in them, how high is high? 

Yesterday it was about 15. Hard to get an exact with API and even harder with my awful light I have in my room at the moment. 15 for what I have and what Ive been feeding just seems high to me. 

[TimeOrMoney]

First copepod sighting today. They're everywhere. And fat! Lol.. pretty cool. Try and get a pic later in the week. 

[banasophia]

15 is fine for your nitrate level… how big are your water changes? 

[TimeOrMoney]

Update: tank has been running well. Had an explosion of copepods. They are everywhere..like watching ants. Also had the first coraline growth this week. There are a ton of asterina as well, like their propagating. Starting to see some tufts of algae so it may be time for a dmall cleanup crew. I moved the GSP up and into a crack, but still havent seen any significant growth, which is weird. Some crappy pics. 

 

GSP has kiiiinda grown....maybe.. It does open and get really nice looking, but had to turn the lights back on late to feed...

 

Emerald crab not so emerald anymore

 

Coraline. Seeing this makes me happy

[banasophia]

Looking good 👍 

[TimeOrMoney]

On 11/1/2021 at 8:41 PM, banasophia said:

15 is fine for your nitrate level… how big are your water changes? 

Sorry I missed this. Im doing about 5g weekly. 

[TimeOrMoney]

Well...........long story short....I began a new job and everyone got covid and Im just now getting back here...

 

The fish arent dead....so that's good. Crab died, but I dont think it had anything to do with water or environment. It had loat its color immediately and wasnt eating much to begin with. The rocks are starting to show much more noticeable coraline, along with some greener algae. The copepod population absolutely exploded, and there seems to have also been a dramatic increase of these Asterina like things. The lone coral (GSP) I believe is shrinking. Definitely not growing. Water parms look ok, so I dont know why it isnt doing well.