Nic’s Waterbox 35.2 Zeovit

[Nic]

Added a cheap in tank UV sterilizer this afternoon and it’s already done some serious work on the bacterial bloom. I expect the water should be mostly clear by the morning. 
 

In good news I had two straight days of Ammonia at zero, nitrites at zero and nitrates at zero so I stopped by the LFS and picked up two LPS corals: a Green Goniopora and a three headed Hammer Coral. 
 

 

 

[Nic]

FTS for today. This is the final day of the initial Zeovit system dosing. 
 

 

I will be removing the HOB UV sterilizer tomorrow as it’s pretty much done it’s job at this point. Also added a colony of Montipora Digitata (which broke in transit so a colony + a frag)

[Nic]

Pair of McCulloch’s Clownfish arrived today from LiveAquaria! 
 

I’ll get a better shot of them in their new home in a bit!

[Nic]

FTS 

 

 

Added a pair of McCulloch’s Clownfish today. 
 

Parameters:

PH: 7.99

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite:0

Nitrate: 0

Phosphate: 0.1

Calcium: 486

Alk: 8.7

 

Really happy with the way things have stabilized. As you can see in the picture below, I was having huge PH swings throughout the day and night during the bacterial bloom but over the last three days the PH has stabilized to moving within 1/10th of a percentage. 
 

 

I fed the corals some Reef Roids yesterday. The only coral I’m having any issues with is the Goni. It was huge the day I put it in with wonderful extension but the next day it was completely retracted. I moved it around a bit, turned the lights down in intensity and put the AI Nero 5 on just about its lowest setting and it’s finally started extending again. 

 

Fish:

Pajama Cardinalfish - 1

 

McCulloch’s Clownfish - 2

 

To be added:

 

Mandarin Dragonet - 1

Mystery Wrasse - 1

Pajama Cardinalfish - 1

Banggai Cardinalfish - 2

 

Current Corals:

 

Gold Indo Torch

 

2 Headed Hammer Coral

 

Montipora Digitata

 

 

Green Goniopora

 

Acropora Speciosa - Kaidjou

 

Bounce Mushroom

 

 

[Reefkid88]

I wouldn't go moving things around. They just need tine to settle in. It is a super new tank,so don't be shocked. 

[Nic]

8 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

I wouldn't go moving things around. They just need tine to settle in. It is a super new tank,so don't be shocked. 

Turning the powerhead down did the trick. Now it’s just dealing with two small clowns trying to host it 😅 

 

Things are getting a lot easier now that the wife is actually enjoying the tank. She even bought a small flowerpot frag today!

 

 

[Nic]

The Clownfish haven’t really bonded too well yet. One has taken up residence in the anemone and is not letting the other join it, so, of course, it’s down in the flowerpot. The flowerpot, for its part, does not like it’s new resident. But here’s a great shot of the one clown in its new anemone shangrila.

 

 

[Nic]

Had to purchase a small “peace maker” box for the Goni. One of the clownfish has taken up residence and the flowerpot hasn’t extended since the fish was added. 
 

The problem seems to be that the other Clownfish has taken up residence in the anemone and is not too friendly to the other and won’t let it get near it. I’m sure it’ll sort itself out but in the meantime I feel obligated to split the two in order to keep the Goni from succumbing. 😅

 

Any suggestions beyond that? 

[Reefkid88]

Thats kinda the problem with a non-bonded pair and a smaller nem,that will happen. Thakkfully the clown took to the nem so quickly though. 

 

 Isolating the coral is your best bet though. Maybe just get another nem lol. 

[Nic]

No significant updates on the tank. Parameters currently stand at:

 

PH 8.1

Alkalinity 8.3

Calcium 446

Nitrate 0

Ammonia 0

Phosphate 0.01

 

Everything is moving well. Still trying to get my calcium down to around 400 and my alkalinity around 7.5. Learned the hard way not to place a Hammer coral too close to a Torch so had to move it a bit today. It was stung mildly on one side but seems to be recovering. Also learned (the hard way) how to use a Dremel tool to remove frag plugs from corals. Had no issues with the hammer, torch and Goni but when I went to remove the Acropora from its plug the Dremel tool caught on the ceramic and launched the frag across the room. Broke a significant piece off but after a day of being back in the tank, it has polyp extension and seems like it might recover fine. 

 

Did a 10% water change last night, replaced carbon on the monthly schedule and replaced about 50% of the zeolites on a rotating monthly schedule. The clown seems to have left the green Goni alone for the majority of the day and it has had beautiful extension so maybe that won't be as much of an issue as I previously thought.

[Nic]

Things are going well. Added quite a few corals over the last week. Still have a few more to add but this will be it for the most part. Time to let it grow out. 
 

Tested only a couple of parameters today with Hanna checkers:

 

Calcium at 443

Nitrates at 0.27

 

 

 

[Nic]

Also got this cool shot of the RBTA consuming the head of a silverside. 
 

 

 

[Airedale.Reef]

Coming along nicely! 

[Reefkid88]

Boy oh boy that is a loooot sps in a brand new tank 😬 just on the 3rd of hune you said you were going to take it slow lol. 

[M. Tournesol]

17 hours ago, Nic said:

Things are going well. Added quite a few corals over the last week. Still have a few more to add but this will be it for the most part. Time to let it grow out. 
 

Tested only a couple of parameters today with Hanna checkers:

 

Calcium at 443

Nitrates at 0.27

 

 

 

Wow, I can see the difference between an expert tank starting stage and mine 😧.

Are you not affray that your BTA may wreck havoc in your tank in the distant future?

 

[Nic]

19 hours ago, Reefkid88 said:

Boy oh boy that is a loooot sps in a brand new tank 😬 just on the 3rd of hune you said you were going to take it slow lol. 

Yeah, I didn’t go as slow as I intended. Intention was to have the SPS going in middle of July. I’m fairly confident in the stability of the tank at this point, especially using Zeovit. There won’t be any real growth expected until at least six months in. 

Ive found a lot of success in the past with aquacultured frags of SPS and found a lot of failure with maricultured and wild. I try to stick to aquacultured frags at this point which is what I did here. I’ve only had two hiccups thus far. One frag RTN’d during shipping and an ORA Miami Orchid was knocked off the rock by a snail into the Torch Coral overnight and definitely suffered some stings. 
 

I could also easily come to regret this decision as well but again, I’m fairly confident in the stability of the tank from any sudden or major changes at this point. 

[Nic]

19 hours ago, M. Tournesol said:

Wow, I can see the difference between an expert tank starting stage and mine 😧.

Are you not affray that your BTA may wreck havoc in your tank in the distant future?

 

I would never claim to be an expert. I’ve been in the hobby (with a couple years off) since 2003 and I’ve had a lot of tanks but I’m not an expert. 
 

With SPS I’ve found the best results using solely aquacultured frags. I’ve tried maricultured frags and colonies in the past and found them to be wildly unpredictable. 
 

I’m not overly concerned about the Bubble Tips for now. Certainly as they grow they can become an issue. I put them in the tank and gave them a couple of days to move around and find a suitable spot and they haven’t moved since. Without any catalyst, my experience has been they tend to remain in the same spot. 
 

My wife and I are planning to expand the house within the next year or so and I’ll be doing a larger tank and will likely move them into that tank just for the extra space. 

[Nic]

Set up a Nest camera with our Google Home to help keep an eye on things while we are traveling or out of the house for most of the day. 
 

Nothing like verifying Controller readings with an actual view of the tank. 
 

Things are going well thus far. 

 

 

[Nic]

Did my second 10-15% water change today. Things are going exceptionally well! Acros have fairly good coloration (for the most part, there are a couple that are a bit dark and/or a bit light in coloration) LPS have good PE and coloration throughout the day) As part of my maintenance today I replaced one of the filter socks, leaving the other one there to be changed next week. Parameters are as follows: (all water tests are Hanna unless noted)

PH: 8.05 (7.9 at night, 8.1 daytime) (Hydros probe)
Ammonia: 0 (Red Sea)
Nitrite: 0 (Red Sea)
Nitrate: 0.86
Phosphates: 0.05
Potassium: 390 (Salifert)
Calcium: 456
Alkalinity: 8.6

Pictured is a late evening shot with whites off (and following water change which is why some LPS are closed up)

 

Feeding fish once a day with flake (once a week I substitute for a small amount of frozen Mysis)

 

Twice a week I add 3/4 of a cap of Phyto

 

Twice a week 1/8 cup of Reef Roids (locally feed LPS and then add remaining as broadcast feed)

 

Daily add:

 

2 drops Zeoback

2 drops Sponge Power

0.2ml ZeoStart3 x 2 (morning/evening)

2 drops Amino Acids

EOD 2 drops Coral’s Love

 

 

 

[Nic]

Does anyone recall the common availability of Acropora Spathulata maricultured colonies from Australia maybe 5-8 years ago? I think it was often Unique Corals and Live Aquaria that got them in. I always loved that beautiful green/red combo that those pieces would often come in. I haven’t seen any maricultured Spathulata colonies at either dealer since I hopped back into the hobby. Anyone know where I might be able to get one at some point?

[Nic]

FTS

 

 

Elegance Coral

 

 

Various Euphylia (a little drawn in because I added two new corals and glued some stuff down just before)

 

 

Pink and Yellow Bernardopora 

 

 

Alveopora

 

 

Acan

 

Favia

 

 

Goldenrod Anacropora

 

 

Montipora digitata (orange, bubblegum, and Boston bean)

Montipora spongodes 

 

 

Various Acropora 

 

 

 

 

 

Had one casualty over the last two weeks. Large frag of Acropora echinata experienced RTN. I believe I placed it way too high and in the direct line of the Nero 5 and they may have contributed to its demise. 
 

Otherwise, things are going really well. It will be a while before the Acropora color up so just focusing on keeping everything stable. 

[Nic]

Really enjoying the Hydros 4 controller and Nest camera on the tank. We’re vacationing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina this week. In all my previous tanks, I’ve never had the ability to monitor so much and to have a solid view of the tank while gone. 
 

Also have my sister nearby who is stopping in once a day to check on the cat and to add the three Zeovit additives. All is well so far!

 

 

 

[Nic]

Just got back from our vacation. The camera was wonderful, along with the Hydros controller, at giving me a very basic view of the aquarium and its parameters. What it was not able to do, however, was to monitor parameters such as nitrate, nor could the camera do more than let me see that the LPS corals looked to be quite happy (and indeed they were).

 

My brother-in-law, a non-reefkeeping person, kept the tank and did the basic Zeovit dosing while I was gone. Unfortunately, he has no concept of what a “thriving” Acropora is supposed to be like. Long story short, I came home to several acros dead but my LPS looking the best I had ever seen them. Beautiful extension and coloration on the various torches, the hammer, Goni, Alveopora, Bernardopora, Elegance, etc. but several dead acros and others that looked very stressed. It only took a few moments for me to see that the reactor being used for the zeolites, despite being on, did not appear to have water flowing through it. Adjusting the flow rate made no difference. I turned it off and took it out and it looked as if the very small pump was clogged. After cleaning it up a bit and changing out about 50% of the zeolites, water flow was again, good. 
 

It looks as if the reactor clogging caused my nitrates to go from near zero at the beginning of the week to 50 by the time I got back. Upsetting to say the least, but my brother-in-law had no way of knowing anything about the proper function of a reactor and it certainly could’ve been worse. It always seems like equipment failure waits to happen when we’re away, doesn’t it? 
 

going to delay any further coral acquisition for a couple of weeks while I slowly bring down the nitrate levels. Hopefully I’ll be able to rehab the few acros left if I can manage this without going too awfully fast. 

[Nic]

Did a water change and retested nitrates with the LR Hanna checker and got a value of 4.51. The original test was a quicker one with Red Sea. I’m thinking the nitrate value was likely around 8-10ppm. I can only assume that it happened over a very short period and likely stressed the couple of acros that RTN’d. 

 

Gonna do another water change tomorrow and then a final one on Friday, depending on what the test results show after tomorrow. 

[Reefkid88]

Hopefully the vacation was good. Unfortunately things like that tend to happen in such new tanks,and it sucks.