Mixed Reef Jar—big changes

[NatureGuy]

Digis are really pretty, but I don’t really feel ready for one yet. That being said, I usually just do some random BS after toiling over a decision for ages, so I might buy one soon! 

[NatureGuy]

I think I’m gonna leave Big Daddy on the bottom of the jar since he makes a pretty cool carpet. That doesn’t leave much space for corals that are waiting to be glued though. I may have to acquire a tiny frag rack 

[NatureGuy]

Everything in the jar looks better after two weeks of actually keeping to my WC schedule. They really are magic

[NatureGuy]

I wonder how much I could up the photoperiod; it’s on from 8-4 atm which makes for dreadfully reefless evenings 

[NatureGuy]

Im taking a Covid test right now and it’s giving me flashbacks to using test strips on my first FW tank 

[NatureGuy]

It’s not nearly as inconclusive though :(. I would like the records to show that I was clearly delirious when I referred to a coral as “big daddy” 

[NatureGuy]

New polyps coming in

[NatureGuy]

Update on all the potential pests:

 

the starfish hasn’t done anything evil.

 

Vermeted snails have, likewise, committed no identifiable atrocities 

 

The orange flatworms have raised an army, so I guess they’re eating something. It doesn’t seem to be the corals though. Free CUC perhaps? (Orange dots are them)  

[NatureGuy]

An update on the all aquaculture plan. I didn’t remember to ask whether the mushrooms were aquacultured when I got them. Likewise, I’ve no idea of the origin of the LR. I still think that we shouldn’t be staining the wild reefs though, and I still intend to stick to the all aquaculture rule going forward

[NatureGuy]

Zoas from above 

[NatureGuy]

After only three days, the jar has once again dropped from 10 to 0 ppm NO3. I guess I’ll have to start adding food sooner after the WC. 
 

PO4 is 0.1 ppm 

[NatureGuy]

I adjusted the light timer slightly yesterday. Anyway, needless to say it was on for an indefinite amount of time last night. Corals looking a little funny, but they’ll probably be fine 

[NatureGuy]

Brown zoas have grown a lot, also changes colors a bit for better or worse (first pic is now). Algae has grown a lot too :P

[NatureGuy]

This doesn’t look good 

[NatureGuy]

Ricordea glued in 

[NatureGuy]

Tested again 24 hours after WC. It’s gone from 5 to 0.2 ppm in 24 hours. There’s barely any coral in it, is this a normal rate of consumption? Am I missing something? At 24 and 48 hour marks after feeding heavily it still registered at 0. I’m assuming whatever nitrates the food yielded were gone as fast as they came 

[NatureGuy]

I just tested salinity for the first time and in comes in at 1.020 and so does my water change water. Is this acceptable or is the thousandth important? Prob a stupid question lol 

[NatureGuy]

The refractometer says it has ATC, but also says it should be used at 68 F specifically. I know I should follow the instructions, but trying to cool samples before tasting seems like a huge pain. Do I need to worry about temp? 

[PeterU]

On 4/4/2023 at 7:43 PM, NatureGuy said:

I just tested salinity for the first time and in comes in at 1.020 and so does my water change water. Is this acceptable or is the thousandth important? Prob a stupid question lol 

It's important. You should be aiming for 1.025. IMO +/- .001 is okay

[PeterU]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:06 AM, NatureGuy said:

The refractometer says it has ATC, but also says it should be used at 68 F specifically. I know I should follow the instructions, but trying to cool samples before tasting seems like a huge pain. Do I need to worry about temp? 

It compensates for temperature by adjusting the readout to 68F. Just give it several seconds for the temperature of the sample to stabilize.

I did get erroneous readings on mine once when it was left sitting in sunlight from a window. I moved it so it dropped to room temp and then calibrated it with some calibration fluid.

[NatureGuy]

7 minutes ago, PeterU said:

It's important. You should be aiming for 1.025. IMO +/- .001 is okay

Thanks! hopefully the next batch of water from my LFS is the correct salinity. I’d really rather not have to mix it myself 

[NatureGuy]

I just dosed neonitro for the first time. It definitely raised the NO3, was more potent than expected though. This should’ve been about a 8 ppm raise according to the box 

[NatureGuy]

Feeding

video

[NatureGuy]

Tested again today 

 

April 6: dosed 1 ml, when from 0 to 25 ppm NO3

 

April 7: heavy feeding with reefroids

 

April 8: NO3 is 5 ppm. Dosed 0.4 ml neonitro. PO4 is 0.25 ppm.

 

Thoughts: I thought PO4 would lower when I upped the NO3. A week ago it was 0.1 ppm. Maybe it spiked because of the feeding 

 

Corals seem to be responding well, but it’s hard to tell so far. I swear the ricordea has colored up slightly 

[NatureGuy]

The room were my aquariums are reeks of burning rubber. No detectable source though, all equipment seems to be fully functional…