Seeking advice for my 7 month Fluval Evo

[4d-Rock]

Hey all,

My Fluval Evo 13.5 is a little over 7 months old and things have gone reasonably well with some unfortunate occurrences here or there.  Some nuisance algae, some ich deaths, and a few bad shipments of coral have been some of the things to contend with.   Things are going decent but I am still getting unwanted algae, mostly little tufts in the sand bed and within the holes of the rocks that I can't reach or get at.  I test all my parameters weekly before a 25% water change and for like 5 monthsmy nitrates have been 0 (red sea pro kit) and phosphate has been near zero (0-20ppb phosphorous using hanna checker).  I started dosing All for reef 2 months ago as my Alkalinity was consistently at 7.6-7.8, now it is about 8.1-8.3.  Other parameters: Salinity 35ppt, Calcium 390-410, Mag 1400-1480, pH is steady at 7.8 and won't go up even with opening windows (now limited with winter on the way).

 

Lighting: I have the stock white lights on 8 hours.  Ramping up for 3 hours to 25% for 4 hours, and back to 15% for the last 2. I also have 2 9w Actinic strips from 21LED, ramping up to 45% before the whites, for 8 hours, followed by a 4 hour dimmer period at 20%

 

For food I rotate between pellets, flakes, and frozen mysis/brine. Once a day feeding with a small pinch or like 1/5th of a cube.

I'd appreciate some advice on how to manage the algae without being able to buy herbivorous fish (tried an lawnmower blenny but died, maybe not enough food?), helping my struggling corals along, along with some guidance on next steps and continuing progression towards a mature and stable tank.

 

Current stock is: a Purple Firefish, pyjama cardinal, cleaner shrimp, 2 trochus snails, 2 throwing star snails, 1 nassarius snail (just died yesterday), 1 red leg hermit, 1 blue leg hermit, and 1 conch.

 

Corals doing well:
GSP - Happy on the arch though has minor algae on the matting when it retracts
Kenya Tree - looks good, dropped a branch recently that I put on a piece of rubble and seems to have recovered quickly
Ridordea Yuma/Florida - Yuma is older and has been steadily growing, Florida started really small and took some time to attach but now it has settled and is growing slowly
Hammer - Started with 1 head, split after a month of being in there and looks to be splitting again with 2 more polyps starting to grow out the sides
Blasomussa - Started with 2 small polyps which have grown considerably with nearly 10 more small ones growing around the skeleton

 

Corals that are stalled or not doing much:
Trumpet - Hasn't grown at all in the 4 months I've had them, sometimes slightly puffs up and no sweepers at night
Zoa frag - Had been closed from the introduction 5 months ago but opened up about a month ago, but the heads are small and not fully opening or growing
Favia - 4 Months old, Flesh slowly receded for months, but has stopped and is just not much other than hair algae growing around on the dead parts of the skeleton
Rhodactis - Month old and has stayed small and not flattening or stretching out

 

Should I be doing anything differently in terms of maintenance, feeding, etc.?  Or should I keep it steady and hope for an improvement over time?  Also, how the heck do I remove the hair algae within the holes of the rocks?

Thanks all!

FYI, this pic is from about 2 weeks ago and the hair aglae is slightly worse on the sand and parts of the rocks

[TheCoffeeReef]

I'm hoping someone with more experience pops by to reply soon, but I wonder if you've increased stock too quickly for the water volume- although at 7 months...

 

If the algae is that vigorous, then there is plenty of nutrients and the correct light wavelengths for it; you could increase the CUC inhabitants, and perhaps reduce the feeding frequency, every other day. 

 

I've also seen on here to reduce the lighting in order to 'starve' out the algae to get it under control, then begin to increase. 

 

Regardless of which you try, only test one option at a time, and I'd probably try it for at least a week or two to observe any changes. Record what happens, then decide if you need to try another.

 

Good luck, the GSP looks nice 👌

 

 

[Tamberav]

A female emerald crab (stay smaller) is a really good algae eater. It is a crab but I sometimes employ them just because they are so good at getting at tough algae 🙂 Some people like them, some do not. I will leave that up to you! 

 

It could be that debris are collecting in the nooks and crannies giving algae a nice fertile spot to grow. Taking a turkey baster and blowing it out regularly could prove helpful. 

 

Could the hammer be bothering the trumpet? looks very close in the pic. 

 

Zoas look like they need more light. Heads are a bit stretched and it looks too shaded. 

[4d-Rock]

Thanks for the replies @TheCoffeeReef and @Tamberav, I appreciate it.

 

It's possible that stocking was a tad quick, but at this moment it is what it is and I don't have any immediate plans to add any more fish.  Since my last post I added some more CUC (2 hermits, 2 tectus snails and 2 nassarius snails) as well as a good handful more coral. There's some turf war going on between the hermits so we will see how that turns out.

 

Here's the tank the day after the introduction of the new corals.  With the new coral I've also shifted some things around, the trumpet is no longer near the hammer and I moved the Zoa into the light a bit more which has helped it opening up and I plan on finding a place in the rockwork for it.  Since this picture I've also moved the hammer a bit lower so you can see the Gold hammer and frogspawn that are hidden behind it. 

Things have settled in even more since this picture and overall going decent. I'm reasonably happy with how things are shaping up, though as much as I like the look of the GSP up on the arch, I know it's not going to stay up there and I'm running out of time before I'll be able to snap that arch off to. 

I'm Still getting tufts of algae in the sand bed but the rockwork is doing good other then the GHA in the holes that the CUC can't get to.  The plan is to continue manually removing what I can during the weekly water change, and limiting food and cut back on the frozen food and feed pellets and flakes a bit more often.  But even just looking at this picture to the one above, the rockwork isn't nearly as green so that's a good sign.

[mcarroll]

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

Hey all,

My Fluval Evo 13.5 is a little over 7 months old[....]

Things are going decent but I am still getting unwanted algae, mostly little tufts in the sand bed and within the holes of the rocks that I can't reach or get at.  I test all my parameters weekly before a 25% water change and for like 5 monthsmy nitrates have been 0 (red sea pro kit) and phosphate has been near zero (0-20ppb phosphorous using hanna checker). 

Here's the problem....nutrients at/near zero in a new tank....like running a new car without gas or oil.  Going nowhere fast!

 

Slow down on the water changes.  If you think you're feeding light, feed a little more.  After a few days or a week or so, if you don't see an up-tick in NO3 and PO4 you could consider dosing NO3 and PO4 as-needed.  However you get there, shoot for PO4 ≥0.05 ppm and NO3 ≥5.0ppm.

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

I started dosing All for reef 2 months ago as my Alkalinity was consistently at 7.6-7.8, now it is about 8.1-8.3.  Other parameters: Salinity 35ppt, Calcium 390-410, Mag 1400-1480, pH is steady at 7.8 and won't go up even with opening windows (now limited with winter on the way).

Don't chase pH.....7.8 is normal for most folks.

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

Lighting: I have the stock white lights on 8 hours.  Ramping up for 3 hours to 25% for 4 hours, and back to 15% for the last 2. I also have 2 9w Actinic strips from 21LED, ramping up to 45% before the whites, for 8 hours, followed by a 4 hour dimmer period at 20%

I get the idea....consider that the tropics have 12 hour days and sunrise/sunset don't have to be more than an hour each.

 

As for whether that's a good intensity level, you'll have to get an empirical measurement of some kind – at minimum a lux meter reading from the water line, directly under the light.

 

As for the white:blue color, you want mostly blue....just enough white for things in the tank to look good.  Less white is better.

 

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

For food I rotate between pellets, flakes, and frozen mysis/brine. Once a day feeding with a small pinch or like 1/5th of a cube.

Is that a lot or a little for the fish you have?

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

I'd appreciate some advice on how to manage the algae without being able to buy herbivorous fish (tried an lawnmower blenny but died, maybe not enough food?), helping my struggling corals along, along with some guidance on next steps and continuing progression towards a mature and stable tank.

Until your cleanup crew can handle it, pulling out algae is YOUR job.

 

Tank is too small for an algae eating fish.....fish are NOT good cleanup crew anyway, generally speaking.

 

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

Current stock is: a Purple Firefish, pyjama cardinal, cleaner shrimp, 2 trochus snails, 2 throwing star snails, 1 nassarius snail (just died yesterday), 1 red leg hermit, 1 blue leg hermit, and 1 conch.

Seems like you only have 4 herbivores (Astrea and Trochus).  You don't want to over-do it, but you could have as many as 2 snails per gallon to handle algae.  The point being that your CUC is on the small end of the spectrum.

 

So....clean out the algae BY HAND that's too big for snails to consume.   THEN add more snails (1-2 more like you have) to keep the newly cleaned area clean.   If you see algae growing large again, you know you still don't have enough snails.   Repeat the process, only adding a small amount of snails at a time, until you don't have to pull algae by hand anymore.  (You probably won't make it anywhere close to 2 snails/gallon, BTW.)

 

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

Corals doing well:
[....]

 

Corals that are stalled or not doing much:
[....]

 

Should I be doing anything differently in terms of maintenance, feeding, etc.?  Or should I keep it steady and hope for an improvement over time?  Also, how the heck do I remove the hair algae within the holes of the rocks?

Just do the best you can using your fingers like tweezers.  I would suggest working in a small area – maybe 1-2 square inches – at any given time until that area is 100% picked free of algae.  Then do another area.  Only work for 20-30 minutes at a time so it doesn't seem like too much work.   BUT make sure you hit it every day like that until the algae is cleared out – algae can grow back fast.

 

 

On 10/7/2022 at 10:47 AM, 4d-Rock said:

Thanks all!

FYI, this pic is from about 2 weeks ago and the hair aglae is slightly worse on the sand and parts of the rocks

Looks good so far!!

[4d-Rock]

Awesome thanks for the detailed answer @mcarroll!

 

I probably am feeding on the light side because I was trying to keep the algae from exploding.  You asked if I’m feeding enough for the fish I have. To answer I’m not exactly sure, I feed once a day and make sure that each of the fish at least get around 5 bites at minimum, Usually they get more.  But I’m also still fairly new so I’m not sure what to look for other than too much food causing algae, and too little having fish die.  But they seem full and happy.  The cleaner shrimp is a food hog though, goes nuts anytime food is added.

 

Should I pull the carbon out and just go with the floss until I can get measurable nitrate/phosphate?  I’ll also try doing water changes once every 2 weeks and see how that goes. 

 

For pH, I’m not planning on chasing numbers there, just keeping track of it for now.

 

For light, I’m essentially keeping to what you mentioned, low white light, more blue, and I’m going to see if I can track down a par meter to test the actual measurements.  Ill look into shortening the ramp ups as well.

 

Since that first post I had added more CUC, 2 Tectus snails (one died, not sure if it’s lack of food or if it fell over and hermits got to it), and 2 more hermits.  I found my conch dead this morning too. I’m thinking that with my weekly water change and sand cleaning it didn’t have enough food to support it.  

So as of right now I have 5 algae snails, 2 nassarius, and 4 hermits.  I’m thinking next time I get in the city I’ll pick up a couple more trochus and nassarius and some tiny hermits to try to get into the smaller cracks. 
Also considering a Tailspot Blenny for a last fish. 
 

But ya, I’ve been tweezering the stuff I can get at in the rocks and the tufts showing up on the sand.  I’ll continue doing that until my CUC can keep up.

 

Thanks again, I’ll post an updated picture once the lighting in the room is better for it. 

[mcarroll]

15 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

Should I pull the carbon out and just go with the floss

Pull both until further notice.  🙂 

 

15 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

I’ll also try doing water changes once every 2 weeks and see how that goes. 

Cancel water changes too unless absolutely necessary.

 

15 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

I’m going to see if I can track down a par meter to test the actual measurements.

If you currently have nothing, then even a lux meter app for your smartphone will work fine to get a number.   I'd recommend getting a $5-10 handheld lux meter for future use though.  

 

A PAR meter is interesting if someone near you has one, but for the cost they are overkill for out purposes.   We (more properly, our corals) don't need that kind of precision.  

 

For sunlight, 100,000 lux = 2,000 PAR.   That's a 50 to 1 ratio/conversion factor.  

 

If you want to convert lux from your app (or handheld) lux meter, then you can use that conversion factor and be "close enough".  

 

For example, if you measure 25,000 lux you can convert that to (25,000 ÷ 50 = ) 500 PAR.   Or 500-ish. 😉  

 

With lights as blue as ours, the actual conversion factor would likely be a little higher....like 60-ish.  The result is not significantly different from the sunlight conversion factor....and it's much easier to divide/multiply by 50 in my head than by 60. 🧐😵‍💫😉   For comparison, 25,000 lux computes to 417 PAR if you use a conversion factor of 60.

 

Last thing if you're really hung up on PAR (don't be)....if you can get that PAR meter and got a lux meter then you can create a real and accurate conversion factor for your specific light setup.  Then when you measure in lux and use the convention factor to get PAR, it will be 99% as accurate as the PAR meter.

 

$0.02

[4d-Rock]

Thanks @mcarroll

 

I'll pull the filtration and stop with the water changes for the next couple weeks and keep a close eye to whether the nutrients become measurable.  Hopefully it doesn't lead to an algae explosion.  Even so, I'll be going to the city in 2 weeks so it'll be the perfect time to grab some more CUC.

 

Actually, I do have a lux meter that I use for my grow tent. It's not waterproof, but I'm sure I can put it in a waterproof bag.  I'm also familiar with par calculations as I've done it before with my grow lights.  HLG has calculators on their website depending on which of their lights you use and the spectrum.  My particular light uses about 68 for the conversion, regardless, 50-60 should give a rough ballpark and that's really all I'm looking for.  My corals don't look to be going downhill so while I may not have things perfectly tuned, at least I'm not killing things slowly. 

[mcarroll]

On 10/31/2022 at 12:54 PM, 4d-Rock said:

Actually, I do have a lux meter that I use for my grow tent. It's not waterproof, but I'm sure I can put it in a waterproof bag.

You can measure in air right at the water line – good enough.

 

That said, plenty of folks have been using a ziplock bag for "waterproofness" and it seems to work well.  

 

For lighting setup we don't need any measurements other than the one at the waterline though.  (Other measurements will be for curiosity's sake.)

 

On 10/31/2022 at 12:54 PM, 4d-Rock said:

I'm also familiar with par calculations as I've done it before with my grow lights.

Excellent!

 

On 10/31/2022 at 12:54 PM, 4d-Rock said:

HLG has calculators on their website depending on which of their lights you use and the spectrum. 

If you customize the white/blue/color ratio at all, then their conversion factor becomes incorrect.  (Do they make a reef light?  Which model are you using?)

 

On 10/31/2022 at 12:54 PM, 4d-Rock said:

My particular light uses about 68 for the conversion, regardless, 50-60 should give a rough ballpark and that's really all I'm looking for. 

That's the idea. 👍

 

The specific conversion factor isn't that important for us.

 

Really, converting to PAR at all is superfluous.....we can just work in lux.  All the older scientific lit on corals is in lux, FWIW.   5000-10000 lux is "low but acceptable", with 5000 being close to their photosynthetic compensation point.)

 

The point of PAR is for scientists to be able to do other things with the numbers (such as compare with fluorescence, etc).....that we don't really care about at the hobby level.

[4d-Rock]

Here’s a couple pictures. 
Still no measurable nitrates but the ULR Phosphorous checker gave me 9 ppb. 
I had a hermit and the conch die this week which I don’t think is related to the removal of the filtration, but may have lifted the phosphorous also.

Other observations are that there are more tufts of algae in the sand which I’ve been cleaning manually here or there, and my original green hammer has been more contracted since, which may also be unrelated.  Everything else seems to be still doing ok with the exception of the mushrooms.  I have 2 rhodactis mushrooms, one in the rockwork under each arch, and neither are spreading out or look happy.  But this has been since I got them so don’t know why they don’t like my tank

 

[mcarroll]

7 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

I had a hermit and the conch die this week which I don’t think is related to the removal of the filtration

A conch would need a pretty good sized food supply, and your tank, by and large, looks really clean.  A small or moderate food supply at best...and he's sharing with other CUC.  I'm guessing he starved.  Hard to say about the hermit, but possibly the same.

 

I agree not related to filtration in any event.

 

8 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

Still no measurable nitrates but the ULR Phosphorous checker gave me 9 ppb. 

Apparently that figures to a little less than 0.03 ppm....still very, very low.   Keep an eye on it....if it doesn't continue rising – ≥0.10 ppm would be fine; ≥0.05 ppm would be good for a. minimum – consider dosing "ASAP" as mentioned earlier.

 

The damage from low phosphates wrecks a coral's photosynthetic machinery....so it's possible for the damage to become too great for it to recover from.  Makes this one of the few instances where responding and resolving a situation rapidly is a good thing.   Waiting is only OK if nothing seems any worse for the wear....but you have corals apparently suffering already. 

[TheCoffeeReef]

This had been a really useful thread to follow, thanks all, getting the mind away from pristine tank syndrome to keep corals happy is a learning curve taking some close observation. More time to watch my tank 😁

[4d-Rock]

Hey all,

Well after a few weeks of no filtration I’m still at 0 nitrates and phosphates.  Though there has definitely been an increase in turf algae on the rocks and in the sand.  Here’s a picture just after I did some cleanup of the sand, still some algae but not as bad. Hard to see the turf algae in the rocks but there are tufts of it sporadically near the base of the rocks.  Increasing the feed amount and doing more frozen shrimp hasn’t increased my detectable nutrients but seem to keep fueling the algae.  

 

corals are looking alright. The ones that were having troubles before (favia, mushrooms, one of the zoas and candy cane coral) are still just staying the same and not improving.  They just may not ever get better but I’ll just leave them in there til they recover. Or if they don’t I’ll eventually replace them I guess.  

I did add more CUC. Currently have 3 blue leg hermits, 3 dwarf white hermits, 4 nassarius, 3 trochus, 2 throwing star, and an emerald crab.  
Im sure they are helping but still don’t seem to be keeping the longer stuff down.  
Will dosing nitrates or phosphates cause more algae growth?  I’m concerned that’s what it would do and be counter productive.  
I’ve put the filter floss in for the time being as my overflow areas were gunking up a bit and sponges were growing in there.  

[mcarroll]

16 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

They just may not ever get better but I’ll just leave them in there til they recover.

Algae are well suited to low (and fluctuating) nutrient levels like this, but corals and most other critters are not.

 

If taking filtration offline did not help, then you should take more direct action – dosing at least some liquid phosphate.  Your corals need levels to be AT LEAST ≥0.03 ppm....≥0.10 ppm would be a better number to see if you're expecting to see improvement in your corals.

 

In general I don't like overfeeding as a substitute.

 

Also, get on top of those algae outcrops before they spread....and they WILL spread.   Anything big enough to see is too big for snails to eat....so you'll have to pull it out.

 

Last, any corals that might be in lower-flow areas could be held back in their recovery because of that.....low flow = low access to nutrients (dissolved AND particle) if you're a coral.

 

Make any needed corrections/improvements to flow – especially for corals that don't seem to be progressing.

 

16 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

I did add more CUC. Currently have 3 blue leg hermits, 3 dwarf white hermits, 4 nassarius, 3 trochus, 2 throwing star, and an emerald crab.

Hermits are scavengers....nassariaus are scavengers.  The emerald is a marginal algae eater too.

 

That leaves the 3 trochus and 2 throwing star (Astrea) snails.

 

Those are both HARD WORKING snails, but overall that's probably too many scavengers and not enough algae eaters.

 

If you still see algae spreading, consider swapping the nassarius 1 for 1 with more algae eaters.

 

If you STILL see algae spreading, consider swapping the hermits too.

 

16 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

Will dosing nitrates or phosphates cause more algae growth?  I’m concerned that’s what it would do and be counter productive.  

As mentioned, you're catering to the algae and starving your corals with the current nutrient levels in your tank....that's why no coral progress, but algae is growing.

 

Get to dosing!  🙂 

 

16 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

I’ve put the filter floss in for the time being as my overflow areas were gunking up a bit and sponges were growing in there.

🤔 Floss costs money, does a poor job, etc.  Sponges do the same job (filtering particulates) only better, and cost nothing.  Angle away from the floss at least until your corals start to improve.   Consider just feeding the right amount for your fish and no more.

[Tired]

Better to have growing algae and growing corals, than growing algae and starving corals. I'd agree that it's likely time to start dosing, at least phosphates, but you're likely not going to have to worry too much about algae. You'll definitely see more of it, as your rock isn't very mature yet, but that's a good thing. 

 

I like the setup of your tank! Watch out with that GSP, though, it'll cover your entire rockscape if you give it half a chance.

[4d-Rock]

On 12/6/2022 at 4:10 AM, mcarroll said:

Algae are well suited to low (and fluctuating) nutrient levels like this, but corals and most other critters are not.

 

If taking filtration offline did not help, then you should take more direct action – dosing at least some liquid phosphate.  Your corals need levels to be AT LEAST ≥0.03 ppm....≥0.10 ppm would be a better number to see if you're expecting to see improvement in your corals.

 

In general I don't like overfeeding as a substitute.

 

Also, get on top of those algae outcrops before they spread....and they WILL spread.   Anything big enough to see is too big for snails to eat....so you'll have to pull it out.

 

Last, any corals that might be in lower-flow areas could be held back in their recovery because of that.....low flow = low access to nutrients (dissolved AND particle) if you're a coral.

 

Make any needed corrections/improvements to flow – especially for corals that don't seem to be progressing.

Ya, it's looking likely that I'll have to give dosing a shot.  I'm going to have to work on the algae as you suggest, it has been spreading but unfortunately the worst of it is within the holes of the rocks which just isn't accessible.  I've attached some pics below to show what the algae looks like now in a few of the worst spots. 

 

Flow is reasonable I think throughout the tank, but my Jebao is mostly set to 40% pulsing (except for a few hours in the middle of the day where I have it set to random) so I could always nudge it up a bit.  The corals not doing well I've tried in a number of different locations over time and haven't seen improvements regardless of where.  I'd guess that some of them that didn't start off well may just be damaged to the point of no recovery, but I'll keep trying.

 

On 12/6/2022 at 4:10 AM, mcarroll said:

Hermits are scavengers....nassariaus are scavengers.  The emerald is a marginal algae eater too.

 

That leaves the 3 trochus and 2 throwing star (Astrea) snails.

 

Those are both HARD WORKING snails, but overall that's probably too many scavengers and not enough algae eaters.

 

If you still see algae spreading, consider swapping the nassarius 1 for 1 with more algae eaters.

 

If you STILL see algae spreading, consider swapping the hermits too.

You're probably right there, a bit heavy of scavengers, a bit lighter on algae eaters.  If any of the hermits or nassarius die I'll replace with more snails.

 

On 12/6/2022 at 4:10 AM, mcarroll said:

🤔 Floss costs money, does a poor job, etc.  Sponges do the same job (filtering particulates) only better, and cost nothing.  Angle away from the floss at least until your corals start to improve.   Consider just feeding the right amount for your fish and no more.

I guess for the floss I was just trying to prevent buildup of detritus in the back chambers as they are more of a pain to clean.  But I'll likley take it out again and I have been backing off a bit on the feeding.  LFS gave me some phyto to try and I've been occasionally feeding the corals (though the cleaner shrimp is such a PITA as it steals food from them).  Other than that I have been dosing All for Reef daily which has helped keep my dkH up and steady (8.1-8.4) and then some Aquaforest Amino's sparingly once a week or when I remember.

 

I'm going to be leaving for 2 weeks so the tank will be on autopilot during that time.  Should give the tank some time to build up some nutrients, hopefully I don't return to a forest of algae or worse a crash.  

 

15 hours ago, Tired said:

Better to have growing algae and growing corals, than growing algae and starving corals. I'd agree that it's likely time to start dosing, at least phosphates, but you're likely not going to have to worry too much about algae. You'll definitely see more of it, as your rock isn't very mature yet, but that's a good thing. 

 

I like the setup of your tank! Watch out with that GSP, though, it'll cover your entire rockscape if you give it half a chance.

Thanks, definitely don't want starving corals.  I noticed that some of them have lost or changed colour, specifically the Acan and bowerbanki, and maybe a bit on the hammers, and I've attributed this to the lack of nutrients.  Hoping they come back a bit once I get things to correct levels.

 

The tank overall is coming along pretty well and the look that I was trying to go for. There's definitely things I would change or do different if I did it again (chop off like the bottom 1/3 of the base rocks to bring the entire structure down a few inches).   Thanks for the advice on the GSP too.  I've been back and forth on what to do.  I really like the look of the grassy arch, but know it won't just stop growing there and will be an issue at some point.  That entire top arch was cemented on and could likely be broken off, then I could put it on the sand for a little GSP island.  It would also give me some more space across for more corals too, but I'm still iffy on that.  We'll see, the wife doesn't want me to move it but since when do we listen 😜 

 

[mcarroll]

10 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

The corals not doing well I've tried in a number of different locations over time and haven't seen improvements regardless of where.  I'd guess that some of them that didn't start off well may just be damaged to the point of no recovery, but I'll keep trying.

I would try improving flow without making any more changes to coral placement if possible.  Maybe be more creative with how the pumps are aimed or placed?

 

12 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

LFS gave me some phyto to try and I've been occasionally feeding the corals (though the cleaner shrimp is such a PITA as it steals food from them).

Try feeding the shrimp first – he's obviously hungry!  🙂 

 

Hopefully you have someone that can look in on the tank while you're out?  Highly recommended, even if all they do is check that things are on and running.

 

 

[4d-Rock]

I’ll see what I can do for aiming the pump in a better direction.  Unfortunately I’m a bit limited on placement due to the arrangement of rocks.

 

That shrimp is always hungry haha, even when after he’s gobbled up food from the fish!

 

I have someone who might be able to check on the tank, will see if they can stop by occasionally just in case.  Hoping that the automation of everything I have set up holds steady.  It has while I’m around, but we all know things wait until we leave to happen