6 feet of reef

[braaap]

1 hour ago, patback said:

Yeah, Stella was super "tolerant" of people with different mindsets from hers.  I think she was ingesting too much lead from her "art" paintings. 

Glad you are sticking around!  

The mandarin is getting plump. I guess because he is so small, he doesn't wander very far. Stays within the same Maybe 6 square inches of rock, all day every day. Lol, atleast I always know where to find him. 

Is she still doing that? Does she venture around here at all?

 

Thats awesome. Every time I have one I stock pods like crazy. Do lots of feeding. They always look really good for months. And then I find them stuck to a filter or on the floor lol

[patback]

Thought I'd grab some quick shitty pics with the 20k filter. I bleached some coral by accident from the lights being to strong. They are now running at only 40%.  

Today was the first time I noticed my nutrients were pretty low after a water change 2 weeks ago. Alkalinity dropped to 6.8. Time to start dosing rather than water changes, with Maybe 1 every month or 2 instead. I dosed 10.5 ml by hand of parts a and b today and will do another 10.5 tonight and repeat until I get back up to 12 ish.  

(Don't mind the mess on top the tank or background)

 

[spectra]

Looks good are you liking the lights other than to much....... 

[patback]

9 minutes ago, spectra said:

Looks good are you liking the lights other than to much....... 

I am liking them. Had an issue that the light schedule  would fall back every night but that was because I assumed that putting in the local time would tell it what time it was. Time zone HAD to be put in correctly. The lights themselves seem built extremely well and are pretty nice. I'm thinking of building a screen top to keep the reflection down. My livingroom and foyer look like a tanning salon through the windows at night. They are definitly much stronger than I imagined. 

[spectra]

24 minutes ago, patback said:

I am liking them. Had an issue that the light schedule  would fall back every night but that was because I assumed that putting in the local time would tell it what time it was. Time zone HAD to be put in correctly. The lights themselves seem built extremely well and are pretty nice. I'm thinking of building a screen top to keep the reflection down. My livingroom and foyer look like a tanning salon through the windows at night. They are definitly much stronger than I imagined. 

 

You must have them pretty bright........ I saw a tank with 10 on it and not much spillage at all..... not sure what he was running them at though...... 

[patback]

44 minutes ago, spectra said:

 

You must have them pretty bright........ I saw a tank with 10 on it and not much spillage at all..... not sure what he was running them at though...... 

With glass tops too?  Mine are about 12 inches from the surface of glass tops. 

[spectra]

10 hours ago, patback said:

With glass tops too?  Mine are about 12 inches from the surface of glass tops. 

 

Rimless tank no glass top.

[patback]

1 hour ago, spectra said:

 

Rimless tank no glass top.

Yeah. The glass top scatters alot of it around the room. 

[FISHnChix]

Some pretty clear photos pattycakes!!  Must be the lights😉

[patback]

Went to pick up some aptasia x for erins tank and ended up getting some coral dip and some coral to go with it. Rastas and repeat mille are for erins tank once the aptasia are under control. 

[patback]

@spectra I just got home from picking up the little ones and pulled up to the house.  This is with the lights at 40%

those glass tops are a real B. 

[patback]

Picked up another mille frag today and went to another store for a pompom crab and 1 male/2 female dispar anthias. Added more fish because I am having trouble getting nitrates up. The other day I got hanna nitrate and calcium tests since my current ones were expired and am registering a whopping 0.0 nitrates.  I'm thinking of pulling chaeto out but pod production is through the roof.  I'm gonna just try to keep feedings on the heavy side and increase the amount per day. 

[patback]

New frag is in the front right. Hard to see but it has some nice pink in it. Its a reefraft something or other, dont remember the name honestly. 

 

[ml86743]

This tank is gonna look amazing when all the frags grow in.  

 

Have you considering dosing nutrients temporarily?  I know it would probably be expensive to use some of the name brand stuff, but I understand there are pretty cheap alternatives.  For my 14, I had to use copious amounts of PO4 before than tank reached saturation..but it did work.  Could be an option.  Dosing is pretty clean alternative to feeding heavily too.  The addition of some more livestock will defiantly help like you mentioned, especially some hungry anthias.

 

Also, whatever that yellow bounce shroom lookin thing is, it's gorgeous. 

[patback]

1 hour ago, ml86743 said:

This tank is gonna look amazing when all the frags grow in.  

 

Have you considering dosing nutrients temporarily?  I know it would probably be expensive to use some of the name brand stuff, but I understand there are pretty cheap alternatives.  For my 14, I had to use copious amounts of PO4 before than tank reached saturation..but it did work.  Could be an option.  Dosing is pretty clean alternative to feeding heavily too.  The addition of some more livestock will defiantly help like you mentioned, especially some hungry anthias.

 

Also, whatever that yellow bounce shroom lookin thing is, it's gorgeous. 

Thank you. I was actually discussing with one of the store owners today about possibly going a dosing route in terms of nitrates. I haven't tested in a couple of weeks, but my phosphates are usually on the higher side but nothing seems to really be bothered by it. Im still on the fence. I'd like to get SOMETHING registering on the tests so that the bleached corals can get some help coloring up one way or another.    I'll wait a few more days and test again with the anthias being in there. I need to take some pics of them tomorrow. They really do add so much more "life" to the tank. 

[ml86743]

47 minutes ago, patback said:

Thank you. I was actually discussing with one of the store owners today about possibly going a dosing route in terms of nitrates. I haven't tested in a couple of weeks, but my phosphates are usually on the higher side but nothing seems to really be bothered by it. Im still on the fence. I'd like to get SOMETHING registering on the tests so that the bleached corals can get some help coloring up one way or another.    I'll wait a few more days and test again with the anthias being in there. I need to take some pics of them tomorrow. They really do add so much more "life" to the tank. 

Sounds like a good plan to me - I too was hesitant to begin a dosing program for nutrients, in fact the only reason I really started was to combat some dinos.  If it wasn't for that, probably would have never even added anything.  I will say, having more "control" over nutrient levels has defiantly improved the overall health of my tank...figuring out the balance now between what's necessary for the inhabitants to thrive but limit unwanted algae growth.....Hell last time I had reef setup nutrients were BAD lol..

[patback]

Stopped  by  a lfs to pick up some stuff today. Ended up getting a lifeguard nano reactor and some phosban. Looks like dinos are starting to show up so I want to get those phosphates under control.  If by the end of the week I don't start showing nitrates, I'm going to probably pick up some to dose chemically.  I can't see feeding any more than I am and with the glass tops, I would like to not stop skimming.  

 

[patback]

Ended up putting in  50 grams by weight to start with. I think that should be conservative enough.  I will do a reading tonight and every night till I see a leveling of phosphates I guess. 

[patback]

Nitrates are still 0. Phosphates went from .25 to .021 basically overnight. This was with taking out 25% of the chaeto and only running less than half of the reccomended dose of gfo.  Gave a decently heavier than usual feeding to make sure they don't dissappear completely and to try to boost nitrates naturally still. It's looking like I may need to take the cup off of the skimmer for a while or just start dosing like ML said. Alkalinity is holding at 8 with daily hand dosing.  

Got to leave for work at 4 tomorrow so I can't do much more testing but I'm hoping to maybe see some nitrates soon, one way or another....

[seabass]

I hope it's not dinos.  If it is, I probably wouldn't be reducing phosphate.  Dinos are notorious for blooming in low nutrient environments (where its competition is struggling).

 

I'd dose nitrate (you could even dose ammonium chloride as long as you keep NH3 within safe levels).  Low nitrate is usually less concerning than low phosphate because even ammonia is a bio-available form of nitrogen.  But dosing nitrate is usually safer.

https://www.amazon.com/Brightwell-Aquatics-NeoNitro-Supplement-Ultra-Low/dp/B00Y01KXWU

 

Also, hold off on any coral purchases until you get this bloom (whatever it is) under control.

[patback]

16 hours ago, seabass said:

I hope it's not dinos.  If it is, I probably wouldn't be reducing phosphate.  Dinos are notorious for blooming in low nutrient environments (where its competition is struggling).

 

I'd dose nitrate (you could even dose ammonium chloride as long as you keep NH3 within safe levels).  Low nitrate is usually less concerning than low phosphate because even ammonia is a bio-available form of nitrogen.  But dosing nitrate is usually safer.

https://www.amazon.com/Brightwell-Aquatics-NeoNitro-Supplement-Ultra-Low/dp/B00Y01KXWU

 

Also, hold off on any coral purchases until you get this bloom (whatever it is) under control.

I found good prices on maricultured sps today, so you were in the back of my head the whole time. I haven't seen maricultured colonies in in years around me. 

I picked up some nitrates to dose and am still planning on testing every night and feeding heavy to make sure phosphates don't dip too low. 

One of the girls at the store has experience with the esv brand nitrates I got and said that it tests a little higher than they claim, so I am planning on doing a half strength dose and bringing them up slowly. 

Oh, and I am 90% sure it is dinoflagellettes I have. Very light case of it, but I want to get the battle under way before it gets any worse. 

[patback]

Okay so since growth sort of slowed my alkalinity usage slowed down. Alkalinity is 7.9. 

Phosphates are .04 and nitrates are reading at .3!  

 

 

[patback]

Glass is dirtier than ever. Phosphate is .034. Nitrates .2. Alkalinity had to be boosted back to 8 as it was 7.8. I wasn't able to feed this morning but fed pellets when I got home around 4 30 this afternoon. Just now around 10:15 I fed a dose of reef roids, fish roe, rods original formula and the daily 1/6 sheet of nori. 

I will most likely (if the babies allow the time to update) update the journal every day just as my way of keeping records of what was fed and what my test results were. 

Tests were done before feeding, so I am glad that the nitrates lasted through the night/day, even if it is a miniscule amount. The gfo is also seeming to keep a normal phosphate level rather than 5-10 times normal.  

I will also note that everything seems moderately happy through all of this, but one acro that had polyp extension for DAYS now has normal pe( which I guess is good?) And the gorgonians have HATED everything going on.  

[seabass]

When fighting dinos, 0.10 ppm of phosphate is often a recommended minimum.  It's more expensive to dose NeoNitro and NeoPhos, especially in a large tank.  I've gotten dry fertilizer from the following before:

https://aquariumfertilizer.com/

You can mix up your own dosing liquid and save a bunch of money.

[patback]

9 hours ago, seabass said:

When fighting dinos, 0.10 ppm of phosphate is often a recommended minimum.  It's more expensive to dose NeoNitro and NeoPhos, especially in a large tank.  I've gotten dry fertilizer from the following before:

https://aquariumfertilizer.com/

You can mix up your own dosing liquid and save a bunch of money.

Should I keep it how I have it now for stability or do you think I should get rid of the gfo for now?  Maybe take some out?