Rhetoric Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 I can't seem to get my Nitrate to go above 2. They have reached zero a few times, been dosing a little neo to keep it up. I've literally doubled my feeding at this point. I'd rather not dose all the time so I picked up another fish (bigger bio load) The new fire fish - She was shy the first few days but is out eating and making more frequent appearances. The emerald crab passed away. Something was wrong with one of his claws, he never used it was just hanging there. Maybe he got hurt in transportation or I bought him that way, not sure. I picked up another as this bubble algae thing isn't over. Zilla 2.0 These emerald crabs knock my frags off like crazy. Having to reglue frags a couple times a week. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Down to 1 clown again, orange beat the crap out of white clown. So white went back to the store. The new emerald crab has been a model citizen. He eats the little bubble algae bit not the big ones. I'll keep removing during water changed, it's slowly getting better. My all for reef bottle went dry and Alk dropped to 6.1 been bring it back up slow. My immortal tort frags started to bleach but are already recovering. Its been a few weeks since Ive put my hands in the tank. Have a few new green hair algea patches. Will scrub them with the next water change this weekend. Will also do the third round of heavy bubble removal. Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 Reef stock 2024: After spending some time talking lighting with a few different booths, I ended up buying a new G6XR15 pro (15% tradeshow discount). Looking forward to figuring out how to mount it, thinking a custom shelf. Daughter and I got a little therapy in! Found some chunky zoa frags. Found a pink and orange cyphastrea (my camera filter does no justice) Going to try and get it to encrust my back wall. Quote Link to comment
KC2020 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Nice little reef ! The Radion will be a big upgrade from the Prime. Your corals will take off once you've ramped it up ! 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 New light came in, starting with a ceiling mount to get it up and going. I will clean it all up after I figure out all the hanging intricacies. Not sure what to do with the cord just yet. Old set up New set up 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 Quick update: Set the new light to 70% (where I had the AIPrime) and put into acclimation mode at 30% for 90 days. I went with a light configuration recommended by Jake Adams. I changed it back from 10 hours to a 12 hour light cycle (why I set it acclimation for so long). A few more pictures of the zoas from Reef stock. Everything settled in good and looks happy. The zoa rock is really starting to come into its own. The meter cyphastrea is loving the lower light setting. Will have to see how it handles the brighter light. I had it under a bird nest shadow before with the AI. Quote Link to comment
duganderson Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I enjoy this build. Great tank! 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 The war on Bubble algae! THE SECRET "HOW" TO AT THE END. Before after Before After before after How did I do it? 100% manual removal with big tongs. Bubble algae removal every water change 30+ minutes. Shut off return pump and net out the floaters afterwards. I kept an eye on the return pump it needed cleaned out the next day...every time. Now I spend 5-10 mins and keep it at bay. Zilla the emerald definitely helps keep little ones from growing. I'm calling it 3-0 victory. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 Was running the tank lid less for awhile, but after my female clown jumped I put it back on. I have a lot of regret about all that. I hate the way the black lid looks, so I picked up a kraken reef lid. I still don't like the look of lids but it looks much better. 1 Quote Link to comment
KC2020 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Ah yes. Guilt, or perhaps I should say regret, justifying the ridiculously high cost of yet a Kraken lid. I'm sure you're not alone in making that decision. It does look very nice. Quote Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 The new lid definately looks way nicer. Sweet upgrade. Sorry to hear about the female clownfish. Although.. I perfer topless too 😉 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted April 19 Author Share Posted April 19 Always tinkering: New light is about half way through the acclimation mode. It's doing a great job of growing algae! Lol. I definitely am running a lot more white light then with the AI. I like the way it looks and so the algae wars have begun. Changed the light back to a 10 hr cycle from 12. Weekly manual removal has begun. I bought a batch of snails (5) and they all died by morning. I dripped them for 45 mins before adding. I did test my salinity and find it at 1.029 Will try again. I was at Aquatic Art a week or 2 ago, had to bring home a coral or two. With my salinity going up to 1.029, I removed 1 cup of water every morning for about a week to get it back to 35. Over all the water chemistry has been pretty good. Mag is elevated atm not sure why, it's always low. I'm thinking it's the test kit. Maybe it has to do with the salt level changing. Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted April 24 Author Share Posted April 24 Stopped by the house for lunch and my return pump was very noisy! I was worried the pump was failing. Time to get a back up ordered incase. Took the pump out and... Not sure those photos show it proper. Every vent on the entire pump was clogged with bubble algae. 5 mins of a tooth brushing and it's back to its usual quite self. Awards a point to team bubble algae /cheers 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Added a new fish today. This is the third tail spot blenny since the beginning. I really like the character of these fish. This one was eating on day one. Fingerscrossed. I enjoy the game of hide and seek they bring to my tank. 4 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 Thought I'd try a video last night. This is entry side under heavy blues. 20240504_220011.mp4 Happy Sunday 4 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 Took the same video under peak time whites. I'm really liking the new light. 20240506_165505.mp4 2 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted May 17 Author Share Posted May 17 Lost my Betta a week or two, thought I'd post the new one. His colors are all over the place, in the right light he can be blue or black or red or even purple. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 Glad to report it we made it through a 10 day trip (always a little stressful) to houston. One frag came off and landed correctly in the sand. Easy peezy. On to tank business Been thinking about cutting the bottom of this rock off for while. I cant get any Zoas to grow on the steep sides. Ive talked to the LFS and they could run it through the saw quick and easy. On this side you can see it clearly, it only grows bubble algae. This side I would pop a few frags and the duster and relocate. Even if I could get it cut at an angle that Shaved the bubble algae deap spot off I'd be happy. This rock also has hair algea growing, from the new light. Maybe a peroxide dip for the whole rock too. Oh the things we think about. 2 Quote Link to comment
Crawford_T Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Wow, beautiful tank. Everything seems to be growing well for you in there. I love the peninsula style and at times wish I would have gone that route. I’ll be following along! Im amazed that you’re running the Radion at 70% (after acclimation). I’m at 38% and slowly ramping up to see where everyone likes it, also running more white. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 Todays water tests revealed a new challenge. I've been watching it go down for a few weeks. Depletion of Nitrates to near zero. I've had to dose NeoN to help keep it from bottoming out in the past. Phosphates is easy to manage I use 1/8th of a teaspoon of reef roids every few weeks to bring it from .01 to .06 I know the new hair algea is part of the problem, along with the bubble algae and this new green crap on my sand. So what next? I picked up a new emerald crab today, haven't seen the last one in months. This new guy is HUGE, I know it's anecdotal but the big ones seem better at eating the bubble algae. (The big claws pop them) As for the Nitrates I began dosing NeoN again. I will be replacing the NEO with Ammonia soon. Quote Link to comment
KC2020 Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Wow ! That guy has to be hungry. Wait until he starts picking stuff up and moving it around. Good luck ! 1 Quote Link to comment
Rhetoric Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 Father's day BBQ and tank tinkering. Baby backs on the smoker. Tank business. I've been using a 1 gallon ATO reservoir from the beginning. I choose this size to try and avoid a total loss if the ATO stuck on. I have to fill it every 4 or 5 days. It's a pain ass to refill. Went on vacation and used a 5 gallon bucket as the reservoir to make sure I had enough fresh water and my tank sitter didn't have to mess with filling it. At a year and a half in, I've made the decision to move to the bigger 5 gallon reservoir. I'm tired of topping off the top off. I had to cut the back of my cabnet. This allowed room for a 5 gallon bucket. I'm now on the look put for a clear bucket or one with some kind of veiwing "level" The home depot bucket is hard to monitor when it's getting empty. I've also had the toxic green crap on my sandbed for awhile. I'm pretty sure it's a green cyno but don't hold me to that. It's only in my lower flow areas. Quick water change and sucked it all out Cheers to the fathers, swing by for a rib. 1 Quote Link to comment
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