Fishy Guy Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 After much debate the clowns officially have names. It took many options including: - Wasabi and Ginger (mine) - Fish and Chips (wife’s) - I Don’t Care and Pee Pee (daughter 1) - Cake and Cupcake (daughter 1 in a better mood) - Nemo and Memo (daughter 2) But we finally came to one we could all agree to, drumroll please… Chips and Queso lol. Chips is the orange and Queso is white. They’re still doing good but will only eat frozen, maybe my pellets are too big. They’re still hanging out in the front corner and have made themselves a little crater/burrow in the sand ha. 3 Quote Link to comment
JavaJacketOC Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 On 1/2/2024 at 10:31 PM, boscoT said: What return pump are you running? I have a 24gal and found the Sicce inconsistent. I have upgraded to an AI axis 40and run it at 75%. I have zero overflow issue anymore. Well I have a snail that loves to block the intake every night still causing havoc with my ATO I'm using the MightyJet pump that comes with the pro version. Quote Link to comment
JavaJacketOC Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 On 1/3/2024 at 3:08 AM, Fishy Guy said: That’s odd even with the pump at the lowest setting. I’ve not had that issue even running the pump at full speed. I’ve got the stock media caddy on one side with filter floss and some ceramic media, and a UV in the other. I don’t have anything in the second chambers. Where is your water line on the intakes? That’s the only thing that immediately comes to mind other than a potential pump issue. They're set similar to where yours are. I have a little less than 1" of clearance between the top of the glass and the waterline. Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 40 minutes ago, JavaJacketOC said: They're set similar to where yours are. I have a little less than 1" of clearance between the top of the glass and the waterline. If you remove all of the filter media does it still happen? If so I'd guess it has to be a pump or plumbing issue. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 I added 2 jars of Galaxy pods from Algae Barn last night after lights out and began dosing with OceanMagik phyto. Tested parameters this morning before completing a 5g water change. SG - 1.026 (stable) NO3 - 11.5 (up from 8.7 12/31) PO4 - 0.15 (up from 0.07 12/31) KH - 8.3 (stable) CA - 360 (up from 350 12/31) Ca is still low but I had mixed up this and the last batch of saltwater before discovering the low reading last time. I went to town shaking that 50lb IO bucket before making another batch so I'm curious to see if that fixes the issue. I'm hoping it will as IO is supposed to mix in the 400-420 range at that salinity. Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 1 hour ago, Fishy Guy said: SG - 1.026 (stable) Is this on purpose? Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 2 hours ago, debbeach13 said: Is this on purpose? It’s what my LFS mixes their water at. I did initial fill from them before I had my RODI setup. I’ve just been matching as it’s same as natural seawater. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Another big update! Went to the LFS and did not come home empty handed. Added the following livestock: Tailspot Blenny Cleaner shrimp 2x Trochus 2x Nassarius 3x tiny blue-leg hermits The blenny and shrimp are both still hiding on the back of the rock scape but I was able to get a couple of pictures: Also we have first corals! Probably a little earlier than ideal but they gave me a really good deal on a little zoo colony on a piece of live rock with a lot of coralline to seed my tank with. Also got a nice little Duncan frag with 3 heads. I did a 15 minute drip (didn't find any hitchhikers) and added them to the tank. About an hour later they were starting to open back up. 1 Quote Link to comment
Staticmoves Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 5 hours ago, Fishy Guy said: I added 2 jars of Galaxy pods from Algae Barn last night after lights out and began dosing with OceanMagik phyto. Tested parameters this morning before completing a 5g water change. SG - 1.026 (stable) NO3 - 11.5 (up from 8.7 12/31) PO4 - 0.15 (up from 0.07 12/31) KH - 8.3 (stable) CA - 360 (up from 350 12/31) Ca is still low but I had mixed up this and the last batch of saltwater before discovering the low reading last time. I went to town shaking that 50lb IO bucket before making another batch so I'm curious to see if that fixes the issue. I'm hoping it will as IO is supposed to mix in the 400-420 range at that salinity. Did you test the newly mixed batch of water, or the tank after adding the water. i have new dry rock and live sand. fresh water mixed in bucket tests as advertised. But once in the tank initially, the Cal, mag and alk dropped quite a bit. slowly bringing it back in line with water changes, as I don’t have coral yet. just some food for thought. Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Alright you coral aficionados I need advice on where to place this Duncan frag. Also would love suggestions of other corals would work well with my scape. I don’t really have any specific plans other than wanting easy and diverse corals that won’t completely take over my entire tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 The uglies are starting! Started noticing spots of diatoms on the rocks and sand. Going to stay the course and let my pods and CUC do their thing and try not to worry about it. That's the plan anyways ha. On filtration - tldr; I'm an idiot. So I've been noticing that I've got perpetual surface scum even with good surface agitation and detritus wasn't being pulled out of the display very well. Well it turns out that this being my first AIO (and I've never had a tank with a sump) that I just didn't understand how it was supposed to work. I've got my water level too high and it's the same in the display and all rear chambers so while I do get some turnover the overflows are not working as intended so I need to make some changes. My tank is the first version of the IM Fusions which does not include the high tide water risers. I would like to keep my water level a bit higher than I think I would need to get everything dialed in correctly so I've ordered a couple of the inTank Surface Skimmers to achieve this. Then I will need to lower my return chamber so there is a 1/4" to 1/2" drop from the middle chamber. I will probably need to move my heater to one of the middle chambers to keep it submerged; any issues with doing this? I will keep the ATO sensor and tubing in the return chamber. Any other thoughts or tips on getting this dialed in correctly? As much reading and research I did in preparing to setup this tank I'm kind of embarrassed that I missed this lol. Quote Link to comment
Staticmoves Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 hour ago, Fishy Guy said: The uglies are starting! Started noticing spots of diatoms on the rocks and sand. Going to stay the course and let my pods and CUC do their thing and try not to worry about it. That's the plan anyways ha. On filtration - tldr; I'm an idiot. So I've been noticing that I've got perpetual surface scum even with good surface agitation and detritus wasn't being pulled out of the display very well. Well it turns out that this being my first AIO (and I've never had a tank with a sump) that I just didn't understand how it was supposed to work. I've got my water level too high and it's the same in the display and all rear chambers so while I do get some turnover the overflows are not working as intended so I need to make some changes. My tank is the first version of the IM Fusions which does not include the high tide water risers. I would like to keep my water level a bit higher than I think I would need to get everything dialed in correctly so I've ordered a couple of the inTank Surface Skimmers to achieve this. Then I will need to lower my return chamber so there is a 1/4" to 1/2" drop from the middle chamber. I will probably need to move my heater to one of the middle chambers to keep it submerged; any issues with doing this? I will keep the ATO sensor and tubing in the return chamber. Any other thoughts or tips on getting this dialed in correctly? As much reading and research I did in preparing to setup this tank I'm kind of embarrassed that I missed this lol. Things look good…. and as far as the overflow, it’s like having a new car, need to figure out how to turn on the wipers all over again. 😎 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 Quick update- everything is tracking along. DIATOMS! It's tough to tell from the picture but I got the water level in the sump compartments fixed so it's actually filtering well now. I didn't end up needing the inTank surface skimmers which is good as they would've interfered with my lid plan. Added in a bottle of Purple Helix and Pink Fusion Coralline. Hopefully between them and my zoa garden/seed rock I won't have completely white rocks for long. Finally Benny the Blenny! 2 Quote Link to comment
Staticmoves Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, Fishy Guy said: Quick update- everything is tracking along. DIATOMS! It's tough to tell from the picture but I got the water level in the sump compartments fixed so it's actually filtering well now. I didn't end up needing the inTank surface skimmers which is good as they would've interfered with my lid plan. Added in a bottle of Purple Helix and Pink Fusion Coralline. Hopefully between them and my zoa garden/seed rock I won't have completely white rocks for long. Finally Benny the Blenny! My blenny rules the roost. For a herbivore, he sure does have a taste for clownfish. looks like a nice tail spot. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Made a few new additions yesterday: Livestock: Banggai Cardinal Red Banded Goby/Randalls Pistol pair CUC: 4 Ceriths Coral: Devils Hand Leather Maze Brain GSP Full tank shot: The cardinal is stunning in person and I’m absolutely in love with it. He has been hanging out with the clowns and everyone seems to be getting along swimmingly. The goby pistol pair are super tiny and have disappeared into the rocks for now. Hopefully they’ll get more comfortable and find a nice visible home. Just prior to adding to the tank; the diameter of the bottom of this cup is 1.75” for size reference. The goby is a little pale here but he had nice crimson bands and bright yellow face in the store. New testing: SG - 1.027 (up from 1.026 1/6) NO3 - 18.2 (up from 11.5 1/6) PO4 - 0.15 (same as 1/6) KH - 8.0 (down from 8.3 1/6) CA - 340 (down from 360 1/6) So my Ca is still low and now dropping. I checked my new batch of IO saltwater and it's only reading 380... Not sure if I need to add extra Ca with my mix or dose the tank? Before making this batch I mixed up the IO salt as much as I possibly could with a relatively full bucket to make sure nothing had settled. Any thoughts or recommendations? Salinity creeped up on me a bit. I'm pretty sure this was user error as I adjusted the water level in the tank so it would filter correctly and was really conservative with moving the ATO sensor before turning it back on to not accidentally get a rapid drop. I will correct this back down with the water change. 2 Quote Link to comment
Staticmoves Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 35 minutes ago, Fishy Guy said: Made a few new additions yesterday: Livestock: Banggai Cardinal Red Banded Goby/Randalls Pistol pair CUC: 4 Ceriths Coral: Devils Hand Leather Maze Brain GSP Full tank shot: The cardinal is stunning in person and I’m absolutely in love with it. He has been hanging out with the clowns and everyone seems to be getting along swimmingly. The goby pistol pair are super tiny and have disappeared into the rocks for now. Hopefully they’ll get more comfortable and find a nice visible home. Just prior to adding to the tank; the diameter of the bottom of this cup is 1.75” for size reference. The goby is a little pale here but he had nice crimson bands and bright yellow face in the store. New testing: SG - 1.027 (up from 1.026 1/6) NO3 - 18.2 (up from 11.5 1/6) PO4 - 0.15 (same as 1/6) KH - 8.0 (down from 8.3 1/6) CA - 340 (down from 360 1/6) So my Ca is still low and now dropping. I checked my new batch of IO saltwater and it's only reading 380... Not sure if I need to add extra Ca with my mix or dose the tank? Before making this batch I mixed up the IO salt as much as I possibly could with a relatively full bucket to make sure nothing had settled. Any thoughts or recommendations? Salinity creeped up on me a bit. I'm pretty sure this was user error as I adjusted the water level in the tank so it would filter correctly and was really conservative with moving the ATO sensor before turning it back on to not accidentally get a rapid drop. I will correct this back down with the water change. What does the salt claim to mix at? Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 11 minutes ago, Staticmoves said: What does the salt claim to mix at? It's the regular IO, from what I’ve read it should be 400-420 at 1.025-.026. Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 Tank is doing well and everyone is getting along; caught this group meeting yesterday. Even the new goby finally made an appearance at meal time: Also finished my DIY lid and I must say it looks pretty bad ha. Didn't notice when I was securing the netting that one corner of the frame had come slightly out so when I corrected it the netting was no longer tight. I've got plenty of extra netting but can't get the holder pieces out without breaking them... Oh well, I'll probably eventually get a Kraken lid or similar; just don't want to spend the money until I'm sure I won't be changing out any equipment. 3 Quote Link to comment
ml86743 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Haven't checked in awhile! New additions look great, I love the tailspot! I was so close to getting one for my tank! 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 5 minutes ago, ml86743 said: Haven't checked in awhile! New additions look great, I love the tailspot! I was so close to getting one for my tank! Tailspot is hilarious; he's got tons of personality. Quote Link to comment
ml86743 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, Fishy Guy said: Tailspot is hilarious; he's got tons of personality. Every time I see one I can't help but laugh.. Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 Unfortunate update, my Banggai Cardinal died this evening. He’d been acting completely normal and eating every day. He’s been in the tank for 6 days now and had been at the LFS for about two weeks prior. Everything seemed fine this morning and when I checked out the tank around noon. Noticed at about 2:30 he was sitting upright on the bottom in his normal corner with the clowns. When I got closer he swam out to the middle of the tank but still seemed odd. Checked again around 4 and he was laying on the bottom of the tank but still breathing. Every once in a while he would try to right himself but was extremely unstable and would start drifting in the water and would settle back on the bottom. I’ve had freshwater fish with swim bladder issues exhibit a similar swimming pattern. Got a small hospital tank setup as quick as I could and got him moved over. He still had some fight left in him while I was trying to scoop him out. By 5:30 he was dead. No obvious signs of injury or disease. Ammonia levels showing 0 on both API test and Seachem ammonia badge. All other fish, inverts, and coral seem completely fine. From some quick research it seems there’s an Iridovirus that affects Banggais. It seems to fit and I’m hoping that’s what it was so it doesn’t affect any of the other livestock. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishy Guy Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 Haven't done a good job of keeping this journal updated but tank is still churning along. Today marks 2 months that it's been running. Have learned a lot, still have a ton to learn, but have been enjoying the process. Luckily the Cardinal death turned out to be an isolated event and everything else seems to be flourishing. I've not added any new fish so still have the 2 clowns, tailspot blenny, and a red-banded goby. For inverts I still have the cleaner shrimp, the Randall's pistol, and I've added a peppermint shrimp. I've been steady adding corals, a couple of pieces from my LFS but mostly from local reefers so have really lucked out with some nice, relatively large pieces. Still have a bit of diatoms and rocks are still in the ugly stages but hoping to see some coralline take off soon. How it started How it's going 2 1 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 Looks like it is going well. Good job. 1 Quote Link to comment
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