The Great Aquapod Adventure

[seahorsejl]

Tank woes continue. I am still battling an algae plague. I am unsure if it is brown algae, diatoms, or a brownish red cyno attack. Just in case it was cyno, I dosed some Red Slime Remover last night. Man, does that stuff make my skimmer go crazy! I think I am making some head way in the fight against the algae ... and my water parameters are great. 0 for ammonia and nitrite, 5 ppm for Nitrate, and 8.2 pH.

 

Can't add too much more flow in the tank... I have two MJ900's, one with a Hydor rotating deflector on it, and one attached to a LocLine spray bar. Plus I have ny new Hydor Korlia 1 pump in the tank.

 

My maroon clownfish died about a week ago. I am not sure what happened to him. I came home and he was struggling really hard, and I did a water change (had water mixed up the night before), but to no avail. It was sad to see my first fish (almost a year old) bite the dust.

 

Now only two fish remain, my strawberry basslet and a yellow watchman goby. The Tangaoro goby hasn't been seen in a while.

[ezcompany]

for cyano issues, i would just raise alk up a bit.

you must live in a pretty isolated place, 278 for tap water is pretty good!

[seahorsejl]

for cyano issues, i would just raise alk up a bit.

you must live in a pretty isolated place, 278 for tap water is pretty good!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, we are now living out in the "country" Our subdivision is on a community well. I did some heavy duty cleaning (turkey baster blast and tooth brush to the rocks to get junk off) last night along with a good water change. Things are looking better. I re-positioned my toadstool leather to be in the path of more flow and I actually saw some polyps start to come out on him. I am just to to keep up with the rigorous cleaning and water changes, as that seems to help the most.

[seahorsejl]

Why is it that we (the collective reef-keeping peoples) can not walk out of the LFS without buying some type of livestock??

 

So I stopped at lunch to my LFS to pick up some supplies, and walked out of there with a Green Clown Goby and a Bicolor Blenny. The tank is doing much better, so starting to add some more stock to it slowly (or as slowly as I can).

 

I need some new pictures, will try to take some this weekend.

[seahorsejl]

Picture time (click pictures for full size ones)!

 

Ok, here is a picture of the tank right before the crash (end of January):

 

And here is a picture of the tank shortly after the devastating loss (March 1):

Yes, those are new clean up critters acclimating.

 

And here is the tank recovering (today):

It is a little cloudy from just doing a water change.

 

So we are slowly getting there. The RO/DI and skimmer have halted the excessive hair algae, and the clean up crew is slowly working on eating that.

 

Lots of "junk" still settling on stuff. I have been doing frequent water changes siphoning it off.

 

Ok, back to the pictures...

 

One of today's new additions, Mr. Bicolor Blenny:

He is still settling in ... my other addition for today, the Green Clown Goby, is tucked away in a rock hiding.

 

Here is the best picture of my elusive yellow watchman goby:

He of course took up residence in the back of the tank. I was hoping he would pair up with my pistol shrimp, but I actually have not heard him snapping in quite a while ... so not sure if he is still alive.

 

And lastly, a fish who is not shy at all, my strawberry basslett:

 

He tried giving the Bicolor blenny some guff when the blenny was first added, but the blenny would have none of it. He held his own.

 

Well, as I end this post I see the blenny is out and about exploring the tank.

[seahorsejl]

Well, tank recovery continues slowly ... still fighting the brown algae plague.

 

My green clown goby didn't make it through the first night But the bi-color blenny is doing very well. He and the strawberry basslett have stopped fighting, and both roam the tank during the day.

 

On an up-side, I saw my pistol shrimp yesterday! He has started excavating tunnels again in the tank. Still not sure if he paired up with the yellow watchman goby, but good to see him active again.

 

I put my skimmer to come on only at night now... was having too many issue with micro-bubbles in the tank. But the skim is coming out pretty light colored, so this should be fine to just run it part time.

 

Oh, and I took out the Korlia pump ... it was producing way to much flow I think. The leather, plate, and ric's where not happy at all. So running with just the two MJ900's (one with a Hydor deflector and one with a LocLine spray bar).

 

I reduced my light cycle to actinics on at 10am, regulars on at 11am, regulars off at 7pm and actinics off at 8pm. Trying a reduced light schedule while fighting the algae.

[seahorsejl]

While doing these frequent water changes, I noticed how much "junk" got suspended in the water column when adding in new water. This eventually just re-settled onto all of the rock and such. So yesterday I went out and purchased a H.O.T Magnum, placed it on the side of the aquarium, and took a turkey baster and blasted all of the rocks. Man, you should have seen all of the junk come up off the rock. I did this a couple of times, and let the filter run for an hour or so. The tank started looking a bit better already.

 

The real test is how the tank looks tonight when I get home from work.

 

On a plus side, my yellow watchman goby has started coming out more. I had him, the bicolor blenny, and the strawberry basslett all eating pellets yesterday.

[seahorsejl]

Well, when I got home it was brown algae everywhere! How frustrating

 

So, as I started at the tank, I didn't like where the toadstool coral was at. So I started playing around with new positions ... and that led to some minor re-arranging of rocks ... which led to some major re-arranging of rocks. Sigh ... I just can't find a aquascape I like anymore. Maybe this one.

 

So after much fussing, (cursing), and arranging I think this might work. After and hour of the Magnum on the tank, it was clear enough to try some pictures.

 

So here is the pictures (click them for larger ones):

 

The new Aquascape

 

The coral that started it all....

 

My new Zoa shelf.

 

Mr. Bi-Color Blenny

 

The elusive Yellow Watchman Goby

 

So now I just need to get rid of the stupid brown algae!

[seahorsejl]

Happy Birthday to my Aquapod! Turns a whole 1 year old today.

 

If only it looked a bit better after one year of trial and tribulations

[Derby Reefer]

Happy Birthday to your Aquapod.

[seahorsejl]

Happy Birthday to your Aquapod.

 

Thanks! Still fighting the brown algae, but overall things are looking to be on the mend.

[seahorsejl]

The bi-color blenny has to go! The little snot has been nipping at my orange plate coral for a couple days now

 

I put a small plastic container (with holes cut in it) over my plate coral this morning, but it might be too far gone to recover. Man am I ###ed, as this was one of the few corals still doing OK as the tank recovers.

 

So now the task it to catch the blenny and take him back to the pet store. Might also try to catch the strawberry basslet, as he is pretty aggressive, and I know I want to add some more clown gobies down the road (for my wife).

[modularduck]

best wishes for the speedy recovery of your little paradice. perhaps your diatom problem is just because everything grows bigger in texas? lol thanks for all you advice and i look forward to seeing everything work out for you. funny how wives can hate ones hobby untill they see pretty things they want to look at...lol

[seahorsejl]

best wishes for the speedy recovery of your little paradice. perhaps your diatom problem is just because everything grows bigger in texas? lol thanks for all you advice and i look forward to seeing everything work out for you. funny how wives can hate ones hobby untill they see pretty things they want to look at...lol

 

Heh .. thanks. You might be on to something though.... we moved into a bigger house and now I have bigger problems with the tank

 

I am trying to get things back to the pre-crash time ... and I remembered I took out my chemi-pure the night of the crash... so for kicks and giggles, I ordered some more that should arrive Friday. Maybe it has some magic in it that I am missing

[seahorsejl]

Got my Chemi-Pure, Phosphate test, calcium test, and alkalinity test yesterday in the mail from Dr F&S (side note: I love them!! I order all this plus a bucket of Reef Crystals on Monday, and got all of it today via standard shipping!).

 

So I ran the new tests and these are the results:

 

Phosphate: .2 ppm

Calcium: 330 ppm

Alkalinity: 150 ppm

 

Hmm.. I might not be remembering the phosphate reading correctly, because according to this site phosphate should be below 0.03 ppm. Though if my reading is correct, then that helps explain the major algae bloom.

 

But other than that, I will probably try to raise the calcium level down the road.

[modularduck]

are you using any buffers to raise Cal and maintain Ph?

[seahorsejl]

are you using any buffers to raise Cal and maintain Ph?

 

Just frequent water changes (about 5 gallons at a time). My pH (which is pretty steady at 8.2) is maintained that way. I will probably use Cal supplements down the road once I get a more stocked tank.

[seahorsejl]

Well, I spent a good portion of this weekend trying to catch that stupid bi-color blenny .. to no avail. I was able to catch the strawberry basslett using the soda bottle method, but the stupid blennie would not fall for it.

 

I am afraid to get to booger out of the tank will require removing all rock, and that is not something I want to do. First that is what caused the initial tank crash, and second the tank is finally recovering ... more zoas and GSP are opening these days.

 

So I guess I am stuck on having the blennie and eventually losing the plate coral. Right now I have the "protective shield" around the plate to allow it to recover again. Once it recovers I might take it into the LFS and exchange it for something else.

 

Pity too, I really liked that orange plate.

[modularduck]

hey sea you thought about maybe just setting up a small 5.5 with one of those coralife mini lights? kinda like a mini prop tank just to keep your coals in till everything is up and running well again, could keep little fish in there to for a little while. and would only set you back $60 or so with power head. just a thought, sending good tank vibes...

[seahorsejl]

hey sea you thought about maybe just setting up a small 5.5 with one of those coralife mini lights? kinda like a mini prop tank just to keep your coals in till everything is up and running well again, could keep little fish in there to for a little while. and would only set you back $60 or so with power head. just a thought, sending good tank vibes...

 

That would be a great idea, but for some reason I think my wife would kill me I will have better luck trying to propose a second tank once this one is back up and running.

 

Thanks for the good vibes though!

[modularduck]

lol ah wives.....yes i won't tell you what i had to do to get my AP24 lol. maybe one day i'll start a place where guys can go put up their tanks and just watch them or what not much like a storage unit for reef tanks..

[seahorsejl]

Tank continues on the healing process. The last few days I have seen my toadstool leather coral open up the best since the "incident". The polyps are not about halfway out. More Zoa's also continue to open. Another positive sign is I have gotten a few crab molts in the past few days. First it was the sally light foot crab and a hermit crab, then two days ago my porcelain crab molted. Very good signs.

 

One not-so-good note ... I noticed yesterday the tank made it up to 84F. Si I went to work modifying the hood... I removed the inner vent pieces behind the reflective shield. We shall see if that helps.

 

I am starting to get the itch for some Metal Halide lights ... but my wife and I have concerns about having the tank open top. Also, even with an open top, might still cause even more heat issues.

 

Looking forward to rebuilding the tank stock soon!

[seahorsejl]

Well, tank continues to recoup. More and more corals are opening up and looking healthy again. While the below full tank might not show it (brown algae still a bother), it is looking better

 

Baaad shot ... I should have cleaned the glass prior to the picture.

 

I think I am past my Metal Halide phase. With my b-day coming up, I think I am going to restock the tank. Right now I am researching on-line sites to order corals from and SeaCrop looks to be at the top of my list. While they might not be huge corals, you seem to get the most bang for your buck there. Plus watching the corals grow is half the fun

 

And while I had given up on capturing the blennie, I have a new plan. I am going to try an catch him in the night when he has been curled up sleeping. Maybe I can scare the booger in the net. He normally sleeps on a ledge in the open (now watch, he will hide tonight ...). If this doesn't work, then I definitely am done trying to catch him.

[seahorsejl]

I caught the blennie!!

 

It took three tries between last night and this morning, but I finally got the little booger! In the end it took him sleeping, a net, and a turkey baster. I put the net over the outcrop he sleeps on and used the baster to gently blow him into the net.

 

So I took him to the LFS today, and used the credit from him to help buy a long tentacle plate. Here is a picture of it in the tank after opening up:

 

And my orange plate is already looking better (ignore the brown algae), so there is good hope that it will fully recover from the wrath of the stupid blennie.

 

 

No more impulse fish buys!!! (Lets hope at least )

 

[Edit: Added pictures]

[seahorsejl]

Placed my large order with SeaCrop this weekend (early b-day present)!

 

Should be here bright an early Thursday morning ... I am excited, my tank will be on the road to styling.

 

Also, we are really digging the new long tentacle plate. He ate quit e bit yesterday and expanded even more. Still trying to find out about these Heliofungia shrimp that SeaCrop have ... might have to append my order before it ships