Glb's tank rehab

[glb]

Sounds like things are looking up

Thank you!

 

[glb]

Here's the latest tank shot. I'm terrible with pics and LEDs but the rock has a lot more coralline on it and my favia is looking good. Cuc's are doing their job and phosban reactor is getting phosphate under control. No fish for 12 weeks as I've lost several to either ich, velvet or Brook so I'm playing it safe.

 

[glb]

 

[glb]

Tank continues to stabilize. Temp is 77 since I got a heater, ph is 7.8-8.1 since I started with kalk, and my gha is almost gone thanks to my phosban reactor. Things are looking up.

 

[glb]

Well I got an Amazon gift card and bought a coralife nano skimmer. I've been using an air stone to help with aeration and have salt creep everywhere. Since it was basically free I thought I had nothing to lose. I'll hook up my air pump to the intake valve and see what happens. I'm getting ready to stock more coral and would like to feed it heavily, which I can't do now because the nitrates/phosphates would rise too quickly in my little tank. I don't expect miracles, but even if it skims just a little I'll be happy. If anyone in Miami has unused wood airstones I'd be interested in buying them from you. This should be an interesting experiment! I'm fascinated by skimmers and just couldn't resist anymore.

 

[miamiangler]

I have that same skimmer. well it kind of skims but I use it more for aeration!

 

[glb]

I have that same skimmer. well it kind of skims but I use it more for aeration!

That's the plan. Even if it doesn't skim much, the aeration will help.

 

[glb]

New corals!!!!

Thanks to a fellow Reef2Reef member who generously donated these to get me started again. What a great community reefers are. Thank you!!

 

[glb]

Here are their names:
Purple birdsnest
Yellow birdsnest
Jedi mind trick monti
Hollywood stunner chalice.

 

[glb]

Just installed a coralife nano skimmer. I'm hoping at least that it will help aerate the water. At best it will actually skim. Lol

 

[glb]

It skimmed! Tan skimmate this morning. I can't believe it.

 

[glb]

Latest upgrade. I added some black plastic in front of the sump to hide the equipment:

 

[glb]

Tank Alk is stable! It's stayed at 9.1-9.3 most of the week. I'm sparingly adding kalk to keep it steady. My water has never been this stable. With heater, temp is steady at 77. All I need to do is raise the SG to 1.025-6 and I'll be set. It was 1.023 last week so I'll gradually bring it up.

 

[zesty]

Great to hear things are headed up and up! :bigsmile:

 

[glb]

Latest update: Everything seems to be evening out. My Alk has stabilized in the low 9's and mg and ca continue to stay high but without a prob (1395 and 490, respectively). Temp at 77-78, SG at 1.024. I'm doing some topoffs with SW to slowly get it up to 1.026. I moved the skimmer to the first chamber where it belonged (where overflow is) with a sponge and purigen beneath it. Phosban reactor intake and heater in second chamber, phosban and tank return in the third. Here's a pic from above, with the first chamber on the bottom:

The skimmer has lowered my nitrates and phosphates a little. The day before a water change, the NO3 is usually 10ppm and last week the phosphates were 0.05. Today nitrates were 7ppm and phosphates were 0.03. After I change a gallon tomorrow, they should be even lower.

Corals are doing well overall. My zoas are superhappy and growing already. The favia is still recovering from all the instability before. The red birdsnest is doing great. The yellow one is struggling, with some bleaching but new growth with color. Jedi mind trick monti doing well and Hollywood stunner chalice has six eyes now. I can't believe my little tank is thriving again! Now it's better than it ever was before. [emoji4]

 

[miamiangler]

Glad things are looking up . Like how the compartments look in back of the tank . How does the Phosban reactor fit ? I`m thinking of doing the same . I will be taking down the 12 gal soon and making it an SPS tank . Here`s a pic of it today ,looks rough now but will be cleaned tomorrow .I was at the swap today. Here`s a photo of my Hollywood stunner in the 12 gal ,it`s been there for a year and half.



Here`s my 29gal tank and the stunner in the middle and on the sand is the one your frag came from

 

[glb]

Cool! The reactor is an hob that fits fine on the edge of the sump. It's a phosban 150 from TLF.

 

[miamiangler]

Good so It fits well on the back , I have 150`s on all my tanks It is just hard to measure behind my 12gal right now . O.k have a great weekend and glad your tank is stable ,your params are looking good .

 

[glb]

Good so It fits well on the back , I have 150`s on all my tanks It is just hard to measure behind my 12gal right now . O.k have a great weekend and glad your tank is stable ,your params are looking good .

Thanks! I think the chalice has a few more eyes already!

 

[glb]

Well, things are looking up. Alk is settling in around 9.0 with kalk dosing only about every three days. My chalice, monti, zoas and both birdsnest are all doing well. The Coralife skimmer is actually working pretty well. It's pulling a thin greenish skimmate out of the tank and I think the aeration has stabilized the ph, which is a steady 7.8-8.0. As long as everything's doing well, I'm leaving it alone! This is the best my little tank has ever been! Pics to follow.