10 gallon Softie Tank

[Diamond1]

Well my new lights are on their way! I got a 4 bulb 24 watt t5HO fixture with a built in timer. I will be getting 4 new ATI bulbs not sure what combination yet maybe a coral plus, a purple plus, aqua-blue special and true actinic. Any suggestions would be great for a combo for this.

Also got a new fish for fathers day. A tail spot blenny. This guy has a great personality already and seems to get along with the clown. Here's a couple shots after he got settled in. He found a little hole in the rock by my green rics and moved right in and has already been eating and seems well adjusted.

 

[vlangel]

O my, that is the cutest fish! Hey I didn't know you are a father, congrats!!! You will like your new lights I think, that's what I have and I love them.

 

[Diamond1]

Thanks Dawn. This fish has the greatest personality. So far he's very curious and unafraid of anything in the tank. Oh did I mention he is only about 2" long?
The mushroom he's taken up residence by is only about the size of a 50 cent piece.

 

[Diamond1]

Got my new lights on the tank and so far I'm loving the difference. Even without the new ATI bulbs the tank looks alot better. Now I can use the old fixture for the nano in 90 contest, just have to figure out what the tank will be for that build.

Here's a FTS with the new lights on:

 

[vlangel]

Everything looks happy. Good luck with the nano in 90 contest!

 

[Diamond1]

Well it's been a couple of months since my last update.
I have been fighting with some algea and cyano issues but I'm getting that under control and hopefully will have both gone soon. I had to switch salt brands recently and that may have had something to do with the algea and a couple of other issues I have been having. When the tank was set up I used Crystal Sea Marine Mix (bioassay formula) and had no problems keeping all my parameters spot on with weekly water changes. Well the store I bought it from stopped selling it and I can't find it online or at another LFS, so I thought I'd give IO reef crystals a shot. After the switch I started really seeing some major changes in my chemistry like my calcium was climbing and my magnesium was falling and the ph was less stable. After about 6 weeks I noticed that my coral's growth had slowed down noticably and one of my montis was starting to look pretty bad (poor polyp extension and starting to bleach from the bottom up).
I have used IO Reef Crystals in the past and did not have these problems with it before so I was kinda suprised to see them now. So it was back to the LFS to try a new salt and see if that helped. I decided to try the Red Sea Coral Pro and I am really happy with the results. My parameters are falling back into line and my corals are looking alot better.

Anyway here are a couple of updated tank shots. Like I said there is still some algea and cyano but I'm hoping I got both on the run now.

FTS

 

[vlangel]

The tank looks good to me Diamond. Sorry you were having issues but I'm glad things seem to be back on track. Usually if a reefer just perseveres things will turn around but it can be very discouraging when our tanks aren't flourishing.

 

[smiley28]

+1 on the Red Sea coral pro salt good luck with the turn around

 

[Diamond1]

Hey Dawn if I had set this tank up and not had any issues with it within the first year that would have really been the surprise.

Thanks smiley so far Im really happy with the new salt.

 

[vlangel]

Hey Dawn if I had set this tank up and not had any issues with it within the first year that would have really been the surprise.

Thanks smiley so far Im really happy with the new salt.

Yes that would be really surprising because it seems everyone has some issues now and again. Its great that you worked through it and now you are happy with the new salt!

 

[Diamond1]

Update time. A couple of weeks ago I had a near miss with a heater that got stuck on and raised the temp of my tank to over 96 degrees. Fortunately I caught it after about 6 hours and the tank wasn't a total loss. I lost my frogspawn, my green leather and one big part of my Xenia colony.The frogspawn and leather were total losses. The Xenia however had left a baby that is starting to make a come back. Other than a couple of days of looking stressed all the other corals in the tank seem to be doing ok.

I recently picked up an Odyssea HOB skimmer/refugium of ebay and was pleasantly surprised at how well it is working. The skimmer is a cpr backpack clone with a 250gph needle wheel pump, and the fuge is about 10"x4"x16". The whole thing added about 3.5 gallons total water volume to the system. After a few modifications to the skimmer it is working and pulling nasties out of the water column, it is running a bit wetter than I would like but seems to be doing a good job. I ordered a 9 x 3watt 6500k led light for it that should be here this week. I'm going to add some rock and cheato to the fuge this weekend. Here are some pics of the skimmer/fuge.

An updated FTS for Sept.

 

[Diamond1]

An updated full tank shot for September. I'm really happy with the clarity of the water after the addition of the skimmer. Next up I think I'm going to replace the Hydor nano and the hagan 210 with a Jebao wp10.

 

[vlangel]

Looks nice Diamond! So glad you caught the heater malfunction. Do you use carbon, that will improve water clarity?

 

[Diamond1]

Hey Dawn thanks. Yes i do run carbon. That's what I was using the HOB filter for, but now with the HOB fuge/skimmer I have noticed a major difference in water clarity.

 

[Diamond1]

So I got my fuge light and cheato going today and can't wait to see the results. I'm hoping that it will help with removing some more nutrients from the system that seem to be locked up in some of the base rock I used when I started the tank. The light is a EVO Beam Works 6 x 3watt 6500k led clip on.

I have the light aimed through the back of the fuge to limit light spilling into the main tank.

And while I was at it I got my camera out and played a little:wink:

Top down of my monti that is finally starting to encrust the rock it's on.

An my neon green candy cane that started off as six heads and now has 17 and counting.

 

[Diamond1]

Found these growing out of nowhere next to some zoas. Not sure what kind of coral this is. It may be a birds nest (seriatopra) but I can't tell. They are both smaller than a pencil eraser right now but are growing really fast.

 

[Diamond1]

Well this tank may be getting a major upgrade soon. I just set up a 29 gallon aga and I'm seriously considering moving the whole thing over to the 29.

I'm thinking the 29 is gonna be a mixed reef with lots of zoas lps and sps.

 

[vlangel]

Nice scape. The 29 gallon tanks are a great dimension and nice to work with. A mixed reef, I'd say you are taking it to the next level!

 

[Diamond1]

Thanks Dawn. Yeah I was I like the dimensions too. Just a little bit narrow front to back but I can live with that.Since my "softie" tank is turning into a mixed reef anyway I figured the added water volume would be a plus and most of the equipment I use on the 10 will work for the 29.

 

[vlangel]

Thanks Dawn. Yeah I was I like the dimensions too. Just a little bit narrow front to back but I can live with that.Since my "softie" tank is turning into a mixed reef anyway I figured the added water volume would be a plus and most of the equipment I use on the 10 will work for the 29.

You could actually increase your water volume even more if you turned the 10g into a sump. A nano overflow box is a cinch to install and eshopps makes one that is very reliable! Something to think about anyway?