20g Macro Algae/Seagrass build

Reefing Madness

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Looks like quite a bit of growth, what do you think now? Looking at old and new? Looks good to me. System might be a tad bit clean for them, accounting for slower growth.
 
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nawilson89

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Looks like quite a bit of growth, what do you think now? Looking at old and new? Looks good to me. System might be a tad bit clean for them, accounting for slower growth.

I've been grinning like a fool looking at it. Going back to my old pictures and then grinning again. I'll be dosing a bit in a few weeks. I want to make sure they get the nutrients and not microalgae. I don't want another bloom.
 
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nawilson89

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Fish problem...

So I think I know what killed my neon gobies.

Ich. I see it now. On my Royal Gramma. I need to get them both out of the tank (blenny and gramma). I'll possibly use my 2.5 gal as a quarantine for a few weeks until I get a 10g and use that. So now to figure out how to get them out....

working on a fish trap tonight and hope for a win...
 
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nawilson89

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So. A win and a loss.

Royal Gramma was found dead last night, but i was able to catch my blenny.

Through him in a FW bucket for a quick dip and then into the 2.5g. Waiting for an LFS to open to purchase some meds.
 

Reefing Madness

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Good thinking:


But I have my own ideas on ICH. If my lights were on right now, I'd take a picture of my stupid Hippo Tang, she gets ICH like we do a cold. I change something in the tank, and she goes nuts, this time she has a bad case of the ICHs. Now, what am I going to do about it.,......HMMMMM, nothing. She's had it a crap ton of times over the years, its in my tank, and none of my other healthy fish, ever get it. Keep em fat and happy, and they don't get it is my motto.
 
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nawilson89

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Very true. Think with this fallow period I'll try to introduce some Mysid Shrimp. Something good for them to eat that can keep itself established in the macro algae.

My pod factory always has a healthy dose of pods spreading.
 
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nawilson89

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Update:

What a day. Wow. I lost my blenny today, and it really hit me right in the heart. Even my girlfriend noticed that I was down in the dumps. In my years of fishkeeping from fresh to salt, i've lost fish, but not an entire tank of fish. It was heartbreaking...

The day went on though and I met up with a local business owner who by all means amazes me. This is the second transaction ive been in with him in 2 years and it will not be the last. I went to him looking for a things and left with so much.

I was looking for grape caulerpa and left with grape caulerpa, sargassum, three porcelain crabs, a super tiny emerald crab, a pistol shrimp and a tigrigobius macrodon, for an amazing price.

I was hesitant to put the new goby in 2.5 and the main tank, but I quick ich-x bath after acclimation and watched him devour some frozen foods, I threw him in my 20g. The pod population is strong and I'll be feeding with more live and frozen foods to keep his appetite up and the ich at bay.

I spent alot of time reading about ich yesterday and made the decision on other testimonies about adding my little guy (Of course, this was kickstarted by you @Reefing Madness) . If he was a healthy eater (which he is) I would add him and keep a close eye. I noticed with my last additions that though I saw the blenny picking at pods, none of the fish were eating very much compared to my older fish years ago and this new goby (something I should have noticed before. I was a bit short sighted and kept alot of my attention on the macros, thinking the fish would been okay).

So with a new outlook and mistakes being made I'm hoping to have better results with fish. It's funny. Last year I was doing great with fish and terrible with macros. Now I'm doing great with macros and terrible with fish.....

Macros:

So with the less fishload I will be dosing, I'm also thinking of adding my Co2 pump from my old freshwater setup to the tank also.... I'm wondering if that would be a beneficial addition to the tank. The Co2 would run when the lights were on and turned off at night, since macros release Co2 when there is no light, I don't want to release Co2 at night also and cause a PH shift.
 

Reefing Madness

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Run your fuge light opposite of your DT lighting, you won't have a shift in PH.
 

Reefing Madness

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Bah!! You should still be ok with just having the powerheads rippling the surface.
 
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nawilson89

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Bah!! You should still be ok with just having the powerheads rippling the surface.

True. I have the powerhead pointed toward the surface AND my HoB filter.

Honestly I don't really think I need the HoB filter anymore, but it makes me comfortable.
 
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nawilson89

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Cloudy tank! Pistol Shrimp is going to work! I missed the sounds of a the pop pop pop!



Goby is camera shy.



One of the sargassum. Split them on. Have one on the end and another in the middle.



All the other Porcelain Crabs hightailed it into the brush, save for this dude. Think he likes hanging out under the powerhead.



Grape Caulerpa with some green bubble algae and the zoa on rocks. Hope the Zoa turn out alright.

 
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nawilson89

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i enjoy this thread. keep at it.

Thanks!

Time to update then:

Grape Caulerpa is growing. I saw it start a bit of growth one night and the next morning more "grapes" were all over the place. So it's a plus. I really want the grape to take over the rock the way the prolifera took over the sand.

Speaking of prolifera, I'll be pulling some this weekend and throwing into my tub on the porch. I honestly forgot i had sea grass and the prolifera is growing WAY to fast. Every time there is die off there is new growth in the same 24 hour period. I want to add some Pulsing Xenia since it's also a nutrient export, but I can never find any nearby. Or by the time i notice people are giving it away I've already missed it.
 

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