Starting with a 40 Breeder Build

[Philly Reefer]

Same thing happened when I put mine in yesterday. They got too close to it.

Yup. I think I only have 2 out of 5 left of the Nassarius snails
Unfortunately I can confirm 1 that was attacked by the blenny died. He got to close to blenny's hole

 

[Philly Reefer]

Forgot to post update this past weekend.
Pulled some hair algae last sat.
My fire and ice zoa finally open up again. But their color are still not totally back yet.
Now.. in the mission of hunting TM Pro. Called 2 LFS, both say they have it. Drived over.. of course they only have the classic.. thinking of probably swapping to classic. Alk is higher than TM Pro.
I also found two patches of brown/copper colored stuff on just 1 rocks. Not sure what it is.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Finally got around to hang my rodi.
It's a bit crooked but.. should be ok .. right?

Next... Upgrade to 7 stages, Booster/Automatic flush

 

[Philly Reefer]

Finally got smart buddie and drinking attachment

 

[Philly Reefer]

Forgot to update my tank last weekend

 

[Philly Reefer]

Saturday is my testing and water change day.
Water Parameters are looking good. but my bout with GHA continues, but now GHA has brought reinforcement. Bryopsis. Reef flux is on hand

• Salinity: 35ppt
• Alkalinity: 8.4dKh (Hanna)
• PO4: 0.03ppm (Hanna 9 ppb)
• NO3: 5ppm (Nyos)
• Calcium 420 (Hanna)
• Magnesium 1500 (Aquaforest)

I was dosing Tropic Marin All for Reef. I think thats what making the magnesium so high. It's almost done and I am switching to BRS 2 part.

FTS:

I hit couple milestones in reefing today.

• DI finally ran out. Showing 1 TDS. Fortunately I bought DI refill couple weeks ago from BRS. (Started this DI on July 9, 2020 (142 days)) not sure how many gallons I made already..
• I fragged 2 zoas. I did it in the morning when they have not opened up yet. Fortunately now the frags have opened up.
  • Purple Heart Zoa that has been spreading the fastest. 2 heads and 4/5 heads. I will ask around to see if I can swap it with someone.
  • Fire & Ice Morph Zoa, this one I saw an opportunity to cut cause 1 of the head was hanging. so I fragged it.
  • 
• Finally ran out of my TM Pro salt bucket. Now.. if only my LFS will have it in stock.. They had classic but I didn't buy it. now they don't have any TM available. . I am going to start reef flux treatment starting tonight. so hopefully by 2 weeks, they would have it available.

 

[Philly Reefer]

I was mesmerized by the Purple Firefish color.
His tails is slightly orange/red. Love it.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Dang it.. found a vermetid snail in 1 of my blasto frag. I took it out already.

Also having issue with favia and chalice.
Not growing and showing skeleton

 

[Philly Reefer]

Forgot to update last week. I am trying to update weekly.

Finally done ReefFlux treatment. It was easier than I thought. 2 weeks and 30% water change.
No more Bryopsis and just a small patches of GHA.

I stopped vibrant also cause I want to restart my refugium.

Water Parameters:

• Salinity: 34.8ppt (Apex)
• Alkalinity: 7dKh (Hanna)
• PO4: 0.02ppm (Hanna 7 ppb)
• NO3: 5ppm (Nyos)
• Calcium 446 (Hanna)
• Magnesium 1500 (Aquaforest)
• Temp 78.4 F (Apex)

So.. my alk has been dropping.. I was using all for reef to keep it up at 8.5dkh.. Unfortunately I ran out. And I decided to get BRS 2 part. Now I just need to dose it again up to 8.5dkh.

I also made 1 major change on my sump. I decided to lower the water volume in the sump so it will have faster flow. The way I had it before, it's making the water surface in the skimmer chamber stagnant.
this way the refugium chamber also have a slightly faster flow.

I do need to get another chaeto and I'm planning to buy leng sy miracle mud. I also probably buy new refugium light. dont think this one is strong enough

Lastly, I also fragged few of my zoas.
Purple Death and Blondie.
The purple death opened back up rightaway after I fragged them. now just waiting for the blondie to perk up...

also added a Duncan

I am having the same issue with the duncan not opening up fully. Like some of my zoas.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Forgot to add that I added 3 banggai

 

[Amstar]

nice! are you looking for your banggai to pair up and then rehoming the other one?

 

[Philly Reefer]

nice! are you looking for your banggai to pair up and then rehoming the other one?

Yup.

 

[Philly Reefer]

nice! are you looking for your banggai to pair up and then rehoming the other one?

Guess I didn't need to wait that long..
Fortunately they are on the opposite end of the tank.
So now, I just need to find someone to rehome that lonely guy.(not that lonely actually, the clowns are on the same end. Just by the rock)

 

[Philly Reefer]

Found 3 small snails.
I believe these are Banded Trochus Snails

 

[YNRA]

just read through your build, good job! Keep up the good work.

 

[Philly Reefer]

just read through your build, good job! Keep up the good work.

Thank you

 

[Philly Reefer]

Water Parameters:

• Salinity: 35.5ppt (Apex)
• Alkalinity: 7.2dKh (Hanna)
• PO4: 0.06ppm (Hanna ULR)
• NO3: 3ppm (Nyos)
• Calcium 503 (Hanna)
• Magnesium 1440 (Aquaforest)
• Temp 78.4 F (Apex)

I do need to get a microscope to confirm this dino. I also need to lower Calcium and Magnesium still. I stopped vibrant and want to restart my refugium.

Also moved my apex probes and heater.
Heater moved to skimmer chamber. Probes to return chamber.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Wow.. we are at the end of 2020.
So this would be my 2020 recap

My 1st reef tank. What a journey so far.
I am still learning more stuffs. Specially dinos lately.

What would I changed if I start a new tank:
I would put my dry rocks on a brute bucket with saltwater,heater, powerhead for 3+ months before I put it in my display.

Or just buy live rocks and live sands.

I would play around with the rocks too. Cement, etc. Might still do it actually.

Hold my urge to just buy stuffs...

Drill the overflow hole closer to the top. Mine is a bit low.

Buy UV from the start. And hard plumb it.

My tank is still not where I want it to be.
Fortunately all fishes looks to be healthy.
The zoas are somewhat thriving. Depending which one.
I think my best coral right now is My blasto wellsi. Always love watching that one.

I still want more corals. Right now its still looked empty.

Some corals seems to be dying.
Candy cane.
Chalice.
Favia
War coral.

Either they are hanging in there.. or they are dying.

I need to buy an icp test and test this.

Weekly update:
I finally able to get my nitrate and phosphate up. But I am still seing some algae/dino in the sands.

I still have not restarted my refugium.
I am planning to get miracle muds and variety of macro algae instead of just chaeto.

Water Parameters:
Salinity: 35.2 (Apex)
Alkalinity: 8.1dKh (Hanna)
PO4: 0.1ppm (Hanna)
NO3: 12ppm (Nyos)
Calcium 459 (Hanna)
Magnesium 1440 (Aquaforest)
Temp 78 F (Apex)

 

[Philly Reefer]

Forgot to post my weekly update yesterday.

Water Parameters:
Salinity: 35.2 (Apex)
Alkalinity: 8.1dKh (Hanna)
PO4: 0.08ppm (Hanna)
NO3: 12-25ppm (Nyos)
Calcium 484 (Hanna)
Magnesium 1500 (Aquaforest)
Temp 78 F (Apex)

I am skeptical about my calcium and mag. I only dose alk at this time with soda ash.
But I feel that the calcium and mag are slightly too high.

I do need to buy another calcium & mag test kit.

I bought ICP test but still not here yet. At this point I am wondering why my corals are not thriving when I compared to other reefers that started around the same time as mine. Even my GSP are only showing in small patches

 

[Philly Reefer]

Well.. 1 bangai is missing....
I was planning to rehome it this weekend.
Didnt see any injuries yesterday. That 1 bangai was always alone on the other corner of the tank. Still eating normally last night.

How the heck its missing on a 40 breeders...