50g Cube Build

[Daniel@R2R]

Thanks! I'm convinced they are not actually aiptasia, at the very least they are not the kind that berghias eat. The berghias completely ignored them. I'm assuming the berghias are all dead at this point. :( There were a few of these on the bubble algae a plopped into the QT to feed the emeralds and they are now gone. I'm realllllly hoping that the peppermint shrimp eat whatever these are.

I had a full on invasion in my old 120g, and bought berghias that didn't do anything. Frustrating to say the least. Bought 6 peppermint shrimp, and DONE! Hopefully they work out for you like they did me.

 

[TheEngineer]

I had a full on invasion in my old 120g, and bought berghias that didn't do anything. Frustrating to say the least. Bought 6 peppermint shrimp, and DONE! Hopefully they work out for you like they did me.

Thanks. I really hope so too. It is at such epic proportions at this point that if these guys don't work the only solution would be to nuke the tank and start over... :(

 

[TheEngineer]

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I've updated my thread... I've been pretty down about this zoanthid issue that I still have not been able to solve. I've pretty much just given up on figuring it out at this point. I added a pair of peppermint shrimp and they completely eradicated those little aiptasia like creatures. Haven't seen any of them since. The zoanthids still haven't recovered, so I'm standing by my original thought that they weren't the problem to begin with. The tank has seen better days, but I decided to put some effort back into it to try and reahab it after neglecting it for a while.

I decided after watching the BRS videos about the Kessil A360WE that is just isn't powerful enough for my tank. I like the sleek design of the Radion XR15W so I decided to make a change. Only thing I needed to worry about was mounting it. I have a mount I really like for the existing Kessil, so I wanted to reuse that if I could. I had some back and forth with Ecotech and they offered to sell me the part that I wanted to make it work.

Here's the typical bracket part of the RMS for the XR15. I really only want the "X-shaped" part of this, so I set about disassembling it.

Turns out it's really easy to pop the top of the bracket off with a pair of pliers. Here's what you're left with...

When I popped it off, I was really happy with what I saw. I just needed a couple of washers, a bolt and a nut and I had what I needed. There's nothing special about those parts, so I didn't take a pic :) Here's the first test fit...

Pretty good! Here's the final assembled fixture.

 

[Fishninja]

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I've updated my thread... I've been pretty down about this zoanthid issue that I still have not been able to solve. I've pretty much just given up on figuring it out at this point. I added a pair of peppermint shrimp and they completely eradicated those little aiptasia like creatures. Haven't seen any of them since. The zoanthids still haven't recovered, so I'm standing by my original thought that they weren't the problem to begin with. The tank has seen better days, but I decided to put some effort back into it to try and reahab it after neglecting it for a while.

I decided after watching the BRS videos about the Kessil A360WE that is just isn't powerful enough for my tank. I like the sleek design of the Radion XR15W so I decided to make a change. Only thing I needed to worry about was mounting it. I have a mount I really like for the existing Kessil, so I wanted to reuse that if I could. I had some back and forth with Ecotech and they offered to sell me the part that I wanted to make it work.

Here's the typical bracket part of the RMS for the XR15. I really only want the "X-shaped" part of this, so I set about disassembling it.

Turns out it's really easy to pop the top of the bracket off with a pair of pliers. Here's what you're left with...

When I popped it off, I was really happy with what I saw. I just needed a couple of washers, a bolt and a nut and I had what I needed. There's nothing special about those parts, so I didn't take a pic :) Here's the first test fit...

Pretty good! Here's the final assembled fixture.

Lol where are the coral pictures!

 

[TheEngineer]

Here are two of the more recent additions. I decided to try my hand at SPS.

 

[ReefJCB]

I love your office!

 

[TheEngineer]

I love your office!

Thanks. Not a bad spot to spend my days :)

 

[Tokash23]

Nice build are you still dosing for nitrates? I am currently rehabing my tank after a few months of neglect due to lack of funds time and energy, but have considered dosing nitrates myself because i have never really had any kind of suitable reading for my tank and if i start adding more corals it will probably be a necessity.

 

[TheEngineer]

Nice build are you still dosing for nitrates? I am currently rehabing my tank after a few months of neglect due to lack of funds time and energy, but have considered dosing nitrates myself because i have never really had any kind of suitable reading for my tank and if i start adding more corals it will probably be a necessity.

Thanks. I don’t dose nitrates anymore. It always did odd things to my tank. I’d get weird algae blooms and some corals were not happy about it.

 

[Tokash23]

Good to know. Ofcourse every tank is different but its good to learn of the experience of others. Was it KNo3 (stump remover) you were dosing?

 

[TheEngineer]

Good to know. Ofcourse every tank is different but its good to learn of the experience of others. Was it KNo3 (stump remover) you were dosing?

Yep.

 

[TheEngineer]

Well I lost all of my SPS and my tank is in pretty sad shape. The coral loss may be due to low potassium levels, according to a triton test. I’m working to get the levels where they should be and do an in-place reboot of the tank. I might focus on adding some fish now and get back to corals in the spring.

I managed to pull a bunch of frags that looked like they had some life and put them in a hospital tank. I’m happy to report they are starting to open!

Some orange bam bams, pink constellations, maybe green implosions and an acan frag I didn’t know existed from my main colony. All starting to open and show some color.

Some tubs blue and a few unknowns at this point starting to open.

More tubs blue and Vulcan bloods

My hammer is in here too. Thought it was done for but to my surprise the polyps are there, just really receded. They’re starting to expand more each day though. I think it will pull through.

 

[TheEngineer]

Got my potassium test kit, potassium chloride powder and Cuprisorb in the mail today. Cuprisorb went right in the sump. Hopefully it will pull out the tin.

I did the potassium test and came up with 240ppm. The level should be 400ppm. :eek: Trying to figure out how much I can safely raise the level per day and then I'll start dosing.

Corals in the hospital tank are looking better today than yesterday. A glimmer of hope!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Well I lost all of my SPS and my tank is in pretty sad shape. The coral loss may be due to low potassium levels, according to a triton test. I’m working to get the levels where they should be and do an in-place reboot of the tank. I might focus on adding some fish now and get back to corals in the spring.

I managed to pull a bunch of frags that looked like they had some life and put them in a hospital tank. I’m happy to report they are starting to open!

Some orange bam bams, pink constellations, maybe green implosions and an acan frag I didn’t know existed from my main colony. All starting to open and show some color.

Some tubs blue and a few unknowns at this point starting to open.

More tubs blue and Vulcan bloods

My hammer is in here too. Thought it was done for but to my surprise the polyps are there, just really receded. They’re starting to expand more each day though. I think it will pull through.

How did you start up the Hosp tank? New water tank water ?
Really curious to see how they do in there.

 

[TheEngineer]

How did you start up the Hosp tank? New water tank water ?
Really curious to see how they do in there.

100% new water. I put a few bioballs that I keep percolating in my sump for my QT in there too.

I also dosed it up to 5ppm nitrates with KNO3

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

100% new water. I put a few bioballs that I keep percolating in my sump for my QT in there too.

I also dosed it up to 5ppm nitrates with KNO3

Thanks. It'll be really interesting to see what happens.

I'm tossing dying stuff from my 55 to the 30 and it rebounds in days.
So weird.

 

[TheEngineer]

Thanks. It'll be really interesting to see what happens.

I'm tossing dying stuff from my 55 to the 30 and it rebounds in days.
So weird.

Welcome to my world! Any connection between the two? Shared water during changes?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Welcome to my world! Any connection between the two? Shared water during changes?

We live in the same world bro. Reefing. Lol.

I move stuff back and forth bla bla bla. Did find a rusty razor blade after after digging and cleaneing and such for the fifth time.

Same dummy , same , feeding watering cleaning dosing etc.

The lil tank is full of the now Stubbs of big colonies and some will be testers when all seems clear

Maybe this will make you feel a bit better.

(I hope you haven't eaten)
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/after-months-of-mind-numbing-sps-rtn-stn-problems.331018/

My only and maybe superstitious though on your tank. Black Sand is weird. Mine was. Ime here on R2r, the Oddest stuff is seen growing on it that just doesn't happen on aragonite , silica and gravel.

And I forget , is yours man made rock?

 

[TheEngineer]

We live in the same world bro. Reefing. Lol.

I move stuff back and forth bla bla bla. Did find a rusty razor blade after after digging and cleaneing and such for the fifth time.

Same dummy , same , feeding watering cleaning dosing etc.

The lil tank is full of the now Stubbs of big colonies and some will be testers when all seems clear

Maybe this will make you feel a bit better.

(I hope you haven't eaten)
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/after-months-of-mind-numbing-sps-rtn-stn-problems.331018/

My only and maybe superstitious though on your tank. Black Sand is weird. Mine was. Ime here on R2r, the Oddest stuff is seen growing on it that just doesn't happen on aragonite , silica and gravel.

And I forget , is yours man made rock?

I've wondered about the sand. Anecdotes about it being magnetic are completely true. My rock is natural fiji. It was cooked in salt water for 6 months prior to putting it in the tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yea. I have the scratched glass to prove it. :mad:

If nothing else , with the trials and tribulations of this tank, a makeover could be good for the tank and your brain.

I pummeled my tank with the scrub brush once becuse of the Bryo. Felt soo goooood.