Quick text update. I promise to put up some pictures tomorrow.
The canopy is done and I'm very happy with it. I still lose some light out the top, but don't bleed any out the sides. Now my powerheads are able to go into sleep mode as the blues wind down for the night.
I start and end them late bc that's when I have time to spend with the tank. I'll let the pictures tell that story.
As far as chemistry and the uglies, it's all positive news this week
PH 8.4
Alkalinity 8.7
Calcium 460
Mag 1380
Salinity 1.026
NITRATE 3
PHOSPHATE .02
Yes, Phosphate .02. That's down from over 3.0 when the third table shrimp disintegrated in my tank 3 or so weeks ago. My nitrates were off the measurement scale, well in excess of 100. I'd guess closer to 200.
I thought it was the diatom bloom that dropped them, along with WC's, but I think it has to be the chaeto.
I've slowed down on livestock and have only added CUC, 2 turbos and 3 trochus. All I had before was two turbos. I thought this was conservative, but I've seriously probably near doubled my bio-load. I wasn't paying particular attention to which snails they gave me, but I call them King Kong and Bundy! Big, big boys, like ping-pong ball sized. They eat like hyenas and shi* like hampsters... constant. They devoured the diatoms, went into a food coma for two days, and last night straight crushed the beginnings of my GHA stage.
I'm quite pleased with myself. The fuge matured and drove down my nitrate and phosphate to SPS tank levels at precisely the time my GHA tried to get a foothold. After a stop and go start, the chaeto is now growing noticeably every day and has gone from tennis ball to volleyball size in about 3 weeks.
The only other addition was a dime-sized (at best) goniopora frag. It's beautiful and is visibly growing day by day. My toadstool and mushroom are growing as well. I can't say if anything is fast or slow, better or worse than normal bc it's my first tank and I have no context. I realize that ultra low nutrients may open the door to other issues, but I plan to ride it out for a week or so and see whether it is possible to dodge a GHA plague.
Upping feeding isn't really an option, I only have two tiny clowns and snails and they eat two, sometimes three times a day. I have dialed back the fuge light to 15 hours from 18.
So, I'm losing alkalinity and calcium now. I wasn't expecting this yet with two softy frags and a tiny, tiny lps frag. Dropped alk from 9.2 to 8.7 over the course of a week. Prior to this, it was absolutely stable at 9.2. Calcium down 40 units over the same period. I'm happy to see it (and have Kalkwasser en route). However, I didn't think tiny frags would have an impact. I do have some aquacultured live rock that has coraline, so I suppose I could be seeing the beginnings of coraline growth. It could also be the chunk of coraline on Kong's shell! Anyhow, good problem to have, so I'm savoring the good times while they last.
The canopy is done and I'm very happy with it. I still lose some light out the top, but don't bleed any out the sides. Now my powerheads are able to go into sleep mode as the blues wind down for the night.
I start and end them late bc that's when I have time to spend with the tank. I'll let the pictures tell that story.
As far as chemistry and the uglies, it's all positive news this week
PH 8.4
Alkalinity 8.7
Calcium 460
Mag 1380
Salinity 1.026
NITRATE 3
PHOSPHATE .02
Yes, Phosphate .02. That's down from over 3.0 when the third table shrimp disintegrated in my tank 3 or so weeks ago. My nitrates were off the measurement scale, well in excess of 100. I'd guess closer to 200.
I thought it was the diatom bloom that dropped them, along with WC's, but I think it has to be the chaeto.
I've slowed down on livestock and have only added CUC, 2 turbos and 3 trochus. All I had before was two turbos. I thought this was conservative, but I've seriously probably near doubled my bio-load. I wasn't paying particular attention to which snails they gave me, but I call them King Kong and Bundy! Big, big boys, like ping-pong ball sized. They eat like hyenas and shi* like hampsters... constant. They devoured the diatoms, went into a food coma for two days, and last night straight crushed the beginnings of my GHA stage.
I'm quite pleased with myself. The fuge matured and drove down my nitrate and phosphate to SPS tank levels at precisely the time my GHA tried to get a foothold. After a stop and go start, the chaeto is now growing noticeably every day and has gone from tennis ball to volleyball size in about 3 weeks.
The only other addition was a dime-sized (at best) goniopora frag. It's beautiful and is visibly growing day by day. My toadstool and mushroom are growing as well. I can't say if anything is fast or slow, better or worse than normal bc it's my first tank and I have no context. I realize that ultra low nutrients may open the door to other issues, but I plan to ride it out for a week or so and see whether it is possible to dodge a GHA plague.
Upping feeding isn't really an option, I only have two tiny clowns and snails and they eat two, sometimes three times a day. I have dialed back the fuge light to 15 hours from 18.
So, I'm losing alkalinity and calcium now. I wasn't expecting this yet with two softy frags and a tiny, tiny lps frag. Dropped alk from 9.2 to 8.7 over the course of a week. Prior to this, it was absolutely stable at 9.2. Calcium down 40 units over the same period. I'm happy to see it (and have Kalkwasser en route). However, I didn't think tiny frags would have an impact. I do have some aquacultured live rock that has coraline, so I suppose I could be seeing the beginnings of coraline growth. It could also be the chunk of coraline on Kong's shell! Anyhow, good problem to have, so I'm savoring the good times while they last.