90g Mixed Reef

[leahfiish]

Corals got delayed due to Harvey, no big deal.
I'm going to start carbon dosing as I've been feeding a lot and I have no plans of slowing that down, and my nitrates and phosphates are getting pretty high.
I was planning on doing diy nopox, so vodka + vinegar. I just need a way to measure it out and store it, so I'll be starting that pretty soon.
I realized I left my powerheads on feeding mode for like 3 days so I have a little bit of cyano growing. And I found 1 aiptasia (and quickly smothered it with kalk). That was pretty annoying.
In the next few weeks I think I'm going to start culturing live phytoplankton to feed to my tank to increase the copepod population. I've been reading and learning more about fish collection and I really want to support sustainable collection practices. I am going to put some of the fish on my list on the backburner and instead I think my next purchase might be some captive bred mandarin gobies. So I definitely want to get some extra pods in there for them.

 

[leahfiish]

I got a few Florida Ricordea and a branching Cyphastrea from @Salty1962 today and I love them. I originally was just looking for the Cyphastrea but I'm so glad I got the rics too, I forgot how much I like them and these are excellent. Salty1962 is a great seller, too, and these were very reasonably priced, there's probably about 9 mouths total, and the Cyphastrea was cheaper than anywhere else I could find it, and that was not very many places.

For now I am placing the Cyphastrea above the acans and the Ricordeas on the sand bed on the left side near the blastos.

This favia has grown a new eye which is pretty cool.

More updates coming tomorrow I think.

 

[justingraham]

Coming along nicely

 

[leahfiish]

Coming along nicely

Thanks, I agree, finally starting to make some progress.
I know I am going to run into nutrient (and therefore algae) issues soon, though. Im really looking for a method other than water changes to help with that since honestly I just don't have the space to store 20g of water every week. I have made a mix of 350ml vinegar 150ml Vodka and have been dosing 0.5ml every day to start with. My goal is to get my nitrates down to about 5-10ppm, I believe they are about 30 now. I have been getting some cyano every since I left the powerheads on feeding mode for 3 days, woops. I've also got some brown algae like film on the rocks. I added about half a bottle of pods from algae barn today as well as 30ml of Phytoplankton. I'm going to save the rest to culture, so I can have a steady supply. I'm just waiting on my fertilizer.

This is the area I'm gonna use, under my blue tongue skink's tank. I have a 6 bulb t5 ho fixture (only gonna use 2 bulbs, probably 10,000k and 6,500k) and a lot of room to grow my cultures. Next to it I have a 10g that was previously a qt, with sand, a sponge filter, a little rock, and heater. I dosed half of my bottle of pods in there along with a little bit of phyto. Hopefully that will at least get the pod culture started.

BTW, I am really happy with my algae barn order. I ordered Monday (labor day), they shipped Tuesday and arrived today (Friday) around 6:30. I was a little worried about the long transit time but there were no issues, there are soooo many pods. They were so running a special b1g1 free so I got 2 bags of phyto and 2 bags of copepods. AND there was a labor day coupon for artemia, but, understandably, I could only use 1 coupon per order. However, they still sent me a free package anyway! So overall this was a great deal and great purchase experience, I would highly recommend purchasing from algaebarn and I will happily order again when I need to.

 

[leahfiish]

Quick update post. The tank is due for a water change, I think. I'm getting some debris buildup and a little algae so it seems like it's time. I took a quick video during lunch today, don't mind the glass.

The new corals are doing well, Ricordeas are opening very large and looking happy

 

[leahfiish]

I think the phyto is growing!

 

[leahfiish]

My jawfish have eggs!

 

[leahfiish]

Restarted my phyto culture since it seemed to have stalled.
Here's a FTS for today.

 

[LbulletM]

Looking awesome!

 

[leahfiish]

Looking awesome!

Thanks!


I am preparing my 29g to quarantine some new fish, hopefully this week. I am also hoping to order fish from another vendor that I trust enough not to qt from, just as soon as the fish are available!

I am also still trying to plan out some coral placements. I'm going to the Fragginstein frag swap in Cleveland on October 28th and hoping to pick up a few nice pieces. I'm thinking of getting a nice wellso or trachy, some more torches and Florida ricordeas, and maybe try a dendro.

Here's a picture of my female Clownfish.

 

[leahfiish]

If I hadn't seen my jawfish with that bundle of eggs on Friday morning I would be very worried. By the time I got home on Friday it seemed like most of the eggs were gone and on Saturday he swapped burrows with the female. He is still keeping his mouth open slightly and is very secretive, staying deep in his burrow most of the day. This is not like him at all so if I hadn't known he had eggs i would be panicking. Even though I can't see any eggs left, I can assume by his behavior that he's still holding a few. Meanwhile the female has redecorated his original burrow and moved the entrance.


I would really like to try raising them but I am still having trouble with my Phytoplankton cultures.

 

[leahfiish]

My jawfish still has a few eggs, this is day 6. He did eat a few live blackworms today.
I also tested some of my water parameters today, trying to dial in my 2 part dose and carbon dosing.
Alkalinity 8.4 (perfect) calcium 430, phosphate 0.16 (trying to lower it still).
If I have time I'll do a water change later today.

My Phytoplankton is still dieing. I think I'm gonna have to get a new culture. I think maybe I don't have enough water circulation

 

[justingraham]

That is awesome ur fish are spawning that means ur doing something right!!!

 

[leahfiish]

That is awesome ur fish are spawning that means ur doing something right!!!

Thanks, I hope they keep it up so I can try raising them.

 

[Ben Weaver]

I got a few Florida Ricordea and a branching Cyphastrea from @Salty1962 today and I love them. I originally was just looking for the Cyphastrea but I'm so glad I got the rics too, I forgot how much I like them and these are excellent. Salty1962 is a great seller, too, and these were very reasonably priced, there's probably about 9 mouths total, and the Cyphastrea was cheaper than anywhere else I could find it, and that was not very many places.

For now I am placing the Cyphastrea above the acans and the Ricordeas on the sand bed on the left side near the blastos.

This favia has grown a new eye which is pretty cool.

More updates coming tomorrow I think.

I love these ricordia! Nice colors
Nice tank to btw! And the idea of making it "sustainably sourced" is great.

 

[leahfiish]

I love these ricordia! Nice colors
Nice tank to btw! And the idea of making it "sustainably sourced" is great.

Thank you, I'm surprised you don't have any Florida Ricordea in your tank with all the other mushrooms you have.

 

[Ben Weaver]

I have a yuma! But yeah i would really love to have some floridas! They just need to be the right price

 

[leahfiish]

I have a yuma! But yeah i would really love to have some floridas! They just need to be the right price

Fair enough, tag me if you get some I like to see all the colors.


The jawfish are currently sharing the front burrow which is a little unusual. The male is still mostly staying in the burrow and keeping his mouth open slightly but I can't see any eggs. I'll be watching closely after the lights go out tonight.

Here's some pics I took yesterday

 

[leahfiish]

I ordered some phytoplankton disks from Florida aqua farms and I'm impatiently waiting for them to come in. I know it will be at least a week and a half but I really want to get it started.
I was looking at reef trader for some corals for fragginstein and I could spend my whole budget just on what is already posted.
http://www.reeftrader.com/swaps/62/listings

I'm especially liking the favias. Still not sure if I should just save my money and see what is there or reserve some things ahead of time.

Here's the favia that I have currently, it's growing pretty fast even though it falls down probably once a week.

 

[leahfiish]

Nothing new to report today. I get home a little earlier on Sundays and it's always nice to see my corals completely open when I get home. Normally they are starting to close up a little bit by the time I'm home.
The torches are especially impressive.