93 Gallon Build: An introduction to patience...

[JBKReef]

Nice build. I am curious on others opinions of the QT tanks being that close. I know I've read that QTs should be so far from your DT, but what about a coral/invert QT being right next to your fish QT?

I've debated about this as well! So far we have been super careful to ensure separate tools are used, separate buckets, and even two different types of filters to ensure one is not accidentally cross contaminated.

I would agree because a copper water change dumped into the Coral/Invert QT could be catastrophic.

The limiting factor in this case is access to electricity. Right now the only options in the basement are on this wall or share a circuit with the washer/dryer. I want to keep all QT downstairs so I have resolved to just be extra aware of whats going on.

The worst that could happen is some invert loss or having to restart the QT time frame if something is cross contaminated.

 

[Josh Kraft]

I've debated about this as well! So far we have been super careful to ensure separate tools are used, separate buckets, and even two different types of filters to ensure one is not accidentally cross contaminated.

I would agree because a copper water change dumped into the Coral/Invert QT could be catastrophic.

The limiting factor in this case is access to electricity. Right now the only options in the basement are on this wall or share a circuit with the washer/dryer. I want to keep all QT downstairs so I have resolved to just be extra aware of whats going on.

The worst that could happen is some invert loss or having to restart the QT time frame if something is cross contaminated.

I was thinking more along the lines of aerosol transmission rather than cross contamination. Cross contamination you can control, aerosol transmission you cannot.

 

[JBKReef]

I was thinking more along the lines of aerosol transmission rather than cross contamination. Cross contamination you can control, aerosol transmission you cannot.

aerosol transmission?!?!

What is this witchcraft you speak of?!

 

[Josh Kraft]

Check this out:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aerosol-transmission.190292/

 

[JBKReef]

Check this out:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aerosol-transmission.190292/

;Nailbiting At this point I guess we're going to have to risk it. Thats a very interesting read. the fish only tank does have a good fitting lid so hopefully any bubble popping transference would be eliminated. That being said the coral only tank currently just has light diffuser over it. I will consider placing a cover on it as well.

 

[JBKReef]

Well the trusted iphone 6 plus has finally kicked the bucket and along with the phone the weekly updates photos.

This is unfortunate not only for my budget but because I believe I have moved all the frags into their respective locations. I was not anticipating how difficult it is to get a frag to stay put. my GSP and Torch corals have been incredibly difficult to stay put... Even after gluing them down.

The Torch has been my biggest struggle. I was trying to find a moderately low flow with decent light, I'm struggling with how powerful the MP40's really are and their positioning in my tank. The torch expelled some zooxanthellae the first day it was moved into the higher light but since then has been looking fully extended and is getting a little of its origional color back.

The Hammer/Frogspawn is LOVING life in its new location and I've never seen it so puffed up. I have the torch and hammer on opposite ends of the tank hoping they will compliment the scape and add movement all over.

The GPS has been isolated on the island in the very front of the cube, this will hopefully keep it contained while allowing good viewing for everything behind it. I have three small islands and I plan on trying to isolate coral types on each. GSP on one, pulsing xenia (fiances favorite) on one, and then creating a small zoa garden on teh third and largest island.

Speaking of zoa's my utter chaos has a second head popping out! This is the first real and noticeable growth of any of the corals in the tank and I'm absolutely ecstatic about it. Of all the corals the two plugs of zoa have faired the best through QT and introduction into the DT.

The two black sheep of the tank would be my Mr Freeze Lepto and the Favia I have. The Lepto is a mystery to me and I wish I could tell how its fairing right now i have it in low light low flow it has not really changed at all from Day 1 so I guess no negative growth is fine. The Favia's bleaching/tissue loss has stopped I've moved it into medium flow and medium light hoping it will start to recover. The Favia not only is my worst coral but it also its plug is also starting to grow hair algae (the only one in the tank) I have pulled it out once and gave it a good scrubbing with a tooth brush.

The livestock seem to be fat and happy. Tailspot is still super skiddish and the Starry is still a hog. The Emerald crab has made itself more visible lately and the snails are continuing to mow through algae.

The fiance moves in this weekend and we're looking to celebrate with a pair of clowns. the LFS has a pair of Mai Thai clowns that are peaking my interest (Male Maroon x Female Ocellaris) they look to be getting along well and have a visible size difference which I would hope would diffuse aggression. Has anyone out there owned these guys before or heard much commentary on them?

Happy Reefing everyone!!

 

[JBKReef]

I have some time to relax after a whirlwind of a week, the fiance is moved in and I never knew two people could own as many pots and pans as we did. After about 5 trips to goodwill I think we have thin'd out the heard enough.

That being said the tank is not looking to happy right now. I think I was throwing way too many nutrients into the tank with dosing the phytoplankton that came along with the copopods from Algae Barn. That or the nutrients exploding from the chaeto that melted. As you can see in some of the following photos the rock is a bit hairy. I've placed the corals in what I hope are the final spots we'll see how they grow.



Additionally I'll throw in two full tank shots of the two viewing angles of the tank.



I had mentioned a new pair of clowns in the previous post. These are Mai Thai clowns and I hope they will settle in nicely. They're currently going through QT which will consist of two PraziPro treatments and a proper copper treatment.



To go along with the clowns we have an Acid Rain BTA. I was super skiddish about preparing an anemone for our tank already however if all goes according to plan the anemone will go through a 72 day QT, and by that point the tank will be 6 months old. Fingers crossed. It has inflated and deflated a couple times in the three days its been in QT. Right now it has wedged itself between two pieces of marine pure blocks.



Thats all there is right now. Hopefully things will continue to settle in nicely and my Starry will stop acting like a diamond gobby and rearranging my sandbed. Unlikely.

 

[JBKReef]

Is my torch coral expelling zooxanthellae?

Did a big water change two days ago, coral seemed to be loving life. Fully extended the past two days then today for what is the only time I have observed it, it appears to have a brown substance excreting from the mouth. The only other time this happened was when I moved the coral up in the tank to what I hoped was it’s final resting spot.

 

[JBKReef]

Anemone has puffed back up and settling in nicely (I think)

I'm going to wait a week or so and see if I can get it to eat some pellets. I dont want to stress it with over feeding a big piece of frozen food.

 

[JBKReef]

Really kicking myself right now, I thought I had secured my QT well enough for the anemone however sometime during the night it managed to get itself under the foam cover of my HOB filter and got shredded.

I could not find the anemone and nearly broke down the entire system. I opened the HOB, pulled the filter, and saw the glowing remains of my anemone under the LED's. Super depressing because the guy was looking fat and happy. It had eaten a couple dried pellets, and was looking gorgeous. Really not sure how else to progress with an Anemone.

On a less depressing topic my Screen top kit came in from BRS and the fiance and I put it together. I'm happy with how it turned out. Simple and efficient. The netting is not perfect in one corner however thats the one I have in the back corner by the overflow so its not very noticeable. I'm interested to see what effects this will have moving away from the glass top. I assume gas exchange and light penetration will both greatly increase. So far the only major difference I'm seeing is my evaporation has jumped which I fully expected. The manual float valve on the FFM failed again, this is probably the third time that has happened and prevented any water from making its way into my system. I'm debating tearing it out, using it on my QT which is easier to access and replacing it with an Tunze 3155.



New inhabitants made their way into the DT, we added 3 turbo snails and 3 more trochus snails to help with the algae growth. The snails are all setting in nicely however the Starry is not having it. Its crazy to hear a small pop and see him punting a snail across the tank. I'm not sure if hes aggressive or just getting to know the new residence. If this is how introductions are going to go in the future I'm worried about adding new fish, since he has had the run of the tank for the last two months.

Finally I was playing with my phones new fancy camera and got some time lapse of my GSP waking up on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing this guy cover his island and staying put. Fingers crossed.

 

[JBKReef]

Its fun to see visible growth on something other than hair algae... it makes me feel like i'm doing something right. While I'm still battling with algae, its starting to die off. The introduction of 6 more snails and cutting back on feeding has been doing wonders. I think between stopping the dosing of phytoplankton and getting my skimmer to properly skim again is helping the nutrient export.

I'm getting worried about the Starry Blenny aggression, he's beating the crap out of the three new turbo snails. We were away for a road trip this weekend, the tank was on auto pilot for about 36 hours and I think one of the turbo's was upside down for what was most of that time and might have died. If the starry doesnt let them settle in I'm going to move them to the QT and just get some more trochus snails, he hasnt had a problem with them oddly enough. I'm hoping this aggression will not translate to aggression towards new tankmates because I'll be adding two clowns here in the coming weeks.

for visual appeal for this update we have the utter chaos zoas, which starting with 1 on a frag now has 2 opened heads and 3 more starting to poke out as well as a new favities we purchased from our favorite LFS, Discover Aquatics in Wilder, KY. Not pictured are some Acan's and pulsing xenia which are in QT right now. We're going to try our hardest to keep the Xenia isolated on an island 6 inches away from all other rock. Fingers crossed.

 

[JBKReef]

Got home for lunch and the fiance confirmed... one snail has fell victim to Gamma-the snail destroyer.

 

[JBKReef]

Just wanting to ask anyone who is fallowing along with the build, how do you deal with hair algae? We've cut down on feeding and increased nutrient export. The algae has stopped spreading and is no longer growing, however its still on some of the rocks and doesn't look to be receding.

Would pulling the rock, doing a quick scrub in saltwater, then replacing it be a good idea?

 

[najer]

If you don't have corals to upset then a scrub in old tank water at waterchange time is a good idea, what cuc do you have?

 

[JBKReef]

If you don't have corals to upset then a scrub in old tank water at waterchange time is a good idea, what cuc do you have?

I have 2 turbo snails, 6 trochus snails, and 2 algae eating blenny's which look fat an happy even though I have never fed them they just much on the algae in the tank.

There are two zoa frags on the rock however not glued down so I could temp put them on another rock while I scrub the algae off.

 

[najer]

I would go for it, try to keep the rock submerged for the bacteria in it and pods etc, if you do it at waterchange time keep some old water aside to do a little rinse on the scrubbed rock to remove the last bits of crud before you put it back in.
Oh and look at adding some hermits and / or mithrax maybe.

 

[JBKReef]

I would go for it, try to keep the rock submerged for the bacteria in it and pods etc, if you do it at waterchange time keep some old water aside to do a little rinse on the scrubbed rock to remove the last bits of crud before you put it back in.
Oh and look at adding some hermits and / or mithrax maybe.

Actually yeah I have one emerald crab as well. Will look to get a couple more. I was hoping to avoid the hermits due to stealing the snail shells.

Will give the scrub a go this weekend! Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[najer]

I love mithrax / emeralds, great sneaky feeders, update us after things have settled.

 

[JBKReef]

Tank update for the weekend; we added a new member of clean up crew. One that I was drawn too when I was first researching the hobby and one my fiance studied durring her marine biology degree. Ladies and gentleman, the tuxedo urchin.



The algae growth has stopped, which is encouraging, however there is still a good bit present on the islands. Hopefully the CuC will get it taken care of. I saw a small spike in ammonia durring the week after one of our turbo snails kicked the bucket. Surprisingly enough though between water changes, dialing in the skimmer, and the red gracilaria in the sump which has been doing pretty well I have zero nitrates. I was shocked to see this because I had been hovering around 20-30. I took a water sample into my LFS and they confirmed as well no Nitrates. I have heard this can be an issue so I'm going to keep an eye on things to make sure nothing suffers. I'll uptick my reef roids usage, and go from there. The clowns are starting their cuppramine treatment today so a couple weeks they will be added to the tank and I think the larger bioload will keep things in line.

I have added a weed to my tank. Against my better judgement, and the love my fiance has for it, I've added some pulsing Xenia. It will be isolated on a rock away from my main arch. I know it will be a battle to keep it isolated but literally nothing in the hobby catches her eye as much as the pulsing heads.



The last new piece, which is my favorite, are some Acans. They have settled into their spot well and seem to be fat and happy. They're a columbia blue and red mix. Looks pretty cool under the LED's. Happy reefing everyone and let me know what you think on my Nitrate situation.

 

[JBKReef]

Anyone out there very familiar with Blenny's? My tailspot was acting super weird last night.

We had been out for dinner and a movie and when we came home, about an hour after lights out, he was out sitting on the sand just chilling. Not flitting around, not skidding, just laying there lethargic almost.

I've never seen him stay still for that long, and I am worried something is wrong. I did a test and no Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate detected.

We added the tuxedo urchin earlier in the week but nothing else.

His colors seem to have dulled and the white marks are more pronounced but I believe their color can change as they age some have said.