93 Gallon Build: An introduction to patience...
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OP
OP
I have two that I keep a close eye on. Will picture when I get home. Not the crazy micro bubble seams though.
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Velcro
2500 Club Member
The ones I mean are hundreds of very small ones near the top of the tank. Maybe they finally fixed their quality control.
OP
OP
The reef is sailing along right now. Nothing catastrophic over the past week and nothing really exciting.
I took a week to get the clowns up to the proper Cupramine copper range so they will chill out for the next couple weeks there.
The Xenia was getting beat up by flow so I'm trying to move the rocks around a bit to get the flow accurate for all corals in the tank. Its a struggle to keep the Xenia away from all the other rock.
Other than that my highlight has been watching my urchin mow down the algae this guy is a trooper. Happy reefing everyone.
I took a week to get the clowns up to the proper Cupramine copper range so they will chill out for the next couple weeks there.
The Xenia was getting beat up by flow so I'm trying to move the rocks around a bit to get the flow accurate for all corals in the tank. Its a struggle to keep the Xenia away from all the other rock.
Other than that my highlight has been watching my urchin mow down the algae this guy is a trooper. Happy reefing everyone.
OP
OP
OP
OP
Photo heavy update for 4/08
This weeks addition- Skunk shrimp and Acid Green BTA w/ porcelain crab. It was pretty cool to see the shrimp cleaning my bully of a Starry Blenny within 24 hours of being introduced to the tank.
I was worried this morning that the crab had died, we found it bouncing around the substrate this morning. I took it out and dropped it into the garbage. Oddly enough... check out the second video below... I am guessing it either molted within the first day of being introduced or there were two on the anemone and only one remains now.
Tank has been running well, I think I have the skimmer dialed in now and pulling all it can. On top of that the macro algae is not thriving. Again this is the second clump of a different type of algae I have not been able to keep alive in the tank. First was chaeto which is supposed to be indestructible and the latest attempt was red gracilaria which was hearty as hell. The chaeto melted within a week (while I was out of town and did not get to see the progress) the gracilaria has slowly turned green and not grown. I believe this is due to a lack of nutrients in the tank.
The only feeding I do is reef roids 2-3 times a week for the corals. My blenny's eat algae growing in the tank so its a very light bioload. When I test for nitrates I'm coming up zero. I thought maybe it was my test but its still within date and I took a water sample to my LFS and they agreed no Nitrates. I'm moving over the clowns in about a week out of QT and then will pick up 5-6 chromis so the bio load will be picking up over the next month or so. I might try again at that time. I just see it being pointless to dose nitrates to only allow for more algae to grow.
Does maintaining zero nitrates cause issue for coral growth? The picture heavy update below will show that the majority of the corals have not shown much growth. The torch and hammer are the same size as being put into the tanks back in January. My injured Favia is slowly starting to recover but it lost half its mass in February and still has not returned to pre-feb levels. The zoas are doing well. My utter chaos started with one head and now has three additional small ones sprouting around the base. My armor of god started with three heads and after feeding I can see a fourth sprouting. The other coral which was the part of the original corals is the Mr Freeze Lepto. He has been moved twice due to shading or being picked on by a fish but he actually is encrusting well. When I purchased the frag it was a nice piece but the plug was obviously fresh and no encrusting. The Lepto has completely encrusted the top of the plug and starting to creep down the sides.
The latest additions to the tank (prior to the shrimp and anemone) are the tuxedo urchin, acans, and pulsing xenia. The only one which hasn’t been doing really well is the xenia, it was initially getting blasted with flow and caused the coral to stop pulsing, its been moved around a bit and now continuously pulses but the polyps are still not completely extended like they are when all flow is off. The urchin has been the clean up crew champ since going into the tank he has completely cleared off two of the island rocks and now moved to the main structure. The rocks are free of hair algae and I hope coraline shows up to spread. The acans fluctuate from day to day but currently looked puffed up and healthy.
Photos below are of the multiple corals, the fish, inverts, top down views and full tank shots. Mainly took these for comparison points to use for the future. I’ll try to get a couple videos up as well, the anemone and mysterious lazarus crab, and the shrimp cleaning my starry.
This weeks addition- Skunk shrimp and Acid Green BTA w/ porcelain crab. It was pretty cool to see the shrimp cleaning my bully of a Starry Blenny within 24 hours of being introduced to the tank.
I was worried this morning that the crab had died, we found it bouncing around the substrate this morning. I took it out and dropped it into the garbage. Oddly enough... check out the second video below... I am guessing it either molted within the first day of being introduced or there were two on the anemone and only one remains now.
Tank has been running well, I think I have the skimmer dialed in now and pulling all it can. On top of that the macro algae is not thriving. Again this is the second clump of a different type of algae I have not been able to keep alive in the tank. First was chaeto which is supposed to be indestructible and the latest attempt was red gracilaria which was hearty as hell. The chaeto melted within a week (while I was out of town and did not get to see the progress) the gracilaria has slowly turned green and not grown. I believe this is due to a lack of nutrients in the tank.
The only feeding I do is reef roids 2-3 times a week for the corals. My blenny's eat algae growing in the tank so its a very light bioload. When I test for nitrates I'm coming up zero. I thought maybe it was my test but its still within date and I took a water sample to my LFS and they agreed no Nitrates. I'm moving over the clowns in about a week out of QT and then will pick up 5-6 chromis so the bio load will be picking up over the next month or so. I might try again at that time. I just see it being pointless to dose nitrates to only allow for more algae to grow.
Does maintaining zero nitrates cause issue for coral growth? The picture heavy update below will show that the majority of the corals have not shown much growth. The torch and hammer are the same size as being put into the tanks back in January. My injured Favia is slowly starting to recover but it lost half its mass in February and still has not returned to pre-feb levels. The zoas are doing well. My utter chaos started with one head and now has three additional small ones sprouting around the base. My armor of god started with three heads and after feeding I can see a fourth sprouting. The other coral which was the part of the original corals is the Mr Freeze Lepto. He has been moved twice due to shading or being picked on by a fish but he actually is encrusting well. When I purchased the frag it was a nice piece but the plug was obviously fresh and no encrusting. The Lepto has completely encrusted the top of the plug and starting to creep down the sides.
The latest additions to the tank (prior to the shrimp and anemone) are the tuxedo urchin, acans, and pulsing xenia. The only one which hasn’t been doing really well is the xenia, it was initially getting blasted with flow and caused the coral to stop pulsing, its been moved around a bit and now continuously pulses but the polyps are still not completely extended like they are when all flow is off. The urchin has been the clean up crew champ since going into the tank he has completely cleared off two of the island rocks and now moved to the main structure. The rocks are free of hair algae and I hope coraline shows up to spread. The acans fluctuate from day to day but currently looked puffed up and healthy.
Photos below are of the multiple corals, the fish, inverts, top down views and full tank shots. Mainly took these for comparison points to use for the future. I’ll try to get a couple videos up as well, the anemone and mysterious lazarus crab, and the shrimp cleaning my starry.
OP
OP
Skunk cleaner shrimp and Starry
OP
OP
Anemone adjusting and the presumed dead crab makes an appearance in time-lapse.
OP
OP
My anemone is still not budging from that cave... Anyone following along know if I should get concerned thats its not out in the light? We're going on day 4 of cave dwelling.
I left the powerheads off for a couple hours yesterday hoping the Nem would venture out after the current settled down some... no such luck.
I did manage to get this shot of my Starry inspecting the temporarily shut off MP40.
I left the powerheads off for a couple hours yesterday hoping the Nem would venture out after the current settled down some... no such luck.
I did manage to get this shot of my Starry inspecting the temporarily shut off MP40.
OP
OP
I'll start by posting here before starting a new thread but I have a hitchhiker that I'm not sure where it came from...
The latest adds to the tank were a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Acans, Xenia, an Anemone/Crab pair. The corals were all dipped however the anemone and crab went straight in.
I have a worm free swimming through the tank, it was hard to identify however I believe there were two of them in the tank, this is the largest of the two.
Watching how they swim it looked a nudibranch.
Any help?
The latest adds to the tank were a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Acans, Xenia, an Anemone/Crab pair. The corals were all dipped however the anemone and crab went straight in.
I have a worm free swimming through the tank, it was hard to identify however I believe there were two of them in the tank, this is the largest of the two.
Watching how they swim it looked a nudibranch.
Any help?
OP
OP
This was about an hour after lights out.
OP
OP
Bonus #3 Build Thread Challenge
My acan had been looking a little worse for wear and Irealized one of the heads was shadowed so I moved it around some to hopefully get better light. I've ran into that issue so far with not great flow in the tank and shadowing. I like my rockwork but I'm questioning now how to best utilize it. I know for sure I'm not a giant fan of the cube tank. I wish I would have went with a 90 over a 40 breeder but alas here we are.
The clowns have settled into the tank however the bigger clown seems to be nipping at the little guy. She's tore up one of his fins a bit. I'm hoping things settle down as they get used to the bigger tank. Right now we have 4 fish in the 93 cube, a starry blenny, tailspot blenny, and two clowns. I'm looking to order a handful of blue reef chromis next up. AFter that just a Kole or Tomini tang and we'll be fully stocked. (probably) Probably will be adding a blood shrimp and a second tuxedo urchin over the weekend. The urchin is by far and above the best clean up crew we have.
Will get some updated photos over the weekend but needed to get this update for my entry.
Fingers crossed, I've been looking for a reason to start up a nano and filling one up with a WWC Zoa garden would be a fun project.
- Update your Reef2Reef tank thread and add the hashtags: #reef2reef , #worldwidecorals, #mywwccontest in your build thread post.
My acan had been looking a little worse for wear and Irealized one of the heads was shadowed so I moved it around some to hopefully get better light. I've ran into that issue so far with not great flow in the tank and shadowing. I like my rockwork but I'm questioning now how to best utilize it. I know for sure I'm not a giant fan of the cube tank. I wish I would have went with a 90 over a 40 breeder but alas here we are.
The clowns have settled into the tank however the bigger clown seems to be nipping at the little guy. She's tore up one of his fins a bit. I'm hoping things settle down as they get used to the bigger tank. Right now we have 4 fish in the 93 cube, a starry blenny, tailspot blenny, and two clowns. I'm looking to order a handful of blue reef chromis next up. AFter that just a Kole or Tomini tang and we'll be fully stocked. (probably) Probably will be adding a blood shrimp and a second tuxedo urchin over the weekend. The urchin is by far and above the best clean up crew we have.
Will get some updated photos over the weekend but needed to get this update for my entry.
Fingers crossed, I've been looking for a reason to start up a nano and filling one up with a WWC Zoa garden would be a fun project.
Daniel@R2R
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My Tank Thread
Coming along great! I love all the photos of the life that's moving in that tank!
OP
OP
Weekly update:
New additions:
Blood Shrimp
Fighting Conch
Losses:
Anemone is on its last leg
Trochus snail
Acan is not looking hot, lost one head
The fiance and I took a trip to our LFS (Discover Aquatics in Wilder, KY) and picked out some new additions for the tank. With the clowns moving out of QT, and needing a larger bio-load we bought our "schooling" fish for the tank. 5 Blue Reef Chromis. They should be getting into the shop any day now and then added to the QT system for Prazipro and Cupramine treatments.
Since the Red Gracilaria melted away in the sump we've seen an explosion of pods and epitokes (assuming bristle worms), I'm guessing with losing their habitat in the sump they made the transition to the display. Nightly I can see 10-15 worms crawling on the glass and thousands of pods. Its fun but with such a large number so quickly I wonder what else has been hiding that will come out. The clowns have interestingly enough been eating the worms so we'll see how that goes as population control.
Everyone seems to be settling in nice other than my acid rain BTA, the poor this has not looked good since day one. Its hid 90% of the time since being introduced and just emerged on Sunday. its mouth is gaping and some innards have been spewn out. If its foot get detached or looks weak I'm debating about removing it. I dont want it to nuke the tank. Additionally I think I had some poor placement for my Acan's. One of the polyps was partially shaded and its 90% gone now and a couple of the surrounding heads are not looking great. I'm spot feeding and hoping it recovers.
As for everyone getting along my Starry Blenny continues to be a tank bully, but only towards shelled creatures. 2 of 3 turbo snails fell victim to him, the last is now living in the sump. Introduced my fighting conch and within 5 mins he was trying to punt it across the tank like he did the turbos. Granted the conch is much larger so I'm hoping it can hold its own.
Some visuals from the week:
First off the new worms-
Next up; Prawn Swanson the Blood Shrimp
I like the way my euphillia colors up ( was sold as frogspawn but believe its a hammer) Cant decide for myself which way it looks best under daylight or actinics
And finally the bully and the newcomer having a showdown. This is currently my computer background
New additions:
Blood Shrimp
Fighting Conch
Losses:
Anemone is on its last leg
Trochus snail
Acan is not looking hot, lost one head
The fiance and I took a trip to our LFS (Discover Aquatics in Wilder, KY) and picked out some new additions for the tank. With the clowns moving out of QT, and needing a larger bio-load we bought our "schooling" fish for the tank. 5 Blue Reef Chromis. They should be getting into the shop any day now and then added to the QT system for Prazipro and Cupramine treatments.
Since the Red Gracilaria melted away in the sump we've seen an explosion of pods and epitokes (assuming bristle worms), I'm guessing with losing their habitat in the sump they made the transition to the display. Nightly I can see 10-15 worms crawling on the glass and thousands of pods. Its fun but with such a large number so quickly I wonder what else has been hiding that will come out. The clowns have interestingly enough been eating the worms so we'll see how that goes as population control.
Everyone seems to be settling in nice other than my acid rain BTA, the poor this has not looked good since day one. Its hid 90% of the time since being introduced and just emerged on Sunday. its mouth is gaping and some innards have been spewn out. If its foot get detached or looks weak I'm debating about removing it. I dont want it to nuke the tank. Additionally I think I had some poor placement for my Acan's. One of the polyps was partially shaded and its 90% gone now and a couple of the surrounding heads are not looking great. I'm spot feeding and hoping it recovers.
As for everyone getting along my Starry Blenny continues to be a tank bully, but only towards shelled creatures. 2 of 3 turbo snails fell victim to him, the last is now living in the sump. Introduced my fighting conch and within 5 mins he was trying to punt it across the tank like he did the turbos. Granted the conch is much larger so I'm hoping it can hold its own.
Some visuals from the week:
First off the new worms-
Next up; Prawn Swanson the Blood Shrimp
I like the way my euphillia colors up ( was sold as frogspawn but believe its a hammer) Cant decide for myself which way it looks best under daylight or actinics
And finally the bully and the newcomer having a showdown. This is currently my computer background
NY_Caveman
likes words, fish and arbitrary statistics
Weekly update:
New additions:
Blood Shrimp
Fighting Conch
Losses:
Anemone is on its last leg
Trochus snail
Acan is not looking hot, lost one head
The fiance and I took a trip to our LFS (Discover Aquatics in Wilder, KY) and picked out some new additions for the tank. With the clowns moving out of QT, and needing a larger bio-load we bought our "schooling" fish for the tank. 5 Blue Reef Chromis. They should be getting into the shop any day now and then added to the QT system for Prazipro and Cupramine treatments.
Since the Red Gracilaria melted away in the sump we've seen an explosion of pods and epitokes (assuming bristle worms), I'm guessing with losing their habitat in the sump they made the transition to the display. Nightly I can see 10-15 worms crawling on the glass and thousands of pods. Its fun but with such a large number so quickly I wonder what else has been hiding that will come out. The clowns have interestingly enough been eating the worms so we'll see how that goes as population control.
Everyone seems to be settling in nice other than my acid rain BTA, the poor this has not looked good since day one. Its hid 90% of the time since being introduced and just emerged on Sunday. its mouth is gaping and some innards have been spewn out. If its foot get detached or looks weak I'm debating about removing it. I dont want it to nuke the tank. Additionally I think I had some poor placement for my Acan's. One of the polyps was partially shaded and its 90% gone now and a couple of the surrounding heads are not looking great. I'm spot feeding and hoping it recovers.
As for everyone getting along my Starry Blenny continues to be a tank bully, but only towards shelled creatures. 2 of 3 turbo snails fell victim to him, the last is now living in the sump. Introduced my fighting conch and within 5 mins he was trying to punt it across the tank like he did the turbos. Granted the conch is much larger so I'm hoping it can hold its own.
Some visuals from the week:
First off the new worms-
Next up; Prawn Swanson the Blood Shrimp
I like the way my euphillia colors up ( was sold as frogspawn but believe its a hammer) Cant decide for myself which way it looks best under daylight or actinics
And finally the bully and the newcomer having a showdown. This is currently my computer background
Nice. And definitely a hammer coral.
OP
OP
Not much of an updat to give. Tank is running smoothly from what I can tell. Did some water tests on Friday and Am/Ni/Na are still all zero. I'm trying to pick up feeding to at least get detectable nitrate levels. My GSP was acting ticked off so I pull the rock with it on it and found a HUGE verminted snail under it. Cracked that guy open and pulled him out. Hopefully he was the only one hiding out. Picking up 5 blue reef chromis from the LFS tomorrow to get into QT and that will hopefully solve my nutrients problem.
Acan has lost another head, I'm worried its not going to make it. I had one large rock with my two zoa plugs on it and it was dominating the scape so I took a chisel to it and broke it up into 4 pieces. I like the island approach a bit more and it allows for easier viewing now. As well as freed up a chunk of rock to move my acan rock onto. So far the fastest grower has by far been the Mr Freeze Lepto, the plug is already completely encrusted. Here's hoping my anemone will bounce back, it keeps holding on but I'm always just a day away from pulling it. I am so afraid it will nuke the tank.
I'm really surprised by how quickly I'm evaporating water. It's close to 2 gallons a day on a 30x30 cube. I'm filling up my ATO container with about 3.5 gallons of water every other day.
Not much of a photo update but with the adjusting of the scape I have some really nice shots of my zoas, both under whites and all blues. Or I guess as white as Kessils can get. The utter chaos started as one polyp and is now working on its 5th. The armor of gods started off with 3 and is working on its 5th and 6th heads right now.
Happy reefing everyone!
Acan has lost another head, I'm worried its not going to make it. I had one large rock with my two zoa plugs on it and it was dominating the scape so I took a chisel to it and broke it up into 4 pieces. I like the island approach a bit more and it allows for easier viewing now. As well as freed up a chunk of rock to move my acan rock onto. So far the fastest grower has by far been the Mr Freeze Lepto, the plug is already completely encrusted. Here's hoping my anemone will bounce back, it keeps holding on but I'm always just a day away from pulling it. I am so afraid it will nuke the tank.
I'm really surprised by how quickly I'm evaporating water. It's close to 2 gallons a day on a 30x30 cube. I'm filling up my ATO container with about 3.5 gallons of water every other day.
Not much of a photo update but with the adjusting of the scape I have some really nice shots of my zoas, both under whites and all blues. Or I guess as white as Kessils can get. The utter chaos started as one polyp and is now working on its 5th. The armor of gods started off with 3 and is working on its 5th and 6th heads right now.
Happy reefing everyone!
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