Adventures in keeping a sps reef

Llorgon · Feb 4, 2023

BAMatter said:
Man this is a tough one. Everything seems ok in terms of flow, filtration. Just an influx of PO4 coming in somehow.

What lights are you using and what settings?

I have 2 radion xr30 blues, running ab+. If I remember correctly I get about 200-300par on the rocks.

I did my normal weekly water change again today. I'm seeing less algae sucked out so that's a good thing. All new corals seem to be doing well so far. I also cleaned off my powerheads of algae and other crap and replaced my activated carbon which I had been forgetting to do.

Since I have the new corals, I wanted to double check my doser settings. But the reefBeat app had logged me out and I can't get back in since their forgot password flow is broken... So I wait for support. I like the doser, but the app isn't great.

I'm also running low on salt and trying to decide what brand to go with. Locally, I can get instant ocean or Fritz. But neither are reliably in stock to not have to switch between the two constantly. I'm finishing up the blue bucket of red sea and I have also tried tropic Marin which I liked, but at $150 + shipping it's pretty pricey.

When reviewing my latest n-doc test, I noticed it said dkh was 6.8, but my hanna checker has been saying 8 for months now. I wonder if an inaccurate hanna checker could have caused my issues?

Llorgon · Feb 8, 2023

10 trochus snails arrived yesterday and have been cruising around the tank. Fingers crossed they all survive and can help with the algae some.

I tested my water the other night. Nitrate is back to 5ppm and phosphate at 0.04ppm.

Since I am on vacation for a week starting Saturday, I will add some nitrate and phosphate to the ATO before I leave. Just because feeding won't be daily when I am gone.

BAMatter · Feb 9, 2023

Just keep placing the snails on the rocks if they tend to wander off

Llorgon · Feb 19, 2023

Came back from the week long vacation in Hawaii to the tank looking like this...

I'm about ready to call it quits. I need more salt, phosphate and nitrate reagent as well.

BAMatter · Feb 19, 2023

Llorgon said:
Came back from the week long vacation in Hawaii to the tank looking like this...

I'm about ready to call it quits. I need more salt, phosphate and nitrate reagent as well.

Are you still dosing PO4 or no?

Llorgon · Feb 20, 2023

I add 3 capfuls of N and 2 of PO4 to the ato container. It keeps params at around 5ppm and 0.03 - 0.08ppm

Without that things keep zeroing out.

BAMatter · Feb 20, 2023

Llorgon said:
I add 3 capfuls of N and 2 of PO4 to the ato container. It keeps params at around 5ppm and 0.03 - 0.08ppm

Without that things keep zeroing out.

You’re just feeding the algae at this point it seems. I’d stop dosing nutrients 100%, manually remove the algae, and repeat.

Llorgon · Feb 21, 2023

so, a bit of an update on how the tank has done post vacation and last nights water change.

The tank actually cleaned up pretty well. I pulled out a few cups of algae and the rocks cleaned off decently well. Still lots of algae, but not as bad as it originally looked. I am starting to see more purple/pink on the rocks as well. I can also see lots of pods in the algae on the rocks and sand... which I guess a lot get removed during water changes, but I think it's still a good sign.

Corals: The last remaining euphylia is looking worse than when I left and the small one I moved from the 25g died. So the tank still can't seem to support euphylia at all. The encrusting corals I got before going on vacation have all lost 50-100% of their colour over the week, hopefully they bounce back a bit. The montipora I moved from the 25g is doing alright and looks like it has encrusted on the rock. The space invaders continues to be plagues with algae on the tips where the skeleton is. I try and remove it, but it seems to be a losing battle. The acans are doing alright, but there is so much algae on them.

Fish: Fish all survived and seem to be doing well.

Aiptasia: So the tank has some aiptasia, but they never look happy. They are all kind of shrivelled up. But during last week they all seem to have died off... which is odd.

The annoying part of being away for a week was that the algae accumulated on the weirs of the overflow completely blocking it to the point the water was going over the weird into the overflow. This caused the ATO to go more than normal and even with a 5g refil the container went dry. When I refilled it and tried to turn the ATO on again, the pump won't run so I am pretty sure it's fried and I will need a new one. The salinity is still at 1.025 so that didn't change.

I went to a LFS in the next town over that I always hear good things about. I have been a few times and they always have pretty limited stock, but yesterday I got there before it was picked over. I picked up some salt, testing reagents and 2 mexican turbos for a real good price. I also got to talk to the owner and got some free chaeto. They had a ton of dry rock and I asked if they sold liverock and he said he would if I see pieces I liked. So I might try and pick up a few pieces in the coming weeks to see if that helps things any.

Llorgon · Feb 21, 2023

Post last night's water change.

Llorgon · Feb 27, 2023

Tank is looking a bit better, the dental kit I ordered came and while slow, the scraping off the algae works great.

I'm still struggling with algae on corals/frag plugs. I did a test dip with 50/50 tank water and peroxide of an acan and a couple small pieces of space invaders. So far, they are all looking good.

Annoyingly the gha is now growing in the sump and on the chaeto. It seems like turning the chaeto every week will help since the gha is only growing on the top part, but I'll have to keep an eye on it.

BAMatter · May 3, 2023

How’s things coming along?

Llorgon · May 3, 2023

It's going. Things seemed to be turning around, bought some new corals, some lived other didn't. We decided to put our townhouse up for sale, so the last 2 weeks have been prepping for that. During that time the tank was on auto pilot. So it now looks like crap again. Since we may be moving I'm going to hold off on any more changes and I will probably restart when we move. It's been a year of coral death and algae. I think it's time to cut my losses and start fresh.

On the somewhat plus side, even though algae has taken over again I have had to up my alk and cal dosing.

Llorgon · Nov 4, 2023

So a bit of a long over due update...

We tried to sell our townhouse and buy a house this spring / summer. We almost sold our place twice... The first offer we had fell through on financing. Then then place we wanted to move to and had a subject to sale offer on got a subject free offer, so we lost that. We got a second offer on our place with a subject to sale on it. July 13 my wife was laid off then on the 15th we found out our place was going to sell, half hour after the call from the realtor I found out I was going to be laid off... So we collapsed all deals and here we are.

It's now November and neither of us have jobs because the tech sector has gone to ****.

So after that fun spring/summer/fall, the tank was pretty neglected. Other than feeding the fish, I did nothing with the tank. I think I've done 2 water changes since June...

And honestly the tank isn't looking as bad as it has. Montipora and forest fire are growing, same with the toadstool and leather. The pulsing Xenia is slowly taking over. The space invaders looks to be recovering and even the gsp that hasn't grown is starting to turn green again.

Unfortunately the acans really took a hit. Between algae and aiptasia I have lost most of them.

To be honest, the tank has been more of a chore than a source of joy lately and I have been thinking of selling it all and leaving the hobby for awhile. I'm going to try and be more involved with the tank and try and clear out the aiptasia and make a final decision when I'm back working again.