Brew's 187g slice of the ocean

[Brew12]

I know its supposed to be the good, the bad, and the ugly but I'm changing it up. I'm going with the ugly, the good, and the down right awesome.

My volunteers for the ugly are right here. #honestyinreefing

Wanted to get some pics before I make a mess and clean the tank. It's overdue for a power washing.

I'm not sure what to do about this birdsnest. I may have to cut it way back to keep the algae from clumping up and blocking the light and flow. It grows too tightly bunched.

And I'll add a transition shot that shows some good and some ugly.

 

[Brew12]

And some random non macro shots.


Put this one on a slight angle to help with glare. Been awhile since I posted an FTS

This one is angled to show the tank from a much different perspective than I normally show.

This guy is protective of his little cave. He bumps into my hand trying to bite me if I get too close. Brave!

And, because many of my friends on R2R have been showing off theirs, here is one of my nem's.

 

[Brew12]

And the awesome? Yup, this guy is dropping off. As soon as I'm done with this post I'm going to try and save the part that is being released and see if I can glue it to a plug without killing it. I missed the last 2 pieces that detached so excited to get this one.

 

[Sallstrom]

Looking fine I think! Don't think to much about the birdnest, once they die off a bit it often comes algae and/or cyano. And it's impossible to remove algae amongst the branches. I would save the live parts off and get rid off the rest.
May I ask for the KH, NO3 and PO4 values?

 

[Brew12]

Looking fine I think! Don't think to much about the birdnest, once they die off a bit it often comes algae and/or cyano. And it's impossible to remove algae amongst the branches. I would save the live parts off and get rid off the rest.
May I ask for the KH, NO3 and PO4 values?

9.6dkh
0ppm or tons or pounds NO3
0.14ppm PO4

NO3 was around 20ppm before this algae took over. Then I added sodium nitrate and iron to make it grow faster.

Thanks for the info on the birdnest. I'll see what I can do.

 

[Sallstrom]

9.6dkh
0ppm or tons or pounds NO3
0.14ppm PO4

NO3 was around 20ppm before this algae took over. Then I added sodium nitrate and iron to make it grow faster.

Thanks for the info on the birdnest. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks! I always try to practice my skills in guessing the numbers of a tank

Haha! Okey. Yes, fertilisers is popular among algae But the NO3 is back close to zero now?

 

[PanchoG]

Awesome pic ! Beautiful tank !

 

[PanchoG]

And some random non macro shots.


Put this one on a slight angle to help with glare. Been awhile since I posted an FTS

This one is angled to show the tank from a much different perspective than I normally show.

This guy is protective of his little cave. He bumps into my hand trying to bite me if I get too close. Brave!

And, because many of my friends on R2R have been showing off theirs, here is one of my nem's.

The blue dude looks like an angry host. lol

Your nem looks great. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Brew12]

Thanks! I always try to practice my skills in guessing the numbers of a tank

Haha! Okey. Yes, fertilisers is popular among algae But the NO3 is back close to zero now?

How close to you come on mine? And yes, it has been at 0ppm for about a month. I'm trying to slowly get rid of this algae now but things are growing so taking it very slowly.

Awesome pic ! Beautiful tank !

Thank you!

 

[Sallstrom]

How close to you come on mine? And yes, it has been at 0ppm for about a month. I'm trying to slowly get rid of this algae now but things are growing so taking it very slowly.



Thank you!

I was pretty close! Figured you either were low in NO3, or had higher temperature during summer, when I saw the cyano. And your Montipora looked well coloured, so I guessed the PO4 wasn't too low. And everyone but me like their KH high

I like to use the cyano as a sign I need to add some NO3 and start dosing a low dose every day. Sometimes you don't even see any NO3 on the tests while dosing it, but the cyano starts to go away. So you don't need a lot IMO.
But you know me by now, I like to grow the "good" algae and use bulldozers like Diadema urchins to graze them down (To aviod dinos or cyano)

 

[Victoria M]

I know its supposed to be the good, the bad, and the ugly but I'm changing it up. I'm going with the ugly, the good, and the down right awesome.

My volunteers for the ugly are right here. #honestyinreefing

Wanted to get some pics before I make a mess and clean the tank. It's overdue for a power washing.

I'm not sure what to do about this birdsnest. I may have to cut it way back to keep the algae from clumping up and blocking the light and flow. It grows too tightly bunched.

And I'll add a transition shot that shows some good and some ugly.

Who noticed algae with that beautiful yellow tang to look at?

 

[Victoria M]

I was pretty close! Figured you either were low in NO3, or had higher temperature during summer, when I saw the cyano. And your Montipora looked well coloured, so I guessed the PO4 wasn't too low. And everyone but me like their KH high

I like to use the cyano as a sign I need to add some NO3 and start dosing a low dose every day. Sometimes you don't even see any NO3 on the tests while dosing it, but the cyano starts to go away. So you don't need a lot IMO.
But you know me by now, I like to grow the "good" algae and use bulldozers like Diadema urchins to graze them down (To aviod dinos or cyano)

I look forward to getting my tank there. “Tell everybody I’m on my way” Brother Bear? Anyone?

 

[Brew12]

I was pretty close! Figured you either were low in NO3, or had higher temperature during summer, when I saw the cyano.

The low NO3 is absolutely the cause. My tank only peaks about 1F higher during the summer than the winter so temp isn't much of a factor.

I like to use the cyano as a sign I need to add some NO3 and start dosing a low dose every day. Sometimes you don't even see any NO3 on the tests while dosing it, but the cyano starts to go away. So you don't need a lot IMO.

Right now if I were to dose NO3 I would get less cyano but I would also get more algae. Right now I'm slowly making progress clearing the algae from my tank. I could add more grazers to make it happen faster, but then I would have to find a new home for them when the tank was clean. I think the 4 urchins I have now will be good long term. Once my algae eaters "catch up" I have a feeling that NO3 will come up on its own. Otherwise, I'll start dosing then.

So, I'm going slow and the cyano isn't doing any harm. . My tank is very stable right now and while the coloration on the acros isn't great everything else seems to be doing well. With things trending in the right direction I see no reason to speed up the algae/cyano removal process.

 

[Brew12]

Who noticed algae with that beautiful yellow tang to look at?

The yellow tangs should do a better job eating the algae!

I look forward to getting my tank there. “Tell everybody I’m on my way” Brother Bear? Anyone?

Oh boy, that brings back memories.... Brother Bear is a classic!

 

[User]

@Lasse did the same thing in his home tank the other week

Snitch!

 

[Janci]

The tank looks great.
We all battle something. Some algae is not the worst.

 

[GoVols]

Snitch!

lol

Brew,
If you don't mind:

How's your new shoal doing?

They seem to add some good color.

 

[Brew12]

lol

Brew,
If you don't mind:

How's your new shoal doing?

They seem to add some good color.

It's doing great! They are actively feeding and adapting to the tank nicely. This is the third time I've ordered a group of 6 anthias. It's the first time I've had them all after the first week. Couldn't be happier.

 

[User]

It's doing great! They are actively feeding and adapting to the tank nicely. This is the third time I've ordered a group of 6 anthias. It's the first time I've had them all after the first week. Couldn't be happier.

Man, you’ve really got me seriously weighing up pros and cons of going straight to DT with 7-8 dispars.

Pros: beautiful shoaling fish, no QT deaths, nice action in tank

Cons: all my fish get ich/velvet/uro and I lose them all.

Uugghh

 

[Brew12]

Man, you’ve really got me seriously weighing up pros and cons of going straight to DT with 7-8 dispars.

Pros: beautiful shoaling fish, no QT deaths, nice action in tank

Cons: all my fish get ich/velvet/uro and I lose them all.

Uugghh

It wasn't an easy decision. I had to read quite a few modern aquaculture studies on pathogen control before I convinced myself that I was unlikely to wipe out my tank by not doing prophylactic treatment. Had I seen anything noticeable in the short period I did have them in QT I would have treated for it.

Of course, it is still possible that I'll have my tank wiped out by something, but that was possible before I added these fish.