cube stand from items in basement (upcycle)

[truepercs]

Most noticeable this month is the colors are doing very well. Sunset and Undata colors are back to original. I still don't know what is going on with the Idaho grape. It's growing, but the color is not like the purple I have seen on this type of cap. I am very happy with the way the tank is coming along! Some growth is noticeable on all coral... The Purple Stylo growth has to be the fastest.

 

[truepercs]

I'll ad some pics for the month shortly. I made a slight change a few days ago. I moved my MP40 a few more inches towards the center and a bit higher in hope to get more flow up near the top where I have most acros placed. This was both good and bad... apparently the red dragon did not like the increased water movement. I woke up the following day with the coral starting to RTN. I broke it up in hope to save some of it. I have also already noticed more growth in the rainbow stylo.

I have the MP40 maxed in reef mode. I am now thinking more movement is needed at the top of the structure. It appears the water does a great job keeping the detritus from settling on the bottom with plenty of movement however it may also cause an area where the motion just flattens out. Seems like the tanks is already "rockin" with water movement but with the rock structure something may need to disturb the current flow to add to the motion that is at the top of the structure.

I think I will do a little searching to see how many power heads folks have running in their cube.

 

[truepercs]

Now I am baffled... I generally perform the whole batch of checks once a week or if a parameter appears to be slipping. Since all has been going well yesterday was a day for me to perform all checks. For the most part parameters look good, although I flagged the phosphates because they were at .11. Target is lower. Today it appears that I have another coral starting to recede. I guess the phosphates will need to be lower, and kept there.

Really bums me out, except for a couple bumps in the road all has gone pretty well. This coral has survived the early missteps so it is very disappointing. Making up a fresh batch of water and will do some slow water changes to get phosphates lower. I am going to watch it throughout the day. It has grown a bit, there is enough to frag the frag if it continues to progress.(In my experience it is inevitable once it starts) :(

The only other thing I did was to raise temp to 79 as the summer approaches most likely the tank is going to run warmer and to avoid swings in temperature it might be best to slowly bring it up a bit.

 

[truepercs]

Hmmm not so sure it is RTN it appears to look the same today. I went and picked up some Bayer. Going to remove and dip.
I can grab a photo when out of tank and post.

 

[truepercs]

Well I did a bayer dip... It is possible that it could have had some flat worms. I have taken a look online to see what they look like. Really hard for my untrained eye to confirm.
I don't think the bayer dip result pic will tell much. It may be possible that someone may recognize the symptoms of the affected coral. The polyps where open despite the bottom slowly deteriorating. Please comment if you can confirm...


Looking closely I seen at least one item that looked like it could have been a flat worm. Translucent oval shaped. However my thought would be that if it had them there would be a bunch not one or two...

 

[truepercs]

Here is the banana and spongodes comparison for May, You have to look good due to the different positions but they are growing. The band is growing out more toward the back know. I will take a pic from the side.

April 2017:

May 2017:

 

[truepercs]

Color is not great in this photo but... I want to get something up to compare with next month. This coral has been doing well,weeks ago it had red algae on it, the spot is dead now but the coral is doing fine and the algae is gone. I broke it when gluing it back, the piece was glued higher so it could get more light. It is in the pic...

May 2017:

 

[truepercs]

I took this from the top so you can see really how much this Milka Stylo is growing. It is insane... It is the fastest growing coral in the aquarium. I wish at least one of the acropora would grow this fast. I may have to get a green slimer :) Never a day without new white showing on the tips... There is that forest fire digi piece It was white from no light, it already picked up it's color.

May 2017:

 

[truepercs]

I know this pic is not much to look at but I am excited about this... This is the ATL shades of Fall I picked up at the same time as the burnin banana. To date it has only encrusted however this is the first time it is actually starting to show the colors that I have seen online for this coral. So I am happy, I think that I need to add another power head to get more flow up at the top. It may help "kick start" this coral.

 

[truepercs]

I'll try for more pics soon. The only good thing about the coral treated with Bayer... I was able to get the rest of the darn plug off. If it recovers it should encrust a bit faster and onto its final spot. I have also moved a few things around. I think that will be an ongoing process for some of the coral that can be moved. and... I think I have gained some ground on the Bubble Algae!

 

[truepercs]

Unfortunately I don't think the coral that I dipped is going to make it... Not looking good today:(

I found a place that sold black worms so I ran up and bought some. The fish had a nice snack today, they really seemed to enjoy them.

 

[truepercs]

Crazy... The acro that I thought was doomed... Lost color and even tissue in many areas.
Just looked at the tank and despite it's poor ragged look it has opened up its polyps again on areas that are still intact? Maybe there is hope of a recovery.
I am just finding it unbelievable that it could survive? There is a lot of areas that are completely dead. Extended and stretching for life...

I may be changing the name of this coral to "survivor" .
Grabbed the turkey baster and fed the fish targeting the coral to feed it as well.

 

[truepercs]

Wow the fish really like those black worms... Each time I walk near the aquarium all the fish come out to look to see if I have something for them now... I have been feeding them black worms and frozen food. I am going to see if I can culture the black worms. From what I read it says it is easy. Put them in a plastic container with strips of newspaper and an air stone. I rinse the worms out with the RO waste water. I'll see how it goes...

 

[truepercs]

Odd how you look at your glass box and find something out of place. The larger spongodes was not fully extended as it usually is. I was getting a bit concerned thinking maybe one of the fish was nipping at it. I had my hands in the tank moving things around, thinking I could changes things up a bit might help. Anyway after fiddling I seen that the fish swam over to check out each item I moved anyway. I just put things back... two days later it opened back up. Still not sure if the dipped coral will survive, should know soon.

I am starting to learn that you may just have to relax a bit... Any time I may have overreacted it has not helped... When parameters are correct and you see nothing else I guess it is best just to keep an eye open.

Worms are still alive and appear fine, I put them in a larger container in hope that I can delay water changes another day...I commented on another thread that the fish react to the worms like it is crack cocaine.

Ready for some type of addition in the tank. ;)

 

[truepercs]

Ha I forgot to mention I did buy another frag just before the holiday. Cherry Corals had 20% off and I picked up an OG Leng Sy Cap frag. Always wanted one... Supposed to be real deal.
Wow I forgot about that rather quickly...

 

[truepercs]

Bummer,the coral did not make it after the dip... I am unsure of what caused the decline. I don't think the dip helped, it may have accelerated the problem.
A while back I gave a local reefer a nice chunk of the Jedi Mind trick colony I have. Last week I caught up with him and he gave me a nice mini colony of a teal stag (just removed a section from his massive colony). I set it in place where I hope it will like. I will monitor before glueing it. He said it is a very fast grower for him. I'll include a photo during the next round. It was in a shaded area a large portion of it will need to color up.

 

[truepercs]

I am sure you folks can see some of the Algae in the photos... It is really turning out to be a pain. What I once thought would be harmless has little by little spread. The only way I have been able to kill is to remove a rock use tweezer to pull off as much as I can and treat areas with hydrogen peroxide. I removed a large top rock today. I even spend time picking out the gravel that it attaches to. I have the bubble algae under control... However this stuff is harder to deal with than the bubble Algae. My phosphates are around .05 I have been working to bring nitrates down a bit more.
Getting the nitrates up helped color but... was fuel for the Algae.

 

[truepercs]

I put up a posting in the Algae forum seeking an ID. If anyone can identify it would be apprecieated. The "burnin banana" pic shows a good picture of it.

Thanks!

 

[truepercs]

Tank is doing well... I have some corals that are really growing quickly in addition to some that are a bit more stubborn. However it is balancing out fairly well. Some of the faster growing corals are pretty much small colonies now. Biggest issue has been the darn nuisance algae. Best advice... never let it take hold in the first place. Do whatever you can to get it out immediately.

Otherwise it is a battle that is difficult to win ;)

I'll get some pics up after the next water change. (I get a chance to get some of the bubble algae out during water changes...)

 

[truepercs]

Mod... Can I have my thread moved to members tanks?

Thanks