CV's 75g noobie tank and now upgrade to 240g

boacvh · Sep 14, 2021

Year 4 hear I come!
Had some real fun today with my pixel and the macro lens, took some cool pics. The pistol made another appearance. Hope it becomes more regular!

boacvh · Sep 21, 2021

This was in my return chamber!

With this sump design I usually never look in my return chamber since it's in the back unless I clean my return pump. Well, this stalagmite (broken in half in the pic) was right below my dosing lines LOL! I guess the recent uptake in dosing wasn't reaching my corals at all...now I know to clean the mirror I installed more often. No adverse effects though

boacvh · Sep 25, 2021

Well. It is with a heavy heart I have to say I lost almost all of my fish last night. Only the clowns and the clown goby survived. My cleaner and harlequin shrimp also died.
All corals are alive and open. None closed. So absolutely no idea what happened. Very weird.

I have tested for ammonia and it's zero.
Temp is still 78. Heater ok.
Alk and CA ok.
Pumps all ok.
35 ppt = check.
And again, all corals alive and well so doubt it had anything to do with parameters.

I haven't introduced any new fish into the tank for months so doubt it was a disease.
I don't have inverts that could poison the tank if dead

Maybe some aerosol? We don't use candles and I am very particular about not spraying anything near the tank. Termites are in season so maybe something from outside made it into the tank?

Anyway. Absolutely heart breaking but I guess is all part of this hobby.
Ok, time to go cry, regroup and just keep swimming. Just not today.

Raege · Sep 25, 2021

Filter. So sorry for loss.

boacvh · Sep 25, 2021

Raege said:
Filter. So sorry for loss.

Thanks Ray

boacvh · Oct 3, 2021

I got this frag as a present. No idea what it is. It does look like something I am completely unqualified to take care of (NPS?). But doing ok for the last couple months. Seems to love my live phyto dosing, it opens immediately for it. I can't tell if it's photosynthetic or not so I put it in a lightly shaded area.

New&no clue · Oct 3, 2021

I bet @Dr. Dendrostein could identify it.

Dr. Dendrostein · Oct 4, 2021

boacvh said:
I got this frag as a present. No idea what it is. It does look like something I am completely unqualified to take care of (NPS?). But doing ok for the last couple months. Seems to love my live phyto dosing, it opens immediately for it. I can't tell if it's photosynthetic or not so I put it in a lightly shaded area.

Nice. It's scleronephthya from Vietnam possibly. Don't come in often. Sounds like it's living. Keep at it and keep us posted.

boacvh · Oct 4, 2021

Dr. Dendrostein said:
Nice. It's scleronephthya from Vietnam possibly. Don't come in often. Sounds like it's living. Keep at it and keep us posted.

Thanks @Dr. Dendrostein! Will do. Seems daunting but so far so good. Will keep updated.

boacvh · Oct 14, 2021

Power washing my rocks @Paul B style. Marineland polishing filter (couldn't find a vortex) + Diatomaceous earth charged + a hose at the end.
Look at all the gunk that came of my rocks!

Going to make this a once a year deep clean of the rocks. Corals very upset, all ok after 5 mins.

boacvh · Oct 24, 2021

Managed to catch these two together today.
Pics came out nice

Raege · Oct 24, 2021

You have this picture taking thing figured out! Great shots

boacvh · Oct 25, 2021

Raege said:
You have this picture taking thing figured out! Great shots

Thanks Ray!

boacvh · Nov 1, 2021

Well, after the devastating loss I am slowly filling the tank again. Here are some pictures of the new guys in the neighborhood.

boacvh · Nov 5, 2021

Acans were my nemesis corals for the last 4 years. Couldn't put a single one in my tank without it closing and melting in a few days.
But since my fish died, I can suddenly grow them... I suspect my flame angel was probably munching on them. So the lesson here is it doesn't matter if you never saw your fish nipping. They likely were anyways!

boacvh · Nov 17, 2021

Made 2 major changes to my setup today. The only thing I truly hate about my setup, is the stand I got. (nothing I can do about it now though).
It is way too uncomfortable when doing maintenance on the sump. Changing media reactors was a total PITA. Switching GAC and other media took me a lot of time every few weeks dealing with all the hoses, pumps etc. and changing the media itself in my TLF reactors (which are always too tight to open). So I decided to give the TORQ G2 a try. Time will tell if it was a good purchase or not, but so far I am loving it. I can change the media in just a couple minutes. They addressed peoples complaints with this second generation so hopefully don't find any major issues.

The second change I made, is because I have been struggling with a permanent increase in nutrients. My small refugium and bio pellet reactor aren't keeping up anymore. So I decided to give the ARID a try and retire my bio pellet reactor. I have absolutely no idea if its related at all but since I installed it, I have seen a pretty large increase to my average pH and my alk consuption increased as well, I had to up the dosing. Will report back in a few months on these 2 and see if I am still ok with the changes.

Here is the PH after installing for reference

Raege · Nov 17, 2021

Your using Arid? Is it Arid extra dry antiperspirant or regular strength?
joking even this old guy knows algae remediation illuminated device… I used to come up with the acronyms on improvement team projects management loves that crud R.A.C.E. cart readily accessible changeover elements ooooh ahhh better than tool cart lol
good luck hope it rocks it for ya