DarkReefer's CADE Reef S2 1800

[DarkReefer]

Looks like my Purple Tang is being a jerk.
Thankfully the Copperband butterfly fish hasn't been harmed so far, but the PT is definitely herding it into one side of the tank and the CBB just swims around against the glass.
Ordered a shaving mirror from Amazon last night which should arrive today so I can put that on the tank and hopefully draw some of the PTs aggression/interest so the CBB can settle in better and hopefully start eating something as I don't think I've really noticed it eating much (have seen it 'peck' at stuff here and there but I can't be sure it was eating).

Have also been heavier on the feeding. A little worried about this due to my Nitrates sitting around 13-14 in recent tests over the past month or two but I'd rather have to bring that down than have fish go hungry.
Adding 2 cubes of frozen every couple days, 1x mysis and 1x brine with garlic supplement added to both (usually I would add 1 cube every few days but wanting to try make sure everyone is eating/settling well). Most if not all the food is gone quite quickly though and now that the roller filter is back online properly it should hopefully pull out a bunch of crud too.

My reefmat usage started pretty high, but I think it's dropping back slightly over time.
Within the first 2 days I got a notification that I was needing a roll replacement within the 14 days I'd set the notification for. My daily use seems to be around 186.9cm currently based on the 3 days usage, which I don't know how that average has come about seeing I've not had any single day over 182.1, so will see how it changes and settles in over time. I think I'm glad I went for the 1200 though, was contemplating the 500 briefly there as my flow rate is within it's range.

 

[DarkReefer]

Quick update time;

Reefmat still going strong - down to 164cm daily average.
Grabbed another couple of rolls over the weekend to keep it going.

Also got another bunch of pods to throw in the tank. I poured 1L straight into the display once it went dark, but looks like I needed to wait longer as the Anthias looked like they were having a feast...
Hopefully the little mandarin gets some.

Mirror seemed to work well and have left it on the tank since it arrived. Will probably try take it off in the next few days. The CBB is swimming around the whole tank now and eating. Looks like it's eating my hammer :(
I think it may have touched an aptasia or two though and it's also eating mussels that I went and bought for it.
Still haven't been able to get it to eat mysis from what I've seen but will try mixing some with the mussels soon.

Also got my Triton results back and looks like my magnesium is actually more than fine. It's reading about 200 ppm higher than my test results, so sitting around 1460 or something.
Calcium noted being a little low (around the 370-390 mark for memory, which is about on point with testing).
A little bit of aluminium apparently seems to be present, but I'm not going to chase that as such, everything else seems to be alright for the most part.

Also, those sand sifters have done an amazing job. Sand is spotless.
They've also decided to create a tunnel system under everything and created a little mountain at the back of the tank... lol

 

[JonoH]

If you want to save some money on Reefmat rolls...this is what i have been using.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...8e7a0a!12000038660150769!rec!AU!2906651804!XZ
I buy 3-4 at a time.

 

[DarkReefer]

If you want to save some money on Reefmat rolls...this is what i have been using.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...8e7a0a!12000038660150769!rec!AU!2906651804!XZ
I buy 3-4 at a time.

Cheers mate, I think I've got a spare roll still at the moment but this could be worth looking at for sure to restock.


For a brief update:
Been struggling with getting my overflow set to the correct height recently.
I changed it at some point a couple months back because my levels started going all over the place (both playing with pump speed and valve position). Water was starting to sit really high in the tank and almost overflow (probably really close to hitting emergency overflow). I think it was due to some algae build up and also bits of seaweed getting stuck in the vents for the weir.

Anyway I'd played with the settings an then cleaned out the vents so it was flowing properly again and since then have been struggling to get it back right. Pump is now at around 96% (previously was 70-80) and still getting a bit or gurgling happening so I think I need to close the valve slightly and readjust the pump speed again.

Thinking over the Christmas break I might look at removing the emergency overflow baffle and the baffle splitting the 'refugium' section of my sump. Where my reefmat sits currently is in that overflow section which means the first section gets very little flow I think. Could possibly just reposition that baffle to make the fuge section a little smaller but we'll see.
I removed the algae I was trying to grow because it was just getting red algae on the top of it and (likely from little flow) pulled out the AI 32HD light I was using for it.

Attempted to get rid of a bunch of GHA off of one of the rock islands a couple weeks ago but I don't feel it's made much difference and I think the stuff is coming back a little. Still need to attack the centre and right rock islands but given I've seen little difference so far on the left one spending the time to do it is not really enticing to me right now lol.

Will probably try and buy a bunch more corals and maybe even some more fish over the Christmas break too, it's been a couple months or so since I last added anything. Not really sure fish wise what to go for though. There's a bunch I'd love but concerned compatibility issues will be a thing... we'll see.
The CBB is still going well so far it seems after getting it to eat using live mussels (wasn't touching much before doing this), now it eats mysis/brine mix. Will try and get it some more mussels soon, all the fish enjoy them but they just don't keep for very long (maybe a few days or so before they start stinking out the fridge a bit).
Unfortunately the mandarin dragonet died from starvation I think.
It was eating mysis or brine a little here and there, and I had bought and dropped in probably 5-10 litres of live pods over the time I had it but they just didn't seem to start multiplying in the tank so was always chasing dropping in more.
Definitely wont touch one of those fish again unless I know the tank is really well seeded with pods first.

 

[JonoH]

Cheers mate, I think I've got a spare roll still at the moment but this could be worth looking at for sure to restock.


For a brief update:
Been struggling with getting my overflow set to the correct height recently.
I changed it at some point a couple months back because my levels started going all over the place (both playing with pump speed and valve position). Water was starting to sit really high in the tank and almost overflow (probably really close to hitting emergency overflow). I think it was due to some algae build up and also bits of seaweed getting stuck in the vents for the weir.

Anyway I'd played with the settings an then cleaned out the vents so it was flowing properly again and since then have been struggling to get it back right. Pump is now at around 96% (previously was 70-80) and still getting a bit or gurgling happening so I think I need to close the valve slightly and readjust the pump speed again.

Thinking over the Christmas break I might look at removing the emergency overflow baffle and the baffle splitting the 'refugium' section of my sump. Where my reefmat sits currently is in that overflow section which means the first section gets very little flow I think. Could possibly just reposition that baffle to make the fuge section a little smaller but we'll see.
I removed the algae I was trying to grow because it was just getting red algae on the top of it and (likely from little flow) pulled out the AI 32HD light I was using for it.

Attempted to get rid of a bunch of GHA off of one of the rock islands a couple weeks ago but I don't feel it's made much difference and I think the stuff is coming back a little. Still need to attack the centre and right rock islands but given I've seen little difference so far on the left one spending the time to do it is not really enticing to me right now lol.

Will probably try and buy a bunch more corals and maybe even some more fish over the Christmas break too, it's been a couple months or so since I last added anything. Not really sure fish wise what to go for though. There's a bunch I'd love but concerned compatibility issues will be a thing... we'll see.
The CBB is still going well so far it seems after getting it to eat using live mussels (wasn't touching much before doing this), now it eats mysis/brine mix. Will try and get it some more mussels soon, all the fish enjoy them but they just don't keep for very long (maybe a few days or so before they start stinking out the fridge a bit).
Unfortunately the mandarin dragonet died from starvation I think.
It was eating mysis or brine a little here and there, and I had bought and dropped in probably 5-10 litres of live pods over the time I had it but they just didn't seem to start multiplying in the tank so was always chasing dropping in more.
Definitely wont touch one of those fish again unless I know the tank is really well seeded with pods first.

I always hate losing fish - have been scared of getting a mandarin for that reason (even though i seem to have heaps of pods)

Did you dose Phyto also? I do a fair bit as the Pods i believe need that to survive.

Good luck on the GHA, i think what helped mine a lot was firstly like you suggested - reducing the light period, but also i added in a heap of Live Rock from someone else's tank to the Sump, so there was a lot more competing bacteria.

...joys of reefing hey!

 

[DarkReefer]

I always hate losing fish - have been scared of getting a mandarin for that reason (even though i seem to have heaps of pods)

Did you dose Phyto also? I do a fair bit as the Pods i believe need that to survive.

Good luck on the GHA, i think what helped mine a lot was firstly like you suggested - reducing the light period, but also i added in a heap of Live Rock from someone else's tank to the Sump, so there was a lot more competing bacteria.

...joys of reefing hey!

Yeah dosed some phyto initially for the first batches of pods that were going in but honestly felt like it achieved next to nothing. I was dosing it in the tank, in the sump etc and just seemed to get nothing to show for it all lol.
Not that I've looked recently, but I'd be surprised if there's any pods even now..

Stupidly the mandarin was bought on a whim, I knew it needed pods to survive and just assumed 'my tank's 8 months old or whatever it should be fine', even the guy at the shop I asked said I should be right (clearly no clue either and just wanted to make a sale). Might have to try seeding more well in advance before ever thinking about doing that again.

I wonder if my tank would benefit from adding a bunch more live rock or at very least more media to the sump. I've got about 4kg of those media spheres in there but I've got room to add more and the live rock might help too.

I think the reduced light period has helped a bit, but I think it's just that terrible to start with that I probably need to go through meticulously and scrape out as much as possible in one go. Possibly something to do over the holiday break when I've got a bit more time free.

Always something to do with reef tanks.
Would love to set and forget but the tank's not there yet but has certainly improved over time...

 

[DarkReefer]

Just found out I have a crab living in my rockwork...

There's been a green mushroom that has been popping up in random spots. I've noticed it once or twice and then would see that it would disappear for weeks or months at a time and then pops up somewhere else nearby.
Well today I saw the green mushroom pop up somewhere, and thought.. strange for it to be there.
After telling the missus about it she commented that she could see a claw or something... I went to have a look and saw nothing, then after a short time the mushroom was pushed out of the hole and I could see the small legs of the crab and a claw... seems to be black tipped with some white/orange in colour.

A very quick google seems to suggest several similarish looking crabs are not 'good guys' so one day I'll have to work out how the hell to get it out. Very surprised to see it though and not sure what it came in on. Still only a little 2 guy though.

 

[JonoH]

Just found out I have a crab living in my rockwork...

There's been a green mushroom that has been popping up in random spots. I've noticed it once or twice and then would see that it would disappear for weeks or months at a time and then pops up somewhere else nearby.
Well today I saw the green mushroom pop up somewhere, and thought.. strange for it to be there.
After telling the missus about it she commented that she could see a claw or something... I went to have a look and saw nothing, then after a short time the mushroom was pushed out of the hole and I could see the small legs of the crab and a claw... seems to be black tipped with some white/orange in colour.

A very quick google seems to suggest several similarish looking crabs are not 'good guys' so one day I'll have to work out how the hell to get it out. Very surprised to see it though and not sure what it came in on. Still only a little 2 guy though.

Maybe a trap will get it? Reminds me of when i had the Bobbit worm, was impossible to catch!

 

[Isaac Alves]

I got a bad crab, gorilla I think, in my Cade that I saw riding around the other night around 2am. I thought my checkerboard wrasse took care of it. I need to get up again some night and grab it with some tongs.

I’m sure it came in with some live rocks many many months ago.

 

[DarkReefer]

Maybe a trap will get it? Reminds me of when i had the Bobbit worm, was impossible to catch!

Actually got it out last night.
Saw it was kind of sitting in the hole a little oddly so I tried my luck at just reaching in to grab it and thankfully got it.
I don't think it's doing too great though, possibly the prazipro dose has upset it a bit but it hasn't really moved since moving it to the sump, other than flipping itself back over. The prazi hasn't done anything to the redline cleaner shrimp though so I'm not sure what's going on there..

Got some new additions the other day too, hence the prazi dose as the Naso tang hasn't been seen eating (missus thinks the bone seems less prominent since we got it, but I'm not entirely sure).

Love the look of the Blonde Naso tang, and hope it sorts itself out soon and starts eating plenty. I saw it eat in the shop (it ate a pellet, spat it out, ate it, spat it out and then ate it properly), but just hasn't seemed to look much at anything in the tank. I've tried a heap of different foods too including green nori, Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 pellets (both medium and small sizes), Ocean Nutrition prime reef flakes, frozen mysis, frozen brine.
I even went out and bought some Ocean Nutrition Red Nori, frozen spirulina formula stuff, frozen bloodworms but not seeing it want to go for anything. Even tried tying some nori on the rock & fresh live mussels.
Wasn't sure if it may have had some sort of intestinal worms/parasites or whatever so I'm trying the prazi treatment. It's been a few days now and not seeing any change there though so I'm not sure what more I can do here..

Also got this Tomini Tang, he's a bit timid but he's a guts. Always seems happy to get some food and seems to munch on the back wall a bit too.

I've also added a zoa frag, an sps frag (both of these are testers) and a leather of some description.
Not sure what specific names any of the above are called.

There seems to be at least 2 different types of zoas on this plug, the orange and green ones and on the other side more green looking ones. Would be nice if these are left alone because I would really love a zoa garden but my fox has destroyed about $200 worth of zoa frags previously, so we'll see..

Apologies for the lighting on this.

 

[DarkReefer]

Also grabbed a bunch of shots of various fish and the like the other day. Some came out better than others...

Seems like they're planning something...

Don't mind the water spots on the outside of the tank. This guy is one of the more inquisitive of the tank. Not afraid to come up close to see what's going on, even with the glass cleaner. Most other fish go and hide or ignore..

Some GSP, and a LOT of algae :(
I'll possibly regret it's placement one day but for now it's nice to have some colour there.

This one always seems temperamental. This isn't even fully extended but it's probably one of it's better days in recent times.

This xenia broke off or got eaten off it's previous spot and made a home here (there's also a larger one that made a home behind this one) but for now I'm leaving them to do their thing naturally. You can also see the male Anthia there (defined by the vertical stripe on it's side).

This leather and mushrooms seem to always be pretty happy and grown over time. The softy above it always seems to be on the tick and wanting to lean over and hang down for some reason...

This leather also seems to do really well..

These two often seem to do this little dominance thing. Not sure if it's actually fights though as often they just swim off normally and don't have any cuts etc.

And a FTS I took as I was acclimating the two new tangs... probably should start thinking about culling some of the xenia on the right but for now it adds a bunch of movement in the tank. Also need to figure out how to sort that GHA.

I did buy another 4kgs of marine pure bio balls on the weekend to add to the sump. Hopefully that'll help somewhat down the track..

 

[DarkReefer]

Well Crab definitely was dead so took that out after a day or two.
The Blonde Naso was found this morning curled up laying on it's side a little, breathing rapidly.

Not sure if it's a malnutrition thing, or if its constipated or what (Haven't seen it poop, but also haven't seen it eat much other than pecking at some rocks rarely).
I just picked it up and moved it into the sump so it can be left alone and attempted to hand feed it a boiled pea which is apparently good for a laxative or to fix swim bladder disease?, figure anything is worth a shot at this point. Held the pea to it's mouth and whilst it moved it a bit I don't know if it actually took anything in...

Added a clip of nori down there too just in case it does get to eat, but I doubt it will. I'll add another shortly with some garlic extract soaked into it too.
It's never touched either before though.

At least it will be left in peace from the other fish in the meantime..

Edit: and it's gone, about 7 hours after the above. RIP lil guy, if only it would've eaten something..

 

[JonoH]

That sucks, always hate losing fish - love the Blonde Naso's also, always wanted to add one in but too scared my Yellow Tang will just beat it to death!

I was over your way for the last 2 weeks...only just got back to SA!

 

[DarkReefer]

That sucks, always hate losing fish - love the Blonde Naso's also, always wanted to add one in but too scared my Yellow Tang will just beat it to death!

I was over your way for the last 2 weeks...only just got back to SA!

Yeah it sucks.. I purposely got 2 tangs in the same day too so that I could add them together and split any aggression... oh well.

Oh cool, hope you enjoyed yourself and you got home to a healthy/happy tank!

 

[Cool tangs]

Looks awesome! Love the cade tanks

 

[DarkReefer]

Looks awesome! Love the cade tanks

Thanks!
Yeah been fairly happy with it

 

[shadyraro]

Your tank is looking great mate!

 

[DarkReefer]

Your tank is looking great mate!

Thanks mate, really need to do something about the hair algae though. It's doing my head in a bit but otherwise happy with how it's going over all.

Gotta start dosing some of those peroxide salts or whatever again as the Blue Tang got ich showing after having the new fish added. So far the others seem okay.

Had one of the anthias get too excited yesterday over some frozen food and jump out of the water (out the open net as I still had my hand in at the time) and onto the floor.
Seemed to be swimming around again yesterday afternoon so hopefully it's okay.

 

[JonoH]

Thanks mate, really need to do something about the hair algae though. It's doing my head in a bit but otherwise happy with how it's going over all.

Gotta start dosing some of those peroxide salts or whatever again as the Blue Tang got ich showing after having the new fish added. So far the others seem okay.

Had one of the anthias get too excited yesterday over some frozen food and jump out of the water (out the open net as I still had my hand in at the time) and onto the floor.
Seemed to be swimming around again yesterday afternoon so hopefully it's okay.

Have you considered using Fluconazole?

Have heard that it works really well, but will wipe out any Chaeto if your growing that also.

You know both my Blue Tangs show up spots periodically - but none of my other fish do, i am almost convinced that its just a Blue Tang thing LOL!
I used to get stressed about it, but they come and go with no drama's.

 

[DarkReefer]

Have you considered using Fluconazole?

Have heard that it works really well, but will wipe out any Chaeto if your growing that also.

You know both my Blue Tangs show up spots periodically - but none of my other fish do, i am almost convinced that its just a Blue Tang thing LOL!
I used to get stressed about it, but they come and go with no drama's.

Haven't looked into it yet.
I've been hoping to avoid treatments and do it the natural way but I think I need to start considering them. It's just not going anywhere and looks terrible.

I'm not super worried about ich because I've had it a few times before and the salts seem to get rid of it. Will continue trying to just keep em nice and fat with food for a few more days and then might give it a go if I don't see any improvement.