Dawn's natural nutrient reef garden

[vlangel]

I tested PO4 and NO3 again today to see how stable my nitrates and phosphates are with the auto fish feeder on the tank. I did not do a water change last week. I won't be doing one this week either since they are the same as last test. I am pleased the tank is so stable since I will be out of town next week and Dave is fish sitting for me. All he has to do is give them one frozen cube once a day. I will probably do a water change when I get home.

All of this is good info in preparation for our 3+ week trip to Alaska this summer. It would be awesome if I could do a water change before I go and the tank not need another until I get back. Then my sister and son will only need to check the ATO and feed frozen on the days they come.

 

[Troylee]

Awesome tank!

 

[vlangel]

Awesome tank!

Troylee, after checking out your gorgeous tank, I can hardly believe that my tank is worth a look. Thank you for the very kind words, I sure appreciate it!

 

[Troylee]

Troylee, after checking out your gorgeous tank, I can hardly believe that my tank is worth a look. Thank you for the very kind words, I sure appreciate it!

Thank you! I just got that one.. I’ve had a small 60gal cube and just upgraded.. any tank is worth looking at! It’s art to me!

 

[vlangel]

I am working hard to prepare my tank for a 23 day vacation the end of June/beginning of July. My sister and son will help out with tank sitting by each of them coming once a week to check on things and to feed frozen food and fill up the ATO reservoir.

With my tank coming into its 7th year it has gotten very stable but the one thing that has changed is that my nitrates have fallen from their almost constant nitrate reading of 35 ppm to only 10 ppm. I am guess the lower nitrates are due to my macroalgae beginning to really flourish and utilizing them. I prune the ulva and red titan weekly so I need to teach my sister to do that so that they don't completely strip the water column of nutrients while we are gone.

I also bought some calcium nitrate to dose in hopes of bringing them up a little higher before we leave. My tank has never looked better so in a way its kind of hard to leave now. However, I have chosen a reef with fairly easy to care for inhabitants like fish that are omnivores and can do alright on pellet and flake food. The coral are predominantly softies and are not high maintenance. The tank only needs a water change every 3 weeks at this point and I can put trace minerals and alk and calcium in the top off water to replenish. The tank has auto battery backup pumps to aerate the water should we lose power and has an auto feeder. I feel like I have prepared well so I guess you do the best you can and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[Cristy17]

Just saw your thread. Very cool tank! Did it survive your absence when you went to Alaska? I hope you had a great time. Any updates?

 

[vlangel]

Just saw your thread. Very cool tank! Did it survive your absence when you went to Alaska? I hope you had a great time. Any updates?

It did. I did not leave it totally on its own with just the automation to keep it running however. I had my sister come once a week to feed frozen food and check the auto top off and my son to come once a week to do the same. That way I only needed to have a 1gallon reservoir for the ATO so if it did misfire, I would not dump gallons of water into the system and drop the salinity. I am sure that my fish enjoyed the frozen food instead of a totally steady diet of only flakes. So as it turned out, the tank looked no worse for my 23 day absence other than some hair algae that I was able to deal with. We had a wonderful time and are so glad that we did it. At 63 and 64 years old, our window was closing on us having the physical ability to do a trip like that, but we feel so enriched for having done it.

The tank is as nice if not nicer since the trip. The coral and the macroalgae seem to have found their balance, where both are getting what they need to flourish. I still do water changes but I have been doing them about once every 3 weeks. I do still add Coral vite every week to replenish trace minerals and such and this routine seems to be working for me. Here is a pic that I took of the tank today . Also a pic of our arrival to Alaska from Pennsylvania.

 

[Cristy17]

It did. I did not leave it totally on its own with just the automation to keep it running however. I had my sister come once a week to feed frozen food and check the auto top off and my son to come once a week to do the same. That way I only needed to have a 1gallon reservoir for the ATO so if it did misfire, I would not dump gallons of water into the system and drop the salinity. I am sure that my fish enjoyed the frozen food instead of a totally steady diet of only flakes. So as it turned out, the tank looked no worse for my 23 day absence other than some hair algae that I was able to deal with. We had a wonderful time and are so glad that we did it. At 63 and 64 years old, our window was closing on us having the physical ability to do a trip like that, but we feel so enriched for having done it.

The tank is as nice if not nicer since the trip. The coral and the macroalgae seem to have found their balance, where both are getting what they need to flourish. I still do water changes but I have been doing them about once every 3 weeks. I do still add Coral vite every week to replenish trace minerals and such and this routine seems to be working for me. Here is a pic that I took of the tank today . Also a pic of our arrival to Alaska from Pennsylvania.

Great pictures! I am glad to hear your tank survived your absence with a little help from family! The tank looks great! I am glad you enjoyed your trip. Thanks for responding.

 

[vlangel]

Hi all, and Happy 2024! I decided to add an update to this thread. Everything is doing very well. As of November this tank is entering it's 8th year. The sandbed has reached a maturity that greatly contributes to a stability that makes the tank very easy to maintain. I do a 5 gallon water change once a month. Twice a month I removed/prune macroalgae. I clean the glass every week. And I feed the fish frozen daily. Here are some pics:

 

[Chasmodes]

As always, your tank blows me away. Quite beautiful! How are all of the fish doing?

 

[vlangel]

As always, your tank blows me away. Quite beautiful! How are all of the fish doing?

Awww thanks Kevin. Ha ha, I noticed yesterday that almost none of my pics had fish in them, (just one masked goby)! I figured folks were going to think that I don't keep fish when actually fish are my first love! The coral is just there to help the fish feel like they are in a natural environment. Anyway the fish are doing great although Jet, my green citron goby passed. I got him in January 2019 so I had him 5 years. I am not sure of their lifespan but he seemed like he was healthy until close to the end when he got lethargic. All the other fish are doing well. I am thinking about getting a jawfish when KP Aquatics get some in stock. I have always gotten excellent fish in excellent condition from them. I will try to get some fish pics for you.

 

[vlangel]

4 big fish, 3 small fish. In pic 1 are Tommy the tomini tang, Angelica the Coral Beauty angel, and Guardian the yellow watchman. goby. In pic 2 is Blue Streak, the neon cleaner goby. In pic 3 are Lone Ranger and Zorro, the masked gobies. Finally in pic 4 is Ozzie, the ocellaris clownfish. And I still have the rehomed percula clown that a friend gave me but Perky resides in the sump as I was afraid that the 2 clowns would fight if they were together.

 

[Chasmodes]

I guess your barnacle blenny passed? Is Angelica behaving well and leaving your corals alone?

 

[vlangel]

I guess your barnacle blenny passed? Is Angelica behaving well and leaving your corals alone?

Yes Barney passed in the fall. He was a really cool fish and I do miss him. He was even older than Jet! I would get a couple more barnacle blennies if I could find any.

I would also entertain getting a couple cardinalfish as it would be nice having some action in the upper third of the tank. Some times KP Aquatics has different species of those too.

Angelica is perfect with coral. She has never nipped at anything and actually she is my 3rd Coral Beauty and all three behaved with coral. I know dwarf angelfish have a reputation as coral nippers and I had a flame angelfish years ago that was relentless. Hence, why I have only chosen Coral Beauties ever since.

 

[vlangel]

Today I soaked my old powerheads in a vinegar/water solution to clean the algae and gunk out of the impellors. I am looking into replacing them with Hyggers. I would have loved to get mp 10s but those are not in my budget and new Hyggers will be quite an upgrade from what I am using now. Anyway, the tank has good flow now.

 

[Sump Crab]

Today I soaked my old powerheads in a vinegar/water solution to clean the algae and gunk out of the impellors. I am looking into replacing them with Hyggers. I would have loved to get mp 10s but those are not in my budget and new Hyggers will be quite an upgrade from what I am using now. Anyway, the tank has good flow now.

I've always been a vortech guy but recently tried a AI Nero and it's been great

 

[vlangel]

I've always been a vortech guy but recently tried a AI Nero and it's been great

Thanks for letting me know that.

 

[vlangel]

Well, I have a couple of updates. 1. Jet, my citron goby did not die. He apparently went through the overflow and is now in the sump. It's kind of nice that Perky, the percula clown has a buddy although I don't entirely trust Rice Krispie, the pistol shrimp not to make a meal of him. He is smaller than Perky but he does stay pretty high up in the tank and the shrimp stays on the sandbed.

Next, 2. I bought 2 new fish yesterday, a Midas blenny and a royal Gramma. I bought them from a trusted lfs so am not QT them. I just acclimated them and then added them to the display tank. Today both came out to feed. The blenny is out and about but Gramma is timid. Still I am encouraged that both fish are eating. Hopefully since none of my other fish are bullying the Gramma it will adjust and become a member of community.

I would still like to get a jawfish from KP Aquatics. I am on a waiting list. I have never had a jawfish but my sandbed is well suited for one. The only other bottom dweller is Guardian, the ywg but hopefully the tank is big enough for them to reside together peacefully.

 

[vlangel]

Well I ordered a new power head yesterday. I was tired of tinkering with the gyre, and very dissatisfied with the clunky monstrosity that I am using to replace the gyre. I may be sorry but I went for an inexpensive, low profile unit that got good reviews on Amazon,,,it's put out by Carefree Fish which I never heard of. Anyway, after I have used it a while, I will let you all know what I think.

 

[vlangel]

I installed my new power head today and so far I am pleased with it. I am awful with tech but I more or less got what I wanted with the flow. I will probably play around with it a bit before I settle on the exact settings.