I have a 75 gallon DT with a 40 gallon sump. It's been up and running for roughly two year now. The only coral I can get to survive is GSP and a single gorgonian. Everything else has died. I check water parameters weekly, do water changes weekly, and with only two exceptions everything seems to be in order. The pH is always around 7.6 +/- 0.1, and the alkalinity is always high. I've checked CO2 in the house and it's running around 430, so that's not expected to be problematic. I use ro/di water and Instant Ocean Reef Crystals salt.
I suspect the valonia came in on the FL live rock. I also got some nifty red macro algae as well, but the valonia and GHA are killing everything else.
For valonia control I remove the affected rock, pick off the bubbles with a toothpick, drop 3% H2O2 onto the rock where the valonia was with an eyedropper, rinse with saltwater, and place back in the tank. The dang stuff is growing on the underside of the rockwork in the complete dark.
One thing that surprised me. I cannot keep chaeto alive in this tank. I started with the typical refugium in the sump, and it slowly died away to nothing.
Right now I have a sand sifting goby, a lawnmower blenny, an unknown type of blenny, and a firefish goby in the tank.
I'd love to be able to keep some sort of coral alive. I want to get something that I can be proud to say "I'm keeping this piece of the ocean alive."
The tank has been under-maintained for a few months now due to illness in the family, but to be honest I can't tell any significant difference between now and when I was taking care of it weekly. There hasn't been a water change in a month now, and I've not run water tests in quite some time. But hey, the GSP is growing
So, am I better off just ripping the dang thing apart, putting what few living things there are in small temporary tanks, and rip cleaning the whole dang thing, or is there something else I should try first before resorting to such extreme action? I've attached some pictures I just took. This is before cleaning to show it at it's worst.
I suspect the valonia came in on the FL live rock. I also got some nifty red macro algae as well, but the valonia and GHA are killing everything else.
For valonia control I remove the affected rock, pick off the bubbles with a toothpick, drop 3% H2O2 onto the rock where the valonia was with an eyedropper, rinse with saltwater, and place back in the tank. The dang stuff is growing on the underside of the rockwork in the complete dark.
One thing that surprised me. I cannot keep chaeto alive in this tank. I started with the typical refugium in the sump, and it slowly died away to nothing.
Right now I have a sand sifting goby, a lawnmower blenny, an unknown type of blenny, and a firefish goby in the tank.
I'd love to be able to keep some sort of coral alive. I want to get something that I can be proud to say "I'm keeping this piece of the ocean alive."
The tank has been under-maintained for a few months now due to illness in the family, but to be honest I can't tell any significant difference between now and when I was taking care of it weekly. There hasn't been a water change in a month now, and I've not run water tests in quite some time. But hey, the GSP is growing
So, am I better off just ripping the dang thing apart, putting what few living things there are in small temporary tanks, and rip cleaning the whole dang thing, or is there something else I should try first before resorting to such extreme action? I've attached some pictures I just took. This is before cleaning to show it at it's worst.