Eienna's 50g Reef

Eienna · Oct 11, 2013

Zero Nitrates said:
Awesome video! The clowns look very healthy!

They sure act like it. :)

I noticed a day or two ago that the little orange is missing a fin. Looks to have been born that way. I still love him, though. :)

Thinking about it this evening, I realized that the particular batch of clowns mine came from may gave been the breeder's culls, because if I recall correctly they were all misbars to some degree. Add the missing fin and it makes sense. Perfect little guys for me, regardless; I like quirky patterns.

Eienna · Oct 12, 2013

W00t!! I think the acan may have just taken some bloodworms. Even if it didn't, the moon brain just sent out its first tentacles since it's been with me - its first real sign of life!

Eienna · Oct 16, 2013

Well, you all know by now (if you've been reading thus far, anyway) that some of my corals are headed down the tubes. I blamed too-high phosphate.

What piques my interest is that the rest aren't following suit.

The acan wouldn't puff or eat and the goniopora had no PE and was beginning to bleach. The leptastrea, however, has perfect PE and still chows down as voraciously as ever. The mushroom - not surprisingly, being a softie - is doing fine, even despite repeated dumps off the rock and into the sand....and the diploastrea I bought browned is starting to get its color back and sends out a couple tentacles at night. Not a full recovery yet, mind you (and I haven't figured out how to feed the durned thing, either), but definite improvement.

SO.

Recalling an article I'd read about corals in the shade faring better during mass reef bleaching events, and having realized that I drastically changed the photoperiod when I changed tanks (not to mention the LED light's spreading differently), I shoved the unwell corals into shaded areas a couple days ago. The goni appears to have stopped bleaching and even shown a tiny bit of PE, though my acan has not yet shown visible improvement. At least, it doesn't seem to be getting worse.

We'll see what happens.

Eienna · Oct 16, 2013

I just noticed a damaged area on my goni...it may be STNing...perhaps I'm too late.

In better news, the clown babies are still in terrific health. I tried a little of the nutramar ova today that I'd bought for Spike, and it's a smash hit! Fun to watch ♡

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

Did I lose all my watchers? :(
Shout-out if you're here!

A new FTS from today:

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

Good news this evening! My numbers are down! 1.0 phosphate (may be .5, hard to read) and somewhere between 0 and 5 nitrate. I need a more precise kit (I'm still using my API), but those numbers are encouraging. Much, much better than they were. :)

Connie · Oct 18, 2013

Looking great!

Mike J. · Oct 18, 2013

Still here. Are you a member of any local area reef clubs? Maybe you can pick up a light cheaply that way?

ShippD · Oct 18, 2013

We are here looking great

revhtree · Oct 18, 2013

Keep up the good work!

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

Connie said:
Looking great!

Thank you ♡

Mike J. said:
Still here. Are you a member of any local area reef clubs? Maybe you can pick up a light cheaply that way?

No...I haven't yet found one I could reasonably commute to. It's harder because I don't drive.

I think my problem is too much light too suddenly, not too little. I'd like to use T5s but the landlord acceptance factor is much closer to where I like it with my led fixture because it uses less power. :)

ShippD said:
We are here looking great

Yay! :D

revhtree said:
Keep up the good work!

Thanks! :D

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

My tank is very low-tech...at the moment I don't even have a decent-capacity mechanical filter on it, just the rock, sand, and powerheads. It's truly shocked me how well it's doing this way, with just CUC, bacteria, water changes, and microalgae (haven't gotten my macro yet) for processing.

I wanted to put a refugium with a filter sock in, but the darn tank's tempered and the doors of the stand are too small to shove a decent tank inside >.< so I gotta figure something else out. I'm thinking of adding an HOB filter (which is what I was using in the 20 - my filters get weekly cleanings along with my water changes) or possibly an HOB fuge if you think I can attach some mechanical filtration to that? I am nervous about attaching a fuge like that because the stand may tip over with that much weight on the back; it's not even 18" front to back. If I go with the hob filter, and probably even with the fuge, I plan to add a good deal of macroalgae to the display. Thoughts?

Kimberlee · Oct 18, 2013

What about and overflow box to a sump in another room, or on the side?

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

Kimberlee said:
What about and overflow box to a sump in another room, or on the side?

In another room would be impossible to get past the (I should be saying homeowners, and they live here too)...management. XD They've been very nice about it but I know cor sure they wouldn't go for plumbing the thing all the way to another room. On the side -might- fly, but they're big on keeping up appearances so it would be a very tough sell.

My third option would be moving everything to the 125 and ditching my freshies, but there are three things wrong with that - one, I am very attached to my FW fish, some of whom have been with me almost since my tankkeeping began; two, I'm doubting my budget could support a reef that size; and three, I have no idea if that tank is tempered or not.

Kimberlee · Oct 18, 2013

How about a show fuge? that would meet for looks and you would reep the benifits, and do a 10gal sump under just for a skimmer. It would mean an extra pump, but it wouldn't have to be a big one.

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

Kimberlee said:
How about a show fuge? that would meet for looks and you would reep the benifits, and do a 10gal sump under just for a skimmer. It would mean an extra pump, but it wouldn't have to be a big one.

Show me what you mean? I've never heard of that before.

I'm choosing to skip the skimmer because I want my system to be bacteria- and plankton-friendly.

Kimberlee · Oct 18, 2013

It still would be.....
Building A Saltwater Aquarium Refugium

Eienna · Oct 18, 2013

Hmmmm.....food for thought, for sure...

A skimmer is helpful for removing waste but it also strips the water of small, beneficial organisms such as bacteria. Just doesn't quite work with the plans that I have, which include keeping goniopora. This species needs an abundance of teeny tiny foods and have been anecdotally noted to do better in skimmerless tanks (though there were certainly other factors) than otherwise because the skimmer tends to remove those tiny bits. Point is, I've thought this through :). I can always add one later if I need it.