Home Office 40B AIO "Letterkenny" Build

[BBarry]

lol @ your skimmer. I think my bioload is just too low with the 4 fish to support the corals (and the algae). I have it running just for gas exchange now, its not collecting anything into the cup. Even after 4 days of it not collecting anything, nitrates and phosphates are still bottomed out.

There was a bit of cyano when I got home from Nashville today (my wife warned me). I blew it off everything and changed my reef diaper. On the bright side, the GHA is basically gone so I'm guessing it is releasing phosphates and I have no nitrates so it is just out of whack. My guess is that nitrates had been down for so long the bacteria wasn't able to uptake anything and the algae was outcompeting and now it is out of phosphates and the GHA is giving them up to the cyano. I picked up NeoNitro and dosed 3ppm today, I'll test again tomorrow and see if it budged. I'll dial in a dose to keep around 5ppm and then adjust based off readings. Should be back to stable shortly. I'm even starting to see the first spots of coralline.

I'm trying to decide if it is wise to add more fish yet. Tailspot is on my list, and bioload seems to be going in the right direction considering I'm too high on consumers... decisions decisions. Maybe I'll check out the LFS this weekend and flip a coin. I still haven't dosed any algaecides, reef flux, or razor. Next weekend the torch and scolly come in. I probably should just so the corals have some N and P to consume.

get more fish. get up to 8 or so. Don't add them at once. get 1 maybe every 2 weeks and test. As long as your ammonia and nitrates don't spike, add the next fish. If you get a spike, do a water change and add some Dr Tims in ( the smallest bottle will be enough) to boost the bacteria.

Obviously test for your other stuff, but try to leave the tank alone and let it get stable. Don't chase parameters too much. If your off on your calc or mag a little, do a small dose, but don't chase it. That kind of stuff.

But I would hold off on more corals until you can get that steady 8-10 fish so that you have a source of nitrates.

Oh I also started doing water changes every other week (assuming everything was good) so that I could let my nitrates stay a bit higher.

 

[ScubaSnacks]

get more fish. get up to 8 or so. Don't add them at once. get 1 maybe every 2 weeks and test. As long as your ammonia and nitrates don't spike, add the next fish. If you get a spike, do a water change and add some Dr Tims in ( the smallest bottle will be enough) to boost the bacteria.

Obviously test for your other stuff, but try to leave the tank alone and let it get stable. Don't chase parameters too much. If your off on your calc or mag a little, do a small dose, but don't chase it. That kind of stuff.

But I would hold off on more corals until you can get that steady 8-10 fish so that you have a source of nitrates.

Oh I also started doing water changes every other week (assuming everything was good) so that I could let my nitrates stay a bit higher.

Yeah this all makes sense and was the conclusion I came to. I'll see if I find a fish I like tomorrow and start there. I won't buy anymore corals for a bit. I promise.

I wasn't planning on making neonitro doses a habit, just trying to get a measurable amount of Nitrates before dinos started showing up.

 

[BBarry]

These pics are 2 days after the screen was put on and the lights were set to their proper settings. Tank was originally setup in August.

 

[ScubaSnacks]

Last week I picked up a Royal Gramma we'll call Bonnie. When I picked it up, the guy at the LFS said that it will be a fish I add to the tank and never see... False. Bonnie has been out and about all day since day 2 in the tank.

Tank is looking good again after a deep clean when I got back from Boston on Fri. Just a little bit of cyano left. Nitrates we're at 2ppm when I got back, dosed a little more NeoNitro to get to 5ppm today. I'll keep an eye on it so it stays measurable. Phosphates are still bottomed out, so dosed .02 ppm NeoPhos. Hopefully I'll get measurable on both and stable as I add more fish.

I ordered a new lid from @Kraken Reef. The feeding cup came in yesterday. The one I made looks like crap - I'm excited for the upgrade. @BBarry I ordered a gyre to play with. Do you think it will be better on the back right or back left with the location of the drain?

 

[TheWB]

Last week I picked up a Royal Gramma we'll call Bonnie. When I picked it up, the guy at the LFS said that it will be a fish I add to the tank and never see... False. Bonnie has been out and about all day since day 2 in the tank.

Tank is looking good again after a deep clean when I got back from Boston on Fri. Just a little bit of cyano left. Nitrates we're at 2ppm when I got back, dosed a little more NeoNitro to get to 5ppm today. I'll keep an eye on it so it stays measurable. Phosphates are still bottomed out, so dosed .02 ppm NeoPhos. Hopefully I'll get measurable on both and stable as I add more fish.

I ordered a new lid from @Kraken Reef. The feeding cup came in yesterday. The one I made looks like crap - I'm excited for the upgrade. @BBarry I ordered a gyre to play with. Do you think it will be better on the back right or back left with the location of the drain?

Tank looks great. My Royal Gramma is also always out and about too. It's a great fish and I will always keep one in my tank.

 

[ScubaSnacks]

Tank looks great. My Royal Gramma is also always out and about too. It's a great fish and I will always keep one in my tank.

Thanks! After two months of battling the GHA and then another two weeks of the subsequent cyano, it's nice to be able to look at the tank without the urge to pull the tweezers and toothbrush out.

I really like our RG so far. Really pretty and curious about everything. I was concerned about the RG and the Springeri at first but they now have their defined caves and leave each other alone. Now the clowns are the most boring in the tank! I'm hoping as the leather gets larger, the clowns will take to it and hosting will begin, but not getting my hopes up on that.

 

[TheWB]

Thanks! After two months of battling the GHA and then another two weeks of the subsequent cyano, it's nice to be able to look at the tank without the urge to pull the tweezers and toothbrush out.

I really like our RG so far. Really pretty and curious about everything. I was concerned about the RG and the Springeri at first but they now have their defined caves and leave each other alone. Now the clowns are the most boring in the tank! I'm hoping as the leather gets larger, the clowns will take to it and hosting will begin, but not getting my hopes up on that.

Clowns, lol. Mine are both boring and ugly. Little mutants. I'm seriously thinking about moving mine to a 17g peninsula I've got laying around along with the zoa rock that hosts them and a few pieces of lps that I think could use a lower light setting. The female clown and the Tomini Tang don't reallt get aloong anymore either. I'd rather look at other fish like the RG, and Chalk Basslet who swim around more and look nicer.

 

[BBarry]

Last week I picked up a Royal Gramma we'll call Bonnie. When I picked it up, the guy at the LFS said that it will be a fish I add to the tank and never see... False. Bonnie has been out and about all day since day 2 in the tank.

Tank is looking good again after a deep clean when I got back from Boston on Fri. Just a little bit of cyano left. Nitrates we're at 2ppm when I got back, dosed a little more NeoNitro to get to 5ppm today. I'll keep an eye on it so it stays measurable. Phosphates are still bottomed out, so dosed .02 ppm NeoPhos. Hopefully I'll get measurable on both and stable as I add more fish.

I ordered a new lid from @Kraken Reef. The feeding cup came in yesterday. The one I made looks like crap - I'm excited for the upgrade. @BBarry I ordered a gyre to play with. Do you think it will be better on the back right or back left with the location of the drain?

Tank looks good.

First thing I would ask is why do you want a gyre? They are REALLY tough for us to use in our size tanks because there are so few small ones. My maxspect Jumpgyre 2k can barely run at 20%. Personally I wouldn't touch your flow unless you think there's a reason to.

But if you are going to try a gyre, I would put it front left going --->>> that way so that your corals on the top rocks get max flow (assuming they are sps) and your stuff down below isn't blown around too much. I am thinking about trying one of the Jebao smaller gyres to see if I can manage it better.

my other option is run another gyre opposite side, also low power, and then have them alternate one on >>> then the other on <<<<

 

[BBarry]

oh I forgot. Meet Shrek.

Our Green Bubble Tip Anemone

 

[ScubaSnacks]

Tank looks good.

First thing I would ask is why do you want a gyre? They are REALLY tough for us to use in our size tanks because there are so few small ones. My maxspect Jumpgyre 2k can barely run at 20%. Personally I wouldn't touch your flow unless you think there's a reason to.

But if you are going to try a gyre, I would put it front left going --->>> that way so that your corals on the top rocks get max flow (assuming they are sps) and your stuff down below isn't blown around too much. I am thinking about trying one of the Jebao smaller gyres to see if I can manage it better.

my other option is run another gyre opposite side, also low power, and then have them alternate one on >>> then the other on <<<<

I'm looking at the gyre to increase circulation around the tank. I'm getting a lot of detritus piling up on the back next to the AIO insert. Also would like a tad bit more movement on the euphillia if they'll take it.

I picked up one of the smaller Jebao ones anticipating the flow issue. I was thinking about mounting it vertically on the right pointed forward-left and then move the wavemaker to the bottom left and have both aimed forward-right. I'd run them alternating like you describe.

 

[ScubaSnacks]

oh I forgot. Meet Shrek.

Our Green Bubble Tip Anemone

Nice, I'm jealous. I keep waffling about whether I'll get a nem or not. I don't think I have the PAR for it, but they are awesome.

 

[BBarry]

Nice, I'm jealous. I keep waffling about whether I'll get a nem or not. I don't think I have the PAR for it, but they are awesome.

We have the same lights . I'm running the Saxby schedule right from AI site. So far so good. It's only been a few days though.

 

[BBarry]

I'm looking at the gyre to increase circulation around the tank. I'm getting a lot of detritus piling up on the back next to the AIO insert. Also would like a tad bit more movement on the euphillia if they'll take it.

I picked up one of the smaller Jebao ones anticipating the flow issue. I was thinking about mounting it vertically on the right pointed forward-left and then move the wavemaker to the bottom left and have both aimed forward-right. I'd run them alternating like you describe.

let me know how you like the jebao gyre (and which one).

 

[ScubaSnacks]

So there might be something to this whole nutrient balance and stability thing. Over the weekend the GHA and cyano started just falling off the rocks to the extent that I had to replace my ReefDiaper twice a day. Over the last three days nearly all of the nuisance algae is gone and I'm left with a light green film algae on the rocks and maybe a stray hair here and there. I took a white light picture just to share the progress.

What seems to be working is maintaining nitrates between 2-5 ppm and phosphates between .01 and .02 ppm. I still dose OceanMagik at 20 mL/day for the pods. I think this makes the system phosphate limited, and that's keeping the algae at bay. This also seems somewhat consistent with WWC running high nitrates and low phosphates. Since I ditched water changes for a bit to let the system actually accumulate nutrients, I have been testing Alk, Ca, and Mg. I was low last week so I started dosing All For Reef (5 mL/day) to slowly bring everything back to a healthy level. Today I was at Alk: 7.8, Ca: 360, Mg 1080 so I'm right around where I need to be. Not chasing numbers, just chasing stability.

 

[TheWB]

So there might be something to this whole nutrient balance and stability thing. Over the weekend the GHA and cyano started just falling off the rocks to the extent that I had to replace my ReefDiaper twice a day. Over the last three days nearly all of the nuisance algae is gone and I'm left with a light green film algae on the rocks and maybe a stray hair here and there. I took a white light picture just to share the progress.

What seems to be working is maintaining nitrates between 2-5 ppm and phosphates between .01 and .02 ppm. I still dose OceanMagik at 20 mL/day for the pods. I think this makes the system phosphate limited, and that's keeping the algae at bay. This also seems somewhat consistent with WWC running high nitrates and low phosphates. Since I ditched water changes for a bit to let the system actually accumulate nutrients, I have been testing Alk, Ca, and Mg. I was low last week so I started dosing All For Reef (5 mL/day) to slowly bring everything back to a healthy level. Today I was at Alk: 7.8, Ca: 360, Mg 1080 so I'm right around where I need to be. Not chasing numbers, just chasing stability.

Tank is looking great. It's always good when the algae just starts to disappear.
What salt are you using? Both your Ca and Mg look really low. I don't advocate chasing numbers but those seem well under what most salt mixes should be at. I use TLF AccuraSea1 and it mixes to 8 Alk, 420 Ca and 1300 Mg.

 

[Jekyl]

Bonnie McMurray........

 

[ScubaSnacks]

Tank is looking great. It's always good when the algae just starts to disappear.
What salt are you using? Both your Ca and Mg look really low. I don't advocate chasing numbers but those seem well under what most salt mixes should be at. I use TLF AccuraSea1 and it mixes to 8 Alk, 420 Ca and 1300 Mg.

Red Sea Blue Bucket... It is supposed to mix to 8/430/1280 at 1.025. My salinity is a tad low at 1.024 (wife forgot to replace the reefdiaper and ATO got carried away) but Ca and Mg are definitely lower than I'd like, probably as a result. Next few water changes I'll mix to 1.026-1.027 until it brings it up. Corals don't seem to care so far.

 

[BBarry]

welp I guess it was my turn..... just got bit by the dino bug....

 

[ScubaSnacks]

welp I guess it was my turn..... just got bit by the dino bug....

Oh no... How bad? Dosing nutrients and MB7 seemed to work well for me. Everything cleared up in about a week.

Meet Glen. He had a rough first day when it tried hiding in the Royal Gramma's cave but seems to have found a new spot it likes. Eating well and the Gramma has chilled out.

 

[BBarry]

Oh no... How bad? Dosing nutrients and MB7 seemed to work well for me. Everything cleared up in about a week.

Meet Glen. He had a rough first day when it tried hiding in the Royal Gramma's cave but seems to have found a new spot it likes. Eating well and the Gramma has chilled out.

it's not horrible yet but it's bad enough. I noticed some cyano and was about to treat it and saw the diatoms that I thought were diatoms were actually dinos..... And my little buddy (tail spot blenny) passed away over night. I pulled him and put him in a 5 gal qt, but the other fish beat him up too much. he lasted 2 days. Not sure who went after him, but they did a bang up job. he had bites in his sides.