Half year update!
It's been quite a bit since I've posted here but figured I'd share how the tank is doing. After the chemistry swings died down around months 6-9, the tank has been relatively stable since then. Autodosing, weekly water changes, and testing a couple times a week seems to have resulted in the tank hitting a nice, stable groove. Corals are thriving and fish are happy. Here's some quick thoughts:
1) No more crabs for me. The hermits like to eat my snails and steal their shells and I didn't have lucky with emeralds.
2) Vibrant dosing took a while to get going (2-3 months) but really helped solve some GHA and bubble algae issue.
3) Vibrant can work TOO well and after using the 2x/weekly doses, I got a decent cyano outbreak which I treated with chemiclean.
4) Nutrient export continues to be my biggest challenge. I have been speaking with Clearwater Scrubbers about their upcoming AIO turf scrubber and think that might help me take my GFO offline if it works well.
5) Not chasing numbers but just getting parameters in an acceptable range and monitoring the tank's dynamics
6)All-for-reef is a fantastic product! Can't speak highly enough about it for these "nano" tanks
7)Montipora eating nudibranchs are the devil. I discovered an outbreak 3 months ago in February and ended up tossing out a dozen caps to starve the nudis. I put a tester cap in my system for 3 weeks and dipped it once a week to check for pests; no nudis so high-end montis going back in!
8)Several corals have survived and are in various stages of regrowth - some from just a couple polyps! It's a fantastic feeling to bring back dying corals.
Here's a few pics of the current status and a link to a video tour.
It's been quite a bit since I've posted here but figured I'd share how the tank is doing. After the chemistry swings died down around months 6-9, the tank has been relatively stable since then. Autodosing, weekly water changes, and testing a couple times a week seems to have resulted in the tank hitting a nice, stable groove. Corals are thriving and fish are happy. Here's some quick thoughts:
1) No more crabs for me. The hermits like to eat my snails and steal their shells and I didn't have lucky with emeralds.
2) Vibrant dosing took a while to get going (2-3 months) but really helped solve some GHA and bubble algae issue.
3) Vibrant can work TOO well and after using the 2x/weekly doses, I got a decent cyano outbreak which I treated with chemiclean.
4) Nutrient export continues to be my biggest challenge. I have been speaking with Clearwater Scrubbers about their upcoming AIO turf scrubber and think that might help me take my GFO offline if it works well.
5) Not chasing numbers but just getting parameters in an acceptable range and monitoring the tank's dynamics
6)All-for-reef is a fantastic product! Can't speak highly enough about it for these "nano" tanks
7)Montipora eating nudibranchs are the devil. I discovered an outbreak 3 months ago in February and ended up tossing out a dozen caps to starve the nudis. I put a tester cap in my system for 3 weeks and dipped it once a week to check for pests; no nudis so high-end montis going back in!
8)Several corals have survived and are in various stages of regrowth - some from just a couple polyps! It's a fantastic feeling to bring back dying corals.
Here's a few pics of the current status and a link to a video tour.
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