In-wall/Behind-wall, 180g peninsula, with a basement fish closet

Beau_B

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I have been having SPS trouble too. Frags will be fine for weeks or months and then poof! Super frustrating not knowing why. So far my best luck has been with long-known aquacultured types.

As much as I love ASD, having bought tons of coral from them, it seems many (most?) of their sticks are mariculture and not established in tanks.

I have ponape birdsnest that has been hardy and quick growing, I can give you a piece if your interested in experimenting.
 
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I have been having SPS trouble too. Frags will be fine for weeks or months and then poof! Super frustrating not knowing why. So far my best luck has been with long-known aquacultured types.

As much as I love ASD, having bought tons of coral from them, it seems many (most?) of their sticks are mariculture and not established in tanks.

I have ponape birdsnest that has been hardy and quick growing, I can give you a piece if your interested in experimenting.

Wow, that's so nice. I will definitely take you up on that offer. I want to watch parameters for a week or so to see if everything is holding stable, and then I will get in touch with you.
 
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When it rains, it pours.

I'm down to a couple of SPS left. The rest are skeletons. I had vowed to start testing each night to verify parameters were staying stable. Well, full-time job, two kids, two dogs, the first week back to school, getting back in the grove, and testing kept getting pushed back. And then the tank issues started to snowball. I noticed one of my hammers was not extending as much as usual. No big deal, I thought. Sometimes they act up a little, I thought. I'm sure it will be back to normal tomorrow. But the next day, it was still closed... and the hammer next to it was shrinking down too. I started to have flashbacks of last year when I lost my entire Hammer Garden to BJD. I'm in a pure manic now. I immediately test to see if parameters are crazy off (hey, look, I started testing). Alk (down .5) and Cal (down 15) have dropped down a little bit, so I decided to raise those back to where they were and see what tomorrow brings. Well, the next day brings what I think is the start of BJD.

PANIC!!!!!
panic2.gif


Last year when this happened after I had lost everything, I found an article on dosing Cipro in the DT to fight BJD. I found that article again and decided to try it in the tank. I mixed 500mg of Cipro with 50ml of RODI water. The original article suggests dosing 10ml (based on my tank volume) every other night for a week. However, as more people started to test, people had success with dosing each night instead of every other. Last night I dosed 10ml. Today the hammer has lost one head, and the other doesn't look good. However, the one next door has not gotten worse. The other hammers, torches, and frogspawn in the tank still look good. I will continue to dose and test each night and hope that I only lose one hammer or save that one head by some miracle.

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A week later and the Cipro seems to have stopped the BJD from spreading to the other hammers. I did lose both heads on the reverse hammer, but the rest seem okay. I still have one that isn't extending as far as usual. However, I am starting to wonder if that has more to do with the high flow in the area. A similar thing happened in my old tank when I moved a powerhead, the hammer garden I had started to close up. I have two MP40's next to them at 75% to give my SPS a lot of flow. But now that I have killed all the SPS, I might try turning the flow down some and see if that positively affects the green hammer.
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I saw that TSM had watchman gobies in stock, so I got one and a pistol shrimp. They both immediately disappeared once entering the tank. They went to opposite sides, so I am hoping they find each other eventually. In my 30 gallon, they did the same thing but found each other after a couple of days. However, that was a much smaller tank and a much bigger shrimp. I will be patient and let nature takes its course. TSM also had a green clown goby. I had resigned that I was done adding fish... but clown gobies are so small and barely even register as being there. So, of course, I got him as well.
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I want to do a post soon on the corals in the tank. I've done an invert post and a fish post, so it's only fair that I do a coral post as well. I'd also like to be able to look back and see some growth.
 
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When starting my build, I was excited to have two sumps. I like the added space, the ability to have one sump dedicated to a refugium and one dedicated to mechanical filtration. The second thing I was excited about was the built-in roller mats. I've had filter socks before, and I never changed them. Three months in, I will say I am underwhelmed with the sumps are they are now. The mechanical filtration sump seems to be working great. The levels are staying reasonably consistent, and I haven't had a problem with my ATO being in there. The skimmer, after breaking in, has been pulling out a nice dark skimmate. The roller filter is working as it should, and the rolls are, in my opinion, used and appropriately full when they turn.

The problem child is the refugium sump. I have difficulty keeping consistent water levels in the sump, which messes up the filter roller. Typically it turns when there is no need to and ends up wasting a bunch. I am also concerned about how many pods are making it into the DT. There is a bubble trap between the middle chamber and the return chamber. The baffles are set high, so the water flow through there is low. I worry that low flow will not push pods through the bubble trap, but if I take out the bubble trap, the macro may flow into the return and mess with my pump. Right now, I am debating pulling the roller mat and the bubble trap out.
 
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Have you ever heard of FOMO? I had to explain it to my husband. He's not up on what the cool kids say these days. Not like me whose still super hip. It means Fear Of Missing Out. Well, I have FOMP... Fear of Missing Pods. I seriously have an issue. It's almost an addiction. It's definitely an irrational fear. I am convinced there are no pods in my DT. I never see any. I do see my mandarin picking at rocks all day. He is fat and happy. I do see a thriving refugium full of chaeto, GHA, bubble algae, and, oh yeah, a ton of pods. They are all over the glass, swimming through the macroalgae, having a tea party with the bristle worms. But I am convinced they are not in my DT. And it is for this reason I keep buying pods. I read threads on here with wise, seasoned reefs say to stop buying pods. They are in the tank, don't worry, but I don't think they are. I probably spend the most money a month on pods. And so I decided no more. Stop the insanity; I will not buy any more pods. I will monitor the tank, watch my mandarin and make sure he is still picking at rocks all day and is still fat and happy. I will watch my refugium to make sure I see pods in there. Because if they are in there, they have to be making it into the DT, right? RIGHT? I think that's right. So that's it, I am going cold turkey. No more pods!

...except for this last order I just got in today, but it was buy one get one free, so I really couldn't pass it up.
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Also, here is a couple of FTS because I haven't posted any in a while.
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zbryant91

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Have you ever heard of FOMO? I had to explain it to my husband. He's not up on what the cool kids say these days. Not like me whose still super hip. It means Fear Of Missing Out. Well, I have FOMP... Fear of Missing Pods. I seriously have an issue. It's almost an addiction. It's definitely an irrational fear. I am convinced there are no pods in my DT. I never see any. I do see my mandarin picking at rocks all day. He is fat and happy. I do see a thriving refugium full of chaeto, GHA, bubble algae, and, oh yeah, a ton of pods. They are all over the glass, swimming through the macroalgae, having a tea party with the bristle worms. But I am convinced they are not in my DT. And it is for this reason I keep buying pods. I read threads on here with wise, seasoned reefs say to stop buying pods. They are in the tank, don't worry, but I don't think they are. I probably spend the most money a month on pods. And so I decided no more. Stop the insanity; I will not buy any more pods. I will monitor the tank, watch my mandarin and make sure he is still picking at rocks all day and is still fat and happy. I will watch my refugium to make sure I see pods in there. Because if they are in there, they have to be making it into the DT, right? RIGHT? I think that's right. So that's it, I am going cold turkey. No more pods!

...except for this last order I just got in today, but it was buy one get one free, so I really couldn't pass it up.
59248F65-1CDD-4EA4-8EEE-2C1F605AEED1.jpeg


Also, here is a couple of FTS because I haven't posted any in a while.
88A7B2B2-EE9A-4992-B310-7EC5AD7AD560.jpeg
D29091E5-24E2-4894-B6FE-E8BD6B2C423F.jpeg

9BA085DD-5566-40F1-8B94-19D8500E3DAE.jpeg
Where’d you get the pods from?

I’d like to get a mandarin eventually but have the same fear. I seeded my tank a while ago but never see them in the display. Kind of wondering if it has to do with the filter roller
 
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Where’d you get the pods from?

I’d like to get a mandarin eventually but have the same fear. I seeded my tank a while ago but never see them in the display. Kind of wondering if it has to do with the filter roller
I have been getting them from a fellow reefer here, but he took a break from pods, so these are from a fish store about an hour away.


I had the mandarin in my old 75 for over a year, and he was fine. I very rarely added pods to that system. I don't know why I am so nervous about this system. I do think I am going to stop using the rollers on the refugium side. Maybe I will go with floss or something to at least pull some of the larger particles out of the water before it hits the macro.
 
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I am still having issues with my hammers, and recently I had a candy cane have polyp bailout. I am debating if it is a flow issue, water issue, or light issue. Last week, I sent out an ICP test and wasn't expecting to get results back for a while. I sent out an ATI test and had heard it takes 2-3 weeks to get results back, but I got them in today. Assuming I had to wait a while, I also sent out a test to ICP-Analysis. I wanted to a. see how quickly I got results back from both, and b. compare the test results to see if I had similar readings between the two tests. I had tested my water with Hanna the same night I packaged up a water sample to see how close ATI and Hanna were. They are slightly off but doesn't seem to be significant. It would appear I need to start dosing trace elements to get some of those up. However, I have been holding off on water changes to get a fix on nitrates and phosphates. I plan to hold off on dosing anything until I switch back to regular water changes, and then I will test again. The big red flag is Aluminum is up. Reading through threads on here, it would appear a likely cause of this is either some media blocks I have in the sump or the use of phosguard in my reactor. I plan to pull both out and then see if the numbers go down when retesting.

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I'm not sure if any of this explains my hammer issue. I rented a PAR meter from BRS again. However, now I am questioning if the length of time my lights are on may be too long. More to come, I am sure.
 

fishguy242

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hi,use a media to pull out the metals,in the phosphate reactor...:)
@MERKEY what did you use ? TIA... :)
 

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hi,use a media to pull out the metals,in the phosphate reactor...:)
@MERKEY what did you use ? TIA... :)
The only thing that I found to get aluminum out was metasorb.

Cuprisorb won't get the alluminum like metasorb.

It works fast and strips all other trace metals so add what you need to back ;)
 
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The only thing that I found to get aluminum out was metasorb.

Cuprisorb won't get the alluminum like metasorb.

It works fast and strips all other trace metals so add what you need to back ;)
Are you saying to use the metasorb and phosgraud, or just the metasorb?
 

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Are you saying to use the metasorb and phosgraud, or just the metasorb?
I would stick with your plan and pull the phosgaurd.

Then use metasorb only to remove the metals.

I ran it for 48 hours and did a 50% water change and sent another ICP test off and it got my alluminum from 212 down to 45.

I've since done 3 more water changes and I am sending another ICP of today.

I'll update with results in a few days.
 
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I would stick with your plan and pull the phosgaurd.

Then use metasorb only to remove the metals.

I ran it for 48 hours and did a 50% water change and sent another ICP test off and it got my alluminum from 212 down to 45.

I've since done 3 more water changes and I am sending another ICP of today.

I'll update with results in a few days.
Thanks for the information. I plan to do another test in a couple of months. I want to see if regular water changes will help with the trace elements or if I need to dose those.
 
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I removed my media blocks and phosguard last night. I order the metasorb on Amazon but won't be here until next week. I increased the light period on my refugium to hopefully make up the phosphate and nitrate exporting. I will have to watch those over the next couple of weeks and see how they do. If they start to rise, I might continue to increase my lights, or I maybe try GFO in the reactor.

My work tank has an excessive amount of coralline algae. So today, I decided to scrap some to bring home to seed this tank. I can already see it starting to grow on powerheads and the back wall, but little on the new rock. I plan to grab a little each week.
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I received back the results from the second ICP test I sent out. Everything seemed pretty in line with the first. Major elements are good, trace elements are low, and Aluminium up. The biggest difference was the time to get it back. I was surprised as the ATI test came back within a week, and the ICP-Analysis took a little over two weeks. ICP-Analysis was supposed to be the faster of the two. Possible it was a fluke, but I plan to use ATI going forward. I also liked their website layout better, and the results seemed easier to understand.

I just placed an order with IPSF for my continued efforts to increase the bio-diversity in the tank. I also am on the hunt for some peppermint shrimp that will actually eat Aiptasia. So far, algae barn's shrimp are a bust, and reef cleaners are lazy. Hoping I will eventually find some that do the trick.

I have had four corals have polyp bailout over the last month. I was assuming lighting or flow issues as my water quality seems to be good with no swings. I posted a thread here, and a new theory is the soft corals I have are polluting the water. I'm still leaning towards a lighting issue, but maybe I'm just in denial because I love my soft corals so much. I will, however, look into changing up some filtration. Currently, I have carbon in a reactor, but I might try adding in some clemipure blue.
 
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I just received my box from IPSF. I have been trying to continue to add bio-diversity to this tank and plan to continue to add more for at least the first year. I have heard really good things about the WonderMud, and it was the only reason I ordered. You can't get just WonderMud, though, so I went with the Mix-n-Match Special. I ordered the following;
WonderMud
Coral Heaven
Tang Heaven Nori
Liquid N-Reducer
6 Nerite Grazers
6 Littorinid Grazers
6 MicroHermits
Live Sand Activator
Mini Stars-add on
Cucumber-add on
I was disappointed in the WonderMud. I was hoping to get a bag full but maybe got a cup. Some of the stuff I put into my refugium and some I put into the DT. I hope it will add some good, but I know for sure I have 10,000 more bristle worms now.
 

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I just received my box from IPSF. I have been trying to continue to add bio-diversity to this tank and plan to continue to add more for at least the first year. I have heard really good things about the WonderMud, and it was the only reason I ordered. You can't get just WonderMud, though, so I went with the Mix-n-Match Special. I ordered the following;
WonderMud
Coral Heaven
Tang Heaven Nori
Liquid N-Reducer
6 Nerite Grazers
6 Littorinid Grazers
6 MicroHermits
Live Sand Activator
Mini Stars-add on
Cucumber-add on
I was disappointed in the WonderMud. I was hoping to get a bag full but maybe got a cup. Some of the stuff I put into my refugium and some I put into the DT. I hope it will add some good, but I know for sure I have 10,000 more bristle worms now.
I just received my box from IPSF. I have been trying to continue to add bio-diversity to this tank and plan to continue to add more for at least the first year. I have heard really good things about the WonderMud, and it was the only reason I ordered. You can't get just WonderMud, though, so I went with the Mix-n-Match Special. I ordered the following;
WonderMud
Coral Heaven
Tang Heaven Nori
Liquid N-Reducer
6 Nerite Grazers
6 Littorinid Grazers
6 MicroHermits
Live Sand Activator
Mini Stars-add on
Cucumber-add on
I was disappointed in the WonderMud. I was hoping to get a bag full but maybe got a cup. Some of the stuff I put into my refugium and some I put into the DT. I hope it will add some good, but I know for sure I have 10,000 more bristle worms now.
I wasn’t aware of IPSF (thanks for the info) and now I’m curious to hear how your tank responds. My tank is half the size of yours but my focus over the next few months is also to add more biodiversity. Looking forward to the updates!
 

jandlms

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I just received my box from IPSF. I have been trying to continue to add bio-diversity to this tank and plan to continue to add more for at least the first year. I have heard really good things about the WonderMud, and it was the only reason I ordered. You can't get just WonderMud, though, so I went with the Mix-n-Match Special. I ordered the following;
WonderMud
Coral Heaven
Tang Heaven Nori
Liquid N-Reducer
6 Nerite Grazers
6 Littorinid Grazers
6 MicroHermits
Live Sand Activator
Mini Stars-add on
Cucumber-add on
I was disappointed in the WonderMud. I was hoping to get a bag full but maybe got a cup. Some of the stuff I put into my refugium and some I put into the DT. I hope it will add some good, but I know for sure I have 10,000 more bristle worms now.
Me confused.How did you add the mud? I was under the impression the mud was placed in a chamber of a refugium under macros. The water flowing over and slightly mixing caused the benefits……
 
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Me confused.How did you add the mud? I was under the impression the mud was placed in a chamber of a refugium under macros. The water flowing over and slightly mixing caused the benefits……
Yes, I meant the whole order when I said I put some of the stuff in the DT and some in the refugium. I put the WonderMud, the Sand Activator, and the Liquid N-Reducer in my refugium. The snails, hermits, stars, and cucumber went into the DT. The Sand Activator is supposed to go in the DT. But it was full of bristle worms, and I know they are beneficial, but my DT already has hundreds of them... I prefer them out of sight. So they can join the bristle worm crew in the refugium.
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I gave my tangs and other herbivore fishies the Tang Heaven Nori, which looks more delicious than the normal dried pressed sheets. No one likes it. My purple thought about it took a bite and then swam away. Obviously, they prefer processed food over fresh.
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