James’s 29g Nano Build

[James_O]

salinity 1.029 ??
look for reset hole on controller???

No, it’s 1.029. That’s where I usually keep it?

 

[James_O]

Take the pump apart and make sure there’s no GHA in the motor or anything that might make it seize up. Just make sure not to loose any small pieces

Will do, hopefully that solves the issue. Thank you!

 

[fishguy242]

too high ...flirting with disaster..gal and a half evap your over .030 not good.
jmo...slowly adjust down to ,024 .
over the course of 10 days,roughly half point a day.

 

[James_O]

too high ...flirting with disaster..gal and a half evap your over .030 not good.
jmo...slowly adjust down to ,024 .
over the course of 10 days,roughly half point a day.

Oh dang, what happens at 1.030? Mine sometimes drifts that far up if I don’t top off until the end of the week. But I’ve always had it at 1.026-1.029. ;Blackeye

 

[Goaway]

Get a good refractrometer and a diy salinity solution.

Have a good night.

 

[James_O]

Took the pump apart and cleaned it. Worked like a charm! Thanks @shadow_k.

 

[James_O]

Yes... goodnight all.

 

[fishguy242]

that is burning your corals, if going to swing 3 , do it at .022-,026 max
shoot for ,024 as norm.
your corals will like you better...

 

[Bribo12]

I agree. I keep mine at 1.025, .029 is pretty high. Unless you have an ato it’s gonna swing and could possibly hit above .031 which is definitely rough on corals

 

[shadow_k]

Took the pump apart and cleaned it. Worked like a charm! Thanks @shadow_k.

No problem ! Glad that fixed it

 

[James_O]

The coral are NOT happy with the new arrangement. Had to adjust the flow several times last night and eventually turned it all the way down.

Is it normal for them to not be happy after rearranging? I tried to put them back in the same spot.

 

[Goaway]

It can be a number of things. I believe we talked about getting your salinity down before. I told you to work on 1.026. Also, look into randy holmes diy solution. It will work for your swing arm.

 

[LRT]

I've found sweet spot for pretty much every coral in my system at this point. Flow and light dictates that.
Yes it can and will stress a coral out if moved from a spot it is acclimated to especially after a long period of time. I always try and get them back as close as possible to spot they where in.

 

[Jubei2006]

Because if you look at these other pictures of Neon Stem Aussie Duncan’s, they look nothing like mine:

(even the ones from POTO!)

—-

Here’s mine just for comparison:

Mine started out like that. Looks like this now

 

[MaxTremors]

Thank you. I really hope it does too... sick and tired of it discouraging me,

I will take care of the sand as soon as I get a chance.

——

I’m think now might be a good time to get a frag rack? Just so I don’t have to individually pluck all of the frags out one by one when I go to clean? Also, so they are off the sand incase algae decided to creep up.

The algae is something to work on, but it’s something most reefers deal with at some point, I feel like people are making you think it’s a bigger deal than it is. Again, it’s something to work on correcting and it can negatively affect some corals, but panicking and tearing your whole tank apart isn’t the answer. I would work on lower nutrients and taking one coral or rock out every few days to scrub clean (in tank water, scrub the rocks/bigger pieces when you do water changes, after scrubbing in old tank water, rinse with new saltwater, I wouldn’t use tap water), you don’t have to do it all at once, and if your nutrients are still high it’s just going to come back. It’s going to be a slow process. You could also try running some fluconazole, I’m having pretty good results with it so far, but that’s up to you, it would maybe be a good idea to try more natural remedies first. Frag rack would be helpful.

 

[James_O]

Coral update:

Torch looks SUPER extended:

Duncan is sort of MEH right now:

Everything else looks good. My big colony is getting too much flow, but I don’t know how to compensate for that.

Got the salinity down to 1.027… about to do a little water change and then add more RO to get it to 1.026.

 

[Goaway]

Coral update:

Torch looks SUPER extended:

Duncan is sort of MEH right now:

Everything else looks good. My big colony is getting too much flow, but I don’t know how to compensate for that.

Got the salinity down to 1.027… about to do a little water change and then add more RO to get it to 1.026.

I don't trust anything that' isn't calibrated. Seriously get a calibration fluid made or bought. Just to be sure it's reading correctly.

 

[LRT]

Nothing good comes fast in this hobby especially from super fast salinity swings. Gradually bring it down over next cpl weeks/water changes.
Honestly James your next best thing would be to get refractometer and calibration fluid. My wife hates the refractometer and picked up a hygrometer like yours. Her Hygrometer reads around 1.028 when I'm locked in at 1.025. I honestly wouldn't have made any salinity changes until I was sure your hygrometer was reading at least close.

Hope you checked your Nitrates and Phosphates before you did anything today. Day 1 after deep clean is a really good starting point to know where you sit.
Trust everyone when they say algae is your worse enemy and Frank couldn't have said it any better. Nuclear bombs just waiting to go off on one level or another whether it be killing corals or sapping up all your nutrients and letting them go and killing stuff next time your led goes crazy.
Your on the right track its just going to take that daily and weekly due diligence to keep it there. That husbandry gets super easy after awhile once you get handle on things.

 

[James_O]

Would a refractometer or a digital salinity tester be better? (Like the one @F i s h y has?)

 

[LRT]

Would a refractometer or a digital salinity tester be better? (Like the one @F i s h y has?)

I like refractometer and calibration fluid. Makes it more personal and builds character for me. I keep my calibration fluid rubber banded to my refractometer so I have to calibrate it before I use it lol. Epsecially during water changes.