Kipp's Coral's

[tbrown]

I believe it may be some sort of egg sac. I've seen them before but don't remember what they belong to.

 

[Kipp's Corals]

Tanks doing well! Only lost one turbo out of 6.
Had a small diatom blood but CUC handled it well. Starting to notice red spots. Coralline algae or Cyanobacteria?

 

[Kipp's Corals]

2 months in! Not seeing to much of an ugly stage yet. CUC seems to be doing their jobs well. When does the ugly stage usually occur. I know I’m still early in the journey. Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[fishguy242]

Hi, post your parameters ,tank looks really clean... :)

 

[Kipp's Corals]

My last update was June 2024.
few updates on my progress.

My favorite shrimp either died or my brittle got to hungry and had a live meal. Did water change around 15% for the first time in a few months. (Shame on me). Lost one goby due to no cover on tank. Jumped right out. Lost a new urchin and crab due to rushing the transfer. One crab survived. Didn’t realize I didn’t glue in my overflow plumbing and it gave way, resulting in my first small “flood” luckily I was home and at the tank when it happened. Glued the plumbing and realized I never applied the union fully and ruined the entire eshopps overflow, now I have no filtration for 24+ hours. Went to fish store hoping they had a new over flow and nope, only solution was a $250.00 canister. It’s getting me by but lost my cabinet space due to unused sump now. Will eventually get the sump back up and running. Might keep canister as added filtration. Very small hair algae localized. Picked up a crab to help, had 2 but as mentioned one died. Amazing how quickly the crab cleared up the hair algae.

Current stock in 55-60G
2 clown fish
5 turbo snails
1 brittle
1 crab
No corals
No fancy lighting yet

Have a newborn so have to balance that with the hobby.

Last parameter’s
1.025 salinity slightly increasing without sump volume since switch.
7.8 pH
6.9 dKh
77F temp
Ammonia <0.25 ppm
Calcium - not tested (no reagent)
Magnesium - not tested (no kit)
Phosphate - not tested (no reagents)
Nitrite - no test
Nitrate - no test

Overall stable, my guess the recent deaths were poor acclimating periods(learned on this one) picked up ACCUDRIP.

Turbo snails do die off, my guess is tank is to clean?

Thanks for still following along!!!

 

[SudzFD]

Recommend you test nitrate. It tells a lit about your cycle. I’d also recommend adding a live rock to help seed your rock. It should look more alive by now in my opinion. It’s unnecessary for you to test Alk, Ca and Mg since you have no corals so don’t worry about those.

Nitrite also unnecessary at this point.

Good luck, hopefully you can start having some more success. I’m not a fan of large brittle stars. They are nocturnal predators and our fish shrimp and cleanup crew are all at risk from them. I’d consider trading him in for a fish, or cleaner shrimp or something.

Do you add algaecide or something like that? If so, I’d stop that too.

 

[Kipp's Corals]

@SudzFD I am daily feeding for brittle, might see if they will take him back. I figured the cal, mag, and dkh aren’t to important for my stage. Only tested dkh for inverts range. I’ll test nitrates tomorrow.
My clown is starting to claim a spot within the rock structure. The other hangs at the top at night. Hopefully I can get them to mate at some point. Although doubtful. I am still adding doctor tims every few weeks to help with any ammonia spikes with the lack of water changes.

Here is growth before i added the new turbo snails. I can see the diatoms, hair algae, and is that coralline algae?

 

[SudzFD]

@SudzFD I am daily feeding for brittle, might see if they will take him back. I figured the cal, mag, and dkh aren’t to important for my stage. Only tested dkh for inverts range. I’ll test nitrates tomorrow.
My clown is starting to claim a spot within the rock structure. The other hangs at the top at night. Hopefully I can get them to mate at some point. Although doubtful. I am still adding doctor tims every few weeks to help with any ammonia spikes with the lack of water changes.

Here is growth before i added the new turbo snails. I can see the diatoms, hair algae, and is that coralline algae?

Ok, yeah that looks more like what I’d expect to see. Surprised your snails cleaned it so well. Mine don’t do much. Hard to tell what it is but I’d lean toward cyano since it’s on the sand. To get coralline you need coralline, typically from a live rock with it. Also you’d see it on the glass and have to scrape it off with a scraper.

 

[Kipp's Corals]

Ok, yeah that looks more like what I’d expect to see. Surprised your snails cleaned it so well. Mine don’t do much. Hard to tell what it is but I’d lean toward cyano since it’s on the sand. To get coralline you need coralline, typically from a live rock with it. Also you’d see it on the glass and have to scrape it off with a scraper.

First photo (left) is after the required five minutes, gave it an hour or so and it darkened up a bit. I’m going to go with the one that was sitting a bit longer (right)

 

[SudzFD]

First photo (left) is after the required five minutes, gave it an hour or so and it darkened up a bit. I’m going to go with the one that was sitting a bit longer (right)

No, 5mins should be fine. They give you that number for a reason. That’s good it’s low, but you need to make sure that you can process your ammonia well before adding to much stock. Obviously there’s enough bio filtration to handle the fish you have, but they are also hardy fish. Do just add one fish here and there testing between additions for ammonia and nitrate. Your hope would be to always see zero ammonia and little to no nitrate. With fish only nitrate up yo 40 plus shouldn’t be a problem. When I had an eel and FOWLR I’d get high nitrates and could keep healthy BTA’s but nothing else.

My current reef tank with SPS has essentially zero nitrate. It’s at a point where my chaeto is struggling due to lack of nutrients. Gonna feed more heavily to get them up to detectable levels at least.

 

[tbrown]

As mentioned above, the 5 minutes is key. Waiting longer makes it invalid.

 

[tbrown]

I think less than 5 and it won't have a full reaction. Waiting more than the maximum window (I think 7 minutes?) makes an invalid read because the reagent starts reacting with other stuff in the water.

 

[Kipp's Corals]

This is why I post, always learning!

 

[kevgib67]

I am a 28 year old paramedic. I have about 10 years on the job. I have a difficult time with coping with my daily stresses and finally jumped into the hobby of marine fish & reef keeping. I have had freshwater tanks in the past, intermittently. Since day 1; I have found that building my tank & learning about marine life has decreased some of that stress, although it has already caused some new stress, its good different kind of stress.

My love for water, started in my early 20's. I went to the ocean for the first time as an executive functioning adult and really started to observe what the ocean was showing me at the time, new type of fish, invertebrates, corals, alien like creatures, ya know the normal things. So, I booked a snorkeling trip and the tour guide showed us the devastation of the reefs bleaching between early 2000's to current time. He showed up comparison photographs and it was heart breaking. After that trip, I knew I wanted to dive deeper into learning about the ocean and went and got my advanced open water scuba diving certification. I have been diving in a couple different countries including the United States Key West ; World WWII, Vandenburg 100ft dive & A Coral Reef Tour. I have also dove in Mexico, Punta Cana, and Jamaica. I have participated in Walt Disney worlds EPCOT dive opportunity as well, which I highly recommend.

I purchased a 60G aquarium about a year ago and started my research and QUICKLY realized that I have a lot to learn. I have done well on being patient and waiting put up the tank and now that day has come that I think I am, somewhat financially ready and have enough education to start my process. Throughout the year I have purchased both new and used equipment.

Follow me on my journey. I will be showing both successes & failures. I will try to post everything that I do. Even if I end up making a mistake. I will document it here :) I look forward to chatting with all of you. Forgive me if I made this under the wrong forum tab :'P

Special thanks to " REEF SHOWCASE - 00W AIO Smorgasbord" ; @00W, @Katrina71, @Reef Devils, @tbrown @fishguy242 @ESABOE and many others for getting me to this point.
below is my aquarium profile, I will update things as I go along under my original post as well as updating the forum when I purchase anything.

Aquarium Profile and Equipment - I included my prices with some estimates for a realistic expectation for the fellow new hobbyist following along.​

What type of saltwater aquarium is this? Will start out as LPS / softie then will upgrade to SPS
Total Water Volume: About 70 Gallons ($200.00, FB MARKETPLACE )
Aquarium Age: tank was filled on 03/13/2024
Aquarium Material: Glass
Aquarium Length: 36''
Aquarium Width 18''
Aquarium Height: 25''
Aquarium Overflow: Eshopps PF-800 ($90.00 EBAY)
Aquarium Sump: ADV-100 3rd Generation ($125.00, FB MARKETPLACE)
Sump Water Volume: 20G
Aquarium Stand Wood
Aquarium Controller: None
Protein Skimmer: Reef Octopus SS-110 ($100.00, fb marketplace)
Aquarium Reactors: Dual Reactor purchased but not running yet (PRN) ($50.00 fb marketplace)
Return Pump: amazon brand, POPOSOAP 1600GPH, 45W ; ($74.99) bought a redundancy pump recently and will install when this pump starts to act up, jerboa DCP 3500 sine wave pump 3500 ($64.99)
Wavemaker/Powerheads: Current Wave makers x 2, (1) 1600GPH, (1) 2500GPH <-- flow is too strong for current sand, have to add more and reduce flow strength (I paid $200.00 for a bunch of random things so this one was hard to price)
Lighting Equipment List: Basic Marineland top light ($ included with tank) , will upgrade when introducing corals.
Heaters: AquaMiracle aquarium heater 500W ($39.99x3 = 119.97) will buy redundancy heater, the extras are for QT tank and Mixing station)
Water temperature: Currently it's at 74 degrees, might increase need to do more research.
RODI SYSTEM: BRS 4 STAGE VALUE PLUS: $200.00
RODI BOOSTER KIT: YES, Aquatech 8800 ($100.00, dig deep for a better price then average posted $120-$150.00, found on eBay on like page 8 for the price I paid)
MIXING STATION: Yes, DIY collapsible (2) 26G water storage bins ($81.00/each or 162.00 for both, AMAZON, (honestly, just use a brute I tried to get two fancy with this lol)
MIXING STATION CIRCULATION PUMP: CANT REMEMBER MODEL, WILL UPDATE SORRY :( (around $100.00)
Livestock Quarantine Tank: will be performing a 2 - 3 week observation, if signs of sickness will begin QT procedure (will be posted)
Auto Feeder: N/A
Hard plumbed or soft plumbed: (breaking down for those who don't know how to plumb yet lol) Hard plumbed 1 inch PVC (RED SCHEDULE 80) Pump - Female thread - PVC - union - pvc to 45degree - PVC - 45degree - PVC - Ball valve - PVC - 90 - PVC - check valve - PVC - union - PVC - union (to remove return from tank easier I put two unions in), 90degree - 90 degree to sit into tank as return, will add mesh and rubber band to secure and protect fish from entering return) (Plumbing PVC and fittings costs: this gets hairy cause im not a plumber and had to run back and forth to the hardware store, ill estimate my costs to be between $100.00 - $200 or so for the fancy PVC through BRS, much cheaper going with white but depends on your budget, also the schedule 80 ball valve's and unions add up quickly but are ESSENTIAL for maintenance, this does include DIY mixing station, that plumbing was cheap)

Aquarium Water Chemistry and Parameters​

3/13/2024 - START
pH Level: needs to be tested
Specific Gravity 1.025 / 35ppt
Nitrate or NO319: needs to be tested
Phosphate or PO: 0.25
Calcium: needs to be tested
Alkalinity: needs to be tested
Magnesium: needs to be tested
Salt Brand: Coral Pro Salt Mix 200 Gallon Sack - RedSea ($84.99)

Aquarium Natural and Mechanical Filtration​

Substrate: 20 lb. Special Grade Arag-Alive! Reef Sand - CaribSea ($24.32x2=$48.64, Bulk reef supply )
Substrate Level: 1 inch, want to add more (+1 inch) before adding fish (have 2 bags of expired live sand that I will rinse out and place (additional $50.00 1 year ago)
Live Rock: bought: 90lbs of dry rock, paid ($90.00+shipping)
Nutrient Export: Protein Skimmer, Refugium (not purchased yet)
Carbon: No
Ceramic rings: yes
Bio balls: yes
Water Changes: Yes
Water Change Details: 10% every Monday or 5 gallons
Top off: 62oz every 2 days RODI into sump return, marked.

​

Aquarium Tank Inhabitants (fish, coral, invert etc.)​

Fish List: Cycling
Total Fish: 0
Coral List: NONE ESTABLISHING
Total Corals: 0

Total Inverts 0
Livestock detail: to be updated
Livestock Quarantine: none currently

Aquarium Nutrition (fish, coral, invert etc. feeding)​

Fish Feeding Frequency: to be updated
Coral Feeding Frequency: to be updated
Fish and Coral Feeding: to be updated

OTHER EQUIPMENT PURCHASED MOSTLY ON IMPULSE BUT IN INVENTORY
DR. FRITZ - COPPER TREATMENT = ($7.99 Petco)
DR. TIMS WASTE AWAY= ($14.00)
QT TANK 20G = (27.50 PETCO SALE 1/2 OFF)
QT FILTER = MarineLand Penguin 200 Power Filter, 200GPH (28.00 AMAZON)
SPARE RODI PARTS, SPARE WAVEMAKER COVERS (included in the $200.00 buy)
HANNA COPPER: ($45.00 EBAY)
HANNA ALK: ($50.00 EBAY)
HANNA CALCIUM: ($50.00 NEEDS NEW REAGENT)
WATER CHANGE SIPHON = ($17.99 LFS)
(2) circulation pumps for easy water changes ($45.00 AMAZON)
API QUICK START 16oz : (13.00 PETCO)
API REEF MASTER TEST KIT = ($34.99 AMAZON)




TOTAL ROUGH COSTS TO DATE: $2,309.00

()

Really cool, when I was in Aruba I snorkeled a German freighter sunk during WWII.

 

[tbrown]

I once snorkeled the pool in my backyard. Some crazy critters crawling around in there!

 

[kevgib67]

I once snorkeled the pool in my backyard. Some crazy critters crawling around in there!

Did you deflate it when you were done or did you keep the air in it until Fall?

 

[tbrown]

Did you deflate it when you were done or did you keep the air in it until Fall?

We can't keep pools above ground here long term... Something about solar heat?

 

[kevgib67]

Good morning Remi!

 

[kevgib67]

Good morning John Doe!

 

[kevgib67]

Amanda, good night peanut, sleep tight!