ksfulk's Red Sea Reefer 525xL

[ksfulk]

@ksfulk Left us - cut up his finger and said to heck with it!

I'm alive! I swear - I didnt just forget about everything and let it sit idle for the past year while.... everything was going on.

Ok - maybe I did let it sit. But Im working on slowly rehabilitating all of the things for the tank. Ill get some shots up later. Its been a rough year (hand did not heal as quickly as was initially thought - a few more complications with that as well) but I think we should be back in business until the next catastrophe strikes. I'll get some pictures up later (though its mainly just a Fish Only tank at this point.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Happy to hear!

I shut down my tanks in GR and moved down to FL for work. Been here about 1.5 years now and we've got a new tank set up now. It's in autopilot.

Originally intended for it to be a SPS dominant tank [like the 13.5 gallon that you helped me stock] but we became foster parents and just don't have time to fiddle with the parameters/dosing etc.

Nano Build - Fostering Fillory - Mixed Reef - IM 25g

Hey guys! What a ride this time... Tank's looking uglier and uglier. I removed all of the SPS except the big green one on the top. The zoas are being covered with dinos, and aren't opening unless I keep blowing them off with a baster. Dosing 1 oz of Phyto twice/day every day, and I'm now...

www.reef2reef.com

Are you still running Zeo?

 

[ksfulk]

Happy to hear!

I shut down my tanks in GR and moved down to FL for work. Been here about 1.5 years now and we've got a new tank set up now. It's in autopilot.

Originally intended for it to be a SPS dominant tank [like the 13.5 gallon that you helped me stock] but we became foster parents and just don't have time to fiddle with the parameters/dosing etc.

Nano Build - Fostering Fillory - Mixed Reef - IM 25g

Hey guys! What a ride this time... Tank's looking uglier and uglier. I removed all of the SPS except the big green one on the top. The zoas are being covered with dinos, and aren't opening unless I keep blowing them off with a baster. Dosing 1 oz of Phyto twice/day every day, and I'm now...

www.reef2reef.com

Are you still running Zeo?

Congrats on becoming foster parents! We're in the process of becoming foster parents, but things are kinda weird with that whole system at the moment as well.

Im not running anything at the moment... literally the tank has just been fed and on rare occasions scraped. My phosphates and nitrates are super high, so before I can even start to think about corals Ive got some work to do on those fronts. Gotta vacuum out the sump, clean up several powerheads, run new dosing and ATO lines - thats just at the top of the list. But Ill likely do something closer to just running passive nutrient management until I get the parameters into "working order"

A few lanathum chloride treatments and a heavy regiment of vacuuming and water changes out to get things sorted out in the next month or so - at least then it should be "ok" to start looking at some other livestock. I also need to restock my cleaning crew as the wrasses have gone to work on the snails that used to populate the tank.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Congrats yourself! It's a big jump - we went from 0 to 3 kids in 3 months!

I look forward to following your progress to clean it up and get back to a reef!

I know that I've been pretty bad about documenting my tank lately, but I'm also not really doing anything about it

I'm not even feeding [just filling an autofeeder and letting it run].
I'm surprised my tank looks the way it does...

 

[ksfulk]

Time to get back on the preverbal horse, as they say.

This tanks been on autopilot since we moved in August of 2019. I set it back up, bought a bunch of new equipment and got things ready to run an new "Acro-empire" but instead between the pandemic and injuring my hand, things havent really been in the cards to "do" anything with this tank in several years. That said, the residents have all been doing well, as several of these fish were obtained 6-7 years ago and have been doing well in their habitat.

But Ive started getting the itch again. Im not entirely sure that I want to go bananas on acros again, but it would be nice to have more than just fish - and the system itself is really setup for that kind of thing, so itd be nice to put some of the equipment though its paces.

So Ive ordered some new sand, filtration media, citric acid and water lines so I can get to work on this beauty. Im debating on what I want to do about the rock, as most of it is clogged with detritus and bubble algae. But Im going to work in stages, so I dont upset whatever ecosystems already established already. Likely Ill address the rock situation once I get the other things under control.

Equipment List:

• Tank: Red Sea Reefer 525xl v1
• Flow Pumps: 2 Gyre 250s, 2 Neptune WAVs, 2 Tunze 6040s
• Return Pump: Neptune Cor20
• Lights: 3 EcoTech Radion XR15s (Gen 4/5?), 4 80w T5s in an AquaticLife Hybrid fixture.
• Skimmer: Deltec 1456
• Filter Media/Reactor - Ceramic Bioblock media and a SKIMZ Zeovit Reactor w/ 2L of Zeovit Media
• Heaters: 2- 300w Eheim Jagers (these need to be replaced as they are from 2019ish)
• Nutrient Management System (Ha!): Zeovit - though I havent changed media or used the additives in 3 years
• Alk/Calc/Mag: ESV B-Ionic 2 part system (though I havent dosed in years)
• Control: Neptune Apex A3 system
• Other(s): Neptune Trident, 2-DOS dosing pumps (2part and AWC)

Denizens:

• Desardani Sailfin Tang
• Hippo Tang
• Kole Tang
• Klein's Butterfly
• Ornate Leopard Wrasse
• Meleagris Leopard Wrasse
• Blueheaded Fairy Wrasse
• Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse
• Picasso/Snowflake Ocellaris Clown
• Royal Gramma Basslet
• 2 Pajama Cardinals
• Purple Finger Gorgonian
• 4 Rock Flower Anemones (all green)

So, a few notable issues that need to be addressed.

1.) Accumulation of "stuff" - Theres a LOT of detritus in the tank. To the point where the grey-brown detritus is covering up the sand in the back areas of the tank (see below). I havent vacuumed in 3 years and have fed pretty heavy during that time. I dont know the current make up of the cleaning crew in the tank anymore, as the wrasses have created numerous shell graveyards throughout the tank. In addition to the detritus in the tank, theres a nice bit of cyano and bubble algae thats stayed relatively small, but its enough to clog returns, pumps, etc.​

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Solution: Ive ordered a few new mesh filter socks and Im gonna do an intense vacuum of the sandbed, rock work and sump to get most of the detritus out of the tank. Im thinking Ill run the vac into a pair of mesh socks that go into a garbage can I used for storing RODI water. I can then pump that filtered water back into the sump, so I can keep the water level close enough. Two or three rounds of that and I think thatll get most of the heavy stuff out of the system.​

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2.) Equipment - Ive got a lot of nice pieces, but they havent had maintenance on them in months/years either. I think the last time the pumps were cleaned was maybe in winter of 2021? Ive got some of them soaking now, so I can get them scrubbed clean before tackling the rest of them. My skimmer hasnt been really touched in quite a while and I know I have to replace the return pump.​

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Solution: New airline and tubing has been ordered. Ive also got a few nylon screws that are coming in the next week or so. Ill take pumps and other equipment out one by one and start them in a citric acid or vinegar soak for a few days to loosen everything up before scrubbing the bajeesus out of them. Ill replace the Tunze 6040s that stopped working a while ago with either new parts (if they are salvageable) or some 6025s in the rock mounts for the back of the tank. I have a new Cor20 to replace the current return pump. Im also going to look at the feasibility of a roller mat. I dont think I can make it work with my current sump, but its worth at least looking at. I need to also replace all of the lines for the AWC system, the RODI system, and the Trident.​

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3.) Water - I have all the pieces for an AWC system, but I havent maintained it in a few years, so everythings been sitting dry and crusty for a while. Gotta get that back in order too.​

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Solution: Im waiting for some new RODI resin and Ive got the old mixing station cans out in the yard drying after a strong bleach scrub. Once thats all ready to go, I need to build a new platform for the RODI cans, so I can get them off the ground and get them replumbed. Once thats done I can work on the saltwater container and then start working on re-setting up the AWC and getting a near 100% water change done in the tank once all the equipments been renewed.​

 

[Velcro]

was just thinking about you the other day wondering if you were still in the hobby. Lemme know when you’re ready for coral. I’m only a year into my current setup (we moved) but have some stuff that’s fraggable for sure.

 

[ksfulk]

was just thinking about you the other day wondering if you were still in the hobby. Lemme know when you’re ready for coral. I’m only a year into my current setup (we moved) but have some stuff that’s fraggable for sure.

Im still kicking around - just been ignoring this tank and refusing to deal with it. Now things have settled and I’ve got the itch again. I’m sure I’ll get there eventually - hopefully it’s a timeline of late fall, rather than… 4+ years?

 

[ksfulk]

Fish pics before feeding time, just to prove they are alive and well, even if the tank is not amazing. (Apologies for the glare)

 

[Velcro]

fish are looking amazing.

 

[ksfulk]

Ordered a bit more rock and some zeovit materials to take advantage of some sales and having the thing I need on hand in case the UPS strike goes on for an extended amount of time. Also dropped a Triton ICP test in the mail so I have a good base line to confirm my own test kits and their accuracy. Wavs were cleaned over the weekend and are back in the tank while the gyres soak for the next day or so. Ive got a ticket in for the Tunze 6040s to see if the issue with them is just a controller or motor block issue that can be resolved for $60. They are such great little powerheads for the sides of the Red Sea return. They are barely noticeable while in the tank and move enough water to really kill any dead spots that you can get along the back of the tank.

Im still very undecided about what to do about the rock thats in the tank. Id like to rescape the entire tank with new/fresh rock, but given my bioload, I dont think that will work out well. I think Im going to have to treat the algae with the rock in the tank, and then remove some at a time. I may pull the large center island out and muratic acid bath the thing, because I love the monolithic structure and it doesnt seem like anyones selling Pukani rock anymore, but the entire thing is packed full of bubble algae which means its probably not doing a ton as a bacterial reserve. Its definitely a piece that I want to keep though. The rest is mainly shelf rock thats great for SPS - Ill have to make up my mind eventually - maybe leaving one of the main islands that are in there already and making a more open structure on the other side. We'll see once the new rock shows up.

 

[Velcro]

Ordered a bit more rock and some zeovit materials to take advantage of some sales and having the thing I need on hand in case the UPS strike goes on for an extended amount of time. Also dropped a Triton ICP test in the mail so I have a good base line to confirm my own test kits and their accuracy. Wavs were cleaned over the weekend and are back in the tank while the gyres soak for the next day or so. Ive got a ticket in for the Tunze 6040s to see if the issue with them is just a controller or motor block issue that can be resolved for $60. They are such great little powerheads for the sides of the Red Sea return. They are barely noticeable while in the tank and move enough water to really kill any dead spots that you can get along the back of the tank.

Im still very undecided about what to do about the rock thats in the tank. Id like to rescape the entire tank with new/fresh rock, but given my bioload, I dont think that will work out well. I think Im going to have to treat the algae with the rock in the tank, and then remove some at a time. I may pull the large center island out and muratic acid bath the thing, because I love the monolithic structure and it doesnt seem like anyones selling Pukani rock anymore, but the entire thing is packed full of bubble algae which means its probably not doing a ton as a bacterial reserve. Its definitely a piece that I want to keep though. The rest is mainly shelf rock thats great for SPS - Ill have to make up my mind eventually - maybe leaving one of the main islands that are in there already and making a more open structure on the other side. We'll see once the new rock shows up.

Since you don’t have coral to worry about you could do some omega-fluconazole doses followed by giant water changes to get rid of the nutrient fallout.

 

[ksfulk]

Since you don’t have coral to worry about you could do some omega-fluconazole doses followed by giant water changes to get rid of the nutrient fallout.

Might be worth looking into, though I do have that massive gorg that Ill need to think about as well. I think Lanthanum Chloride is also out of the question as it seems to agitate the tangs - at least tangentially. I may just build the structures and then let them leech/soak in another tote for 4-6 weeks with some bacteria in a bottle or something like that.

Speaking of, my UPS guy was probably unexcited about todays delivery as there was a couple boxes of rock that got delivered among other small items today. Im sure he appreciated that. At least the rock (~75 lbs) was divided amongst three boxes. I recall getting 200 lbs of rock that would have been packed in the same sized boxes several years ago - so thats probably a good change in policy for everyone involved.

I also reached out to Roger at Tunze USA and was able to trouble shoot my 6040s, Found out that one of them just needed the components reseated in the motor housing, while the other required a new motor block as the axle that the prop spins on had come undone from the motor housing, causing the pump motor to pulse, but the prop to not spin. $60 and a few emails later, Ive got the replacement parts on order and they should show up next week sometime. While the Tunze pumps may not be as sleek or as low profile as some of the other pumps on the market, they just run forever and the service and parts availability cant be beat. Really have loved all of their products Ive used over the years. Which is another reason why I picked up one of the 6025s and the pump housing that looks like a reef rock. I love the idea of having flow in the center of the tank to make things a bit more chaotic, and giving some variation to the flow pattern. Not sure how exactly Ill work it in, but it was only $100 and I usually kill more than that in frags, so seemed like a good experiment. If nothing else, it will be a good backup pump. I grabbed 40 lbs of Tropic Eden Mesoflake sized sand, as the vacuuming process is going to remove some sand along with the detritus and I dont want to get the sand bed too low, otherwise the leopard wrasse will riot. Also picked up some Zeovit media and some new ZeoBak, as my culture thats been in the fridge expired back in Nov 2021.

Oddly, Im still waiting for some of the flexible tubing to come in, but Ill likely start tearing down the skimmer and zeovit reactor and get those soaking tomorrow. Thatll give me the opportunity to clean out the sump. The BioPure media thats been in my tanks for years has really started to break down and theres a healthy amount of media detritus down there. Ill have to see what is salvageable and what is just trash. I think I have two of the 3" blocks, a 1" plate and the space before my return pump is/was filled with the spherical media. Ill also need to swap out the old return pump with the new one, as the old one is showing some signs of water penetration within the housing (small brown scorch marks), and I had gotten a replacement pump from Neptune a few months ago.

Given that and the very messy nature of the sump area in general, Ill need to make a few more decisions. I have my Trident, 2 part dosing pump, AWC and ATO lines all running into the sump as well as the rats nest of plugs and controller cables that really need some attention. I also have a big UV sterilizer that Ive owned for a few years (since 2018 ) and might be a good idea while I have everything out of there to determine if thats something I want to plumb into the system or not. The problem with the Red Sea cabinet and the sump that I have is that there isnt a ton of "overhead" room there, and its already difficult to remove the skimmer and zeovit reactor when they need service (which is a reason Im bad at doing that), so adding a 3' UV sterilizer is likely gonna make that even worse. All things that could be remedied with a large remote sump, but Ive been down that route and scope creep is real bad when things like that happen - not to mention that I dont have great spot for a 100 gallon stock tank.

Another "infrastructure" thing that I need to work on is the RO/DI water station, as I threw the cans into the furnace room when we moved in and got it all slapped together and have not really revisited it since then. I need to put together a platform and get those off the ground. Ive also got a big 55 gallon barrel that Id like to set up for the AWC, instead of using the 33 gallon trash can on wheels that I have setup now. I have all the pieces, its really just a matter of wanting to put it all together. Luckily the heat is keeping me out of the woodshop and so it easier to get involved with this stuff, since sanding in the heat and humidity isnt really a motivating thing either

Back to other equipment related stuff - Ill need to fix the rats nest of cables in the control area of the cabinet. Its pretty bad in there - very much an "outta sight, outta mind" mentality for that stuff. Since Ive already got to pull things to replumb them or for cleaning, I should make a concerted effort in tidying things up a bit, at least enough so I dont have to spend 30 minutes working a pump cord out of the tangle so I can service it.

 

[ksfulk]

My oldest saw that I was working on the tank over the last week or so and decided they wanted to help motivate - so they started snooping on this forum and ordered a few corals from @Cultivated Reef for me from their summer sale. I wondered why he was kinda loitering around the house this morning instead of sleeping or being at work - and it’s because I just got a delivery from fedex!

So - well before things are ready, I’ve got a few corals for the tank. We’ll see how this goes. Nothing too crazy - two zoa frags (Blondies and Scrambled Eggs) and two montipora (branching spongodes and a plating rainbow). They’re in bags coming to temp before I move them to clean plugs and do a quick dip. More pictures to come once complete and the lights are on. Crossing my fingers they don’t melt right away.

 

[ksfulk]

Good news is that they didn’t melt immediately going into the tank. Zoas have been closed up the entire time, but that’s how they came in, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they took a day or more to relax a bit. The montis had polyp extension throughout the day yesterday when I was feed the tank. The lights just came up and with the fish zooming around, they’ve retracted for the moment.

Also finally got some time yesterday to start cleaning up some of the equipment in the sump. I pulled the zeovit reactor and the skimmer, and began de-crap-ifying them before the kids took my attention elsewhere. I got the Skimz reactor cleaned up pretty well, though the impeller design makes it difficult to get into all the nooks and crannies, and it’s dying out while I start tackling the Deltec. The hardest part about cleaning these items is that there are thousands of little calcarus deposits on the outside and inside of everything. They’re some kind of small crustaceans or snails if I recall correctly and it’s like everything is covered in 60 grit sandpaper. I’ve got the skimmer pump clean, and the outside of the skimmer body. Just need to tackle the inside of the body and attach new airlines once the skimmer silencer chamber dries out.

I’ve also got the gyres sitting on the table while I’m waiting for some new bushing to come in. They’re a little worn and I’d just rather replace them now then have to worry about it later. With all of that jazz out of the way, I could start taking stock of the sump. It’s got a good 3/4” of “mud” in the bottom of it. Not a great look. It’s also cakes over the ceramic blocks as well, so I guess I’ll need to hose those out at some point. Not sure if it’s going to be a freshwater rinse, or if this is something I should do in old tank water to try and retain some of the current flora/fauna inside of it. The blocks are otherwise in good shape, as are the Jager heaters. So I think a good vacuuming will get the sump into working order, though I’ll also need to replace the return pump. The probes are still serviceable, they are wildly free of the crud that’s everywhere else in the tank, so that’s good news at least.

I made two orders as well yesterday, as I found most of my test kits had reagents well beyond expiry (some expired in 2019), so I needed to replace those and I also decided I would try a fleece roller to replace my filter sock. I’m really bad at changing the socks and found there was an option for a drop in replacement that would actually work for my sump. So, the fine folks at BRS are packing up yet another box for me.

Additionally I placed an order from reef cleaners for some new clean up crew members. My wrasses have pretty well destroyed the snail population and with replacing the part of sand bed and knowing that the new rock will sprout all kinds of “fun” things, I figured it was needed. I picked up several pitho and Mithrax crabs as well, as I’ve had luck with them eating bubble algae in the past and I’m hoping they can feast on the large amounts in the rockwork, while I tend to the other areas that need more attention. I don’t mind a little, but my current crop is outta control.

 

[ksfulk]

Well - got the ICP test results back today. Looks like I might have some heavy metals kicking around in the tank, as well as high phosphate, which I assumed based on the algae load. Will start running some of that metal absorbing filter media to remove the copper and cobalt. Once I get the tank and sump vac'ed out, Ill start running some phosban or GFO to bring the phosphate levels down, in addition to some hefty water changes. Hopefully that will get my levels back in line with something that's not horribly out of whack.

 

[ksfulk]

Busy weekend with the tank has given me some hope that this thing isnt entirely doomed. I spent a few hours putting together a new stand for my RO/DI system, as well as running new rigid tubing for the lines, just in case something has worked its way into them over the years of neglect. I replaced the eyeball sensors in the ATO reservoirs as well, just as a bit of maintenance. Should do well in the long run and gives me a bit of piece of mind going forward. I also bleached out the saltwater storage cans, as they were looking a bit scummy. Once scrubbed clean, Ive let it sit on the back porch all week so that it can air out. Ill use it for waste water for water changes a few times before I hook up the AWC system again anyhow.

I pulled the remainder of the gear out of the sump, since I needed to get all the detritus out of the tank itself and deal with the replacement pump. I decided to get rid of some of the MarinePure ceramic media, since its several years old and the thin plate and several of the bio balls were basically turning to mud anyhow. The rest I pulled out of the sump and rinsed/brushed thoroughly to clean off the gunk that was all over them. This also showed me which ones were "soft" and I could remove them as well, since they seemed well on their way to turning into mud anyhow. Once that was complete I put them into a bucket of saltwater while I worked on the rest of the sump. I had to replace my Cor20, as there was a small electrical burn on the rear of the pump, where the power cord comes out of the pump body, indicating that there is water getting into the box. Neptune gave me a great deal on a replacement, since this one was 3+ years old already and out of warranty. I soaked the old one and packed it up as a spare in case there is some issues down the road. I also found that I have the old EcoTech Vectra M1 that I originally used for this tank still hiding in my spares shelf

After a bit of thought, I decided to pull the remainder of the plumbing, so I could clean out the drain and return lines. There is a slight leak in one of the lines thats causing/caused a bit of salt creep to appear on the pipes and I wanted to take care of that as well. I ordered a new o-ring kit from Red Sea and cleaned and replaced those on the down pipes as well as running cleaner brushes through the overflow to clear out any gunk and bubble algae that was in there. Nothing too horrible for several years of neglect, so that was good to see. With all the plumbing out, I pulled the sump out of the stand (having to remove the stand doors and hinges to do so) and took it out into the yard and basically power washed the inside to get the remaining build up out of the tank. After doing so, I took it back downstairs and began the process of putting it back together. With that handled, the final task of the day was to get ~27 gallons of water back into the sump and get things moving again, as the next day would be most of the intense cleaning.

The next day I started another ~30 gallons of salt water warming up while I started moving the rockwork to one side of the tank, so I could have unfettered access to the sandbed. Once that was done, I let the water settle down for an hour or so while I worked on setting up my sand vacuum thing. Weird that I have three vac nozzles but all of the tubing that I could find wouldnt quite fit. Luckily, I was able to find some that was pretty close and with the gentle persuation from a torch, I got it to fit over the large vac nozzle. I then used rubberbands to wrap a mesh filtersock over the end of the hose, and then a felt sock over that one. With the help of my son, I started vacuuming the sandbed, letting the filter socks grab most of the detritus and having the water flow back into the tank. I figured this would let me pick up most of the detritus without having to make up 100+ gallons of salt water to simply siphon back out. We spent about two hours vacuuming the left hand side of the tank. The filter sock sandwich lasted for about 20 minutes before they got pretty clogged, so I opted for just a felt sock in subsequent rounds. After that was done, the tank was a cloudy mess, but I wanted to do the best I could, so I then re-vacuumed the already cleaned sand after letting it settle for about an hour, so the suspended detritus could land on the sand bed. I siphoned out about 30 gallons of water, replaced it with new saltwater and changed the sump filter sock to a new felt sock so it could continue to filter out the larger stuff in the water that I kicked up.

The next day the water had cleared up enough I could see the results of my intervention. So far so good. The vac'ed sand looks nice and clean, and stands in stark contrast to the remaining sand/detritus combo. I have to follow up and work on the tank again when I have some free time (probably next weekend) and continue to move the rock and vacuum the next 1/3 of the sandbed, but Im well aware that I wont be cleaning up 3 years of neglect in a single weekend. Ive ordered another bucket of Red Sea salt so I can keep up with the next cycle of water changes, and I also had to grab a few more small things to get things back to how I want them.

Im also sad to report that the Klir DI-7 drop in fleece roller didn't work out. While the displayed measurements all were fine for my sump, at the base of the fleece roller, there is a square plate (I think this is meant to fit into the CoralVue sumps) but the corners prevented the instrument from dropping into my filter sock area without cutting out the top of my sump. The entire reason for getting this was so I didnt have to mod the sump, so I packed it back up and sent it back for a refund. Really bummed about that, but c'est la vie.

Im working with the new rock as well, trying to figure out a nice new bit for the tank, but I think I need to take a rock hammer to some of these larger pieces and break them down a bit. Everything looks rather bulky and doesnt sit well in the footprint of the tank. When in doubt, smash the thing! Ill play with that a bit more when I have some free time. Before I add the new rock to the tank, I want to make sure things are rocking on a biological level, so I also restarted the zeovit dosing. Im pretty out of the game for working some of this equipment, so yesterday I peeked into the sump to make sure everything was going well and saw that about half of my ZeoLite material was out of the reactor and on the sump floor. Always check your screens kids

 

[ksfulk]

Got the last few pieces of equipment cleaned up and working properly during the weekend. Got both Tunze 6040s fixed and back onto the sides of the overflows, giving that back area some much needed circulation. Then I grabbed some of the new rocks and just got them into the tank. I couldn't come up with a good looking piece outside of the tank, but I also didn't want the rock to continue to sit dry forever. I figure I can get it in the tank to start getting the uglies, while I figure out what I want to do with the scape. Figure I'm not going to be getting much in the way of coral in here for a while, so I have time to "Pinterest" myself some interesting hardscapes in the meantime. Since the tangs have been sparring because of the territory re-arrangements I've made recently due to cleaning, I figured more hiding places for them would also be welcome.

Been making a habit of recording my daily dosages in Fusion, as I find that kind of habit early on makes it something Im less likely to forget long term. And it makes it easy to see what I did the day before in case I miss a day or forget because Im particularly scatterbrained one day.

 

[ksfulk]

Things are looking pretty good overall, a month in to the serious rehab project. The long fuzzy algae’s pretty much gone on the newly added rock and there’s a sprinkling of coralline starting to form as well, as the white rock starts on its journey to gray/pink.

Pitho crabs are no joke when it comes to bubble algae - those little buggers have been going ham on the infestation that I had in the deep rock work. I’m starting to see pores that I hadn’t seen in over three years. I’m really glad I picked those guys up! I’m sure the emeralds are helping too, but I’m actively seeing the pithos go after the algae and just mow through it.

I still haven’t added the gyres back to the tank. There’s lots of flow in there currently and until there are some more flow demanding coral, I can save on some wear and tear on those little rubber grommets that the rotors seat into.

My trident is still in California being serviced, but I was told that I should get it back in the next week or so. I’m gonna do another 40 gallon water change this week and then send in another ICP test to see if I’ve managed to get the copper and other bothersome materials out of the tank after a month of aggressively running cuprisorb and carbon. I’m guessing it’s gotten better, given the change in response from the gorgonian and that I still have zoas hanging in there from my sons impromptu order a few weeks ago.

The detritus is also being broken down quite a bit. I’ve got some of the cleaning crew attacking the sand bed stuff, but I need to get in and blow off the rocks, as there’s still a significant amount dusting everything. Still, heckuva difference that a month makes.