Kyle's Reef

[Kyl]

Picked up some more LPS today, got lucky and texted a reply to a sale post and was the first of many to message, so the seller held them for me.

A green / orange / purple Lobo

Lobophyllia_1 by Kyl, on Flickr


Lobophyllia_top by Kyl, on Flickr

And a red brain that has a bit of damage, but should heal up just fine

red_brain_1 by Kyl, on Flickr


red_brain_top by Kyl, on Flickr

And the trachy from last week is quite inflated now that it's settled in:

happy_trachy by Kyl, on Flickr


happy_trachy_top by Kyl, on Flickr

One of the no-name acros that I picked up about a month ago is really starting to have fluorescing corallites on it, a yellow / greenish colour that's really starting to pop under the actinics.

no_name_acro_highlights by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

QT going great, DT not so great. Parameters including no3 2ppm / .03 po4 stable, but cyano is the newest battle. Purple monti has effectively died within a couple of days for some reason, the red is hanging in there. Other SPS seem fine, but I've rescued a few pieces of the remaining purple monti to the frag tank, which in contrast is currently thriving.

Frag system wise almost all have encrusted onto the glue by now, and some of the first new additions are showing encrusting extending onto the rock fragments they were glued onto. Once they start encrusting onto the plug the rocks are glued onto the plan was to break the rock off and then there's a pre-done frag plug for it to encrust over and grow off of, rinse repeat. Will keep those in the frag system perpetually both as insurance and something to sell off of should they ever grow into colony sizes. Nitrates are between 5-10ppm, PO4 .03ppm, but I need to figure out a better method for the acropora or taller LPS than frag plugs on top of egg crate. Too much play in the holes, and between the inverts and flow there is risk of contact between each-other from tilting that's happened a couple times already, though caught quickly before it passed minor damage. Might try to DIY some acrylic pieces or come up with a type of sleeve that can fit the square hole better. If money was no option a zen-reef style racking would be oh so nice, might actually price that out just to satisfy the curiosity.

Leopard and the greenbanded gobies are in the display finally, hoping the clowns keep them away from the anemone area as they are very aggressive toward anything coming near now. Picked up a couple wheelers prawn gobies, going to pick up a bottle of Apocylops pods for the DT. The flasher, damsel and goby have done a second 30 day stint in copper as I know that tank has a strain of ich that is longer than that, but they were transferred into the clean tank the leopard and greenbanded were in for the 3-4 week observation period now. This weekend the now empty copper QT tank is going to get fully washed out and sterilized, then a re-start and put the possum wrasse, the two wheelers and whatever else I pick up in there. Still plan on getting a replacement royal gramma, crosshatch sand goby and firefish of some type, but want to get these current QT batches done.

The new mixing tank has been fully cleaned out and has had 50 gallons of RO sitting in it for about four days. TDS is reading zero and there doesn't seem to be a smell, but will be emptying it out as I build the platform for it as well, possibly this weekend. Want to get this station online soon as my free time is starting to get crunched and frankly juggling two buckets for the systems (DT gets it's own so no contamination chances) is getting tiresome. The plan is to keep the 25 gallon RO tank in the one closet, this 50 gallon tank in with the RO unit and just fill it from a valved T line. I had thought about working it so the RO could drain into the mixing tank, but given the unit can fill my 25 gallon tank pretty quickly, will just fill the 50 as required. I've been trying to pick up a used EB4 so that the DOS, a heater and power head can be run in that room. Heater only if I intend on doing a large water change, the pump for the mixing period and after that a periodic 15 minutes or so a couple times a day. I don't want the IO precipitating and as I've found heat and constant mixing are the #1 cause. This would leave with an AWC system for the DT, and the ability to fill gallon jugs for smaller water changes in the frag system, or larger changes for the QT systems without ever touching a filling hose to a tank - perfect.

Coral wise I think it's about done aside from a blue matrix that I forgot to pick up, especially since I snagged some nice LPS lately. That acro rock arch is going to be covered, like 20 acros lol! Thinking of putting the slimer behind where the pink lemonade currently is as the anemones aren't anywhere near and it can grow crazy all it wants Might also break away the red monti back to the sides and open up that top for another, possibly the green hulk. Ever changing, problems and successes, such is the life of the reef tank hobbyist.

 

[Kyl]

Time... isn't that what the hobby is ultimately about? Time between doing things, between equipment changes, between parameter swings, and in this age between update posts.

It's been a strange period since the last update in the fall, in many ways little has changed while overall much has changed. There have been losses, gains, goal alterations and facing the reality of the hobby with it's rather strict time commitments and the age old rule; don't second guess yourself.

So where to start? I guess the best way to recap is to just explain the present status of everything. The DT is in the end stages of it's year long recovery from the rock / coral / livestock move from the nano. Dinos are gone, cyano is only in a few sparse spots and the SPS coral losses have been notable but so is their recovery. Nutrients are most importantly detectable and stable, with random algae cropping up at times. The refugium is still largely offline, only lit for 30 minutes early morning to keep the two chaeto balls alive. Coralline has thrived, though so has the bubble algae. The aneome splits are almost as large as their parent pre-move, and surprisingly my clowns have started spawning as of two days ago. If anything, I take that last event as a sign things are in a good place, even if the coral landscape doesn't agree.

As for the livestock in general, the fish are doing great. I still have the three greenbanded gobies hiding among the clam rocks, the blue star leopard has been putting on a lot of weight, the midas is still the centerpiece of the tank when it wants to be. The springers damsel has taken up residence in the archway, and the redhead goby mostly hangs out on the far left of the tank. Invert wise the anemone shrimp is living in the green toadstool happily, and there's still a sexy shrimp wiggling away on what's left of the purple monticap remains.

Corals are the other story, mostly for another day. This tank has not been kind to the SPS overall since the move, though looking at the pink lemonade you wouldn't be able to tell. It's being stung by the anomene daily, fighting with the orange setosa next to it and still trucking along with great growth and colour maturation.

There has been one major equipment update; automatic water changes have been running for about a month. Approximately 1 gallon per day currently via a DOS and 1/4" RO tubing, though not without issue. Noise is the problem, the DOS is just awful to listen to and unfortunately that sound carries through a closet wall and two other interior walls currently. I've had to compromise and only run an 8 hour period daily to do the least amount of annoyance while plans for an acoustic enclosure are finalized.

The frag tank is also in recovery, a culmination of issues have brought pains and losses. Alk swings, power outages, coral warfare as a final farewell, you name it and it's happened. Thankfully the losses have mostly been to lower end pieces, but nothing has been spared some degree of damage over the past number of months. Nothing in this hobby will make you appreciate the degree of tightrope walking taking place daily with our tanks than when things do go south. At the same time I'm amazed at how resilient some pieces are in spite of what happens. Nutrient wise the tank was the quicker one to recover, to the point the small refugium in this sump is lit for 8 hours a day and is producing chaeto quite well. Nitrates are hovering about 10, and phosphates between .04-.05, I can't ask for better than that.

QT systems are still working and remind me why I go through all the trouble of using them. The wheeler prawn gobies have been through copper twice and are counting the days till I'm satisfied that things are fine and they can be moved. I have had losses, have you ever seen a tailspot blenny with uronema marinum? It was contained to QT, but I don't know what to make of the livestock quality these days as it seems everything is diseased at the retail level. Thankfully at times good things do happen as two show pieces are in copper right now; male C. isoceles and C. Exquisitus. The most anxious I've been about a fish (pintail), also my most expensive purchase so far but the beauty is there and I can't wait for them both to be cruising around in full colour display.

So what's going on going forward. I think reflecting back on this hobby and some other personal issues, having some distance has been a good thing. There's something to be said about just stopping to smell the roses, and that's what has been missing for much of this past year. Why do we get into this hobby, there are endless reasons but ultimately I think the question is why do we stay in this hobby? It is a lot of work, things go sideways when neglected and life always seems to throw a curveball into the mix when you least expect it. Then I take a moment to just observe, and something captures your attention like clownfish starting to spawn and it hits you. That's why I do this, it's a little piece of the ocean that manages to provide something new every day if you'll let it.

Just take the time to appreciate it.

 

[Kyl]

Trachy still in QT, but that tank got a bit of an upgrade today in lighting. Trying the camera out again..


Rainbow_Trachy by Kyl, on Flickr

Macro mode + high ISO = not so great, but still, a nice close up of some stellata polyps.
Tubbs_Stellata_Macro by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

Finally saw the pompom show up after quite a while. Was missing it's second anemone and I had thought maybe that was a piece of my plating montipora. Got a good macro shot of it though, appears to be part of my rbta's??


pompom_close by Kyl, on Flickr


pompom_macro by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

new_frag_sump1 by Kyl, on Flickr

Spoiler: New Sump

new_frag_sump2 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_frag_sump3 by Kyl, on Flickr


new_frag_sump4 by Kyl, on Flickr

Debating sending these plans off to see what the cost would be to the builder that did my tanks. There is a small ~hour or so drip forming in the seam of my 10 gallon Aqueon tank that is the sump for my frag/invert qt system, so it will have to be replaced relatively soonish. . Given the layout is in a closet, things are kind of forced to the return at the back and the overflows at the far right side. I could gain a few extra gallons by removing the adjoined ATO, but would really like to have it built in and be easier to fill. Has to be somewhat short as the clearance isn't great, but this still allows for a lot more actual water volume compared to the 6 or so gallons that fit in the modified 10 gallon currently. Paper math puts actual in-use volume at ~16 gallons, with a 1" from rim capacity of ~26 gallons. I'd estimate the back-flow with my frag return shut off to be about 2 gallons max, so this will be more than enough.

I thought about acrylic, but I'm not sure how large the cost difference will be. If it was a custom acrylic sump then I could get probe holder / dosing line points / etc installed too..

Decisions..

 

[Kyl]

awc_deux by Kyl, on Flickr

Why stop at one? Just say #NoToBuckets.

I've come across few things as liberating as automatic water changes in this hobby. I used to sort of joke at the mentions of 'stop hauling around those stupid buckets' on some of the BRS videos, and finally bit the bullet earlier this year on the display tank. Let me tell you, once one tank is set up for AWC, you will really hate how any other tanks aren't also running an AWC. Thankfully I came across a good deal from a good local reefer, the unit is mint and calibrated easier than the main displays did. It's going to be set up to do 2000ml a day, a bit over half a gallon, on an estimated 30 gallons of water but will have to wait till Monday for the waterworks store to be open so I can tee off the storage vessel.

The sump for the frag system is still being debated, an acrylic guy here up north is playing around with some revisions and pricing, the glass hasn't responded yet and I'm still shopping a few US vendors to see if it's worth picking up stateside. The drip that was going on in that Aqueon 10 gallon sump seems to have stopped, probably from salt creep from it, but will still need to be replaced.

DT wise the green slimer and four seasons acros have been mounted on the center rock arch finally, and after two weeks the seasons is already encrusted over the glue and forming multiple new branchs on top. The slimer itself has also started to encrust, probably a half inch of growth in less than a month, crazy. Unfortunately bubble algae is all over the place, and the two emeralds in there aren't really making a dent. I think it's going to come down to repeated manual removal until such point as QT ends on another batch and I can throw some more in. The ones in my frag tank have decimated the bubble algae in there, literally night and day.

 

[Kyl]

Roughly a one year anniversary for these guys in the DT. Started with four in QT, three made it to the display, this pair are left. My favourite fish, so spunky, but so rare around here :(


greenbanded_gobies by Kyl, on Flickr


greenbanded_gobies2 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[reef-rc]

Roughly a one year anniversary for these guys in the DT. Started with four in QT, three made it to the display, this pair are left. My favourite fish, so spunky, but so rare around here :(


greenbanded_gobies by Kyl, on Flickr


greenbanded_gobies2 by Kyl, on Flickr

These little critters are interesting. So much that I have a small community of 7 in my 20G and 2 remaining in my 10G myself.

The only challenge is they're so small they can fall through water return area so easy.

 

[Kyl]

I've seen them for sale, once, locally in four years, and in country once in that same time frame (Canada). Big shame ORA does not breed them any longer :( I love them, they are so spunky, darting around, almost standing up to the larger wrasse as they swim by their little clam rock home.

I've really debated getting something like a fusion 20 EXT and re-creating my nano tank just for a bunch of them should I ever find again, or other tiny guys, and just plumb it into the DT's sump..

 

[Kyl]

And updates are an odd thing. The DT has never been better, in my opinion at least, though bubble algae really sucks.. Unfortunately these systems are orientated as such that planning is everything, so no dumping in a handful of emerald crabs. Sometimes that planning doesn't execute like you think it would, or someone has some fish come up for sale that are an impulse buy. For as much as I talk about having everything lined up, I don't always.

A vendor gets a helfrichi firefish in, and well I bought one.. and another tailspot goby. And the frag system has constantly been reset 76 days as pieces become available, or I'm out of holding tanks for some temporary purchases. My own worst enemy, thought the frag tank.. well I can't wait till the end of summer when I can move those sticks, which many are now mini colonies, into the DT.

I guess the last major thing is since my system is working perfectly fine, lets change controllers! I've been watching how the landscape has finally played out in terms of alkalinity testing, and we'll just say my time with Apex is running short. Thankfully the resale value of most of the kit is high, or will be as much as I've purchased for used (the DOS / DDR / EB's). I want to get alk monitoring up on the DT before the SPS sticks move, and it will be via GHL KH Director. Very close to pulling the trigger on an Alkatronic, but after some talking, long thoughts and what I want to do with my systems, KH D seemed to fall into place better. At one time I was very against the walled garden nature of much of this hobby, but practical use, and ignoring some claims has taught me otherwise. It will be different, but sometimes different is the best thing to have done.

So that has presented a problem of how to re-recreate what I have, or do I start fresh and just go with two distinct systems. There are pros and cons for both, but long-term is where my planning has been focused, so it will ultimately be the DT powered by a ProfiLux 4, and the frag tank a ProfiLux 4e. I kind of wish things were where they are at now when I got into the hobby, but as with everything in life, you can't second-guess past decisions, only learn from them.

Now to spend half an hour before bed watching the tank, and be amazed at what goes on in our little boxes of the ocean.

 

[Kyl]

Finally got around to fixing up the proper screen top. Figures after I bought it they brought out the version with black netting, but .. still happy.

D-D Jump Guard.

Best kit on the market I think, that flush fit just cleans things up so nice, and it managed to handle two cords per corner so flush fit all around now.


dd_jumpguard by Kyl, on Flickr


dd_jumpguard2 by Kyl, on Flickr


dd_jumpguard3 by Kyl, on Flickr

Always amazed at some of the details that come out when you can get really close..


zoanthids by Kyl, on Flickr

The white spot anemone shrimp is still hanging around, in it's daytime home the neon toadstool. At night it climbs into one of the anemones..


toadstool_home by Kyl, on Flickr

Home is what you make it. For the clowns, that is apparently about 10" wide of anemone goodness. They have gotten so large, the primary one is as large as the original when it was moved about 15 months ago then proceeded to split. Might have to remove one of them soon, they're getting huge.


anemones_1year by Kyl, on Flickr

One day I shall remove bubble algae from this tank, it is my last battle. Dinos, cyano, they have died but this last foe has made it personal.

 

[JoshH]

Finally got around to fixing up the proper screen top. Figures after I bought it they brought out the version with black netting, but .. still happy.

D-D Jump Guard.

Best kit on the market I think, that flush fit just cleans things up so nice, and it managed to handle two cords per corner so flush fit all around now.


dd_jumpguard by Kyl, on Flickr


dd_jumpguard2 by Kyl, on Flickr


dd_jumpguard3 by Kyl, on Flickr

Always amazed at some of the details that come out when you can get really close..


zoanthids by Kyl, on Flickr

The white spot anemone shrimp is still hanging around, in it's daytime home the neon toadstool. At night it climbs into one of the anemones..


toadstool_home by Kyl, on Flickr

Home is what you make it. For the clowns, that is apparently about 10" wide of anemone goodness. They have gotten so large, the primary one is as large as the original when it was moved about 15 months ago then proceeded to split. Might have to remove one of them soon, they're getting huge.


anemones_1year by Kyl, on Flickr

One day I shall remove bubble algae from this tank, it is my last battle. Dinos, cyano, they have died but this last foe has made it personal.

I wouldn't mind taking one off your hand someday;):p

Bubble algae can be a bit of a pain. It's my last battle as well but I've just kind of left it as is for now. I haven't had any success with emeralds and can't really use anything else.

 

[Kyl]

Frag tank getting a bit full, some of the frags from 9 months ago are already mini colonies. That and a few other random shots. Tank is really hitting it's stride, but I have to keep on top of alk testing. When a growth spurt hits it's dropping 1 dkh per day, currently testing every two days..


Cali_tort by Kyl, on Flickr


Pink_Mille by Kyl, on Flickr


Green_hulk by Kyl, on Flickr


MCC_Pinky_Dinky by Kyl, on Flickr


Tricolor_valida by Kyl, on Flickr


Red_Diablo by Kyl, on Flickr


Wasabi_Tort by Kyl, on Flickr


Glow_stick by Kyl, on Flickr


Moondust_favia by Kyl, on Flickr


Bonsai by Kyl, on Flickr


Trachy_2 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[NY_Caveman]

Cali_tort by Kyl, on Flickr


Four_seasons by Kyl, on Flickr


Green_hulk by Kyl, on Flickr


MCC_Pinky_Dinky by Kyl, on Flickr


Tricolor_valida by Kyl, on Flickr


Red_Diablo by Kyl, on Flickr


Red_Diablo by Kyl, on Flickr


Wasabi_Tort by Kyl, on Flickr


Glow_stick by Kyl, on Flickr


Moondust_favia by Kyl, on Flickr


Bonsai by Kyl, on Flickr


Trachy_2 by Kyl, on Flickr

Beautiful corals and images.

 

[Kyl]

And another week, another issue with alk in the frag tank. Unfortunately it's due to a DOS head that engages but is not spinning, so fusion has been counting it as working, I have heard it working, but nothing is coming out. I made sure it wasn't a plugged line, even put a new spare cap on and it just flat out doesn't engage the spindle. This DOS is my original one that's probably about 3.5 years old now, not sure if I want to even bother trying to RMA it for repair at this point or just sell it as a halfer since I'm leaving the platform soon. For now, alk is running on the former calcium head, and I'll just top up the calcium dose every few days since it doesn't swing nearly enough to worry about.

Always something... makes me want an alk monitoring solution on that tank too, haha..

In other news, my ESV B-Ionic finally arrived, I'm hoping it simplifies things and avoids that gunking up my vessels which caused alk issue #1. I wasn't expecting it to arrive as a liquid concentrate, but makes sense. Everyone using it locally seems to have good results, so we'll see if there's any difference versus just using bulk soda ash and calcium chloride.

The wrasse are doing great, QT on the helfrichi and tailspot is proceeding. I did unfortunately have to remove the social wrasse from the DT, it would not stop going at the pintail, so he's looking for a new home. I'm not throwing him back to the LFS, it's fully clean and deserves to go to a nice tank. For now he can live in the clean QT tank, and if I still don't find a home past the summer when the fallow period on the frag is up, he can just go live in there since I'm pretty well done with new coral acquisitions.

Still no proceedings on the sump, but I might just have it made out of glass. Had a quote for acrylic from one of the US guys and well, I'm not paying more for a frag tank sump than my DT cost.

I'll leave with the red brain, which is gaining more pink hues and some blueish speckles since it's acquisition.

red_brain_2 by Kyl, on Flickr

 

[Kyl]

Tiny_Tomini by Kyl, on Flickr
A bit beat up, but couldn't pass it up when at the LFS today. About 1.5" long, it's going to live in the frag tank for a few weeks to fatten up and get settled, then QT starts. Picking at everything like a fiend after a couple hours in the tank.

 

[Katrina71]

@najer look at this little guy!

 

[JoshH]

Tiny_Tomini by Kyl, on Flickr
A bit beat up, but couldn't pass it up when at the LFS today. About 1.5" long, it's going to live in the frag tank for a few weeks to fatten up and get settled, then QT starts. Picking at everything like a fiend after a couple hours in the tank.

I like him, looks like a great addition!!!

And on the sump did you manage to get ahold of Adaptive reef atall? I had and will have the same issue when I go to upgrade my sump on my new build. Unfortunately the Dollar, taxes and shipping are just INSANE to have anything made in the states. I will say if the builder is willing to fill out the appropriate paperwork the taxes will be much lower. But it won't save you on the exchange :(

Is there anyone local for glass? I think I might have Concept do my Sump build out of glass as well. Just won't be as colorful as the acrylic options;Sorry

 

[Kyl]

I have not contacted Kyle, mulling Concept but I have to change some things up for them to go forward due to the ATO. Thinking about just removing it and sticking with my 5 gallon Aqua Pak from Canadian Tire, that's what I've been using all along with the Tunze if I stick with glass.

The acrylic option is kind of what I really want, as it can have drain /return bulkhead spots, probe / dosing / heater holders as well. I'm not going to pay a 300% premium for that though.