Lurking danger 75g Dragon Lair

[vlangel]

Here are some pics of the lily pipes.

 

[vlangel]

Here is a 6 second video on the surface skimmer doing its thing.

 

[vlangel]

I added the poly-filter to the canister yesterday. The tank seems just a little off, with some coral not fully open and I am having sandbed uglies again (looks like cyano this time). So I am hoping the poly-filter will remove some PO4 and get the nutrients in a better balance. Also if the old nanostream was leaking metals the poly-filter will show that. (I doubt that is the case because I took it apart and everything looks good in it).

The alkalinity is slowly coming down, 11.4 with Salifert.

I am getting the QT ready for getting new fish in Sept. I would like to grow macroalgae in it too so I put a grow light over it.

 

[vlangel]

My alkalinity continues to come down. Its about 10.2 now which is a big improvement. I will probably open the canister on Wednesday to see what the poly-filter looks like. Hopefully it didn't have to pull anything funky out (like heavy metals) but just PO4 and nutrient stuff. If thats the case then I will switch back to the nanostream 6045 so I can ripple the surface of the water a little more.

I am starting to see signs in Perky, the old Percula clownfish that make me think he's feeling his age which is around 15 -17 yrs old. I've had him almost 5 yrs and he was 10-12 yrs when he was given to me. He seems to at times have swim bladder issues where he is stuck near the surface of the water. Its not all the time however. Also this morning he was scratching on the sand so he may not have an adequate slime coating to fight off ich. None of the other fish are manifesting any symptoms so I don't think ich is in any higher concentrations than usual, I just think that Perky does not have the immune capacity that he used to, to fight it off. He looks fine now, has good color and no ragged fins or scales that look odd and he is still eating well. So nothing bad is probably imminent but it appears that a decline has started.

 

[kevgib67]

My alkalinity continues to come down. Its about 10.2 now which is a big improvement. I will probably open the canister on Wednesday to see what the poly-filter looks like. Hopefully it didn't have to pull anything funky out (like heavy metals) but just PO4 and nutrient stuff. If thats the case then I will switch back to the nanostream 6045 so I can ripple the surface of the water a little more.

I am starting to see signs in Perky, the old Percula clownfish that make me think he's feeling his age which is around 15 -17 yrs old. I've had him almost 5 yrs and he was 10-12 yrs when he was given to me. He seems to at times have swim bladder issues where he is stuck near the surface of the water. Its not all the time however. Also this morning he was scratching on the sand so he may not have an adequate slime coating to fight off ich. None of the other fish are manifesting any symptoms so I don't think ich is in any higher concentrations than usual, I just think that Perky does not have the immune capacity that he used to, to fight it off. He looks fine now, has good color and no ragged fins or scales that look odd and he is still eating well. So nothing bad is probably imminent but it appears that a decline has started.

Sounds like he’s still fighting the good fight Dawn!

 

[vlangel]

Sounds like he’s still fighting the good fight Dawn!

Yes, I would say he is!

 

[vlangel]

I am on the brink of our 10 day motorcycle vacation. That always means getting the tank in as good of shape as possible beforehand. I checked the poly-filter and the good news is there is no indication of heavy metal contamination. It did show tan color which indicates nutrients which is what I would expect. It did reduce NO3 down to 10 and I expect PO4 to be less too but haven't tested yet. Alk is still coming down at 9.6. I wished the sandbed 'uglies' were less than they are but it is what it is. In general it seems like the tank is ready for this trip. The equipment is operating very well and I have all my redundancies in place like aeration from 2 different circuits and the Penn Plax battery backup if both of those fail. The heater is plugged into the ink bird controller and the auto flake feeder is filled. So its off to Nova Scotia and talk to you all in September!

 

[kevgib67]

I am on the brink of our 10 day motorcycle vacation. That always means getting the tank in as good of shape as possible beforehand. I checked the poly-filter and the good news is there is no indication of heavy metal contamination. It did show tan color which indicates nutrients which is what I would expect. It did reduce NO3 down to 10 and I expect PO4 to be less too but haven't tested yet. Alk is still coming down at 9.6. I wished the sandbed 'uglies' were less than they are but it is what it is. In general it seems like the tank is ready for this trip. The equipment is operating very well and I have all my redundancies in place like aeration from 2 different circuits and the Penn Plax battery backup if both of those fail. The heater is plugged into the ink bird controller and the auto flake feeder is filled. So its off to Nova Scotia and talk to you all in September!

Have a blast!

 

[vlangel]

2 pics before we leave since the water almost sparkles.

 

[vlangel]

We arrived home Monday (correction: Tuesday) evening and all was well with the aquarium. Coral and fish seemed fine in spite of a lot of cyano. I finally did a 10g water change today and tested alkalinity, (which was higher than I would have expected at 11.2). I removed the dosing lines and am gonna let it get used up a bit until its in the 7-8.5 range. Still, I am pleased that things are ok, with us being gone 10 days.

 

[vlangel]

Checked alk and NO3 today and pretty happy with alk at 7.7 and NO3 around 10. I did not check PO4 because I know that it is high so I put a bag of PhosGuard in my intank filter. I have Rowaphos on order from Amazon as well as a new Turbelle nanostream to add more flow. I am hoping the nanostream will help with the persistent cyano but more flow would be good anyway.

The most exciting news is I am on the lookout for a yellow banded possom wrasse. I really could use a fish to control pests and I think a possum wrasse is a good fit for my peaceful tank. I would like a combtooth blenny also but I'd like to get the wrasse first since they can be quite shy.

I am happy with the tank even though there is room for improvement.

 

[kevgib67]

Checked alk and NO3 today and pretty happy with alk at 7.7 and NO3 around 10. I did not check PO4 because I know that it is high so I put a bag of PhosGuard in my intank filter. I have Rowaphos on order from Amazon as well as a new Turbelle nanostream to add more flow. I am hoping the nanostream will help with the persistent cyano but more flow would be good anyway.

The most exciting news is I am on the lookout for a yellow banded possom wrasse. I really could use a fish to control pests and I think a possum wrasse is a good fit for my peaceful tank. I would like a combtooth blenny also but I'd like to get the wrasse first since they can be quite shy.

I am happy with the tank even though there is room for improvement.

Happy for you Dawn!

 

[vlangel]

I went to my friend's house to double check my parameters and I am happy that my tests are all pretty accurate. I was especially worried about my IO swing arm hydrometer (that is probably 20 yrs old) but it was quite close at 1.024 when the real value was 1.026. I have a glass hydrometer that was dead on so now I know that I can always calibrate the swing arm hydrometer against the glass hydrometer.

My alk was 7.7, my nitrates were 5 and he only had a low level phosphate test so my water was higher than it could read (no surprise there!). He also tested my calcium 440 and magnesium at 1240 which I never test. I will dose a little magnesium to get it up a little higher.

He also sent me home with a meteor shower cyphastrea and a Leng Si montipora so it was a good day for me!

 

[kevgib67]

Good morning Dawn!

 

[vlangel]

Good morning Dawn!

Good morning Kevin!

 

[kevgib67]

I went to my friend's house to double check my parameters and I am happy that my tests are all pretty accurate. I was especially worried about my IO swing arm hydrometer (that is probably 20 yrs old) but it was quite close at 1.024 when the real value was 1.026. I have a glass hydrometer that was dead on so now I know that I can always calibrate the swing arm hydrometer against the glass hydrometer.

My alk was 7.7, my nitrates were 5 and he only had a low level phosphate test so my water was higher than it could read (no surprise there!). He also tested my calcium 440 and magnesium at 1240 which I never test. I will dose a little magnesium to get it up a little higher.

He also sent me home with a meteor shower cyphastrea and a Leng Si montipora so it was a good day for me!

Great news! I also use a swing arm. It’s what I used when I first started in the mid nineties and it served me well for 16 years so when I started back up almost five years ago I thought why not, it’s easy.

 

[vlangel]

Great news! I also use a swing arm. It’s what I used when I first started in the mid nineties and it served me well for 16 years so when I started back up almost five years ago I thought why not, it’s easy.

Folks don't seem to like them. I clean mine out regularly because I know as salt creep can cause a higher reading but they are so quick and easy to use and mine has served me well a long time.

 

[EricR]

Folks don't seem to like them. I clean mine out regularly because I know as salt creep can cause a higher reading but they are so quick and easy to use and mine has served me well a long time.

I have a couple of old swing harm hydrometers that both compare pretty well to TM hydrometer.
I don't actually use them anymore but think they're a good, budget option if needed (assuming you don't just happen to get a bad/flawed one).