My First Softy Tank... which has turned into a mixed reef

[New&no clue]

Month End Tank Update time:

Man I feel like a lot happened this month... and it's a short month. The sad news is I lost my torch. It was looking bad for about a week and then took a drastic turn south. I tried to do some iodine dips in case it was a bacterial infections but it only seemed to make it worse. It slowly melted away . Thankfully nothing else in the tank seems to be affected so hopefully it was isolate to just the torch.

I have been testing... retesting... incorrectly testing... hopefully now correctly testing all month. My parameters were on the low end and so I decided to start dosing when I noticed my Phosphates were crazy high. I decided to hold off on dosing anything until I got them under control... one thing at a time. While they are still high (0.28) they are no where near what they were and I feel like the yo-yoing has gotten less and less so I'm happy I'm moving in the right direction there. Here are the things I did to drop them down, and the things I will continue to do to hopefully keep them at a good amount;

1. Started by doing several large water changes over a week period- was able to drop it down to .36, hasn't gone above .46 after the water change.
2. Added phosguard into my sump, one bag in a media cup where the filter socks are, one bag in my return chamber
3. Cut feeding back; feeding less frozen food, rinsing frozen food when feeding, taking Nori out and night and not letting it sit in tank, reducing the feeding of reef roids.
4. Tested RODI water and fresh salt mix to see if high phosphates are starting there, didn't see any.
5. Cleaned bubble trap in sump, started changing filter socks every two days, cleaned covers on my power heads.

So now that I felt I had phosphates manageable I went back to testing the rest of the tank parameters and found that now... of course... my low parameters are now high;Facepalm.Seriously??? Seriously!!!! Here are my current numbers

Nitrate 10
Phosphate .26
Calcium 490
Alkalinity 8.4
Magnesium 1440

I'm wondering if it was a bad bag of salt. I just opened a new one after I did all those water changes. I mixed it before I added it to the water. I'll have to make a new batch and test were it's starting at. Other than that I'm not sure why its so high.

 

[New&no clue]

Also, just for fun, here is a video of my xenias and pulsing sinularia. I know people think xenias are weeds, but i just love to watch them pulse. My sinularia is starting to pulse more and more as it grows, still not like what it does in other tanks I've seen, but hopefully will get there.

 

[Magellan]

FWIW- I’m so bad at testing, I get the instructions out and look at them every time, and still end up testing Ca and Dkh twice just to make sure. Sorry about your torch, euphyllia can be strange. The rest of your tank looks really good and healthy!

 

[New&no clue]

OMG BUBBLE ALGAE!!!

This is a life lesson... when you get a cheap frag that has bubble algae on it, throw it away.

Now it’s everywhere.;Doctor

 

[Jrod381]

OMG BUBBLE ALGAE!!!

This is a life lesson... when you get a cheap frag that has bubble algae on it, throw it away.

Now it’s everywhere.;Doctor

I Always dip all corals no matter where the come from. Even then you can still end up with pest like vermitid snails

 

[New&no clue]

I Always dip all corals no matter where the come from. Even then you can still end up with pest like vermitid snails

I do too. This particular coral in question came from WWC. Their acclimation instructions say not to drip. Again shouldn’t have listened. After it had been in the tank a couple hours on the frag rack I notice the bubble algae. I pulled it out. Took it off the frag plug, cut the part that had the bubble algae and put it back... obviously it didn’t help. So I guess I learned two lessons that day; always dip and toss things that don’t look good. These Zoas aren’t the frag in question, they are just innocent bystanders.

 

[Magellan]

OMG BUBBLE ALGAE!!!

This is a life lesson... when you get a cheap frag that has bubble algae on it, throw it away.

Now it’s everywhere.;Doctor

You could get an emerald crab or 2, that looks like a buffet line for those guys!

 

[New&no clue]

You could get an emerald crab or 2, that looks like a buffet line for those guys!

definitely considering it. Although I’ve heard mixed reviews if they really eat it. Reef Cleaners guarantees theirs does... but of all the stuff I’ve bought from them half has died, so not sure if I should go there or else where

 

[Magellan]

definitely considering it. Although I’ve heard mixed reviews if they really eat it. Reef Cleaners guarantees theirs does... but of all the stuff I’ve bought from them half has died, so not sure if I should go there or else where

LFS isn’t an option? I avoid ordering online, but I’m fortunate to have a great local store.

 

[New&no clue]

LFS isn’t an option? I avoid ordering online, but I’m fortunate to have a great local store.

The closest one to me doesn't have any... their invert selection is very limited. I do get all my fish from them and I've yet to have a problem(knock on wood). There is another further away that I like, and that has emerald crabs... however, the owner there has assured me that emerald crabs do no eat bubble algae and it is a myth that was started years back that has just been carried on. Now the owner like to share a lot of her opinions as facts, so I take what she says with a grain of salt. However, I'm left wondering is she right, or is it just the emerald crabs she has don't eat it... maybe the specific type. And if that's the case do I want to buy them as she seem utterly convinced that they will not eat it?

I'm also... and mostly the reason I haven't bought some already... terrified they will go after corals or eventually my fish.

 

[Magellan]

The closest one to me doesn't have any... their invert selection is very limited. I do get all my fish from them and I've yet to have a problem(knock on wood). There is another further away that I like, and that has emerald crabs... however, the owner there has assured me that emerald crabs do no eat bubble algae and it is a myth that was started years back that has just been carried on. Now the owner like to share a lot of her opinions as facts, so I take what she says with a grain of salt. However, I'm left wondering is she right, or is it just the emerald crabs she has don't eat it... maybe the specific type. And if that's the case do I want to buy them as she seem utterly convinced that they will not eat it?

I'm also... and mostly the reason I haven't bought some already... terrified they will go after corals or eventually my fish.

I think you’re 100% right - if she is convinced emerald crabs won’t eat bubble algae, hers don’t eat it.

however...one simple google search for “emerald crab bubble algae” and her beliefs are easily disproven. Here’s a video of emerald crabs eating bubble algae...

when I was getting my tank set up, i ALMOST pulled the trigger on one. not because I needed their services, but because i thought they were cool! I asked around, got mostly positive reviews, but ultimately decided my 28g tank was just a little to small for one of those guys. Personally, if it was my tank I would get one or two, closely monitor their behavior and not be afraid to take them to a store/give them away.

this past week I was at a fellow reefers house and he had 2 peacefully existing in a 90g tank with lots of fish, corals, and even a baby eel! Fully grown too.

 

[Nanorock1970]

definitely considering it. Although I’ve heard mixed reviews if they really eat it. Reef Cleaners guarantees theirs does... but of all the stuff I’ve bought from them half has died, so not sure if I should go there or else where

I have had good results with my emerald crabs getting rid of the stuff so that is the plus. I had some small ones before and they behaved. unfortunately I had a spike in my Nitrate for too long and the cycle of dead snails followed by the emerald crabs did not help me fix the issue fast enough. My tank is back under control with lots of water changes and I got 2 more emerald crabs. One small, maybe 1/2 inch or so and a big one, more like 1 inch. Well the big one is sneaky. tries to attack my firefish when it darts into its cave hole at the bottom of the tank. also tries to attach my Nassarius Snails when they pop out of the sand for feeding time....I have found that this stuff happens less when they are more feed but I think he might be going back to the LFS....

 

[New&no clue]

however...one simple google search for “emerald crab bubble algae” and her beliefs are easily disproven.

I tried to watch the video but for some reason it won’t load so I searched for it... I don’t think I ever found it, but I watch about an hour of different videos on bubble algae and ways to remove. Emerald crabs always seem to be best. Now I need to find some. As I’ve said I don’t really want to buy for the LFS convinced they don’t eat it. Maybe my other one can order me some. I’ll have to check with them this week. Right now I’m going to try manual removal.

 

[New&no clue]

got 2 more emerald crabs. One small, maybe 1/2 inch or so and a big one, more like 1 inch.

Did the 1” one start smaller and grow, or did you buy him that size?

 

[Magellan]

I tried to watch the video but for some reason it won’t load so I searched for it... I don’t think I ever found it, but I watch about an hour of different videos on bubble algae and ways to remove. Emerald crabs always seem to be best. Now I need to find some. As I’ve said I don’t really want to buy for the LFS convinced they don’t eat it. Maybe my other one can order me some. I’ll have to check with them this week. Right now I’m going to try manual removal.

I’m sure this is an atypical experience, but I found some bubble algae growing on my heater when my tank was much younger. I pulled it off and never saw any ever again...

 

[Nanorock1970]

Did the 1” one start smaller and grow, or did you buy him that size?

He was that big. I’ve only had the new ones for about a month. The ones I had before were both maybe 1/2 or smaller. They seam to not grow to fast. My cleaner shrimp molts almost every other month but I have not seen the crabs molt before and I had them for about 9 months before my cleanup crew croaked all at once( astria snails from my first go round before knowing what to get).
I recommend trying to go to a LFS and pick them out. Some at my store don’t look so hot because I think they pick on one another and so you can pick the small ones out. At most for your tank 1 or two. Less is more, they will find it.

 

[Nanorock1970]

I’m sure this is an atypical experience, but I found some bubble algae growing on my heater when my tank was much younger. I pulled it off and never saw any ever again...

I’ve heard if you pop the bubbles you have the chance to spread it?

 

[Magellan]

I’ve heard if you pop the bubbles you have the chance to spread it?

Seems reasonable, but they didn’t pop. Weirdly hard and solid, strangest algae I’ve seen or touched. Almost like plastic.

 

[New&no clue]

That was what kept coming up in the videos I was watching that bubble algae is very hard to get rid of all together because if the bubble pops the spores will travel around the tank and start growing elsewhere. One of the things with emerald crabs is they will, most likely, pop the bubbles when eating them... however, they will just continue to eat what starts to grow elsewhere. Manual removal is best, if you can get the whole bubble without it popping. I have been able to remove some without popping.. but not all, which is why I think its getting worse.

My plan is to wait until my next water change and as I am removing the bubbles put my siphon hose right next to where I am working at. This way hopefully if a bubble pops the spores will be sucked up in the siphon. Next problem is if you can't remove the whole bubble it will start to grow again. So my plan is to use some super glue and epoxy to put on top of the rocks where it is growing to hopeful prevent it from coming back in those areas. Lastly I'm going to go check with my other LFS if they can order some small emerald crabs in for me.

For my poor zoas that have it on them, I think instead of trying to pull them off, I'm just going to cut that section of zoas out and throw it away. Hopefully that will remove it completely from there and the zoas will be happy again.

 

[mariano]

While writing this and looking at pictures I was struck by how different my rocks look today

The top picture is first day in the tank, the bottom picture is today. It’s fun to see the color change in them.

your clowns are so cute , whats the width of your tank?