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

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New&no clue

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@New&no clue how did the bubble algae removal go?

Mediocre at best.

I drained the overflow and then used my tweezers and tongs to pull it all out. However, it's in an awkward spot. I'm not very tall nor do I have long arms so reaching in was difficult. I thought I got all it out, but when I changed my filter sock the next day there was some in there, also I saw some pieces floating around the sump which I pulled out. Hopefully I got the majority of it. I also found two bristle worms in there... who know how they got there.
 

fishguy242

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i'll be back ;) catching up:rolleyes::)
 
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I was feeding my corals today... a little tip from a person who learned this the hard way, don't just assume every corals wants or needs to be fed. I use to mix up some mysis shrimp and Reef Roids suck it up and then spray the corals with the force and speed of a Super Soaker. Shockingly most of whom would close in anger, although in my newbie state I thought they were closing to eat the delicious meal I had just shot into their face. It wasn't until watching a video from Tidal Gardens about how corals eat that I realized, 90% of my corals are closing because they are irritated AF at me. Now I turn off the flow and pump and spray in their general direction.

However, the reason for this post is while the pumps were off I took a video of the xenia and sinularia pulsing. There is something about a xenia's rhythmic pulse that just makes me feel calmer.

 
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Over the past couple months I've really had to step up my dosing game. In the beginning water changes were fine, and then maybe dosing once a week, to a couple times a week, and now it seem daily... however, I keep forgetting to do it. I would love to do kalkwasser in my ATO. However, because I have a gravity feed ATO I've heard it doesn't work. Then I had an idea. What if I set up a jug with kalkwasser and a siphon hose into the tank. I could keep the line in the jug an inch above the bottom.

I took apart one of my BRS 2-part jugs to do this. I also used some spare air line I have as well as a valve. First I'm going to test that it doesn't decrease salinity any so I'm starting with just fresh RODI water.

2part does.jpg


I'm going to check salinity again tonight and see where I'm at.
 
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This weekend was a little crazy. For starters it was the WWC live sale. I went trying to get some thing for my other tank... but of course I bought some for this as well. I will update later this week with pictures. However, in the madness of a live sale something disturbing was happening in my tank. SOME ATE THE CESPITULARIA :eek: ;Vamp. WHAT?!?!?

On Friday it was really sad looking, I didn't think much of it. Saturday I noticed it seemed like it shrinking, and by Sunday it was almost gone.

This is one month ago
Right Side 6.30.20.jpg


And here it is on Saturday and Sunday
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As you can see the Kenya Tree isn't looking so good either. I don't know if it was really eaten, or if the Cespitularia and the Kenya went to battle? On Sunday I pulled what little was left out of the tank.
 
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Month end Update

Or should I say day 597 of the Cyanobacteria battle. Spoiler alert I’m losing, the red slim of death is winning. But I haven’t given up yet, although I am getting close to selling my soul to the devil. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I siphon out, or where my Nitrates and phosphates are at it just keeps coming back. I’ve tried blacking out the tank, I’ve tried to scrub the rocks, but it just comes back each time. I keep reading that chemiclean can help, but I’ve been avoiding it due to fear of it removing the cyano but bringing on something else. However, I’m at the point where I may just try it. It has moved from the sand to the rocks and twice I’ve had to remove my zoa rock and flush it with water to remove the cyano mats covering them. Hammer rock has been taken over as well as my floating rock that I wanted to start some SPS on.

In other news the Kenya tree melted away too. I think there was some nasty chemical warfare between those two because my other softies on that rock all closed and started to shed. Both the sinularias have shed and opened back up, the toadstool is still struggling. I’ve done several water changes and changed out the carbon so I’m hoping it comes around.

Lastly my fire fish is being torment by bristle worms. The cave he lives in is full of them and the last couple days he’s been out of the cave hiding under my frag rack. His fins look a little beat up so I’m going to have to try to catch some and clear out that right rock some.

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My experience with chemiclean has been good. Quickly removed the cyano. I think I used maybe twice in the first year and a half. Second time I think I did a heavy dose and let it sit an extra day before starting my water changes. Never had problems with an imbalance of any kind afterward. Not saying it can’t happen. Just my personal experience. Good luck though!
 
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My experience with chemiclean has been good. Quickly removed the cyano. I think I used maybe twice in the first year and a half. Second time I think I did a heavy dose and let it sit an extra day before starting my water changes. Never had problems with an imbalance of any kind afterward. Not saying it can’t happen. Just my personal experience. Good luck though!

The more I read about it the more comfortable I am feeling with using it. I'm such a granola mom though, so I like the natural approach to things... but sometimes you just have to admit defeat and bring out the big guns. I did the same thing with my kids no sugar, no screen time, until they hit 1 and then all bets are off.
 

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Haha! It’s hard to enforce the screen time limits when schools give you kids devices instead of books for learning. No sugar or screen time is a great goal though. As for the chemiclean, at least it’s not a continuing thing. Once it does its job you can move on and let your reef balance it’s self out
 
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Haha! It’s hard to enforce the screen time limits when schools give you kids devices instead of books for learning. No sugar or screen time is a great goal though. As for the chemiclean, at least it’s not a continuing thing. Once it does its job you can move on and let your reef balance it’s self out

yeah, I gave up on the sugar and screen time a while ago. You have such high goals as a new mom. I guess it’s the same for being a tank mom. I love my CUC, but they’re just no match. I ordered chemiclean from BRS it should be here Friday
 

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When things started dying I had multiple people suggest stray voltage in the tank. I had a co-work come check it out and add a grounding probe. Well he's not a saltwater guy and he said there was voltage but it didn't seem like much. So I was nervous maybe he missed something and bought my own voltage meter to check. My tank does have some voltage, but it seems it normal for tanks to have some running through it because of all the electrical stuff in the tank. As I was plugging and unplugging equipment I realized what a mess it was. I also don't have anything plugged into a GFCI plug. So I decided to redo all my electrical stuff, get some GFCI plugs and possible some sort of board to hold everything. I wasn't going to replace the outlet as it's behind the tank, but I did buy a couple of these on Amazon.



Next I was going to drill into my stand to mount my power strips but that made me a little nervous so instead I decided to buy some peg board. I found some pink peg board and bought that


I then split everything in the water in half and ran two GFCI power strips. Each power strip had a heater, and two power heads on it. That way if one trips the other will still be able to support the tank. Lastly I put the lights on a third non GFCI power strip.

It's a lot more organzied and I now know where everything is plugged into, which should make water changes a little easier.

Control Pannel.jpg

I love the pink peg board, I wish I had thought of that...I just screwed my power strip into my stand, and of course my screws were just a bit too long and peaked through....I had to unscrew them, trim them and screw them back in...Only a small blemish in the stand but no too bad...I like the powerstrip with all the switches, very nice, did that come from Amazon??
 
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I love the pink peg board, I wish I had thought of that...I just screwed my power strip into my stand, and of course my screws were just a bit too long and peaked through....I had to unscrew them, trim them and screw them back in...Only a small blemish in the stand but no too bad...I like the powerstrip with all the switches, very nice, did that come from Amazon??

Thanks, initially I was going to screw the power stripes into the wall as well... but man the sides are strong, so this was easier for me. I got the power strip out of a big bin of cords my husband hoards in our basement. I liked it because I can turn things on and off (like my return pump, or skimmer) without having to unplug them.
 

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I have a Current USA 6009 which is 1050GPH, however, when I was setting up the tank I was reading that because the stock plumbing is 3/4" and not 1 or 1 1/2" that the flow is really reduced. And while you may have a pump that is rated for higher, because of the smaller piping the friction in the pipe would decreased it a lot. So I added two additional power heads into the tank so I have a total of 4. Now, I'm not a plumber so I could be remember that wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what people were saying.
you are correct on the reduced flow...Each pipe size has a maximum flow you can flow through it. i found this flow info for reference. Though if you look at the chart, 3/4" should be fine with a max flow of 1050 GPH with about a 400 GPH cushion before you max out. One thing that is not listed is that elbows can reduce flow depending on how many you have from the outlet of the pump to where it hits the tank...
 

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Thanks, initially I was going to screw the power stripes into the wall as well... but man the sides are strong, so this was easier for me. I got the power strip out of a big bin of cords my husband hoards in our basement. I liked it because I can turn things on and off (like my return pump, or skimmer) without having to unplug them.
anymore of those available from your big bin LOL
 

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Yes, you can have several hammers together and create a garden. Here are a couple pictures from google. This was what I was hopping for with that rock in the back. I'm hopeful the blue one will turn around and the pink one will continue to improve.
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I agree with the goby, he was a pain in the butt but my sand was beautiful... until it wasn't. I would like another one, but I'm just not ready, I would feel like I was replacing him. I think if I get another it would be a Bella instead of a Diamond. For now I think I will try to find some CUC that I can use to help with sand cleanliness.

I've looked at the Hawkfish before. I'm not sure I want a percher though. I have a Blenny who perches and I'm not sure I want another. Possibly something that hangs out on the sand. I would love to get some schooling fish, but I think I would need a bigger tank for that.
I was looking at hawk fish but I have a cleaner shrimp and I am not looking for my cleaner shrimp to be the hawk fishes best meal......
 

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I was feeding my corals today... a little tip from a person who learned this the hard way, don't just assume every corals wants or needs to be fed. I use to mix up some mysis shrimp and Reef Roids suck it up and then spray the corals with the force and speed of a Super Soaker. Shockingly most of whom would close in anger, although in my newbie state I thought they were closing to eat the delicious meal I had just shot into their face. It wasn't until watching a video from Tidal Gardens about how corals eat that I realized, 90% of my corals are closing because they are irritated AF at me. Now I turn off the flow and pump and spray in their general direction.

However, the reason for this post is while the pumps were off I took a video of the xenia and sinularia pulsing. There is something about a xenia's rhythmic pulse that just makes me feel calmer.


Yeah direct super soaker approach does not make a happy coral. I use my feeding baster to lightly cloud above the coral and allow it to float down though now that I have more coral, I have been mixing up the powder, pour across the tank with the filter off, then shut off the wave pumps for a bit to let the food settle and allow the coral to capture and eat before turning all the flow back on.
 
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anymore of those available from your big bin LOL

I think all the good stuff is used on my tanks or his gaming room. I believe all that is left in there now is HDMI cables, ethernet cords, and handfuls of chargers for things that we don't even own anymore.
 

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I think all the good stuff is used on my tanks or his gaming room. I believe all that is left in there now is HDMI cables, ethernet cords, and handfuls of chargers for things that we don't even own anymore.
Yup I have one of those bins full I thinks I might use....LOL Um yeah really I need to just throw it away and if I need it, most of them are cheap to just buy new.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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