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

fishguy242

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sorry to see,poss combo of both..bjd ,we seen it,lights poss burning/burnt others,good to hear lil' guy putting fingerprints on tank :) try to keep us updated,like to see params,do you have apex/etc with records of params?
 
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New&no clue

New&no clue

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sorry to see,poss combo of both..bjd ,we seen it,lights poss burning/burnt others,good to hear lil' guy putting fingerprints on tank :) try to keep us updated,like to see params,do you have apex/etc with records of params?

I have aquarimate here are the last two weeks.

1609712725881.png
 

fishguy242

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numbers look good,any chance ph monitor? or when you test,do at same time of day every time you do
 

fishguy242

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more help!
more help!
everyone let's save these coral's:)
any further decline i'm fixin' to tag in a calvary;)
 
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numbers look good,any chance ph monitor? or when you test,do at same time of day every time you do
I’m gonna be honest, I haven’t tested ph in some time. My refugium light runs opposite my tank light so I’ve let that slack.
I always test Sunday around 9-9:30 after I’ve put the kids to bed. When I first started dosing I test every other day until I was getting consistent numbers. Now I’ve gone to once a week.
 
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More fish!
More fish!

Now, everyone together... "More fish!"
I don’t know what else to add, on paper it seems full. I have the following
2 clowns
Coral beauty
Yellow tang
Blue mandrian
Fairy wrasse
Starry blenny
Spotted goby

any suggestions on what else to put in?
 

fishguy242

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this looks like started end of Nov.along with dosing adjustments prior ;)
 

1ocean

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An Amazon box of smiles was delivered today with my new Current wave makers and pump. :)
3826588C-CCAD-4721-A4D5-CF4727AF6BE4.jpeg

My Current lights came with these really great straps that are used for cord control and organization. They work really well and I was happy to see another set included with the pump and wave makers.
Hi Yes I love these pumps and light set up. I have the whole system on my 140 gallon which I set up in May 2020. But we are already began upgrading to a 300 (96x30x24) but I will be using three Ecohtech Gen 5's and two Kessils for this monster.
The 300 will replace the 140 gallon...
I started the project in Nov 2020.
Here is the link.

I will be following your progress.
 

Magellan

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leopard wrasse,tomini tang??
A Mckoskers wrasse is an easy addition as well.

I have the same stylo, and mine looked like that for a couple weeks after I changed out my MH bulb. You could also try fragging a piece of the healthy part just to be safe (easiest coral to frag ever, just break off a branch and glue it to a plug).

params look good, and the massive healthy anemone is a great testament to overall water/light quality imo. Wondering if there is another explanation- Have you noticed your coral beauty nipping at any of your corals?
 

fishguy242

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rethinking wrasse ,pod population,there is a mandy in there ;)
@Magellan ,hi ,i know ,stumped ,thinkin'bjd took out a couple ,and hopefully just adjusting to lights.
@MERKEY ;)stick around:cool:
 

vetteguy53081

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I don’t know what else to add, on paper it seems full. I have the following
2 clowns
Coral beauty
Yellow tang
Blue mandrian
Fairy wrasse
Starry blenny
Spotted goby

any suggestions on what else to put in?
Tomini tang
firefish goby
tail spot blenny (eats algae)
 

vetteguy53081

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Mag slightly high ( go to 1300)
alk a tad low (450)
Do you calibrate your salinity checker? False salinity would cause a whole heap of issues
When was last time you changed RODI filters?
Assure Phosphates arent elevated

In a mixed reef you want to run a pouch of chemipure blue as both LPS and SPS release toxins that affect each other and can cause released toxin to affect each other

May not be a bad idea to take a sizable sample of water to a trusted LFS and have them do some checks for you to compare with your readings
Another consideration would be to do an ICP test to get your total water analyzed.
 
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Magellan

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rethinking wrasse ,pod population,there is a mandy in there ;)
@Magellan ,hi ,i know ,stumped ,thinkin'bjd took out a couple ,and hopefully just adjusting to lights.
@MERKEY ;)stick around:cool:
Good point about the leopard, (with a mandarin in there already!) but the mckoskers won’t really eat many pods. I just ordered one myself, they are absolutely beautiful fish!
 
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Thanks for all the responses, that's not a bad idea to get the water tested at my LFS, just to double-check.

Several months ago, I was having an issue with cyano, and I got an ICP test to see if there was anything extra going on. It ended up turning itself around, and I never used the test, so now may be an excellent time to use it.

I recently had an issue with my RODI unit. It was making very little water, and almost all was going out of the black tube. I checked all the filters to see if there was a clog there, I didn't see one, but I changed them while doing that. My TDS meter reads 0.

In my sump, I have a bag of carbon in one of my filter sock spots. I change it out every couple of weeks. I know that softies can participate in chemical warfare, so I've had that going since I started adding corals.

As far as more fish go, I would love to add some more wrasses; I just want to stay away from pod eating ones, but I've read the wrasse lover thread, and it seems there are a lot of options. I've also thought about another goby as they are fun to watch. It's funny you mention a tailspot blenny. I just got one for the 30-gallon tank, put it in QT, and it vanished. I don't know if it jumped, died, and was eaten by the giant bristle worm in there, or alive and well and hiding in the piece of live rock.

I have gotten quotes for my 6-foot tank, which seems pretty reasonable (I mean reasonable for saltwater water), so I am moving down the path of getting a new tank. I will probably wait to add fish until that is up and running.
 
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Another thought on lighting that I had, my T5s were two coral+ and two Blue+. I had watched a video and thought about switching to Purple+. When I changed all my bulbs, I got two Coral+, a Blue+, and a Purple+ to see if I liked it better (spoiler alert: I do not). Could switch from a Blue to Purple cause issues? I'd actually love to switch that Purple back to Blue, but worried now that I will make matters worse.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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