My Office Waterbox Marine X 35.1 Cube Build
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OP
OP
AFR dosing seems to be stabilizing my Alk around ~8.5-9, 7mL/day (dosing each hour.) Monitoring Alk closely.
I'm going to the mattresses with this cyanobacteria. Blowing off/siphoning all I can easily get to every day. I WILL WIN THIS BATTLE. Also watching anything I can find about best strategies for combating it. Lots of suggestions on dosing other bacteria, so I've started dosing Microbacter7 again. Turning the skimmer off 4 hours a night to let the bacteria grow.
Phosphates are still reading 0 in my daily tests, so I started dosing 1-2mL of NeoPhos daily. I don't want to feed reef chili every single day as that seems to be fueling nuisance GHA in a few spots, and obviously the cyano. I know the algae/bacteria are taking up phosphates, so it's there, and coral growth is going well. I'll just keep on keeping on.
I've added three new corals from my LFS. I picked up some Blue Eyed Blondie Zoas (hate the actual name for these, I refuse to use it), a Forest Fire Digitata 1" frag, and an orange Setosa 1" frag. More SPS and more red/orange!
I really really really want my clowns to be hosted by my rainbow BTA. I've been playing a video for about 8hrs a day on the glass for them. Some days the female will rub up against the BTA's stalk, and nibble on the tentacles, but that's about it - no real hosting yet. I'm being as patient and anti-interventionist as possible.
I'm going to the mattresses with this cyanobacteria. Blowing off/siphoning all I can easily get to every day. I WILL WIN THIS BATTLE. Also watching anything I can find about best strategies for combating it. Lots of suggestions on dosing other bacteria, so I've started dosing Microbacter7 again. Turning the skimmer off 4 hours a night to let the bacteria grow.
Phosphates are still reading 0 in my daily tests, so I started dosing 1-2mL of NeoPhos daily. I don't want to feed reef chili every single day as that seems to be fueling nuisance GHA in a few spots, and obviously the cyano. I know the algae/bacteria are taking up phosphates, so it's there, and coral growth is going well. I'll just keep on keeping on.
I've added three new corals from my LFS. I picked up some Blue Eyed Blondie Zoas (hate the actual name for these, I refuse to use it), a Forest Fire Digitata 1" frag, and an orange Setosa 1" frag. More SPS and more red/orange!
I really really really want my clowns to be hosted by my rainbow BTA. I've been playing a video for about 8hrs a day on the glass for them. Some days the female will rub up against the BTA's stalk, and nibble on the tentacles, but that's about it - no real hosting yet. I'm being as patient and anti-interventionist as possible.
jhuntstl
Valuable Member
You got a hungry tank! Still surprised you're already at 7ml, but then again you may have upwards of 10g of total water volume compared to me. Glad it's stabilizing. Is CA and MAG balancing out too?
I couldn't explain to you exactly why, but I feel like good fresh phyto and my Oxydator has helped keep cyano and other algae in check.
You're doing a great job with your colors! I didn't realize until it was too late that I had way too much green. ;Meh
I couldn't explain to you exactly why, but I feel like good fresh phyto and my Oxydator has helped keep cyano and other algae in check.
You're doing a great job with your colors! I didn't realize until it was too late that I had way too much green. ;Meh
OP
OP
Three month update!
Tank is doing well. My persistent cyano is getting beaten back by competing algae and my vigorous scrubbing/siphoning. There's still some in parts of the tank but it's definitely less than before, and almost none of the sand.
I bought 5280 copepods and started dosing Algae Barn's phytoplankton last week. I think this is helping my cyano battle.
I'm continuing to dose NeoPhos as well, finally seeing readings on my Hanna checker, I got a .08 the other day! I want to hover around 0.1 and I've read that phytoplankton contributes to phosphates, so I'm going to dose alternate days and see where that gets me.
I've moved a number of my coral around. I compared before/after photos of my chalice and it's recedeing noticeably. I've moved it to a higher light/high flow area. Will keep a watchful eye and crossing fingers it recovers. Also moved my golden cyphastrea as it appeared to me lightly bleaching without any noticeable growth. My pink goniopora hasn't shown their polyps in almost two weeks now as well. I'm unsure on what to do, but I think perhaps there's too much light for it (though it has some shade.) Continuing to monitor, but I hope it doesn't die.
My rainbow bubble tip anemone split yesterday! I had a few family members over and it was quite the event with multiple spectators watching the process. Fascinating experience and now I've got a new fun problem on my hands - TWO stinging anemones to manage. I had to move my hammer/green digitata almost immediately because it was stinging both, but of course after I move them it decides to go the opposite direction. My wife wants me to immediately sell one of them, but I'm on the fence. I'm hoping having two anemones might further entice my clownfish to cuddle up with them. I'll be playing some coral musical chairs over the next few days/weeks as the anemones find their happy places.
Tank is doing well. My persistent cyano is getting beaten back by competing algae and my vigorous scrubbing/siphoning. There's still some in parts of the tank but it's definitely less than before, and almost none of the sand.
I bought 5280 copepods and started dosing Algae Barn's phytoplankton last week. I think this is helping my cyano battle.
I'm continuing to dose NeoPhos as well, finally seeing readings on my Hanna checker, I got a .08 the other day! I want to hover around 0.1 and I've read that phytoplankton contributes to phosphates, so I'm going to dose alternate days and see where that gets me.
I've moved a number of my coral around. I compared before/after photos of my chalice and it's recedeing noticeably. I've moved it to a higher light/high flow area. Will keep a watchful eye and crossing fingers it recovers. Also moved my golden cyphastrea as it appeared to me lightly bleaching without any noticeable growth. My pink goniopora hasn't shown their polyps in almost two weeks now as well. I'm unsure on what to do, but I think perhaps there's too much light for it (though it has some shade.) Continuing to monitor, but I hope it doesn't die.
My rainbow bubble tip anemone split yesterday! I had a few family members over and it was quite the event with multiple spectators watching the process. Fascinating experience and now I've got a new fun problem on my hands - TWO stinging anemones to manage. I had to move my hammer/green digitata almost immediately because it was stinging both, but of course after I move them it decides to go the opposite direction. My wife wants me to immediately sell one of them, but I'm on the fence. I'm hoping having two anemones might further entice my clownfish to cuddle up with them. I'll be playing some coral musical chairs over the next few days/weeks as the anemones find their happy places.
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jhuntstl
Valuable Member
Fresh living phyto can be a nutrient export in my experience. My understanding is they load up on nutrients and then can be pulled out via the skimmer. I've seen it recommended to dose phyto when lights are on. Turn off skimmer. Let them spread out and eat for an hour or two. Turn the skimmer back on. That is if you want the best chance of export.
As your bottle of phyto ages, there are diminishing returns. I notice the most tank clarity, algae reduction, and nutrient control the first couple weeks after getting a fresh bottle from @Eldredge. If you give a fresh bottle a smell and compare as the weeks go by, you'll be able to tell when it's dying off. You should be shaking it daily.
Glad your cyano is becoming more manageable!
As your bottle of phyto ages, there are diminishing returns. I notice the most tank clarity, algae reduction, and nutrient control the first couple weeks after getting a fresh bottle from @Eldredge. If you give a fresh bottle a smell and compare as the weeks go by, you'll be able to tell when it's dying off. You should be shaking it daily.
Glad your cyano is becoming more manageable!
OP
OP
Thanks for the advice @jhuntstl! I'm basically following that almost exactly already (based on the Google.) Only thing different is I'm not dosing during the day and am turning the skimmer off for about 4-5hrs in the evening as I dose. Going with @DrTim's advice that having the skimmer on constantly contributes to bacteria demise and cyano outbreaks. So I'm attempting to combine all my no-skimmer periods at once.
I keep the phytoplankton bottle in the fridge and shake each night. Hopefully I can make it last more than the expected 1mo shelf life.
Happy reefing!
I keep the phytoplankton bottle in the fridge and shake each night. Hopefully I can make it last more than the expected 1mo shelf life.
Happy reefing!
jhuntstl
Valuable Member
I don't actually even follow that advice, but I do believe it's probably the best way to export nutrients. I dose before I Ieave for work, a couple hours before lights on. I only turn off my skimmer for 15 minutes. I might start playing around with dosing times and the skimmer since I've had such an increase in nutrients lately.
I take my bottle up to 30 days everytime. I guess the point I'm trying to make is you may find your nutrients rising as the bottle gets older.
Sounds like you've got a solid plan. Your tank is going to love the phyto. I don't think I'd ever run a tank again without it.
I take my bottle up to 30 days everytime. I guess the point I'm trying to make is you may find your nutrients rising as the bottle gets older.
Sounds like you've got a solid plan. Your tank is going to love the phyto. I don't think I'd ever run a tank again without it.
OP
OP
Not much of an update, just a photo of moving the coral around. Will likely move things a bit more over the next week or two. Looking to pick up some more as well with all these November/Black Friday sales, still trying to figure out what I want though. Don't have a ton of room either.
Taken with my new Pixel 6 Pro (S21 Ultra just can't take good photos imo.)
Taken with my new Pixel 6 Pro (S21 Ultra just can't take good photos imo.)
jhuntstl
Valuable Member
Man I literally just got done with a pretty invasive rearrangement myself. I'll post a pic once all the SPS mucus and detritus settles haha.
Your tank is looking exceptional! Zoa garden is filling in beautifully. I was really happy to see in a different thread how much phyto has helped.
Your tank is looking exceptional! Zoa garden is filling in beautifully. I was really happy to see in a different thread how much phyto has helped.
OP
OP
Missed my 4-month update, so here it is a week late.
The cyano is completely gone. It's nowhere to be found. I did weekly siphoning and some minor scrubbing about once a week, but I absolutely attribute the 'fix' to dosing phytoplankton. There have been no other things I've changed with tank maintenance that could explain it. Super happy about that.
Diatoms and or brown algae is back on my sand bed. It's easy to siphon out with my weekly water/sandbed cleaning, but it comes back in 3-5 days. Slight eyesore but I'm not bothered.
Green hair algae has started to show itself. They're little tuffs, maybe about 10 in various spots, each about a 1/4inch to 3/4inch in diameter. I've scrubbed them off decently with a toothbrush attached to the bottom of my siphon tube, but they come back in a few days. They're barely noticeable in pictures so it isn't a big deal, but I don't want them to get out of control, so I scrub whenever I have hands in the tank. My clean up crew is ignoring a few of the tank areas, especially around the zoas, so this is the problem GHA spot.
My nitrates are ~15 and my phosphates are bounces around .00 to .1. I assume this is not helping my GHA. Skimmer runs 21hours a day (3hrs off in the morning after I dose pytho) and is doing amazing things for my pH, which is averaging around 8.3. CO2 media needs to be replaced every 3 weeks - if I wait longer I'll lose about .2-.3 pH. I'm trying to stay on top of it as it's not that expensive to maintain (roughly $7/mo.)
I really want to try my luck at an Acropora. @jhuntstl 's tank is making me acro jealous. I've increased my AI Prime 16 HD's lights to about 90% max for ~3 hours of the day (up from 80%), we'll see how everything accepts the higher par. I've had my diffuser on the light for months now, so I'm not concerned about much melting. Therefore, I plan to purchase two things for this upcoming Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping: a Radion XR15 and 1-2 aquacultured acropora frags.
XR15 reasoning: It has the best 18"x18" coverage and I'm a bit annoyed with my 16HD shadowing. I want to fill this tank with as much coral as possible (hard NO from my wife on getting another tank, lol), and right now there's just too much shadow from one puck. It'll only get worse as things grow out too.
The cyano is completely gone. It's nowhere to be found. I did weekly siphoning and some minor scrubbing about once a week, but I absolutely attribute the 'fix' to dosing phytoplankton. There have been no other things I've changed with tank maintenance that could explain it. Super happy about that.
Diatoms and or brown algae is back on my sand bed. It's easy to siphon out with my weekly water/sandbed cleaning, but it comes back in 3-5 days. Slight eyesore but I'm not bothered.
Green hair algae has started to show itself. They're little tuffs, maybe about 10 in various spots, each about a 1/4inch to 3/4inch in diameter. I've scrubbed them off decently with a toothbrush attached to the bottom of my siphon tube, but they come back in a few days. They're barely noticeable in pictures so it isn't a big deal, but I don't want them to get out of control, so I scrub whenever I have hands in the tank. My clean up crew is ignoring a few of the tank areas, especially around the zoas, so this is the problem GHA spot.
My nitrates are ~15 and my phosphates are bounces around .00 to .1. I assume this is not helping my GHA. Skimmer runs 21hours a day (3hrs off in the morning after I dose pytho) and is doing amazing things for my pH, which is averaging around 8.3. CO2 media needs to be replaced every 3 weeks - if I wait longer I'll lose about .2-.3 pH. I'm trying to stay on top of it as it's not that expensive to maintain (roughly $7/mo.)
I really want to try my luck at an Acropora. @jhuntstl 's tank is making me acro jealous. I've increased my AI Prime 16 HD's lights to about 90% max for ~3 hours of the day (up from 80%), we'll see how everything accepts the higher par. I've had my diffuser on the light for months now, so I'm not concerned about much melting. Therefore, I plan to purchase two things for this upcoming Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping: a Radion XR15 and 1-2 aquacultured acropora frags.
XR15 reasoning: It has the best 18"x18" coverage and I'm a bit annoyed with my 16HD shadowing. I want to fill this tank with as much coral as possible (hard NO from my wife on getting another tank, lol), and right now there's just too much shadow from one puck. It'll only get worse as things grow out too.
jhuntstl
Valuable Member
My mexican turbo(RIP) was a fan of GHA. They have a reputation for knocking things over, but never once was it an issue in my tank. I actually noticed it was quite careful moving throughout the rockscape. I've heard urchins are great if things really get out of hand, but they can do some damage moving stuff around.
Sorry about the "hard NO" haha, but an XR15 compromise is still a win imo.
Hopefully there's some deals this BF/CM. I'll be calling my internet provider and asking they cut service to my house that weekend.
Any particular aquacultured frags that you have in mind?
Sorry about the "hard NO" haha, but an XR15 compromise is still a win imo.
Hopefully there's some deals this BF/CM. I'll be calling my internet provider and asking they cut service to my house that weekend.Any particular aquacultured frags that you have in mind?
OP
OP
GHA is such an oddity in my tank. I have a significant clean up crew and they just don't seem interested in dealing with it (even the emerald crab only lightly touches it and then runs away.) I may have to find a local reefer selling a mexican turbo snail, my two closest LFS' don't have any.My mexican turbo(RIP) was a fan of GHA. They have a reputation for knocking things over, but never once was it an issue in my tank. I actually noticed it was quite careful moving throughout the rockscape. I've heard urchins are great if things really get out of hand, but they can do some damage moving stuff around.
Sorry about the "hard NO" haha, but an XR15 compromise is still a win imo.
Any particular aquacultured frags that you have in mind?
I really like the Acropora selection from Coral Euphoria. It's 100% aquacultured and the options are HUGE. Seeing the PAR care values though, I will absolutely need to get an XR15. My AI 16HD Prime seems to be maxing out at around 220-240 par at the top of my rocks, and I'm not interested in running it at 100% to keep that, the fan is already a bit loud at 90%. I'm eyeing https://coraleuphoria.com/store/corals/acropora/zs-pink-cotton-candy/ or https://coraleuphoria.com/store/corals/acropora/ce-rapunzels-escape/. Plenty of time for me to change those opinions though
OP
OP
Welp, no sales were happening for the XR15 lineup...so I went ahead and pulled the trigger during Thanksgiving weekend.
Installed it today! The app is taking some getting used to (and is definitely buggy like reviews state). Pretty happy with the results though, running at 40% power.
Before:
After new light:
Installed it today! The app is taking some getting used to (and is definitely buggy like reviews state). Pretty happy with the results though, running at 40% power.
Before:
After new light:
OP
OP
I'd forgotten to put it in acclimation mode, so we're at 50% power now, with a 10 day acclimation. I'm going to whip out the PAR meter today as well, see how we look comparatively and will adjust accordingly.
OP
OP
Missed my 5 month update, so here's a 5.5mo.
The bad news:
Green hair algae has become my nemesis. Seriously, there’s GHA everywhere. It’s getting really bad. I’m not sure what to do about it at this point. My nitrates/phosphates are reading 5/0.05 with some +/- fluctuations. I had a skimmer problem for a while ago where it just wasn’t producing much skimmate. I fixed that about a week+ or so ago and am finally getting good yuckness.
So I’ve been doing the general recommendation: scrub a dub-dub. Using a toothbrush on everything (and then siphoning), incorporating more water changes. Obviously the scrubbing significantly helps, but only for a few days - then the GHA is back. I stupidly got a bit too aggressive with a maintenance scrub and broke my Forest Fire Digitata - had to glue it back together. So dumb and so sad. I'm replacing my filter floss every 3-4 days.
The weird thing is I’m getting GHA on living stuff too. It’s between my zoas, it’s growing on my GSP. There seems to be plenty of it on my coralline too (which I’ve read is not really a thing.)
Am I just in the thick of the ugly phase, or do I need to rethink my nutrient export completely? More CUC? At the moment I have: 8 astraea snails, 3 margarita snails, 3 ceriths, 5 blue hermits, 5 nassarius, 5 bumble bees, and 1 emerald crab.
Oh and to make matters worse, I’m seeing just a smidge of cyanobacteria resurfacing on my sand. *sigh*
Current feeding regiment:
5ml phytoplankton before lights on in the morning
Pellets in the morning (until fish stop eating)
Flakes in the evening (until fish stop eating)
Half a cube of frozen mysis after lights out
The good news
Most things seem to be growing really well. I think literally everything has adapted well to my XR15 Blues. My hammer has split. One of my torches split and the other just spawned the other day. Mushrooms are splitting/spawning. The duncan is insane, with something like 8 heads now. I think the only things struggling are my two birdsnests - I'm 99% sure it's because they're in the path of my powerhead though and I've just got too much flow directly on them. I have been pushing my powerhead higher half inch by half inch over the last fe weeks to combat this.
What's next?
Now that I've got ~300par at the top of my rocks I want to throw in a few acropora. There are a few localish reefers near me that I plan to purchase from. Haven't yet decided on how much I want to spend or which to buy yet. Taking any suggestions!
Current photo
Here's an all-too-blue photo of the tank today. Can't see a ton of the GHA, but trust me it's there. Also a ton on the back left behind the anemone.
The bad news:
Green hair algae has become my nemesis. Seriously, there’s GHA everywhere. It’s getting really bad. I’m not sure what to do about it at this point. My nitrates/phosphates are reading 5/0.05 with some +/- fluctuations. I had a skimmer problem for a while ago where it just wasn’t producing much skimmate. I fixed that about a week+ or so ago and am finally getting good yuckness.
So I’ve been doing the general recommendation: scrub a dub-dub. Using a toothbrush on everything (and then siphoning), incorporating more water changes. Obviously the scrubbing significantly helps, but only for a few days - then the GHA is back. I stupidly got a bit too aggressive with a maintenance scrub and broke my Forest Fire Digitata - had to glue it back together. So dumb and so sad. I'm replacing my filter floss every 3-4 days.
The weird thing is I’m getting GHA on living stuff too. It’s between my zoas, it’s growing on my GSP. There seems to be plenty of it on my coralline too (which I’ve read is not really a thing.)
Am I just in the thick of the ugly phase, or do I need to rethink my nutrient export completely? More CUC? At the moment I have: 8 astraea snails, 3 margarita snails, 3 ceriths, 5 blue hermits, 5 nassarius, 5 bumble bees, and 1 emerald crab.
Oh and to make matters worse, I’m seeing just a smidge of cyanobacteria resurfacing on my sand. *sigh*
Current feeding regiment:
5ml phytoplankton before lights on in the morning
Pellets in the morning (until fish stop eating)
Flakes in the evening (until fish stop eating)
Half a cube of frozen mysis after lights out
The good news
Most things seem to be growing really well. I think literally everything has adapted well to my XR15 Blues. My hammer has split. One of my torches split and the other just spawned the other day. Mushrooms are splitting/spawning. The duncan is insane, with something like 8 heads now. I think the only things struggling are my two birdsnests - I'm 99% sure it's because they're in the path of my powerhead though and I've just got too much flow directly on them. I have been pushing my powerhead higher half inch by half inch over the last fe weeks to combat this.
What's next?
Now that I've got ~300par at the top of my rocks I want to throw in a few acropora. There are a few localish reefers near me that I plan to purchase from. Haven't yet decided on how much I want to spend or which to buy yet. Taking any suggestions!
Current photo
Here's an all-too-blue photo of the tank today. Can't see a ton of the GHA, but trust me it's there. Also a ton on the back left behind the anemone.
jhuntstl
Valuable Member
I think you know I'm generally an add more CUC kind of guy. Whatever eats GHA, add it. More than likely some mexican turbos. I like trochus as well. Past that I think you're doing all you can with manual removal.
Sounds like everything is growing exceptionally well. That should be your measure of success, not some excess GHA! Comparing your latest FTS to your update from a couple months ago really shows it. Looks like both birdsnest are growing. Mine, RIP, took a while to truly settle in before they took off. Did you get rid of your GSP?
I would get a green slimer or other stag. If they like your tank, they tend to encrust fast and get right to growing.
Sounds like everything is growing exceptionally well. That should be your measure of success, not some excess GHA! Comparing your latest FTS to your update from a couple months ago really shows it. Looks like both birdsnest are growing. Mine, RIP, took a while to truly settle in before they took off. Did you get rid of your GSP?
I would get a green slimer or other stag. If they like your tank, they tend to encrust fast and get right to growing.
OP
OP
Yeah, I feel like more CUC is probably the right step. I just put an order in over at ReefCleaners and my new inverts will be arriving next week.
5 | Dwarf Cerith |
5 | |
6 | |
3 | |
2 | |
2 | |
10 | |
4 | |
1 |
It might be overkill, but at this point I have a LOT of algae, so I don't think there's any chance things will go unfed.
I still have the GSP in its same spot as the other photos, it's just angry in the latest. There's a lot of GHA on it and it will only partially open. I'm going to give it a gentle scrub in my next water change.
jhuntstl
Valuable Member
Nice order! There were times I'd set my Mexican Turbo right on top of whatever algae I wanted gone. Worked very well.
Ah gotcha. I can see it now. I took mine out, along with some pretty invasive palys I had. They're all in a holding tank right now. I definitely wanted the palys out, but I'm torn on the GSP. I'm worried it will take over the bare bottom, but my clown is gonna miss it.
OP
OP
Exciting new years, my anemone split again. Seems like it's on about a 3-month cadence (last split was Oct 9.) This time it's easy to see who the 'mother' is as well, as one is tiny and the other is much larger.
Bad news is I think I may have dinos. Measured my nitrates and phosphates at 0 the day after I posted and started to see a lot of bubbles on my algae. Possible I have GHA and Dinos? Don't know but doing my best to raise nutrients again to see if I can fight this off quickly. Running theory is all the GHA gobbled up a ton of my nutrients and I may have been over-skimming.
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Bad news is I think I may have dinos. Measured my nitrates and phosphates at 0 the day after I posted and started to see a lot of bubbles on my algae. Possible I have GHA and Dinos? Don't know but doing my best to raise nutrients again to see if I can fight this off quickly. Running theory is all the GHA gobbled up a ton of my nutrients and I may have been over-skimming.
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