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howaboutme
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Appreciate it but this one is all me. Hoping it pulls through but yes to more frags in the future....
My SPS Waterbox Peninsula Mini 15
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Appreciate it but this one is all me. Hoping it pulls through but yes to more frags in the future....
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howaboutme
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Good news in the world of dating. Clownfish mating dance was evidenced by me! Things are moving along...
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howaboutme
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Just tested NO3 and am now finally down to 10ppm. Took a lot of water changes to get there but I'm now down to a # I'm comfortable with as a baseline. Any purposeful adjustments (up or down) will be based on coral health.
Speaking of coral, slimer below taken a bit earlier.
I'm continuing to try to work out my picture taking work flow with my Pixel. For the pic below I used a post process app called Snapseed. It seems to do a decent job at color correcting. It's close to what I see with my eye but still not 100%. There's a bit more green in the stalk IRL. I also zoomed in a bit too much so you can see the noise. I think I'm going to get some clip on filters.
I'm going to try and take periodic photos to track progress. My main interests here is continued growth but also color. I'm looking for the stalk turn green (or at least not brown) and will make adjustments based on visuals. I'll probably need another stick (maybe a birdsnest) so I can have 2 or 3 base points for testing.
Speaking of coral, slimer below taken a bit earlier.
I'm continuing to try to work out my picture taking work flow with my Pixel. For the pic below I used a post process app called Snapseed. It seems to do a decent job at color correcting. It's close to what I see with my eye but still not 100%. There's a bit more green in the stalk IRL. I also zoomed in a bit too much so you can see the noise. I think I'm going to get some clip on filters.
I'm going to try and take periodic photos to track progress. My main interests here is continued growth but also color. I'm looking for the stalk turn green (or at least not brown) and will make adjustments based on visuals. I'll probably need another stick (maybe a birdsnest) so I can have 2 or 3 base points for testing.
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howaboutme
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That's a very good question/concern. Because the tank is small, I had to have a very small nem to begin with. That solves the most immediate issue and kind of punts the problem you've stated down the road.
For moving around, I'm not concerned anymore. I placed the nem based on past experiences and it's moved (about 1") to where I thought it would go and has not left. It seems to enjoy it. However, I will be concerned when/if I decide to change up the flow like moving the powerhead. I'll have to be very careful if I do that down the road. I do have a plan though.
As for when/if the nem gets too big? True answer is I don't know for sure. That is one thing I have not fully thought out. A few things that I can control...Don't feed the name overtly too often or at all. Let photosynthesis and nutrients in the water column dictate how the nem will grow (hopefully slowly). If the nem gets too big, do the opposite and force a natural split and keep the smaller one or if the main one is smaller than before, keep that. I guess I do have a rough plan at this early moment...
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howaboutme
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New toy.....Reefing Art Coral Lens Filter set for my cell...
Not bad, very close to my eye for both day time and all blues. It still doesn't show the green base of the nem too well though. I'm still playing around w/ combinations but glad I can take images that are close to what my eye sees with just my phone.
Day lights:
Night/Blue:
In other news...I fed way too much Benereef. Hope I don't get an algae bloom tomorrow.
Not bad, very close to my eye for both day time and all blues. It still doesn't show the green base of the nem too well though. I'm still playing around w/ combinations but glad I can take images that are close to what my eye sees with just my phone.
Day lights:
Night/Blue:
In other news...I fed way too much Benereef. Hope I don't get an algae bloom tomorrow.
Here are some updated ways your thread is being used for microbiology discussions in reefing:
here, in Dr Reefs 100 page bottle bac thread as reminder we don’t have to pay the man for literally everything in life. Bac are free if we have a few weeks
www.reef2reef.com
here, in a false stalled cycle thread:
www.reef2reef.com
here, in Dr Reefs 100 page bottle bac thread as reminder we don’t have to pay the man for literally everything in life. Bac are free if we have a few weeks
Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact
I found Bio Spira to be useless in establishing nitrite oxidation. Did I get a bad bottle? Ammonia reduction occurred rapidly, starting within 2 hours of mixing the product with 1 ppm NH3 as ammonium chloride in Instant Ocean. I just popped in here to say exactly the same thing. I haven't...
www.reef2reef.com
here, in a false stalled cycle thread:
Cycle taking ages
Hi, I have been cycling my tank for 1 month now, I have got lots of maxspect bioballs in the filtration and have been adding special blend bacteria twice weekly. I have upped my ghost feeding to a decent amount everyday but my ammonia has only gone up to 0.25 and I still don’t have a nitrate or...
www.reef2reef.com
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howaboutme
Active Member
Here are some updated ways your thread is being used for microbiology discussions in reefing:
here, in Dr Reefs 100 page bottle bac thread as reminder we don’t have to pay the man for literally everything in life. Bac are free if we have a few weeks
Bacteria in a bottle, Myth or Fact
I found Bio Spira to be useless in establishing nitrite oxidation. Did I get a bad bottle? Ammonia reduction occurred rapidly, starting within 2 hours of mixing the product with 1 ppm NH3 as ammonium chloride in Instant Ocean. I just popped in here to say exactly the same thing. I haven't...
here, in a false stalled cycle thread:
Cycle taking ages
Hi, I have been cycling my tank for 1 month now, I have got lots of maxspect bioballs in the filtration and have been adding special blend bacteria twice weekly. I have upped my ghost feeding to a decent amount everyday but my ammonia has only gone up to 0.25 and I still don’t have a nitrate or...
Thanks for the nudge! I'm planning to post an interesting graph of my NO3 for about the last month with identifiers of actual action items I did to the tank so we can correlate action with reaction (at least for NO3). I am not concerned about anything else atm. I'm waiting for a few more days of data to get the last 30 days and will do a write up.
Ok great all logged here will make it a concise picture.
there are hidden details in everyday web posts that redefine the hobby in my opinion but they’re subtle.
your post is a reminder that cycle charts are eighty years old and our hobby drifted away from ever believing them when a nine dollar tester says not to
consider there is going on a profound shift in our hobby into doubting bacteria and into buying them
but not here you sourced yours skillfully
the small clue in your thread is that there is a threshold in reefing where no testing is required to cycle a reef tank. ethically
asked in a poll, zero pct of respondents would agree. The whole hobby would disagree on a truth, that’s fascinating how we got there.
not as a leap jump or guess but as an assured planned option, a cycling chart says you can circulate dirty water for a month and be done. on every chart made, page to page book to book, same param timing and trajectory, testless reef cycling isn‘t rogue or crazy its merely a benefit for trusting an eighty year old log of what water bacteria do in water.
I hope it stands out from now on as we read web posts about claimed loss or inability of water bacteria. Their absence, or lack of ability will pop up as clues in all kinds of threads from cycling to retail refreshment options, but don’t think its required.
were you intending to post one of the most important cycling threads in 2021 and for a while
the best part is this can easily be replicated. To account for mis testing potential, we have the ability to just change water on day 30 and add life into the clean water, the filter will be attached to all surfaces. Life won’t live in uncycled tanks but it will live in cycled ones says an anemone
there are hidden details in everyday web posts that redefine the hobby in my opinion but they’re subtle.
your post is a reminder that cycle charts are eighty years old and our hobby drifted away from ever believing them when a nine dollar tester says not to
consider there is going on a profound shift in our hobby into doubting bacteria and into buying them
but not here you sourced yours skillfully
the small clue in your thread is that there is a threshold in reefing where no testing is required to cycle a reef tank. ethically
asked in a poll, zero pct of respondents would agree. The whole hobby would disagree on a truth, that’s fascinating how we got there.
not as a leap jump or guess but as an assured planned option, a cycling chart says you can circulate dirty water for a month and be done. on every chart made, page to page book to book, same param timing and trajectory, testless reef cycling isn‘t rogue or crazy its merely a benefit for trusting an eighty year old log of what water bacteria do in water.
I hope it stands out from now on as we read web posts about claimed loss or inability of water bacteria. Their absence, or lack of ability will pop up as clues in all kinds of threads from cycling to retail refreshment options, but don’t think its required.
were you intending to post one of the most important cycling threads in 2021 and for a while
the best part is this can easily be replicated. To account for mis testing potential, we have the ability to just change water on day 30 and add life into the clean water, the filter will be attached to all surfaces. Life won’t live in uncycled tanks but it will live in cycled ones says an anemone
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howaboutme
Active Member
Yes, agree that we tend to over test. I will do a more detailed post in a few days after I get a complete 30 day set of #'s for NO3. It is very interesting. I will give a hint. My tank is clean. That means right now I have very little NO3 and no visible algae (other than some on the glass). But I also don't know what will happen tomorrow. So far, everything is doing well. The yellow tip acro that I fussed with and had STN after acclimation is now even coming back and the rest of my "tester" acro's are doing well.
A quick shot from the short side of the tank:
A quick shot from the short side of the tank:
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howaboutme
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I have an interesting update as my tank continues to settle in. This one is about data, in particular NO3 data for roughly the last 30 days. As you can see from the graph and commentary below, the tank is in an interesting NO3 roller coaster. A roller coaster likely part of the maturation of our tanks. At this point I'm not too concerned about any other parameters but I do check Alk from time to time , again to have a good understanding of trends, and because of my controller I can monitor PH constantly. More on this later.
My observations:
When I considered my tank "cycled", it had not completely had its NO3 spike. That tells me that perhaps my tank cycled much faster and although the graph may have told me I added inhabitants too soon my eyes tell me it wasn't early at all. Remember, I started with all dead rock (previous live though) and ghost feeding, no item-in-a-bottle to help speed things up. The key here is when I saw NO3 rise, I knew my cycle was moving along nicely. I just didn't know it was going to continue to rise!
Because of the dramatic rise in NO3, I did a bunch of large water changes within that week. I really wanted to get my NO3 to a baseline of 10. Well, I think I overdid it.
As the tank continues to get cleaner, I am offsetting this natural progression by feeding a bit more than I would normally feed for the # of inhabitants. It seems like I need to do even more, perhaps.
Although I added corals and the anemone a bit earlier than I had planned, all is going well. The nem is happy and the corals are fine. It's too early to determine any more than they are "fine".
Effects of Alk and PH in an early tank:
It is known that PH (and Alk) is depressed during the nitrogen cycle. Although it can balance itself out w/ maturation, doing water changes may affect it. During my cycle, I had what we would consider low PH. In the last 2 weeks, the PH has been marginally higher (and sustained) and now sits in the "OK" zone but still on the low side. Again, not too concerned but will continue to monitor. The same for Alk. It's likely not the corals depressing Alk because there is hardly any, just part of the early life. No need to get too worried. Good husbandry should replenish.
Next steps:
How do I solve that my tank is too clean? Does it even matter at this moment?
I see a few options:
1) do nothing and let the tank mature with only my originally planned maintenance/feeding schedule.
2) Increase bio-load which includes feeding more
3) Do either less water changes or of lower volume or both.
4) Manipulate the process by dosing NO3
For me, I think the solution is a combination of some of the above. I'm not going to add more fish but my stocking list includes 1 maybe 2 sexy shrimp. Bot those won't add too much to the load unless I add food specifically for them. I do enjoy feeding more. Everyone is happy as a result. I am likely going to keep my weekly (at least and adjusted based on data and observations) water changes to replenish trace elements, etc but I may drop % to 10 to 15%. It's so hard because that volume is so little and looks like I'm not doing anything. What I won't do is to dose NO3. I've done it in the past on my other tank and have no reservations doing it, just not this early. The roller coaster is not done yet, I don't think.
As for the inhabitants? The 2 clowns are not paired but even as recently as this afternoon they were doing their gesticulations. The anemone looks happy while the hermits are eating anything in sight (including what is likely algae). I’ve also added a few snails to my cuc, some trochus (love that they right themselves and can defend against hermits) and bumble bee snails. I’m ready for the uglies!
I'll leave you with a video:
My observations:
When I considered my tank "cycled", it had not completely had its NO3 spike. That tells me that perhaps my tank cycled much faster and although the graph may have told me I added inhabitants too soon my eyes tell me it wasn't early at all. Remember, I started with all dead rock (previous live though) and ghost feeding, no item-in-a-bottle to help speed things up. The key here is when I saw NO3 rise, I knew my cycle was moving along nicely. I just didn't know it was going to continue to rise!
Because of the dramatic rise in NO3, I did a bunch of large water changes within that week. I really wanted to get my NO3 to a baseline of 10. Well, I think I overdid it.
As the tank continues to get cleaner, I am offsetting this natural progression by feeding a bit more than I would normally feed for the # of inhabitants. It seems like I need to do even more, perhaps.
Although I added corals and the anemone a bit earlier than I had planned, all is going well. The nem is happy and the corals are fine. It's too early to determine any more than they are "fine".
Effects of Alk and PH in an early tank:
It is known that PH (and Alk) is depressed during the nitrogen cycle. Although it can balance itself out w/ maturation, doing water changes may affect it. During my cycle, I had what we would consider low PH. In the last 2 weeks, the PH has been marginally higher (and sustained) and now sits in the "OK" zone but still on the low side. Again, not too concerned but will continue to monitor. The same for Alk. It's likely not the corals depressing Alk because there is hardly any, just part of the early life. No need to get too worried. Good husbandry should replenish.
Next steps:
How do I solve that my tank is too clean? Does it even matter at this moment?
I see a few options:
1) do nothing and let the tank mature with only my originally planned maintenance/feeding schedule.
2) Increase bio-load which includes feeding more
3) Do either less water changes or of lower volume or both.
4) Manipulate the process by dosing NO3
For me, I think the solution is a combination of some of the above. I'm not going to add more fish but my stocking list includes 1 maybe 2 sexy shrimp. Bot those won't add too much to the load unless I add food specifically for them. I do enjoy feeding more. Everyone is happy as a result. I am likely going to keep my weekly (at least and adjusted based on data and observations) water changes to replenish trace elements, etc but I may drop % to 10 to 15%. It's so hard because that volume is so little and looks like I'm not doing anything. What I won't do is to dose NO3. I've done it in the past on my other tank and have no reservations doing it, just not this early. The roller coaster is not done yet, I don't think.
As for the inhabitants? The 2 clowns are not paired but even as recently as this afternoon they were doing their gesticulations. The anemone looks happy while the hermits are eating anything in sight (including what is likely algae). I’ve also added a few snails to my cuc, some trochus (love that they right themselves and can defend against hermits) and bumble bee snails. I’m ready for the uglies!
I'll leave you with a video:
Last edited:
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howaboutme
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Thank you!
Attached is my current Nero3 setting. Keep in mind that I tweak often and will likely continue to tweak it as I move corals to the rock. What this setting does is it keeps everything suspended in the water column with very little settling of food, waste, etc on the sandbed. I will note that I am considering moving the powerhead to the back glass so it is perpendicular to the return. If I do that, I will go with my MP10. The reasoning is 1) I don't like the bluetooth, it's finicky, 2) not a fan of submersing both magnets even though it is supposedly okay and 3) the intake of the fan is strong and it actually guides particles away from the return to recirculate back throughout the tank. Happy to answer any other questions.
Attachments
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howaboutme
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No real updates. Slowing down a bit and letting the tank ride a few weeks. Will try to do a bigger update next time.
Still low NO3, no nuisance algae or any type of uglies, ramping up lighting and interestingly noticed PODS. I'm not sure where they came from (likely hitchhiked from recent snails) but glad to have them.
Still low NO3, no nuisance algae or any type of uglies, ramping up lighting and interestingly noticed PODS. I'm not sure where they came from (likely hitchhiked from recent snails) but glad to have them.
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howaboutme
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Time for another update but this one is not good news. It turns out that all of my positive vibes and good luck have plateaued. My black and white clown died last night. I'm very sad and my kids will be devastated. Below are some key events from the last couple of weeks to help shed some light on the situation. At the end of the day, I don't know exactly what happened, which is the hardest part.
The tank was doing great going into the weekend exactly 2 weeks ago, absolutely nothing stood out as a negative. On March 6th, I came home with 6 new snails. The following day I noticed something strange on my black ice (the larger clown). She (presumed a female) started to get long stringy white poop and then eventually started to not eat as vigorously as she's been during feeding. I kept my eye on her for another day, nothing worse, nothing better. On March 8, I decided to proactively dose PraziPro directly into my DT knowing it is reef safe and can help with a lot (but not all) of the possible internal issues. It's often use prophylactically so I knew it would only help but not hurt. On the 2nd day, I noticed much improvement in my large clown. Besides the poop and appetite, no other signs of illness was obvious. Great color, no issues on the body, no deformity, stomach still good, etc. Even though she wasn't eating in front of me, I can tell she's picking at the pods, good signs. About 5/6 days later, I dosed the 2nd PraziPro round. I could see regular poop forming, all good!
Keep in mind that all this time, the small, black and white, clown looked fine in all aspects. For the end of the Prazi treatment, I had planned one more additional procedure. I dosed epsom salt to help move things through. I used 1 tbsp per 5G (but a bit less). This was yesterday, March 19th. Almost immediately, I saw positive signs from the fish.
Fast forward to the evening of the 19th. I noticed my small black and white lethargic and not able to swim against the flow and being tossed around. I knew this was not good. I turned off my flow (pump and PH), added an air stone and started to observe. Again, no overt signs of issues. After being tossed around, I can see his head/mouth area becoming white. The only thing I can think of is that is from swimming into rocks and the glass. I put him into a diy acclimation box and also decided to quickly do another (3rd round) of Prazi. Unfortunately, nothing worked and he passed. Again to reiterate, the clown that passed was NOT the one that had some signs of illness. Very strange.
The black ice is fine so far (acting great, no deformities or discoloration but still slow in eating but I know Prazi diminishes appetite). I'm bummed because both of these fish were quarantined, treated prophylactically and doing fine. But I brought something into the tank inadvertently and now this. The time line is useful because all of this started to happen the day after I introduced the new snails. My only thought (no proof) is that the snails carried some kind of parasite. The LFS I bought it from has fish in their invert system. In hindsight, that is a sign for future reference. Interestingly enough, I bought my initial CUC from the same place but since there was no fish, the parasite naturally died before my fish were added.
So now my goal is to make sure my black ice is healthy before considering next steps. Otherwise, everything else is fine like nothing happened.
The tank was doing great going into the weekend exactly 2 weeks ago, absolutely nothing stood out as a negative. On March 6th, I came home with 6 new snails. The following day I noticed something strange on my black ice (the larger clown). She (presumed a female) started to get long stringy white poop and then eventually started to not eat as vigorously as she's been during feeding. I kept my eye on her for another day, nothing worse, nothing better. On March 8, I decided to proactively dose PraziPro directly into my DT knowing it is reef safe and can help with a lot (but not all) of the possible internal issues. It's often use prophylactically so I knew it would only help but not hurt. On the 2nd day, I noticed much improvement in my large clown. Besides the poop and appetite, no other signs of illness was obvious. Great color, no issues on the body, no deformity, stomach still good, etc. Even though she wasn't eating in front of me, I can tell she's picking at the pods, good signs. About 5/6 days later, I dosed the 2nd PraziPro round. I could see regular poop forming, all good!
Keep in mind that all this time, the small, black and white, clown looked fine in all aspects. For the end of the Prazi treatment, I had planned one more additional procedure. I dosed epsom salt to help move things through. I used 1 tbsp per 5G (but a bit less). This was yesterday, March 19th. Almost immediately, I saw positive signs from the fish.
Fast forward to the evening of the 19th. I noticed my small black and white lethargic and not able to swim against the flow and being tossed around. I knew this was not good. I turned off my flow (pump and PH), added an air stone and started to observe. Again, no overt signs of issues. After being tossed around, I can see his head/mouth area becoming white. The only thing I can think of is that is from swimming into rocks and the glass. I put him into a diy acclimation box and also decided to quickly do another (3rd round) of Prazi. Unfortunately, nothing worked and he passed. Again to reiterate, the clown that passed was NOT the one that had some signs of illness. Very strange.
The black ice is fine so far (acting great, no deformities or discoloration but still slow in eating but I know Prazi diminishes appetite). I'm bummed because both of these fish were quarantined, treated prophylactically and doing fine. But I brought something into the tank inadvertently and now this. The time line is useful because all of this started to happen the day after I introduced the new snails. My only thought (no proof) is that the snails carried some kind of parasite. The LFS I bought it from has fish in their invert system. In hindsight, that is a sign for future reference. Interestingly enough, I bought my initial CUC from the same place but since there was no fish, the parasite naturally died before my fish were added.
So now my goal is to make sure my black ice is healthy before considering next steps. Otherwise, everything else is fine like nothing happened.
ReeferB28
Active Member
Well, you really should check out Capital Aquarium too. They're another great store in the area.
I'm sorry to hear that your Clown died.Time for another update but this one is not good news. It turns out that all of my positive vibes and good luck have plateaued. My black and white clown died last night. I'm very sad and my kids will be devastated. Below are some key events from the last couple of weeks to help shed some light on the situation. At the end of the day, I don't know exactly what happened, which is the hardest part.
The tank was doing great going into the weekend exactly 2 weeks ago, absolutely nothing stood out as a negative. On March 6th, I came home with 6 new snails. The following day I noticed something strange on my black ice (the larger clown). She (presumed a female) started to get long stringy white poop and then eventually started to not eat as vigorously as she's been during feeding. I kept my eye on her for another day, nothing worse, nothing better. On March 8, I decided to proactively dose PraziPro directly into my DT knowing it is reef safe and can help with a lot (but not all) of the possible internal issues. It's often use prophylactically so I knew it would only help but not hurt. On the 2nd day, I noticed much improvement in my large clown. Besides the poop and appetite, no other signs of illness was obvious. Great color, no issues on the body, no deformity, stomach still good, etc. Even though she wasn't eating in front of me, I can tell she's picking at the pods, good signs. About 5/6 days later, I dosed the 2nd PraziPro round. I could see regular poop forming, all good!
Keep in mind that all this time, the small, black and white, clown looked fine in all aspects. For the end of the Prazi treatment, I had planned one more additional procedure. I dosed epsom salt to help move things through. I used 1 tbsp per 5G (but a bit less). This was yesterday, March 19th. Almost immediately, I saw positive signs from the fish.
Fast forward to the evening of the 19th. I noticed my small black and white lethargic and not able to swim against the flow and being tossed around. I knew this was not good. I turned off my flow (pump and PH), added an air stone and started to observe. Again, no overt signs of issues. After being tossed around, I can see his head/mouth area becoming white. The only thing I can think of is that is from swimming into rocks and the glass. I put him into a diy acclimation box and also decided to quickly do another (3rd round) of Prazi. Unfortunately, nothing worked and he passed. Again to reiterate, the clown that passed was NOT the one that had some signs of illness. Very strange.
The black ice is fine so far (acting great, no deformities or discoloration but still slow in eating but I know Prazi diminishes appetite). I'm bummed because both of these fish were quarantined, treated prophylactically and doing fine. But I brought something into the tank inadvertently and now this. The time line is useful because all of this started to happen the day after I introduced the new snails. My only thought (no proof) is that the snails carried some kind of parasite. The LFS I bought it from has fish in their invert system. In hindsight, that is a sign for future reference. Interestingly enough, I bought my initial CUC from the same place but since there was no fish, the parasite naturally died before my fish were added.
So now my goal is to make sure my black ice is healthy before considering next steps. Otherwise, everything else is fine like nothing happened.
Sometimes there's nothing wrong that we can see.
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howaboutme
Active Member
I tested out the Icecap K1 Nano skimmer this past week. I wanted to see how much effect it had on my overall pH with the extra agitation. The included magnet mount does not fit in the chamber so I had to create a platform from egg crate to sit the skimmer on:
I had to cut the above down about half to get it to sit right. Holy microbubbles! Granted, I'm supposed to give it 2 weeks to break in but no one was happy. It did raise my pH ~ .10 to .15 points at the top end, enough to make me think about it. It's off now. TBD on if I'll use it long term. I may end up just using Randy's DIY Alk recipe #1, which helps raise pH, when/if I need to start dosing to keep Alk up.
I'm still at ZERO nitrate. Quite unbelievable considering I feed like I have 5 fish (I have 1) and keep my filter pad in for the entire week just to help create nitrate. The number has been confirmed by a Nyos kit too. I may just continue to run an inadvertent ULNS tank rather than chase numbers.
I continue to have some nice long term coralline algae decorating the rocks and zero nuisance algae. Quite unbelievable here too considering most people say starting w/ dead rock = months worth of dreaded algae. I can't predict the future but so far so good.
I do measure Alk. I thought my 7 yr old Hanna was reading wrong (low) compared to my Salifert so I got the "calibration" fluid to double check. Calibration in quotes because you can't really calibrate. You can only check if it is working in the correct range. Mine was right. To make the reading correspond to Salifert a bit more I am now using a syringe to measure the 10mL of water. If you've been in the hobby enough, you would have read that those line locations can vary during manufacturing. Now my numbers are more in line. I don't have much consumption right now, not hard to guess since I don't have much in the tank. Continued water changes will do for now.
I've also continued to up the light intensity and am very close to my planned levels. But only my eyes will be the arbiter of that.
Thanks to having a lot of unused equipment from days past, I'm able to trade for corals to continue my stocking with perhaps some small change thrown in for good measure. Total list so far including my first few tester corals:
- Birdsnest
- Green slimer
- Yellow tips (still chugging away)
- Purple pocci
- Rainbow granulosa
- 2 zoas
Some shots with whites on:
Blues:
My awesome nem:
If you look at the first photo, you'll see the anemone. I think this will end up being the showpiece. It is very clear right now I have to be careful where I put corals. Based on what I can tell, I may not have room for any more than 5 or 6 more acro frags on the main rock.
My zoa rock is still up in the air. I'm still not sure I can keep zoas so my first two will let me know. If the initial plan doesn't work, I will turn that rock into an encrusting SPS rock w/ montis.
Last shot:
I had to cut the above down about half to get it to sit right. Holy microbubbles! Granted, I'm supposed to give it 2 weeks to break in but no one was happy. It did raise my pH ~ .10 to .15 points at the top end, enough to make me think about it. It's off now. TBD on if I'll use it long term. I may end up just using Randy's DIY Alk recipe #1, which helps raise pH, when/if I need to start dosing to keep Alk up.
I'm still at ZERO nitrate. Quite unbelievable considering I feed like I have 5 fish (I have 1) and keep my filter pad in for the entire week just to help create nitrate. The number has been confirmed by a Nyos kit too. I may just continue to run an inadvertent ULNS tank rather than chase numbers.
I continue to have some nice long term coralline algae decorating the rocks and zero nuisance algae. Quite unbelievable here too considering most people say starting w/ dead rock = months worth of dreaded algae. I can't predict the future but so far so good.
I do measure Alk. I thought my 7 yr old Hanna was reading wrong (low) compared to my Salifert so I got the "calibration" fluid to double check. Calibration in quotes because you can't really calibrate. You can only check if it is working in the correct range. Mine was right. To make the reading correspond to Salifert a bit more I am now using a syringe to measure the 10mL of water. If you've been in the hobby enough, you would have read that those line locations can vary during manufacturing. Now my numbers are more in line. I don't have much consumption right now, not hard to guess since I don't have much in the tank. Continued water changes will do for now.
I've also continued to up the light intensity and am very close to my planned levels. But only my eyes will be the arbiter of that.
Thanks to having a lot of unused equipment from days past, I'm able to trade for corals to continue my stocking with perhaps some small change thrown in for good measure. Total list so far including my first few tester corals:
- Birdsnest
- Green slimer
- Yellow tips (still chugging away)
- Purple pocci
- Rainbow granulosa
- 2 zoas
Some shots with whites on:
Blues:
My awesome nem:
If you look at the first photo, you'll see the anemone. I think this will end up being the showpiece. It is very clear right now I have to be careful where I put corals. Based on what I can tell, I may not have room for any more than 5 or 6 more acro frags on the main rock.
My zoa rock is still up in the air. I'm still not sure I can keep zoas so my first two will let me know. If the initial plan doesn't work, I will turn that rock into an encrusting SPS rock w/ montis.
Last shot:
Everything is looking good!
I'm glad the skimmer is raising your ph the way you want it to. The microbubbles will subside with time.
I would keep the skimmer running if it was my tank. Nothing but benifit in using it.
Sps is going to be a challenge as the nem grows. Especially if he decides to walk around. You still have room to do stuff but it might be challenging.
Great work so far.
I'm glad the skimmer is raising your ph the way you want it to. The microbubbles will subside with time.
I would keep the skimmer running if it was my tank. Nothing but benifit in using it.
Sps is going to be a challenge as the nem grows. Especially if he decides to walk around. You still have room to do stuff but it might be challenging.
Great work so far.
OP
OP
howaboutme
Active Member
Thanks buddy. I appreciate the kind words.
I intend to continue to break in the skimmer. I know the benefits of the raised pH is going to be better in the long run but I don't need it for added filtration (right now).
I'm confident that the nem will stay but I do plan on messing w/ the flow so that could change. Even now, when the nem is fully open it is blocking the view from the front of a couple of frags I have mounted in the back. Those are some of the easy SPS to serve as the background once grown to the other acros I'll be placing in more prominent positions. But totally agree, I have to keep watch. This is the exact reason I chose to do the anemone first. A bit unconventional but works so far.
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