NS Mike D Over Ambitious 29 Gal Aqueon FTS

[NS Mike D]

I sort of got carried away of the past three years drifting away from the spirit of a nano - simple - and have progressed into a dual sump mixed reef with a mandarin. I have a progress thread starting with the addition of the second sump late last year as I battle alage, cyano brown sps etc that goes along with trying to do too much. Here is the link to the insanity

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/29g-aqueon-stage-ii-mixed-reef-w-dual-sump.347191/

and here is the latest FTS

 

[jsker]

Very nice

 

[NS Mike D]

thanks. I didn't know what I was doing at first and through trial and error, the softies started taking over the tank. So I added LPS and they started to take over. So I added SPS. Still waiting ...... not taking over yet.

The I got really greedy and added the mandarin. It was healthy and was eating frozen shrimp eggs and mysys. The algae and cyano were really happy about that

So now I really have my work cut out for me.

 

[NS Mike D]

I dialed down my lights yesterday. The two green encrusting sps are really struggling and fading fast.

I have two fluval marine and reef, the original 1.o and the newer 2.0. These lights have only 2 channels blue and white. The 2.0 are on the wifi so I can program each individually, but the 1.o are simple on an off. The night switch on the 1.0 got wet a long time back so i can only run these full daylight (they are not dimmable) and they run 6 hours mid day on the night timer opposite my fuge (which is lit 18 hours). But, it's too white heavy and over the course of a day, way to much light.

I was able to pick up a new second 2.0 for $70 plus shipping on flea bay, but it wont arrive for a few more days.

While these lights have purple, blue and red leds, the bulk of the par is delivered by the white leds. Buy using two fixtures. I can dial down the lights and while achieving sufficient par, use more actnic and deliver a better spread and blend.

In any case, I am burning out those two corals, so until the new lights arrive, best to dial down the lighting. coloring up the sps will just have to wait.

 

[NS Mike D]

dialing down the lights helped the pumpkin pie pasammacora. the green monti with blue polyp is still struggling, we'll see. i knocked my bumblee acro and can't locate it. the poor fellow took so many beatings, i dont think it will come back if i can find it.

meanwhile. I picked up Rapid LED Corona lights from member @Mrx7899 and hung them today. i love these lights and looking to see the sps color up as they get used to better mix of RGB.

 

[Mrx7899]

Nice looking tank

 

[NS Mike D]

Some quick pics with the new Corona

 

[NS Mike D]

I'm probably over-tinkering but I took the skimmer off yesterday

added a DIY mini-fuge / Paul B mandarin feeders - I put some chaeto from my fuge inside a food service squirt bottle. I dosed a package of algae barn tigger pods (my monthly shipment) , dose some MikesPhyto (live) and started up my brine shrimp hatchery to feed.

 

[NS Mike D]

gotta make water for a change tomorrow - can't get lazy ;Couchpotato

 

[NS Mike D]

this weekend's update. I removed the skimmer and been taking the filter socks out for a few days each week. Since I added the BRS DIY ATO adding 1/2 tsp per 1/2 gal of RODI in December, my ALK has dropped from a high of 11.2 around x-mas to 7.0 today, so i have gone back to dosing 5ml two part daily starting today. looking back at my logs, ALK has not been stable by any means, so that will be my new focus - stable ALK

Meanwhile, NO3 registered 0.0 and PO4 0.06 using Red Sea test kit - GHA and Cyano are virtually gone for now, and the red turf algae is holding strong. I will be increasing my feeding and have been including reef roids, frozen cyclops and zoplan to go along with the frozen msysis and frozen clam (homemade with the guts). Pellets when I am pressed for time.

After watching the BRS MACNA video on light/flow/Alk I put the 900gph marineland pump I had laying around, affixed the powerhead attachments and run iy about 2 hours a day - during peak lighting. It appears my sps are responding but too early to tell. i do think this extra flow is helping keep the cyano and gha at bay. I ordered the tunze nano stream 6020. At 660 gph that should be sufficient to storm up the tank mimicking a tidal flow. the marineland pump is a monster eye sore, plus I need it for my saltwater mixing bucket.

On a positive note, the sps are starting to show signs of coloring up, here are some pics

 

[NS Mike D]

Tank crashed the other day precipitated by an electrical short in a pump. lost a bunch of corals, but i think it's turned the corner

here is the crash thread. make sure you have a gfi and ground probe.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-crashed-bummer.361186/

 

[NS Mike D]

I updated my crashed tank thread this morning to get some last step advice. After days of cutting off and throwing out dead corals, time to start posting more pleasant thoughts.

Spring is around the corner making for the perfect metaphor of my tank's situation.

The morning of the crash I received a delivery of 6 corals from the Jason Fox auction over the weekend. I held them in a make shift very temporary quarantine. A tenuous situation as best.

so once the tank cleared and stabilized, I decided best to put them in the tank two days ago. so far ok.

Here are the six new generation of corals in my nano;

JF LIME LIGHT HYDNO (in a spot by itself and strategically placed to keep the green mushrooms contained)

COOLERS TURAKI

WWC CHERRY TREE MONTI

WWC YELLOW TIPS

JF STRAWBERRY CYPHASTREA

TUBBS STELLATA

one more pic, the nem's twin was likely the coral that crashed the tank (from the stray current) when it melted. This one was close to gone as well. I moved it to a more protected area and not in direct flow line to my sps, but still near where the clowns hang out. The clowns haven't re-bonded yet with it, but I am encouraged.

Happy Saturday R2R.

 

[NS Mike D]

a quick update. The madarin is doing well so the over feeding combined with two sumps is doing the job best than I can tell. However, due to lack of time needed to keep my parameters steady and regular maintenance needed to keep a mixed reef nano with a mandarin, I have decided to simplify the tank and not try to keep acros other than the ones already doing well - aside from the chalice I added last month. The gha is out of control and so I have been scrubbing the rocks and added an emerald crab and tuxedo urchin.
My duncan is loving the spot that gets great light and in the direct line of fire when I feed as the growth says it all. The frogspawn as well. So I added a torch and gsp -

the game plan is it continue to add lps and zoas to cover as much rock as possible to force the gha back. I really love the idea of the HOB cheatp fuge with the DIY sump with rubble rock and cheato. The HOB is my pod farm for the madarin while the sump is home to a plethora of micro and macro life to balance out the ecosystem.

 

[NS Mike D]

some new additions

Reverse War Paint Bowerbanki

Christmas Favia

Jason fox Hair Freak

Blue Green Candy Cane

JF Cry Baby Zoas (strings of GHA got snagged was scrubbing rock work today)

Rainbow Leptastrea (orange, green and some blue starting to come through after the pic was taken)

Hubba Bubba zoa

and the dragonet - not a new addition but a good part of why I made the changes and started this thread.

not feeling like I'm winning the GHA (or are they dinos?) battle. But weekly rock scrubbing is keeping it at bay. Been keeping an eye on my numbers trying to keep my alk up (10.1 today) as NO3 is 3ppm and PO4 is 0.08

I now have 4 tunze 6020, two on each side, on the hydor wave maker, I was alternating each side every 6 hours to mimic tidal flow, but today I changed up to 15 minutes all on/all off to kick up detritus and the loose algae so it eventually gets to thee over flow and into the filer socks.

I am keeping the filter socks on full time now (changing every 3 days) in an effort to rid of the floating algae as I diligently brush the rocks. Plus I upped the feeding adding reef frenzy and reef roids to the frozen msysis and brine. The corals and duster appear to like the cloud of protein/amino acids/fats in the water column.

 

[NS Mike D]

Time for an update. Overall, the experiment to keep a mixed reef nano with a nano is succeeding although the set backs have been numerous and tenacious. The idea on the 29 gal Aqueon was to add a second sump (DIY 10gal) to put the equipment, add a skimming over flow with filter socks and a rubble rock/macro algae basket. Also an ATO for kalk. Thus leaving the 5 gal CPR HOB for macro algae (cheato & culpera) for pod productions.

The mandarin is healthy. Feeding: I alternate a cube f frozen brine and mysis along with a piece of LRS reef frenzy nano. What I believe is key for the mandarin is the addition of ROE . I keep the pumps off for 10 minute (apex classic) and then once the power heads come back on, another 10 minutes for the sumps to power back up. This give the mandarin time to start working on the ROE eggs and then the corals to capture what the fish miss. They love the ROE and LRS - more on that.

IMO, pushing the tank to its limits, and lack of algae pickers like tangs (life with a nano) and after my tank crash (started with an electric short that melted a BTA) , The tank was overrun by GHA, Cyano and Dinos. Lots and lots of rock scrubbing, water changes and lots coral from all the disturbances, and in the end, H2O2 dosing was the winner. Some sps, the zoas, and the duncan stressed, but they bounce back.

Back to feeding. I am very happy I have a few sps that doing well/ bouncing back to confirm sps feeding is ok with sps. I will feed some reef frenzy from time to time. But it's the LPS that have really taken off with the LRS and ROE. I think the routine with the pumps as described above is a winner for me ensuring distribution of coral food throughout the tank followed by removal of excess vua the filter socks.

I stopped dosing H2O2 today to give the affected corals a break. Hopefully I won't see the return of the nuisances.