Phoenix stage

[Gumbies R Us]

Tell them it was for cable or internet

I might have to do that now, haha!

 

[iamacat]

I might have to do that now, haha!

A pencil hole along a wall in a closet is not going to be an issue. Heck back in the day I knocked my Hookah over and the coals burned a dinner plate hole in the carpet right in the middle of the living room. $35 charge after moving out of the apartment

 

[iamacat]

This lil nem is going for a walk. Was hanging out on a gyre for a couple days. Lives life dangerously

 

[iamacat]

There is a Pancake social tomorrow at the grass runway airpark across the lake so tonight there are about 8 paramotorist in the sky.

My little water witch

Vermetid battle continues and I have so many it’s starting to concern me. They are inhibiting some of my corals from growing properly.

Had to dose some SA yesterday and increased the AFR to 22mL/day.

pH has tightened 7.93-8.2.

Water change of 8g with some sand syphoning followed by the snow

 

[iamacat]

Pulling this out of the MAR is always satisfying. I could have done this sooner, but this is about 3wks of growth from a half of a fists worth

 

[iamacat]

Pulled the trigger on a change I have been debating for the past couple weeks, but went a slightly different direction.

I have the Avast Swabbie and Dave’s Jones Locker which are both awesome. Their customer service was top notch when I had questions previously, so I decided I would rather go with them vs the magnetic icecap Kalk reactor.

They were out of stock for the assembled models, but the DIY is extremely straightforward with video so I look forward to the project. I also like that I will be able to easily replace the motor if need be. The K1 footprint is perfect for my situation and it is rated up to 200g, which is the absolute max I would expand to in this house. I have already been gathering information on 150g tank upgrades which I will be doing hopefully within a year. The icecap would have capped me at 100g and I didn’t care to waste money on something I wouldn’t continue in the future.

My dKH has not remained where I would like it on the AFR and I’ve had to add SA the past 2 days. Wanting to keep it 8.5 but it keeps dropping to 7.9. I also really would like the added pH benefits of the Kalk. I don’t have a heavily stocked tank right now and even if I do the Kalk will be more than enough. The AFR will be supplemental if needed at all.

 

[Bohemian Waxwing]

The cat looks like it’s about to learn a tough lessen.

What do you think is causing your KH drops?

 

[iamacat]

The cat looks like it’s about to learn a tough lessen.

What do you think is causing your KH drops?

That kitty has been in/on just about everything but has managed to stay dry.

It’s a minor drop and hasn’t gone below 7.9 while resuming my consumption rate with the AFR I think it has just plateaued to 8.0 with my salt and with the AFR. My calcium was riding 500+ when I resumed testing a month ago. I’ve been eyeing Kalk for a lil bit now and have read many successful tanks running with AFR and Kalk. I’m wanting the pH most of all.

 

[iamacat]

Sad find this morning. CB was active last night as usual. I had it for over 3 years. Looks as if it was starting to molt, it last molted about a month ago. Has molted dozens of times with no issues previous.

I think it was ready to go as yesterday I had some guests over and their daughters were watching the tank. The CB was their favorite even over Nemo and Dory. Of course Dory was flashing when people were observing the tank and they asked what was wrong with her.

And of course. The Christmas Favia was the coral selected by the parents to explain that coral is alive. I don’t understand why people are drawn to it, it’s so lame!

 

[iamacat]

In death the CB continues to assist the tank. I don’t have an interest in removing it because it’s free nitrates and food for everything in there. Hippo tang has been eating and dragging the carcass all over the tank, dropped it into the nem.

Clowns are getting ready to lay another batch in the next 24hrs.

The circle of life continues

 

[iamacat]

Just about 2 weeks into the DIY Snow.

The back side of the tower is a horror show. It might require a new worker for the job.

Would love to get a pair of these. Was reading about some experiences with sixline and possum wrasses keeping the vermetid numbers suppressed. I’ve been eyeing these for a little while anyway as I’ve wanted to increase my fish population.

I’ve decided to hold off on smashing untill after at least one month of the snow to really evaluate the effects it has.

 

[iamacat]

Nearly sliced my fingertip off at work today. Had to run home and get the Polyplab. They look like this too when I scape. Been a bit busier the last week and haven’t been fiddling with the tank. Take my word for it that the torch is really throwing some hair now that a lot of the splits have healed over. I haven’t tested Nutrients in a bit but the NP Plus and feeding regimen has the corals looking much happier. I’ve got this teal sps that survived the neglect and has finally started to grow again with good polyp extension.

Rock work and sand are really clean as I’ve been blowing them around nightly followed by the snow. Little blops of cyano in low flow areas don’t appear towards the end of the day anymore.

I’ve had the Avast Kalk stirrer for a couple days. Going out of town this weekend so not making any changes till after things settle.

 

[iamacat]

First day off in a while and my finger healed up which means I cleared out the clowns forest of Xenia. They have been figuring out what to do and I’m curious what they will do tonight.

Vermetid snails are still out of control. Not sure if the Coral Snow is doing anything, but I know it will take time and I figured I’ll see results around the 1.5month mark if any at all. Next stage is smashing.

pH bottomed out while I was out of town last weekend due to the skimmer getting gunked up. Came home and some corals looked great and other looked weird, no damage. The Digi had a massive growth over 3 days which was surprising and my encrusting LPS had extreme polyp extension.

Haven’t had time to configure the new Avast Kalk stirrer, but will do that this Sunday and hopefully start that if I have two days off in a row.

Traded in the Xenia for a cleaner shrimp and a two headed regular ole hammer.

 

[iamacat]

A couple weeks ago this hammer got knocked over onto a shroom and lost a head. Today this lil nem decided to fill the void. Kinda cool

Oh and started the Avast Kalk stirrer build. Will finish part 2 later in the week

 

[iamacat]

Well I have a week off work as i transition back to my old career of nursing so I planned to work on the tank.

Today I installed the Avast K1 and I’m already uninterested in continuing with it. It’s loud and when the DOS is running so consistently the grinding from the stirrer is paired with the high frequency pitch of the DOS. Driving me absolutely insane.

Mushrooms are turning white and shriveled up due to nutrient issues resulting from how busy I’ve been the past month and a half. Starting to get defeated and frustrated with the whole system. Everything else appears to be doing good tho. Maybe I’m just in one of my reef funks that I’ve experienced cyclically since I started in 2010. Hoping I pull out of it, but the frustration from the Kalk stirrer has me bugged.

 

[iamacat]

Day 2 of the work break and I cleaned the gyres since they got crazy noisy the past 2 days. Avast recommended I adjust the length of the stir bar regarding the K1 as it may be rubbing the base, will do that tomorrow. I will be house locked the next few days while my property is excavated for new French drains, old patio removed, as well as leveling since I cut out 190 trees the last 3 years to open it up.

 

[iamacat]

Been a while since starting back at my old job in July, working 12hr nights at the hospital.

Avast had sent me a replacement motor and that resolved the noise issue, dead silent operation now. K1 has been running since mid July and the results have been fantastic. Growth of the SPS has quadrupled. Coralline algae is growing rapidly. pH has maintained 8.1-8.4. AFR dose hasn’t changed, still 24mL/day.

Since starting the Plus NP my nutrient issues balanced out. Mushrooms are now full of color and back to their normal size.

Torch Coral has stretched out and looks great. I was slow to fragging it and lost 13 heads due to shading and flow issues. Still over 25 heads remaining, here’s a shot

I stopped the DIY Coral Snow after about 45 days. The vermetid snail population has been eradicated, only the tubes remain and my encrusting corals are growing over them, all the opening are sealed off. Combo of the bumblebee snails did a good job

Peppermint shrimp had also eradicated the display aiptasia pretty quickly.

Pretty happy with where the tank is at right now. Pleased with the results of all my adjustments

 

[iamacat]

Finally got to splitting up the Torch. 26 heads. 4 of them about to split into 2-3.

dKH has risen to 11.3 with the Kalk stirrer with good growth to the SPS. I wasn’t on top of feedings and some of the softer corals showed signs. Nothing that can’t be fixed with increased nutrients.

I’ve decided the Xenia battle is over. I am no longer stopping them from spreading. Just stopping them from interfering with my main colonies. I think it looks like a field and adds a lot of movement across the tank. Next tank won’t have them, until then I choose to enjoy

 

[iamacat]

Tank has been evolving. Some thing flourish, others struggle. Just letting the reef do its thing while keeping things consistent and the water managed. Kalk introduced back at the start of summer took my dKh from 8.5 to 12 and my pH to a peak of 8.5 and an average of 8.25 over that time. Encrusting corals and SPS have had large jumps in growth, shrooms and zoas are shrinking but it is what it is.

 

[iamacat]

Couple top down shots while cleaning some equipment yesterday.

RIP to the Gob. Noticed something was off with the tank about a week ago. Realized I hadn’t seen him in a while, probably last seen and remembered in early January. I got him in 2015 and he was fully grown at that time. So 9 years with me, he will be missed