Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don’t know how I’ve missed this thread……I’m not too swift!

I think this is absolutely fantastic! What real, everyday people should expect in their journey as well. It’s perfectly normal to have certain things not make it, for some to struggle a bit, not every single system starts perfect, and just takes off into that absolutely picture perfect specimen overnight. Kudos to you for being real and honest in your journey!

Thanks! One of my goals is to ensure that newer folks should not assume everything will work perfectly, whether that means equipment or organism issues, even with good advice on how to proceed. :)

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Thanks! One of my goals is to ensure that newer folks should not assume everything will work perfectly, whether that means equipment or organism issues, even with good advice on how to proceed. :)

This is great. All too many have fallen victim to the internet instatank syndrome where everything is unicorns and rainbows….all you have to do is subscribe, buy product x (using link provided of course), and follow this method, and you too can have a museum worthy display in just thirty days…..if it doesn’t work, you did something wrong.

Having real world expectations from the beginning will curb a ton of frustration! Maybe as you go along, someone could put together a cliff notes version (im not sure how many just starting out will have the attention span to go through the hundo pages) as a sticky for a real world reef start and the normal hiccups to expect along the way.

I know that one of my shortcomings is not being able to accept that a failure/loss doesn’t always have a root cause. I want to learn from each failure. Figure out what happened, why it happened, and how to avoid it in the future. I have an extremely difficult time just accepting that “things happen”. Sometimes (more often than one would think) corals just die off, for no discernible reason. There’s a fine line between diagnosing a pest/parameter problem to keep things from spreading, and driving oneself absolutely mad with a one off event with no known cause.

Keep on truckin!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

LTA Anemone Update

The LTA continues do do well. Sometimes at night it can shrink down a lot, but the zoox has evenly spread though it (initially half of it was bleached) and it is substantially larger. I’d estimate it is six inches across the oral disk now.

I find it quite attractive, despite being mostly brown with just a trace of green sheen on the disk surface. It’s the waving, curved white tips on the tentacles that make it interesting.

Maybe it can be a source of suitable zoox for the magnifica, in case it lacks its own.

 

[Miami Reef]

You mentioned IO Purple is a low calcium salt mix.

Have you ever tested your reef water? What calcium level did you get?

 

[Miami Reef]

I almost never test for calcium. I just assume my 3 part and water change schedule handles it. I’m only testing it because you mentioned it was a low calcium mix.

Salifert for reef tank: 435 ppm
Salifert for freshly made IO purple: 445 ppm

I did note I needed to reduce the result by 4.94% to match Oceamo ICP sample I stored.

If adjusting to that:

Reef tank: 413 ppm
New saltwater: 423 ppm

What test did you use?

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Back in the day, when I occasionally tested Ca on IO purple it was always between 380-420 using the RS pro and/or Salifert

Edit. I should say mixed to 1.026sg

 

[Oldsman]

What sort of rogue events?

Ours kept going after lps, and zoas. I tried leaving them some shrimp for food..but they insisted on ripping heads off lps. Easy to remove crabs

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You mentioned IO Purple is a low calcium salt mix.

Have you ever tested your reef water? What calcium level did you get?

No, I’ve never tested it. At some point I’ll either get a kit or it will get measured in an Oceamo icp.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ours kept going after lps, and zoas. I tried leaving them some shrimp for food..but they insisted on ripping heads off lps. Easy to remove crabs

Ok, thanks. I’ll keep an eye on it. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Back in the day, when I occasionally tested Ca on IO purple it was always between 380-420 using the RS pro and/or Salifert

Edit. I should say mixed to 1.026sg

When I say it’s a low calcium mix, I mean relative to many other mixes. Rtparty salt mix study shows it exactly as NSW levels, 420 at 35 ppt.

 

[Miami Reef]

When I say it’s a low calcium mix, I mean relative to many other mixes. Rtparty salt mix study shows it exactly as NSW levels, 420 at 35 ppt.

Ah. That pretty much exactly lines up with my test after accounting for its discrepancy. I like 420 ppm. AFR is a bit calcium-heavy when using it to maintain alkalinity. Eh, I probably wouldn’t bother messing with calcium additives unless a test showed it was necessary.

There’s no harm in increasing it, but there’s also no harm in leaving it alone.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Latest Tank Video

One minute video, mostly showing the magnifica and the amount of flow it is currently getting (can’t get that from a picture), but overall tank too.

 

[twentyleagues]

Latest Tank Video

One minute video, mostly showing the magnifica and the amount of flow it is currently getting (can’t get that from a picture), but overall tank too.

The nem looks happy, I dont know alot about them though. Tank looks great!

 

[LiverockRocks]

Yes! Thx!

The fifth picture down at the tbs site looks exactly like it:

Shaggy Clinging Crab – Mithrax pleuracanthus

ID: Tan, brown, reddish in color with blunt herbivore type pinchers. They can be 1" - 3" -main photo credit Jason E.Tips: Mithrax crabs are vital to keep algae in check on a reef. These cleaners are active at night seeking out macro algae and nuisance algae. They will carefully clean around...

tbsaltwater.com

Their claws are built for scraping algae and detritus off reefs. We've found them as reef safe as emeralds or rubies. Of course, like all mithrax, reef safe unless starving.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Their claws are built for scraping algae and detritus off reefs. We've found them as reef safe as emeralds or rubies. Of course, like all mithrax, reef safe unless starving.

Thanks. I really enjoy having it and the two mithrax. It’s entertaining watching them scrape the rocks, taking things too their mouths too small to even see.

I think they may like it best when I’m away because I put a lot of ulva macroalgae rubber banded to a rock to last while I’m gone, and they are often seen at it munching away. lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Heat/Electrical Efficiency Update

One of the reasons I started up my tank again was because many of the devices are notably more electrically efficient. LED lights that can be dimmed (on both tank and refugia), DC return pumps, skimmers, and powerheads.

While my electrical use is certainly way up compared to last year at this time, which the utility likes to remind me, here’s a way to compare:

This summer has been quite hot. I don’t remember many as hot in the past. We do not air condition the floor of the house that the tank is on, and it often is 80+ deg F.

But the tank cooling system has hardly been activated at all. Only during the record heat of a few weeks ago did I notice it come on. Since the tank is nearly the same as my old one in other respects (same tank, same 4 brute can refugia, etc), it seems to me this is good evidence that the devices are dumping a lot less heat into the tank system. Better, perhaps, than looking at the raw electrical bill since it counts things that have changed, including an old fridge in the basement that died and was not replaced,,an old chest freezer currently not being used, more ac upstairs in high heat, fewer people living at the house (daughters are off in their own now), etc.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Elegance Update

The wayward elegance that somehow moved back into the rocks and needed to be recovered by taking out some rocks continues to do well in its old location. Still no idea how it got where it did, but there seems no lasting harm to it:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Clownfish

The three juvenile wild type ocellaris clownfish that I hope will ultimately set up in the magnifica anemone as a trio are currently expected to arrive in just over a week on Aug 20. There's a substantial heat wave here this week, but next week is looking good. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Chemistry Update

pH 7.93
Alk 8.3 dKH
Nitrate 10.3 ppm

Since alk is very slowly drifting down, I upped the AFR times from 13 to 14 min per day.

Ammonia dosing will continue as is.

I dosed:

0.06 ppm iodide
Iron and manganese boosted

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Green Chromis Issue

.

Just closing the chapter on this green chromis issue. The fish is perfectly fine today without any apparent white area. Not sure what it was or when it “healed”, but it never seemed to cause issues and is not gone.