Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy. Yes I saw that part of the thread. With your tank up against a wall and the overflows on the back wall of the tank has there ever been a problem seeing into or accessing the overflow when you needed to?

If I needed to see down into it, I’d have to take the hood off. On one side it’s easy to access since the side is accessible, but the back corner would entail climbing/leaning way over the tank. In neither this version nor my previous tank setup (identical hood and overflows) was that ever a significant problem. Never really needed to access them much.

 

[twentyleagues]

Crab Fest

This guy a friend or foe?

I went after him with a net, and initially the magnifica grabbed the net. I was afraid I’d pull the anemone off the rock trying to free it, but it eventually let go.

Then I caught the crab more carefully and sumped it.

I dont see black claw tips but they are pointed and look thicc. I think you made the best decision. Pointy claws are for tearing of flesh and holding on to prey the cupped claws are for picking of algae.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I dont see black claw tips but they are pointed and look thicc. I think you made the best decision. Pointy claws are for tearing of flesh and holding on to prey the cupped claws are for picking of algae.

Thanks. I had not ever noticed this crab before, so removing it was a one time opportunity that it seemed prudent to take. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Return Sump

As the seasons are turning, I made some to changes to my return sump (pictured below). It is not trivial to access this last Brute can because the phyto dosing mini fridge sits on it and doses directly into it. After moving it aside, I made a few alterations.

I removed the three bare bulb uv lights that had been sitting in it unused for months since the dino days. They have some growths in them now. Sort of clear squishy things of unknown identity.

I also added a second titanium heater (800 w) since more heat will be needed in winter. The 600w alone has been fine so far, but I don’t want to find out the hard way that it isn’t enough. Multiple inkbirds still control the heaters and I’ve not had any issues with any of them.

I took the opportunity to put two of the INKBIRD temp sensors into plastic tubing sleeves to protect them from the water, but left two others for a future project because my tubing was too tightly coiled to get the sensor in deeply and then get the tubing well below the surface without it possibly popping out of the water.

The sump picture below also gives an idea if the flow coming in from a refugium (on the right) which goes out via the Jebao return pump in the left.

The two old white rocks were added to help hold down the uv lights (which floated)and I’ll leave them for now.

The Tunze osmolator sensor is out of view on the left.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Bali Green Slimer Update

I’ve had the green Slimer for almost three months now (given to me by Dong at Acrogarden). It’s clear it has grown some, but not a lot. Each of the growing tips was a singleton when obtained but are nearly all branching out into multiple tips.

Here are the arrival and current pictures:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Mandarin Update

Manny the male mandarin from Dr Reef is doing great. I’ll be aiming to get a female along with some azure damsels later this month.

Here he is just now:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Pics from Today

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Nitrate 5 ppm (increased ammonium bicarbonate dosing pump from 49 min to 58 min per day, but I expect the amount dosed is not even close to 1.1 mL per min since the reservoir does not drop nearly as much as expected. It doesn’t really matter, since it is adjusted based on nitrate levels, but at some point I’ll measure the flow.

Checked the usage over 5 days, and it came out to 26 ml per day. So the amount of ammonia dosed to my tank is about 0.12 ppm of ammonia per day, equivalent to 0.43 ppm nitrate per day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Glass Scraping

For regular cleaning every couple of days, the Tunze scraper works great. But when I’m away for a week or more, too much accumulates to be easily scraped off with the Tunze. I know folks say you can get special after market blades, but I went a different route.

I decided to buy a cheap stainless steel scraper that holds a razor blade. It worked great. Far less work than the Tunze in that scenario. No hands in water, and the glass was clean in a few minutes.

Amazon.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Elegance Coral

The elegance coral is doing fine. The multiple (4) skeletons continue to be unattached to one another. Not sure what will happen to them and the coral overall in the future, but it does not seem to be a “problem”.

The first two pictures below are from today, and the four skeleton picture is from Aug 5 (earlier in this thread) and I saw a few days ago it was still like this (I did not try to compare the little skeleton sizes then to now).

 

[Miami Reef]

Glass Scraping

For regular cleaning every couple of days, the Tunze scraper works great. But when I’m away for a week or more, too much accumulates to be easily scraped off with the Tunze. I know folks say you can get special after market blades, but I went a different route.

I decided to buy a cheap stainless steel scraper that holds a razor blade. It worked great. Far less work that the Tunze in that scenario. No hands in water, and the glass was clean in a few minutes.

Amazon.com

I have that same one from Amazon. I love it so much. It’s super easy to remove and attach blades, and the angle works excellent to get a clean scrape on vertical glass.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Updated stocking list and comments.

So far, as the tank is near the 6 month point, I have lost quite a few snails, shrimp and hermits, presumably to the mantis shrimp. Still lots of clicking. Mixed bag on corals. All fish are doing great. The tank was designed around a magnifica and a clown trio and that is so far working as hoped. I seem to have better luck with local than shipped corals, though that may well be coincidence.

Stocking List
Organism	Date Added	Source	October 5 update
Live Rock	4/16 and 5/15/2025	TBS*	Doing great
Live Sand	4/16/2025	TBS*	Doing great
Fish
Yellow Tang (tank raised)	5/21/2025	Dr Reef*	Doing great
Green Chromis (3)	5/21/2025	Dr Reef*	Doing great
Mandarin Pair (tank raised)	5/21/2025	Dr Reef*	one disappeared 5/2025
One spot foxface	6/27/2025	Dr Reef*	great but mostly black
Ocellaris clowns (3)	8/20/2025	Dr Reef*	Doing great; still a trio in magnifica
Coral
Cali Tort	5/20/2025	dwest*	DOA
Green leather	5/20/2025	dwest*	disappeared 6/2025
Aussie Elegance	5/20/2025	dwest*	Doing fine
Fiji Yellow Leather	5/20/2025	DIYreefer*	Slowly whithered away
Large milka stylophora	6/3/2025	CNDReef	Doing great
Digitata (bubblegum or forest fire)	6/3/2025	CNDReef*	Doing great
WWC slimeball anacopora	6/3/2025	CNDReef*	Doing great
Koji Wada Nephthea (2)	6/11/2025	Thunderstrick34	Slowly whithered away
weeping willow leather	6/11/2025	Thunderstrick34*	Slowly whithered away
ORA Cherry Red Goniopora	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	RIP
Oregon Blue Tort	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	RIP
Red Setosa Montipora	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	lost down into rocks
Blood simple leptoseris	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	doing OK
Duncan	6/27/2025	Jellis912	Doing fine
Bali Green slimer	7/10/2025	Acrogarden*	Doing fine
PC rainbow	7/10/2025	Acrogarden*	Doing fine
Anemones
LTA	6/11/2025	Petco	RIP ( don't know why)
Magnifica	7/15/2025	Pacific East	Doing great
Other Inverts
Astrea snails	5/15/2025	TBS*	slowly disappearing
Florida hermits	5/15/2025	TBS*	slowly disappearing
sea cucumbers (2)	5/15/2025	TBS*	doing great
peppermint shrimp (2)	5/15/2025	TBS*	MIA
Brittle stars (2)	5/15/2025	TBS*	Doing fine
Trochus snails (7)	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	Doing fine
Yellow Ball Sponges (2)	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	doing ok
Red Tree Sponge (2)	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	doing OK, one lost into rocks
Purple Sea Fan	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	doing OK, not growing
Laurencia iridescens macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	consumed
Botryocladia macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	consumed
Ulva macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	dominates refugium, great growth
gracilaria macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	slow growth in refugium
Trochus snails (5)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	OK?
turbo snails (5)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	OK?
Florida cerith snails (32)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
nassarius vibex snails (19)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
astraea snails (7)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
nerite snails (7)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
assorted hermits (7)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	disappeared?
dwarf cerith snails (72)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	disappeared?
emerald crabs (2) to sumps	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	uncertain, presumed OK
* donated or purchased at reduced price

 

[X-37B]

Updated stocking list and comments.

So far, as the tank is near the 6 month point, I have lost quite a few snails, shrimp and hermits, presumably to the mantis shrimp. Still lots of clicking. Mixed bag on corals. All fish are doing great. The tank was designed around a magnifica and a clown trio and that is so far working as hoped. I seem to have better luck with local than shipped corals, though that may well be coincidence.

Stocking List
Organism	Date Added	Source	October 5 update
Live Rock	4/16 and 5/15/2025	TBS*	Doing great
Live Sand	4/16/2025	TBS*	Doing great
Fish
Yellow Tang (tank raised)	5/21/2025	Dr Reef*	Doing great
Green Chromis (3)	5/21/2025	Dr Reef*	Doing great
Mandarin Pair (tank raised)	5/21/2025	Dr Reef*	one disappeared 5/2025
One spot foxface	6/27/2025	Dr Reef*	great but mostly black
Ocellaris clowns (3)	8/20/2025	Dr Reef*	Doing great; still a trio in magnifica
Coral
Cali Tort	5/20/2025	dwest*	DOA
Green leather	5/20/2025	dwest*	disappeared 6/2025
Aussie Elegance	5/20/2025	dwest*	Doing fine
Fiji Yellow Leather	5/20/2025	DIYreefer*	Slowly whithered away
Large milka stylophora	6/3/2025	CNDReef	Doing great
Digitata (bubblegum or forest fire)	6/3/2025	CNDReef*	Doing great
WWC slimeball anacopora	6/3/2025	CNDReef*	Doing great
Koji Wada Nephthea (2)	6/11/2025	Thunderstrick34	Slowly whithered away
weeping willow leather	6/11/2025	Thunderstrick34*	Slowly whithered away
ORA Cherry Red Goniopora	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	RIP
Oregon Blue Tort	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	RIP
Red Setosa Montipora	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	lost down into rocks
Blood simple leptoseris	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	doing OK
Duncan	6/27/2025	Jellis912	Doing fine
Bali Green slimer	7/10/2025	Acrogarden*	Doing fine
PC rainbow	7/10/2025	Acrogarden*	Doing fine
Anemones
LTA	6/11/2025	Petco	RIP ( don't know why)
Magnifica	7/15/2025	Pacific East	Doing great
Other Inverts
Astrea snails	5/15/2025	TBS*	slowly disappearing
Florida hermits	5/15/2025	TBS*	slowly disappearing
sea cucumbers (2)	5/15/2025	TBS*	doing great
peppermint shrimp (2)	5/15/2025	TBS*	MIA
Brittle stars (2)	5/15/2025	TBS*	Doing fine
Trochus snails (7)	6/11/2025	Top Shelf	Doing fine
Yellow Ball Sponges (2)	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	doing ok
Red Tree Sponge (2)	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	doing OK, one lost into rocks
Purple Sea Fan	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	doing OK, not growing
Laurencia iridescens macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	consumed
Botryocladia macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	consumed
Ulva macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	dominates refugium, great growth
gracilaria macroalgae	6/11/2025	Gulf Coast Ecosystems	slow growth in refugium
Trochus snails (5)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	OK?
turbo snails (5)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	OK?
Florida cerith snails (32)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
nassarius vibex snails (19)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
astraea snails (7)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
nerite snails (7)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	slowly disappearing?
assorted hermits (7)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	disappeared?
dwarf cerith snails (72)	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	disappeared?
emerald crabs (2) to sumps	6/13/2025	Reef Cleaners	uncertain, presumed OK
* donated or purchased at reduced price

Yea the Mantis. Tanks 1.5 and I gave up trying to catch it.
1 hermit left. I replace trochus snails every couple months.
I have around 70+ snails.
Keep an eye on your fish. Mine has hit my chalk bass for the 3rd time in the same eye. Not sure how it's still alive but yea watch your fish.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yea the Mantis. Tanks 1.5 and I gave up trying to catch it.
1 hermit left. I replace trochus snails every couple months.
I have around 70+ snails.
Keep an eye on your fish. Mine has hit my chalk bass for the 3rd time in the same eye. Not sure how it's still alive but yea watch your fish.

Thanks, I will. :(

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Chemistry Update

In the usual way, I messed up when putting my phyto fridge back in place just before I left for a week, and I knocked the ammonia dosing line out of place. It’s been dosing onto the floor for a week. It’s been evaporating so there’s just a damp spot on the basement floor, but the upshot is that there has been no ammonia dosed for a week.

Alkalinity 8.2 dKH. Perfectly in track with the AFR

Nitrate 0.2 ppm That’s below the Hanna HR range. Need to fix the ammonia dosing, but I will also give a 5 ppm nitrate dose with sodium nitrate.

Salinity: 35.26 ppt (good, it is back into my preferred range)

Phosphate: 0.36 continues its slow upward climb. If it is still riding after ammonia dosing is resumed for a while, I will go after it in some undetermined way

pH 7.95 at 1 pm

Dosed 0.06 ppm iodide, and some iron and manganese and silicate.

 

[Miami Reef]

Besides for the nitrate, which could be a bit higher, those are some good numbers. I think my tank and corals looked their best when phosphate was around 0.20-0.30 ppm, but gradually lowering it is fine if that’s the goal.

The lanthanum chloride was so easy and inexpensive. I put it in my ATO, and it worked very well for me.

 

[twentyleagues]

I know you have a lot of rocks any shell pieces littering the ground? Not from the tbs sand you used? Or do you see any empty snail shells which may lead to another whelk in the tank?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I know you have a lot of rocks any shell pieces littering the ground? Not from the tbs sand you used? Or do you see any empty snail shells which may lead to another whelk in the tank?

Yes, there are lots of empty shells. I added some that I collected at a beach, but they have been added to.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yes, there are lots of empty shells. I added some that I collected at a beach, but they have been added to.

If it were the mantis there wouldn't be whole unbroken shells. So either they are starving (doubtful) or something is eating them out of the shell, fish or other invert (whelk).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If it were the mantis there wouldn't be whole unbroken shells. So either they are starving (doubtful) or something is eating them out of the shell, fish or other invert (whelk).

I expect I have both mantis and whelks, but I have not looked carefully at the shells. I'll check them out later. :)