Randy's Tank and Learn Thread

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Interesting. Have you reached out to OrionN? He has extensive knowledge of mags and gigs, well most nems actually.

Yes, I have a thread in the anemone forum discussing the issue. I started that thread in October and have tried many things that folks have suggested, and the current plan is to
Focus on organic toxin elimination in case that is/was an issue from the cyano or past dinos.

Magnifica won’t settle down

I’m looking for opinions on factors besides light and flow that might make a Magnifica not settle down. It keeps moving around the rock island surrounded by sand, and twice in the past few weeks it has completely detached and landed upside down on the sand. I’ve tried many different...

www.reef2reef.com

And a different thread there documenting the clown trio progression in that anemone:

My clownfish Trio Journey

I thought I’d document my attempt to set up an ocellaris clown trio in my new magnifica. The three clowns are juveline siblings raised by and purchased from Dr Reef. Less than 2 h after adding the new clowns to the tank, they found, and are now swimming in, the magnifica. They tried out an...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Magnifica

I’n getting to the end of my rope with this anemone. My wife even said it may be time to consider a new one. It released a couple of nights ago and floated to the back wall, where it is sulking in the corner. The foxface is likely irritated because that is where it sleeps. Lol

Going to leave it alone for a bit and see what happens.

 

[Rocks reef]

Magnifica

I’n getting to the end of my rope with this anemone. My wife even said it may be time to consider a new one. It released a couple of nights ago and floated to the back wall, where it is sulking in the corner. The foxface is likely irritated because that is where it sleeps. Lol

Going to leave it alone for a bit and see what happens.

I would leave it. It may have found its place

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Elegance Balloon Tentacle

The elegance continues to thrive, and sometimes one or two of its tentacles are larger than the others. Today, one is quite ballooned up. No idea why. Any thoughts?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would leave it. It may have found its place

Maybe. It’s been there before, then climbed the overflow wall, moved along the back wall, then released and fell to the rocks below., it’s clearly a psycho anemone.

 

[dwest]

Elegance Balloon Tentacle

The elegance continues to thrive, and sometimes one or two of its tentacles are larger than the others. Today, one is quite ballooned up. No idea why. Any thoughts?

That’s cool Randy. I don’t recall seeing anything like that but I’ll keep my eyes open.

FYI I’m going to try another female mandarin soon. My pair had the same fate that yours did. I’m wondering if the male erected dorsal fin protected it (and the female doesn’t have the same). I’ll probably get mine from biota and grow out a little longer than the couple months I did before.

Good luck either way good luck with the anemone!

 

[jonelder68]

If your cyano returns another option I’ve recently found is the Uv sand sweeper!

It works great not only for Dino’s! But also cyano, GHA, and even aptasia. I’m loving this thing! Works on the glass, rocks/aquascape, sand, even pumps. Only wish he had a smaller version to be able to get into more places with it easier.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Most of my cyano was on rocks. How well does it work on uneven surfaces with crevices and such?

 

[jonelder68]

Most of my cyano was on rocks. How well does it work on uneven surfaces with crevices and such?

I hit my rocks with it. You just Hoover/sit it on a spot for 10 seconds or so then move to next. The only real limiting factor of it is its length being 8” long. If the light reaches it even an inch or two above it still damages it. My cyano took 5 minute treatments each day for about 3 days and then was completely gone.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Were you concerned about fish getting exposed as it moved over rocks?

 

[jonelder68]

Were you concerned about fish getting exposed as it moved over rocks?

Mine are big scaredy cats. They go to the opposite side of the tank while I use it. Only ones I have to watch for are the clowns. I bought a switched extension cord so if/when they get close I just turn it off.

 

[jonelder68]

Maybe we can get @Moe K to send you a trial one to get the Randy Holmes stamp of approval. Though it seems to have a near 100% satisfaction rating so far.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks very much, but I don't have a need for one now with the chemiclean having dealt a big blow to the cyano. :)

 

[Mac8128]

Randy, I have run a similar question by you a month or so ago. I currently run a 1/2 bag of Chemiclean Blue Nano, a bag of 2 tbs of Purigen plus a bag of Matrix in the filtration chamber of my Fluval 13.5g nano. I also run a small ball of Chaeto in a refugium basket in the second chamber. Light from a hygger refugium light 12 hours off cycle. I started the tank with Tampa Bay Saltwater live rock and sand. The tank has been fantastic with minimal "ugglies".

I'm reading these posts and am wondering...........My tank is about 4 months old and the only chemistry numbers that give me any concern are Nitrate at about 30-40 on API test and PO4 at .39 on Hanna Checker. I have a small amount of brown algae and a few small pieces of GHA. Should I consider bumping up the amount of Chemiclean to maybe 3/4's of the nano bag? All of my other chemistry is in line with your recommendations. Last question, I have a very good working sized population of Pods in my filtration chambers, especially the refugium chamber. I have read that they can be self sustaining. Is that correct, or do I need to continue dosing with Phyto.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I assume you mean Chemipure Blue, not Chemiclean? The blue is ok, but it would not be my preference because the ion exchange part is not useful in seawater, unless it coincidentally binds some organic matter.

Are you trying to get pods for a mandarin, or just to have them? If the latter, I would not dose phyto for them.

I would not be worrying much about those N and p levels.

 

[Mac8128]

I'm sorry, I was being stupid, I read your posts about Chemiclean but read them in my mind as Chemipure.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Anemone Guard Update

The magnifica is slowly creeping up the back wall, toward an opening in my anemone guard that it might push its way through, foot first. So I removed the guard and extended it to be tight on all sides and the back above the anemone to prevent a suicide run toward the powerhead.

An azure damsel has been exploring inside it through a thin opening. Maybe it thinks it’s a good protective home.

Here’s the before:

Here’s the before:

And the after:

 

[Dan_P]

Anemone Guard Update

The magnifica is slowly creeping up the back wall, toward an opening in my anemone guard that it might push its way through, foot first. So I removed the guard and extended it to be tight on all sides and the back above the anemone to prevent a suicide run toward the powerhead.

An azure damsel has been exploring inside it through a thin opening. Maybe it thinks it’s a good protective home.

Here’s the before:

Here’s the before:

And the after:

The state of the glass in these photos is a bit better than in my 75 gallon aquarium glass a year ago. When I got tired of scraping it a couple times a month, I bought fifty Margarites snails. In two weeks the glass was not only completely cleaned (I mean 100%), but every other surfaces was clean. Coralline is now the only thing that needs to be removed from the glass (355 days and counting). The snails seem to be gnawing that as well. The funny thing is that hair algae is not on their menu, that I yank occasionally. There is a cost to maintaining this large clean up crew. I need to feed it one 8x8 inch sheet of dried seaweed about every day. I think a snail has an appetites like a dog. You feed it and then it is are off looking something to eat.

 

[Moe K]

Thanks very much, but I don't have a need for one now with the chemiclean having dealt a big blow to the cyano. :)

Chemiclean is a good way to go as a last resort. I never tested the UV Sweeper for cyano but I am glad to hear reports of others having a good experience.

Personally I did chemiclean recently in my cube LPS tank. It worked great but I made sure to dose bottled bacteria as an extra layer of cushion because chemiclean is a high risk of inviting dinos after the treatment. I used TM nitribiotic and a month later and all is still well. I dosed the bacteria about 3 times during the initial treatment week and then 3 more times the following week.

The biggest hastle is getting the chemiclean out of the water. The best way I found was to do wet skim water changes. Regular water changes barely put a dent in my skimmer overflowing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Chemiclean is a good way to go as a last resort. I never tested the UV Sweeper for cyano but I am glad to hear reports of others having a good experience.

Personally I did chemiclean recently in my cube LPS tank. It worked great but I made sure to dose bottled bacteria as an extra layer of cushion because chemiclean is a high risk of inviting dinos after the treatment. I used TM nitribiotic and a month later and all is still well. I dosed the bacteria about 3 times during the initial treatment week and then 3 more times the following week.

The biggest hastle is getting the chemiclean out of the water. The best way I found was to do wet skim water changes. Regular water changes barely put a dent in my skimmer overflowing.

FWIW, I don’t seem to have dino issues, but green algae seems to be revving up. I’m ok with that, but the cuc, including the yellow tank and one spot fox

face are going to need to up their game: