Rebirth

[Alex Costa]

This week my last anthias squamipinis hid in the rocks.
This was the same behavior that preceded the death of the others.
It fed on grounded shrimp and flake food.
today at a first glance in the tank I did not see it, and I do not know if it's still alive or died. If it have not died yet, it will surely be in the next few days.
Apparently I do not have what it takes to keep this species alive. Whatever it is.

The Green Chromis followed the same path.
Today I only have 2 alive. Those 2 larger ones that were already in the tank and came from a breakdown tank, before the introduction of the group of 15.

And that's it.
No schools for me.

 

[Janci]

That is bad news Alex.
Shoaling fish are not easy to maintain in our little environments.

You might want to try damsel fish. The Chrysiptera family does not really show aggressive behaviour and the colors are wonderful.

 

[Alex Costa]

Today was a day to Water Change.
I took the opportunity to siphon the substrate and brush the rocks. I removed some cyan outbreaks (of all colors) and cleaned those points of the rockscape where the "dust" accumulates.
I brought the seedlings all to the display, since my frag tank must go through a blackout of about 10 days, to try to eliminate a brown gelatinous algae that insists on growing there but, fortunatelly, does not appear on the display.
As I have moved a lot of everything, the water is a little cloudy and probably will continue like this until tomorrow, at least.
I cleaned the skimmer, changed perlon, GAC, clean the euro braces and the inner corners of the tank where the scraper does not reach.
Despite the work that I do I think this kind of maintenance, made on a frequent basis, is fundamental to the longevity of a good system.

 

[Alex Costa]

A Chalice that stayed dull over a year , but finally begins to show its potential:

ORA Blue Chalice

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

Your tank is outstanding Sir!!! Keep up the great reefing!!!

 

[BigJohnny]

Yes....
As everything in this tank, it came as a frag.
This mile arrived in October 2016.

Incredibly impressive growth in 2 years.

 

[Alex Costa]

Your tank is outstanding Sir!!! Keep up the great reefing!!!

Thanks!

Incredibly impressive growth in 2 years.

This mile is a fast grower..........for sure.
I have some loripes and lokani taht grew 2" in the same period.

 

[Alex Costa]

Poseidon

 

[Alex Costa]

I had to sell my Golden head sleeper goby.
He was too big and throwing a lot of sand on the corals.
Some, like the plate and zoanthus, were feeling it and I needed to blow the sand up 3 times a day.
I sold it to a friend who lost his fish some weeks before and wants to add another one, so he knows the fish.

After its gone, the diatoms took up the substrate.
Two weeks later the situation has improved, but I'm still thinking about what actions to take.
I discovered that my substrate has binded silicate.
I removed a portion, rinsed and left in RO water for 48 hours.
The result of the silcate test was 0.5ppm.
I should improve my CUC and add another, smaller goby, like Rainfordii or Hector's.
If it didn't work out, I must remove the substrate in parts, wash in RO water and return to the tank.

 

[Alex Costa]

Rasta gem

Prostata Orange

Loripes blue

 

[Janci]

I had to sell my Golden head sleeper goby.
He was too big and throwing a lot of sand on the corals.
Some, like the plate and zoanthus, were feeling it and I needed to blow the sand up 3 times a day.
I sold it to a friend who lost his fish some weeks before and wants to add another one, so he knows the fish.

After its gone, the diatoms took up the substrate.
Two weeks later the situation has improved, but I'm still thinking about what actions to take.
I discovered that my substrate has binded silicate.
I removed a portion, rinsed and left in RO water for 48 hours.
The result of the silcate test was 0.5ppm.
I should improve my CUC and add another, smaller goby, like Rainfordii or Hector's.
If it didn't work out, I must remove the substrate in parts, wash in RO water and return to the tank.

The diamond watchman goby is a good option.
These sift sand all day long but keep the spitting low to the bottom.
They still grow to a similar size as the gold head.

 

[Alex Costa]

Jan,
Someone told me the same about the diamond goby.
It's an option, for sure.
Thanks.

 

[Alex Costa]

A new guy to cheer up the tank after the Goby's departure:

Opistognathus aurifrons

 

[litenyaup]

My intention, since the beginning, is to setup a a system which has a multitude of corals, inverts and fishes

ORA Blue Green

frog green rose tips....a common coral but one of my favs....

some polyps

The home of the clowns:

Alex

Second pic from bottom titled “some polyps”, are those original tubs blue zoa’s in background???

 

[Alex Costa]

Second pic from bottom titled “some polyps”, are those original tubs blue zoa’s in background???

Good question.
I buy it as Tubs Blue, but here in Brazil we have a lot of "look a like" corals, named after the originals....So, I not sure about it.
Here's another picture of it:

 

[Janci]

Good question.
I buy it as Tubs Blue, but here in Brazil we have a lot of "look a like" corals, named after the originals....So, I not sure about it.
Here's another picture of it:

Lol, it is good to have pictures of each and other coral in the tank.
That is a cool blue zoa

 

[Alex Costa]

From the beginning the idea was to set up a mixed tank where the variety of species prevailed.
To this end I have recently added some species to increase the variety of life in the reef:

Hammer yellow

Goniopora pink

Rhodactis red/blue

Torch green pink tips

Sakuras

gorgonia

Zoanthus

 

[Alex Costa]

My new favorite fish:

 

[Alex Costa]

Three months ago I changed my dosing schedule.
Some nuisance algae began to apear and some corals (sps) were too dark for my taste and I thought it was time to reduce the dose of supplements.
I think it's time to change again, and slightly increase the dosage, due to the lightening of some corals.
Despite the increase, the iron dosage should remain reduced until some yellow sps return to their ideal color.

The new dosage as of now will be:

SEG– Ferrion 10ml
TER – Fluorine 10 drops / Nectar 20 drops
QUA –
QUI – Micro E 10 drops/ Energy 10 drops
SEX –
SAB – AF Amino 15 drops/ Vitality 15 drops
DOM – Koralcolor 10 ml / Lugol 5 drops

 

[Alex Costa]

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