Reefer 170 re-rebuild

exnisstech · Nov 2, 2022

Not much going on right now. Just a few pics from tonight. Sorry for the blues. I've finally gotten my lights set up so stuff is flouresing (?) and I'm enjoying watching everything. But it's not real as it's created by the lights. I have a large green monti cap in another tank, I mean bright green. Nice peice. Lights off it's brown. 7 years in and I'm finally starting kinda figure it out.

old_lady_4am · Nov 25, 2022

exnisstech said:
Watching frags grow, exciting stuff

Omg! That is me day in and day out even down to the two dogs lol!

exnisstech · Nov 29, 2022

Just an update. I think I finally have the GHA pretty much defeated. Most of it is gone and what is left seems to be dying off. My nitrates and phosphates were undetectable so I started dosing both to get levels measurable. I stopped dosing once they came up and after a week with no dosing N was 4.4 and P was 0.06. I'm good with that so am just going to test weekly and if they drop I'll dose some more. Its weird, after I was able to get N and P to detectable levels is when the hair algae started going away. People have said that raising N and P will not remove hair algae. I think maybe getting levels up helped some of the competing organisms and corals to out compete the hair algae but I dunno. I'll take a win against the algae anyway I can get it.
The sea hair only lasted about a week. When I saw it at the top of the tank I figured it was looking for food so I moved it to my other sump where there is a lot of algae but it didn't make it. Maybe it wasn't healthy to begin with. I don't get too upset or drive my self crazy trying to figure why certain things make it and others don't. I used to but decided it was wasted mental energy. I was starting to focus on a milli frag that wasn't doing well but everything else looked good. I decided if one piece is unhappy so be it, I'm not going to upset the tank to try and get a single frag to take off and maybe cause problems for the rest. The milli is still hanging in there but definatly not thriving. So far I have only lost 3 frags. 2 were maricultured so that isn't surprising. The third started to lighten up so I moved it to the bottom but it totally bleached. There is no algae growing on it so maybe I'll get lucky and it will bounce back. Fish are all doing good. I have the centerpiece (untill it outgrows the tank) CBB, lawnmower blenny (that did a pitiful job mowing algae) a Chalk bass, yellow striped possum wrasse, and a black molly.
If I do this again I'm going with a slightly larger cube and leaving some room to work in the tank. I'm a clumsy oaf and break something everytime I stick my hands in the tank. But hey I gots more frags. I just glue the peices on plugs and toss them in the frag section of my other sump.
I have these 2 little nubs I broke off starting to lay down a base. And I mean nubs. I don't think they are 1/4" but I figured hey why not give them a chance. I think they are dipping dots but am not sure. I think the green slimer, setosa and pavona are the only ones I actually remember the names of. I was trying to keep track but kept moving stuff around and that was the end of that.
Here are the cute little nubs

Tank shot

A few pieces that are doing the best as far as growth and PE

exnisstech · Dec 27, 2022

Life has thrown a few curveball at me lately that haven't been pleasant and has caused some time away from the tanks. This is just a post to keep an eye on coral growth and to see if I change the rock scape again

I have managed to get the nuisance alage under control and all frags glued down. I lost a couple and moved a couple but overall things are starting to come together.