Roadwolf's Tank

[SirRoadwolf]

I am into week 6 of life now, in my 90 gallon set up.

My set up involves a 90 gallon tank, with a deep live sand bed, of about 4 to 5 inches. Live and base rock. The Sump is in my basement, one floor below the main display tank. It is in a 30 gallon aquarium with glass panels arranged in a DIY manner to account for my skimmer, a refugium, and my return pumps. The refugium has about a 1 inch sand bed, and some chaeto. Also included is a section which forces the water through Biohome Ultimate, and bioballs.

Filtration:
I have a 5 stage RO/DI with automatic valves which are controlled with a relay and timer circuit, and a water level sensor in my fresh water ATO tank (a 55gal plastic food grade drum). There are also 4 other water level sensors in the aquarium and sump which control various other aspects of the system, including ATO, high level alarms, and emergency drain pump. Also a sensor to detect if the display tank level gets too high, and will shut off the main pump.

Inhabitants:
Currently I have a Blue Tang, 6 Blue Back Chromis, 1 Royal Gramma, a Yellow Watchmen Goby, 3 Peppermint Shrimp, 1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp, several snails, and hermit crabs. I also have 2 or 3 claims which hitchhiked on the live rock, some sponges, and some Star Polyp coral. Also some SPS coral which has been doing well, and growing. There are also some feather dusters, and a bristle worm which doesn't appear to be a fire worm. There is also another polyp that I can't identify, and can't really get a clear shot of. I purchased a Jingle Bell coral frag recently too.

Chemistry:
At the moment I take salinity readings every 2 days, and I take weekly chemistry readings of KH, Calcium, Phosphates, and Nitrates.

I haven't noticed any spikes in Phosphate or Nitrate levels. For a moment there was a tiny amount of Phosphates, but not enough to register to the next color on the chart.

My KH seems to be stable around 7 to 8 (150 to 160ish), and calcium about 500 without any additives.

 

[TheEngineer]

That's a nice looking tank. Are you going for the natural macro look in the tank?

I'd suggest you slow down on adding fish. That's a lot added to a very young tank.

 

[SirRoadwolf]

I am going for a more natural look, yes. And I understand. I shall be slowing down. My next task is to set up a quarantine tank, and maybe some more rocks to build a taller rock wall.

 

[SPR1968]

Looks good so far but you have quiet a lot of algae starting to grow (I think anyway from the pictures?) so I would maybe keep an eye on your nitrate and phosphate levels.

You want phosphate very low at around 0.03ppm but if you have the green algae the phosphate reading may be wrong if the algae is using it to thrive.

Enjoy the tank, and welcome to R2R!

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Looks good so far but you have quiet a lot of algae starting to grow (I think anyway from the pictures?) so I would maybe keep an eye on your nitrate and phosphate levels.

You want phosphate very low at around 0.03ppm but if you have the green algae the phosphate reading may be wrong if the algae is using it to thrive.

Enjoy the tank, and welcome to R2R!

Nitrate and phosphate levels have been measuring 0.00 ppm almost constantly for the last 6 weeks. There was one measurement where phosphate was up a tad, but not yet as dark as the next color bar above 0. The algae was blooming a bit for a while, before I introduced a full cleanup crew. Now that there is a good population of cleaners in the tank the algae is disappearing. Plus, I have found I was leaving the white lights on for far too long (8+ hours) and was told that was a likely cause. I have since limited the white lights to 3 hours, and blue for the rest of the day.

I plan on getting some hannah digital measurement devices for phosphate and nitrate to use in addition to the chemical measurements... just to be sure.

I was told by my local store owner, that since my SPS (on the right side of the picture) is actually doing well, and seeming to grow, I must be keeping the chemistry fairly constant.

 

[WV Reefer]

Looks nice so far!

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Figured I would update the thread with a current photo. The hermit crabs and snails have been doing well. I also noticed a new life form, which I am unsure what it is.

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Also, just found these two items beside some clams. One appears to be a fairly hard structure with tenticles inside it. The other appears to be a soft tube with 2 mouths, which reacts quickly to a gentle touch.

 

[SirRoadwolf]

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Time for a week 8 update!

Week 8 begins with the following readings:

Salt: Measured at 1.024 - added salt slowly into the flow, and now at 1.026
Temp: 78
KH: 9
Calcium: 500
Phosphates: 0
Nitrates: 0

Notes: I noticed the growth of coraline algae this past week. Small red/purple dots forming on my bare rock. However today I began noticing the yellow algae which was creeping across the sand, is now seeming to spread up to the rocks in a kind of 'powder' form. Not quite sure what to make of it.

Injury: My Royal Gramma sustained an injury on Friday. It is suspected that my tiger pistol shrimp may have gotten him when he got a little too curious about the shimp's burrow. However, the Royal Gramma is healing well, and shows no signs of suffering from his injury. As active and lively as ever. Tough little guy.

This Sea Squirt seems to be growing quickly! I watched it divide and expand Saturday night into Sunday. The feather duster beside it is something new I noticed as well...

The Porites Evermanni SPS coral is doing well, and seemingly previously dead polyps are being reanimated. The new Mushroom Coral ... well I am not sure if that is how it is supposed to look.. but it is there.

Goby is as grumpy as ever. Notice the small dots of the Coraline Algae growing... Woo?

Not quite sure what to do with this Torch Coral.... I read that it prefers areas of low water movement. But it seemed to do best in an area more central in the tank. Its current location has it looking dull. Thoughts?

The Green Star Polyps seem to be coming back! For a while I hardly ever saw them. But they seem to be growing again under all that red algae.

Probably need a better photo to identify this Coral. But right in the center of the picture, there is a chunk of coral that is growing. It looks brownish red at night, with red dots around the edge, and possibly a greenish inside. In any case, it is growing.

This Jingle Bell coral doesn't seem to be doing well. I am not quite sure what I am doing wrong with it. Does it need more light? Does it need less light... I don't like the look of the dullness, and I imagine someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.

 

[hwntunda]

What’s your lighting setup?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Time for a week 8 update!

Week 8 begins with the following readings:

Salt: Measured at 1.024 - added salt slowly into the flow, and now at 1.026
Temp: 78
KH: 9
Calcium: 500
Phosphates: 0
Nitrates: 0

Notes: I noticed the growth of coraline algae this past week. Small red/purple dots forming on my bare rock. However today I began noticing the yellow algae which was creeping across the sand, is now seeming to spread up to the rocks in a kind of 'powder' form. Not quite sure what to make of it.

Injury: My Royal Gramma sustained an injury on Friday. It is suspected that my tiger pistol shrimp may have gotten him when he got a little too curious about the shimp's burrow. However, the Royal Gramma is healing well, and shows no signs of suffering from his injury. As active and lively as ever. Tough little guy.

This Sea Squirt seems to be growing quickly! I watched it divide and expand Saturday night into Sunday. The feather duster beside it is something new I noticed as well...

The Porites Evermanni SPS coral is doing well, and seemingly previously dead polyps are being reanimated. The new Mushroom Coral ... well I am not sure if that is how it is supposed to look.. but it is there.

Goby is as grumpy as ever. Notice the small dots of the Coraline Algae growing... Woo?

Not quite sure what to do with this Torch Coral.... I read that it prefers areas of low water movement. But it seemed to do best in an area more central in the tank. Its current location has it looking dull. Thoughts?

The Green Star Polyps seem to be coming back! For a while I hardly ever saw them. But they seem to be growing again under all that red algae.

Probably need a better photo to identify this Coral. But right in the center of the picture, there is a chunk of coral that is growing. It looks brownish red at night, with red dots around the edge, and possibly a greenish inside. In any case, it is growing.

This Jingle Bell coral doesn't seem to be doing well. I am not quite sure what I am doing wrong with it. Does it need more light? Does it need less light... I don't like the look of the dullness, and I imagine someone can tell me what I am doing wrong.

Love these images and all the detail! Looking good!

 

[SirRoadwolf]

What’s your lighting setup?

I am using this light in the DT: https://www.ebay.com/itm/EVO-Quad-4...3W-4-ft-New-/301079910410?hash=item4619c2d80a

It has 2 sets of Blue LED's and 2 sets of 10,000k white LED's.

I set the first Blue light to come on around 10am, and turn off at about 6pm
The first white light turns on at 5pm, and turns off at 7pm
the second Blue light comes on at about 7pm and turns off at 11pm
the second white light comes on at 6 pm and turns off at 8pm

 

[SirRoadwolf]

I've heard that maybe the bright yellow algae, is actually a species of Sponge? Does it often propagate this quickly? Of note.... I did remove one of my live rocks a few days ago, and while rinsing it with RO/DI water, Carefully removed some bubble algae growth. This specific live rock is the same one which had a growth of Yellow Sponge on it, and still does. Perhaps that event caused the sponge to spawn?

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Is that Red 'Algae' actually Red Cyanobacteria? Perhaps I am overfeeding... I am feeding 2 cubes of frozen misis shrimp a day?

 

[SirRoadwolf]

I just got a Hanna Nitrite ULR meter in the mail. Checked my readings, and came up with 49.35 ppb of Nitrite. Chemical tests suggest that Phosphate and Nitrate levels are practically 0 as well, tho I plan on getting a Hanna meter for those too.

The Royal Gramma has healed well, and seems to be healthy.

The only other thing to report at this time is that the 'Sea Squirt' appears to be doing very well! Attached in a photo of the sea squirt from about 3 weeks ago, and one of it today. It has almost doubled in size, and I notice several feather duster worms which are growing too. Note: The first photo is taken inside the hole. The second photo is more focused above the hole.

 

[SirRoadwolf]

The tank has been doing well. I shall post an updated photo... The Sea Squirt colony is still going crazy!

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Note: There are 2 species of colonial sea squirts growing side by side it seems.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Love that! Anything taking refuge in it?

 

[SirRoadwolf]

Love that! Anything taking refuge in it?

Haven't really considered that. But I shall study it and see. I imagine if anything does, it would have to be very small, maybe like, baby shrimps or snails, or fish?