Rudzbrewski's Journey to the Reef-er xl425 (V3 sump, Clarisea, plumbing w/ manifold)

[Rudzbrewski]

The good news is I should be at therapeutic levels for copper in the QT after today’s dose.

The bad news is I have lost the fire fish and diamond goby.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Quarantine Update:
My fairy wrasse rapidly deteriorated to not moving (I thought it was dead originally) and breathing heavy. I ultimately wound up decreasing/eliminating the copper level and it has since returned to swimming around and eating. I will allow it a few weeks to recover and hopefully regain its health/strength before raising copper levels ultra conservatively since I have plenty of time in the fallow period to complete treatment.

New coral additions:
Even though I am in a fishless fallow, my LFS (ARC) had a New Years live sale that I was able to participate in and add some new pieces.

1. Neon Toad Stool - did not survive more than 24 hours, which is strange since LPS and SPS seemed to do ok

2. Magical Magician Zoa - also did not survive 24 hours, but have been told it will be replaced

3. Scylla Acan - looked pretty damaged less than 24 hours after introduction. Tough to say if a peppermint shrimp picked at it, or something else. It's a long shot, but not completely dead yet. Might have been my favorite piece I picked up as it was considerably more impressive in person than I imagined.

4. TCK Fuzzy was a bear

5. ARC Dark Angel

6. ARC Neon Frammer

7. OG UFO Micro

8. Jack-O-Lantern Lepto

9. UC Disruption Monti- took a shot on this one after a recommendation, exceeded my expectation in person

10. ARC Randy O's Humilis

11. Rainbow Ricordea

12. ASD Rainbow Milli

 

[tritonpower]

Quarantine Update:
My fairy wrasse rapidly deteriorated to not moving (I thought it was dead originally) and breathing heavy. I ultimately wound up decreasing/eliminating the copper level and it has since returned to swimming around and eating. I will allow it a few weeks to recover and hopefully regain its health/strength before raising copper levels ultra conservatively since I have plenty of time in the fallow period to complete treatment.

New coral additions:
Even though I am in a fishless fallow, my LFS (ARC) had a New Years live sale that I was able to participate in and add some new pieces.

1. Neon Toad Stool - did not survive more than 24 hours, which is strange since LPS and SPS seemed to do ok

2. Magical Magician Zoa - also did not survive 24 hours, but have been told it will be replaced

3. Scylla Acan - looked pretty damaged less than 24 hours after introduction. Tough to say if a peppermint shrimp picked at it, or something else. It's a long shot, but not completely dead yet. Might have been my favorite piece I picked up as it was considerably more impressive in person than I imagined.

4. TCK Fuzzy was a bear

5. ARC Dark Angel

6. ARC Neon Frammer

7. OG UFO Micro

8. Jack-O-Lantern Lepto

9. UC Disruption Monti- took a shot on this one after a recommendation, exceeded my expectation in person

10. ARC Randy O's Humilis

11. Rainbow Ricordea

12. ASD Rainbow Milli

beautiful pieces. I have not had the best luck with acans either.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I had 1 acan frag in the tank already that seems ok and not bother by inhabitants. I was surprised when the new acan frag and the toadstool were the two pieces that were struggling after 24 hours considering more sensitive pieces were added at the same time. The acan has not given up yet, but the toadstool inexplicably did not make it past 24 hours. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I took an updated tank shot today.

I have recently added a random flow generator/nozzle to the return and some of the corals actual appear to show a noticeable difference. We are approaching the final month of the fallow, so still no fish but they are coming back soon. I am interested in adding more CUC, specifically a few conchs to help clean the sand since I lost my diamond goby. However, they appear to be had to come by at the LFS. Not much to update with corals since the last post, but just received the results of a recent ICP to address and might get the itch to add some new corals once the fish are back. Making sure nutrients stayed at desired levels has taken some attention since there has been basically no feeding without fish.

 

[craftsman1983]

I took an updated tank shot today.

I have recently added a random flow generator/nozzle to the return and some of the corals actual appear to show a noticeable difference. We are approaching the final month of the fallow, so still no fish but they are coming back soon. I am interested in adding more CUC, specifically a few conchs to help clean the sand since I lost my diamond goby. However, they appear to be had to come by at the LFS. Not much to update with corals since the last post, but just received the results of a recent ICP to address and might get the itch to add some new corals once the fish are back. Making sure nutrients stayed at desired levels has taken some attention since there has been basically no feeding without fish.

I love how clean your sump looks. Everything has a place and nothing is cluttered. Awesome prep and execution.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I took an updated tank shot today.

I have recently added a random flow generator/nozzle to the return and some of the corals actual appear to show a noticeable difference. We are approaching the final month of the fallow, so still no fish but they are coming back soon. I am interested in adding more CUC, specifically a few conchs to help clean the sand since I lost my diamond goby. However, they appear to be had to come by at the LFS. Not much to update with corals since the last post, but just received the results of a recent ICP to address and might get the itch to add some new corals once the fish are back. Making sure nutrients stayed at desired levels has taken some attention since there has been basically no feeding without fish.

Looking good! Very clean!

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I love how clean your sump looks. Everything has a place and nothing is cluttered. Awesome prep and execution.

Thank you. I took a lot of time looking at other member set ups and thinking through what would work best for me. I know that if it’s clean and convenient I will take care of it. If it is inconvenient and a sore sight, I’ll ignore it.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Thank you. I

Looking good! Very clean!

Thank you. I realized I always cut off the mounted lights when I take a picture. I need to take one with them in it.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I don’t know if I ever posted a picture where you can see the lights in the picture, so here is an updated shot.

 

[tritonpower]

I took an updated tank shot today.

I have recently added a random flow generator/nozzle to the return and some of the corals actual appear to show a noticeable difference. We are approaching the final month of the fallow, so still no fish but they are coming back soon. I am interested in adding more CUC, specifically a few conchs to help clean the sand since I lost my diamond goby. However, they appear to be had to come by at the LFS. Not much to update with corals since the last post, but just received the results of a recent ICP to address and might get the itch to add some new corals once the fish are back. Making sure nutrients stayed at desired levels has taken some attention since there has been basically no feeding without fish.

Looking great. I had trouble keeping diamond gobies alive. I have 2 conches and they have done great for almost a year.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Looking great. I had trouble keeping diamond gobies alive. I have 2 conches and they have done great for almost a year.

Thank you. My diamond goby was doing great until the disease outbreak. I have been waiting for my LFS to get some conches in (they have been out of stock at the wholesaler), but I think they finally are getting some today or tomorrow. I’m way more excited than I should be about this.

Do the conches to a better job or not throwing sand around on things while still keeping it clean? I’ve heard they like to move unattached frags, but that can be solved easier.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I was able to finally pick up a few conches to help with the sand bed! They join nessarius snails, astrea snails, emerald crabs, scarlet hermits, and a peppermint shrimp in the CUC.

I also added carbon to the QT system to start removing the copper as the 30 day treatment period at the desired concentration has passed!

 

[tritonpower]

Thank you. My diamond goby was doing great until the disease outbreak. I have been waiting for my LFS to get some conches in (they have been out of stock at the wholesaler), but I think they finally are getting some today or tomorrow. I’m way more excited than I should be about this.

Do the conches to a better job or not throwing sand around on things while still keeping it clean? I’ve heard they like to move unattached frags, but that can be solved easier.

They do great and don't really move sand around at all. They stay off the rocks so not an issue with frags

 

[Rudzbrewski]

I have been trying to get all my corals placed to remove the frag racks for the time being and because come are starting to outgrow the plugs. The main issue I keep running into is with SPS placement. They often start getting white on the tips, display signs of tissue damage/distress, and have decreased polyp extension. Frag rack is always raised to at least the level of placement in the tank and even to the area as close as possible over time.

Luckily they have rebounded nicely when moved back to the frag rack in the past. I’m trying to figure out if it is light, flow, or CUC causing the lack of success with placement. My only plan at this point is to keep moving them back to the frag rack for some time to recover then try different spots in trial and error. Open to any suggestions, thoughts, or recommendations.

 

[tritonpower]

I have been trying to get all my corals placed to remove the frag racks for the time being and because come are starting to outgrow the plugs. The main issue I keep running into is with SPS placement. They often start getting white on the tips, display signs of tissue damage/distress, and have decreased polyp extension. Frag rack is always raised to at least the level of placement in the tank and even to the area as close as possible over time.

Luckily they have rebounded nicely when moved back to the frag rack in the past. I’m trying to figure out if it is light, flow, or CUC causing the lack of success with placement. My only plan at this point is to keep moving them back to the frag rack for some time to recover then try different spots in trial and error. Open to any suggestions, thoughts, or recommendations.

Are you sure the white tips are not growth? I have had SPS have white tips when they are growing. OTW I am not sure. You would think they would also suffer on the frag rack if it was something general in the tank. Maybe someone else has an idea.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Are you sure the white tips are not growth? I have had SPS have white tips when they are growing. OTW I am not sure. You would think they would also suffer on the frag rack if it was something general in the tank. Maybe someone else has an idea.

My thoughts exactly in the general tank issue is that if they are growing and thriving in the rack and recover after being placed back it can’t be general parameters. I slowly raise and move the racks as close as possible to tier they get placed on. But I’m the 6-8 inch difference there is either a flow/light difference or pest/CUC issue. Very strange.

On an equally annoying level I found some vermetids on the backside of the rockwork I will need to try and manually keep in check.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Today I finally had the time to move the fish that survived QT back to the DT! I also purchased 2 new clown fish to become permanent residents of the QT system to keep it going as I plan to observe, treat, and fully QT all new additions going forward.

Unfortunately, when I went to add a new roll to my Clarisea the plastic screw on the "clean fleece" roll holder snapped right off. I have a message out to the manufacturer and will contact my LFS where I purchased it after the holiday weekend.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Things have been looking good since adding the fish back to the DT, so I tried to snap some pics to document the positive times. Please don’t jinx it.

 

[Rudzbrewski]

Its been a while! I have 3 fish nearing the end of QT with copper in the upcoming weeks. Solaris wrasse, bengai cardinal, and yellow coris wrasse will hopefully be ready to join the DT soon!

My LFS (A Reef Creation) just had another Live Sale, and I was due for some new additions. I am very happy with the pieces that I will be picking up soon. Fingers crossed that they survive being added to my tank when the time comes:

1: Indo Orange Torch

2: Teal and Red Acan

3: Kryptonite Candy Coral

4: Seductions

5: Rainbow Yodas

6: JF Jolt

7: POTO Boomerang

8: TCK King Acro

9: ARC Peach Giant Table

10: ARC Prince

11: ORA Red Planet

12: WWC Forgemaster

13: ARC Anthony's Pink Granulosa

14: ARC Rainbow Spath

15: WWC Little Red Ferrari

16: TCK Goku