Salty Fingers

[courtneykeeps]

Uggos
​

Diatoms are having a party in my tank, courtesy of moi.

Let the uglies commence, enormous luck!

 

[courtneykeeps]

I recently posted about how this aquarium was going through the usual 'ugly stage' (it still is!). I was close to going the chemical route and nuking the algae but my gut just kept telling me to go natural and be patient.

After the first 'fix it' water change, the problem actually got worse! I persisted with a couple more larger water changes, clean-up crew and elbow grease, and things seem to be stabilising. Even the Rock Flower Anemone doesn't look ticked off anymore, amongst other signs of stability.

I also had a go at putting a blue light over the tank and... I didn't hate it. It's not the stark, obnoxious blue that normally makes me nauseous but more of a subtle indigo. If the ONF light had a blue light option, I would definitely run it for a few hours a day. Maybe I can jerry-rig something.

The next update will likely be adding fish, to bring this little reef to life.

In the meantime, here's a photo dump...

 

[courtneykeeps]

Haul​

Sunday gone I went on a 'Saltwater Store Tour' with some freshwater aquascapers who some of you may know and that was of course the perfect time to stock up my tank and get some creatures I don't normally get access to. The reef now has macroalgae, soft coral, LPS and even SPS. I've added some Pulsing Xenia and Frogspawn to the right hand side that I'm hoping will fill in and create a cool layered effect with the GSP.

(Before adding the clowns and Sunday's haul)

I said the next post would likely be after adding fish and so here we are! I had mentioned on Instagram that I was reluctant to post about them because of the ill fate my previous clownfish faced but it was bugging me too much!

Some more creatures...

I think I'm happy with the tank now and will let everything grow in and mature. I'm already starting to need to trim the Caulerpa racemosa which I've been able to swap for other interesting macroalgae and coral frags.

 

[courtneykeeps]

Another month has passed and the tank has grown even more so! It's wild to look back at the photos and see how much it's changed from month 1 to 2 to 3. I hoped things would get off to a good start more quickly this time but I didn't anticipate it being this quick.

I'm happy that I stuck to my guns and didn't use any chemical treatments to solve the problems I faced. This tank has been primarily patience and bacteria driven.

The clowns have made it through the hazy period and everyone seems to be getting along well. I've added a couple more creatures since February, including a Plume Shrimp (Leander plumosus) and a Nassarius Snail to help keep the sand moving.

The dead millipora skeleton was attracting too much algae and taking up useful space, so I removed it and finally got some birds nest coral which I've always wanted to try. I've replaced that with the birds nest and some green Montipora digitata. The middle of the tank is now much more open and not attracting so much algae.

Looking forward to seeing how the tank progresses over the next few months!

 

[Eric R.]

WOW!! This is an incredible tank!

It inspires to me try more macro algae in my display tank. I’ve mostly only kept macros in my invert QT tank, since I have a couple urchins in my display that enjoy munching on algae. I may have to try moving the urchins out of the display and seeing how I can incorporate more macros, although I do have more corals taking up space now.

 

[courtneykeeps]

WOW!! This is an incredible tank!

It inspires to me try more macro algae in my display tank. I’ve mostly only kept macros in my invert QT tank, since I have a couple urchins in my display that enjoy munching on algae. I may have to try moving the urchins out of the display and seeing how I can incorporate more macros, although I do have more corals taking up space now.

Thank you Eric!

It's definitely worth a shot! I'd love to keep urchins too. They seem really cool, but I guess I just like macroalgae that little bit more lol.

My first try was definitely way more macroalgae focused but I'm really enjoying having a mixed reef this time. The only thing I don't have is NPS because I don't have the patience for that (and I'm a pretty patient guy).

 

[strich]

Found this thread through your recent TOFM post - It's honest one of my favorite tanks of all time mate! So good.

Looking forward to seeing it evolve. Do you have much more of a roadmap at the moment or are you just seeing how it'll grow in? I definitely agree an arrow crab would do well in there!

 

[courtneykeeps]

Found this thread through your recent TOFM post - It's honest one of my favorite tanks of all time mate! So good.

Looking forward to seeing it evolve. Do you have much more of a roadmap at the moment or are you just seeing how it'll grow in? I definitely agree an arrow crab would do well in there!

Thanks mate!

I mostly plan to just let it grow in and see what happens. If I come across any fun new species or corals I might add those in. I think I'm maxed out on creatures but they're all tiny and cohabit peacefully.

The clowns are young but also showing a lot of potential spawning activity so that's fun to watch every day!

Also, the fact that it's pretty full after only a couple of months means that it should in theory be easy to dial in what it needs to remain stable. My parameters have changed again since the TOTM article but are pretty stable. Just working on getting my calcium back up.

A juvenile arrow crab would fit awesome in there but they get much too big and I'd be worried about them picking on the smaller creatures. A tank for the future...

 

[courtneykeeps]

Backstroke​

A lot has happened since August! A lot of leaves fell, snow and unfortunately some fish too.

Just before making a trip to New York City for Aquashella, my bigger reef tank broke out with what seemed like ich. It was relatively fast acting and honestly there was not much I could've done. As a result it took out the beloved Spotcinctus Clownfish, Azure Damsel, Royal Gramma and Gold Cleaner Goby within the space of a week. Strangely enough the only fish completey unaffected was the Yellow Coris Wrasse, so I ran the tank semi-fallow, not adding anything new.

During this time it also became apparent that I was definitely moving back to the UK and so my attention waned a little for all of my tanks, knowing they'd soon be shut down. I actually moved my freshwater tank into where the bigger reef is with the intention that my roommate would continue on in my absence but the scape lost its essence in the transition and turns out an open top AIO is not ideal for jumpy fish. So last weekend I decided to turn it back into a reef tank and combine it with my smaller tank. Luckily I kept the rock work circulating in a bucket and so the transition went down without a hitch. I think this is the best iteration of the three. All the creatures have lots of space and the tank is so full of life, variety and colour. I'll be looking forward to seeing it develop through picture and video updates but as of next month it'll no longer be my tank.

Naturally I've already been thinking a lot about the next tank I want to set up. My hope is to keep that as long term as possible. I'm also not sure if it should get its own journal or I should keep all of my salty escapades in this one.

 

[85173]

I'm also not sure if it should get its own journal or I should keep all of my salty escapades in this one.

We could find it here more easily, or if not, at least post a link here to the new one when you start it.

Looking forward to your next reefing journey.