SC Aquariums 50 gallon PNP

[mattzang]

Well acro growth has been spotty. I feel that the algea was really putting a cramp on their style and out competing them for nutrients. I see a little growth here and there but nothing to write home about.

And I know what you mean. I'm a little disappointed in myself! I didn't go to college to be on a restrictive budget. I really need to win the lotto right about now. Since I've been with my fiancee (like 6 years now, I lose count, I can barely remember what I ate yesterday) we've never been out the state of Texas. That along with the fact that I have a new truck and Pensicola is only 2 tanks and 11 hours away has motivated me to just make it happen.

Trying to do it without dipping into my savings or putting anything on credit. Good thing I bought all the fish stuff when I did lol because I feel like I'm pretty set for a little while. I'll kick it back into high gear once some more funds are secured (winning the lotto?) And the tank has stabilized.

hah just messing with you man, i'm always on a budget for this stuff so i totally understand.

on the acro growth at least yours haven't died or anything! i've ran into all kinds of stuff with them lol. rtn stn randomly dying overnight.. they suck and are so awesome at the same time!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Debt and reefing go hand in hand @Philipgonzales3

I always say that's the American dream/way. Get a good job and off into debt you go. You can replace the word reefing with truck ownership, home ownership (pending), marriage (pending), and any other hobby I don't have yet lol. But at least I have a excellent credit score and good income, so I guess bring it on! Haha

 

[Philipgonzales3]

hah just messing with you man, i'm always on a budget for this stuff so i totally understand.

on the acro growth at least yours haven't died or anything! i've ran into all kinds of stuff with them lol. rtn stn randomly dying overnight.. they suck and are so awesome at the same time!

I had one die off, I think I mentioned it earlier in the thread. It was a duplicate so not a huge deal, also my stylo bleached a little. I plan to get some better pics and I'll point out any growth/die off that has occurred. Just another thing on my list of to do's lol.

 

[Sod Buster]

Have fun on the vacation trip! Apalachicola is 3 hours further east. Lots of beaches you'll drive past though. It'd be hard to keep your eyes on the highway for sure.

 

[count krunk]

Beautiful beaches, Pensacola, Destin and PCB.

I lived in Destin for a while. My parents still do. You will have fun!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Took a few more pics today. It's nice to see an algea free tank as soon as I open the door.

Ugh oh. @Sod Buster do you see what I see? Lol.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

So today is water change day after 3 weeks of Fluconazole and Vibrant. On the upside the tank is looking great overall. On the down side I have lost several SPS. Honestly the cause of the SPS bleaching can be several different things. My Alk has risen to about 10dKH, so it could be ALK swings. My AC also broke yesterday and the tank got to about 84F, may have even gotten slightly higher. One set of my cooling fans has gone out. It has been getting warmer and warmer here. I do plan to get some window units installed but not until after vacation. It could be pests also or could be related to the treatment. I doubt it was the treatment itself though.

Honestly I am OK with losing some SPS. I have slacked off on checking my ALK regularly so need to get back into gear and go from there.

 

[mattzang]

that's a bummer man, sps are so cool but so dang flimsy. i had one that was doing great on the frag rack for a few weeks, went to mount it and it browned out overnight, looks deadish. idk how people slowly acclimate better than i did other than gluing in one spot, then removing and gluing slightly higher etc.

i'm also down at least 2 frags that i removed from the frag plugs only for them to be knocked off of where i glued them and lost forever. luckily both were super cheap, one was a $5 red setosa and other was a $4 red millie that was a total duplicate of the other millie i have, but still.

i'm leaving on a vacation later today too and idk how many places i've written "LEAVE AC ON" notes, lol. my grandpa is the one that is going to feed the fish once while i'm gone and i can totally see him 'knowing best' and turning it off

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Well I have some good news and some bad new. The bad news is that I've lost another couple of SPS and a couple of acans as well. Maybe it could be temp swings from 78F to 82F daily. Could still be pests or a lot of other things.

Alk has gone up. Old normal was 8.5 to 9. Just lowered my dosing a bit right now.

The good news is that after 4 months my clown fish finally found the anemone!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Few more pics. It's looking like they are hitting it off.

I'm going to remove all of the dead coral tomorrow. I've meant to earlier but you know how that goes. Noticed one of my torches is dying. Still no earthly idea what is going on except maybe temp swings.

I hate to sound like a crappy reef owner but pretty much what is going to happen will happen. Hoping to get some window AC units right after vacation and hope that helps some.

1 week until we leave. Booked this hotel near Destin. The great thing is I got it for cheaper than a motel 6 in Destin lol.

 

[mattzang]

that's a bummer, but sweet vaca dude!

if u have any little fans around that might help a bit to just point at the tank/sump. i bought a clip on fan on amazon and it seems to be keeping me in the 78-80 range so far, although i haven't gotten greedy with turning off AC so far this summer either

 

[Hemmdog]

Few more pics. It's looking like they are hitting it off.

I'm going to remove all of the dead coral tomorrow. I've meant to earlier but you know how that goes. Noticed one of my torches is dying. Still no earthly idea what is going on except maybe temp swings.

I hate to sound like a crappy reef owner but pretty much what is going to happen will happen. Hoping to get some window AC units right after vacation and hope that helps some.

1 week until we leave. Booked this hotel near Destin. The great thing is I got it for cheaper than a motel 6 in Destin lol.

Danggg man fly out the boys! That place looks sick!

 

[Hemmdog]

Sorry about your tank though. Has your salinity been steady that low and your calcium that low? I would bump them up to 1.026 420 respectively. It’s odd you don’t have a lot of coralline by now either, it’s kinda concerning. Here to help anytime man if you need it. Still looks good to me

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Danggg man fly out the boys! That place looks sick!

Man I wish I could. We are stretching the budget pretty thin to make this happen but it was time we finally crossed the Texas state line. Regular price on one room is around $325, we got the room for $143 so couldn't pass up the good deal. Can't beat staying right on the beach.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Sorry about your tank though. Has your salinity been steady that low and your calcium that low? I would bump them up to 1.026 420 respectively. It’s odd you don’t have a lot of coralline by now either, it’s kinda concerning. Here to help anytime man if you need it. Still looks good to me

They both drifted over time. I am slowly raising it with my water changes. Today is water change day so should be at 1.025-1.026 today. I'll get another Calcium reading today also and see where I am at. I've always struggled to keep my Calcium up, I figured anything over 350 I would be happy with as I didn't want to cause more harm than good by tweaking the dosing too much. But I agree it's too low, especially for my Alk level. I'll see if I can work on slowly increasing it and keeping it steadily higher.

As far as the Coralline I started to see traces of it and then the Hair Algea hit hard. The hair algae covered pretty much every surface. Now that the algea is taken care of I am seeing the most Coralline I have seen so far. It's still just a few spots here and there. Largest patch is on my return pump from what I've seen. So I am hoping I am headed in the right direction. I'll try to get some pics of the Coralline later today.

 

[Hemmdog]

They both drifted over time. I am slowly raising it with my water changes. Today is water change day so should be at 1.025-1.026 today. I'll get another Calcium reading today also and see where I am at. I've always struggled to keep my Calcium up, I figured anything over 350 I would be happy with as I didn't want to cause more harm than good by tweaking the dosing too much. But I agree it's too low, especially for my Alk level. I'll see if I can work on slowly increasing it and keeping it steadily higher.

As far as the Coralline I started to see traces of it and then the Hair Algea hit hard. The hair algae covered pretty much every surface. Now that the algea is taken care of I am seeing the most Coralline I have seen so far. It's still just a few spots here and there. Largest patch is on my return pump from what I've seen. So I am hoping I am headed in the right direction. I'll try to get some pics of the Coralline later today.

Nicee. I forgot about the gha.

 

[PirateDan]

Few more pics. It's looking like they are hitting it off.

I'm going to remove all of the dead coral tomorrow. I've meant to earlier but you know how that goes. Noticed one of my torches is dying. Still no earthly idea what is going on except maybe temp swings.

I hate to sound like a crappy reef owner but pretty much what is going to happen will happen. Hoping to get some window AC units right after vacation and hope that helps some.

1 week until we leave. Booked this hotel near Destin. The great thing is I got it for cheaper than a motel 6 in Destin lol.

It’s kind of sad that you would just let all these live creatures suffer until you come back from having fun.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

It’s kind of sad that you would just let all these live creatures suffer until you come back from having fun.

I agree. Kind of sad indeed. I mean the tank is only getting around 82 - 83F tops, but I just can't justify getting the window units with our vacation pending. Gotta take my other little creatures to have fun as well. I Gotta save some cash for me and the family should any emergencies arise. I have to put my families wellbeing and safety first.

 

[Hemmdog]

I agree. Kind of sad indeed. I mean the tank is only getting around 82 - 83F tops, but I just can't justify getting the window units with our vacation pending. Gotta take my other little creatures to have fun as well. I Gotta save some cash for me and the family should any emergencies arise. I have to put my families wellbeing and safety first.

I really don’t think it’s the heat, some dude on here was temp swinging into the 90’s in the Philippines and his coral was living. It’s calcium, guarantee it. Anything in the 300’s is to low to work properly unless your alk is 6.5, just bump up your doser it’s a super quick fix.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I really don’t think it’s the heat, some dude on here was temp swinging into the 90’s in the Philippines and his coral was living. It’s calcium, guarantee it. Anything in the 300’s is to low to work properly unless your alk is 6.5, just bump up your doser it’s a super quick fix.

Well I did a calcium test right now and got 400 with the red sea kit and 445 with the Hannah checked. I'm using RODI and not distilled so it makes sense that the Hannah is reading a little high.

I did adjust the dosing a tad so we'll see what happens. I think my params are pretty good though. As you can see I have some coralline coming in and most of the corals are looking decent.