Stanleo's 120 gl mixed reef

[stanleo]

Got some new corals on Tuesday. An acan, just one polyp about the size of a quarter and a torch. They are fully open and so far so good. Here's some pics

 

[aabjones888]

Torch looks real nice!

 

[stanleo]

Torch looks real nice!

Thank you. I hope it does really well, I would like to see nice and big in that spot.

 

[stanleo]

Super excited about this. I have a thriving population of mysis shrimp in my fuge. I thought that they weren't getting into the tank because I have never found them anywhere else. But tonight looking in my sump I found several of various size running around the return chamber of the sump so they have to be getting in the tank!

I also cleaned my filter socks and floss and continue to find more amphipods in there every time. I try to save as many as I can and put them in the fuge. They are also living in my over flow box, I found some in there tonight.

With all the microfauna I continue to find in the tank I think I am ready for a mandarin which was the goal. I am going to start looking out at the local LFS's for a healthy one. I see them now and then but until now I wasn't ready to pull the trigger.

I did my 24 gallon water change today but I did not do tests prior to change. I am only testing every Wednesday now and recording them on a chart to monitor trends in the tank. Here is the chart I am keeping.

 

[stanleo]

Weekly water test done. Nothing too shocking. Phosphate is up but that makes sense because the brown algae that was growing on the rocks cleared up which I have learned thrives in lower nutrients. So I kinda figured phosphate went up but it's still good.

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 9.2 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 440 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1480 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .1 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert

 

[stanleo]

Finally got some macro shots of the mysis shrimp and isopods in my fuge. Still not great but I continue to play with the camera.

 

[stanleo]

*sigh* The first one I have seen. I was really trying to avoid them but I guess it was inevitable. I guess I will get some Aiptasia X next time I am at the LFS. Its still tiny, a couple mm at most. But where there is one.....

 

[stanleo]

Picked up a gorgonian today. Got a 30$ gift certificate to my favorite LFS and found this guy for just 30 bucks. I don't know what kind he is but I like him a lot.

Got a decent pic of the acan. It has two tiny polyps growing off of it already so I think it is doing well.

 

[stanleo]

I have learned that the gorgonian is a non-photosynthetic Yellow Finger Gorgonian so I have to feed it several times a week if I hope to keep it. I think it's beautiful so I will do my best but I wish I would have done some research on it and mulled it over for a couple days. It's polyps are only opening at night so that is when I will feed it, when I get home from work at midnight. Wish me luck!

 

[stanleo]

Made some changes today.

I got a Hydor Wave Maker for Christmas and installed yesterday. He also got me a Hydor Koralia wave pump 2450 gph. I put that one one the left side and I have the Hydor 2450 gph on the right side. They are both toward the front of the tank facing eachother about four inches from the water line. Wave maker is set to go in fifteen minute intervals. I want a good random flow throughout the tank and I think I am getting it. The Kenya tree is the only coral who is not happy about it. I think he'll get used to it though. The mushrooms seem to love it.

I also got a zoa frag, a non photo synthetic gorpgonian and a coco worm. I figured if I'm feeding the yellow finger gorg everyday might as well try one of these worms. I have reef roids, reef chili, phyto plankton and Benepets reef food for them. Going to try a varied diet and keep an eye on nutrient levels.

You can see how mad the kenya tree is about the new flow patterns.

The coco worm might not stay here. When one of the power heads is running he is getting too much flow I think.

Here's a full tank shot showing the new placement of the power heads.

 

[stanleo]

Weekly water tests done. Calcium has been dropping a lot more than usual but everything else is where it should be. I think calcium is fine because I would expect it to drop faster getting closer to the year mark. Might be time to start dosing soon. PO4 is back at .03ppm. I think it goes to .1ppm when the carbon has been exhausted. I change it once a month and last week the day after I tested is when I changed it this month. We'll see if I am right.

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 9 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 420 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1440 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .03 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert

The new corals seem happy. The Kenya tree is still not pleased with the new flow pattern. I hope he forgives me soon. I am feeding the Yellow Finger gorg a varied diet. Target feed roids, reef chili, or phyto plankton once in the morning if it's polyps are out and once at midnight. I am starting to broadcast feed reef roids and reef chili a couple times a week. The gorg appears to be eating well. The polyps look like they are capturing the food. I hope it does well but I am not too optimistic.

 

[stanleo]

I got out the microscope and played a little. Some of the stuff I found might not be good but it's so cool. I am fascinated by the microscopic world in this tank.

 

[stanleo]

Had to do my water change a day early. That brown/ dark green algae was a lot less this week than it usually is at water changes so not much to clean. I did clean up the chaeto in the fuge and took a handful out this week. Went off without a hitch.

bad water out

good water in

 

[stanleo]

Full weekly tests done today. Nothing out of the ordinary. Things are looking good, the Kenya tree got happy again a couple days ago. The yellow finger gorg is probably not going to make it. I feed every time the polyps are open but it is probably not enough. Lesson learned.

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 8.7 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 440 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1480 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .03 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert

 

[stanleo]

Weekly water tests done. All looks normal and healthy. I will post a weekly pic tomorrow, don't have the time today to set up the camera and cover the windows.

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 9 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 410 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1440 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .03 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert

I started my fish room build over the weekend. Electric and walls are up but the inside of the room still needs dry wall. Have to wait til the plumping is in. I have a thread going documenting my progress. Really excited to get it done and have a place to do all the stuff in other than my living room.

Build Thread - Stanleo's fish room build

I have a thread for the tank over all but I decided to start a separate one for the fish room build. This is going to take a while because my husband and I will be doing all the work ourselves but I am hoping it will be completed by June. It is in the basement directly below the DT. I got the...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[stanleo]

Weekly tests done. Yesterday was water change day, 20%. I have not been testing Alk daily this past week but I have been doing a half dose of alk with Seachem Reef Fusion 2 daily so that might explain the rise in Alk levels. Calcium and Mag are lower than they have ever been but still in normal range and the tank still looks good with healthy corals. But I might have to start dosing soon.

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 9.8 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 400 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1400 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .03 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert

 

[stanleo]

Weekly tests are done. I started dosing both parts 1 and 2 of Seachem Reef Fusion daily after water tests last week. I have started with half the recommended dose on the bottle and calcium and magnesium have gone up while alk has stayed the same. I think I will continue this till next weeks test.

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 9.8 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 420 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1440 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .1 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert

Everything in the tank is good except the acan didn't do well. I might have put in too high of a flow area. It seems to have lost all its flesh. I couldn't move it because it was glued down. I might try those again in the future.

I had to start a new chart. Changed things up a bit by including salinity and changing the recording range on mag and calc.

 

[stanleo]

Sad news, found the tiger watchman goby dead this morning. Not sure why but I suspect that the sand bed wasn't loaded enough with food.

Good news is the clown is playing in the torch coral for the first time that I am seeing so that is awesome.

 

[stanleo]

So I am trying to get a handle on dosing calcium and alkalinity. For 14 days I have dosed Seachem Reef Fusion 2 part. I do half the recommended dose, dosing both parts in the sump return chamber. Part 1, wait a few minutes and then part two. I started dosing both parts after the weekly test two weeks showed a drop in calcium and magnesium for the first time after a water change. Last week's test showed a rise in these after dosing daily for a week. Today is water change day so I tested the new saltwater and the tank's water. I think I am on the right track but I would love some feed back from people who understand this better than I do.

January 15
Alkalinity 9.8 dKH Red Sea (this I had been dosing daily for a while)
Calcium 400 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1400 ppm Red Sea

January 22
Alkalinity 9.8 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 420 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1440 ppm Red Sea

Today New saltwater using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.
Alkalinity 10.9 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 450 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1520 ppm Red Sea

Today's tank water before water change.
Alkalinity 10.1 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 430 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1440 ppm Red Sea

 

[stanleo]

Temp 78F
Salinity 35 ppt
pH 8.1 API
Alkalinity 10.1 dKH Red Sea
Calcium 420 ppm Red Sea
Magnesium 1440 ppm Red Sea
Phosphate .1 ppm Salifert
Nitrate 2 ppm Salifert