OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
I'm going to try to do a weekly video and put them together to see progress from one week to the next. Saw one on face book that was pretty awesome.
Susan's RS Reefer 3xl 900 Fantasy-Dream Build
- Thread starter Susan Edwards
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Today was a good day!! When I moved my fish, I realized I was missing my flame hawk fish, one of my favorites. I was sad and figured he'd died and been consumed. While dismantelling the old tank, I found him in the overflow!!! Poor guy! At least he was getting food as I was still feeding my small goby. Took some doing to get him out. Tried to remove the stand pipe and let him drain straight down but of course, he didn't. Took some effort to use a net and be able to scoop him up once I got him closer. Seems to be doing well now.
Took lights off acclimation mode as the corals seem to fine. Will go 75 blue/10 white for now at 12 hrs a day. Ramping up and
Today's numbers and dosing amts in am and pm (fl oz).
Ca 380 Dosing 3/5
alk 8.2 Dosing 3/5
Mg 1250 Dosing 4/8
NO3 5
PO 4 .07 (was 1 this am) Will dose 1 cap of neo phos
Still seems to be a lot of dosing amts. But numbers stabilizing a bit. My aim:
1400 mg
400-420 ca
8.5-8.7 alk
Had a bit of frustration with rockwork. I found a blasto in the old tank that I thought long dead but could see some green on it. So put it in tank next to a rock. It puffed out, so I tried to get it with long tongs. Shoved it down under the rock... Had to take part of it apart to get the coral, then that cause my Paly H*ll Hill to tumble. Ugh! But I got the coral in a better place on the sand until I glue it.
Picking up some corals from a member here after work tomorrow. Trading my leathers, some previous tank rock and a black box light for coral frags. Meeting at the LFS so that means I'll come home with some fish and more corals lol's.
Took lights off acclimation mode as the corals seem to fine. Will go 75 blue/10 white for now at 12 hrs a day. Ramping up and
Today's numbers and dosing amts in am and pm (fl oz).
Ca 380 Dosing 3/5
alk 8.2 Dosing 3/5
Mg 1250 Dosing 4/8
NO3 5
PO 4 .07 (was 1 this am) Will dose 1 cap of neo phos
Still seems to be a lot of dosing amts. But numbers stabilizing a bit. My aim:
1400 mg
400-420 ca
8.5-8.7 alk
Had a bit of frustration with rockwork. I found a blasto in the old tank that I thought long dead but could see some green on it. So put it in tank next to a rock. It puffed out, so I tried to get it with long tongs. Shoved it down under the rock... Had to take part of it apart to get the coral, then that cause my Paly H*ll Hill to tumble. Ugh! But I got the coral in a better place on the sand until I glue it.
Picking up some corals from a member here after work tomorrow. Trading my leathers, some previous tank rock and a black box light for coral frags. Meeting at the LFS so that means I'll come home with some fish and more corals lol's.
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Met @ToadstoolTom today to do some trading: black box lights, rock and the last of my leathers for some nice frags. Rocks don't look totally bare now lol's. Have some Bird's nest, purple stylophora, mohawk paly, montiporas and pocillopora.
As he lives right by the fish I go to (and who installed my tank) I also did some shopping.
Nice hunk of goni. On sand. Will move slightly higher onto rock.
Gold head sleeper goby--very strange fish. Swimming at the top and acting like it wants out. One side to the other and one end to the other. Sometimes like playing in the currents. Very almost frantic fish. Hope it settles in the sand like my last one did.
Tiger pistol shrimp. Hope he finds the barber goby.
Diamond goby. Already out watching me. Went right to work making a burrow.
2 cleaner gobies.
1 "Dory" Blue Tang--very tiny. Hiding in rock. Not too sure on this fish
So not to crazy.
Still waiting for tank to get where I need it. All numbers doing better.
mg 1270-dosing 6/6 oz (am/pm)
ca 380 dosing 5/5
alk 8.3 dosing 5/5
no3 10
po4 0 dosed 12 ml neo phos.
appearance of diatoms on sand. stirred. Might need to change rowaphos in reactor?
As he lives right by the fish I go to (and who installed my tank) I also did some shopping.
Nice hunk of goni. On sand. Will move slightly higher onto rock.
Gold head sleeper goby--very strange fish. Swimming at the top and acting like it wants out. One side to the other and one end to the other. Sometimes like playing in the currents. Very almost frantic fish. Hope it settles in the sand like my last one did.
Tiger pistol shrimp. Hope he finds the barber goby.
Diamond goby. Already out watching me. Went right to work making a burrow.
2 cleaner gobies.
1 "Dory" Blue Tang--very tiny. Hiding in rock. Not too sure on this fish
So not to crazy.
Still waiting for tank to get where I need it. All numbers doing better.
mg 1270-dosing 6/6 oz (am/pm)
ca 380 dosing 5/5
alk 8.3 dosing 5/5
no3 10
po4 0 dosed 12 ml neo phos.
appearance of diatoms on sand. stirred. Might need to change rowaphos in reactor?
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Those are staghorn damsels. They are a bluish-white, almost like a chromis. I ordered from LA--Lemon damsels and this is what I was sent... Some have black bars on their sides. Only good thing (as they are rather boring) is they offer movement. They are all over, moving constantly.all the whiteish fish? Now all you need is a melanarus wrasse to dig your sandbed up every night.
So here is a question for you. I'm running rowaphos in a reactor to help prevent diatoms which started to appear today! Maybe it needs changing? Also, po4 is at 0. I'm dosing about 10-12 ml of neo phos. should I take the reactor off, or leave it and dose po4. I want to do m y best to avoid a total ugly stage as there is a ton of rock and media from old tank in sump
fishguy242
Cronies..... INSERT BUILD THREAD BADGE HERE !!
Partner Member 2024
Reef Tank 365
Hospitality Award
Midwest Reefer
Fish Medic
R2R Secret Santa 2023
i would say take it offline for now, you are adding and removing phos.
but keep eye on...
but keep eye on...
blaxsun
10K Club member
Interesting fish. I have 4 blue damsels, but I've never seen those before. Yeah, if you're @0 phosphates I'd just temporarily turn the RowaPhos reactor off until phosphates creep up a bit higher. I'd probably test maybe 2x a week to keep a loose eye on it.
You need more fish in that sucker - then you won't need to dose PO4! (I added 10 this week so I've raised the bar to 30 for you!)
You need more fish in that sucker - then you won't need to dose PO4! (I added 10 this week so I've raised the bar to 30 for you!)
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Yeah, what I figured. Will just leave it in sump but off. Don't want to waste it lol'si would say take it offline for now, you are adding and removing phos.
but keep eye on...
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
They are a bit aggressive. Chase each other all over. And yeah, need more fish lol's. 4 of the ones I added are for clean up-2 gobies and the cleaners. I want a school of anthias. and maybe some wrasse. And tangs! I hope the one I added today makes it. Still hiding in rocks.Interesting fish. I have 4 blue damsels, but I've never seen those before. Yeah, if you're @0 phosphates I'd just temporarily turn the RowaPhos reactor off until phosphates creep up a bit higher. I'd probably test maybe 2x a week to keep a loose eye on it.
You need more fish in that sucker - then you won't need to dose PO4! (I added 10 this week so I've raised the bar to 30 for you!)
blaxsun
10K Club member
Damsels can be like that. Mine are currently "herding" the school of chromis and anthias that I now have (it's like they finally found their purpose!) I'd like more tangs, but they have to be the dumbest fish on the planet (a brand new Naso nosedived into my elegance a few weeks back). I've got one nice sailfin (so I'm told) who is incredibly smart with great personality.
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Nice! good thing I have a lid as the diamond goby gets startled and hits the netting!! Huge splashes. Sleeper goby still frantic at surface. he'd be gone without the lid. Hope he settles...
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Sheesh, wrote this yesterday and forgot to post!!
Sunday notes: what a day! Had to put the sleeper goby in the acclimation box last night after he got stuck on the weirs. Let him out tonight and same frantic surface swimming. Turn on feed modes a few times.. Was about to pop him back in with a container of sand and move the box to the sandbed when I didn't see him at the surface. Went to look and there he is under the rocks peeking out. Will leave box in tank for tonight.
Had eyes on the 2 cleaner gobies and little Dory who is still hiding in a crevice but I did see he rout. Prob. should have gotten a bigger blue tang... No eyes on the diamond goby. Wondering if he is in the hole with the pistol shrimp and barber goby. I did see that goby pop out for food this morning. Goni looking good and all the "sticks" I got yesterday.
Ugh on the diatoms. Was hoping the rowaphos would save my tank from those...
Got called into work this morning early. Had 30 minutes to get ready so no time to test or dose. Surprisingly, numbrs were stable.
ca 380 still. Dosed 10 fl oz yesterday. Going to dose 5 tonight and see where it is in the am
alk 8.3 still. Dosed 10 fl oz yesterday. Dosing 5 tonight
mg 1400. maybe a bit lower. dosed 14 oz yesterday. Dosing 4 tonight
no3 at 5
po4 at .02
ph around 8
skimmer looks to be settling in. Still wet though
No work tomorrow (Monday. I hope) so I can stir the sandbed, clean the glass and do some other tank stuff like put in the heater from the other tank. And sort through all the tank stuff and organize the controllers in a better temp fix so not a rats next. Can't hook up the ato until I do.
Monday notes:
Have had eyes on everyone. Even my tiny Dory comes out to swim in her area and then goes to hide. Need to update my spreadsheet on fish and corals. Sleeper goby went back to surface tonight. I chased him back down! Hope he's eating. I'm way over feeding tank. Will drop pellets in before bed. Moved a couple corals. Goni and alveo both super happy. First time ever!!
Numbers dropped a bit overnight. Was only able to dose tank once yesterday
mg dropped to 1280. Dosing 6 oz 2x's. Realized I was out of mg. Had some in the dosing container from old tank. Whew!!
CA down to 360. dosing 5 oz 3 x's today
Alk down to 8. Dosing 3 oz 3x's today
Po4 at .12 which is better than zero.
Did not test no3
Will test again in am.
lots of diatoms all over. blew it off, cleaned glass. Will have UV on Wednesday. Hope it will help!
My rats nest... this pic is without any apex stuff!!
Sunday notes: what a day! Had to put the sleeper goby in the acclimation box last night after he got stuck on the weirs. Let him out tonight and same frantic surface swimming. Turn on feed modes a few times.. Was about to pop him back in with a container of sand and move the box to the sandbed when I didn't see him at the surface. Went to look and there he is under the rocks peeking out. Will leave box in tank for tonight.
Had eyes on the 2 cleaner gobies and little Dory who is still hiding in a crevice but I did see he rout. Prob. should have gotten a bigger blue tang... No eyes on the diamond goby. Wondering if he is in the hole with the pistol shrimp and barber goby. I did see that goby pop out for food this morning. Goni looking good and all the "sticks" I got yesterday.
Ugh on the diatoms. Was hoping the rowaphos would save my tank from those...
Got called into work this morning early. Had 30 minutes to get ready so no time to test or dose. Surprisingly, numbrs were stable.
ca 380 still. Dosed 10 fl oz yesterday. Going to dose 5 tonight and see where it is in the am
alk 8.3 still. Dosed 10 fl oz yesterday. Dosing 5 tonight
mg 1400. maybe a bit lower. dosed 14 oz yesterday. Dosing 4 tonight
no3 at 5
po4 at .02
ph around 8
skimmer looks to be settling in. Still wet though
No work tomorrow (Monday. I hope) so I can stir the sandbed, clean the glass and do some other tank stuff like put in the heater from the other tank. And sort through all the tank stuff and organize the controllers in a better temp fix so not a rats next. Can't hook up the ato until I do.
Monday notes:
Have had eyes on everyone. Even my tiny Dory comes out to swim in her area and then goes to hide. Need to update my spreadsheet on fish and corals. Sleeper goby went back to surface tonight. I chased him back down! Hope he's eating. I'm way over feeding tank. Will drop pellets in before bed. Moved a couple corals. Goni and alveo both super happy. First time ever!!
Numbers dropped a bit overnight. Was only able to dose tank once yesterday
mg dropped to 1280. Dosing 6 oz 2x's. Realized I was out of mg. Had some in the dosing container from old tank. Whew!!
CA down to 360. dosing 5 oz 3 x's today
Alk down to 8. Dosing 3 oz 3x's today
Po4 at .12 which is better than zero.
Did not test no3
Will test again in am.
lots of diatoms all over. blew it off, cleaned glass. Will have UV on Wednesday. Hope it will help!
My rats nest... this pic is without any apex stuff!!
fishguy242
Cronies..... INSERT BUILD THREAD BADGE HERE !!
Partner Member 2024
Reef Tank 365
Hospitality Award
Midwest Reefer
Fish Medic
R2R Secret Santa 2023
UMmmm...you forgot to post pic...
stopping the rowaphos ,should help a lot...
stopping the rowaphos ,should help a lot...
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
The reactor is still going as I have some po4. I'm going to move it to the same area as the skimmer as there is room. Testing this am to see if I still have some po4.UMmmm...you forgot to post pic...
stopping the rowaphos ,should help a lot...
not sure what happened to the pic. it was there lol's. The hole in the wall for tubing etc. is in that back corner. Can't get to it until I deal with this. At least a temp fix until we do the control panel. Hubby still working on the water station! My very expensive water station...
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
omg!!! Someone needs to do some organizing!!!!Meh, could be worse...
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Update time!
UV and manifold installed yesterday!!! Will post pic of sump after I put in the led light strip. Hope the uv takes care of diatoms. And hope they also aren't part dinos! Battling nutrients this tank which has NEVER been an issue before lol's. I'm feeding heavy!!
Next, all new fish doing well. Except my gold head sleeper. Haven't seen him tonight. Was gone all day. It's not been acting right, so it may or may not be gone. Oh, just found him. In a cave but still, not looking well. We'll see. My little Dory is now out swimming and the diamond goby watches me. The 2 cleaner gobies seem to be doing well also.
New corals are doing awesome! The alveopora is looking so good. A lot better than in the old tank and the new goni is very happy! Duncan is closed. I was in the tank blasting diatoms off rocks so it isn't happy plus lights are off. The frogspawn is doing excellent. Best it has looked.
When I was vacuuming the old sand/water out of old tank, I spotted a frag with bits of green showing. It was my mint blasto frag. No idea where it was but it had green and mouths so I said what the heck and tossed it in the new tank. To my shock (I thought it long gone) it was looking super. Went to move it and the tweezers moved it under my rock cave!! I wasn't going to lose that coral so I took that one structure apart to rescue it. It is very happy. The red blasto looks to be doing okay. It and the frogspawn were not thriving in old tank. In part just the health of the coral when I got them I think and not happy where ever I tried to put them. Both super happy now. The moni's, bird's nest, stylophora, pocillopora, mohawks I got from a member here also looking good. Oh, lost one frag of birds nest or pocillipora when it fell off and behind my large rock. Couldn't find it to save it. Will add some pics.
Now for even better news: my parameters. They are stabilizing finally.
Last night at bed
Mg/1350, ca/400, alk/8.6, no3/5 I dosed ca/240 ml, alk 280 ml & 240 mg
This morning I was at 1410/400/8.4 so almost the same. I dosed 120 ml alk/ca before work. This evening my numbers were the same with no3 at 5 and po4 0 Took rowaphos reactor offline (I had low po4 before). Dosed some po4 tonight.
Dosing 120 ml of ca and alk and 70 mg at bedtime and will see numbers tomorrow. Almost ready to set up auto dosing
really enjoying this tank, although it is so big compared to me, it is still daunting. I'd like to keep back glass clean but not sure how realistic that will be.
not sure if these are birds nests or pocillopora
and this
Purple stylophora
had several small frags so I glued on one frag
same here. Bird's nest or pocill.
UV and manifold installed yesterday!!! Will post pic of sump after I put in the led light strip. Hope the uv takes care of diatoms. And hope they also aren't part dinos! Battling nutrients this tank which has NEVER been an issue before lol's. I'm feeding heavy!!
Next, all new fish doing well. Except my gold head sleeper. Haven't seen him tonight. Was gone all day. It's not been acting right, so it may or may not be gone. Oh, just found him. In a cave but still, not looking well. We'll see. My little Dory is now out swimming and the diamond goby watches me. The 2 cleaner gobies seem to be doing well also.
New corals are doing awesome! The alveopora is looking so good. A lot better than in the old tank and the new goni is very happy! Duncan is closed. I was in the tank blasting diatoms off rocks so it isn't happy plus lights are off. The frogspawn is doing excellent. Best it has looked.
When I was vacuuming the old sand/water out of old tank, I spotted a frag with bits of green showing. It was my mint blasto frag. No idea where it was but it had green and mouths so I said what the heck and tossed it in the new tank. To my shock (I thought it long gone) it was looking super. Went to move it and the tweezers moved it under my rock cave!! I wasn't going to lose that coral so I took that one structure apart to rescue it. It is very happy. The red blasto looks to be doing okay. It and the frogspawn were not thriving in old tank. In part just the health of the coral when I got them I think and not happy where ever I tried to put them. Both super happy now. The moni's, bird's nest, stylophora, pocillopora, mohawks I got from a member here also looking good. Oh, lost one frag of birds nest or pocillipora when it fell off and behind my large rock. Couldn't find it to save it. Will add some pics.
Now for even better news: my parameters. They are stabilizing finally.
Last night at bed
Mg/1350, ca/400, alk/8.6, no3/5 I dosed ca/240 ml, alk 280 ml & 240 mg
This morning I was at 1410/400/8.4 so almost the same. I dosed 120 ml alk/ca before work. This evening my numbers were the same with no3 at 5 and po4 0 Took rowaphos reactor offline (I had low po4 before). Dosed some po4 tonight.
Dosing 120 ml of ca and alk and 70 mg at bedtime and will see numbers tomorrow. Almost ready to set up auto dosing
really enjoying this tank, although it is so big compared to me, it is still daunting. I'd like to keep back glass clean but not sure how realistic that will be.
not sure if these are birds nests or pocillopora
and this
Purple stylophora
had several small frags so I glued on one frag
same here. Bird's nest or pocill.
OP
OP
Susan Edwards
5000 Club Member
Bet you have longer arms lol's. I'm going to try. I do have a razor scrapper and a couple other long handled tools including a mr clean handle and sponges. I should get 2 or 3 cleaning robots for aquariums but I bet they are costly!
Similar threads
