Susan's RSM 250

[Susan Edwards]

Updating. Some repeat from my thread in the algae forum.

Fluconazle worked very well to clear out the majority of the bryopsis. Still a few tough spots. Will hit with round 2 in a week. I did a wc today--spent almost 4 hrs! working on tank--brushed and blew off everything many times. I cannot believe how much debris there was from the 16 days of treatment and I've been blowing with the baster several times a day! Water was so full of ick after the wc still! Also added another wave maker to blow along back wall of tank. It's a bit bigger than the other two. I need it to go from end to end. Another wow! More debris from sand. I think clearing all this will help my no3!

Decided I needed to keep protein skimmer working for a few days minimum to clear the tank so I added carbon as I just also did a chemiclean and will give the tank a bit of time to recover and then re-treat and take skimmer off line again. Noticed my corals seem very happy. Sun corals came out in full show and they haven't been since treating, or only a few heads. Another reason to wait a week I think.

I treated the display refugium today. It's not nearly as bad as the main tank was.

Day 11/76 fallow
Carbon and wc to qt with the fish in the 20 gal hex. Now it becomes a regular fish tank until October

Placed corals and glued now that I have algae free rock.. Things progressing. PO4 is now low. Trying to keep it just under .10 Having to dose just about every day.

Got some esv Ca/Mg/Alk to start dosing. Going to ease off on testing to every 3 days or so to see how the numbers do. PHos I'll track daily for a bit longer as I might have to rotate 5ml one day with 2.5 the next to keep it from climbing.

Stopped nopox and vibrant to see if tank settles. I hadn't noticed any difference with algae before, although might have a bit more on glass since I stopped nopox. I can always start if needed. No3 still high but will continue to blow off rocks and sand. Only thing I'm feeding is a sun coral and coral food. Some pellets for the scavengers as there isn't much food being fed with no fish.

 

[Susan Edwards]

As I can't buy anything to go into my tanks until october, I'm concentrating on upgrading and getting new equipment. First on the list was a new led light from amazon for the display refugium. Hated the cheap hood the 37 gal came with so bought a led adjustable light. Went really cheap as it was just going to have macros. Well, now it has corals, sort of my frags, plus 2 xenias I decided not to put back in the main tank as they were already spreading I needed something a bit better so got an Euphotica 16 inch from Hobbie Bug. No built in timer but 30 bucks cheaper than the one with the timer. This one had 3 groups of white lights, the other only 2, not that I know if that's good or bad. For the 30 dollars difference I can buy a timer for 10 bucks as I already have one. Looks nice and wow, it is bright. Now to figure out how much blue and how much white percentages to use. Seems most people have more blue than white.

Next on my list is power cord management. One thing I dislike is a snarl of cords. And besides, you have a nice tank and the view is spoiled by a mess. I want people to ooh and ahh over my tank, not eyeball my cords. So I'm going to get a couple of power centers and mount them to the wall. Maybe onto something like a peg board so that other plugs/outlet strips needed can also be organized. This gets everything up off floor and organized in one area.

Also soon, this month, is a dosing head. I think I'll just use the bottles instead of getting a container for the liquids. I'm working on figuring out what my system uses daily and think I'm about there. Phos might have to be done manually as it flucuates. I think it will need to be dosed every other day or at 5 ml one day and half that the next. 3 days in a row of 5 and I'm just over 2 again.

In september my goal is to get a back up generator for the winder. That's about 500 bucks on amazon.

Tank looking really good except some dino's appearing by end of day but not nearly as bad. Add some bio spira to compete for the food sources. I don't have any fish right now but even so, my nitrates are still high, even after a 20 % water change. Corals don't seem to mind. The sun corals didn't come out much while using the fluconazle--partly maybe as over 2 weeks no water change and 9 days no skimmer. Water quality sucked with all the die off. Out in full color last few days, looking better than ever. Notice a lot more pe in most corals. Hate to redose the flucon and may put it off and see what those spots of algae do. If it starts to take hold, I dose. No if ands or buts.

Lobo doesn't seem to extend tentacles at night yet. Gets all swollen up but doesn't eat. Thinking it was pretty starved when I bought it so hoping it will get what it needs from water when I feed corals, and the lights. Have it right on top.

Green Rhrodactus Mushroom split into two. My first split, montipora capricornis is showing some growth, sedosa orange monti also showing more polyps. Closed since gluing it down. Will ck in am. Ricordia looks like there is now 2 and anemone, even though it not in sight of front of tank, is where I can feed it and it eats. Hoping it will come out more. Might move the colt where it is in it's crevice in case it is affecting the anemone. Prob. not.

About ready to move all colts to display refugium as they dropped a ton of branches and they are growing in my rocks now. Can I admit to being a control freak and say I want to determine where what goes where? lol's...

Will get some updated coral pics to share.

 

[LJC6780]

Just caught up with the last month or so ... so what are you using in your sump? Filter Socks? I saw you mention sponges ... I've always heard sponges/filter floss in sumps are just nitrate factories unless changed out daily. And BRS did an experiment on changing Filter Socks and nitrate removal and they found that changing every 3 days was the best and waiting until a week was no different that changing every 2. Now this was just their experiment and I'm sure it's not law for every tank but it might be a place to start with reducing nitrates.

Are you dosing phosphates? If so, why? And rather than dosing a lot one day and half the next, why not dose a smaller amount (3-3.5) every day so it stays more even?

And were you using nitrate and phosphate remover and dosing phosphates too?! I'm confused ... would that be pointless? Remove the phosphates just to add them back ... or add them just for the media to remove it ...

And another thought for you to consider ... I'm also having to let my tank go fallow because I didn't QT everything when buying he full tank setup because I was told everything was healthy and no problems. Wrong. There were monti eating nudis that I didn't recognize until too late and the fish had ich that would come and go because they apparently had an immunity to it ... but with adding new fish, they may not and I just want it gone. Anyway ... I've just put all but one of my fish through TTM. It rids ich without meds. Even ich that isn't showing signs. I'll be doing this with all new future fish also. I'll be doing the last fish and starting the clock as soon as I can catch the dang thing! Then everyone will remain in QT for the remainder. All new corals are also currently dipped and will be QT before entering he DT.

Do you have a full tank shot currently?

 

[Susan Edwards]

Hi @LJC6780 So here's the scoop. The tank I have is an all in one with the sump in the back of the tank--full length, about 5 inches wide. The two return pump chambers have sponges instead of socks to keep debris from being sucked into pumps. I just rinsed them with last weeks wc and it made no difference to the nitrates. Next wc, I'll do again and suck out a couple of chambers. I'll have to look into rinsing more often, also need to set up regular skimmer maintenance. I admit it makes me a tad nervous to remove the skimmer as it was so hard to get back in last time I did it (first time). So with nitrates high, even the day after a wc, I'll hit the sump and sponges again.

As for phosphates, they were high so I was using the phos beads to lower. It finally bottomed out while doing the fluconazle treatment so yes, been dosing seachems (?) flourish to keep it between 0-.1 @mcarroll recommended to keep at .1

I too will be doing some form of qt for anything going in. Unsure of what I'll do beyond a dip for corals. Maybe an observation for a week or so after the dip. Not like you can add anything to their water. Except maybe Rally's as I think that is reef safe. I can't add anything until October anyway so I have time. For fish, am undecided whether to treat or observe. Or observe a week or so then treat with at least cp for ich and velvet. I worry about stressing fish in qt and doing more harm. So the qt tank will not be prison style though I may not use sand as many hobbyists have bare bottom tanks. Unless a fish requires it of course. I have sand in the hex for the sand sifter, thin and was able to get copper levels up.

I have my surviving fish in a hex 20 gal. They are done with qt but can't go back in tank. Blenny is nearly done with his and then he'll join his tank mates. I'll tear down the 10 gal qt, clean it, let it sit in hot sun for a couple days and then set it back up to cycle as a qt tank again for a couple of new fish I plan to get in september so they are done with qt by time I can put fish back in my 2 display tanks. Sand sifter and damsels will go into the display refugium, the blenny and chromis back into main display. Chromis could go into refugium. It's 37 gal but that is probably too many fish, esp. as I will prob. add a lawnmower blenny for algae to both tanks. Chromis and damsels are small fish though.

How are you qt'ing your corals? I'll do a full tank shot in a couple hours after lights come on. Good luck with your last fish. I had to tear both tanks apart and remove rocks to get the chromis and the damsels.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Adding some updating shots of both tanks and corals.
Main tank fishless for the moment. Shifting colt corals around. One on upper left too close to candy cane. Moved it to empty shelf for now. One on bottom left not happy down there so moved it to top of right for now. Wanting to leave the crevice there for the rbta which is just behind that rock. Had the colt on a ledge down there but thought it might be too close to rbta which I'd like to come back out front and make its home in that crevice. I know. It will do as it pleases but figured if no other coral there, maybe it'd move. Fish to come back are the scooter blenny and 2 chromis

Display refugium. Home to my xenia and colt frags, including one large colt and some macros. Not yet plumbed to main tank. Fish to come back are 2 damsels, 1 gold head sand sifting goby. Debating the chromis but don't want to over stock, plus if I leave fish room, can put a problem fish here.

sedosa montipora with new polyps

capricornias montipora with new growth

rhrodactas that just split into 2

candy cane kriptonite with feeding tentacles?? coming out one mouth? or else a hole between heads and its something else? It's black

full shot when I first got it.

Happy Suns

birds nest frag showing some growth

symphillia

more corals following

 

[Susan Edwards]

okay, more pics to document my corals. I bunched these so I don't have to upload as many. Wish I could upload more at a time like we used to be able to do. Hate the one at a time...
ricordia and 2 mushrooms

polyps and one surviving zoa. Bryopsis nearly wiped it out

Duncan and green star polyps. It went thru a couple days not opening. Coming out now.

torch and colt. and tiny frag colt which I will remove....

2 white tipped leathers and clove that hasn't done well since buying it. Think it was a poor specimen

acros and birds nest. One acro not doing as well. Started to recover and show polyps then I had to tear tank down. recovering from cyano so we'll see if it survives

rbta from side of tank. It likes the back of the rock... At least I can feed it.

There, all corals updated.

 

[LJC6780]

Corals look great. I think that may be some sort of fan worm or feather duster on the trumpet because the tentacles come out from that circle around the center mouth. Here's a pic of some of mine opened up.

As far as coral QT. The only thing I can think to do, for the most preventative measure, would be to dip before placing in the QT. Observe for a few days, dip again. Observe and dip again. Then wait out the 3 months for possible ich ... the multiple dipping would hopefully catch any eggs hatching that the dip didn't kill. Research would need to be done on the lifecycle of nudis and such to make sure of the correct interval and length of dipping and observation.

My 85 gallon has a ton of rock and corals. I really don't want to go through this crap again!

As for your sponges ... I'd rinse thoroughly every third day or so at the least. I don't think rinsing magically lowers the nitrates ... but the regular rinsing leaves less to degrade in the tank and keep nitrates up. I think they may lower over time. Rinsing and turning the skimmer on. Why was it off again?

As far as sand in the QT. I don't think you want that because of possible parasites and such that fish in QT might have. Bare bottom and pvc is so much easier to clean. Pretty sure I'm not adding any live rock to my QT but maybe a few marine pure balls in a HOB. You can add a small, flat bowl of sand for any sand sifters. This can easily be replaced after medication or an outbreak.

As far as having pods build up and getting a mandarin. I'd seriously do a lot of research before doing that. Mandarins need a LOT of pods and unless you will have a pod culture/tank you'll be buying pods all the time just to keep it from wasting away. I believe they can quickly deplete even a mature tank of pods. Especially if there are any other fish that would be competing. Just my 2¢.

As far as the refugium ... I'm not sure I'd permanently house fish there because it is supposed to be a place of refuge for pods and algae and such. With predators in there I don't think it will be exactly what you want.

I like the rock scape and variety of corals. I'm wanting to redo mine but have no idea where to start!

 

[Susan Edwards]

I'm not sure I'm willing to do a 3 month qt for everything. I'm thinking 30-45 for fish and a couple weeks for coral. I don't have what I'd think is good enough lighting for longer term for coral. My experience with coral from lfs is they are not in good condition when I buy them and most need immediate and good placement to recover.

I want the qt tank to be inviting and homelike as I believe a "prison" style qt adds to the stress as does moving them with the tank transfer method. And then you see them succumb. I think about the moves from where caught to lfs and then to our homes. I like qt to be a place to observe and fatten up, like a nice hotel where they just rest and rebuild natural immune systems while being watched. I still haven't figured it out. Will prob. use the cp as it is supposed to be easier on the fish than copper. The sand is for if I have bottom creatures that need it. Like my blenny and goby and it is just in one corner and thinner from spread elsewhere. I have a pvc pipe town house and will add a couple cheap plastic flowers for those who need to hide. I'm going to dry the sand for several days in hot sun, same with pvc pipeswhen done and label them (cp and copper) so they can be reused. you can pm @ mcarroll and get his imput. He's given me a lot of info. I could also copy some of it and pm it to you. He has definite views <g> I'd like to find a happy medium between severe and none.

my dau's SO has a 300 gall (200 sump room) and he doesn't qt anything, just eats his losses but with that kind of volume, I think he's less likely to lose everything unlike me in my 66 gal. It was devastating

Will do some research with the red sea staff to see if I really need the sponges as crap gets below them in the chamber anyway. I had read that some did away and it ruined their pumps. I don't have filter socks so they play that role.

Because I made the refugium a display tank I personally want some movement. both tanks are in my office where I spend the majority of my day. I've got pods in both building to a good amt, and a lot of ampipods in the main tank that are really good size. I don't mind adding as needed to both tanks. with only 2 damsels and the goby, i'm not sure they will wipe the refug out esp. if I add some chato to float on top as the damsels never swim far from the rocks. Might use a net or some sort of containment for the chato to one corner plus once all the algae is gone, I'll add a lot more macros. In the future might even make it a horsey tank <g>

I haven't seen my candy cane with its feeders out. I guess the coral grew around a feather duster as that can't be a coral mouth. Interesting.

Lol's on wanting to redo. Just start pulling out rocks and putting them back in... That's what I did. Had to redo all the rocks as I had to remove them in order to remove the fish. Not a fun way to do it.

do you have a build thread? If so, what is the link

 

[LJC6780]

I do but I'm not sure it's on this forum! lol I have one on fishlore called Cj's 85 gallon upgrade and build I think. I bought a full reef setup back in April ... I love it! I've sold some of the original livestock as well as lost some due to pests ... I've also added a ton of coral and I've got new livestock in QT as we speak! Tank came with a coral beauty angel, b/w clown, 6-line wrasse and a clown tang (which I sold because it doesn't belong in an 85). I still have the three and have added a lawnmower blenny, 3 banggai cardinals and a Kole Tang. I will be adding 2 more banggai cardinals from a fellow reefer on Saturday. They will also go through TTM, probably in buckets since they will be alone. I'm currently finishing up TTM on everyone but the CBA using two 20 gallon tanks. Housing in tanks is just pvc pieces and elbows, heater and airline. All can be washed and cleaned in between use. They actually don't seem stressed out at all with it. Even catching everyone only takes a few minutes and they are happily exploring the other tank and pvc. They really only need shelter and food. Sometimes they need to be coaxed to eat. I don't plan to QT everything for 3 months. I'll most likely do TTM and possibly CP on all new fish. TTM is at least 12 days then probably 2-4 more weeks of observation or treatment before entering the new tank.

Read up on CP too. I won't be using it on my wrasse as I've read a lot of people have had losses with wrasses. I want to say dragonets are also sensitive to it but I'm not sure. I will definitely check about all fish before using it. That's one reason I decided to do TTM. It's about using the life cycle to rid the fish of the parasite rather than meds, that may not work 100%.

Not sure exactly how I'll deal with corals moving forward. I'll always dip. But I'll definitely have to get better QT lighting if I plan to keep them QT for any length of time.

As far as redoing ... I have a bin with some rock out on the back porch now ... I need to change the water and add saltwater and bacteria to get that cycle going. I'll most likely pull as many corals as I can to other tanks, pull rock if necessary or just start rearranging and adding to. I'll also use this time to do a good cleaning of trapped detritus and all. Some coral is attached and many are on plugs or the tank floor. I'm running bare bottom so no sand to deal with thankfully!

I've just started a pod house (and 1 "pregnant" skunk cleaner) in a 2.5 gallon hex and am trying to get a phyto culture going to feed it and the tank. I most likely will never get a mandarin (even though they are one of my favorite fish to look at because of their coloring) because I just don't have the time or energy to put into one. I do have a 6-line that is always pod hunting so it will be nice to throw some extra ones in here and there. They are also great to feed the QT as there won't be leftover food to degrade and foul the water.

Anyway. I'm enjoying following along, and the conversation! It's both bad and good to find someone going through the same/similar tank issues ...

Here's hoping we both end up with clean tanks and happy fish in the end! [emoji4]

Current QT:

Current DT (4' 85 gallon): excuse the clutter on top ...

Pod/shrimp house:

 

[Susan Edwards]

cp is okay for scooter blennys and they are dragonet family. Mine is currently qt with cp.

It's both bad and good to find someone going through the same/similar tank issues ...

lol's but very true!

Start a build thread here! You can copy posts from your other site. That's what I did. I update both although the other site seems not very busy anymore.

 

[Susan Edwards]

So I missed my 8th month birthday!!! My Molly cat doesn't want me updating. She's laying on one arm which makes typing difficult....

Things looking good so far. Nitrates still high, phos ranging from 0 to .2 mostly down but some flucuation. Removed the sponges from the sump (all in one so there are 2, one in each return chamber), cleaned the sump out as much as I could without removing pumps etc. cut sponges in thirds to put in to act like a filter sock. Be easier to take out and replace every few days. Should have 3 of each size so can change and then wash. Will see if this works or maybe I'll remove one all together.

Shrimps are desperate for food. One took the pc of shrimp I gave to the rbta! The next day I gave it a pc of its own. Yesterday, went to feed sun corals and there is one of the peppermints. Gave him some food, and the other a pc of shrimp. Without the fish, I'm seeing them come out a lot more. Or else without fish, they don't have much to scrounge. I do toss in some pellets and there is food from the suns.

Rose bubble tip is doing great. It of course went under where I put it and out the back side. But it comes out every day and eats most days. Yesterday it went into the rock it favors before I could feed it. Made sure I fed this morning when it came out.

Yesterday I was checking my corals with my phone camera. I put it on 8x zoom so I can see polyps etc. One acro, one I'm not sure will come back had tons of copepods all over it. Was jazzed for that. Spotted some on another I tried to frag--piece that broke off that frag and they were there too. Hope that doesn't mean the acros are history... But today, I noticed copepods on the sand bed. No magnification needed and out in daylight. I looked really close and I can see them everywhere now. Big and small, as I have ampipods as well. When my fish come home, they will feast.... Maybe I can get my mandarin now.

Also noticed more of the bryopsis is gone. still had a few stubborn patches. Even the stuff still on the pally frag is gone . All but 2 that are under rocks are gone now. Tank is pretty clear, sand bed nice, no sludge, no debris.

So aside from wanting fish back in there, tank is looking good. Hopeful that it is maturing. Can't wait until October.... Actually will get one or two fish in september to start their qt so they are ready by mid to late october. Now to find someone to help me plumb the two tanks together once refugium is done iwth it's flucon treatment.

 

[LJC6780]

So I missed my 8th month birthday!!! My Molly cat doesn't want me updating. She's laying on one arm which makes typing difficult....

Things looking good so far. Nitrates still high, phos ranging from 0 to .2 mostly down but some flucuation. Removed the sponges from the sump (all in one so there are 2, one in each return chamber), cleaned the sump out as much as I could without removing pumps etc. cut sponges in thirds to put in to act like a filter sock. Be easier to take out and replace every few days. Should have 3 of each size so can change and then wash. Will see if this works or maybe I'll remove one all together.

Shrimps are desperate for food. One took the pc of shrimp I gave to the rbta! The next day I gave it a pc of its own. Yesterday, went to feed sun corals and there is one of the peppermints. Gave him some food, and the other a pc of shrimp. Without the fish, I'm seeing them come out a lot more. Or else without fish, they don't have much to scrounge. I do toss in some pellets and there is food from the suns.

Rose bubble tip is doing great. It of course went under where I put it and out the back side. But it comes out every day and eats most days. Yesterday it went into the rock it favors before I could feed it. Made sure I fed this morning when it came out.

Yesterday I was checking my corals with my phone camera. I put it on 8x zoom so I can see polyps etc. One acro, one I'm not sure will come back had tons of copepods all over it. Was jazzed for that. Spotted some on another I tried to frag--piece that broke off that frag and they were there too. Hope that doesn't mean the acros are history... But today, I noticed copepods on the sand bed. No magnification needed and out in daylight. I looked really close and I can see them everywhere now. Big and small, as I have ampipods as well. When my fish come home, they will feast.... Maybe I can get my mandarin now.

Also noticed more of the bryopsis is gone. still had a few stubborn patches. Even the stuff still on the pally frag is gone . All but 2 that are under rocks are gone now. Tank is pretty clear, sand bed nice, no sludge, no debris.

So aside from wanting fish back in there, tank is looking good. Hopeful that it is maturing. Can't wait until October.... Actually will get one or two fish in september to start their qt so they are ready by mid to late october. Now to find someone to help me plumb the two tanks together once refugium is done iwth it's flucon treatment.

Wait, you have fish in QT because of ich, right? I wouldn't plumb anything together until you are ich free on everything or it will just transfer through the whole setup.

And as far as acros, other than lighting, flow and parameters all being in check, you might look into an acro crab. They live in the coral and clean it and get food from it as well as share food with it. I've seen it said that there is a much higher success rate with the crabs.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@LJC6780 I have both the main display and the display refugium both fallow until mid october because of ick and velvet. Because the tanks are beside another, the refugium had to go fallow in case of airbone transfer. Not sure if it makes a difference if I plumb together as long as both are fallow for 76 days. I have one coral crab that lives in my green rhrodactis mushroom. Not sure where to get those as they are so tiny! The one acro was just coming back when I had to dismantle the tanks to get the fish out. It's no longer bleached but not it's original green either. Not sure if the copepods living on it means it's gone and it is just home for my pod pop. The other acro beside it is going good. A bit bleached on one side. I changed the lights in July so will see if it adjusts. The rest of the coral has nice pe so I don't want to dry to move it.

Might as well do an update. Still battling high nitrates and am still seeing some bryopsis and maybe even some new strands so I guess I'd better put the tank through a second dosing of flucon. At least there won't be the die off issues as I had originally. Rest of tank is algae free. My poor snails.... I just spotted another teeny tiny trochus. That makes at least the 4th round of babies. Maybe five in a few months. My first batch of babies are pretty much adult size. I'm uping the light schedule to more hours. Lost one peppermint shrimp. Trying to feed the other. It actually comes begging for a pc of shrimp when I feed the rbta. You'd think with no fish the nitrates would be low but I do feed sun corals everyday if they are open--30 + heads I think

I noticed that my green star polyp has now spread to the rock it's on. It was one of my first corals, an xmas gift from my dau last year. The poly frag she gave me is also spreading, received that at the same time. The zoa's on it are pretty much gone from the algae. My new (last mo) ricordia has split, and the green rhrodactis split as well. The setosa is showing some new growth as is the capricornus montipora.

Still trying to get copper out of 20 gal hex so I can add some snails and the scooter blenny. Have carbon and been doinging water changes. Hoping I don't have to remove the sand I put in for the sand sifter. I'd like to add the blenny and just have one qt tank going. The blenny finished his cp treatment. So I'm playing the waiting game. Want to reset the 10 qt tank and get it cycled so I can add a couple new fish in September so they'll be done with qt by the time fish can go back into the display. I have an awesome pod population so would like to add a mandarin. Figure I can add a bag of pods to have ready. Heck, a scoop of my sand would seed it...

 

[Susan Edwards]

Started second round of flucon. Spotted even more bryopsis. Bad, nasty icky stuff. Not going to wait for it to get another toe hold! Refugium clear except I found one spot. May have to do a second treatment as well. Did a wc but did not add the carbon back in. Will watch for a day or two. If needed will re treate.

Oh, Duncan has 5 new heads behind the first 3 heads! I bought it with 7, three to the right, four to the left. And the start of #8 below. I paid 80 for it and just about talked myself out of it. Glad I didn't. One of my favs. Looks like a jungle during the day.

Week 4 of fallow tank... Want my fish back in.... Maybe I'll do a coral spotlight with each of them to record their progress while waiting for fish...

 

[Susan Edwards]

oh, forgot to add. Removed the bio media (ceramic rings) from media tray today. Still having issues with nitrates and with the tank being over 8 months old, I should have enough with rocks and sand. Will see how things go.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Time to update just so I don't let it fall aside! Life has been busy!

Well, I'm nearing my 9th month b'day on the 15th. I think my tank is getting pretty mature and stable. Testing every few days instead of daily. Forgot to dose 2 days in a row so hoping things didn't fall too much. Thinking it's getting time to add an auto doser.

Still fishless. Will be able to add fish back in on my 10th month b'day. Plan to celebrate! As soon as qt tank copper is 0, I plan to put the blenny in and get small qt ready for a couple of fish so they are ready to add in october, maybe a week or so after the regular crew goes in. Right now, only 2 chromis and one blenny (scooter) go back to main tank. The 2 damsels and sand sifter go to the refugium tank. Might lose one chromis. Not looking so good. Will do water change tomorrow. Thinking of getting a mandarin. I have so many pods, there isn't a place you can look that you aren't seeing something from very tiny to some larger amphipods. All the rocks, the sand, etc. are teaming iwth them. Even the refugium now has pods visible on rocks. I worry about a mandarin in qt. Will feed tank pods. planning on 2 new fish. Mandarin and one or two that swims in upper part. Will add some more bacteria in before fish just to be sure, but I've been feeding the tank all along so should be good.

Nitrates are still high. Might have to look into other carbon dosing methods. Nopox has no affect. Vibrant does clear the "gunk" but no affect on nitrates. Figure I'll finish the nopox and try something else. I do have biodigest I should also finish up. Phos. are hitting zero so am dosing that.

Other than getting rid of algae, which was my goal, and I consider it met even with just a few spots left from 2 doses of fluconazle, I'm eager to return my fishy pets to their redesigned home. All corals are doing well and I do enjoy watching them as well. In fact, discovered my duncan had 5-6 new heads on the back side, then found another a couple days ago at the other end. I had 8 so it now has 15-16 heads. Awesome coral. So glad I spent 80 bucks on it! Waiting for my symphillia to do more. It's fleshing out more and even during the day at times. My gsp has spread to the rock in 2 places and my torch looks like it has spread sort of off the frag. I see a section that looks like it's splitting from the main head but at night, it all pulls back together. And my anemone eats almost every day and the sun coral is doing fantastically.

So will start to see what fish,, and next coral to add. And figure out how I'm going to qt and for how long. I'm not set up for very elaborate, and I can't see me qt'ing for 76 days every time I get a new fish. Need to research more.

All for tonight.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I have a new addition to my water world. A stromatella snail! I have no idea where it came from but from the size, it's been in the tank for a while! As I started with dry rock, it didn't come in on rock so must have hitchhiked on a coral and been very small and survived a coral dip. Included a pic. Butt ugly yet cute in a way.

Got my Jebao doser yesterday. Waiting on tubing. Now to figure out how to use. Directions don't seem all that clear... Also have to find and buy a container with mil markings to 100 for calibration.

Next step on this journey is to come up with a quarantine plan. A month of fallow to go

 

[Susan Edwards]

Update time. Almost to my 10th month birthday. A year ago, I was contemplating starting this journey, doing research and checking for used and new tanks to see what I wanted. Even visited some fish stores to see some tanks in person. In November, I found a new tank on craigs list but it was more than I wanted to pay or could pay. A couple weeks later, price dropped and that was the green light. I brought home my Red Sea Max c250. These last almost 9 months have been a real journey. Yeah, I've made a lot of newbie mistakes but I've learned a ton, including that there is so much more to learn. Here is where I stand now:
--Need to hook up doser. A bit nervous in going automated
--Ordered a new heater with a controller. Temps dropping at night as I'm not using a heater. With no chiller, just fans, can't have the temp go past 76. Now don't have to worry that temp will go too high
--Count down to fish returning to tanks. About 3 weeks left of fallow. Have 6 fish left. 3 will go to display refugium, 3 to main tank
--Huge population of pods. Going to get some chaeto and put in a bottle with holes and hide in back of tank for pods to have a safe haven. Both tanks.
--Need to get both tanks plumbed together and decide what to do with canister filter hooked to refugium for filtration. Keep for extra or not?
--Will do a big water change and clean out sump before fish added back in
--Set up 10 gal coral qt. Will be a long term coral tank or frag tank. Ordered a better hob filter and a power head for it and led lights. If I like the hob, will order bigger size for the 20 gal hex for fish qt and get rid of cheap hob's
--Order some coral via internet or check out a new fish store to get some in qt
Coral picture updates

Updated Full tank shot

Torch. First coral I bought. Favia. Not doing much. colts. While I love, I don't love all the branch dropping.... Must have 30 "babies" to trade in

Duncan has exploded with growth. Started with 7 heads, plus one under the main branch . There are now at least 8 more heads. Some below the first two from right, one at end, and a bunch along the back side, around the same first 2 -3 heads. At least 16 heads now. Love this coral. Green Star polyps spreading onto rock. First coral. Green Rhrodactis split into 3. A teeny tiny 3rd pc just visible on top of big one on bottom.

Ricordia. Split into 2. Orange and blue mushrooms

Small acro not alive I don't think. Covered in pods. Large one doing well, maybe some new growth. bleached on top and backside from lights I think. Birdsnest huge growth from the size of just a small tip

White Tipped Leather--a small one behind, Clove that is doing beautifully, 30 + head sun coral. Candy Cane. Never see feeding tentacles. 2 filter feeders embeded in coral. Another colt...

Symphillia. Doesn't show too much flesh yet. Moved it under rocks to see if it prefers less light as it only fleshes out when lights are off. I figure it was pretty starved at lfs. Hoping it does better soon. Love this coral.

Display refugium. Tons of colt frags, and one large. 2 xenia corals now doing well. Decided they could overrun in here instead of main tank. Need to reglue a lot of the macro algae which is doing well. Need to do some clean up here. Might pull out all colt frags and put in the coral frag qt tank until they go to a lfs so I can clean sand bed and arrange macros so tank looks nicer. Need to buy more macros and I guess they have to go to qt as well? Does chaeto have to go thru Qt? There is one place on ebay that says their macros have no contact with any fish or fish water.

Sedosa on bottom. Huge growth. Capricornus? on top. Again, huge growth

Forgot pic of anemone. Will do that one later on its own.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Forgot to add:
Need to consider some sort of carbon dosing. Nopox did nothing. I do feed heavy, even now with no fish, as the cuc is starving in there now that the bryopsis algae is gone and all other as well. Feeding the suns also feeds the tank as some spills away from the coral. Cannot get nitrates down under 20. Mostly around 40. Phos. are bottoming out and I have to dose for that. But nitrates won't come down. Everything seems happy and corals are growing. Using up my biodigest as well and am not seeing any results from that either.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I set up a 10 gal coral qt. Will be a long term coral tank or frag tank. Ordered a better hob filter, one with an actual area to put media in layers and not using those awful cartridges. It’s approx. 3” across and about 6” high. Put in the bio media and rubble rock. Put small bag of carbon on top until water is clean. Got a power head for it and led lights. I plan to purchase the larger hob of that brand for the hex 20 qt tank. It has a small canister and hob but that hob can’t hold bags of media like purigen. Will get rid of all the cheap hob’s except 1 for an emergency . Can’t believe I’m taking care of 4 tanks now—2 qt and a display refugium (still not plumbed with MT) and MT.

Coral Updates:

• White Tipped leathers doing great. Need to remove them from the rock they are on and poxy them onto rock. Removed a large colt that keeps growing back so need to just dump the rock.
• New Clove colony doing really good. Lots of new heads. Even attaching to rock now
• Montipora Capricorn has tons of new growth. Spreading off plug onto rock
• Sedosa getting all knobby and growing.
• Zoa colony, my first corals, spreading to rock
• Sun corals need to be epoxied down. 30+ heads. Doing great. New heads
• candy cane not doing much yet.
• sephilia not doing much yet. Would like to see it get fleshier
• green star polyps spreading in 3 places from main colony now
• ricordia split into 2
• 2 mushrooms, orange and blue getting larger
• Rhrodactis split into 3
• 8 head duncan now has at least 16 heads. It is awesome
• One acro doing really well. Lots of PE and seeing some new growth. Other gone I think but it i a haven for pods.
• Birds nest was a teeny tiny tip. It' has grown tons and is branching
• Colts exploding in my tank. I think all the big original ones are going to display refugium. That is going to be for all my "problem" children they can do whatever in there with the xenia and macros
• Torch looks like it split but I can't tell if there are more heads. It's def. much larger
• Favia hasn't done much. Should move higher maybe but don't want it where it will harm other corals.

So this is my coral update. Feather Duster is gone. Might not have survived 2 fluconazle treatments. It was under a rock cave. But good news is all but 2 patches of algae gone and they are under 2 rocks. New post with new corals as soon as I have pics.