Taco's 65G LPS Fiesta

larryl · May 27, 2018

Great looking tank. The unique aquas ape sets it off.

tacosricos · May 27, 2018

larryl said:
Great looking tank. The unique aquas ape sets it off.

Thank you! The scape was mostly an attempt to cover up the hideous overflow. I didn't realize it at the time but the "tower" structure is perfect for my lionfish who likes to creep around under ledges and suspend vertically like a gargoyle.

tacosricos · May 28, 2018

The tank temp. went up overnight, and the peak corresponds with the photoperiod of the t5's in the refugium. I need to find a fuge light that doesn't put out as much heat!

tacosricos · May 30, 2018

The frags from WWC have landed!

Everything looks excellent and was extremely well packaged.

tacosricos · May 30, 2018

Big fungia
https://flic.kr/p/27Gd6sZ

Smaller fungia. The maroon clown loves to hang out on this plate, and even arranged it under the ledge of the pectinia. He constantly kicks up sand and digs around in the area but it doesn't bother me, I think the corals like it.

Right side view of tower

tacosricos · Jun 4, 2018

I have been having some trouble getting the alk dosage dialled in, there are a number of factors that have changed recently. In spite of all the changes most of the coral has responded well. I switched lighting and dosage methods at the same time, and then had an issue with a mysterious salinity drop. So getting the levels adjusted as I also bring up the lighting and salinity has been tricky. As a result I've done about 3, 5 gallon water changes since switching to the core7 supplements.

Here are today's readings:
Sal. 1.025
Alk 9.4
Cal 380
Mag 1260

Po4 was up to 0.1 day before yesterday, so I just left the fuge light running for abut 18hrs and it dropped down to 0.01 by yesterday morning.

Edit- My Ph has been ranging between 8 and 8.2, which is new since moving to triton, I had the dosing spaced out enough that I was able to maintain a more stable Ph around 8.3.

tacosricos · Jun 13, 2018

I think I finally have my Alk dosage dialled-in. Using the core7 supplement, diluted to 50%, and with both parts combined my daily dosage is 2.2ml (or 2 minutes with my 1.1ml doser).

So, with the gallon of the solution I have mixed, my tank has enough alk supplement for about 5 years -assuming consumption weren't to ever increase.

Janci · Jun 14, 2018

tacosricos said:
I think I finally have my Alk dosage dialled-in. Using the core7 supplement, diluted to 50%, and with both parts combined my daily dosage is 2.2ml (or 2 minutes with my 1.1ml doser).

So, with the gallon of the solution I have mixed, my tank has enough alk supplement for about 5 years -assuming consumption weren't to ever increase.

Well... so now sit back and relax.. Check the tank again in about 2.5 years to adjust the dosage a little and relax again.

Will you keep your Alk around 9-ish?

tacosricos · Jun 14, 2018

Janci said:
Well... so now sit back and relax.. Check the tank again in about 2.5 years to adjust the dosage a little and relax again.

Will you keep your Alk around 9-ish?

Lol, right? I wish. It's been steady at 156 (8.7 dKH I think). My target was 8 dKH in following the triton recommendation, but it seems stable so 8.7 is fine with me for the time being. I'll probably let it creep down to 8.5 or 8 over time.

I believe the recommended starting point with core7 is a 2ml dose, but my modest LPS tank uses half of that. My tank consumes roughly .4 dKH a day, s0 2.2ml of 3a/3b combined, diluted to 50% solution, is enough for ~70 gallon volume of water.

tacosricos · Jun 15, 2018

Photo Update:

Goodies from last WWC live sale and a homegrown leptastrea frag on the rack

tacosricos · Jun 17, 2018

I've started noticing some tissue loss. It's mostly the chalice, but I see some other spots that don't look so good.... uh oh

Janci · Jun 17, 2018

I do not have good experience with chalices.
I hope it will be ok.

tacosricos · Jun 17, 2018

Janci said:
I do not have good experience with chalices.
I hope it will be ok.

Thanks. It was growing like crazy, then I did a light/ supplement switch all within a pretty short period and it doesn't seem to have caught up yet...

tacosricos · Jun 19, 2018

Sal. 1.025
Alk 152 (8.5dKH)
Cal 444
Mag 1265
Po4 0.1

Everything is great except for Po4. I hadn't been running GFO for a while and phosphate snuck up on me. I finally got around to putting the track to hold the cords for the lights. It's amazing how a five minute modification can make all the difference!

tacosricos · Jun 24, 2018

The algae I was growing on the sand was driving me crazy, so I did a little water change yesterday and siphoned most of it out. It's about 10 days until I leave town for nearly three weeks, so I want everything as stable as possible.

Janci · Jun 25, 2018

It looks like cyano what you have on the sand bed.
It is a result of an imbalance between nitrates and phosphates.
Light is also encouraging it to grow.
Maybe good to check the NO3 and PO4 levels, just in case.

Thank looks great. I love that dwarf lion.

tacosricos · Jun 25, 2018

Janci said:
It looks like cyano what you have on the sand bed.
It is a result of an imbalance between nitrates and phosphates.
Light is also encouraging it to grow.
Maybe good to check the NO3 and PO4 levels, just in case.

Thank looks great. I love that dwarf lion.

Thanks, the lionfish has a ton of personality! Even so I've been thinking about what fish I would like to add this fall. I am considering some anthias.

The po4 ad been building up for a few days, when I tested it at 0.1 I increased the photoperiod of the fuge, changed out the GFO and did a small WC. It is back down to 0.02 as of this morning and the cyano seems to be receding. I was also running a "moonlight" program in the evenings that I've cut out to help control it.

I rarely check no3, because it never seems to be a problem in my tanks for some reason, but if the cyano comes back and po4 is good, it would be the first place I will look.

tacosricos · Jul 28, 2018

Back from a month on vacation. Aside from a bit of algae, everything is copacetic. I'm definitely calling it a success. I'll snap some photos tonight. Also a month of snorkeling and diving on Caribbean reefs has the wheels turning in my head... Need. More. Gorgs!

Janci · Aug 16, 2018

How is the lionfish doing so far?

tacosricos · Aug 30, 2018

Janci said:
How is the lionfish doing so far?

The lionfish is doing fine, eating like a pig. The tank has taken a step backwards. Being out of town for a month and changing the lighting took a toll on several of the corals and I've been working to get things back on track.

My chaeto started getting outcompeted by nuisance algae and phosphates have been slowly creeping up. Normally they run at about 0.03 but over the past 20 days they have gone up to 0.08. I think several factors are contributing to the chaetos poor growth. I'm considering upgrading the size of my return pump to get more flow through the fuge (and display).

I am also considering replacing the fuge alltogether with a skimmer...

As for the coral, a lot of the stuff under the ledges wasn't getting enough light from just the two LED pucks. Those corals had been growing under the MH for a long time, and growth has slowed since switching to LED's. I am running a daylight T5 for 3 hours a dat to help get some diffused light to the coral. With Po4 levels sneaking up I've had some algae growth in the display, so I've done a few small water changes and added some GFO to get things back in line.

Cal, alk and mag have all been very stable once I got the right dose dialled in (1 ml of core 7 solution diluted to 50%).

The tank is over a year old now, I wish I could say it was thriving, but it's not there quite yet.