Tank Upgrade, Red Sea Reefer 250 G2

[MelancholyBlenny]

Looking good!

 

[Oggiewok]

Amazingly, my little Randalls Goby found his mate, and I've gotta pretty lucky as they've made their little burrow right at the front of the DT. I saw the shrimp in that save burrow earlier today, so I assume they've found each other. Havent actually seen them together yet.

Still holding out hope that he uses my DIY tunnel against the glass lol.

 

[Oggiewok]

Just before lights out caught this little video of the two of em, very pleased with this

 

[Oggiewok]

Last livestock for a while added today in the form of a lawnmower blenny and some trochus snails. Blenny immediately tried to jump out of the tank, so thank goodness for that lid. He has spent the last few hours just chilling out on top of my gyre pump, so hopefully he starts getting to work soon, as there is a bit of a buildup of gree hair algae appearing on some of the rocks. I fully expected this to happen, the tank is still very new after all - so hopefully he can make a start before it becomes a problem.

Parameters as of this morning

Calc - 380
ALK - 6.1
PO - 0.02
NO - 5
SG - 1.024

Salinity is still a little low, planning on doing the next few 10% water changes with 40ppm water to bring things back in line. The low ALK is a bit strange, but I think its more than likely that the existing coralline algae is depleting it, as the ALK of the salt is in and around 8 when freshly mixed. May have to set up a small dosing schedule in the coming weeks.

 

[Oggiewok]

So the ugly phase on the new rocks has arrived with a bang, some tufts of GHA popping up all over the place - almost overnight. Am I better to just let it run it course and remove as much as I can by hand - or should I start taking some sort of more drastic action now.?

 

[Oggiewok]

Not a lot of changes still, riding out this wave of GHA for a bit. Gave the new rocks a good scrub today, and a slight rearrangement of the rockwork. Plans are hopefully to get my final 2 fish before the end of the year, then start filling the rocks with coral. Both of the new fish are going to be wrasse of some sort, I have my heart set on a Naoko Fairy Wrasse, but havent made up my mind as to the other. Open to suggestions/Inspiration! Current list:

2x Banggai Cardinal
2x Clown
1x Royal Gramma
1x Lawnmower Blenny
1x Randalls Goby
1x Tiger Pistol Shrimp
2x Skunk Cleaner
1x Tudedo Urchin
3x Nassarius Snail
2x Astrea Snail
4x Trocus Snail

Fish and inverts all doing well, was going to clean the film off the back of the tank today, but decided to leave it for the blenny as he clearly has been going to town on it.

Tuxedo Urchin has decorated himself with all kinds of detritus, including a frag of something I literally have never seen before in my life. No idea where he found it.

Pistol And Goby have thankfully paired up and are well settled in the front of the tank. One thing that I wasn't prepared for was the sheer amount of excavation that would take place. But the pairing is so fascinating to watch that its 100% worth it.

Parameters Today about an hour or so after water change:

ALK - 6.9
Phos - 0
Nirtate - 1 (Hard to tell on a salifert test, going to change to Hanna)
SG - 1.025

Lastly, some FTS of today

 

[peterhos]

Hi There Just came across your thread. Tank looking good. My new reefer 250 G2 has the same rock formation. Coincidence?! My tank is 6 weeks old now. I think it needs some higher rocks back right and back left too. How is your skimmer going? Mine has given a watery skimmate … light green.. because I added some phytoplankton I guess.

 

[peterhos]

My 6 week old G2 250 looks identical! How do you find the skimmer and filter mat? My skimmate is watery and light green. I did add phytoplankton. I think I need to build rock towers back left and back right. Am struggling with flow a bit. I need a silent power head or two. Good job so far. Well done.

 

[Oggiewok]

My 6 week old G2 250 looks identical! How do you find the skimmer and filter mat? My skimmate is watery and light green. I did add phytoplankton. I think I need to build rock towers back left and back right. Am struggling with flow a bit. I need a silent power head or two. Good job so far. Well done.

So far so good, the reefmat is a great piece of kit. The skimmer im not so sure about. there is a definite "hum" to it, which I can hear throughout the house so theres a good chance itll be going in the new year. Its a shame, because I like everything else about it - but the noise is crazy. The reefwave Gyre, Nero 3 and ATO have all been great too though

 

[Oggiewok]

Well we are roughly 2 and a half months into the new tank, and everything is still going good. Still battling some GHA on the new rocks (and only the new rocks, which is very strange). I've moved the rocks around again to give some height to the right hand side, and I think im fairly set on this being their final arrangement.

Livestock wise, everything is still good. I've lost a few Trochus Snails (3 in total) and have no idea what happened, just found their empty shells, which my pistol shrimp promptly took to shore up his house. Hoping this GHA goes away soon.

At the moment I'm feeding 1x cube of Mysis per day, half in the morining and half in the evening. I'm yet to get a reading on nitrates or phos, and havent for some time now - Still attributing this to the GHA sucking up any phos that enters the tank, or perhaps my filtration being too strong for the small amount of fish I have. Will see about adding a few more as we close out 2022.

You can especially see the GHA on the newer rocks in the picture under whites. Every couple of weeks, Ive been tanking those rocks out of the tank during water changes, and immersing them in the old tank water, and going at the algae with a nailbrush to take off the worst of it. Its certainly slowed down since I last did this, so fingers crossed we are over the worst of it.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Oggiewok]

Was at a training course around an hour away from where I live, and managed to get finished up early - so decided to take a trip into a fish shop that had just opened up nearby, and that I hadn't had a chance to visit yet. Long story short, theres now a redfin wrasse in the tank , as well as a dozen mexican turbos, which have already started attacking the GHA on the newer rocks.

Still puzzled why the algae is appearing on ONLY the new rocks - is this potentially because they are leeching silicates/phos into the water being so new?

It is definitely nowhere near as bad as it was, and I may leave it a few weeks and give the snails time to get to work.

 

[Oggiewok]

Still a small plague of GHA on the rockwork, but I seem to have it under control for now. Of more concern is my sandbed, which is an absolute disgrace at the moment. My worry is that bottoming out PO4 and NO3 has allowed some dino to take hold. Hopefully this isnt the case, and it is still just diatoms - but I have a microscope on the way to confirm one way or the other.

Livestock wise, I've added a Foxface Rabbitface to combat the GHA, as my little lawnmower blenny just wasnt making a dent. I'm aware that the fox will outgrow this tank, at the moment hes around 3 inches long - so in a year or two I'll catch and trade him in.

While picking up the fox, saw that my LFS had gotten in some Midas Blenny, a fish that I absolutely love, and hadn't seen in some time. Needless to say, Ive added a Midas Blenny to the tank, as well as a conch to turn over my sand. The Blenny has only been in the tank 2 days, and already is becoming my favorite fish - so full of personality.

Fish wise, I think I'm almost full. I MIGHT have room for another wrasse, but I'll see how the tank copes with these latest additions. Plans for the next few months are to get the sandbed and GHA under control, and then begin adding in more corals - probably starting with a Zoa garden before some hardy LPS.

Thanks for reading!