The Reef Dragon

[Hellic]

Well I guess one good thing from my recent algae outbreak is that I discovered I have pods in my tank. Yay!

 

[Hellic]

All of my nassarius snails have survived my royal gramma attacks, so I've ruled out my royal gramma as the snail killer. Either that, or they truly are zombies.... hmmm...

 

[Hellic]

My new turbos seem to be doing well. Ive chalked up my snail deaths to unfavorable water conditions/lack of algae. I've read astrea and turbo snails do better at cooler temps so I dropped my tank temp to 76 degrees from 78 and am now running activated carbon 24/7, just in case. Since adding the new turbo snails, I have had no issues so far. Hoping that doesn't change!

 

[Hellic]

My water parameters have taken a strange turn. I stopped doing water changes and think since I've started using activated carbon, my calcium and alkalinity have started falling about 20ppm (calcium) a week and my kH a little bit slower, but did fall from 9 down to 7 over the last few weeks. Is that common while running carbon? I've had to start running kalkwasser and added more magnesium to help stop the fall and bring the levels back up. I'm not very good at correcting my calcium and alkalinity as I've had little experience in doing so. I figured since I only have 2 tiny corals, not doing water changes would help bring my nitrates up a bit and would also removed unwanted nutrients that my algae were feeding on. But i didn't expect to see that much absorption of calc and alk.

 

[Hellic]

Water parameters are getting better, but for some reason I still have a 0 nitrate reading. May turn down my refugium lighting to fewer hours. My GHA in the sump is out competing my chaeto. I may just keep the GHA. Seems to do a better job! Hahaha

Current parameters
10.5 kH°
360ppm Calcium
1335ppm Magnesium
0 Nitrates
0 Phosphates

 

[Hellic]

I've gotten my parameters back in check again. KH is running a bit high and calcium is running a bit low. But its all within range. Still can't get my nitrates up, but I'm sure that will change as i get more fish. Really haven't seen any growth from my corals. But as I understand it, mushrooms and leathers tend to grow slowly anyway. I think parameter changes would be easier if I had a dosing pump. Hopefully ill get one for christmas!

 

[Hellic]

Blah blah lah.

 

[Hellic]

It was a merry christmas indeed!

 

[Hellic]

Added a flowerpot goniopora and a sympodium. Also moved my firefish to the DT. Its not perfect but its getting there. The current goni locations are temporary while I'm aclimating up the rock work. The DT picture doesn't do them justice. Also ordered some reef roids nano to help the goniopora stay healthy.

 

[Hellic]

Pretty sure I burnt up my flowerpot goniopora. It's closed up and I can see where the edges are looking wierd and lifeless. I heard they like light so I moved it up the rock work. Unfortunately, the spot I chose was pushing over 350 par. Whoops. Being a finicky coral that it is, I may lose it. Which brings me to the reason for this post.

I rented an Apogee 510 Par meter from BRS. Didn't really think i'd need it, but I'm now glad I got it. My lighting is all over the place. Hot spots, low par areas. The light spread is pretty uneven. Just a mess really and it explains some issues. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to get the most from their LED fixture. Also to prevent coral deaths, like I may be about to experience for the first time. Hoping that under the correct lighting it will recover.

 

[Hellic]

Now that my lights are the way I want them, I've decided to turn off my refugium light. Honestly, I can't keep any nitrates in my system and the fuge is a breeding ground for nuisance algae and dinos at this point. My chaeto failed to compete with it. Its never done well from the start.

I started running a 1ml/10 gallon dose of hydrogen peroxide twice a day to fight the dinos. Hopefully the sump blackout and the hydrogen peroxide will win the fight against all the current algae. My snails may enjoy the new algae growth in the display anyway lol. The plan is to kill the dinos and other algae and keep my nutrients higher from here on out. I dont mind a little gha compared to dinos. Dinos seem to stink up my house, even with activated carbon in the water and I'm over it.

 

[Hellic]

Things seem to be going well with the hydrogen peroxide dosing. Initially algae was growing in the display, but as I've continued dosing it seems to be stabilizing and new growth seems hindered. Started dosing neonitro today to increase my nitrates to further help against the dinos. Hopefully it doesn't cause an explosion of other nuisance algae.

 

[Hellic]

Algae seems recessed. Added a few Trochus snails to help clean the rock and sand. My two turbos just weren't cutting it. I have my two part dosing started with seachem fusion 1 and 2 and have seen some positive change to my parameters so far. Once thats dialed in, I think my tank will be looking up. I also diluted those into a 5x rodi water dilution to help dial it in a little more accurately since my elements don't drop all that fast.

 

[Hellic]

My kH and calcium are finally stable. I have the same readings 1 week later so my dosing settings are correct. Ill continue weekly testing of alk, bi-weekly testing of calc, and monthly testing of mag to make sure all is well. Added chemiclean original this weekend to bulldoze the cyano in the tank. Overall the tank is looking great. My goniopora is still hanging in there, hopefully it will make a turnaround.

 

[Hellic]

My chaeto is still alive. Amazing! Moved it to the display tank when I turned off the fuge light. Placed it in a mushroom box on the sand bed and it has began growing. Waiting until its larger before placing it back into the fuge area.