ZachP's 20 gallon build

[ZachP]

Congrats on the clown! It's a cute little bugger.

Thank you! I love it

 

[macnets]

Definitely a beauty [emoji1]

 

[ZachP]

Merry Christmas! [emoji319]

 

[Paul87]

Merry Christmas! [emoji319]

Merry Christmas! Those are some nice gifts for sure! Your gonna like how easy that ATO is to use, and small.

 

[ZachP]

Merry Christmas! Those are some nice gifts for sure! Your gonna like how easy that ATO is to use, and small.

I just set it up and it was extremely simple, so far so good. Also the pump is very quiet which is nice

 

[ZachP]

I used the new test kits and everything looks good
Phos: .02
Alk: 8.4 dKH
Calcium: 410
Mag: 1380

Once the lfs opens I'll be looking for some frags to add. Probably start with some zoas if they have any I like

 

[ZachP]

Can't wait to add some frags

 

[ZachP]

Well the last fish is now in [emoji3] only coral from here on out.

 

[ZachP]

Got some rastas, utter chaos, and a monti cap. Not the best pictures

 

[Paul87]

Nice choice with the six line, they are a pretty (and beneficial) little wrasse. Oh and very nice frags!

 

[ZachP]

Nice choice with the six line, they are a pretty (and beneficial) little wrasse. Oh and very nice frags!

I love the wrasse so far. I've heard some horror stories of them becoming pretty aggressive in small tanks so hopefully it works out. So far so good though

 

[Paul87]

I love the wrasse so far. I've heard some horror stories of them becoming pretty aggressive in small tanks so hopefully it works out. So far so good though

Very true, they are a small but bold wrasse. But I think the clown and waspfish can hold their own.

 

[ZachP]

Very true, they are a small but bold wrasse. But I think the clown and waspfish can hold their own.

That was my thought too. So far so good

 

[ZachP]

So diatom bloom has come for real this time haha. Sand bed and a lot of the rock are covered in diatoms, tank looks pretty nasty right now. There's a bit of green algae growing on the rocks too. It's just a green film, no strings or anything. Nitrates are still staying between 15-20, phos is only .015 though. Still not quite sure why I can't get nitrates down. Unfortunately the holiday season drained my funds pretty well but I'll be going back to work next week. After I get some money I'll be adding Marine pure balls or one of the blocks to the back. Thought about a reactor but idk, I'm not trying to lower phos just nitrates

 

[ZachP]

So i added some more snails and the rocks are a little dirty but not bad at all. The sand bed still looks horrible though, I'm starting to wonder if this is diatoms or Dino or cyano. Any ideas?

 

[ZachP]

So I'm starting to think the algae is Dino or brown cyano. The diatoms have nearly gone from the rocks and everything is looking good except the sand bed in the front is getting covered in whatever this is. I'll do some more research tonight on Dino and cyano and try to figure out what to do. But in good news everything else is doing great [emoji106] the zoas are all getting better color and the monti is recovering great. When he gave me the monti he said it broke off his main colony and he found it upside down on the sand bed. It was waaay light colored when I got it, now it's looking much better

 

[ZachP]

Some better pics of the algae. Any help would be much appreciated

 

[ZachP]

Other then the dirty sandbed everything seems to be doing great. Unfortunately the Redfin is the only fish that stays still long enough for a picture. The monti is looking better and you can now see little bits of green on it, it was supposedly grafted monti. And the rastas are coloring up a little bit

 

[EW_Fish]

Some better pics of the algae. Any help would be much appreciated

Try to get some more flow on your sand. Tank looks good

 

[ZachP]

Try to get some more flow on your sand. Tank looks good

Thanks. And if I up the flow much or move the mp10 down it starts blowing the sand. I have a pretty good amount of flow already. But today I got home and the algae seems to be receding quite a bit