Dave’s 90g learning-curve glass room experiment

[fatoldsun]

I’ve also added some stuff to the tank. In the process of added a few pieces given to me from a buddy’s tank I rearranged a bit and while my hands were in the tank my rather RUDE GSMC nipped my arm. No pain but it sure as hell startled me and the jerk of my hand caused a nice rockslide culminating in a nice softball-sized branching hammer (compliments of TanksNStuff as my very first piece of coral) becoming many individual branches of hammer. My wife likes to say the clown was nudging me to redecorate. Truth is, it looks kind of nice spread out…

Too much glare this morning for a full tank shot - there are some early posts with pics of the whole thing in all its glory

Another casualty of the great slide of 2011 was this red monti cap frag. It actually was fine but the RBTA repositioned after everything was settled back in place and was within stinging distance. I tried removing the frag but it had fully encrusted onto the rock so there are some small pieces around in other spots - we’ll see how they make out. This is the before:

Final casualty was this blue-tipped staghorn frag. Here it is after about 2 months. It was showing nice growth with 2 branches

Here’s a shot from right before the slide:

And here it is now (the 2 branches are recovering nicely on plugs, almost ready to give something back to all of those who helped get me started)

And 1 of the frags

Some of what was added which lead to the slide…

A leather (not doing as well)

and…a Tri-Color on a plug

The culprit was actually a small rock with some red shrooms on it – no pics of that

 

[fatoldsun]

Ok, enough about that – on to some new stuff. I picked up a plate coral when I got 2 Bangaii cardinals (both were lost in QT ) But the plate’s doing well. I always found these to be pretty cool.
Day time shots (just the skeleton)

And at night with the tenticles out and the flesh puffed up – none of my pics are good but sorry, these are particularly bad

Newest swimming addition is a Mandarin Dragonet – he’s named Garcia. I think Jerry would have liked him…

And here are the other new invert additions – as of last night…
A small blue maxi

A green brain

A nano elegance

and 2 heads of green candy cane

And with that, 6 months in a flash….
I know I need a better camera to document this but money keeps going into the tank
Still to come, DIY LED build. I have about half of what I need including a snazzy new soldering station. yay

 

[downbeach]

Nice job Dave. How's your skimmer reacting to the putty?

 

[fatoldsun]

Nice job Dave. How's your skimmer reacting to the putty?

I haven't noticed a difference Jim. Actually I'm frustrated with the lack of production from my skimmer. I'm wondering if too many nutrients are passing through and contributing to my hair algae outbreak b/c for the life of me I can't figure out a cause.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Dave, love the new additions, especially the mandarin. Mine is very entertaining and I think I like to watch him fluttering around more than watching any other fish.

Great job on the magnets. I actually had a similar idea and over the past couple nights, I've been coating a few magnets in Plasti Dip (a rubber coating) which I plan to attach to some egg crate for a frag rack. The one I currently have uses suction cups and every few days they lose suction and I'm picking my frags out of the sand. The magnets have a good 3-4 coats on them so I'll be able to attach them to the egg crate this weekend. When it's done, I'll take some pics and update my ToTT thread too.

I like what you did with the fish food too. If you're interested in learning more about making your own frozen foods... try to make it to the May meeting at Tony and Terri's (adesimone). They live in Swedesboro (S. Jersey) so it's close to us. They (well I should say Terri, not they) plan to do a demonstration on how to make your own frozen foods at their meeting. In fact, I think they'll start a thread to ask anyone who wants to participate to contribute some money for the raw foods, show everyone how to make it at the meeting, then those that contributed will have some to take home with them. It should be very fun and educational!

Anyway, great updates all around.

 

[downbeach]

I haven't noticed a difference Jim. Actually I'm frustrated with the lack of production from my skimmer. I'm wondering if too many nutrients are passing through and contributing to my hair algae outbreak b/c for the life of me I can't figure out a cause.

When was the last time you had the skimmer apart? I'd take the pump apart too, and check the pin wheel impeller, along with the venturi and hoses. You might run it in a vinegar solution for a few hours too. Check the level of water it's sitting in, and make sure it's around the manufacturer's recommended depth.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yea, it's not a bad idea to give your skimmer a good cleaning every few months. Just stick it in a bucket with a gallon of vinegar and 2-3 gallons of rodi and let it run for a couple hours. A quick rinse after that and it should be almost as good as new. Doesn't hurt to open up the pump and inspect the impeller as Jim suggested too.

 

[fatoldsun]

The skimmer gets cleaned every 4-5 weeks. maybe it's been a few more since I've been taking my water changes out of the display instead of the sump (trying to siphon algae) and in the past I cleaned it when I would do my changes and emepty out the skimmer section - ususally it was about the right amount - trying to do 15g at a shot....

I never did the vinegar bath - just the MP40s get that treatment. I think tonight I will take your advice - hopefully the impeller is ok b/c waiting for a new one would be unfortunate. I have an old pump so I guess I have that impeller as a backup.

@George - I love the Reef Angel Tag - I just picked up an ACJr - just waiting to try and figure it out but it's no where close to as cool as the RA. Code in adruino or anything for that matter is WAY over my head, not to mention cash right now since I keep buying random stuff (got an urchin today at THR and of course walked out with a bunch of other stuff. Anyway I need to finishh my LED build so I will just admire yours for a while. I'm gonna try to get to the may meeting

 

[fatoldsun]

Well, in an effort to continue battling HA I dusted off the 2 lil fishies Rx - and now I'm running bio pellets AND GFO. Hopefully that helps. Not sure how much the little urchin I got will do. It looks like its pretty stressed and has dropped some spikes. Some of what I've read says once that starts, an urchin is doomed.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm no expert, but I believe that you can't run GFO and bio-pellets together. You might want to look into that or hopefully someone here will know.

 

[fatoldsun]

I'm no expert, but I believe that you can't run GFO and bio-pellets together. You might want to look into that or hopefully someone here will know.

Thanks Paul - hopefully someone will weigh in - what I had read when I was looking into running biopellets was that running the GFO was redundant and thus unnecessary. My HA is starting to get out of hand so I'm trying everything (that won't cause damage) so if someone knows of something I missed, please let me know.
I'm still unsure of the root cause - I added some CUC to try and manage it while I continue looking for the underlying problem but with the testing I've done so far, my phosphates are nice and low and nitrates (on the API) were 0 - hopefully I'll have a better nitrate test by tonight. otherwise I cut way back on my feedings, cleaned the $#*% out of the sump and skimmer and amped up water changes and nothing has helped. I can't adjust the photo-period without covering the tank with a blanket and I went through last summer without a problem so I'm hoping that the issue isn't already out of control mid-april. anyway a long way of saying I added the GFO back in out of desperation.

 

[greybolt03]

I'm no expert, but I believe that you can't run GFO and bio-pellets together. You might want to look into that or hopefully someone here will know.

I think you can run them one the same tank,just not in a dual reactor because of the flow difference need for each.. But please do some research on this....

 

[redfishbluefish]

From the BRS FAQ:
"•Bacteria require small amounts of phosphorous to metabolize nitrate properly and phosphate levels theoretically could be a limiting factor for this system. For this reason we recommend not using phosphate removal products like GFO during the initial phase where are you are trying to lower your nitrate levels. Once you have the nitrate levels down we recommend continuing the use of GFO to maintain optimal parameters in the tank. You may find that your GFO lasts longer when used in conjunction with the bio pellet system. We find that the Hanna PO4 checker is the best tool to test phosphate levels because it gives easy to read reliable readings."

 

[downbeach]

I have been using bio pellets for about 8 month's now, and I do believe that trying to employ different processes that need the same elements to function can be counterproductive to each other, if there isn't enough of the needed element to go around. That is why when I started to use bio pellets, I took both my GFO and fuge off line. After the break in period for the bio pellets, I noticed that I wasn't getting the PO4 down to a good level. So, I redeployed my GFO reactor and have had it in use ever since. I monitor the PO4 with a Hanna meter, and through its use know when to replace the GFO in the reactor. I have noticed that I only have to replace the GFO about half as often though. So, the bio pellets seem to keep the NO3 under control, but the PO4 still needed a little help.

 

[panmanmatt]

but with the testing I've done so far, my phosphates are nice and low and nitrates (on the API) were 0 -

Have you checked your make up water. Do you rinse your frozen foods before feedings?

Just because you are getting those readings does not mean they aren't present. The HA is most likely consuming them before you can test for them therefore you will get low or 0 readings.

 

[fatoldsun]

I've been running the pellets for a while. Hopefully it's colonized. I did add some pellets. Unlike Jim, I left my fuge/chaeto to provide a breeding ground for pods to keep the madarin happy and plump. Hopefully that didn't impact the pellet's development. Here's hoping the GFO starves the HA - I'm sure that's why I getting low readings but ii have a HUGE ball of chaeto and still have the HA so I'm guessing the abundance of natural sunlight is just overwhelming the pellets & chaeto. Hopefully 3's a charm...

Haven't tested new SW in a while but I check my TDS every time I run the RO/Di and it's at 0. Salt is aquavitro salinity. I make up water after each change so it mixes for a week but I always have water ready in a pinch. Drum is ~30g I usually use 15-20 per change and keep at least 5g in there so I add in what I use... Maybe the time or residual water has contributed. I'll check it tonight.

 

[fatoldsun]

In addition to the HA outbreak (which at least I now have a "next step" to follow) I've noticed a couple weird things.
I have one really nice sized scarlet hermit - it's molted at least 2 times since I've had it. It is now sort of hibernating. I see no evidence that it's molted again. No shell floating around the tank, but it's buried it's shell and looks dead - just has the arms hanging out. At night with a flashlight I can see him scraping some food off the rock right in front of him - not really moving but alive. This has been like this since thursday - On saturday I unburied him, to see if he was stuck or something and he moved to a new spot about 4" away and did the same thing. any thoughts? is he a she and nesting? it's the only scarlet I have so would/could other hermit species trigger a cycle? Is he dying? (if so, it's taking a long time) Is he expressing his right to organize as a labor force? I know the HA has created more work so maybe he's just decided enough's enough and he's sitting down on the job

other thing - sadly, it looks like I'm losing/lost the nano excellence coral I picked up last week. My guess is the Singapore is the culprit. Sadly he is my favorite fish in terms of how pretty he is but and I can look past the zoas and palys but other LPS had been left alone. I even saw him nip at the clam's mantle. can't have that. I've rarely seen him go after anything but I did have some zoa and paly frags that started to melt away a day after I added them. after a week or two, I moved them to the fuge on a small rack I mocked up and with only a CFL HD Special bulb. I figured I had nothing to loose and they're popping back up - I'm not sure there's enough light for the excellence but I may move that too - I guess it's too late but again, nothing to lose. anyway, if anyone wants a beautiful Singapore Angel that eats great, plays well with others but is only reef safe around SPS and some LPS (unless maybe a very large tank with well established colonies in place before he gets there)

 

[fatoldsun]

Update:
It looks like the hair algae is getting better – I think the problem was my new salt water - I was re-using the same mixing drum for an extended period and I did not periodically empty and clean it. I would leave 3-5 gallons in there and add to it for the next change. I will be draining it and cleaning it once a month or so now. That should address the phosphate issue I had. I do have what I think is a cyanobacteria problem now which I understand to be a nutrient problem just like the HA so I’m going to tackle that next. I haven’t decided how – I’m open to any suggestions… (red slime remover, dosing peroxide, etc..) but I’d prefer to address the problem and not try to band-aid it.

On other update news, my RBTA has split again – so now there are 3. The GSMC that hosts preferred the larger one that split so she’s a bit perplexed. The new off-shoot walked away from its mother and now there’s just enough space so she has to choose one or the other at bed time. The other one is likely going to be neglected now… sad day for that nem. If the gold stripe would get along with the perc in the sump everyone would be happy. I guess when I get my lights done I’ll make a small light for the fuge and move one of the nems down there to live with the perc. Anyway, hard to see it in the pic but here goes;

A few other growth pics
Blue Tip Staghorn

One of the finger leather frags (I have 6 all together on 3 different rubble rocks) – one pair has a lot more green color (not this one pictured) on the little nubs which I guess are the polyps. I wonder if they’re a different variety – a question for falconut since they were a generous gift from him (thanks again Craig)

Here a tri color acro I was given – it seems to be doing OK (?) – I don’t see much growth but it was beginning to delaminate a bit from the skeleton when it first went in and that has since healed over so I guess that’s good news.

Here’s the clam I got a couple weeks ago. Looks pretty happy.

The urchin I got to help with the hair algae. It moves around the whole tank and does a nice job stripping off anything in its path. It also has a knack of picking up some hitchhikers. Unfortunately it likes certh snails and they are unsuspecting travel buddies so they’re more like kidnapping victims than hitchhikers. I try to pull them off and set them free when I see them

I also picked up some new members of the CUC but photos are not possible. I got a coral banded shrimp which I was sure was dead the next morning but I did see it at night long after the lights went out. It has HUGE tentacle/antenna so I have NO idea how it hides completely. I also got a nice sized conch which has promptly buried itself only to surface when it’s hungry (I guess)

Final update on Mnat’s suggestion, I’ve started my tiger-pod culture. I’ll update as I start to see results or otherwise

 

[fatoldsun]

The situation with the urchin is getting almost comical - it's started "hanging around" and loitering by my little frag rack and it’s found a way to start kidnapping frags in there. So I moved the Singapore Angel out to give the frags a chance of survival and now the urchin is taking any poor unsuspecting $#©% that isn’t bolted down (translation: fully encrusted on a rock somewhere) for a ride.

 

[fatoldsun]

Soft stuff keeps looking better after rehoming the angel...

And a crab saying hi

And maybe the only shot I'll ever pull off with this guy