20 Going On 90

[SaltNoob]

Were you having to dose just because the size of the tank you have?

I am only a 29 gallon and do a 10% water change every 4-5 days which should renew my calcium etc on a regular basis. I am pretty sure I can handle the flow issues easily enough though.

-Tyler

 

[GAB99]

yeah its not a hard coral to keep its just don't do what i did and stick it somewhere temporary that it doesn't like and then not get to it for a week and a half lol

im chalking that up to me just being dumb and not finishing one thing before moving on to the next

yeah i just dose 1 and 2, iodine (or iodide whichever one doesn't kill you, and with this one be careful because i don't think Duncan liked it very much so i only dose half dose), and a pH buffer just to keep things running smooth

other than that its just every now and then scrap off the coralline in the front glass and algae scrapes with biweekly cleaning of the skimmer and monthly cleaning of the sump lid (lots of salt)

also what just happened to the forum layout lol

 

[lljdma06]

Hey GAB, as a teacher it's certainly hard keeping up with all my classes and my systems, so I identify with you. 5 AP classes are impressive! Good luck. If you pass your exams, that's practically a year of college right there! Good luck. I'm finding that I just don't want to deal with anything particularly difficult in my reef systems, barring my sun corals.

Look forward to the photos, sorry about the Duncan.

llj

 

[GAB99]

Yes it is quite difficult
And actually if tff would let me post pics from my phone there would be a million pictures but since I can't I have to go through the long and terrible process of regular camera, computer, transfer to MAC, upload to Photobucket, copy paste code into post.

Also
Got a mimic tang
A real fat one too
And a nice lemony color
So he's still young and I can't wait to see it grow up.

There were also these really cool palythoas that looked like tall brown mushroom coral
Except the flesh was white and the pigment on top was brown
It looks cool and I hope to get a frag soon maybe.

 

[lljdma06]

Hmmmm, that may be something for me to look into. Right now, I upload from my phone to photobucket and then transfer. At least I don't have to deal with cables if I use my iPhone.

 

[GAB99]

new corals

some weird zoanthid i forgot what it s called but it was 20$ a polyp and got 2 (one was free lol) nice golden color white white patches and a white stalk

and blue spruce candy cane frag for 20$ for 5/6 heads


storm came and knowcked out a powerhead and my Actinics so hose need fixing /replacing

 

[lljdma06]

new corals

some weird zoanthid i forgot what it s called but it was 20$ a polyp and got 2 (one was free lol) nice golden color white white patches and a white stalk

and blue spruce candy cane frag for 20$ for 5/6 heads


storm came and knowcked out a powerhead and my Actinics so hose need fixing /replacing

Ah, you got hit by those storms huh. We got spared, sorry.

L

 

[GAB99]

power head came back on but actinics need replacing

the tank looks completely filthy

partly because it is, and this disgusting squishy brown gunk is EVERYWHERE

and partly because the water is a shade of pee yellow because of no blue light

 

[lljdma06]

Ewwwwww, I hope you get it sorted out soon.

L

 

[GAB99]

still not sorted

heres probably why:
i dont knw if i said this but there was a thunderstorm a while back that knocked out the tank (thought it shoulcnt have since it was supposed to be protected)
it took with it half my lighting and one of my powerheads and my timer for my lights
the powerhead came back on after a few days but the my 4 bulb T5HO unit is down to 2 functioning sockets, the sockets with the actinics do not work, replacing bulbs does not work either.
so now im stuck with 2 daylight bulbs that turn on and off at random times throughout the day (they switch from on to off twice but they could be on for 18 hours ond off for 6 or vice versa)
the company for the lights has a 1 year warranty policy but only if you send in a stupid application 30 days after purchase, im trying to email them to see if they can find some mercy and give me a new unit or fix mine.


so now its worse than before, now with cyano, and both kinds of algae are EVERYWHERE

in fact its killed off most of my lime green rics, and and cyano is all over the leather (which hasnt opened in days, bad time for molting) and the original slime has covered the favia and some of my mushrooms but they are ok for now. my acro test frag is dying too (im not surprised)

someone help, please

im considering getting a sea lettuce slug to deal with it but im not sure if they will eat that kind of algae

im also going to try cutting my cheato in half so it can grow and switching out my socks everyother week (new one in, 1 old one stays, next week take old one and replace and alternate)

and as a last resort im getting a 10 gallon nano set up and ill take some of the clean cured rock from the 20 gallon and some water from the 20 and new water and put the frags that are doing bad in there.

i also have not been dosing but it cant be a problem ( i does 1 and 2 and iodide) because i have coralline on the front glass

so frustrating

im also going to check my RO water next time and if it isnt 0 or 2 im switching back to store water till i can get it fixed.

 

[lljdma06]

What exactly do you need? Make a list. I've got some spare timers and light fixtures...

Definitely check if your RO is working proper, if it is working properly, then you may want to up the water changes. I don't know, just a thought.

L

 

[GAB99]

hey guys heres an update

its imporving, after getting the water tested pH was pretty low (8.0) and salinity as well (1.023 i think is correct) so i started just dosing to get pH up only since everything else is fine, and cleaned the glass and sand alittle, its gotten better and it hasnt regrown so maybe it will go away

lighting wise, we were able to get a replacement lamp and that will be here tomorrow for pickup, and it will ave new lamps (lamps we had were 1 year old soooo that could be another factor)

so we havent had any problems, and so far only the green rics have suffered, but those will be moved to my pico soon

speaking of the pico, its 5.5 gallons with 5 pounds of sand, 3 pieces of rock i wouldnt amount to be more than 2 pounds, and a koralia 425 for flow,
the lights for now are just from an LED reading lamp, we pick up the lights tomorrow ( 2T5HO w/LEDs)

im thinking of moving any loose rics/mushrooms from the 90 over to start off with corals, and add more rock, id eventually like to have a sponge and some other odd softies in there (odd colored palys and zoas, GSP, snake polyps) so any suggestions are welcome!

for stock im thinking for fish (6 options)
a pair of red spot glass cardinals
pair of copper cardinals
pair of gumdrop coral crunchers
pair of yellow gobies
1 neon goby
1 possum wrasse
1 brachiosaurus blenny

for inverts:

pair of harlequin shrimp
fire shrimp pair
pom pom crabs?
maybe a lettuce slug?

ive aslo got an aquaclear 50 thats not used and if its silent enough im thinking setting it on low flow and adding rubble rock or something to it


im also going to add plants too, tufted joint weed, gracilia, stuff like that.


im pretty excited about this little tank, and im going to be setting up another 5.5 freshwater planted shrimp tank (same powerhead, heater, lights, etc.) for a pair of amanos and some odd colored shrimp, and clams.


also, we might be adding a longnose hawkfish to the 90.

 

[lljdma06]

Hey GAB! What's up?

Glad to hear that things are on the mend with your system

My 4g pico has some similar ideas to yours.

I wouldn't do a sea slug in a tank so small. When they die, they take everybody else with them.

Koralia 425 will give good flow on that tank

What will your regimen be for water changes?

L

 

[GAB99]

Hey GAB! What's up?

Glad to hear that things are on the mend with your system

My 4g pico has some similar ideas to yours.

I wouldn't do a sea slug in a tank so small. When they die, they take everybody else with them.

Koralia 425 will give good flow on that tank

What will your regimen be for water changes?

L

i was actually looking into that, and the slug im going for i dont think it will nuke the tank when it dies, its not really poisonous its the lettuce slug so im not too sure, thats why i put it down as a maybe.

water changes im thinking probably 20% a week, maybe a little less if tests come out ok, ill have to do some recalcs for the dosing but i think it will be ok.

yes it is non-poisonous but AFAIKSF it only eats bryopsis, which i fortunatley have not had a problem with, so it might be off the list anyway.

another edit, ok from what ive gotten it seems to go for halimeda, penicillus, and bryopsis, but overall people are not sure what it eats, im going to skip this guy but it would make a very interesting experiment for later on, especially since people have managed to breed these guys. i just think 5.5 gallons along with shrimps and fish wouldnt be a suitable little home.

but any comments on the rest of the stocking plan is cool!

 

[lljdma06]

for stock im thinking for fish (6 options)
a pair of red spot glass cardinals - if Liveaquaria had to feed these guys a whopping 10x a day at first, not sure
pair of copper cardinals - they prefer larger groups
pair of gumdrop coral crunchers - interesting fish but you may not see them and a pair may be too messy
pair of yellow gobies - gotta get a mated pair or they'll fight, need a lid
1 neon goby - always a safe choice, tbh, needs a lid. Mated Pairs are readily available
1 possum wrasse - needs a lid, maybe too big
1 brachiosaurus blenny - I've never seen this one before, learn something new everyday.

for inverts:

pair of harlequin shrimp - they only eat starfish, you ready to always provide? Otherwise they are very cool
fire shrimp pair - gotta get a mated pair... may be too big for a 5g
pom pom crabs? - gotta get a mated pair or two females, males will fight. I've got a male
maybe a lettuce slug? - nah, but you already came to that conclusion on your own

ive aslo got an aquaclear 50 thats not used and if its silent enough im thinking setting it on low flow and adding rubble rock or something to it - NO! Make it a refugium! I will show you how, it's awesome to do.


im also going to add plants too, tufted joint weed, gracilia, stuff like that. - ask me about the plants, I can tell you where to go.