How's it going everyone? Tank updates...

Since we haven't had a normal meeting in ages, I thought it'd be nice if we could share updates here. Plus, the forum has had the summer sag.

So, I'll get this thing started.

We finally aquascaped. It took us three tries with many months in between but finally got it done. I'm almost happy with it. I posted pics a week or so ago but threads like this are so much nicer with pics so, here's one of them again.



I'm glad we had the frag swap and hope we're all game to do it again. (Maybe we could even do it every other year and do field trips to the F&S one the off years?) I have really enjoyed the additions I got at the swap and the TCMAS meeting at Benihana's. I ventured out into the world of LPS and a little SPS and found it very rewarding. Now, I can't stop surfing for chalices, acans and brains! I should have plugged my ears rather than listening to Tiffany, James and Andre talk about their LPS pieces....was perfectly happy with softies before then. Still love zoas though...miss my little nano tank for those! They seem to get lost in the 75.

We added new bulbs from ATI...blue special and blue plus I think. I am so glad we did. The tank color is so much nicer now!

I still struggle with detritus build up. If we have a meeting at our place this winter, I'd like more suggestions because I know we can lick it!

Our attack plan so far:
1) I move the powerheads around but it just builds up somewhere else.
2) Try to remember to blast off the rocks. It seems like it settles again before getting sucked out. (Maybe I need to trim the xenia off our overflow?)
3) Jason set the simmer to skim wetter.
4) I feed less and only three times a week
5) Am ordering inverts concentrating on detritus eaters, sand bed scavengers. I know I'm light on CUC. Right now I have probably 10 astreas?, 15 nass?, 1 fighting conch, 1 serpent star, 1 cleaner shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, a sand sifting CUC but it doesn't seem to do much but filter feed ??, 2 hermit crabs that I plan to donate to the Science Center petting zoo!! I want to order tonga nass snails, trochus snails, a tiger tail cucumber and maybe some nerites and ceriths.

I think that's it. How about you?

All well here. Tank is pretty much on cruise control except for feeding. Here are some pictures from 3 weeks ago.
Params from today:
Salinity: 1.028
Ca: 410 ppm
Alk: 7.17 dkh
Mg:1230 ppm
NO3: 0.20 ppm
PO4: 0.04 ppm

Full Tank shot


Rightside


Leftside


Candycanes growing into sand


The $30 Powder Brown Tang that eats $60 worth of Macro shipped from Hawaii every 2 weeks. She started eating dried seaweed this week!


I am off to Puerto Rico for a week first week of Oct and then to Germany for a month. So hopefully we can have a meeting in Grand Forks sometime in November...assuming my tank survives without me for 45 days!

clear skies
Vishnu

Gorgeous Vishnu. I'm amazed at how much you have in there! I hope mine grows out to look even a little like that! Thanks for sharing!

Love the tang. I'm glad she's settling for dried stuff now!

Well I would post pics of my tank but it looks like a giant pile of green crap. It is getting to the point were I want to tare it all down and sell it all......

how much? lol ill bring cash!

tattooedreefer wrote:how much? lol ill bring cash!

ROFL

Home_Depot wrote:Well I would post pics of my tank but it looks like a giant pile of green crap. It is getting to the point were I want to tare it all down and sell it all......

Its ok Garrett i have BH all over the damn place :/

I would sell the whole set up for 3500.00

You'd sell before breaking down and doing some w/c's? LOL

Goingpostal - How's the FOWLR? Do you enjoy as much as having a reef? Are you small tanks still doing well? It's been awhile since we've seen pics from you.

MN Reef Crzy - How are all the frags doing? Getting some growth yet?

Brad - Tank turning around?

Schaver - Did you get your new sump in?

What else is going on?

I have been doing w/c once a week for 3 weeks or so and nothing is working Started dosing again it is really getting frustrating!! So ya I would !!!!

Okay I Guess I'll do an update too.
About the only thing different I've Done is go to T5's on my Frag tank, and getting ready to either go to T5's on my main tank or get busy when I have the time to build my Canopy and put my 2-250 MH's in there and 4-48" T5's, I also bought a AquacontrollerIII and I'm running Dosing pumps Now instead of a reactor.
For now my parameters: I'm still dialing in my dosing pumps but I'm getting closer to my targeted readings I'm shooting for.
Cal: 400
Alk: 8.6
Mag: 1300
PO4: Last Time I checked was 0.06 ppm but did 2 more treatments of Blue life Phos control so I should be closer to 0.04 PPm now.


Okay these first shots are of my Frag tank.

Left side


Right side


some frag shots




Heres pictures of my 75 gal.

Right side.


Left side (top).


Left side (Bottom).


Misc shots.







and this is A shot for Kathy if you still are on here, if you remember this is the green encrusted rock you gave me, if you remember there was No branches on the peice you gave me look at the Branches Now.

my tank is great for once in its life. All the frags are encrusted now and growing i would say great. I did lose all of my crustacians basically due to interceptor and aefw exit and i guess i lost a couple of other things cause of that but that is ok just to know my tank is clean. I have not added anything to my tank since and i probably wont unless they are really special to me for some reason and they will be quarinteed and dipped until i feel that it is safe. Hobby is all fun and games until people give eacother bugs that kill coral. Also on a side note i did overcome the ciano bacteria outbreak that has plagued my tank. I did everything i could to try and get rid of it but after talking to some dudes on RC they suggested boyds chemi clean for stubborn ciano that can not be removed conventanially and it was all gone in two days after that. I can not post pictures right now but will when i get some time.

icereefer and moonyguy your guys tanks look fanominal as usual. Mine is doing the same has always, no real growth and no shrinkage either, just is there witch is kinda nice. as for the new sump its a 40 instead of a 55 so alittle differant on compartments. and just got all the baffels done and installed this last week and i am putting some water in as we speak, hopfully will be up and running by the weekend forsure. and as for the 10gl nano its doing really good everything is growing in there nicly and i am about to switch that over to the 24gl and 10gl sump setup any day now, i to just have to get a heater to get the water up to temp before the big transfer. i do have some pics comming on that tank build and will be putting them up shortly.

Icereefer, very nice! Thanks for sharing. I gotta get over there and check it out in person again!

Schaver, can't wait to see the build pics! Glad it's going well.

Home_Depot, I was only kidding about w/c's. I know it stinks to have things not going well in your tank. I hope it does turn around for ya!

MN Reef Crzy - Lookin forward to pics!

Ice - Is that the war coral you got at the frag swap in pic? Nice growth if it is!

Ok update...tanks have kind of been on autopilot all summer, been working pretty much nonstop so they have been very ignored. My 12 gallon kept growing algea which still got worse after finally do the switch to ro/di. I drained it and took out all the sand, replaced with a really thin layer instead. Seems to have helped a ton. Still have a small amount but not growing really. This tank's halide is over a year old so probably not helping matters, hopefully next month I can buy a new bulb. Non-photo nano is doing great, still no coraline but the lighting is only a couple leds. My balano babies around the edge of the big polyp have grown quite a bit. I don't have any batteries at the moment, I took some pics but my camera is dead. 135 gallon, high nitrate issue, coral not liking that. I'm trying to catch up and get water quality back to good. Trigger is getting bold. Gotta watch your fingers in the tank. Haven't had any money to buy new fish but really want to. No algea growth at all still though so that's nice. A big tank is definately a lot more work than a nano, water changes suck. Have left ro/di running twice already, good thing it's in the basement and next to a drain.

blennieluvr wrote:Ice - Is that the war coral you got at the frag swap in pic? Nice growth if it is!

Yeah that's the one, I'm going to have to pull the plug out of the donut it's on and start another one as you can see it has encrusted fully on the one it's on.

Yep, it's growing nicely. Mine is too..not frag shaped anymore, but nothing like yours!

Tiffany - It's good to hear from you. Good that your working a lot but stinks to be coming up from behind on tank maintenance. Are you still glad you have three tanks? I'm relieved to just one the one again even though I thoroughly enjoyed the nano. Too bad your not coming to the meeting! I'm sure someone would buy frags to help fund more fish.

Well it is good to see everyones stuff is doing well, My war coral is dead along with that big green sps that was in the middle of my tank. my big brain died, the miami orcid (sps) dead my tri color sps is now a white sps and the Kole I got from Jim died(Sorry) I dont know what to do anymore. getting close to throwing in the towel.I could go on but I will stop it, is depressing thinking about it!

sounds like some bad luck there garret, have you tested the water?? Also what bulbs are using right now in your tank, i was curious when you were talking of your HA issue?? Any GFO and how often are using it? Also did the sps die over night or did they lose there color gradually? I have some frags of almost all of what you lost and could hook you back up with.

Ya I have tested my water and everything is good I am also running GFO in a reactor and have been for about 1-2 months. The tri color I think is still holding on but not very good I still see some color in the tips but not much.They seem to have lost there color and then died off. My brain still have all of it color but is hard. So I am asuming it is dead? I have not taken it out yet tho. As for bulbs I got some off ebay but I took them out and put back in the xm's I had before them. They are about 9 months old and I am sure ned to be replaced but cant aford the 200.00 for new bulbs at the moment.

Yeah bulbs are$$$$$$. I figured the eBay bulbs have not been helping the hair algae. Probably to much red spectrum. If you want to fix your problem you will probably need new bulbs for starters

Here is my update. Been buying some new corals after adding the new lights and a fish.
Right side
Middle
Left side
New musgrooms. Anyone know why they have guts showing?
Torte
Birdsnest
New fish

Guts are showing because they're stressed but they usually calm down eventually. Mushrooms are hearty critters!