roni July 21, 2014 Author Share July 21, 2014 Isaac, A blueface is one of my favorite fish too but the one in my tank is my favorite fish, the imperator. I've debated adding a blueface but to be honest, I'm not sure my tank is big enough for an adult imperator, let alone another pomacanthus family angel. The imperator has already grown a ton, from the size of a damsel when I first got it to bigger then the flamebacks to now almost the size of the tangs. It'll eventually be the boss of the tank. duffygeos, yeah, really happy with the box. So far no one has really paid much attention, other then being very jealous of the mussels he gets every day that they can't get to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime July 22, 2014 Share July 22, 2014 I like them both. Do you ever hear the emperor grunting? How is the ritteri doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf October 26, 2014 Share October 26, 2014 Need some updates Roni!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni October 27, 2014 Author Share October 27, 2014 Basically, between increased work responsibilities and a new baby, i neglected the tank for a couple months. In the process, I lost all my SPS and many other corals. Just a few LPS survived. I actually just finished pulling 2 5 gallon buckets of SPS skeletons. Pretty depressing. I've been on the brink of getting out of the hobby over the last few days but have decided to take the opportunity to retool some things in the system I didn't like before. I'll also be redoing the aquascape to make it more open and then actually trying to stick to a plan for only a few corals spaced out enough to the point where they aren't growing on top of each other. Anyway, will try to post some updates once I figure out what to do with the scape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos October 27, 2014 Share October 27, 2014 How are the fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni October 28, 2014 Author Share October 28, 2014 thankfully, the fish are doing well. They've been cruising along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuffyGeos October 28, 2014 Share October 28, 2014 thankfully, the fish are doing well. They've been cruising along. Good, you have some beautiful fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni November 12, 2014 Author Share November 12, 2014 Good, you have some beautiful fish. Thanks. Lots of work on the system in the last couple weeks. Took out the frag tank/fuge. Turned out that despite thinking there was enough flow in there, there was a ton of built up sediment and detritus. Did a few large water changes and then moved the water containers over to make more space in the tank room. My litermeter decided to go out two nights ago and after fixing it last night, found my apex unit out as well. It had been having problems on and off for 6 months and I'd ordered a new base unit but hadn't gotten around to replacing it. Will be plumbing in an acrylic insert to add filter socks to all my drains tonight as well as finishing up some plumbing from taking the frag tank (and UV sterilizers that were in line) back up. After that, will probably spend some time opening up the rock work. I've decided to try out biopellets to get my always high nutrients under better control. I've used them in the past but had the reactor go anoxic due to low flow. I also didn't really understand them as well as I (hopefully) do now. My plan is to use an Aqualund 200 (custom recirculating reactor) with the all in one biopellets and biogro 123 for the weekly bacterial supplementation. Anyone used something similiar and have any recommendations? So far I've had the pellets soaking for 2 days in RO and plan on going online with 500 ml while dosing 1/2 of the suggested biogro weekly with the idea to ramp up to 1.5-2L of biopellets total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime November 12, 2014 Share November 12, 2014 I will tag along for your experience. I've tossed around Gfo, bio pellets, or adding a fuge. One or none, in no particular order. Do you think phosphates and nitrates will spike with the fuge pulled, or do you think it was so dirty and contributing it will lower them temporarily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni November 12, 2014 Author Share November 12, 2014 I think the detritus in the fuge was contributing to the nutrient issues. That said, I'm changing several parameters at the same time so will be hard to say. I've still got a small amount of chaeto and large ATS. Also, biopellets typically take 8-10 weeks to really get going from what I understand. I don't think nutrients can go up any more then they already have. I'll probably test tonight or tomorrow to get a baseline before I start the biopellets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 November 12, 2014 Share November 12, 2014 I would recommend Red Sea's NO3-PO4 great stuff !!!! Just my .02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT November 12, 2014 Share November 12, 2014 Justin had a great write up on how to get the pellets populated but have no idea where it was... basically take the pellets in a 5g bucket with a heater and let them run (this is after you soak them so they sink).....then add some bacteria (mb7, dr tims, bioptim, whatever yuor pleasure) and do that for a few days....the water will get cloudy/milky when there is a bacterial bloom....once that happens they can be placed in the tank...bascially getting the bloom outside of the tank rather than in the tank. I think avast also has a recirculating skimmer top now if im not mistaken...im a big fan of their reactors (CARx and media) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni November 12, 2014 Author Share November 12, 2014 I would recommend Red Sea's NO3-PO4 great stuff !!!! Just my .02 Will look into it. Hoping to get away from things like gfo/po4 x 4, etc Justin had a great write up on how to get the pellets populated but have no idea where it was... basically take the pellets in a 5g bucket with a heater and let them run (this is after you soak them so they sink).....then add some bacteria (mb7, dr tims, bioptim, whatever yuor pleasure) and do that for a few days....the water will get cloudy/milky when there is a bacterial bloom....once that happens they can be placed in the tank...bascially getting the bloom outside of the tank rather than in the tank. I think avast also has a recirculating skimmer top now if im not mistaken...im a big fan of their reactors (CARx and media) Yeah, I looked at Avast first but they didn't have a standalone recirc but a mod for changing their reactor into a recirc. I was still planning on using them but they were also out of stock, which is a shame since with the build price would have saved me some $$$. I really want to get things done and stable as soon as possible though. It's hard looking at an empty tank. Thanks for the suggestion about the bacteria. You soak in tank water, right? I'll do this tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 28, 2015 Share May 28, 2015 Roni! What's happening over there?! Tell me something good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni May 30, 2015 Author Share May 30, 2015 Roni! What's happening over there?! Tell me something good. nothing good. used the fluke tab treatment for clove polyps and ended up killing my ritteri and really stressing out all the fish. battling some ich right now and hoping things will take a positive turn sometime soon. On the plus side, no clove polyps. Gotta enjoy the small victories, right? Honestly, I'm so burned out on everything reef related right now that I probably should get out...but since I'm a masochist, I'll keep trucking along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime May 30, 2015 Share May 30, 2015 That's what I like to hear! Keep at it! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leishman October 1, 2015 Share October 1, 2015 Update? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni October 2, 2015 Author Share October 2, 2015 So...it has been a while. So, still not a 100% sure what happened but after the fluke tab treatment, my fish got sick and the sickness wiped out everything other then a flame hawk and sixline. After that, the ammonia spike or something else wiped out the rest of my corals. After some deliberation, i decided to restart (sign of an addict or idiot, right) I took out all the rock, ran vinegar through the system, and sterilized everything. I ordered dry rock from marco rocks and recycled everything. After two months I slowly started adding back corals and fish slowly. During this time I got to battle my first ever bryopsis wave, which was a wierd process. The tank is slowly coming back together and thanks to MACNA and members on here, I've got some frags growing again. I also picked up some great fish from Operation Reef Ready, POTO, Exotic Reef Creations, and Liveaquaria and there's finally a little color and movement in the tank again. It's still a long way from where I want it but it's not the eyesore it previously was. I'll try to get some better pics if i can get someone over with better photography skills but for now, here are a couple quick phone pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni October 2, 2015 Author Share October 2, 2015 (edited) Some closeups... clowns in their ritteri new rhomboid supermale (gotta get him a girlfriend) Purple tang from Moga (tony) PBT from Marco A. loripes? Macna treasures (and a nice chalice from epleeds) Green birdnest (and residua from hair algae bloom) Solarensis and cleaner wrasses from DD tonimi tang and flame hawk from DD... Edited October 2, 2015 by roni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime October 2, 2015 Share October 2, 2015 doesn't even look like you started over! Coming back nice! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moga October 2, 2015 Share October 2, 2015 looks great~.. I can feel the purple tang likes the bigger and nicer home~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni October 5, 2015 Author Share October 5, 2015 doesn't even look like you started over! Coming back nice! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk thanks, it's a slow process but thankfully coming along. Took down 2 smaller tanks which has made time easier to come by. looks great~.. I can feel the purple tang likes the bigger and nicer home~ thanks, the purple is definitey the boss..and the only tang that seems to recognize nori as a food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gioNVA October 5, 2015 Share October 5, 2015 nice! it would be interesting to see if that onyx clown holds the onyx coloration in the ritteri. Please keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer_Madness October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 Looks great Roni!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roni October 7, 2015 Author Share October 7, 2015 nice! it would be interesting to see if that onyx clown holds the onyx coloration in the ritteri. Please keep us updated. Have you found that your onyx didn't hold color when hosting? my last clown (which was a nice photon but not a true onyx) kept color fairly well. so far this one has been great. Looks great Roni!! thanks! your new tank looks like it's coming along well. are you going to do a carpet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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