YHSublime March 3, 2014 Share March 3, 2014 Wait it out. Sometimes I think my RBTA is dying. Then the next day it's all "just fooling!!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 4, 2014 Author Share March 4, 2014 Wait it out. Sometimes I think my RBTA is dying. Then the next day it's all "just fooling!!!!" Isaac was right. Nem looks normal today. Nitrate dropped a bit to 2ppm from 3 as far as I can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 4, 2014 Author Share March 4, 2014 Awesome, Alan. Where did you get the potassium nitrate? What are your plans going forward? Sorry, I didn't see this on my phone. I got it from Amazon.com from the seller Hoosier Hill Farm, but at the moment all they have is pink stuff that they call curing salt. It was 14 dollars for a pound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 7, 2014 Author Share March 7, 2014 So the cyano seems to be receding, and I think the reason is mostly that I started siphoning out the patches of it weekly. I'd wait until the evening when it was thickest and take the cyano and the very top layer of sand with it, then spin it in the bucket to separate the cyano from the sand and snails that I picked up, pour the water down the toilet, and dump the sand/snails back into the tank. Seems to be working OK. I still have small patches on the rocks and in a couple of spots, but it isn't really unsightly and doesn't seem to be hurting anything. Nitrate is holding at 1.5-2 and phosphate is holding at around 0.08, and I'm satisfied with both numbers. Skimmer is working well and I'm still growing heroic amounts of algae in the sump, so I'm not going to make any more changes until it seems like I need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 7, 2014 Share March 7, 2014 Awesome report! Good idea, sit back and watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 7, 2014 Author Share March 7, 2014 Awesome report! Good idea, sit back and watch! Well, sit back and watch most stuff, but I am inspired by your zoas on the back wall, so I've been browsing on the Pacific East website and considering getting some of their zoa frags to build a vertical garden of them. 8) Since I am not planning to clean that back wall, it seems like a decent idea to do zoas and maybe some encrusting montiporas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme March 7, 2014 Share March 7, 2014 so I'm not going to make any more changes until it seems like I need to. didn't i read somewhere you got some zeo coming?? lol.. in any case, good to hear the status! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 7, 2014 Author Share March 7, 2014 didn't i read somewhere you got some zeo coming?? lol.. in any case, good to hear the status! Haha. Well true. I forgot about that actually. Guess it isn't as expensive as I thought if I can forget I ordered it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w March 7, 2014 Share March 7, 2014 Alan, why do you think your snails are migrating? Are they climbing out of the tank and dropping to the floor? If they are climbing to get to water that is higher in oxygen, perhaps a night light over the algae in your sump could help. It would help with the nightly oxygen drop. It's also possible that they climb at night to get more food. Many animals stay on the bottom during the day to avoid fish predation, the snails may be climbing at night when fish are asleep because there may be more food available up high. Just a couple of guesses, I really have no idea. But I'll bet there are people who do know that can say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neto March 7, 2014 Share March 7, 2014 Hey Alan, how are the birdsnests doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 7, 2014 Author Share March 7, 2014 (edited) Alan, why do you think your snails are migrating? Are they climbing out of the tank and dropping to the floor? If they are climbing to get to water that is higher in oxygen, perhaps a night light over the algae in your sump could help. It would help with the nightly oxygen drop. It's also possible that they climb at night to get more food. Many animals stay on the bottom during the day to avoid fish predation, the snails may be climbing at night when fish are asleep because there may be more food available up high. Just a couple of guesses, I really have no idea. But I'll bet there are people who do know that can say. I have a dedicated 66%red/33%blue d120 LED light on 24/7 over my algae fuge. I don't think that's the issue. John at Reefcleaners says that the little ceriths are attracted to light, so maybe they're climbing up to the windows where the moon is coming in, heh. Hey Alan, how are the birdsnests doing? The rainbow one is growing like a weed and has attached to another rock where I had leaned it initially to keep it from falling over until I glued it. Guess I don't have to worry about that anymore. The others grow slower, but are still doing well. They're pretty fragile. I popped your ball of epoxy off the square frag tiles and used the new handibond super glue to attach it to the rock for the pink birdsnest and the green birdsnest over the weekend and attached them permanently and intended to do that for the rainbow, but can't anymore, so that one stays. Birdsnest island is over on the right side of the tank. I have 4 of them so far plus a pocci. Edited March 7, 2014 by AlanM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 8, 2014 Author Share March 8, 2014 (edited) Decided to post up some growth shots and my first signs of daytime polyp extension. Also, you can see some of my cyano after a week of not cleaning it. On the rocks and sand. I need a better camera than the HTC One phone. Some interesting ones to me are the acropora loisetteae and green slimer from chucelli. They came as flat heavily encrusted frags like a montipora or something and now are growing up branches after encrusting for a while. The green spongodes is really cool all lumpy and brilliant green base with brown polyps. If it continues to grow like this for me I think people will really enjoy the frags from it. Edited March 9, 2014 by YHSublime Fixed img link per OP's request Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 8, 2014 Author Share March 8, 2014 I have a few more nice ones that are showing nice growth, but I just can't seem to get a good picture of them from the angles I have to work with. The Tubs montipora stellata from copps is doing really well and shows cool growth with angular edges, green polyps, and deep purple base, but it is really hard to photograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Puckstable March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 Looks awesome. Those are some big pieces. Keep it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkiboy March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 dude, that's awesomeeffort in documenting growth. i need to do the same, maybe with a white background and ruler in the background. good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 Awesome! I wish I labeled like you did as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallor March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 dude, that's awesomeeffort in documenting growth. i need to do the same, maybe with a white background and ruler in the background. good work! Yes, most noble work indeed. These are the kinda posts that really inspire us new folk and give us good ideas - good work and thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 ORA frogspawn? You mean ORA frogskin? Looks nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 9, 2014 Author Share March 9, 2014 Haha. Yes, frogskin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 9, 2014 Author Share March 9, 2014 Can Isaac or some other mod post the corrected picture link that doesn't say ORA Frogspawn? The fixed one is here: Not sure if Mods do this or if it would end up being too much trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 Not sure if Mods do this or if it would end up being too much trouble. I would go through great lengths for any man that brings Rocklands BBQ to a meet. IMG link changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 9, 2014 Author Share March 9, 2014 I would go through great lengths for any man that brings Rocklands BBQ to a meet. IMG link changed. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 9, 2014 Author Share March 9, 2014 Here are a few more. I still can't get a good picture of the stellata And here's a cup full of snail shells and bristleworms. These were all hermit crab discards that I pulled out and ended up putting into the sump in case any were alive. Guess they were full of bristleworms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme March 9, 2014 Share March 9, 2014 Can Isaac or some other mod post the corrected picture link that doesn't say ORA Frogspawn? The fixed one is here: Not sure if Mods do this or if it would end up being too much trouble. Wow..That really bothered you, huh? haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM March 10, 2014 Author Share March 10, 2014 Wow..That really bothered you, huh? haha Yes it did. Couldn't have an error like that in the thread. 8) I had fun at lunchtime today. Mike came over, and we measured PAR today at the noon level of my lights which is Violet/RoyalBlue/White on at 75% intensity and the other three colors at 50% intensity. The results were: 500 - In the center just under the water surface 250 - In the center on the sandbed 325 - On the top of the tallest rocks next to the crayola plana from DaveS and the large teal tort from ridetheducati 170 - On the sandbed under the right grouping of LEDs 100 - On the back wall once you get out from under the shadow of the overflow box, about halfway down. My lights are hung 18 inches off the surface of the water with 60 degree optics. I also dropped in 4ml of KZ coral snow into my approx 100g volume via the directions on the bottle and was surprised at how cloudy it got. Was kind of funny. Probably won't do that during the day anymore. The skimmer didn't go crazy, which I'm grateful for. No idea what it is, but it looks like milk of magnesia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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