I'm still alive, so's the tank

[squiddly]

Hi folks.  Life has been crazy busy as usual for us here in Squiddly land.  The Aquapod is still up and funning, and today I decided to do some cleaning, a bit of clean up crew restocking, and try to figure out why I was having so much trouble with red slime and green hair algae.  So I went through my filtration system, pulling out the sponge in the back of the tank when there, to my great surprise, I saw where one of my clownfish had disappeared to.  I can't say I shed too many tears when he disappeared since he attacked me constantly.  I did feel bad for his mate though, and was even thinking about replacing him, but there was the little....darling  He was alive and well and living in the filter compartment, sharing it with about a dozen brittle stars that I picked out and put back in the main tank before cleaning the sponge.  My canister filter that I also use with this had quit dead, so replaced it with a small protein skimmer.  Pulled out the old powerhead and replaced it with one I can more easily access with those magnet things so I don't have to go diving in the back to clean it out.  Got new pads for the Magnavore.  Replaced the heater because it was time.  Reprogrammed the lights to be on for shorter times to try to cut down on the algae cruft.  And took my water off to have a professional check it just in case my Salifert tests weren't doing the right thing.  The tests were fine, so I'm thinking the lighting is the culprit.  

 

Once the algae issue is solved, I'll start putting some easier corals back in.  The algae killed most of what I had, which was mostly zoas and a few polyps here and there.  I have some star polyps left, the two clowns, a very sad looking BTA (which I hope comes back...he's all compacted and you can hardly see him) and a starry blennie.  

 

So hi again and I hope things are going well for everyone.

Dah Squid

[Coral Hind]

It's nice to see you posting again. I figured you moved on and forgot about us. Good luck beating back the algae!

[squiddly]

Naw, how could I forget you guys?  Where else do people answer my silly questions?  

[Origami]

Hey, welcome back, Squiddly. I saw your renewal go thru a little while back but haven't seen you around here in quite a long time. Glad to see that you're posting again. Let's see if we can fire you up and get you energized to beat back that algae!

[squiddly]

Thanks Origami. It was really difficult for awhile there when I had to sell my 175 and stock that I'd brought up from teeny weeny fishies.  Then I tried seahorses when I really didn't know what I was doing and lost them all which was another serious bummer.  Having the little tank has been pretty good at easing that.  The clowns and starry blennie have been around for awhile.  The only iffy tank member is the BTA who is all compacted and squishy.  I have no idea how to make him feel any better, and he's not falling apart or anything, and all the parameters are good, and I've cut down the time period when the lights are on, increased the water flow a bit.  Hopefully he'll come out of it.  I've had him about 3 years now I think, and the clowns just started hosting him.  Not sure if that is the reason why he's not doing well, but that wouldn't really make much sense.

 

Anyway, glad to be back and posting again.  Things have changed quite a bit with lighting, so I should take a closer look and catch up a bit.  Meantime, the tank is looking a bit cleaner today so I may be on the right track.  

[surf&turf]

Welcome back!!