Bpb Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Sorry to detail your thread Kim lol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Ty, I agree 100% with you. Just adding some info for thought. The poster took the sample on a dive at the very end. From the reef itself. And tested fairly quickly using salifert tests, fresh, and a refractometer. He actually had been unable to sustain his tank using NSW even though it was so close by, due to insane fluctuations and crashed his tank often until he switched to artificial salt blends. Imagine that Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk That's ridiculous, but hilarious at the same time. Natural seawater crashed my fake reef! Sorry to derail as well Kim! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Oh don't apologize, it's very interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Snapped a picture of the eel 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 That things is awesome! Looks almost fake... like a sock puppet or something! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Finally got the alk back up to where I've always had it, now to keep it there. Haven't dosed calcium yet. I've added a few more corals, a sand sifting cucumber, and a tail spot blenny. The blenny is so funny, I've always loved these fish. He's mostly out in the wide open, perched on some rock or coral, and if he's not out in the open, then his head is poking out from one of the many barnacles. Such a character! I still haven't decided on what other fish to add or gotten a hawkfish yet. I picked up this mushroom at the Dome this weekend. It looks like copper and it's soooooooo bright! I can't believe I actually snagged a coral like this. I wish it showed up better in pictures. I've never been so excited about a mushroom before [emoji2] Look how bright it is with the lights turned all the way to white! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 That mushroom looks sweet, it's the brightest thing you can see in the pic! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Time for an update. Strange thing I've been watching. About 2 or so months ago I pulled 2 big rocks out that were covered with fairy dust palys and within hours my pH rose higher than it's ever been in 2 years. It's always stayed fairly stable but quite low. Every evening for a week or two the pH crept up a little bit more and is now always right around 8.2. Really interesting. Even stranger is the pH dips during the day and raises every evening to 8.2-8.3. My refugium is lit 24/7 currently, so it's not that. I don't know what role those rocks or palys played in keeping the pH low but that was the only change in at least that month, and it's been consistent every day since. Maybe a coincidence, I don't know, but I'll take it! Other than that, I added those 2 bags of Chemipure Blue and shortly following the addition of the second bag I started to see an increase in algae. No idea if they're related. So I've been battling that for a while. Really just manual removal and water changes. Timfish has been trying an interesting experiment with hydrogen peroxide on the rocks, mainly hitting the red hair algae I have spreading around. We removed the rocks without corals on them to let them dry out. Things are definitely on the upswing. Fish have been really happy and nearly all the corals are looking good. Lost a couple sps frags after that big alk drop, then raising the alk too fast. I had added a mystery wrasse and a m/f pair of Scott's fairy wrasses after the Christmas party from Just Reef and they made themselves at home immediately and have been perfect additions. I'm really happy with the quality of fish I've gotten through them! FTS from a few days ago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 I can't believe I forgot this in my update above. I was scrubbing algae off with a toothbrush and got around the purple palys. They're really the only zoas/palys in the tank now. Did that at night and in the morning I came down to a sad looking tank. Both pincushion urchins dropped nearly all spines and I was sure they were going to die, but the black urchin didn't seem to be affected at all. My red Monti cap and the Jedi Mind Trick Monti were almost completely bleached and looked terrible. I can't remember right now what all else looked bad, but it was a sad day. All I can think of is it had to have been those palys. Can't say for sure though. It was interesting how really only those 2 monti's were affected, but not the branching monti's. And both pincushions but not the black urchin. It was so random. And the 2 monti's that looked terrible are on opposite sides of the tank, so it's not like it was localized. Anyway, good news is they both completely recovered as did the urchins! I really can't believe it, I was ready to pull them out. I won't be going near those palys again, that's for sure. Those right in the center of the pic: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 That's interesting about the purple palys. I have the same purple death palys in my tank. I've ticked them off a time or two but have seen little effect in my tank. On the other hand, I've fragged them before and could feel a slight tingle while doing it. Definitely don't want to mess with those things! Hydrogen peroxide is excellent at killing all sorts of algae. My favorite is taking the rock out and hitting it with the spray bottle hydrogen peroxide, then rinsing it and putting it back in the tank. 2-3 days later... poof, no more algae. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 That's interesting about the purple palys. I have the same purple death palys in my tank. I've ticked them off a time or two but have seen little effect in my tank. On the other hand, I've fragged them before and could feel a slight tingle while doing it. Definitely don't want to mess with those things! Hydrogen peroxide is excellent at killing all sorts of algae. My favorite is taking the rock out and hitting it with the spray bottle hydrogen peroxide, then rinsing it and putting it back in the tank. 2-3 days later... poof, no more algae. Ha, purple death would be a fitting name They sure caused trouble for me. I had new carbon running too so I never expected trouble.The peroxide has been a pretty fun project! Have you used it out of the tank on rocks with corals on them? Just avoiding the corals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Yes, I've done that but only with zoas. They have a very high tolerance with contact to hydrogen peroxide as opposed to SPS, which hardly have any. I am unsure about leathers as I don't have much experience with them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 Having redundancy in my return pumps really came in handy this week. I had noticed that my water level was just the tiniest bit lower than usual, but it was such a tiny amount that I thought maybe I needed to clean the return pumps or just didn't remember where the water level used to be. Turned out one impeller was bad. I'm so thankful my tank kept right on running as usual while I took a couple days to figure out where to buy a replacement! Everything's running like it should again On the agenda today is a water change and algae scrubbing, then replacing the rocks that were pulled out to dry. And the best part is I'm getting another nice coral from Jolt today! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BobcatReefer Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Really excited to see the tank in person, Kim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 The same Mag 5 stopped working again, leaving me once again thankful for redundancy. Perfect timing though because I grabbed the Sicce 4.0 that Brooks listed. I swapped the working Mag 5 to be a regular return, and put the Sicce running the manifold. It's a big pump! I also cleaned up a whole bunch of cords and a power strip that has been just hanging out right in the way of everything. It's so much cleaner under there now, not sure why I waited so long. Added this beauty yesterday from juiceman. I'm trying really hard to not kill it! I never did manage to get it attached as well as I'd like yesterday. The base is so small and the colony is big enough all the way around, that there's not really a way to grab it and push it down firmly into the epoxy. I've been checking the tank compulsively to be sure it hasn't fallen. I'm really excited about this addition! The weekly water changes are going well and the sandbed is starting to stay clean. Swapped out a bag of Chemipure Blue after finding out the reactor I have them in was completely clogged. I will need to check on it much more frequently. My Ca and Mg are up in nsw range again, so I'm happy about that. Just gotta continue keep my alk steady. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Nice colony! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Check this out! Some sort of clam? Close up It caught my eye a few days ago while walking past the tank. I thought at first it was just the shell, but it'll snap shut if you disturb the light level reaching it. It's at least the size of a quarter. This kind of stuff is one of my favorite things about the hobby! I also found a big patch of those teeny tiny feather worms on the dark side of a rock, across the tank from the others I posted about in the subforum "What is This Thing" Hard to make out but they're all those little white lines everywhere. Overall, I feel like the tank has turned the corner finally. I attribute it to the weekly water changes and rock scrubbing, of course, but also getting the carbon reactor back online with the big leathers I have in the tank. And getting the Ca and Mg up to nsw levels I'm sure didn't hurt anything. I know lps seem to love Mg. I'm almost there getting the alk doser dialed in to keep a steady 7.5dkh. I picked up a huge purple gorgonian this evening that's been growing well in Big Clay's tank for several years, so I'm hoping I'll be able to continue seeing it grow in my system. I always prefer to get corals already well acclimated to tank life. I also got a nice sized rasta colony from him. Thanks Big Clay! I'll post pics as soon as I manage to get them, baby willing. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 That's cool about finding the little clam. It says a whole lot about your system to be able to have those thrive in your tank. Glad your tank is turning the corner! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 That's cool about finding the little clam. It says a whole lot about your system to be able to have those thrive in your tank. Glad your tank is turning the corner! Thanks! I'm really happy about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltwater snoopy Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Thats cool, : ) i got some very seasoned live rock from an ARC member , before i had any livestock i spent the first week discovering all the little life forms two kinds of starfish and a bunch of other stuff Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Thats cool, : ) i got some very seasoned live rock from an ARC member , before i had any livestock i spent the first week discovering all the little life forms two kinds of starfish and a bunch of other stuff Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk That's awesome! It's fun to discover all the hitchhikers. Usually, lol. Sometimes there are undesirables of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabloescolar Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I discovered some bright green feather duster worms last night - there's about a dozen emerging from one piece of live rock. I thought I had neon hair algae for a second but now I'm just excited haha. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 I discovered some bright green feather duster worms last night - there's about a dozen emerging from one piece of live rock. I thought I had neon hair algae for a second but now I'm just excited haha. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Neon green? That's so cool. I hadn't really realized they came in different colors, besides the tan ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltwater snoopy Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I have some tubes some still activei thought maybe feather duster but i havent seen anything other then a little critter building the shell , prob tube worms also some cool stuff that looks like some kind of yellow little corals that were at the bottom of my rocks , they arent doing much but if i let my tank get settled in they may do something someday Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post +KimP Posted March 11, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 11, 2016 We have polyp extension And here's the rasta colony 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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