The Maroon Lagoon V2.0

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

My tank continues to not make up its mind wether it’s happy or struggling. I had some RTN this past week losing 90% of my SSC and nearly a whole large branch of my red dragon.


I can’t really explain the SSC, but the red dragon RTN coincided with my CaRX flow stopping while I was out of state and my alk dropped below 6. The RTN has slowed and maybe stopped now that the CaRX flow has restarted.

On the other hand, coral colors continue to slowly improve. They haven’t returned to optimal coloration, but a slow and steady improvement is better than none or reversal.

[Sierra Bravo]

We're leaving back to South Florida for two weeks for Christmas and I'm dreading the potential issues. 

The corals other than the Red Dragon and SSC look really good.  You've had a lot of issues thrown at that tank in the last six months: power outage, alk problems, lighting changes, algae outbreak and treatment. . .seems like it could use a couple months of stability and a chance for everything to just catch a breather.  All things considered, probably could have been much worse.  I bet a lot of tanks would not have made it through all that without a complete crash.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

We're leaving back to South Florida for two weeks for Christmas and I'm dreading the potential issues. 
The corals other than the Red Dragon and SSC look really good.  You've had a lot of issues thrown at that tank in the last six months: power outage, alk problems, lighting changes, algae outbreak and treatment. . .seems like it could use a couple months of stability and a chance for everything to just catch a breather.  All things considered, probably could have been much worse.  I bet a lot of tanks would not have made it through all that without a complete crash.

Leaving town is always a nail biter. Hopefully you have a friend in town that can periodically check in on things who knows what to look for.

I appreciate the words of encouragement! I hope if I don’t change anything for a while everything will recover and get back to full health. Please God, no more issues🤞

[eddius-maximus]

So I dosed Fluconazole back in May, around 7 months ago. It 100% annihilated my annoying Bryopsis problem. I woke up this morning to big tufts of Bryopsis in 4 different sections of my tank. I'd say 7 months of not having to worry about this terrible crap is pretty good.

Now the debate is whether or not I should re-dose. The last time I did it, it also killed my hair algae. Now that I'm using an algae scrubber as a source of nutrient export, it's not so clear what the appropriate course of action is.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

So I dosed Fluconazole back in May, around 7 months ago. It 100% annihilated my annoying Bryopsis problem. I woke up this morning to big tufts of Bryopsis in 4 different sections of my tank. I'd say 7 months of not having to worry about this terrible crap is pretty good.
Now the debate is whether or not I should re-dose. The last time I did it, it also killed my hair algae. Now that I'm using an algae scrubber as a source of nutrient export, it's not so clear what the appropriate course of action is.

My GHA has started to come back already. I left carbon offline for just shy of a month, but I guess that wasn’t long enough. I’ll likely be dosing again soon and starting the process over again. I have ulva in my tank and it’s not affected by Fluco at all, you could always use that as a form of nutrient export! [emoji23]

[eddius-maximus]

11 minutes ago, Gig 'em @ NDstructible said:

My GHA has started to come back already. I left carbon offline for just shy of a month, but I guess that wasn’t long enough. I’ll likely be dosing again soon and starting the process over again. I have ulva in my tank and it’s not affected by Fluco at all, you could always use that as a form of nutrient export!

That is very surprising! Was your original dose 20mg per gallon? 

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

It was. It did a great job of killing off what was there, but I guess it didn’t completely eradicate it

[diesel3443]

We're leaving back to South Florida for two weeks for Christmas and I'm dreading the potential issues. 
The corals other than the Red Dragon and SSC look really good.  You've had a lot of issues thrown at that tank in the last six months: power outage, alk problems, lighting changes, algae outbreak and treatment. . .seems like it could use a couple months of stability and a chance for everything to just catch a breather.  All things considered, probably could have been much worse.  I bet a lot of tanks would not have made it through all that without a complete crash.

Too funny. I am going to South Florida too for family over the holidays. My parents live in Boca Raton (I grew up down there). Where are you visiting?

Gigem, I agree with Sierra. A lot of things have happened and you have thrown a lot at it to fight it. I am thinking a few months of solid stability will be golden.




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[diesel3443]

I also do not like Vibrant like I have said earlier, screws up the tank biology and I have always have secondary issues post dosing


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[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

Well it seemed like my red dragon was on the mend, and as soon as I got back from Chicago it started RTNing. Did a water change, but that hasn’t changed anything apparently. Very random pattern of RTN too. 2018 has hibernation a frustrating year for my tank and acros [emoji58]

[Sierra Bravo]

 

9 minutes ago, Gig 'em @ NDstructible said:

Well it seemed like my red dragon was on the mend, and as soon as I got back from Chicago it started RTNing. Did a water change, but that hasn’t changed anything apparently. Very random pattern of RTN too. 2018 has hibernation a frustrating year for my tank and acros

Quick - frag and sell it as a unique white/red hybrid of some sort before it gets worse.  Oh, and stop leaving town.  Anecdotal evidence clearly indicates your lack of presence having a negative effect on the tank.  Your corals are literally dying to be with you.  🙄  Can't you sell Amway or something else home-based?  😀

Seriously, though - hope it gets better soon.

[Sierra Bravo]

5 hours ago, diesel3443 said:

 

Too funny. I am going to South Florida too for family over the holidays. My parents live in Boca Raton (I grew up down there). Where are you visiting?

Gigem, I agree with Sierra. A lot of things have happened and you have thrown a lot at it to fight it. I am thinking a few months of solid stability will be golden.




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Native Floridian here.  Grew up in Ocala; spent a large portion of my adult life in South Florida.  We're headed to Pembroke Pines.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

Wow it’s been a long time since an update. Over 7 months of struggles ever since my tank randomly started having troubles while I was out of the country on vacation. A lot of losses, then half a year of stagnant growth and poor coloration. Now things seem to finally be turning around, better colors and corals started growing again. I lost all of my large colonies, including my red dragon.

The red dragon bone yard:


Here’s some more upbeat photos of my survivors

Green slimer


Oregon tort


I neglected the frags on my frag rack this whole time, the montis didn’t skip a beat it appears




RR The Vinh

[jolt]

Glad to hear things are doing better!  Everything in the photos looks really good (except the boneyard of course)

[Sierra Bravo]

New lights, next generation of younger corals. . .This is Maroon Lagoon v3.0; at the least v2.9.  Need to rename your threads.  😉

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

I went to LA this week and made a (expensive) trip to UC! Excited to have something new to google at.

[Sierra Bravo]

You've been quiet for a while.  Nice way to jump back in to the conversation - "Look what I got!".   🙂

 

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

Haha yeah, there hasn't been much to share since my tank has been slowly recovering from the mystery issues that started when I was on vacation last June. Things are still recovering, but randomly see SPS issues from time to time. I'm running Fluco again since GHA popped back up. I'm currently at one month of treatment with no protein skimmer and no carbon, which could be the cause of any current struggles. I'm trying to soldier on as long as I can to avoid the GHA from springing back as quickly as it did last time.

[+olaggie01]

So....you aren't going to tell us what you got?  Those sure are nice windex pics :0

[takoattack]

-edit just realized i was replying to a very old portion of this therad-

Have you found an air pimp that has an inlet that you could connect to an outside airline?

I was going to experiment with micro bubbles, but wanted to run outside air as my house always has high CO2. I already did the hard part and ran 1/2 pex tubing though a few walls to get an outside line into my stand for my skimmer. Seems like I could hack something together with a USB charger and this pump: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-DC-3V-6V-5V-370-Motor-Mini-Micro-Air-Pump-Vacuum-For-Aquarium-Tank-Oxygen/113589840598?hash=item1a727b6ad6:g:vJgAAOSwolpcSAVb&frcectupt=true

 

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

-edit just realized i was replying to a very old portion of this therad-
Have you found an air pimp that has an inlet that you could connect to an outside airline?
I was going to experiment with micro bubbles, but wanted to run outside air as my house always has high CO2. I already did the hard part and ran 1/2 pex tubing though a few walls to get an outside line into my stand for my skimmer. Seems like I could hack something together with a USB charger and this pump: 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-DC-3V-6V-5V-370-Motor-Mini-Micro-Air-Pump-Vacuum-For-Aquarium-Tank-Oxygen/113589840598?hash=item1a727b6ad6:g:vJgAAOSwolpcSAVb&frcectupt=true
 

I stopped pumping outside air into my tank a while ago. I would smell weird chemical smells from time to time and it didn’t seem to help the pH drop that much. I decided it wasn’t worth the risk in case someone was spraying pesticides around my neighborhood and it getting sucked into the tank. I might install a CO2 scrubber on my protein skimmer down the road.

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

1. UC unnamed (aspera?)
2. UC Blue Flame Stag
3. UC Slytherin Stag
4. Unnamed acro from Seaside Tropical
5. UC Night Walker
6. UC Purple Cookie Monster
7. UC unnamed purple tip stag

[+olaggie01]

1. Frag for Chris (aspera?)
2. Frag for Chris
3. Frag for Chris
4. Frag for Chris
5. Frag for Chris
6. Frag for Chris
7. Frag for Chris

FIFY


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[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

FIFY


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So much prettier under white light aren’t they? [emoji23]

[Gig 'em @ NDstructible]

I haven’t posted in a while, it’s hard to get excited about the hobby when you’ve been struggling with mysterious coral deaths for nearly a year with no major culprit or solution. Yesterday though I may have *possibly* found a smoking fun. I was performing a water change and noticed the magnet holding my PH was slipping a bit. Pulled it off and noticed my hand was covered in black and there were some bumps on the magnet


Needless to say I tossed the magnet immediately, changed 20 gallons, and put new carbon in the reactor. Really really hoping this has been the cause of my most recent coral struggles.