C Lo Slice

Three days of darkness starts now. Let's hope for at least some results...

Understand that this is very hard for me to do. I'm so ashamed of the way my tank looks right now. I don't want people thinking I'm neglecting the tank or that I'm an unresponsible hobbyist. I try to take care of the tank as best as I can. You can ask my wife: this tank consumes me (in a good way). I want it to be pretty and I do put in the time and effort to try and make it so. As you can see from the pics, the GHA (or briopsis) has even taken over my powerheads and the back glass. The powerheads just got cleaned thoroughly last weekend, and will be getting cleaned again tomorrow. On to the sadness...

I do have a juvenile Yellow Tang. She eats some of it, but really not enough to do any damage. I have not checked for phosphates, although I do suspect it in my water and being the main culprit. I feed daily. I use Hikari Mysis Shrimp and San Francisco Bay Brand Saltwater Multipack. Typically, I rinse the cubes off in RO then drop one cube each of mysis and something from the variety pack into a shot glass to thaw. Once thawed, I will pour a little into the tank right when the daylights go off, but the actinics are still on. The fish have become like Pavlov's dogs with this method. I don't feed more than they can consume in a minute or two, and the shot glass with the two cubes will usually last me close to a week. As far as filtration, there hardly is any. I rely on a lot of live rock, a lot of water movement, and a HOB skimmer. AquaC Remora HOB See above for feeding details. I have not checked my water source, though that is what I suspect. The water out here in Buda is extremely hard. I have a whole-house conditioner, water softener, and a RO unit at my sink. I use the RO for the water changes, but I still think it isn't good enough. I don't have a sump, just a HOB skimmer. My first Sea Hare was a champ. He knocked nearly everything out in about two weeks. I've had this one for about a month and he hasn't done anything. He is actually looking much skinnier than when I first got him. I will check out those links you provided. Keep me updated on the smart start. I'll check out chemiclean. I was trying to go the natural route, but that obviously isn't working. I'm running out of those options. I haven't done the 3 days of darkness. I plan on starting it tomorrow, and will post results. Pulling out the rock will be a problem. I have very large rocks in a 12" wide tank, so I had to stack them fairly intricately. Therefore, if I decide to take one rock out, I'll have to take them all out. I had a tuxedo urchin, but he was knocking over all my frags so I got rid of him. As soon as I did, the GHA popped up for the first time. Now that the GHA has started killing all my corals, I'm tempted to try another urchin since it won't have anything to knock over (unfortunately).

It's been about 6 months since GHA popped up in my tank. At first, it stayed secluded to one area of the tank. Now, it's EVERYWHERE. My frogspawn is in the process of losing its last head because of this. My HUGE colony of zoas that I spent a pretty penny on won't even come out because of a light layer of cyano. My gigantic superman monti looks pathetic because of small patches of GHA scattered about it. I can honestly see why so many beginning hobbyists call it quits due to frustrations. I test water regularly. Everything is ALWAYS in check, if not within reason. I have had a Sea Hare for about a month now and he hasn't done a d@mn thing. I had one a couple months ago that cleared the tank of nearly everything, but I fear I gave him up a little too soon. I'm just so freakin' frustrated. I look at my cousin's gorgeous tank and get so discouraged when I come home to see mine. I have gotten to the point to where I look at my tank, and it totally ruins my day. Upkeep is no issue. I do weekly 10% water changes from my RO/DI unit, I test regularly, feed regularly, and pick off as much GHA as I can when doing water changes. I just flat out don't know what to do anymore. I've been trying to keep the tank as natural as possible, not dosing anything that I can't test for. But I'm now at a loss. I seriously don't know what to do. Extremely frustrated...

That was the suggested cuc by reef cleaners, based on how much rock and livestock plans. I'd rather have too much than not enough I guess. I think you're right on the money. I wish I ordered a larger CUC initially. Now that money is tight, I'm seeing the effects. Awesome build, by the way. Yours is one of the few I've been keeping up with.

For me, personally, water changes are a necessity. The water out here in buda is disgusting, plus by my doing 10% changes weekly, it keeps my alk, calcium, and pH consistent enough to where I have been able to quit dosing. Also, I have no filtration other than Live Rock, plenty of water movement, and a HOB skimmer. My cousin, on the other hand, hasn't done a water change on his 125 in two years and his tank is gorgeous.

Congrats, James! This calls for a new celebratory tank, right?

It happens. My hermits don't last all that long, especially the larger ones. It could be that he was looking for a bigger shell. The rest of your CUC could be the reason he looked eaten; they're just doing their job. Shoot, my yellow tang will even eat hermits and snails that die. Since it was just a hermit, I wouldn't be too worried about it, although it never hurts to test your water just to be safe.

I'd be interested in about $28, depending on pickup location. Gas prices are killing me right now, and paying shipping myself may actually be cheaper than driving from Buda to a pickup location in, say, Round Rock.

Definitely looks like a sweet build, and I love that rockwork layout. I'm very interested in this LED build that you referred to. Keep us updated, and good luck!

As we have talked about, Tim, my cousin's Coral Banded is strongly suspected of flat out eating his clown pair. The shrimp began glowing orange and nearly doubled in size once his clowns went missing. He does have an anemone that is probably about 12" when fully open, although I can't recall the species. Maybe that could have been the culprit? He doesn't really have any spots in his tank (125g) that are completely hidden, so he would be able to see if a dead fish was lying on the sand.

I'm thinking we'll have enough for free shipping. I should be getting paid on Wednesday, so I can coordinate things then (unless someone else would rather take over?)

What size tank did you put them in? Funny you should mention the Coral Banded Shrimp - my cousin just lost his clown pair to his Coral Banded. You could actually see the shrimp's insides turn orange

My vote is that it be labeled "Want to sell/trade". Otherwise, I think this issue will continue to come up, especially with future members. But that's just me

Welcome, Kris! Lots of good people here!

Pretty sweet. What are the dimensions on that tank? Assuming you keep the Morays, are you gonna go FOWLR or reef? Did you have a stock list in mind? What about lighting? Sorry for all the questions, but I was wanting to do something similar by my front door ( my wife just wants a table with a lamp on it, I say a new tank will provide the light she wants )

Where are you located?

I, for one, am totally stoked! With all due respect to Andrew (without whom, none of us would be here), I am excited to see things get taken to a new level. Thank you Andrew, and thank you Mike, for all of y'all's hard work and dedication to bringing Austin a great reefing community. Quick question after reading all of that: As a Premium Member, nothing is being taken away from us under the current setup, correct? Just things being added? Also, do we get to view the Professional section of the forums?

I'd like to get a tally of who all is interested and the amount they plan on getting. Remember there is a 10% discount, and I believe free shipping is $250. John has some new items, for those of you who haven't seen his latest post on the forum. It looks like I'll have enough extra money on my next paycheck to purchase some things. Let's get this thing rolling ahead of time.

I may be interested in this for a Sea Hare and a couple other things. Keep me updated. Where abouts in Kyle are you?

Sounds good, man