corsair66 Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Hello everyone! I had previously started a thread in Lagoons, but hadn't updated in a while. Besides, it's a little sleepy in there I have had this tank for six years, although I broke it down and moved it last October when I came to Austin. I ran it as an unfiltered, partially solar powered room divider back then. It sorta devolved into a Kenya Tree forest towards the end, but it survived an entire year of me being in outside sales. They were fed by the neighbors, and got a water change every couple of months whether they needed it or not When I moved here, I knew the tank was going against a wall away from the window. Couldn't do what I did before. I decided to cut all the coral off the rock and flip it over for fresh start. The tank also shed its aged T5 fixture for one (later two) Ai Prime LEDs. The tank was still unfiltered when first set up here in town. I don't have a ton of pictures of the last few months for one simple reason: it looked gross. Same tank, same rock, same equipment, but the hair algae was persistently causing issues. I think half of the problem was the new aquascape. The rock now sits leaned up against the back instead of flat in the middle of the tank. Now it has a giant pocket behind the rock. I also switched the substrate when I moved. The previous setup used blasting sand that immediately felt very mud like when coated in biofilm. The caleurpa took to that much faster than the pretty white pet store stuff in there now. The light bulb moment came when I saw an eShoppes nano skimmer in action and realized I could tuck it behind the glass top. I put it on a few weeks ago and the tank absolutely came to life. The urchins are cleaning up the last of the tank's adolescent mess, and the nutrients have dropped below test strip testable levels. So that's since October. It's a mix of macro and softies, a couple of anemones and a bit of LPS just for fun. I'll detail the stock list in another post. The most exciting resident is the mantis shrimp, although it's heard more than seen at the moment. It's a fun tank, and it should be ready to roll and grow in from here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Good job with it! You can't even tell it was covered in hair algae. It's nice to see a different kind of setup. Was that a blue sponge in there before the move? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsair66 Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Yes, there was a pretty decent variety of sponges growing in there. None of the big ones survived the move, but there are enough small ones in blue, yellow and purple that they may reappear. A bunch of that kind of stuff went into decline when I was traveling for work and the tank didn't get liquid food much. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsair6601 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Just another day at the beach [emoji3] Different view of the tank, with the little Buddha garden off to the side. I had allowed the caulerpa to overgrow it for a month or so, but I finally pruned the tank a few days ago. Biggest aptasia you ever saw on his chest. I've had the same two hanging out on a piece of rubble forever, although this one decided to move on up. They don't seem interested in multiplying, or just can't compete for nutrients. I have a bottle of the Red Sea stuff oh hand in case they go nuts, but so far they've just been another piece of coral. A second picture where the elegant dottyback is more or less in focus! A red letter day for my potato phone skills. That little guy lives with four PJ cardinals, a four stripe damsel, a starry blenny and a black clown. All except the blenny have been with me for a long time. Inverts include a gaggle of brittle stars, a couple of urchins and a few large turbo snails that seem to be permanent additions. Anything else that crawls is just waiting to meet this little dude Terrible picture from the tanks yucky days, but it's the best I got. That little thing is fast. It's not terribly social, and it may never be. Google says this species can top out at 4", so this one is still pretty young. When it gets a little older and braver we'll experiment with daphnia in a feeder syringe. That got my last one to warm up pretty effectively. I just really like this picture. Rose urchins are really nice looking critters for eight bucks. I was always worried that one of these would be a bulldozer, but it's actually less disruptive than the tiny little tuxedo. Would definitely recommend them. My skimmer stopped working a week ago and new ones are on back order with my distributor, so I'm back to natural for the moment. Seems the early release of these skimmers have defective impellers. Periodically they cavitate, which sounds awful and fills the cup up with water. Sucks, but I'll get a new one and paint it this time before I put it in. To the tanks credit, it grew algae all over the glass for three days after I unplugged the skimmer and then settled down to business as usual. Also, no idea what happened with my screen name. Tapatalk is an.... Interesting UI. Mostly just seemed to make it impossible to recover my password when it logged out. Who knows. Maybe this account will stick [emoji854] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsair6601 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Been a bit of a ride since my last update. First the air conditioning in the house had trouble, letting the tank get hot mid day. That lasted a couple of weeks. Then I had trouble with the skimmer plugging up. The clear body was letting algae grow inside. So basically the tank has been a little sick. Looking better now, mostly The skimmer was fixed by some black paint, and the a/c got sorted, but the damage was done. The anemone flipped out and hid under the rock. It split, but neither one came back topside. One is gone, and if I could reach the other I would remove it. It was pretty, but problematic. Made the clown much too aggressive. So here's where the tank is at. Zero nitrates, but lots of algae of all descriptions. I gave it about a month to work itself out, but finally gave in and bought a pile of turbo snails. They're a little big for the mantis, so I should be able to keep them a while. The leather has grown without pause. I split the mother into four pieces and they're all growing out well. I added a yellow toadstool which will hopefully give a nice shade for the fish when it gets a little bigger. There is also a new file fish to make sure the aptasia stays in check. So I'm a little astounded at how clean the water tests. I'm going to let it run for a few weeks and then maybe try some new coral. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KimP Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I'm guessing the algae in the tank is using up all the available nitrate and phosphate. What about adding another urchin temporarily? They mow it down to the rock surface. Are you manually removing as much algae as possible? I've found manual removal and water changes to knock it all back the fastest. It's looking good though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsair6601 Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 It's been kind of a stalemate with the hair algae for a while. The urchins keep the open areas clear, but the hill country rock has a bunch of little interior spaces they can't reach. This poor coral has looked like this forever, but it just sorta keeps on keeping on. It's hard to remove more than a superficial amount of algae without damaging either the torch or the daisies. I can't even remove it without destroying the runners reaching out from the daisies. It's being patient, so I am too. The snails I added are already cutting into the hair algae. Here's the cleanup crew. They've been steadily reducing the filth day by day I'm just glad the anemone finally kicked it. That thing freaking out has been driving the worst of the problems. It lost almost half its mass before it split, so it has been leaching all kinds of nasty stuff for weeks. Everyone perked up notably when it finally had the good grace to just die. Never again experimenting with anemones in a trash can reef like this. It didn't work out great the first time in SA either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsair6601 Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Tank has pretty much stabilized, although I'm knocking on wood as I type that out. Since last time, I pulled one of the leather frags out and glued it to another rock to wall off the macro bed. I have been reducing the front caulerpa patch, and may be able to eliminate it entirely. The hair algae stopped growing, so between me and the snails we should get it all eventually. I picked up some really cheap SPS frags just to see what happens. I was only $12 curious, so both bits are showing some skeleton and will need to heal before they grow. They'll get some glamor shots if they're still here in two weeks. I have this spot that I would love to put something in. The leathers leave a void at the sand bed that would be large enough for a brain coral or the like. Not sure if I need something more aggressive the defend itself. We'll see. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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