My 20 long nano bare bottom

[Bagabaga]

And of course I'm back to talking to myself. Lol.

Light won't ship today unfortunately.


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[Bagabaga]

Light will ship next week according to the factory. I think they were backed up in orders. They didn't tell me that though. And I'll have to pay a duty and tax fee when it arrives.

Today I made a change to the tank. During maintenance I removed the cutting board and couldn't believe the amount of chaeto and stuff under it. Lol now it's an actual bare bottom.

I'll keep the nutrients low and hope they get my fish in at the lfs.

Thanks for reading.

[Bagabaga]

They didn't get my Pygmy angel in at the lfs where I had credit. But they did have a small flame angel that I picked up. I know it's going to get bigger but I plan to upgrade tanks.

Right now it's circling the end of the tank and picks at algae and meaty foods and rips at scallop meat. I hope that means it's eating. I've even put a clip with two different algae in the tank and one is on a rock.

Picked up and dipped some new corals yesterday. Plan is to do a euphyllia garden on the right side and some easier sps on the tall left rock and if it survives the dip a Xenia overflow.

I'll get pics later of all the goodies.

Removing the cutting board and clearing out some chaeto I hope that nutrients stay low.

I'm hoping my hard work pays off with this.

I hope to upgrade to a 40breeder in the future I may even do it all hang on the back stuff.

[ReefWreak]

Sounds good!

The flame should stay small for quite a while. I've had mine for 2.5 years now, and the person before me had it in a 34g for maybe 2 years before that, and its size is quite manageable.

I love that mine swims around the tank picking and picking. As long as it's not picking on coral polyps or clam mantles, all is right with the world. If it is ripping at food, you should be good.

Sounds like a nice plan, especially with the upgrade if/when that happens. The key is just stability for long-term happiness, so don't feel rushed to upgrade.

Did you ever figure out the gorgonian color thing? They tend to shed a waxy skin, so that might have why the color went away temporarily? Or maybe it was a non-photosynthetic one and it is dying and losing color?

[Bagabaga]

It's photosynthetic. It's grown 4 inches since I've had it. I think it was just a phase it was going through. It's color is back now.

I bought a neon frogspawn, firefly chalice piece, a tiny frag of orange digitata, and silver Xenia.

I got a mini colony of stylo or pocillopora from another reefer in exchange for a gallon ziplock full of chaeto.

All got dipped and checked over.

Only issue I have is the new frogspawn has an acrylic plug that I hate. Should I cut the frag off the plug or just export it into place?

Flame angel is gorgeous and picking at pellets and scallops the most. I haven't seen any picking at he nori but plenty of picking at the micro algae on the rocks. Super excited to watch it get cleaned by the skunk shrimp.

My light is delayed and it makes me sad. I want to see if the major or minor diffusion things for Jessica will work as well. I think they are just opaque silicone so I'll see if I can make or buy an alternative.

I'm making my weekly water changes and dosing alkalinity. Wednesday is water change day and I'll do a full round of testing as well. I'm attempting to raise my salinity a small amount ever change.

More to come with pics as the corals open up fully.

[Diana A]

If you got pocillopora be careful. It grows quickly but when it settles in, it will start to drop pieces in your tank. It will spread quickly...more so than green star polyps. You will find it in different parts of your tank growing. It is a pretty coral and I had purchased one too. I got rid of mine. I came on here to research it and was shocked at my findings. It grows like a unwanted weed.

[Bagabaga]

It is definitely a pocillopora. I really wouldn't mind if it dropped babies off here and there in the tank. I've got enough frogspawn that I think they won't grow near those and I think Xenia even sting corals that get too close so I'll see in the future. Maybe I'll just place some birdsnest near it so they compete for space. I like the color of it and will get some pics when the lights are on tomorrow.

My tank is really filling in and I love how the angel swims all over all day picking and watching me.


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[ReefWreak]

Yea, pocillapora are cool till they're not. I used to find colonies growing in my skimmer and plumbing when I had a light in my sump on my old 120g tank. They don't really bug anything though, they're just taking up calcium/alkalinity for a coral you don't want. Some of them are very beautifully colored though. Nice trade for just chaeto though!

With the flame, don't worry about them not eating greens. I've never fed mine greens directly. The pellets I used to feed had algae in them, and I do see it graze on algae plenty. I'm surprised yours gets cleaned that quickly after introduction into the tank, but mine did the same too. My cleaner and flame angel have a much closer relationship than any of the other fishes.

If you're dosing for calcium/alkalinity, you should aim to dose them close to in equal parts, unless you're adding an acid somewhere which would suppress alkalinity disproportionately (i.e. dosing vinegar, etc.).

[Bagabaga]

I haven't dosed in a while. Nothing was using it except the snails and my calcium was over 500 last I checked.

They haven't formed a relationship yet, I was just speculating as to what I'd love to see eventually.

Just saw the flame pull on some laver seaweed on a clip a minute ago. I'll keep adding it as it disappears.

I'm going to test tomorrow before my water change to see where things are and after again to see the new balance of things.

Update on the sump though is that the purple pseudo actually likes that area more than the main tank. It's got slower flow and a rock outcrop that he hides in. Eats pellets as I drop them in and seems happy. The sump is lightly lit by the barebottom not having a cutting board anymore.

And pics!





















This last one is making a great recovery


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[Diana A]

the photo isn't clear enough for me to tell...is that bryopsis on the frag?

[Bagabaga]

And of course the angel has Ich now.

Any advice? I'll try and get him in a quarantine with hypo for a few weeks


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[Bagabaga]

It's just a hair algae of some sort. There's no branching on the stalks. At least not the same I've seen of bryopsis.


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[Bagabaga]

The angel has white spots on its side and fin. Could it clear up on its own? He's active and eating.


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[ReefWreak]

Once it's in your tank, you have to run your tank fishless for 72+ days to clear the tank of ich. If it has been there a while, and you haven't noticed, just keep the fishes well fed and make sure there's no aggression, and they'll be okay. Ich has traditionally been considered to be just part of having a reef tank. It's only recently that people have begun doing TTM (Tank transfer method) to easily get rid of ich before introducing new fishes to the tank. That's why you QT, though most hobbyists never both (myself include, but in this case, do as I say, not as I do!).

[Bagabaga]

The two fish are separate from each other and the ich must have come in with the flame or with the previous fish. He's been stressed and rubbing on the glass the side with the spots. I know it's dumb not to quarantine but it's hard with 5 people in 750 Sq ft.

I'll keep an eye on him the next two and if it gets worse I'll medicate immediately.


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[Diana A]

Oh wow! Ick in your new tank!

[Bagabaga]

Yup it's ich. Gonna take both fish out and go fallow on the display for 60-80 days. I'll be doing hypo for thecrecommended 4 weeks. Got a refractometer and my extra 20 long and filter/heater and I'll be starting that as soon as I have enough rodi made to supplement the display. My wife got a 10 gallon for her betta so that's where my reserve went.

I'm not buying livestock at stores anymore either. Got a nice colony of pink millepora that melted over night after it was dipped and acclimated to thectank.

Wish me luck!

[Diana A]

What dip did you use?

[Bagabaga]

Bayer advanced. It didn't cause the melt. The colony was weak and my powerhead must have assisted with the stn


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[Bagabaga]

Started my tank transfer method today. Will keep display fish free until may.

Method I'm using is two 10 gallon storage bins with 4" pvc hides. A fluval 50 for mechanical filtration a heater each and air stone. I didn't find any reason not to use treated tap water for this process as I will be changing the tank every third day. After I find I've gotten rid of the ich the fish will go into a 20 long quarantine tank where I will treat for internal parasites then after a month of hanging out in that tank back into the ich free display.

This is stressful already.


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[Bagabaga]

All good so far, they ate a bit and ammonia hasn't spiked so I'll keep a fresh bucket of salt handy for changes. No gasping no erratic behavior. Crossing my fingers.

I plan to do the full transfer method and hold in qt until tank is clear. I'm hoping by the end of April the chances of ich are none existent .


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[Bagabaga]

Got my leds today. Super excited I'll make a write up when I've had then for a while.

Fish got flipped to a fresh tank last night and seem well. I finished the all in one in another 20 long and I'll keep them in that as quarantine until display is clear or ich in April.




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[Diana A]

Sounds great!

[Bagabaga]

Last flip is tonight. They are being flipped into the quarantine tank they will be held in until they can go back to the display. It's an all in one I built from a 20 long and glass from a 10 gallon I got for free. Three chambers, overflow to middle media chamber and return chamber. The seals leak a bit but not significantly it's because I rushed the silicone job. It's got a basic freshwater lamp with Timer on it for light.

It's a barectank with pvc hides a heater and a new ammonia alert. I used a bottled bacteria supplement and bottled bacteria to jump start the eheim subtrat.

The fish look fine and get along.


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[Bagabaga]

And the flame is rubbing gills and the pseudo has some fin rot. I'm at a loss here. Any advice? I'll see if spots come back and if not then I'll treat for parasites.


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