My minimalistic 180g SPS tank

[codydemmel4]

First good picture under the reefbrites


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[Big E]

Originally Posted by codydemmel4

Corals looked really good this morning with PE which was good to see. Still trying to keep alk stable around 7-7.5. Have to figure out the sweet spot dosing wise.

I also started up dosing FWS and coral
Booster again to see if that'll help color or accelerate growth. I also have aceopower being dosed once a day after lights out, only 10 ml. I did order Reef actif and I may start dosing that.

You just added some fish, which can help with throughput of nutrients. The key is more nutrients/food but the same test readouts if possible. More fish add ammonium and urea that will benefit the corals directly.

You also just tried to feed slurries of food with good results, which was an expected outcome. Why not stick with that for a while and evaluate results. You don't have to make mixed foods.....you can just cut up shrimp one day, scallops another, ect.

Jmo, but patience seems prudent versus adding coral supplements and making bacterial changes to the system when things are turning for the better.

There's nothing wrong with experimenting, but it helps to do it in a manner in which you can evaluate and control the results.

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by Big E

You just added some fish, which can help with throughput of nutrients. The key is more nutrients/food but the same test readouts if possible. More fish add ammonium and urea that will benefit the corals directly.

You also just tried to feed slurries of food with good results, which was an expected outcome. Why not stick with that for a while and evaluate results. You don't have to make mixed foods.....you can just cut up shrimp one day, scallops another, ect.

Jmo, but patience seems prudent versus adding coral supplements and making bacterial changes to the system when things are turning for the better.

There's nothing wrong with experimenting, but it helps to do it in a manner in which you can evaluate and control the results.

That's true. Since I already had the acropower, I started that a couple weeks ago when I was trying to raise the nutrients in my tank and get rid of the dinos. I added that along with UV and now dinos are gone. I'll have to double think adding the FWS and CB now and just stick with the food which the fish absolutely love and so far seems like the coral do too.

[reefmutt]

Originally Posted by codydemmel4

First good picture under the reefbrites


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Big E

You just added some fish, which can help with throughput of nutrients. The key is more nutrients/food but the same test readouts if possible. More fish add ammonium and urea that will benefit the corals directly.

You also just tried to feed slurries of food with good results, which was an expected outcome. Why not stick with that for a while and evaluate results. You don't have to make mixed foods.....you can just cut up shrimp one day, scallops another, ect.

Jmo, but patience seems prudent versus adding coral supplements and making bacterial changes to the system when things are turning for the better.

There's nothing wrong with experimenting, but it helps to do it in a manner in which you can evaluate and control the results.

Sexy coral and sexy advice!

[codydemmel4]

Thanks Matt.

Yeah I am going to continue to feed a lot and go from there. I am going to continue to add the FWS and CB till I run out which will be in a couple weeks and then see if I notice a difference after I stop.

I did pick up the reef activ but am not sure if I want to dose yet, I don't think it can hurt anything.

Also I have an INSANE amount of aiptasia right now and I am not sure how to get rid of it. should I get a filefish or will my triggers kill them? I really want to get rid of them but the aiptasia x would take me forever and I know they will come back right away if I do it that way, especially since I have so many in the sand.

[reefmutt]

Well, not everyone has had success with peppermint shrimp but I am a big fan.. they have eradicated aptasia in my system and personally, i believe hey help control aefws as well..

The Reef actif may play with nutrient levels as wel.. maybe hold off for a while..

[codydemmel4]

well I now have some hair algae and turf algae issues so I am going to be adding more snails and hermits from everyone suggestions. I also am going to add a tuxedo urchin and hope that it doesnt move my frags around(they are glued down really well so I doubt it but who knows)

I am also going to add a small amount of GFO (1/2-1 cup) on friday to help reduce the initial levels, that way I can hopefully keep feeding how much I am but get the algae under control.

[codydemmel4]

My corals have looked as good as ever the past couple days. Keeping alk steady around 7.5 and calcium around 420

I am catching both wrasse and moving them into my FOWLR tank (240 gallon) so I can use the berghia nudis to get rid of the aiptasia I have all over my reef.

What I am doing right now:

Dosing lugols iodine and af vitality every night (one drop each)
Running 1 cup of GFO
Still feeding a lot
Blowing off the rock when I feel like it (once a day, try to)


PE has been great and hopefully I will have some time tomorrow to take some updated pictures. Colors are coming back too as I raised my lights to around 13-14 inches, seems like I was blasting my corals too much with the 8 t5s and the 2 reefbrites.

[NeverlosT]

I dosed lugols daily for a while and at first it made my refugium grow a ton (great!) but then a bit of valonia got a hold in the tank, and BOOM it blew up like crazy, and I stopped dosing lugols to try and slow down the valonia.

Just a word of warning

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by NeverlosT

I dosed lugols daily for a while and at first it made my refugium grow a ton (great!) but then a bit of valonia got a hold in the tank, and BOOM it blew up like crazy, and I stopped dosing lugols to try and slow down the valonia.

Just a word of warning

Thanks! I will keep my eye out. knock on wood, I have not seen any bubble algae in this setup.

[reefmutt]

Did I hear pics?

[Rakie]

People try and do too much too fast, they expect results in 24 hours. That's not gonna fly.

1 change per MONTH.

Want to try new lighting bulbs/colors/supplements? Great! Change it, then change NOTHING ELSE, for at least one whole month. Corals take 2-6 weeks to show *any* results, even bad results may take time to show.

SPS = Stability Promotes Success -- Stability = No changes. One change per month. Unless things start looking terrible immediately... Pick something you want to try, and devote 1 month of your tanks time to that *one* thing.

You have some great progress! So if the phrase "1 change per month" doesn't sear into your mind, just remember, rocking the boat sinks it

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Did I hear pics?

Yes sir, I took them today after the lights were on for 1 hour so not the best PE but still good. I am going to try to post them later today

Originally Posted by Rakie

People try and do too much too fast, they expect results in 24 hours. That's not gonna fly.

1 change per MONTH.

Want to try new lighting bulbs/colors/supplements? Great! Change it, then change NOTHING ELSE, for at least one whole month. Corals take 2-6 weeks to show *any* results, even bad results may take time to show.

SPS = Stability Promotes Success -- Stability = No changes. One change per month. Unless things start looking terrible immediately... Pick something you want to try, and devote 1 month of your tanks time to that *one* thing.

You have some great progress! So if the phrase "1 change per month" doesn't sear into your mind, just remember, rocking the boat sinks it

Yup I realized this the hard part and also the fact that I did not do an acid bath to my dry rocks had a huge problem with what was going on earlier in the system. Plus I was trying too many things like you are saying. I am not changing anything now besides taking more pictures Well besides trying to catch the green wrasse (got the hovens) but this guy is too smart for the bottle traps so I am not sure what to do.

I want to catch them to add the berghia nudis because I legit have 2-300 aiptasia. I did a lot of traveling this summer so I got lazy and then boom they exploded so now it is was past using aiptasia x on them.

I also changed the flow (on Sept 1st) so its not going so close to the corals but overtop more, seems like the corals like it a lot more and there is more random flow going on.

The urchins and snails have helped a lot with the excess algae since I had no cuc before. No idea what I was thinking and why I didnt add them. The 2 urchins are my favorite cuc all time, take all the algae off the rocks. Only downside is they take the coralline off too which I am hoping will take over the rocks so excess algae cannot grow. Learned that from Big E, I did not know they couldnt grow on coralline.

I really dont think I changed that much every month besides trying to figure out why I had the excess algae, why the corals had burnt tips etc. I didnt change the levels I kept my water at, etc but I know what you are saying and I appreciate it The hard part is sometimes you will have one random frag do nothing while everything else is going great, then you get nervous the others are going to do that while you just have to learn sometimes one frag will just not make it for whatever reason. While if you change something, you could screw every other coral up too. That has what has been hardest to me but now I know that.

I have learned so much on this forum its literally insane. So thank you everyone. I think I have hit the stride in stability that I had in my old tank before I moved where I will get good colors and growth going forward.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2590654
Thats the link to my old thread, makes me miss how much growth and good colors I had. Coralline growing everywhere that it was annoying. That was only a 6 month old tank too, I just had more time to care for it then and made sure the TDS was always 0. That was another mistake I made in this tank, I filled the tank with I think 4 TDS so the rocks and sand were probably leaching stuff for awhile

[reefmutt]

Cody, this hobby can make and break gods in a matter of months!
My last tank was amazing in a year after setting it up.. after 3 ish years on my current tank, I have yet to get the results I had in that system.
And to make it worse, I never tested anything but alk, on occasion. It was awesome!
Despite a certain amount of knowledge and insight going a loooong way in this hobby, sometimes dumb luck works too.. for a while anyways..
We just gotta keep at it!

[markalot]

I love peppermint shrimp, and somehow my 3 survived 2 redbug treatments. When aptasia get low just be sure to drop some pellets in at night so they don't get too hungry.

and pics, need pics.

[codydemmel4]

I cannot get any good pictures but these are some of the best I could get which is pretty awful

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Cody, this hobby can make and break gods in a matter of months!
My last tank was amazing in a year after setting it up.. after 3 ish years on my current tank, I have yet to get the results I had in that system.
And to make it worse, I never tested anything but alk, on occasion. It was awesome!
Despite a certain amount of knowledge and insight going a loooong way in this hobby, sometimes dumb luck works too.. for a while anyways..
We just gotta keep at it!

Yeah that is exactly how I feel, well your tank is looking really really nice lately so I can only imagine what the other one looked like.

Originally Posted by markalot

I love peppermint shrimp, and somehow my 3 survived 2 redbug treatments. When aptasia get low just be sure to drop some pellets in at night so they don't get too hungry.

and pics, need pics.

I have the berghia nudis but just need to catch this green wrasse that I want to get rid of anyways. it is a big bully in my tank.

[Pife]

Originally Posted by codydemmel4

I have the berghia nudis but just need to catch this green wrasse that I want to get rid of anyways. it is a big bully in my tank.

I'm assuming it sleeps in the sand? Catch him while he's sleeping.

Tupperware upside down and then a plate under it to keep him in.

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by Pife

I'm assuming it sleeps in the sand? Catch him while he's sleeping.

Tupperware upside down and then a plate under it to keep him in.

Yeah but he does in the back under rocks that I dont think I can move. I will have to watch more closer tonight

[reefmutt]

Wrasses are such bold eaters, if you hold a net in the water for a few feedings, he'll get used to it Being there, then start adding food via the net, he'll go right in, in no time.

[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Wrasses are such bold eaters, if you hold a net in the water for a few feedings, he'll get used to it Being there, then start adding food via the net, he'll go right in, in no time.

I just caught him luckily! He finally went into the bottle trap so now I can add the nudis to the DT.

[reefmutt]

Nice!

[Pife]

Originally Posted by codydemmel4

I just caught him luckily! He finally went into the bottle trap so now I can add the nudis to the DT.

Score one for humans!

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[codydemmel4]

Originally Posted by reefmutt

Nice!

Originally Posted by Pife

Score one for humans!

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Sad thing is it made my day because I was so sick of that fish. It was really hard for me to put it in my FOWLR tank and not flush it but of course I did because I could never flush a live fish. I wish the LFS would take it back (for free) but they wouldnt.

I am hoping that before the end of the year that the berghia nudis will pretty much take over and kill all the aiptasia. We will see though. I am going to try to find some things to take some top down pictures soon as the ones from the front are obviously bad. I can never capture the color even when trying to edit it, etc I feel like I just make it worse.

[codydemmel4]

well I have some bad levels that I just realized after reading Biggles recent thread.

I recalibrated my refractometer and my salinity is around 1.029 so way too high.

I have not tested phosphates or nitrates in forever. Just tested both and I got 27 with my ulr hanna which is around 0.1 which I would think is too high too.

Nitrate is where I am really surprised as it tested at 64 on the Red Sea test which is the highest it goes so for all I know it is higher.

I think this is all from the updates snails and urchins getting rid of the algae that was uptaking these. Now I just have the cheato in the sump, skimmer and gfo.

What do you guys recommend doing? I am most worried about lowering my p04 and nitrates because I can slowly lower the salinity pretty easily with just switching some tank water with ro/di till I get to 35ppt/1.026