105 Cubish Leather/LPS Tank

Soylent Wrasse · Jun 11, 2020

Tank is cruising along, with great polyp extension on all the corals, so happy for that. Bad news, I've got a small leak somewhere. Hoping I don't need to tear it down, the easier fix might be to make it an all in one. Project for next week.

Assuming I can get my dumb lawn mower to start...

Soylent Wrasse · Jun 20, 2020

The one rainbow anemone that was higher up (and the more multi color one) decided enough was enough, and moved down about three inches. Within a couple of days he was back to a more brick red color, with just the tips of the bubbles being green.

The other one hasn't moved more than an inch since being placed in the tank.

Soylent Wrasse · Jul 24, 2020

So roughly six months in, tank is still trucking along. My weekly water changes are now about every two to three weeks, and I dose once a week Alk/Mag.

Getting great growth on everything except the red goni. I just can't find a happy spot for it. The leathers are growing like weeds, and all the Euphyllia are sprouting new heads. One frag has six(!) new heads off the sides. I think it is a cristata, but I don't see the ridges they normally have.

Moved one anemone to an easier viewing point, and seems happy with the move, it hasn't flinched since moving. I haven't spot fed the anemones, I might start doing that to see if I can get some babies to start splitting. Fish are great, and everyone is getting fat.

Overall, pretty happy with the tank!

Soylent Wrasse · Aug 21, 2020

So a little update. The Red Goni just couldn't stay happy, and finally started to die off. I pulled it once it wasn't going to come back. Still haven't found a single mushroom, they just seemed to "poof" and be gone.

Really good growth from all the leathers, and getting multiple baby heads from the hammers/cristata's. I'm finding some red slime starting in areas of low flow, so I'll have to adjust that sooner rather than later. Fish are getting fat, and I still haven't lost one, so good news there.

My H20 changes went from once a week to once a month. I need to get back to once a week. I've been lazy!

Also toying with the idea of making the tank a big all in one. A little acrylic and some glue and it is easy peasy.

I was testing once a week, now down to once a month. Other than evaporation, tank is holding steady.

Soylent Wrasse · Aug 25, 2020

New Fish! New Coral!

Pics coming soon!

Soylent Wrasse · Aug 25, 2020

Forgot to add, go ahead and guess (Two fish, four corals) and when I'm ready to frag some stuff, first dibs to correct guesses!

It ain't no dang clowns!

Soylent Wrasse · Aug 26, 2020

Soylent Wrasse · Aug 26, 2020

This one is a little more shy...

Soylent Wrasse · Aug 26, 2020

Coral wise, two long tentacle Japanese neon toadstools, a multi color birdnest frag and an unknown sps, probably a disco poci. I'll have to see what it grows into to get a better idea.

Soylent Wrasse · Nov 1, 2020

Sorry to report my little leo didn't make it. He was great for a week, then I found him halfway under a rock, being cleaned up by some hermits.

The Emperor has gotten much more active, is out all the time, and is doing great. Good growth on the corals (leathers in particular) and lots of little new heads on the various Euphyilla. Debating about adding some more things to tank, but it's due for a big clean up (starting to get some redslime on the sand in corners), and I'm going to turn it into an all in one, so I can get rid of the sump (And use that spot for something else.

Maybe next week I'll start that, I'll need to make 40ish gallons of of R/O for that.

Soylent Wrasse · Dec 11, 2020

December 2020 Update:

Started doing a deep clean this month, doing weekly 20% h20 changes to pull sand out. Starting to get red slime, so sand needs to go (not enough critters to keep it stirred up). Part of the cleaning I took the rocks out and swished them around in a 5g bucket to clean them up, pulling lots of junk out. New powerhead came in today, so adding that into the mix. Starting to change out bulbs (one per month starting now) for the lights. Very happy with growth.

Fish are doing great, and the Tang is getting big. Emperor is out and constantly searching for food. Loves pellets, which is nice.

Going to finish up deep clean this weekend, update with new pics when I do.

Soylent Wrasse · Dec 16, 2020

One project I wanted to get done was to turn the tank into a big all in one, which I did. I just ordered some acrylic cement and some plexi. Dried the overflow area out overnight, put the cement down, and glued it shut. If I ever want to go back to the sump, a simple drill takes care of it.

I'm really debating about stripping everything down, put the fish in stock tank and polish the snot out of the insides, as the scratches are really obvious.

I've been noticing quite a bit of the red planaria (flatworms) in the tank. I've been dipping the corals in freshwater once a week, and getting 5-6 flatworms in the water when I do. Might be time for flatworm exit to get rid of them.

Soylent Wrasse · Dec 18, 2020

It's bulb replacement time! I try to run the t5's about 11 months, then start replacing one at a time until all 6 are done. Got some from BRS today, so the first one goes in in January.

Also, my tub of miracle mud came in yesterday. Since I turned the tank into a big AiO, I'm going to use the overflow section as a refugium for the mud, so that should keep most of it in one spot. Excited for the changes coming up!

Soylent Wrasse · Jan 12, 2021

FTS 1/12/2021

Changed some bulbs out of the T5 fixture yesterday. Much brighter. I do my bulbs a little differently than most. I change three out (two on one side, one on the other), then I swap out the three middle bulbs one at a time over the course of one a month. The first bulb swap was @ 11months or so, then the three others will be month 12/13/14.

I was fighting cyano for a couple months, finally broke down and got some chemiclean. 36 hours later the tank is looking great. A couple 10% water changes, and I'm happy with the tank again. Still need to polish the acrylic, but it's really just a big frag tank

.

One coral that has really grown over six months is this guy. The pictures don't show it, but the leather is really a deep purple, and the tips are a minty green. Growing really well for me. (Not talking about the closed up toadstool lol