A Calm Blue Ocean - IM Fusion Pro 50 Gallon AIO Lagoon

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Picked up some new corals from the WWC end of year sale. Hard to resist 40% off. Merry Christmas to me! Unfortunately, I did get a bit of a sense of "these were 40% off because they weren't our finest specimens" after they arrived. This is the second order in a row from WWC that's been a little pesty. Still waiting to hear back from them, particularly on the coral showing tissue loss and the one that was full of amphipods with a side of aiptasia. Last time it was hydroids. They've been a long time favorite, partially because frags always arrived super clean (also one of the best guarantees anywhere at an almost unheard of 10 days). I'm sure it's COVID related and whatnot, but it still sucks.

In spite of the issues, I'm sure these corals will still grow up to be nice additions to the tank.

 

[jcolliii]

How blue is the Cespitularia actually? I have never seen one in person and the photos seem to be all over the map. Yours looks more greenish than bluish - or is that one of those Japanese tree leathers?

Sorry to hear that your order came in less than perfect. All of the things I have bought from WWC over the years arrived very clean. They sent me a wrong coral once, but they refunded my purchase price and I still had the coral they sent. Was supposed to be a regal Platygyra and they sent me a super hard to find Spongebob Favia instead. Totally old school - one of Steve Tyree's old limited editions, and off the hook vibrant. Happy accidents as Bob Ross used to say.

Anyhow - I am certain they will take care of anything that goes south. What all came off of the frags when you dipped besides the amphipods? Any flatworms?

 

[TheWB]

Nice looking haul. I have one head of that last Blasto that’s trying real hard to make a comeback. i had three heads for about two years and could never grow any more. Then two just up and faded out and the last one was looking bad for a long time but lately a little better. I hope yours grows, they are really nice looking with that kinda neon turquoise mouth.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

How blue is the Cespitularia actually? I have never seen one in person and the photos seem to be all over the map. Yours looks more greenish than bluish - or is that one of those Japanese tree leathers?

Sorry to hear that your order came in less than perfect. All of the things I have bought from WWC over the years arrived very clean. They sent me a wrong coral once, but they refunded my purchase price and I still had the coral they sent. Was supposed to be a regal Platygyra and they sent me a super hard to find Spongebob Favia instead. Totally old school - one of Steve Tyree's old limited editions, and off the hook vibrant. Happy accidents as Bob Ross used to say.

Anyhow - I am certain they will take care of anything that goes south. What all came off of the frags when you dipped besides the amphipods? Any flatworms?

It's actually a WWC Solomon Hairy Leather which I believe is from the Nephtheidae family but honestly there doesn't seem to be much out there about them. Just a coral I've seen them have up for sale occasionally but couldn't justify the price until I saw it on sale. It's really a neat color in person, a bit blue, a bit green, a bit purple. I think it's going to be a real eye-catching softie.

I've had similar excellent experiences with WWCs support in the past. Similar story to yours, but in my case, I got the right coral, just the wrong one. It was a WYSIWYG with two different specimens listed. They sent me the wrong one (and to be fair, the one I had picked really was much nicer than the other). Full credit! Way above and beyond! I had an Anthelia that was DOA and there was no debating, full credit. And as I said, until the candy cane last time, I don't think I've even had so much as a scrap of algae on their frags, so I guess I was just a bit surprised.

Didn't identify anything truly nasty in particular after dipping. Anything else that came off was too small to identify. The weird thing was that the amphipods were actually living in holes in the coral skeleton and the dip didn't completely eradicate them. After being assured here on R2R that they were likely living there opportunistically and hadn't dug the holes themselves, I can relax a bit. The wrasses will find them.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Nice looking haul. I have one head of that last Blasto that’s trying real hard to make a comeback. i had three heads for about two years and could never grow any more. Then two just up and faded out and the last one was looking bad for a long time but lately a little better. I hope yours grows, they are really nice looking with that kinda neon turquoise mouth.

I've always been a big fan of that blasto. The colors really stand out. When I placed my order, I think I was really ordering the blasto and everything else was just to pad out the order to make the shipping worth it lol.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Just got my ICP results. Overall, I'm actually pretty happy with what I'm seeing. Not sure where all that aluminum is coming from but if it was the Brightwell bio media, it's already been removed. Phosphate and nitrate are as expected but both are down significantly from last time, so while some people might faint at those numbers, I'm ok with them! I'm a bit surprised at some of the minor elements being low but I expect that picture will improve as I'm able to increase the All-For-Reef doses. We're up to 5ml per day! RODI water tested pristine.

ICP Test Results

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

After over a year and a half, my tank is still evolving it seems.

I find myself chasing rapidly falling alkalinity all of a sudden. Increased AFR dosing from 5ml to 7ml and we're still falling. I'm going to do up a fresh bucket of salt this morning and test that (should come out around 9.7 according to past tests) to make sure it's not my reagents or Hanna checker that's gone bad. Yesterday's test had the tank down to 7.9. I do 20% weekly water changes.

Coralline has definitely been growing more rapidly since losing my tuxedo urchin at the end of December.

I think I'm reaching a dosing range where I should start splitting my doses up over the day. I probably need to give in and think about getting a dosing pump.

 

[jcolliii]

After over a year and a half, my tank is still evolving it seems.

I find myself chasing rapidly falling alkalinity all of a sudden. Increased AFR dosing from 5ml to 7ml and we're still falling. I'm going to do up a fresh bucket of salt this morning and test that (should come out around 9.7 according to past tests) to make sure it's not my reagents or Hanna checker that's gone bad. Yesterday's test had the tank down to 7.9. I do 20% weekly water changes.

Coralline has definitely been growing more rapidly since losing my tuxedo urchin at the end of December.

I think I'm reaching a dosing range where I should start splitting my doses up over the day. I probably need to give in and think about getting a dosing pump.

I noticed too, on my last aquascape, when the coralline was coating everything that was when the AFR dosage was at it's highest. My AFR dosage rate is now quite a bit lower even though the corals are growing well now that my coralline load is much lower.

So far (have not had it for too long), I like the pretty inexpensive Kamoer x1. It was super easy to set up, easy to 'program' and it will automatically split up whatever daily dose you want into a series of equal doses for you. Has been working well so far.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

How blue is the Cespitularia actually? I have never seen one in person and the photos seem to be all over the map. Yours looks more greenish than bluish - or is that one of those Japanese tree leathers?

Not usually like me to buy a coral not knowing what it is, but I finally decided to ask WWC for a specific ID so I can figure out where to place it! So now to answer part two of your question, it's a Paralemnalia sp.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Couple of fun pictures for today:

Some of that coralline I was talking about earlier.

A chip pavona growing in a low light nook. Super hardy coral.

Saw this guy trucking around at just the right angle to show off his friend.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Trying to not get too excited but nitrate tested at 11.9 today (lowest since August) and Phosphate was 0.36 (down about 0.1 since last week). Could the biology be finally recovering a year after dinos? I'll test again in a few days.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Busy tank day yesterday. Did water changes on both the 50 and the 10. Finally removed all the new corals from the frag rack in the 50 and got them glued down. Trimmed back some softies in both tanks (the sinularia probably lost half its mass). Cleaned the MP40. Swapped out the large frag rack for the medium frag rack in the 10g since there are only 5 frags still in the TLC section. Moved the RRC Red Roses monti to the back glass of the 10g, broke it in the process but I'm sure it will be fine, just too bad I don't have another place for the big piece that came off. Wow that coral slimes up when it's angry.

I still hope the TLC frags can eventually move from the 10g to permanent spots in the 50 (although I'm starting to wonder where they will fit). I hate frag racks. I have a few pest algaes in the 10g that I'd hate to get in the 50 (I'm looking at you, Ulva) so we'll see how I approach that. Overall, I'm starting to be pretty happy with what I'm seeing in both tanks, though. It's nice to be able to say that!

I'm starting to get the urge to upgrade the 10g to a 20 or 25g (did I say that out loud?). It's getting crowded in there. The toadstool is the size of small dinner plate. Suppose I could find a way to frag it, but a new tank would be more fun. Of course, you know it wouldn't be an upgrade it would be an addition and then I'd have 3 tanks to care for.

Did basic water tests on the 50 today. Starting to get a handle on alk and it seems to be steadying out around 8.3. Daily dose of All-For-Reef is up to 9ml. Nitrate has finally hit the target range at 10.4 so it might be time to switch carbon dosing from TM Elimi-NP to TM NP-Bacto-Balance. PO4 is bouncing around annoyingly. We had fallen below 0.3 last week (for the first time in over a year) but back up to 0.34 today. Something tells me this will just always be a thing with my tank.

A few tank projects left on the agenda. I have at least two small aiptasias in one of the accessory chambers of the 50. Tried manual removal once. I'll try again. The return pump needs to be cleaned. I need to clean the skimmer cup and change filter floss in both tanks. Fill up the ATO reservoir. It will be fine 'til tomorrow!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Updated FTS:

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Top down of the nano. The toadstool is all closed up getting ready to shed but when fully open will actually flop over the edge of the frag rack. It's a monster!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Small update. Pulled some zoas that were irritating my duncan (have a lot more to go), did a 20% water change, threw in a new thing of Chemipure-Blue and a packet of IM GFO that I still had kicking around. Water tests this evening were satisfying with small drops in both nitrate (9.1) and phosphate (0.27). Changed out my filter floss this evening and I guess it was really dirty because now my return chamber is over full and the ATO alarm is going off. I'd love to find some magical material that filters without clogging so easily.

I haven't seen my Yasha goby in several days, I can only guess she's no longer with us. I have seen her shrimp several times but no fish. No idea what might have happened to her, last time I saw her she was super active and healthy looking, chasing brine shrimp around the tank. Real bummer, she was a cute little noodle.

 

[jcolliii]

Sorry to hear that, man. Maybe the goby will show up and surprise you. Fingers crossed.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Sorry to hear that, man. Maybe the goby will show up and surprise you. Fingers crossed.

Thanks, I admit that I haven't totally lost hope yet. You see plenty of wild stories about fish suddenly popping up after surprisingly long absences. I keep watching for her. I keep wondering if her shrimp has gone and blocked her in somewhere. Unfortunately, they don't have a burrow under the rock like normal shrimp/goby pairs, but they actually live in the rock so not much I can do to search. So very strange.

 

[TheWB]

Thanks, I admit that I haven't totally lost hope yet. You see plenty of wild stories about fish suddenly popping up after surprisingly long absences. I keep watching for her. I keep wondering if her shrimp has gone and blocked her in somewhere. Unfortunately, they don't have a burrow under the rock like normal shrimp/goby pairs, but they actually live in the rock so not much I can do to search. So very strange.

I feel your pain. I’m in the same situation with my Biota Rainford’s Goby. It’s been missing since right after Xmas. Never saw the remains and crabs probably took care of it but it wouldn’t completely surprise me if somehow it popped back up one day like it was never gone. There’s always a chance but realistically…..

 

[jcolliii]

Man, sorry to hear about both of these - rainfordi's are one of the prettiest fish, IMO. I hope that they both turn up!

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Snapped a few pictures as the lights were going down tonight.

Cleaned the return pump and the skimmer last week. I'm still having some issues with sponges. After cleaning the return pump, the water level dropped about two quarts in the back chamber, so I guess it was due! My pH increased with the skimmer pump cleanup so I'm guessing my air was getting restricted. I definitely need to stay on top of that stuff a bit better!

Nitrate has been continuing to fall but PO4 continues to seesaw on me. Alk went into a sharp decline, but I think I might have a handle on it again. Automated alk testing is starting to sound mighty nice!