Badluckmans ~190G

[badluckman]

I haven't been on R2R for a while now. Work season took over much of the time and the tank sadly had to pay for it. Story on that below, staying true to my username here. ;Woot

Had to be away from the tank for 3 weeks without being able to check up on it, and a miscommunication made the tank sitter feed 1 weeks worth of frozen 2 times a day(3g/feeding turned into 3g/fish). Came home in july to an explosion of algae and barely any flow at all through the pumps!

GHA everywhere. My tank looked like a proper refugium! Scrubbed what I could and removed most with a waterchange. Few days after that it was cyano everywhere, but it slowly went away on its own after the pumps came back to life. The real annoying part was the diatoms after that. Scratched my head for a long time until I came across someone in a thread that had a very simple way to take care of it that actually worked wonders and cleared up the diatoms in about 2 weeks. He stopped waterchanges, took a large sheet of floss and attached it to an algaeclip and put it in a good flow area with high lighting. After that is was as simple as stirring the diatoms that stuck to sand/rocks and changing out the floss as soon as it became brown instead of white. Haven't seen a trace of diatoms since then.

There was quite a few losses in coral because of the chaotic situation, even the pulsing xenia couldn't handle it when the diatoms attacked. Luckily the fish all survived and the corals that did make it through came back stronger than ever.


FTS as of today. Out of 30 tries this was the least blurry, sorry. If you shake your head quickly it feels sharper! Most corals are growing steadily now, the exception is a few of the sticks and one zoa colony that seems to be in limbo.

This chalice seems to enjoy itself if you compare to how it looked in the earlier posts. It's just as big on the other side too!

The two dragons, Katla and Mushu. Named after my 2 favourite moviedragons.

 

[badluckman]

I don't like having my sump under the tank. It's a pain doing something under there, and now with the 80w Deltec UV installed it's even more cramped with electrical and dosing hoses going everywhere.

I've decided to make a fishroom when I'm building the garage this spring and I've started sketching on the sump. I'm getting rid of the filtersocks mainly because I don't want to run a washer twice a week for 2 socks. Doesn't feel very eco.

I can't really do big waterchanges every week for nutrient export because it's expensive to do, but simultaneously I want to increase my feeding as my fish grow since I sadly have ich in the tank, and a few of the fish I keep are supposedly magnets for it. I'm thinking that if I combine a large chaeto refugium with mangroves and if I still need more I can put the DIY roller in. It should be able to take care of a heavy feeding mentality, right?






Any ideas and thoughts welcome!

 

[badluckman]

Today the last of the pipefish accepted frozen pods and cyclops after a few weeks of totally ignoring it, which means everyone in there accepts some kind of frozen food!

I kind of didn't listen to advice and have quite a few picky pod eaters in the tank. Mandarin, Ruby dragonet, 2 pipefish and a wrasse. I still have my eyes on some different pipefish and a leopardwrasse too.. Figured with all the liverock and chaetofuge there should be enough pods to go around.

I still have a very healthy population of pods, at least if looking with a light at night is any kind of indication since the rocks are almost covered by them. Still it worried me a little that they would somehow become too scarce for the inmates so seeing this makes me really happy!

Here's the little dragon right after feeding.


The mandarins really are something with their fancy colors.


Bonus pic of someone trying a new bed. Torch isn't very old, only been in here for about 2-3 weeks. Wonder if the crinkling in the tentacles is because it didn't enjoy being a bed? They're usually very smooth.

 

[badluckman]

I really like these palys(?), they've actually moved a little and left the fragrock they came on. Could it be because the light was too strong or the current too high?

If they weren't palys I'd consider helping them move, but I don't dare touch them.

 

[badluckman]

Been working on a rockwall for the right side of the tank as it's almost impossible to clean, which in turn makes me less inclined to clean the backside. Part 1 of it is complete, waiting on some more rocks for the second bit that's supposed to follow the back wall a little to kind of "enclose" that corner. Might skip it though, we'll see once part 1 enters the tank.

I used AquaForest Stonefix. After watching BRS vids on the subject I bought a ton of glue as well, but I never used it. The stonefix set in minutes and let me quickly build the entire structure.

I'll put this thing in RO water for a few days to make sure it holds when wet then try to lift the 10kg piece into place without destroying my glass. WIsh me luck...

 

[badluckman]

Giesemann has stopped making the MH bulbs I like, and I fear more will disappear soon if I listen to rumors and it's pushing me towards LED.

One of my fixtures is making a humming noise too, so I fear the ballast will give way in a matter of months. Another reason to go for LED I guess. Will keep running the T5 along the LED still though.

So I'm weighing my options, and it's really hard to make a decision here since it's such a large investment. Watching the BRS lighting showdown helped to narrowed it down a little bit to a few fixtures. Since I have a centerbrace I can't really put a light in the middle, making radions out of the question because of the price, same goes for the kessils.

It's either;
4x AI Hydra 32
2x Maxspect RSX 200W
4x AI Prime

I do want to be able to keep and grow SPS, and I have a feeling that the AI Primes will be insufficient. To be honest the Maxspect RSX is looking really tempting, but I can't find too many reviews from people who use it over SPS tanks.

Luckily I have a while to pull the trigger, but knowing me I'll want to solve this ASAP. Back to digging around for info on the maxspect and sps combo I guess.

 

[badluckman]

My zoas has begun to stretch under the new bulb I got from BLV so I guess this LED mambojambo is going to get pushed up into ASAP instead of slow and steady.

I've ended up going for the 2x Maxspect RSX 200. I got some great tips on the Reef Breeders EU variant but my LFS doesn't source them and I really want them to stay in business so I'll go for something they have. Since I have a hood over the tank it'll be a little DIY but I'm building a fixture to house the RSX lights after I remove the flaps on the sides to make room for T5 bulbs and possibly an orphek bar at a later date if the RSX isn't enough.

Other than that I've noticed that one of the cleaner shrimps is carrying eggs, and my male dragon pipefish has gotten a very dark coloration on his back so I guess he's preparing to copulate? Hope I get to see them at least try to have some fry in there.