Blopple's (first ever) IM 40L AIO Build

[Blopple]

I just wanted to show a picture of my split rhodactis, which is looking better already after the split. Very exciting for me since it's the first time. Top one is a little shriveled still, but the thing literally just multiplied, so I can give it a few days haha.

Its making me feel better about the other mushroom. Its much bigger so maybe its just splitting slower? It does seem to be pinching slightly in the center.

Also the zoas are open again. I guess it's true. Just keep your hands outta the tank, man. I need to remind myself.

 

[Blopple]

We've added 15 corals, a skimmer, and another fish is experiencing a potential health problem. And new fish coming in just a few days.

It's gonna be a spicy week in reefing for me, but I don't have time for a full update right now. Will try to churn one out once I get the new fish in there on the 26th!

Here's some pictures as penance.

 

[Blopple]

Okay, brief update. It's been a busy few weeks for the tank.

PROBLEMS! - Ended up buying a pack of 10 more RFAs, and they sent 11! A couple of really nice ones in there, but haven't been able to get any good pics yet. They are just starting to settle in and open up more. Really excited about a cool orange/purple one with like grey tentacles. Unfortunately after I added them my original RFA decided that the tank wasn't big enough for 12 RFAs and up and moved for the first time ever. Ended up wandering for a few days, trying a few different spots, then died about three days ago. Found it being eaten by hermits and the cleaner shrimp. We'll call this issue 1.


My beloved Midas blenny seems to be having some digestive/bloating issues. Still eating really well, but he'll get bloated (can see it in the picture below), be flashing on the rocks, then will be totally fine the next day. Then get bloated/flashy, then fine. I decided that it was either intestinal parasites, or potentially a feeding issue. Added in some mysis shrimp to the gutloaded brine/flake/pellet combo I was doing already and decided to re-dose prazi for good measure. Let's call this issue 2.


Both the dead RFA, and the prazi dose were within a day or two of each other. I think the combo triggered a bacterial bloom. Tank was cloudy as hell. Immediately did a 10g water change. Replaced the carbon I had removed before dosing the prazi, and tossed in an airstone to be safe. Except the bacterial bloom clearly ticked off the finger leather. Which immediately slimed the entire tank. Corals were closed, a trochus snail died, it was a whole event. 2 days or so later the water had mostly cleared up. Corals are opening back up again. Only people to remain closed are GSP and the finger leather.

Unfortunately I didn't tank pics of the cloudy water, RFA hermit crab party, or the nickelodeon slime fest. Really not in the mood to take pics when the tank is doing poorly.

New coral/coral updates - Aside from the new RFAs I added a nice favia, an acan/micromussa lord, some scrambled eggs zoa, a blue and green hammer, and a leptoseris. All seem to be doing well. Really interested to see if the leptoseris can handle the spot I chose. The side of the big empty column on the right behind the duncans.



In terms of the existing corals (aside from the angry GSP/finger leather). Everyone seems to be doing okay. A few new zoa polyps scattered around. The cyphastrea is exploding. A big chunk has encrusted onto the rock. It seems that the growth edge is green meaning that the white patches that turned green when I got it were the coral healing back up and not bleaching out and dying like I had thought. The original rhodactis that I hoped was splitting is definitely not. It's slowly losing color. I've moved it to a very low flow, very low light area where it will remain until it heals or dies.

Moved the tubbs blue zoas off their rock and into the back corner of the tank opposite the exiled green mystery paly/zoas. They had been having poor extension, hadn't grown at all, and honestly just looked weird as the only non-fluorescent coral in the tank. They are absolutely thriving back there. The happiest I've ever seen them.

New fish - Dr. Reef order came in this morning. Looked great on arrival. Box was in perfect shape. Inside was a foam cooler, a cool pack, and 3 double bagged fish. Temperature felt good which I was worried about since it's been 100-110 here in Sacramento for the past 2 weeks.

Blackstorm clown was great. Beautiful, active but not panicked. Honestly didn't even seem to realize it was in a plastic bag on an airplane for 24 hours. Yasha was completely stunning. Incredible long dorsal fin. Really nice orange/white contrast. An awesome specimen. Seemed healthy. Skittish as hell, stressed. McCosker's wasn't moving. The largest fish in the box by at least double - big. I know they play dead, and the colors were still really vibrant so I had hope.




Floated each of the bags for 30 minutes then drip acclimated them in a small 2.5g topfin tank I picked up at a petsmart for 5 dollars. Took about 45 minutes to get the salinity up. Clown and yasha were fine. Wrasse still wasn't moving. I think I saw some gill movement? Got the clown into the tank and he immediately cozied up to the other clown and is doing well. Added the yasha which hung out near my mushrooms for about 10 minutes then disappeared.


Added the wrasse and it was swarmed by hermit crabs so I removed it. It was probably dead from the beginning, but I honestly thought I saw some movement/breathing.

Dr. Reef has already refunded/credited me for the wrasse. Great experience with them overall.

What's next? - The tank needs to relax. A lot has been going on. Gonna up my testing for a bit and try not to add any new coral. I want a good new baseline of what is doing well and what is not. I still need to finish the fish stocking. Reallllllly pleased with what I have right now, but it still feels empty. The only fish I see when I walk past the tank are the clown (now clowns), and the blenny usually. I need movement, activity, LIFE. That was my hope for the wrasse. Should I try again with the mccoskers? Do I just add 2 PJ cardinals and call it a day since at least I'll see them and they're fairly hardy? Back to my original, pre-tank dream of a sixline? Realllllll tempted to try a small bristletooth (weewoo, weewoo) since I'm planning to upgrade in the next year when I purchase a house.

 

[Dbirdie614]

i have enjoyed following your tank progress as i also have a IM 40 that is just starting out. How do you feel about your invert choices? I just have 3 red legged crabs and the ugly phase is hitting me pretty hard. Sand bed is completely brown and when looking at your photos, it never really seemed like you had that problem.

 

[Blopple]

i have enjoyed following your tank progress as i also have a IM 40 that is just starting out. How do you feel about your invert choices? I just have 3 red legged crabs and the ugly phase is hitting me pretty hard. Sand bed is completely brown and when looking at your photos, it never really seemed like you had that problem.

Thanks for following along. It's always more fun when you get to share with other people!

Pretty happy with invert choices as far as cleanup crew goes. I do wish I had skipped the cleaner shrimp though.

Currently have 3 blue leg hermits, 3 trochus snails (which I saw spawning the other day), 2 margarita snails, 2 astrea snails, 1 nassarius snail, 1 conch, and 1 turbo snail. I also added tons of pods from a local grower.

Most recent addition was the turbo snail because I started having some hair algae, but he seems to be keeping it under control now.

My sand bed is relatively algae free. I had some small diatom blooms and some film algae for a little bit, but it was all fairly minor. I attribute a lot of sand bed status to lower light more than the clean up crew though, I think.

 

[JoJosReef]

Good idea to wait on a BTA. No guarantee your clowns will take to it in any case. Mine have a rainbow and a black widow nem, but nope, they'd rather cuddle with the candy cane coral. I'm happy that at least they moved from return nozzles to a coral as host. My experience with BTAs (tragic) has been that they don't tolerate instability and like maturity. I think I have 3 deaths so far, all early on when I didn't have something right like enough light or algae control.

I love your midas. Kinda wish I didn't strike one off my list. Blackcap, too. Your midas might just be a pig. My Tailspot has gotten really bloated but isn't behaving erratically. It learned when the dosing pump spits out Reef Nutrition food and sits right underneath the tube. Maybe blennies are just gluttons.

Tank is looking really good, not empty at all. Those corals/nems are going to grow and fill up space. The RFAs can reach 4-6" each easily. Hammer can turn into 12 heads in no time.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Okay, brief update. It's been a busy few weeks for the tank.

PROBLEMS! - Ended up buying a pack of 10 more RFAs, and they sent 11! A couple of really nice ones in there, but haven't been able to get any good pics yet. They are just starting to settle in and open up more. Really excited about a cool orange/purple one with like grey tentacles. Unfortunately after I added them my original RFA decided that the tank wasn't big enough for 12 RFAs and up and moved for the first time ever. Ended up wandering for a few days, trying a few different spots, then died about three days ago. Found it being eaten by hermits and the cleaner shrimp. We'll call this issue 1.


My beloved Midas blenny seems to be having some digestive/bloating issues. Still eating really well, but he'll get bloated (can see it in the picture below), be flashing on the rocks, then will be totally fine the next day. Then get bloated/flashy, then fine. I decided that it was either intestinal parasites, or potentially a feeding issue. Added in some mysis shrimp to the gutloaded brine/flake/pellet combo I was doing already and decided to re-dose prazi for good measure. Let's call this issue 2.


Both the dead RFA, and the prazi dose were within a day or two of each other. I think the combo triggered a bacterial bloom. Tank was cloudy as hell. Immediately did a 10g water change. Replaced the carbon I had removed before dosing the prazi, and tossed in an airstone to be safe. Except the bacterial bloom clearly ticked off the finger leather. Which immediately slimed the entire tank. Corals were closed, a trochus snail died, it was a whole event. 2 days or so later the water had mostly cleared up. Corals are opening back up again. Only people to remain closed are GSP and the finger leather.

Unfortunately I didn't tank pics of the cloudy water, RFA hermit crab party, or the nickelodeon slime fest. Really not in the mood to take pics when the tank is doing poorly.

New coral/coral updates - Aside from the new RFAs I added a nice favia, an acan/micromussa lord, some scrambled eggs zoa, a blue and green hammer, and a leptoseris. All seem to be doing well. Really interested to see if the leptoseris can handle the spot I chose. The side of the big empty column on the right behind the duncans.



In terms of the existing corals (aside from the angry GSP/finger leather). Everyone seems to be doing okay. A few new zoa polyps scattered around. The cyphastrea is exploding. A big chunk has encrusted onto the rock. It seems that the growth edge is green meaning that the white patches that turned green when I got it were the coral healing back up and not bleaching out and dying like I had thought. The original rhodactis that I hoped was splitting is definitely not. It's slowly losing color. I've moved it to a very low flow, very low light area where it will remain until it heals or dies.

Moved the tubbs blue zoas off their rock and into the back corner of the tank opposite the exiled green mystery paly/zoas. They had been having poor extension, hadn't grown at all, and honestly just looked weird as the only non-fluorescent coral in the tank. They are absolutely thriving back there. The happiest I've ever seen them.

New fish - Dr. Reef order came in this morning. Looked great on arrival. Box was in perfect shape. Inside was a foam cooler, a cool pack, and 3 double bagged fish. Temperature felt good which I was worried about since it's been 100-110 here in Sacramento for the past 2 weeks.

Blackstorm clown was great. Beautiful, active but not panicked. Honestly didn't even seem to realize it was in a plastic bag on an airplane for 24 hours. Yasha was completely stunning. Incredible long dorsal fin. Really nice orange/white contrast. An awesome specimen. Seemed healthy. Skittish as hell, stressed. McCosker's wasn't moving. The largest fish in the box by at least double - big. I know they play dead, and the colors were still really vibrant so I had hope.




Floated each of the bags for 30 minutes then drip acclimated them in a small 2.5g topfin tank I picked up at a petsmart for 5 dollars. Took about 45 minutes to get the salinity up. Clown and yasha were fine. Wrasse still wasn't moving. I think I saw some gill movement? Got the clown into the tank and he immediately cozied up to the other clown and is doing well. Added the yasha which hung out near my mushrooms for about 10 minutes then disappeared.


Added the wrasse and it was swarmed by hermit crabs so I removed it. It was probably dead from the beginning, but I honestly thought I saw some movement/breathing.

Dr. Reef has already refunded/credited me for the wrasse. Great experience with them overall.

What's next? - The tank needs to relax. A lot has been going on. Gonna up my testing for a bit and try not to add any new coral. I want a good new baseline of what is doing well and what is not. I still need to finish the fish stocking. Reallllllly pleased with what I have right now, but it still feels empty. The only fish I see when I walk past the tank are the clown (now clowns), and the blenny usually. I need movement, activity, LIFE. That was my hope for the wrasse. Should I try again with the mccoskers? Do I just add 2 PJ cardinals and call it a day since at least I'll see them and they're fairly hardy? Back to my original, pre-tank dream of a sixline? Realllllll tempted to try a small bristletooth (weewoo, weewoo) since I'm planning to upgrade in the next year when I purchase a house.

Love the Blackstorm clown!

 

[Blopple]

Love the Blackstorm clown!

Thanks! I'm really pleased with it as well. Much more so than I thought I would be, honestly.

Noticed some really neat interactions between the blackstorm and the regular black and white.

Regular B/W clown is probably 1.5-2x the size of the blackstorm. However same day I added the blackstorm, the much larger (always largest in tank) B/W was doing the little subby shake the males usually do. Fascinated to see how it plays out. Seems to be going backwards from how it usually does.

 

[steveschuerger]

Nice updates. Sorry for your losses. I always say, time to give the tank a break. And then an awesome live sale happens. I think I’m at saturation point myself right now. For both tanks.

 

[JoJosReef]

Thanks! I'm really pleased with it as well. Much more so than I thought I would be, honestly.

Noticed some really neat interactions between the blackstorm and the regular black and white.

Regular B/W clown is probably 1.5-2x the size of the blackstorm. However same day I added the blackstorm, the much larger (always largest in tank) B/W was doing the little subby shake the males usually do. Fascinated to see how it plays out. Seems to be going backwards from how it usually does.

Can't blame it. That black storm is a looker!

 

[Blopple]

Frustrations are mounting over here. I've stuck to my word and added nothing to the tank.

Woke up to find this before work.

I had been worried about him for a while with the bloating and flashing. He had improved a bit. No more flashing, much less bloated and was still eating very well. Clearly I yet again misjudged the condition of my fish.

Really, really bummed about this one. He was by far my favorite fish.

I am now at 60% mortality on unquarantined fish. The oldest fish, and the only unquarantined ones remaining are the blackcap basslet and the b/w ocellaris.

I don't think there's anything to be done honestly. Gonna continue to let the tank sit.

All remaining fish are healthy (although I'm a terrible judge). Basslet has had no swim bladder issues for a long time now. She flares up and stands her ground if anyone gets too close. B/w clown has never had any health issues at all. Blackstorm was quarantined and seems perfect. Eating decently. Yasha goby also quarantined and is starting to get more bold. Ate some mysis and flakes the other day. I've seen it sitting on the sound outside of its burrow a few times.

 

[Blopple]

Snapped a couple of pics I thought I would share.My photography is pretty sketchy (phone held up against 'coral glasses), but I think it's improving a bit.

Sort of curious as to whether this montipora looks okay, It hasn't done much and I'm not sure if it's just slower growing than I'm used to, or if it's unhappy. It's allegedly a jason fox beach bum. The colors look correct in person, but it doesn't seem to have the texture that I see in other pieces. Also not sure about the red streaks?


The colors are pretty off in the picture of the RFAs, some are a bit closed up, and two of my favorites are missing, but it's the best picture I have of them at the moment.

Finally got some pictures of the fish where you can actually see the fish.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Snapped a couple of pics I thought I would share.My photography is pretty sketchy (phone held up against 'coral glasses), but I think it's improving a bit.

Sort of curious as to whether this montipora looks okay, It hasn't done much and I'm not sure if it's just slower growing than I'm used to, or if it's unhappy. It's allegedly a jason fox beach bum. The colors look correct in person, but it doesn't seem to have the texture that I see in other pieces. Also not sure about the red streaks?


The colors are pretty off in the picture of the RFAs, some are a bit closed up, and two of my favorites are missing, but it's the best picture I have of them at the moment.

Finally got some pictures of the fish where you can actually see the fish.

Love the fish!

 

[Blopple]

Yasha goby found dead this morning. Was healthy, happy, eating well. I literally saw it eating and hanging out in front of its cave like 12 hours ago. Came home from work and found the cleaner shrimp picking at something. The goby.

This had to have been violence of some kind right? Basslet? The goby was living in a burrow that was dug by the basslet a while back. I doubt the hermit crabs. Maybe got grabbed by a rock flower? I find it really hard to believe that it was illness, but I guess its possible?

The THREE fish remaining are all fine. Exactly the same as they were weeks ago.

No idea what happened. Maybe it was meant to be an invert only tank. Idk. Quite frustrated with the tank lately. Especially since I haven't been messing with it at all.

I tested salinity, nitrate, phos, alk yesterday. All fine. 1.026, 12.4, .13 (might start some GFO) and 7.3 respectively.

The hell is going on here?

 

[JoJosReef]

Sorry for your losses! There has to be something going on in there. Have you tried an ICP test? I haven't done them before, not even sure what it measures. But when all else fails, might be some sort of contaminant, heavy metal or whatnot that is killing the fish.

The Yasha was from Dr. Reef, right? That rules out issues like cyanide poisoning. You probably got in too late to see if the fish was showing signs of aggression from other fish, right? I'd expect a goby to hide and hunker down if another fish was bothering it. Had it been eating? I have to give mine supplemental target feedings or the clowns eat everything. Unlikely that hermits or shrimp would kill the fish--they just mop up. Any tiny white spots, smaller than what you'd expect with Ich, looking more like dust (marine velvet)?

My yasha has touched rock flowers and quickly learned not to touch them, so I doubt the rock flowers did it. They don't tend to be as sticky or have as bad a sting as the carpet nems.

I'd hold off on more fish until you figure out what is creating the problem. Hope we can get to the bottom of this!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Yasha goby found dead this morning. Was healthy, happy, eating well. I literally saw it eating and hanging out in front of its cave like 12 hours ago. Came home from work and found the cleaner shrimp picking at something. The goby.

This had to have been violence of some kind right? Basslet? The goby was living in a burrow that was dug by the basslet a while back. I doubt the hermit crabs. Maybe got grabbed by a rock flower? I find it really hard to believe that it was illness, but I guess its possible?

The THREE fish remaining are all fine. Exactly the same as they were weeks ago.

No idea what happened. Maybe it was meant to be an invert only tank. Idk. Quite frustrated with the tank lately. Especially since I haven't been messing with it at all.

I tested salinity, nitrate, phos, alk yesterday. All fine. 1.026, 12.4, .13 (might start some GFO) and 7.3 respectively.

The hell is going on here?

Sorry about the loss!

 

[Blopple]

Sorry for your losses! There has to be something going on in there. Have you tried an ICP test? I haven't done them before, not even sure what it measures. But when all else fails, might be some sort of contaminant, heavy metal or whatnot that is killing the fish.

The Yasha was from Dr. Reef, right? That rules out issues like cyanide poisoning. You probably got in too late to see if the fish was showing signs of aggression from other fish, right? I'd expect a goby to hide and hunker down if another fish was bothering it. Had it been eating? I have to give mine supplemental target feedings or the clowns eat everything. Unlikely that hermits or shrimp would kill the fish--they just mop up. Any tiny white spots, smaller than what you'd expect with Ich, looking more like dust (marine velvet)?

My yasha has touched rock flowers and quickly learned not to touch them, so I doubt the rock flowers did it. They don't tend to be as sticky or have as bad a sting as the carpet nems.

I'd hold off on more fish until you figure out what is creating the problem. Hope we can get to the bottom of this!

I could do an ICP (I'll have to look into it some more as well), but this is the only fish that has died without a probable cause. I would think disease before water contamination from something untestable at home, but I think disease is unlikely. The blenny death was pretty recent, but whatever killed him showed noticable signs for quite a long time. I'm certain I would have noticed the same issues in the goby.

Was from Dr Reef like you said. It was eating great, pellet, flake, and mysis, no interest in brine though. Every time I went by the tank it was more visible, more active, more bold.

Fish was pretty beat up by the time I found it, so it's hard to say if there were spots or mucous, but unless it developed and killed in ~12 hours then that wouldn't be it.

Violence seems like the most fitting cause. It's also the most convenient. If it's violence then I don't think I would do anything other than not add any more small/timid fish.

If it's disease then surely something else will get sick and I'll have more information and hopefully a chance to treat.

If its water contamination then wouldn't I see changes or symptoms or deaths in other inhabitants?

I think my best solution remains to wait. Maybe do an extra water change? I'd love to take more direct action, but I don't wanna make a move until I know what I'm trying to fix for fear of simply adding more variables and making stuff worse

Appreciate your advice JoJo <3.

 

[Blopple]

Update time. Current FTS.


Left the tank alone for a solid month+. Was feeling a bit down on it after all the fish loss, skipped some water changes, didn't test much at all, just let it do it's thing. And almost everything looked better. No signs of disease, mostly healthy coral, and more or less stable water parameters.

Decided a few days ago that it was time to get things moving again. Ended up getting two fish and a pistol shrimp from Dr. Reef. Unfortunately the goby that the shrimp was bought for had obviously died, but I added the shrimp anyhow. No sign of it since disappearing into the tank after I added it. It is miniscule however, so I believe it's still in there somewhere.

First fish was a replacement Midas Blenny. The last one was my favorite fish and I definitely didn't want a tank without one. The new blenny is significantly smaller, a bit lighter in color, and has pronounced facial markings that my last one did not. He is eating well, but is still rather flighty and quite skittish. I have yet to see him leave the two rocks on the right hand side, and he is quite intolerant of anybody getting too close to his little area over there. He really loves those candy canes. Hopefully he mellows out a bit with time and settles in. Still is in rotten banana mode about half the time, and doesn't quite have the heart for prolonged open water swimming yet. I've added calanus and and reef frenzy to the feeding rotation. Calanus specifically for the blenny since I've read they have similar eating habits to anthias, so I figured it would be closer to the intended diet. (How cute is this fish?)


Second fish was a Sixline Wrasse. Yea, yea, I know. I was a bit disheartened by the DOA McCoskers, and a sixline just seemed a bit heartier, and was an original must-have fish for me, so I figured why not? Right out of the box I could tell I had gotten one that was absolutely not even a little bit evil as evidenced below.


Reputation and jokes aside the sixline is doing well. Constantly cruising the rocks and picking at little things on the rock and sand. I really enjoy watching the eyes move because the lines really make fine eye movements easier to see - it's so alert! As for aggression I have seen none from the wrasse at all. The sixline is currently the bottom of the food chain. The basslet, who has become boss of the tank, keeps an especially close eye on it.


I've also added a few corals. 1 torch, 1 octospawn, 2 chalices, and 1 new type of zoa. All the new coral seems to be doing well. I may have to move the blue/green hammer because the torch is shading it out a bit unfortunately and I've noticed decreased polyp extension. I officially called time of death on the bizzarro cyphastrea. Not really sure what happened to it and would like to try another in the future. The acan has a new head growing which is exciting. Nothing new out of the favia unfortunately. I wonder if it's just slow or because I have it on the sand? It should have enough frag plug space to at least try to grow I'd think though.


Did a nice water change and tested everything yesterday. Salinity 1.025. Nitrate is running a little on the higher end of my range (~18), and phos is high (.12), but algae seems to be under control and corals are happy so I'm not worried for now. I do need to dial in my alk/Ca better. I dose by hand, but I'm not super consistent about it. Trying to keep alk 7.5-8, but it was 7.3 on testing, and trying to keep Ca 400-450, but it tested at 370 (eek!). I think it might be worth setting up a dosing pump at this point, but I'd love to hear your suggestions!

What would you add or change if it were your tank?

 

[JoJosReef]

Welcome back!

That midas is such a little guy! I imagine it will color up over time.

For me, a dosing pump made life a lot easier--I had the added issue of out-of-office on weekends, so would often come back to super low ALK on Mondays. Can find some decent deals from locals or the marketplace.

Your tank is coming along nicely. Have some great leathers and LPS going. If it were my tank I would keep covering the rocks with coral, probably more LPS like acans and blastos in the lower light spots. Not sure how much par is in the middle, but could add some Monti digitatas to get some vertical growth. Maybe some gorgonians in the back--they grow tall, so look nice in the background. And once everything is lookgin stable, I'd start filling that sand bed with meat corals!! And RFAs. You might have enough space in front of that arch for a centerpiece like a large scoly, acantho, wellso, cynarina, or maybe even something like an Elegance or large bubble coral.

Corals eat up nutrients, too, so having a full tank helps, in my opinion. Oh, also macroalgae is helpful. Botrycladia looks amazing when it starts growing in--place it a bit lower and let it grow tall and soak up nitrates/phosphates. Codium does work, too.

Fingers crossed these fish settle in and do better!

 

[Blopple]

Welcome back!

That midas is such a little guy! I imagine it will color up over time.

For me, a dosing pump made life a lot easier--I had the added issue of out-of-office on weekends, so would often come back to super low ALK on Mondays. Can find some decent deals from locals or the marketplace.

Your tank is coming along nicely. Have some great leathers and LPS going. If it were my tank I would keep covering the rocks with coral, probably more LPS like acans and blastos in the lower light spots. Not sure how much par is in the middle, but could add some Monti digitatas to get some vertical growth. Maybe some gorgonians in the back--they grow tall, so look nice in the background. And once everything is lookgin stable, I'd start filling that sand bed with meat corals!! And RFAs. You might have enough space in front of that arch for a centerpiece like a large scoly, acantho, wellso, cynarina, or maybe even something like an Elegance or large bubble coral.

Corals eat up nutrients, too, so having a full tank helps, in my opinion. Oh, also macroalgae is helpful. Botrycladia looks amazing when it starts growing in--place it a bit lower and let it grow tall and soak up nitrates/phosphates. Codium does work, too.

Fingers crossed these fish settle in and do better!

Yea, I think I'm gonna have to do the doser. It's like the ATO. Took me forever to setup, but once I did I was mad I didn't do it sooner, haha.

Gorgonians would be cool, but I honestly can't say that I've seen any in the LFS around here, gonna have to do some digging there. I think I'd like to do another cyphastrea, a pink nepthea, clove polyps and some more chalices. I'm not enjoying the gonis as much as I thought I would which is kinda a bummer. Would love to do some meat coral, but like you said, gonna want things a lot more dialed in before spending that money. I'm always half tempted to add xenia, but I've managed not to so far.

Any doser suggestions? Been doing two part, but would love to switch to all for reef if I could, I'm not sure if my consumption rates all line up though.

My fingers are crossed on the fish too, we're looking good for now, but it's only been a few days. I think I'm more of a fish fan than a coral fan, but I don't have space in or out of the tank to do it the way I'd like to or the way the fish deserve. At this point I'd honestly just like to be done with fish until I upgrade the tank (middle/end of '24 is my estimate).