My Office Waterbox Marine X 35.1 Cube Build

[jhuntstl]

Nooooooo. So sorry. I didn't want to say it, but I had a bad dino feeling.

I saw similar snotty bubbly strands in my tank at one point. I had GHA at the time as well. TBH I did nothing. I maintained my usual WC, feeding schedule and hoped for the best. Not that you should take that as advice. I am worried they may make a reappearance in my new tank.

How widespread is it? I used to get bubbles throughout the rockscape and back glass. But the snottiness was usually pretty localized, and would come and go.

 

[Gedxin]

Nooooooo. So sorry. I didn't want to say it, but I had a bad dino feeling.

I saw similar snotty bubbly strands in my tank at one point. I had GHA at the time as well. TBH I did nothing. I maintained my usual WC, feeding schedule and hoped for the best. Not that you should take that as advice. I am worried they may make a reappearance in my new tank.

How widespread is it? I used to get bubbles throughout the rockscape and back glass. But the snottiness was usually pretty localized, and would come and go.

Plan is to mostly stay the course, but dose a bit of NeoPhos/NeoNitro, with a combination of reef chili every week or so. Will be testing water params 2-3 days too.

It's not very localized, pretty much everywhere there's algae there are also bubbles.

Keeping a stable nutrient level is proving very difficult. Just another trial to get through I guess!

 

[Gedxin]

Welp, time to fess up and admit to a dumb dumb mistake I made a few weeks ago and only now just discovered it. Apparently when I installed my XR 15 lights I accidentally set all values to 100% (and overall intensity to 60%.) This INCLUDES whites to 100%. Not sure what happened in my mixup and no idea how I didn't catch it earlier. I think this is a huge contributor to my hair algae frustrations over the last few weeks. I've reduced whites to 20% (things are a lot bluer) and I'm crossing fingers the algae situation resolves itself.

Last week I did a large 5G water change and scrubbed the hell out of a few of the rocks, removing as much algae as possible.

Got my order in from ReefCleaners last week as well. Everything arrived alive. But over the last week I've lost 2 out of 3 trochus and the two mexican turbos have flipped themselves over multiple times seemingly 'dying' and exhibiting a lack of snail-like hunger. Conch, hermits and ceriths are all doing well.

 

[jhuntstl]

I bet it looked good full spectrum like that. =D But ya that's quite the change from what you had before. Do you still have what appear to be dinos? It's my understanding it can kill inverts.

 

[Gedxin]

I bet it looked good full spectrum like that. =D But ya that's quite the change from what you had before. Do you still have what appear to be dinos? It's my understanding it can kill inverts.

It did look good (aside from the hair algae everywhere of course.) Amazes me how I didn't figure out it was so much whiter than it should have been. Live and learn.

Hard to say if I still have dinos. I'm leaning towards mostly no, because I don't have much of any snot-like substances any longer. I still have cyano patches. The dwindling maybe-dinos certainly could have been a contributor to the snails perishing.

Also confirmed today both mexican turbos are dead. They were the only ones doing any noticeable work on the GHA too. Sigh.

 

[jhuntstl]

It did look good (aside from the hair algae everywhere of course.) Amazes me how I didn't figure out it was so much whiter than it should have been. Live and learn.

Hard to say if I still have dinos. I'm leaning towards mostly no, because I don't have much of any snot-like substances any longer. I still have cyano patches. The dwindling maybe-dinos certainly could have been a contributor to the snails perishing.

Also confirmed today both mexican turbos are dead. They were the only ones doing any noticeable work on the GHA too. Sigh.

Well that's good news. Hopefully you cruise right on past the dinos.

Sorry about the turbos and trochus. I think it's reasonable to assume it was the dinos. I was pretty bummed when I lost my turbo. Can you buy any more local?

 

[Gedxin]

Picked up 4 turbo snails from my LFS this past Thursday. Drip acclimated them ~2 hours (1.025 to my 1.026 salinity.) Last night I noticed two turbos and one smooth shell snail (reefcleaners order) are dying (fell off glass and are now barely moving/receding.) Kind of beside myself and scratching my head with what could be going on. I've read it could be an issue with high magnesium. Tested that today at 1320. My TDS is measuring 0 out of my RODI. Nitrates are barely registering at 1ppm. What. the. hell. Literally none of my older snails/hermits seem to be suffering/dying.

 

[jhuntstl]

I've never drip acclimated snails or crabs before. Just floated for 10-20 minutes and tossed them in. Did you do the same for the reef cleaners order?

 

[Gedxin]

I've never drip acclimated snails or crabs before. Just floated for 10-20 minutes and tossed them in. Did you do the same for the reef cleaners order?

No, I followed the directions from their acclimation guide, float then immediately added.

 

[jhuntstl]

No, I followed the directions from their acclimation guide, float then immediately added.

I figured as much. They make it pretty clear not to drip, but had to ask!

Wish I could help. I really don't know what the issue could be, if there even is any. A while back I had two shrimp die shortly after introduction. My original Pitho crab order was a bit of a mixup and I ended up with 5! Two died the first week, but the other 3 are still here. Point being...don't overreact. It could be out of your control and just an unfortunate time to be a newly introduced invert to your tank. =/

 

[Gedxin]

Lost my first 'long lived' snail today, a margarita that has been in the tank for a number of months. Something's going on, possibly a toxin?

I've added a bag of activated carbon in one of my rear flow chambers. I haven't been running carbon for months, didn't see much reason to. Crossing fingers this does something positive.

Good news, my female clownfish is showing lots of interest in my RBTA. She did a ton of diving in/out today!

 

[jhuntstl]

I would make a post in the invert section. See if any ideas can be tossed around to explain your losses. Sorry about your margarita snail. I'm still thinking it's the dinos, but your hermits could also be causing trouble. It can be easy to miss stuff under heavy blues. Maybe crank up the whites temporarily to do some dino investigating.

 

[Gedxin]

Snail deaths have finally ceased. Casualties: 2 turbo snails & 1 smooth shell from reefcleaners, 3 turbo snails from LFS, and 2 margaritas from another LFS. Never did find the cause - though things to get better quickly after adding a carbon bag.

As for other things, not much has changed, there's still a constant fight with algae. I have to believe it's a nutrient problem. My skimmer is now on 18 hours a day, and I've reduced pellet/flake feedings. NO3 reads 6ppm, but it has to be higher considering how much algae I've still got growing.

I'm performing water changes every 6-7 days and siphoning out as much algae as possible.

Sold the little sister anemone yesterday. It basically killed my birdsnest and I regret not removing the nem to a cup earlier.

Big news: I've got 7 acropora arriving from Coral Euphoria on Wednesday. I ordered them 3 weeks ago and gave them some extra time to heal while I try to get things in better shape in the tank. I know, I know, this is almost certainly an expensive learning lesson. But that's kind of the point - to learn from this and see how/if I can manage acros. I have 4 spots I can 'safely' place them right now. So I need to figure out 3 other semi-safe spots with the knowledge that my nem is an ***** and moves whenever she pleases.

Obviously flow is a huge part of maintaining acropora, so I've been messing with my powerhead location a fair bit. I'm reluctant to put it on the back wall due to the risks of submerging the magnet. My biggest issue is placing the flow in a spot that just blasts one particular coral. At the moment I've got the head placed in the front of the tank, so it's creating a bit of a whirlpool effect. As I experiment the anemone moves more and stings my SPS. I bring on my own problems.

 

[jhuntstl]

I have both of my nero magnets submerged in my overflow. AFAIK that is no problem at all. I am super excited to see what you ordered from Coral Euphoria. Love it when I see a new vid alert for his channel. I'm sure his frags are going to be very healthy.

 

[Gedxin]

Acropora are here today! And wow, let me tell you, wow do hey look beautiful! I've had some decent polyp extension within an hour of placing the frags on a holder. Here's a few pics (using an Orphek lens), apologies for the bluriness, it's a struggle taking photos (tips appreciated!)

Coral list:
Purple Dragon eyes
cc voodoo magick
ora purple plasma
rr pink cadillac
tgc orange creamsicle
flame thrower
tgc cherry bomb
blue thunder

 

[Gedxin]

My invertebrate-death success was premature. Today I lost my emerald crab and my tiger conch. I should have taken jhuntstl's advice and investigated the death of my earlier inverts further (I thought the activated carbon was the fix.) dang. So after noticing a healthy amount of bubbles and 'snot'-like stuff around the tank, I brought out my microscope. Verdict: I've definitely got dinos. Seems like they're the ostreopsis variety. Most posts I find say UV does really well against them. Heading to the LFS tomorrow to pick up a 9W green killing machine. It's exactly rated for my setup (3w per 1g, and I have around 25g after you consider sump/rocks.)

Plan is to run the UV for a few days, then maybe at the end of this week I'll replenish my supply of inverts. I feel terrible my inactivity has likely killed so many.

In other news, my Acropora are still doing well. They've got dinos stringing along them, but hopefully will be able to fight off things.

 

[jhuntstl]

Really sorry about your losses. But at least you know exactly what the problem is now.

Don't be afraid to reach out to anyone who's beaten them for direct advice. Especially if they have a similar setup. I've found most people around here are more than willing to help in DMs.

 

[Gedxin]

Dino update: Hard to say if I'm making any progress. I've been running a 9W UV in the display since Sunday (30th.) I only turn it off for ~2 hours in the morning after I dose phyto. I can still see snot-like algae in various spots throughout the tank. Possibly less? Again, really difficult to tell if things are improving. I've read the R2R dino thread multiple times, watched a few Youtube videos on Dinos (BRS mainly), and my process so far is: no water changes, siphon/pull any easy-to-get snot, run UV as much as possible, replace filter floss often, and increase nutrients. I've been dosing 1mL of NeoPhos nightly (since Saturday) and am still reading 0s on my Hanna LR Phosphate tester. Nitrates are at 5-6ppm.

Invertapocalypse: Lost my last turbo snail today - that's 4/4 dead. Still have like 7 astrea, 4 nerites, 1 smooth shell, 1 trochus, 1 margarita, 10+ ceriths, ~5 nassarius, ~5 bumblebees and 10+ hermits.

Green Hair Algae: GHA is still everywhere. It's still growing like crazy. I siphon as much as I can, but have stopped toothbrush scrubbing for the time being. Uglies here we are.

Cyano: It's around the tank in a couple spots. Dealing with it like ya do.

Lighting: Lights are on from 8:15am to 6:15pm (1 hr ramp up/down) with a 3hr moonphase. 5hr w/ 100% blues/uv 20% whites, and 5hr w/ 100% blues/uv and 0% whites.

Flow: Grabbed a used powerhead on Monday from a fellow SoCali reefer! It's another Nero 3, so I've set up a parent/child relationship and have them on a sync/90° option based off a BRS video guide. Loving the obvious flow movement changes in the tank.

Acropora update: Moved all my acros off the frag rack and mounted to my rock! Yeesh this was a tricky endeavor. I had to do it ASAP though because the frag rack plastic was looking terrible and just covered in algae/dinos. I was able to successful remove 7/8 of the frag plugs, which I think is a huge bonus for algae control and aesthetic. The transfer seems to have gone well and all acros seem happy today. Color coordination and position is all over the place, with constant "I hope the anemone doesn't move" thoughts. I'm not convinced the spots I've chosen will look best when things are grown/colored-up, but it is what it is.

Happy reefing everyone. This hobby has certainly entered the 'stress' phase for me.

 

[jhuntstl]

Beautiful colors. Been a pleasure watching that zoa garden fill in. Your tank is really going to look exceptional when those acros grow up top.

 

[Gedxin]

7month+ update.

Dinos: They're mostly gone. I still see bubbles/stringy snot at the top of my tank near the end of my photo period, and some bubbles elsewhere on top of my rock. Overall though, I'd say there's a huge reduction. I hate the UV in my display though, it's such an eyesore.

Cyano: It's everywhere. There's just red carpet all over the rocks. This is expected as a follow up to dinos.

Green hair algae: It's also everywhere. I took out a rock and scrubbed it clean of GHA. Placed it back in looking pristine. Within a week it was like I never did it, covered in GHA again. I regret doing this as the acro and pavona did not appreciate the air and have been recovering slowly. There's also quite a bit of GHA in the sand bed and I cannot siphon it out, it's sticking to the gravel. Removing the effected sand seems like my only option.

Acropora: I think all are doing well. Growth is quite slow, but there are at least two that have impressive encrusting progress.

SPS: Both my digitatas are doing great. Forest fire is encrusting like mad.

LPS: Hammer and torches are thriving. My GSP was touching the lobo and annoying it, so I had to do some sand bed re-arrangements.

Softies: I moved my mushrooms to the back of the tank behind the scape. There just wasn't enough room for them up front any more. Shame to lose their color, but I think it was the right choice. Added a new Green Bay Packers zoas to my garden. Got it as a free frag after my recent LFS invert purchase.

Water testing & Invertebrate deaths: I bought two emeralds and one tiger conch on 2/5. They were all dead within a week. ***. I just don't understand what's going on with new inverts not surviving. I do a ~1.5hr drip acclimation. Only thing I could think is my water may have metals. I sent in for an ATI test and just got back the results today. Things look pretty good honestly. Definitely nothing to indicate a problem for inverts.

Tank water test
RODI water test

So yeah, what the heck little inverts. Do I just keep trying? There's PLENTY of algae/detritus for everyone.