Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

The patches I made for the sump cured yesterday. I shut off the return pump and made sure nothing overflowed. It all worked perfectly. I was able to add 12 more gallons of water which I did with the pump off to make sure I didn’t add too much.

Sadly I won’t be able to use the T5 fixture I was going to use over the sump. I had it in storage and when I got it home I noticed a lamp was loose at one end. I attempted to reinsert it but the socket just cracked on me. I would have left it that way but there was another lamp that wasn’t firing. I went to remove that lamp like I’ve done countless times before and that socket cracked too.

I transferred the chaeto to the sump tonight before I found out I couldn’t use the T5s. I have a MH/T5 combo fixture that was custom made for a cube tank which I think was 27” x 27”. It would work nicely too. It’s a single 150W 10000K lamp which really needs to be replaced but should work for at least a few months.

If for some reason the MH/T5 fixture doesn’t work out I’ll probably buy another Viparspectra 300W (165 actual watts) or equivalent. I’d only need one. Having two over the old 30 gallon sump/fuge (from when I had the 90 gallon cube) was overkill.

 

[Projects with Sam]

The patches I made for the sump cured yesterday. I shut off the return pump and made sure nothing overflowed. It all worked perfectly. I was able to add 12 more gallons of water which I did with the pump off to make sure I didn’t add too much.

Sadly I won’t be able to use the T5 fixture I was going to use over the sump. I had it in storage and when I got it home I noticed a lamp was loose at one end. I attempted to reinsert it but the socket just cracked on me. I would have left it that way but there was another lamp that wasn’t firing. I went to remove that lamp like I’ve done countless times before and that socket cracked too.

I transferred the chaeto to the sump tonight before I found out I couldn’t use the T5s. I have a MH/T5 combo fixture that was custom made for a cube tank which I think was 27” x 27”. It would work nicely too. It’s a single 150W 10000K lamp which really needs to be replaced but should work for at least a few months.

If for some reason the MH/T5 fixture doesn’t work out I’ll probably buy another Viparspectra 300W (165 actual watts) or equivalent. I’d only need one. Having two over the old 30 gallon sump/fuge (from when I had the 90 gallon cube) was overkill.

Any chance you could just replace the bulb holders?

 

[Fishy888]

Any chance you could just replace the bulb holders?

It’s an oddysea style Chinese fixture. I’ll look into it though.

If it’s cost prohibitive I’ll go for the LED grow lights because the heat the MH light would emit too much heat under the stand. I don’t need another cracked bottom.

 

[Fishy888]

Speaking of cracks one of the UV shields on my MH/T5 combo fixture shattered yesterday afternoon. It was the one closest to the wave maker and I saw drops reaching up that high right where it shattered. It didn’t shatter completely which is good since I imagine at least partial protection from any UV would have been in play. I got most of the pieces out but a couple fell through the rock work.

Thankfully I had the light in storage which was used with a 150 watt MH. I hope the UV shield in it will fit my six foot hybrid fixture. I’ve moved the wave maker down an inch or so. Now there’s far less splashing. If not I’ll have to track down a replacement.

Amidst the cyano on the back glass and at least one side are the beginnings of coralline. I suspected a month or two ago that that might have been the case. There were white circular patches with the slightest bit of pink tint. Now there’s no doubt.

I also thought I’d share some comparison images of my green digi 8 days ago with yesterday morning.

This was from October 9th.

This is from yesterday.

I realize it’s not grown tons exactly. Considering that it’s only been 8 days from image one to image two, AND I can see visible growth in that time? I’m feeling pretty encouraged, especially when paired with having coralline growth on the glass now too. Compared to where I was just a month ago things are looking great. They have a long ways to go still but they’re getting there.

 

[tbrown]

Speaking of cracks one of the UV shields on my MH/T5 combo fixture shattered yesterday afternoon. It was the one closest to the wave maker and I saw drops reaching up that high right where it shattered. It didn’t shatter completely which is good since I imagine at least partial protection from any UV would have been in play. I got most of the pieces out but a couple fell through the rock work.

Thankfully I had the light in storage which was used with a 150 watt MH. I hope the UV shield in it will fit my six foot hybrid fixture. I’ve moved the wave maker down an inch or so. Now there’s far less splashing. If not I’ll have to track down a replacement.

Amidst the cyano on the back glass and at least one side are the beginnings of coralline. I suspected a month or two ago that that might have been the case. There were white circular patches with the slightest bit of pink tint. Now there’s no doubt.

I also thought I’d share some comparison images of my green digi 8 days ago with yesterday morning.

This was from October 9th.

This is from yesterday.

I realize it’s not grown tons exactly. Considering that it’s only been 8 days from image one to image two, AND I can see visible growth in that time? I’m feeling pretty encouraged, especially when paired with having coralline growth on the glass now too. Compared to where I was just a month ago things are looking great. They have a long ways to go still but they’re getting there.

Keep an eye on those growth elements (alk, cal, and mag) and it'll keep growing. Good growth for sure for a week, also great PE.

 

[Fishy888]

Keep an eye on those growth elements (alk, cal, and mag) and it'll keep growing. Good growth for sure for a week, also great PE.

Thank you. I’m planning on doing some testing later.

 

[Fishy888]

I removed the shattered UV from the MH/T5 hybrid fixture last night. The glass from fixture two is too big to fit directly but I may have a way to make it fit using the screw in brackets from fixture two. I’ll have to drill into the fixture that’s over the DT. Doing that will cover the area where the glass shattered and block the UV.

It’ll probably be tonight or tomorrow before I get the chance to make the temporary modification (I’ll be looking into getting some tempered glass cut to the dimensions I need, 4.5” x 9”, and depending on price I might just have them cut three of them for me). As a result I decided to unplug the ballast. I considered just letting it run as is since the lamps are old but I don’t know how age affects UVC output in HQI lamps. Too risky, especially since all the fish pretty much use that area as their hangout spot.

My corals are doing great still. They’re in the center and on the right side with the exception of a decent sized mini xenia colony on the left side. The shattered glass happened on the left side so the corals are largely unaffected by the light being off on the left side of the tank.

I hope to post comparison images of my purple digi today once I get those images ready. It’s also laying down some new CaCO3.

There’s a lot of good stuff happening. I have very high hopes for this reef. While I wait for things to get even more stable I need to get some of the vibration from the return pump down. It’ll be easier before the skimmer goes in.

I’m going to use the T5 sockets from the second hybrid fixture to replace the ones that broke in the six lamp T5 fixture, which is going over the sump once fixed. The nice thing is that there’s a timer built into it. Of course I’ll have it on at night and off by day.

 

[Fishy888]

Tonight I added 8 gallons of makeup water. This time I actually remembered to cut some electrical tape and use it to mark the fill line.

I cut the return pump off and let the water drain back to the siphon break and added the makeup water. Then I turned the return pump back on, let it fill the DT to a point above the siphon break and cut it back off.

As expected that filled the sump higher than it was, which is what I expected. The water level’s an inch from the top of the sump when the pump’s been off and the siphon completely broken.

That’s when I marked the fill line with the electrical tape. If it ever comes undone due to the humidity I’ll try a permanent marker that works on glass.

My animals are doing good although the nems probably miss the light where the glass is missing. I’ll probably do the temporary modification tomorrow so all three lights can be used. The corals are all under the rightmost two lights thankfully, both of which are still in service.

 

[Fishy888]

I can tell my nitrates are coming up a bit. I’m starting to get actual GHA instead of just cyano. There’s plenty of cyano still but far less than there was. I’ve been manually removing all the nuisance algae I can get to. With my phosphates this high though I need to be careful because nitrates with phosphates this high is like throwing a match on gasoline except the resulting explosion would be of the GHA type.

Well there’s already a xenia explosion. I’ve got to start scraping off the rocks soon. The good news though is that I can see some color returning to my reverse Superman coral, particularly in the polyps which now sport some very light blue again. My red and green monti which faded to gray and orange previously, is starting to get some green back though it’s polyps are still orange.

Plus the tank just seems healthier in general. Despite the fact that the halide on the left side is still out the fish are even more active. Dory actually got within an inch of my fingers when I was feeding the tank today. She’s never done that before. All my soft corals look less pale and seem to be growing faster. Even the cabbage leather is growing faster and it’s probably the slowest growing coral I have.

I think the the added circulation from the sump is helping too. Once I can get the closed loop plumbing done things should take off even more. That’s still a few months away but it’s getting closer.

Thankfully next week I’ll have a brand spankin’ new (to me) skimmer so that’s going to help tremendously.

I’m going to take some pictures of the tank later on. I feel encouraged by what I see. @F i s h y Thsnk you for pointing out that I needed to slow down when you did. It’s working. I’ve only had my hands in the tank to manually remove nuisance algae, to top off the system, and to feed the tank. Ok and to plumb the sump.

I won’t be buying any more corals until at least March. I want to beef up my arsenal of test kits and colorimeters first. I also want to get the closed loop done before I get more corals. I’d like to see the system be good and stable, knowing I have good flow. My phosphates need to come down and my nitrates need to stay detectable. Finally I need to have my GHA and other nuisance algae under control.

Although I’ve used LaCl before and will soon be using it again, I’m not generally a believer in dumping chemicals in a reef tank to solve problems because those chemicals don’t address the root cause of the problem, they just mask it for a while.

LaCl for instance is a great tool to use if you’ve identified the root cause of the high phosphates and are taking care of or have taken care of it. LaCl also indirectly reduces nuisance algae since the algae would be phosphate limited. If I don’t address the causes of high phosphates I’m just setting my system up for failure.

Of course supplements are a different story for those who need them. One day I’ll need them too. I’m also going to use a DIY flocculent to help polish the water. The recipe calls for microbacter 7. I believe that if a bottled bacteria is of excellent quality it’s also good to use.

 

[F i s h y]

I can tell my nitrates are coming up a bit. I’m starting to get actual GHA instead of just cyano. There’s plenty of cyano still but far less than there was. I’ve been manually removing all the nuisance algae I can get to. With my phosphates this high though I need to be careful because nitrates with phosphates this high is like throwing a match on gasoline except the resulting explosion would be of the GHA type.

Well there’s already a xenia explosion. I’ve got to start scraping off the rocks soon. The good news though is that I can see some color returning to my reverse Superman coral, particularly in the polyps which now sport some very light blue again. My red and green monti which faded to gray and orange previously, is starting to get some green back though it’s polyps are still orange.

Plus the tank just seems healthier in general. Despite the fact that the halide on the left side is still out the fish are even more active. Dory actually got within an inch of my fingers when I was feeding the tank today. She’s never done that before. All my soft corals look less pale and seem to be growing faster. Even the cabbage leather is growing faster and it’s probably the slowest growing coral I have.

I think the the added circulation from the sump is helping too. Once I can get the closed loop plumbing done things should take off even more. That’s still a few months away but it’s getting closer.

Thankfully next week I’ll have a brand spankin’ new (to me) skimmer so that’s going to help tremendously.

I’m going to take some pictures of the tank later on. I feel encouraged by what I see. @F i s h y Thsnk you for pointing out that I needed to slow down when you did. It’s working. I’ve only had my hands in the tank to manually remove nuisance algae, to top off the system, and to feed the tank. Ok and to plumb the sump.

I won’t be buying any more corals until at least March. I want to beef up my arsenal of test kits and colorimeters first. I also want to get the closed loop done before I get more corals. I’d like to see the system be good and stable, knowing I have good flow. My phosphates need to come down and my nitrates need to stay detectable. Finally I need to have my GHA and other nuisance algae under control.

Although I’ve used LaCl before and will soon be using it again, I’m not generally a believer in dumping chemicals in a reef tank to solve problems because those chemicals don’t address the root cause of the problem, they just mask it for a while.

LaCl for instance is a great tool to use if you’ve identified the root cause of the high phosphates and are taking care of or have taken care of it. LaCl also indirectly reduces nuisance algae since the algae would be phosphate limited. If I don’t address the causes of high phosphates I’m just setting my system up for failure.

Of course supplements are a different story for those who need them. One day I’ll need them too. I’m also going to use a DIY flocculent to help polish the water. The recipe calls for microbacter 7. I believe that if a bottled bacteria is of excellent quality it’s also good to use.

You have come a long way and things have turned around nicely.

 

[Fishy888]

I took these pictures of some of my corals this evening.

First up are the digis.

I’ll need to clean the cyano off of the rocks again soon but otherwise they’re looking great compared to what the looked like at their worst.

This is an image of my (not so) green and red encrusting monti. I wish I knew the species name. You can see where a bit of the green is coming back.

This is my reverse Superman encrusting monti.

It still needs tons of TLC but God willing it’ll come back over the next several months as good as it was in the store.

Here are a couple of my softies along with my duncans.

 

[Fishy888]

It dawned on me yesterday that the “GHA” in my system might not be GHA. It’s hard to pull and it’s dug into the rocks quite nicely. True GHA is much easier to manually remove. After a bit more research it looks like it may be turf algae. Here’s an image or two of the stuff. If it’s not turf algae though please let me know.

I’m going to remove as much as I can manually each day. I’m also going to remove some of the smaller non structural rocks to remove what I can. It’s gone from wall to wall cyano to turf algaepocalypse. I’d almost rather have the turf algae though since it looks better than cyano in any color.

I tried to get a better picture of the reverse Superman monti yesterday but with the algae on the front glass in that area that was impossible. I’ll get that scraped off the glass hopefully today and get some better pictures of it.

When my montis started browning out and/or bleaching and having poor to no polyp extension I thought I was going to lose them for sure. They’re all coming around though. Some more slowly than others but they’re absolutely doing better than they were 2 months ago.

 

[F i s h y]

Could be bryopsis

 

[Fishy888]

Could be bryopsis

I’ll check that out too. Thank you.

 

[Fishy888]

As promised here are some better images of the reverse Superman. I had it leaning slightly to shield the top from excess light because it showed signs of bleaching from when I had it up higher. Thankfully that’s reversed course and PE is getting better by the day. I turned it so the top faces up again. Even though I didn’t move the rock higher it’s as if the coral is an inch higher. As long as it keeps doing better I’ll raise it slightly higher and let it stay a week or two each time. It’s still browned out despite the blue starting to return in the polyps.

I also took some pictures of my purple digi tonight, including from behind. Some new growth tips are forming on the back side.

Here it is from the front.

This is from the rear.

Here’s how the green digi looks tonight.

I also took a couple of other images though not of corals.

Here’s a baby bristle worm, one of three that I saw.

I have a feeling this asterina will split soon.

 

[Fishy888]

The power went out for about 40 minutes this afternoon. As expected my sump didn’t overflow and there were no issues with the holes I patched. Thankfully I’ve tested this several times since I patched said holes.

I did a little digging into the worm I posted a picture of yesterday. It turns out they’re dorvilleidae worms so they’ll more or less stay white with some brown. As I figured I have quite a few. The power outage brought them all out. I was able to see 12 on the front glass when the power came on. I’m pretty sure there were more on the sides and on the back glass. They’re mainly 3/4” or smaller with the exception of the one whose picture I posted. That one is slightly over an inch. These guys can reach a maximum of 6 inches. I never even knew I had them but that’s awesome! Now if I could find some chitons, collanista, and/or stomatella snails in there that would rock!

I did however find something that I hope will be as harmless as some say. Evidently I have a spionid worm in my green digi. It would have to have been commensal already when I got it. I just didn’t remember seeing the hole in the side. I also saw it just after the power came back on. I managed to get an image of it. It’s not the best image but you can see the worm with its two “antennae” poking out of its burrow.

I’m not ultra worried about it I think commensal worms are awesome so long as they don’t burrow so much as to kill the coral.

I did notice tonight that my purple digi has a vermetid snail on it. Now those I eradicate when I can. This one will be no exception either. It doesn’t have much longer to live.

 

[Fishy888]

After cannibalizing the smaller hybrid fixture I replaced most of the T5 sockets in the T5 setup for the sump. All the lamps work but one which gave up the ghost a while back. I removed the bad lamp and replaced it with a good lamp and it worked and I put the bad lamp where the good one was just to make sure all of the sockets were ok which thankfully they were and are.

I set the timer to run both banks of T5s during the night exactly opposite of the lights over the DT. The sump’s light will get mounted once I get the skimmer. I should have it within the next day or two. After I get it in place I’ll hang it. It’ll be easier to get the skimmer in the sump without the light being permanently mounted. I’ll drill the holes in the top of the light later today and install eye hooks in them so it can easily be mounted.

Once I turned on and programmed the lights I noticed that all four mollies made it to the sump. I have tons of amphipods too. I was worried that the mollies would eat all the pods if I intentionally put them in the sump. Clearly they haven’t, at least they haven’t touched any amphipods yet. They’ve been in there for at least 2 weeks now. They’ve grown since being in there though. They probably won’t grow much more but clearly they’ve been eating to be noticeably larger. I’m not sure if I’ll put them back in the DT or not yet but we’ll see how that goes.

 

[Fishy888]

Although polyp extension isn’t as good on my purple digi as it’s been lately, most likely because the lamp was out for a while today, it still looks good.

There’s a vermetid snail which is getting removed soon. Just left of it there appears to be an area of polyps growing. I’ll be stoked if that grows more.

This was the purple digi on the 20th.

It’s made a lot of progress. I’ve got to clean the algae off the skeleton too.

Soon I’m going to move the reverse Superman up some. It’s got the blue in its polyps but where the black should be there is none and the tissue is brown. This was the stage in recovery of the purple digi was in when I moved it up. This is how it looks currently. The tissue is a darker brown than it looks in the image.

Finally the unnamed green and red encrusting monti is getting quite a bit of green back. It’s got a long way to go but there’s been quite a bit of improvement compared to a couple of months ago.

 

[Fishy888]

I got my skimmer today. It may take a while for it to collect skimmate but it looks promising thus far.

Last night I manually removed a bunch of hair algae. With the skimmer in place and continued manual removal of nuisance algae I’ll have the uglies gone the rest of the way.

I also moved my reverse Superman montipora up to the same height as my digitatas. The green and red monti is also at that height and slowly coloring back up. It may be a Mardi Gras montipora. I’m still trying to figure that out but it sure looks that way. As for the reverse Superman coral it’s doing well in its new spot so far. I can’t wait until it colors back up too.

 

[Fishy888]

When I got home I noticed the Venturi tube came out and after making a couple of easy fixes I got it running and it’s working even better now.

I started it up a little over an hour ago and it’s already collected this much.

It’s a dark skimmate too.

I’m very impressed with it so far. It’s an ASM G3. It beats out all the skimmers with needle wheel pumps I’ve ever used. I’ve only used one “Venturi” skimmer before this many years ago. It was a Sea Clow… I mean… Sea Clone skimmer.

I need to address the vibrations I’m getting though. This weekend I’ll be working on that.