Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

As well as things have been lately my two nems have been in a long and slow decline since the 90 gallon cube split at the bottom.

At that time they had just split about then and healed up quickly. They loved being out in the light and seemed happy. Of course I had water quality issues and a mini crash a couple of months ago. That’s when they more or less stopped eating and they closed up for about a week. Their tentacles were shorter of course but they at least were opening.

Tonight one of them let go. It just couldn’t hold onto anything despite my best efforts. As much as I hope it survives and thrives once more I don’t have much hope. It fell into the rock work.

Everything that went through the mini crash is doing much better. Even the reverse Superman is doing much better and is growing. I thought at the time that it and the purple digi were goners but they’ve both proven me wrong. Hopefully the nems will too.

I also noticed this almost 3 hours ago.

The blue velvet damsel lost a couple of scales. I believe it’s from the damsel squeezing through an opening that was a little tight or something but I’m being extra vigilant just in case it’s uronema or vibrio.

So with all that out of the way there’s good news too.

My trochus snails are doing well although there’s one I couldn’t find today. Considering how well the others are doing though I assume it’s doing well too wherever it’s hiding.

I started cleaning the back of the tank again. Although it’s nothing compared to most tanks, the amount of coralline I found so far back there is at least twice as much as was there the last time I cleaned the back glass. Hopefully I’ll find more when I get the rest of the back glass cleaned.

 

[Fishy888]

As I was cleaning the back glass I watched as Turkey hunted down the pods that were scurrying around. He’s already noticeably bigger especially in height and girth. I can really see it when watching him swim towards me. I couldn’t get a good image of him coming head on. I did however get a good image of him from the side.

This image was taken on Thanksgiving day.

This one’s from tonight.

He’s blue underneath too but the camera didn’t pick it up. You can see the colors coming in more and more each day.

My blue velvet damsel is still doing good and the bald patches didn’t grow or change so I’m pretty sure it’s just a missing scale or two.

Dory is doing great. She seems to have picked up on how to flush out pods from Turkey (aka Pepper).

My yellow tailed damsel and clownfish are doing well too.

Tomorrow I want to get the rest of the back glass clean and depending on how things go I need to do a water change.

 

[fishguy242]

Hope all is well, been mia for a few...

 

[Fishy888]

Hope all is well, been mia for a few...

It’s been busy, that and an issue with my left arm that’s finally calming down. I topped off the tank today and removed enough algae to knit a sweater with. That said the reef is doing ok and the critters are still fat and happy.

I’ve missed all of you as well. I just read the thread about the scam. I’m sorry you’re going through that Frank. But know that those who are worth a darn care about you. #Cronies until the end, after all. Cronies until the end!

 

[Stang67]

Hope you feel better soon. Glad the reef is doing well. Was thinking about you also today.

 

[tbrown]

It’s been busy, that and an issue with my left arm that’s finally calming down.

Sorry about the arm, but happy it's settling down!

I topped off the tank today and removed enough algae to knit a sweater with. That said the reef is doing ok and the critters are still fat and happy.

Too bad you weren't in the Cronies Secret Santa, you could have done just that!

 

[Fishy888]

Sorry about the arm, but happy it's settling down!


Too bad you weren't in the Cronies Secret Santa, you could have done just that!

True. I could have made buttons out of spirorbids and used cyano to give it some red.

 

[Fishy888]

I’m finally getting enough of my strength back to get caught up on tank maintenance.

The bad news is that I lost both anemones and a few trochus snails while all this was going on. The good news is that my fish and corals are doing really well and I can tell that Turkey has been picking at worms and pods. As much as I like them, too much of a good thing is too much so it’s good that he eats the excess. Dory’s been eating pods as well.

Once I get the tank back in order I’ll try another nem or two. It’ll be a while but I want them to thrive, not just live. I want that for all my animals.

 

[Fishy888]

I've been topping off the system somewhat slowly and am making decent progress in that direction. I was about 16 gallons below the fill line in the sump when I was finally able to lift buckets of RODI again. I'm still getting decent growth from my SPS, zoas, xenia and leathers.

If all goes according to plan today I'm going to get the glass scraped, get the dirt blown off of the rock work, and do a partial water change while I'm at it.

I'll likely be getting a new test kit or two for Christmas which will help quite a bit of course. The tank needs to get back to normal which it's in the process of doing now. With the new test kit(s) I'll be able to track the big 3. I don't think they're swinging wildly by any means, especially ALK, with how few fast growing stony corals I have currently.

I'm getting a new pump for the skimmer in a couple weeks because the old one is toast unfortunately. It won't be too expensive though which is a good thing. The skimmer is a beast though and once it's up and running again things will be great.

The population of Perseverance Reef is doing well especially considering what the last couple of weeks were like. Dory and Turkey are doing well as are all the others. As stated above I still have good coral growth rates. Many of the excess amphipods and Dorvilleidae worms got eaten and I presume some regular baby bristle worms got eaten as well during all this. I love seeing these creatures, don't get me wrong, but too much is too much even for me.

 

[Fishy888]

It’s been a great Christmas this year. I got, among other things, Salifert CAL and MAG test kits. I also got a tripod so I can make decent videos without my shaky hands ruining them. I used it to record a video of my amphipods scurrying over a rock. I want to make more tank videos soon.

Now I can test for PO4, CAL, ALK and MAG. NO3 will be the next test kit I get. I can tell when my nitrates are low by the amount and types of algae growing in the system though. As a result I’m going to wait until more pressing needs are dealt with such as the skimmer and closed loop pumps.

Later on this evening or tomorrow depending on how everything goes I’ll start running tests. I doubt that much ALK, CAL or MAG are being consumed since I don’t have tons of coral yet. I’ll know for sure soon enough.

My corals are growing at a good rate though. Turkey is doing well and is not messing with invertebrates for the most part. He does go for micro dusters and small/baby worms and pods sometimes but no sign of him transitioning to a super male. He’s grown some since being here though which is good. Dory is also doing great and keeps growing by the day. The clowns and damsels are doing great too.

 

[Fishy888]

I ordered my needle wheel pump for the skimmer today as well as calcium carbonate powder. I also bought a food grade 32 gallon trash can on wheels. I'm filling it with RO/DI even as I type this. Of course I rinsed the trash can out before starting the RO/DI unit. I'm going to do a partial water change tomorrow after I mix the salt in and get it to temperature.

After I do the water change I'll start testing CAL, ALK and MAG twice a week and track consumption. I know that I won't need to supplement anything for a while. CAL, ALK and MAG consumption won't be enough to warrant supplementation until I get more coral and my frags become colonies.

 

[Fishy888]

I got my skimmer pump today. Before I set it up though I cleaned the sludge that accumulated over the last month or so in the sump. Normally I don't mess with cleaning the sump but the sludge was thicker than it looked. Also most of my trochus snails were in the sump as well. Several died during the two weeks where I couldn't lift much. I lost the rest over the next week or so.

Once I took care of that, I cleaned the skimmer body really well and put everything together. The pump is putting out some nice, fine bubbles. In fact I plugged in the skimmer about 2 1/2 hours ago and there's already some darker skimmate in the cup. Not too shabby. The pump is an Atman needle wheel pump, the 700 gph model.

Although 2023 was a bit rough reefing wise at times it was absolutely amazing at times too. Despite the losses there have been gains too. I started the year with a 90 gallon cube and ended it with a 210 gallon tank. I'm having decent success with my Montiporas. One of the biggest reefing successes I had though in 2023 (if not the biggest) was getting to know the #Cronies. I haven't been nearly as involved with them as I want to be yet but they are the most awesome people anyone could hope to meet. This year I hope to be more involved.

As for Perseverance Reef in 2024 I have big plans. I intend to buy the closed loop pump and to get the plumbing for the closed loop done. I'm going to automate my water changes as much as apartment life allows. By summer I hope to replace my metal halides and T5s. In fact I want to get a stash of halides for when nobody makes them at all anymore.

I intend to start buying corals again in the spring although I'm not going to go crazy. Hopefully in the next couple of months I'll buy an urchin. I want to get more fish in '24 although I'm not sure that I'll buy enough to be fully stocked on fish this year. That would probably be too many too fast. I also want to add a clam once I'm sure things are good and stable. I hope to add another couple of rainbow BTAs as well in the spring.

Thank you all for following this thread and for the constructive criticism when warranted and for great advice. You're all helping me mature as a reefer and I hope you'll continue to follow along in this new year. I hope you all have a great and prosperous 2024.

 

[Projects with Sam]

I got my skimmer pump today. Before I set it up though I cleaned the sludge that accumulated over the last month or so in the sump. Normally I don't mess with cleaning the sump but the sludge was thicker than it looked. Also most of my trochus snails were in the sump as well. Several died during the two weeks where I couldn't lift much. I lost the rest over the next week or so.

Once I took care of that, I cleaned the skimmer body really well and put everything together. The pump is putting out some nice, fine bubbles. In fact I plugged in the skimmer about 2 1/2 hours ago and there's already some darker skimmate in the cup. Not too shabby. The pump is an Atman needle wheel pump, the 700 gph model.

Although 2023 was a bit rough reefing wise at times it was absolutely amazing at times too. Despite the losses there have been gains too. I started the year with a 90 gallon cube and ended it with a 210 gallon tank. I'm having decent success with my Montiporas. One of the biggest reefing successes I had though in 2023 (if not the biggest) was getting to know the #Cronies. I haven't been nearly as involved with them as I want to be yet but they are the most awesome people anyone could hope to meet. This year I hope to be more involved.

As for Perseverance Reef in 2024 I have big plans. I intend to buy the closed loop pump and to get the plumbing for the closed loop done. I'm going to automate my water changes as much as apartment life allows. By summer I hope to replace my metal halides and T5s. In fact I want to get a stash of halides for when nobody makes them at all anymore.

I intend to start buying corals again in the spring although I'm not going to go crazy. Hopefully in the next couple of months I'll buy an urchin. I want to get more fish in '24 although I'm not sure that I'll buy enough to be fully stocked on fish this year. That would probably be too many too fast. I also want to add a clam once I'm sure things are good and stable. I hope to add another couple of rainbow BTAs as well in the spring.

Thank you all for following this thread and for the constructive criticism when warranted and for great advice. You're all helping me mature as a reefer and I hope you'll continue to follow along in this new year. I hope you all have a great and prosperous 2024.

This might be a great closed loop pump:
JEREPOND 3450GPH Aquarium Return pump
I've been running it since early December and the oscillating setting really works well.
Their 1850GPH pump has been running the 120 since I started it with nary a cleaning and when I took it out it was pretty spotless.
I got one of their wavemakers too and its been great. I didn't clean it forever and thought it broke but it started right up after a soak.
They go on deep discount on special Amazon 'days' so I have trouble not getting them.

 

[Fishy888]

This might be a great closed loop pump:
JEREPOND 3450GPH Aquarium Return pump
I've been running it since early December and the oscillating setting really works well.
Their 1850GPH pump has been running the 120 since I started it with nary a cleaning and when I took it out it was pretty spotless.
I got one of their wavemakers too and its been great. I didn't clean it forever and thought it broke but it started right up after a soak.
They go on deep discount on special Amazon 'days' so I have trouble not getting them.

It looks like an awesome pump. Have you run it as a closed loop on any of your systems? I'd love the quietness of it, that's for sure.

 

[Projects with Sam]

It looks like an awesome pump. Have you run it as a closed loop on any of your systems? I'd love the quietness of it, that's for sure.

I wish! My next tank will have one or two closed loops! As a sump pump it rocks! I've been able to use the oscillating feature with it. The water height in my tanks changes with the oscillating pulses it moves so much water.

 

[Fishy888]

After 24 hours here’s what’s been collected thus far.

You can see how dark the skimmate is and how much there is. I thought there would be a break in period because of how new the pump was. I didn’t expect results this good. Color me impressed!

 

[Fishy888]

I just emptied the skimmer cup. It’s already frothing nicely. We’ll see what things look like tomorrow. I haven’t modded the impeller either. It’s just doing that good of a job.

Let’s hope this keeps up!

 

[fishguy242]

hard to beat that skimmer w any pump...

 

[Fishy888]

hard to beat that skimmer w any pump...

I agree! It was and is worth every cent I paid for it.

Take care of yourself and get some rest if you can.

 

[Fishy888]

Today I finally got the front glass scraped and topped off the system. I started the process of manually removing the GHA from the rocks. I’ve also started blowing the crud off of the rocks and stirring the sand bed. There’s a lot more to do but I’m taking my time so that the water chemistry doesn’t change too drastically.

The skimmer is working quite nicely still. This picture was taken 30 minutes ago so it’s almost a day from yesterday’s image.

It occurred to me that the system was without a skimmer for about a month. That’s probably why there was so much skimmate. The water is much clearer than it was before I got the skimmer pump thankfully so the skimmer is kicking wrasse and taking names. Did I mention this skimmer (not just the pump either) rocks?