Flameback Pair
started reefing 1999
@Rob.bucek lol I didn’t know if you knew. First time I saw one of those I thought he was a goner, then a few days later low and behold!
Rob's Really Rad 180 Reef Rally
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RobB'z Reef
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It's really cool, normally he's out and about but starts hiding a day or two before and after the molt. So it's like just about when I think 'where's that shrimp been?', one of those shrimp suits shows up and then you notice his nice new paint job.
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RobB'z Reef
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Finally got some new fish that I desperately needed. Frank wasn't working well and playing with others so he got a time out.
Flameback Pair
started reefing 1999
@Rob.bucek looks like an Octo Aquatics acclimation box. Are the magnets strong enough?Finally got some new fish that I desperately needed. Frank wasn't working well and playing with others so he got a time out.
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RobB'z Reef
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My glass is 5/8" and it holds very well. Might get a bit sketchy on 3/4 but may still work, can't say for sure.
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RobB'z Reef
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Did my first ever water change on the tank today since I started it last October! It's time to get the fluconazole out as it's fairly well done it's job but corals are starting to suffer. Lost a hammer and a frogspawn over time, nitrates were climbing (from the dead gha). Fish seem very happy but with nitrates between 10 and 20ppm I thought it was best to move on to another phase.
Did a 60 gallon switch and definitely learned that I need a little better method to transfer that kind of volume. I'll have to give it some thought. Not that I'll do that large of a change consistently but it's better to be prepared. Not ready to jump into AWC just yet. I'll be doing another 60 gallon change mid to late next week to bring the levels down even more.
To give you an idea of how bad it was you can see the one rock below. I thought I had more pics but I was gone almost a month during that time and while I was gone is when all this started. But every rock in the tank looked like this.
Now it's getting much much better and I'll continue scrubbing rocks and manual export while I work on nutrient balance and ramping my chaeto back up and introduced some more fish. I had transferred it out to a small tank while I was running the fluconazole so I didn't lose it. Worked well and actually grew in the meantime as I fed it chaeto grow.
Still got some work ahead of me!
Did a 60 gallon switch and definitely learned that I need a little better method to transfer that kind of volume. I'll have to give it some thought. Not that I'll do that large of a change consistently but it's better to be prepared. Not ready to jump into AWC just yet. I'll be doing another 60 gallon change mid to late next week to bring the levels down even more.
To give you an idea of how bad it was you can see the one rock below. I thought I had more pics but I was gone almost a month during that time and while I was gone is when all this started. But every rock in the tank looked like this.
Now it's getting much much better and I'll continue scrubbing rocks and manual export while I work on nutrient balance and ramping my chaeto back up and introduced some more fish. I had transferred it out to a small tank while I was running the fluconazole so I didn't lose it. Worked well and actually grew in the meantime as I fed it chaeto grow.
Still got some work ahead of me!
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RobB'z Reef
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We'll, it didn't exactly exempt me from issues lol but neither was it a direct cause. Definitely an interesting exercise, one which I will continue to learn more about once I cleanse the medication from the system.
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RobB'z Reef
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Last year I was fortunate enough to win a Tunze Stream 3+ on one of R2R's contests and I wasn't sure how I would use it at the time. I was committed to the two MP60's I had and thought they would be enough and not having wires in the tank was very important. Fast forward 7 months and it was clear I needed flow behind my rocks as it was a pretty bad dead zone and I couldn't adjust the 60's to cover it. So I set to work figuring out how I could hide that stream behind my rocks and get it dialed in where it wouldn't make a mess yet solve the issue at hand and not be an eye sore. I think I was successful?
Below you can just barely make out the pump from the front of the tank.
View from left side of the tank where you really would look at the tank anyhow as it's not facing the room.
Below you can just barely make out the pump from the front of the tank.
View from left side of the tank where you really would look at the tank anyhow as it's not facing the room.
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RobB'z Reef
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Frank got early parole for good behavior! Since released he's been a model citizen and has not been harassing the new clown. Remains to be seen if Frank will be a repeat offender or not but all has been well. I've been extremely lucky with all the fish I added last weekend and everyone is getting along quite well.
Frank is free!
New additions on 05/15/21
CBB (taking a risk here I know but I want to try)
Powder Blue Tang
Starcki Damsel
Red Fin Fairy Wrasse
Black Storm Clown
Diamond Goby
Arrow Crab
Green Gonnipora (my other one seems to be doing well so what the heck)
Frank is free!
New additions on 05/15/21
CBB (taking a risk here I know but I want to try)
Powder Blue Tang
Starcki Damsel
Red Fin Fairy Wrasse
Black Storm Clown
Diamond Goby
Arrow Crab
Green Gonnipora (my other one seems to be doing well so what the heck)
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RobB'z Reef
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thankfully i had an extra rock just lounging in the sump!
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RobB'z Reef
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Since i started turning off my MP60's during feeding my CBB had been consistently eating well along side the other fish. It seemed to take him a few days to relax in the tank as well. I'm super excited to see him going after food with the others!
Hopefully this continues.
Hopefully this continues.
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RobB'z Reef
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Started up my phyto and pods again. I dorked up when I ordered however. I wanted to try a different type (triggers) so I went to Reef Nutrition to get some bottles of them along with their recommended SDReefNitrition for culturing them, I also got a bottle of Phytofeast as well.
Come to find out, Phytofeast Live is not for starting phyto cultures lol. I still have plenty in my fridge from my previous efforts that I'm dosing daily but it's all older than a month which all conventional wisdom that I've read is less than desirable for use in culturing but fine for feeding (fridge life of 90+ days).
After doing a bit of reading while they don't recommend it, it's technically possible, stating that the blend of phyto strains isn't optimized for that use and that one or two will end up becoming dominant and outcompete all the others. Well, I'm just fine with that so in in all practical matters who cares? I don't need phyto stew just one strain is ok by me. So in the jar it went! We'll see how this turns out.
When I first started it up it was rather brown in color right out of the bottle but continues to get more green and less brown everyday. I guess they weren't lying...
Below is the pod culture using the SD reef nutrition they recommend for culturing triggers. It's also more brown in color, a little more so than the Phytofeast. I'm anticipating this to run for a couple weeks before it's able to be split. That's more like what the phyto looked like when I started it. I dose around 2ml+ of the SD to that daily and you can see the next day how it's visibly much more clear as they consume it.
Did an 80 gallon water change today, continuing to remove/dilute the fluconazole and reset conditions in the tank. NO3 has been reading between 5-10 ppm (red sea) and PO4 at .03ppm (Hanna). This is far better than I've had at any point to date. With the video below you can see Im still dealing with some turf algae but it's getting better every week as well as a touch of cyano (I've upped my usage of aminos). I'm daily dosing MB7 to combat and help other nutrient balancing and it seems to be helping along with the increase in fish within the tank. Definitely learning a lot as I go here. I view these challenges as experience opportunities even tho they are seriously annoying in the moment lol.
Chow!
Come to find out, Phytofeast Live is not for starting phyto cultures lol. I still have plenty in my fridge from my previous efforts that I'm dosing daily but it's all older than a month which all conventional wisdom that I've read is less than desirable for use in culturing but fine for feeding (fridge life of 90+ days).
After doing a bit of reading while they don't recommend it, it's technically possible, stating that the blend of phyto strains isn't optimized for that use and that one or two will end up becoming dominant and outcompete all the others. Well, I'm just fine with that so in in all practical matters who cares? I don't need phyto stew just one strain is ok by me. So in the jar it went! We'll see how this turns out.
When I first started it up it was rather brown in color right out of the bottle but continues to get more green and less brown everyday. I guess they weren't lying...
Below is the pod culture using the SD reef nutrition they recommend for culturing triggers. It's also more brown in color, a little more so than the Phytofeast. I'm anticipating this to run for a couple weeks before it's able to be split. That's more like what the phyto looked like when I started it. I dose around 2ml+ of the SD to that daily and you can see the next day how it's visibly much more clear as they consume it.
Did an 80 gallon water change today, continuing to remove/dilute the fluconazole and reset conditions in the tank. NO3 has been reading between 5-10 ppm (red sea) and PO4 at .03ppm (Hanna). This is far better than I've had at any point to date. With the video below you can see Im still dealing with some turf algae but it's getting better every week as well as a touch of cyano (I've upped my usage of aminos). I'm daily dosing MB7 to combat and help other nutrient balancing and it seems to be helping along with the increase in fish within the tank. Definitely learning a lot as I go here. I view these challenges as experience opportunities even tho they are seriously annoying in the moment lol.
Chow!
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RobB'z Reef
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FINALLY!!
Now I can start dosing my kalk like I should have been from the start
Since I was just routing the ATO thru the stirrer I was undoubtedly overdosing from the get go and I knew it due to all the abiotic precipitation I was seeing. However being the stubborn mule that I was, I was holding out for these little guys. Will begin dosing at .5 dKH/day and let my Alkatronic tell me if I need to adjust from there. Unit is temporarily installed and pumping away already. Once I get two more and a base station I'll do something a bit cleaner. One of these days I need to get a for real control cabinet/installation going.
Now I can start dosing my kalk like I should have been from the start
Since I was just routing the ATO thru the stirrer I was undoubtedly overdosing from the get go and I knew it due to all the abiotic precipitation I was seeing. However being the stubborn mule that I was, I was holding out for these little guys. Will begin dosing at .5 dKH/day and let my Alkatronic tell me if I need to adjust from there. Unit is temporarily installed and pumping away already. Once I get two more and a base station I'll do something a bit cleaner. One of these days I need to get a for real control cabinet/installation going.
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RobB'z Reef
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Very happy, my experiment with Phytofeast Live successfully produced a batch of phyto! Harvested that today and will be restarting the next one. I saved back about 350ml for that purpose. Normally I use around 250ml for seeding the next batch but I thought I'd give this next one a little extra 'kick'. Hopefully it runs thru fine like the last one. Gotta keep those goni's happy.
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RobB'z Reef
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Quick update:
Things seem to be improving, other than a slight dusting of green on some rocks the turf algae is gone. The cyano that was getting bad has been beaten back and I only notice a touch of it here and there but not at any level that I would even consider a nuisance at this point. Corals are weekly very happy and my zoa's are starting to really take off. Finally got my nutrients up and they seem to be staying constant at the levels I'd like (Hanna PO4 -> .04ppm). I'm holding my breath there.
My diamond back goby has taken over the entire sand bed and he is constructing tunnels like a north korean family digging their way out of country.
I harvested some Tigger pods today and decided to change up my approach there.
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While the Poseiden system does work well for pods I feel that it's limited in production and I want a system where I can just go in and scoop out what I need without resetting everything. I have several tanks left over from my original QT system from before I moved to TTM so I thought why not put one of those 20 gallon tanks to that use. I dumped 2/3 of the trigger harvest into one I happened to have running for general purposes and gave the rest away. I then combined a small 5 gallon tank of tisbee pods into it and I'll run that with some filter floss on the bottom for continuous production of pods.
The jars are working amazing for the phyto (still no crashes) so I'll use the second jar to increase my output there and run two side by side for that purpose and force it onto some local Reefers like @jk_s124 and @Anthony Scholfield lol.
I noticed this guy was looking cool and has grown quite large since he made his original appearance 5 months ago as a hitchhiker from the KP rock.
Things seem to be improving, other than a slight dusting of green on some rocks the turf algae is gone. The cyano that was getting bad has been beaten back and I only notice a touch of it here and there but not at any level that I would even consider a nuisance at this point. Corals are weekly very happy and my zoa's are starting to really take off. Finally got my nutrients up and they seem to be staying constant at the levels I'd like (Hanna PO4 -> .04ppm). I'm holding my breath there.
My diamond back goby has taken over the entire sand bed and he is constructing tunnels like a north korean family digging their way out of country.
I harvested some Tigger pods today and decided to change up my approach there.
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While the Poseiden system does work well for pods I feel that it's limited in production and I want a system where I can just go in and scoop out what I need without resetting everything. I have several tanks left over from my original QT system from before I moved to TTM so I thought why not put one of those 20 gallon tanks to that use. I dumped 2/3 of the trigger harvest into one I happened to have running for general purposes and gave the rest away. I then combined a small 5 gallon tank of tisbee pods into it and I'll run that with some filter floss on the bottom for continuous production of pods.
The jars are working amazing for the phyto (still no crashes) so I'll use the second jar to increase my output there and run two side by side for that purpose and force it onto some local Reefers like @jk_s124 and @Anthony Scholfield lol.
I noticed this guy was looking cool and has grown quite large since he made his original appearance 5 months ago as a hitchhiker from the KP rock.
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Flameback Pair
started reefing 1999
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RobB'z Reef
2500 Club Member
If he actually manages to tunnel out of the tank he will receive the highest medals of honor I can bestow upon him.
Posthumously of course...
Flameback Pair
started reefing 1999
@Rob.bucek lol !!!!If he actually manages to tunnel out of the tank he will receive the highest medals of honor I can bestow upon him.
Posthumously of course...
Mitch
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