SkiCat's Dream Build: [Saving The] Planet 180 - The Making Of An Epic Aquacultured Mixed Reef

[SkiCatTX]

Here they are under AI Prime HD, mostly whites after a few hours.

I think I got these right, so we'll see after they color up a bit. I realized too late that I should have taken pics of each of them in the bags and containers before opening them...but hindsight and all...

(Left To Right)
Back Row: Mai Tai Cyphastrea, Purple Stylo, Mystery (Stylo? Might be Birds Nest?) no label - extra in the box
Center Row: Bali Green Slimer, Miyagi Tort, Rainbow Monti, Kryptonite Candy Cane
Front Row: Purple Pavona, Purple Haze Monti, Captain America Cyphastrea

 

[SkiCatTX]

I ordered some supplies from BRS and one of the bottles dumped out inside the box. They have sent a replacement no problems. They may not always have the best prices, but they do have quick and great service...

 

[SkiCatTX]

I was planning on waiting two weeks before moving the new frags into the display, but while all the others seem to be doing great, yesterday morning the Green Slimer was seriously RTN'ing...I decided to go ahead and move them.

After 24 hours, it doesn't appear any worse...so fingers crossed some of it survives...

 

[SkiCatTX]

The additional canister arrived from BRS, so I hooked that up...hopefully with 4 stages we can catch the Silicon now...?

 

[RobB'z Reef]

The additional canister arrived from BRS, so I hooked that up...hopefully with 4 stages we can catch the Silicon now...?

Is that the silica buster? My icp tests indicated I have a bit of a silica problem as well.

 

[SkiCatTX]

Is that the silica buster? My icp tests indicated I have a bit of a silica problem as well.

You mean the four stages together? No idea, but I'm giving it a try. I don't know if it was exhausted media in the original 3 stages (which I've replaced), or if it was getting past them anyway (which apparently happens), so I added the RowaPhos/Phosguard stage...I'll get a new ICP test in a couple weeks and we'll see if the value goes down any...

 

[SkiCatTX]

Photo of the day:

I was randomly taking some pics with my phone while looking at the frags.

 

[SkiCatTX]

My Torches are not too happy these days, I'm not sure what's up. They have been like this for a few weeks now.

Everything else appears to be doing just fine, and all the parameters I know about are reasonable...except for Silicon, which I doubt is the problem.

One possibility is the clownfish. He swims in them like anemones, so he might be aggravating them...however, he's done this for years and wasn't a problem in the past. It also might be flow. I have the Gyres and MP40 pretty high for circulation, I'm going to turn them down for a bit and see what happens.

 

[SkiCatTX]

Rabbit Fish begging for food!

He is a camera hog, I almost can't take a picture without him jumping in the way...

 

[RobB'z Reef]

My Torches are not too happy these days, I'm not sure what's up. They have been like this for a few weeks now.

Everything else appears to be doing just fine, and all the parameters I know about are reasonable...except for Silicon, which I doubt is the problem.

One possibility is the clownfish. He swims in them like anemones, so he might be aggravating them...however, he's done this for years and wasn't a problem in the past. It also might be flow. I have the Gyres and MP40 pretty high for circulation, I'm going to turn them down for a bit and see what happens.

Hope you figure out out!

 

[Flameback Pair]

My Torches are not too happy these days, I'm not sure what's up. They have been like this for a few weeks now.

Everything else appears to be doing just fine, and all the parameters I know about are reasonable...except for Silicon, which I doubt is the problem.

One possibility is the clownfish. He swims in them like anemones, so he might be aggravating them...however, he's done this for years and wasn't a problem in the past. It also might be flow. I have the Gyres and MP40 pretty high for circulation, I'm going to turn them down for a bit and see what happens.

@SkiCatTX funny thing your torches would do that. Maybe it is seasonal changes and they sense the tilt of the Earth? Just taking a wild stab at it.

 

[SkiCatTX]

@SkiCatTX funny thing your torches would do that. Maybe it is seasonal changes and they sense the tilt of the Earth? Just taking a wild stab at it.

could be...

 

[SkiCatTX]

After just over a year of operation, and one replacement control board, the roller stopped advancing on the Klir. I had to order another motor and gearbox.

Apparently, the controller did not sense the end of the roll correctly and just kept trying to advance the roll against the tape at the end and ground the gear teeth off.

Amazingly, the new motor arrived the next day and I was able to get it running. I took the time to clean the Klir as well, so it's nice and white again...

 

[SkiCatTX]

Good news on the Silicon front, the latest ICP test shows almost none in the RODI water, and considerably less in the display (in which I've only done some partial water changes, plus some bags of media, so it should continue to go down over time.

The previous value from ICP-Analysis was 2,680ppb in the display, now it's showing 1,370ppb, and the RODI was 380ppb, now it's 20ppb. So, the combination of new media and Phosphate media appears to be working.

I added Strontium as well at regular intervals as well. We were at 6.37ppm and we're now at 9.6ppm, which is closer to ideal. I'm not sure how big a deal that is, but it was one of the few that was off that people talk about.

And Iodine, which I've never been able to maintain is still low, almost undetectable. I started auto dosing it after the last test, and it is still showing at 0.01ppm, which is basically lost in the noise. I'll try upping the dose until the next test.

 

[SkiCatTX]

My fish are out of QT today and should arrive tomorrow!

It occurs to me that I don't think I ever posted about the lineup. I did mention that I had difficulty finding captive-bred fish this last year. The previous year they available from all over. However, this year (now that my tank is running), with everyone sitting home, I guess they all just ordered fish because, after more than 6 months of looking, I was not able to order any of the fish I wanted.

Thus I decided to go for a few fish that I would have had to get while caught anyway, and save most of the others for when they are available again. Also, with Adam doing the QT, he gets several of each fish and then sends me one of each after they are QT'd, saving me dealing with losses or sick fish for the most part.

Here's the list:
- 3x Captive-Bred Watchman Gobies

- 1 Blue Hippo Tang
- 1 Powder Blue Tang
- 1 Two-Spot Bristletooth Tang

Arrival observation tanks set up and running.

 

[SkiCatTX]

Just before shipping, Adam discovered an injury on the Powder Blue, so we're going to hold off a week for treatment before shipping...so stay tuned.

 

[SkiCatTX]

In the meantime, a few weeks back I ordered a few more corals from an ARC sale. They were delayed a couple of weeks in shipping, but arrived today. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't ship with any heat packs so they were freezing cold when they arrived, and very brown, but appear to be still alive. Put them through the normal cutting, dipping, and mounting process anyway, then into the QT tank.

Otherwise, some are very large cuttings, which is nice. There were some critters on them, not so nice...and a serpent star, plus some very large copepods I guess they were...

 

[SkiCatTX]

Fish are here!

Here are a few quick phone pics. I'll have to get some better ones once we're in the tank...hopefully this weekend.

Powder Blue Tang

Blue Hippo Tang - This guy is tiny...hope he doesn't get eaten on the first day...

Two-Spot Bristletooth Tang - Small as well, but still a bit larger than the hippo

The Gobi is too small to get a picture...being tank raised he's still an infant.

 

[SkiCatTX]

The tank is prepared for new fish:

 

[SkiCatTX]

Also, this morning I installed two USB fans in the hood. These are quiet and push a bit of air over the surface. I hope this will help the chiller move some heat as well to the left out the doors of my office.

They are small enough that I can at least add one more Radion XR15, then have 4 evenly spaced with fans between them. I'd even have room for one more fan in the middle if I needed it at that point.