Tenecor 100 Gallon Lagoon-style acrylic AIO

[tharbin]

I just noticed it is one day shy of a month since my last update. I haven't been much of a reef keeper in that month so no new parameter tests. I hope to get to them tomorrow or Saturday, but I doubt it.

The good news? Ah... no fish died? It does seem that the turf and hair algae are starting to die off some. There are significantly fewer aiptasia. I can still see through the acrylic panes, that's about it. A lot of the algae in the area surrounding the rock I pulled and cleaned and peroxided has turned partially white and is easier to pull. I may pull one other rock while I'm trying to catch the shrimp and give it the same treatment.

The bad news? It appears the Peppermint shrimp are now targeting the Peach Hammer right outside their main cave. I'm going to move it today. I think the Pitho is no more, probably ate until it exploded. I haven't seen it in over a week and the bubble algae are taking over again. I haven't been able to feed the LPS in two weeks and it is starting to show but if I feed them with the lights on they ignore it and if I feed them with the lights off the Peppermints rip them apart for the food.

On top of that the 15 gallon I recently set up for frags has bubble algae as well. I'm treating it with Flux RX as there is nothing in there that I figure is going to live anyway. Flux RX did work pretty well when I tried it on Bryopsis and bubble before. It completely eliminated the Bryopsis and knocked back the bubble significantly. I just need to knock it back and then the tank is small enough to control it manually. BUT: I don't want to move any of the LPS in there now as they didn't seem to take kindly to the Flux RX before.

I'm planning to make some feed domes to put over the LPS after I feed them but I haven't got around to designing/printing them yet.

 

[TheWB]

I just noticed it is one day shy of a month since my last update. I haven't been much of a reef keeper in that month so no new parameter tests. I hope to get to them tomorrow or Saturday, but I doubt it.

The good news? Ah... no fish died? It does seem that the turf and hair algae are starting to die off some. There are significantly fewer aiptasia. I can still see through the acrylic panes, that's about it. A lot of the algae in the area surrounding the rock I pulled and cleaned and peroxided has turned partially white and is easier to pull. I may pull one other rock while I'm trying to catch the shrimp and give it the same treatment.

The bad news? It appears the Peppermint shrimp are now targeting the Peach Hammer right outside their main cave. I'm going to move it today. I think the Pitho is no more, probably ate until it exploded. I haven't seen it in over a week and the bubble algae are taking over again. I haven't been able to feed the LPS in two weeks and it is starting to show but if I feed them with the lights on they ignore it and if I feed them with the lights off the Peppermints rip them apart for the food.

On top of that the 15 gallon I recently set up for frags has bubble algae as well. I'm treating it with Flux RX as there is nothing in there that I figure is going to live anyway. Flux RX did work pretty well when I tried it on Bryopsis and bubble before. It completely eliminated the Bryopsis and knocked back the bubble significantly. I just need to knock it back and then the tank is small enough to control it manually. BUT: I don't want to move any of the LPS in there now as they didn't seem to take kindly to the Flux RX before.

I'm planning to make some feed domes to put over the LPS after I feed them but I haven't got around to designing/printing them yet.

That's too bad about the Peppermint Shrimp. The one I have eats Aiptasia and doesn't bother the few corals that it's in with. None of the corals are LPS anymore and I never fed them directly when there were some in there. It seems like every time you find a solution to something wrong with a tank it comes with an undesirable complication. Those feeding domes sound interesting though. I'll be interested to see how they turn out.

 

[tharbin]

That's too bad about the Peppermint Shrimp. The one I have eats Aiptasia and doesn't bother the few corals that it's in with. None of the corals are LPS anymore and I never fed them directly when there were some in there. It seems like every time you find a solution to something wrong with a tank it comes with an undesirable complication. Those feeding domes sound interesting though. I'll be interested to see how they turn out.

What I envision is just a simple roughly-half sphere with some flow holes that I can place over the LPS right after feeding and remove them once the tank lights come on. They will probably be thin, probably in vase mode (1 wall and probably with a few ridges or waves to help with strength) and at least initially in Transparent Pink PETG since I have some in stock.

 

[TheWB]

What I envision is just a simple roughly-half sphere with some flow holes that I can place over the LPS right after feeding and remove them once the tank lights come on. They will probably be thin, probably in vase mode (1 wall and probably with a few ridges or waves to help with strength) and at least initially in Transparent Pink PETG since I have some in stock.

That seems like it should work nicely.

 

[tbrown]

What I envision is just a simple roughly-half sphere with some flow holes that I can place over the LPS right after feeding and remove them once the tank lights come on. They will probably be thin, probably in vase mode (1 wall and probably with a few ridges or waves to help with strength) and at least initially in Transparent Pink PETG since I have some in stock.

I made something similar for a Nem cup. Nem didn't like it but my Starry Blenny did.

 

[tharbin]

I made something similar for a Nem cup. Nem didn't like it but my Starry Blenny did.

That's right. I remember seeing it on one of your build threads. I do envision something similar. With my luck the shrimp will love them and drag them into their lair.

 

[tharbin]

So today we did a small water change and I went ahead and did a subset of the tests. Overall not too bad but I'm thinking about starting to carbon dose.

New parameter set and previous two:

6-25-2024/7-7-2024/8-8-2024

• SG (ppt): 34.9/34.9/34.9 (target 35.0ppt)
• Temp: 80.0/78.7/78.3F (target 78-79F)
• pH: 7.9/7.7/NT (target 8.2-8.6)
• Alk: 7.3/7.0/8.3 (target 8.0-9.0)
• Ca: 380/NT/NT (target 400-440)
• NO3: 16/0/0 (target 10-20) <- Still not too happy with this
• PO4: .06/.15/.14 (target .05-.1) <- Not ideal but better than going below .05 a little better than last time
• Mg: 1065/NT/1140 (target 1280-1500) <- Getting there slowly, added some more Mg after test

 

[tbrown]

Not bad. That's crazy with the nitrates though..

 

[tharbin]

Not bad. That's crazy with the nitrates though..

The parameters are better than I expected based on the way the tank looks and feels. It just feels ready to crash. I'm probably going to pull another rock and clean it this weekend. The one I did clean is staying pretty clean.

I'm going to see if one of the LFSs have another Pitho or two because the Foxface no longer eats anything besides junk food from the feeder. Total slob. It literally sits on the sand under the feeder waiting for food. If none comes after a while, it goes back to its overhang until I add food. It doesn't even bother with Nori anymore. Luckily the Bristletooth still likes algae but it doesn't go near bubble algae.

While I'm pulling the rock, I'm going to make a try for the shrimp.

 

[tbrown]

I saw one of the Berghia today, so they're still cruising around.

 

[tharbin]

I saw one of the Berghia today, so they're still cruising around.

You had Wrasses in the tank with them didn't you? Glad to see they managed to evade slaughter. My Yellow Wrasse is constantly hunting, once it decides to wake up. It tends to sleep in.

 

[tbrown]

You had Wrasses in the tank with them didn't you? Glad to see they managed to evade slaughter. My Yellow Wrasse is constantly hunting, once it decides to wake up. It tends to sleep in.

For a little bit, yes. I had the Melanurus and Leucoxanthus in there for about a month after I got the Berghia.

 

[tharbin]

For a little bit, yes. I had the Melanurus and Leucoxanthus in there for about a month after I got the Berghia.

Since they mainly hunt at night they should be fine, I hope.

Nothing else really to say but I just realized I was at 4,999 posts so...

 

[JoJosReef]

I just noticed it is one day shy of a month since my last update. I haven't been much of a reef keeper in that month so no new parameter tests. I hope to get to them tomorrow or Saturday, but I doubt it.

The good news? Ah... no fish died? It does seem that the turf and hair algae are starting to die off some. There are significantly fewer aiptasia. I can still see through the acrylic panes, that's about it. A lot of the algae in the area surrounding the rock I pulled and cleaned and peroxided has turned partially white and is easier to pull. I may pull one other rock while I'm trying to catch the shrimp and give it the same treatment.

The bad news? It appears the Peppermint shrimp are now targeting the Peach Hammer right outside their main cave. I'm going to move it today. I think the Pitho is no more, probably ate until it exploded. I haven't seen it in over a week and the bubble algae are taking over again. I haven't been able to feed the LPS in two weeks and it is starting to show but if I feed them with the lights on they ignore it and if I feed them with the lights off the Peppermints rip them apart for the food.

On top of that the 15 gallon I recently set up for frags has bubble algae as well. I'm treating it with Flux RX as there is nothing in there that I figure is going to live anyway. Flux RX did work pretty well when I tried it on Bryopsis and bubble before. It completely eliminated the Bryopsis and knocked back the bubble significantly. I just need to knock it back and then the tank is small enough to control it manually. BUT: I don't want to move any of the LPS in there now as they didn't seem to take kindly to the Flux RX before.

I'm planning to make some feed domes to put over the LPS after I feed them but I haven't got around to designing/printing them yet.

Are you running the 4x concentration of flux needed for bubble algae?

 

[tharbin]

Are you running the 4x concentration of flux needed for bubble algae?

No. I actually had pretty good results with the standard concentration when I was targeting Bryopsis.

At this point I'm more concerned with slowing the spread than actually killing it. I also moved the 24 Watt Green Killing Machine UV (how's that for overkill?) to the 15 gallon because it had a bacterial bloom for a while. I figure that if it doesn't spread, I can manually remove it over the next week or two.

I could 4x though as all that is alive in the tank now is three Trochus, one Cerith, a looks-to-be-slowly recovering Bubblegum Digitata that was presumed lost in the sand for a few weeks and an overgrown-with-algae Tubbs Stellata.

 

[TheWB]

So today we did a small water change and I went ahead and did a subset of the tests. Overall not too bad but I'm thinking about starting to carbon dose.

New parameter set and previous two:

6-25-2024/7-7-2024/8-8-2024

• SG (ppt): 34.9/34.9/34.9 (target 35.0ppt)
• Temp: 80.0/78.7/78.3F (target 78-79F)
• pH: 7.9/7.7/NT (target 8.2-8.6)
• Alk: 7.3/7.0/8.3 (target 8.0-9.0)
• Ca: 380/NT/NT (target 400-440)
• NO3: 16/0/0 (target 10-20) <- Still not too happy with this
• PO4: .06/.15/.14 (target .05-.1) <- Not ideal but better than going below .05 a little better than last time
• Mg: 1065/NT/1140 (target 1280-1500) <- Getting there slowly, added some more Mg after test

Any idea why your Cal and Mag are low? Just consumption without replacement? Seems like most salt mixes would keep that in line better with regular water changes since you aren't that loaded with coral yet. Are you using any supplements?

 

[tharbin]

Any idea why your Cal and Mag are low? Just consumption without replacement? Seems like most salt mixes would keep that in line better with regular water changes since you aren't that loaded with coral yet. Are you using any supplements?

I wasn't doing any regular maintenance for a while so the Alk, and Ca and Mg fell through normal uptake. I have had good coralline growth and most of my small quantity of SPS are montis, both are pretty heavy users of Mg.

 

[tharbin]

I should add that my thinking at this point is the main tank has some systemic issues. I want to get the small tank cleaned up fairly low key so that I can use it to hold most of my coral, which at this point is really a couple of hammers, a few montis and a couple of gonis, although they aren't looking too good.

Once the small tank is ready for the corals I'll probably nuke the main tank with AlgaeFix or Flux RX. Followed by lots of manual plucking. Then add some live sand and rock and let it simmer until deemed ready for aquatic life again.

Either that or do a rip clean where I pull all of the rock and sand and put it into acid baths until it is fully dissolved and then buy new rock and sand.

 

[tbrown]

Since they mainly hunt at night they should be fine, I hope.

Nothing else really to say but I just realized I was at 4,999 posts so...

 

[tbrown]

I should add that my thinking at this point is the main tank has some systemic issues. I want to get the small tank cleaned up fairly low key so that I can use it to hold most of my coral, which at this point is really a couple of hammers, a few montis and a couple of gonis, although they aren't looking to good.

Once the small tank is ready for the corals I'll probably nuke the main tank with AlgaeFix or Flux RX. Followed by lots of manual plucking. Then add some live sand and rock and let it simmer until deemed ready for aquatic life again.

Either that or do a rip clean where I pull all of the rock and sand and put it into acid baths until it is fully dissolved and then buy new rock and sand.

Now THAT'S a rip clean.