Turtle's 14g SPS Nano Build.

SashimiTurtle · Aug 1, 2017

Yes I will be. 2-3 small ones. I've considered the sapphire damsel(Chrysiptera springeri) and the rainford goby(Koumansetta rainfordi).

Reef Nutrition · Aug 3, 2017

dodgerblew said:
I'm curious. I use oyster feast for two reasons, 1) to promote a feeding response from my corals and 2) to feed corals. I don't see how it would feed fish since its size is far to small for fish to eat. It's ovarian tissue and oyster eggs. I understand the ROE but not the OF. I look at OF the same as the LRS foods (which I find the best food, hands down) which not only feed fish but also has the very small micron particles that feed the corals simultaneously. Can you share your thoughts on this?

Oyster-Feast, when dispersed, is not something that fish will consume directly. They might swallow it indirectly. However, I have seen fish that are trained go up and eat the Oyster-Feast if it dispensed with a pipette. It is so viscous that they will eat the globules before it has a chance to disperse. We have a female clownfish that does it every day! Talk about lipids and amino acids in your diet!

Chad

Reef Nutrition · Aug 3, 2017

Robin Haselden said:
Wow... I just looked up prices on that stuff. They sure are proud of their product. Shipping is out of the question. $33 for one bottle. Luckly, I have two LFS about 25 miles from me that are on their store locator. Hmm, well I haven't been over there in months... might be time for a trip. Sure is peaceful in the country but nothing is close...

I did check out the dosing calculator on the Reef Nutrition website. They suggest 1ml a day for my tank. A bottle should last me a while. 1oz is just over 29ml... 6oz bottle should last just over 5 months.

Hey there,

Make sure to give the stores in your are a call before going over to see if they carry our products. Some stores routinely run out before they make their next order. Let me know if you have any luck tracking some down!

Chad

SashimiTurtle · Aug 5, 2017

Quick update, green acro is looking worse. Some algae is starting to grow on it now and it no longer has it's neon green color under the blues. I'm 99% sure I'm going to lose it... everything else seems to have perked up a little since the flourish dose. I rearranged a few pieces to try and get them into some better flow, PE hasn't been all that great with the ones I moved. Hopefully that'll help. I decided to download an app called "Aquarimate" after seeing an Instagram post from Inappropriate Reefer. Plugged in my test parameters and had an eye opening moment... my alk is all over the place.

It's definitely time to switch to auto dosing and forget the thought to being able to keep up manual dosing. My Ca levels have been declining at a steady rate, so I should be able to lock in a good dose amount.

Good news is, my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday yesterday. At first I couldn't think of anything... I don't really think about those things at 32. I mean, I asked for a million dollars but she said that was four too many zeros. Then it hit me, "Hey, Mom, get me a Jebao dosing pump!"

dodgerblew · Aug 5, 2017

Robin Haselden said:
Plugged in my test parameters and had an eye opening moment... my alk is all over the place.

It's definitely time to switch to auto dosing and forget the thought to being able to keep up manual dosing. My Ca levels have been declining at a steady rate, so I should be able to lock in a good dose amount.

Good news is, my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday yesterday. At first I couldn't think of anything... I don't really think about those things at 32. I mean, I asked for a million dollars but she said that was four too many zeros. Then it hit me, "Hey, Mom, get me a Jebao dosing pump!"

i think I mentioned that. Keep up with consistent water changes. Have you or do you test the newly mixed water before putting in tank? You can do that and dose your tank if it needs anything so the replacement water is consistent with the existing water. Sometimes you'll be surprised at the numbers you just mixed up.

SashimiTurtle · Aug 5, 2017

I tested once and the numbers were right on what is advertised for the blue bucket. Same with black bucket. Everything was too high with the black bucket tho. 500ppm Ca 11.5dKH Alk 1600 Mg... blue bucket was right at 430 Ca 7.8 Alk and 1320 Mg. After I did that first test I just check salinity. I'm at work now, but I'm doing my water change tonight when I get home.

dodgerblew · Aug 5, 2017

Check both waters and try your best to make them the same before subtracting and adding. Hang in there.

PS...If moms splurging for the doser, I'd go GHL or Bubble Magus. I'd prefer a used version of either of these then a new jebao but that's me

SashimiTurtle · Aug 5, 2017

dodgerblew said:
PS...If moms splurging for the doser, I'd go GHL or Bubble Magus. I'd prefer a used version of either of these then a new jebao but that's me

After the million dollar comment, she told me I had $100... Jebao DP-4 it is. $66 on Amazon Prime. I was going to get it regardless tho.

SashimiTurtle · Aug 5, 2017

Tested all my parameters and did about a 3g water change. Siphoned the substrate durring the WC, it was starting to get some brown algae covering it.
Before WC
Sg 1.025
Ca 380
Alk 7.8
Mg 1320
NO3 4+ (didn't check the high range)
PO4 0.01
The red sea blue salt mixed at Ca 420 Alk 8.1 @ 1.025. That is right where I want to try and keep my tank. Once I get a dosing pump set up I'll try and figure out a daily dose and let the pump keep it the same every day. I think I'm varying the time I test and dose and how much I dose too much and I'm causing too many swings. Here are a few updated coal pics.

najer · Aug 6, 2017

Don't chase your numbers too hard, my kh in 550litres (England) stays between 7.5 and 8.5, I do run a 13 g but I never test that!

SashimiTurtle · Aug 6, 2017

Yea I've decided to stop manual dosing and just increase water change interval until I get a dosing pump. Manual dosing might work if I had a better work schedule, but doing rotating 12 hour shifts, I'm never home at the sane time to test and dose, and it seems like my alk demands are all over the place. I'll think I have a good dose then I'll check after a few days and I'm way high, or it'll be way low...

najer · Aug 6, 2017

I used to do 12 hour days and nights, agreed, way harder to keep a routine.

SashimiTurtle · Aug 6, 2017

Lost my green acro. Got home and what little bit of green it was hanging on to is gone and it's covered in algae.

Forest fire digi looks like it's coming back from the RTN... small patch of red polyps on the base are starting to spread and I think I see a few small polyps on the tips coming out. That thing was almost bare after the breaker trip incident.

Rufus’ goofs · Aug 7, 2017

Sorry to hear that about your acro.

I'm positive that frequent water changes and the dosing pump vs manual dosing will give your tank a much improved stability!

I'll bet that forest fire takes really catches!

I've been getting the itch for sps, but the tank I want to put them in isn't even 4 months old yet.
I dunno how it would work out for me. I've got 3 fish and 2 corals in there. Everyone's happy, but I'm trying to go slow and be patient.

It sucks. :mad:

SashimiTurtle · Aug 7, 2017

@Ergodyne This tank is just over 3 months old. Everything is starting to color back up after getting my phosphates off the floor, esp the blue stylo. Hopefully Mom got the dosing pump, she said she got my text. My baby sister said she wanted to get me a gift card for my tank and asked me what LFS I go to. Birthday dinner at Mom and Dad's tomorrow night so I'll see what they got. Hopefully I can use it and convince the fiancee to come off some wedding money and splurge for an ATO. I should be able to keep the tank rock solid with all that. I have tomorrow and Wednesday off, I'm going to make the rounds at the LFS's (say LFS's out loud 5 times and tell me it doesn't sound silly ) and get some coral foods. Hopefully ASL has another one of those green acros I can reserve, that thing was NEON under the blues and had awesome PE. They have some wild colonies that they have grown out and are just starting to sell too... it's really tempting to get more coral, but I need to focus on getting stable.