125g 2 in 1 Seagrass Reef

[ThePurple12]

Completely forgot about that FTS. Here it is, with the 2 seahorses and a Klein's butterfly! You can see the new Hypnea in the bottom right.

It may be too early to say, but I think I beat dinos! Probably 2 days ago they didn't come back in the morning except on one of my gorgonians. I risked a 25% water change. People say water changes restore trace elements that the dinos use, and I've had dinos come back after water changes, so there might be some merit to that. Although, in the past whenever I've done water changes, I would suck out as much algae as possible, dino or GHA. This time I completely avoided removing any GHA, which competes with the dinos. That might be why dinos come back after water changes.

Anyway, so far so good. I'm on the day after the water change and there's not a single strand of dinoflagellates to be seen! My plan now is to play it safe. I'll let the hair algae be for a week or 2, then add more snails and do manual removal.

I think what really helped was raising nitrate and phosphate to encourage competitor growth. I should say I switched to trisodium phosphate and sodium nitrate, because I was worried about raising the potassium levels too high.

 

[vlangel]

That is wonderful that the dinos might be gone. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[ThePurple12]

Appreciate it!

 

[ThePurple12]

I think it's safe to say the dinos are GONE...for now! I've done 2 25% water changes and they haven't come back. The corals are looking much better after the water changes. The grasses are still doing well, including the slow-growing turtle grass.

The blue Hypnea in the seahorse tank is becoming a little more purple I think, but not much improvement.

I'm really appreciating the power of the turbo snail. That overflow box was COVERED in thick GHA growth. In about a week, that single turbo snail has eaten about 1/3 of it. It's currently sitting at the top right corner of the box.

As a celebration for beating dinos, I got 6 green chromis! These guys are really cool, and I might get more. They don't really school, but they add a lot of motion and color to the tank.

And here's what the algae looks like on the sandbed. I'm ordered 3 assorted conchs from Reefcleaners, hoping they'll clear it up. They'll be coming on Thursday probably. You can also see some coralline on the shoal grass blades.

 

[vlangel]

Wow, ThePurple, looking great, especially your seagrass! You will love the color and the activity the chromis will bring to your tank. That is the same role that I have the yellow tail damsel's for.

I am thrilled for you that the dinos are gone! Definitely something to celebrate.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Congrats on the dino freedom! I think your plan to add more snails to your crew will help immensely with what you have remaining. For filamentous algae like that, a Scopas Tang could be helpful - and nowhere near the price of Yellows.

 

[ThePurple12]

You don't think a scopas would mow the grass? They're closely related to yellows, and my old yellow loved shoal grass.

I'll try a search in the plant forum to see if anyone's done it before.

 

[ThePurple12]

It looks like it's hit or miss. Some people have had no problems with yellow tangs and others with shoal grass, and others including me have. Sounds like Ctenochaetus tangs are the safest bet.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I can't ignore your previous experience with the grass-eating yellow, but I would think it would prefer to eat filamentous algae before resorting to the grass. I agree that Ctenochaetus tangs are the safest bet, but their mouths are designed for detritus and detritus-like algae. So it may help, but I don't know how much.

Maybe Dawn could weigh in with her Tomini Tang. What's your tang been eating, Dawn?

 

[ThePurple12]

Oh yeah, a Ctenochaetus probably wouldn't eat hair algae. I've heard great things about conchs and hair algae, but we'll see what they can do. The last resort would be the dreaded manual removal.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Yes, manual removal is pretty effective. As you know, I'm a big proponent of it. But it's also good to see someone find alternatives to it. It's nice to see different methods. It would be boring if we all did the same thing. I hope to learn from you and your style of doing things.

 

[ThePurple12]

Thanks, but I can't say my style is anything special :smurf:

 

[vlangel]

Maybe Dawn could weigh in with her Tomini Tang. What's your tang been eating, Dawn?

ThePurple, I really like my tomini tang. He nibbled on caulerpa when I first got him but now he is mostly interested in filamentous algae on the rocks and sand. I do heavily feed food that is high in vegetables, spiralina frozen brine shrimp, formula 2, emerald entree plus green flake food every day.

I will say that the tomini bullied my orange spot blenny who had been the alpha fish until the tomini came. The blenny died and that may have been from stress from being constantly bullied.

Tommy is a gorgeous fish though and I thoroughly enjoy him.

 

[ThePurple12]

I cashed some candy cane coral in to an LFS...4 mini colonies for $125. Not too shabby. Brought home a blue hippo tang (will it eat the seagrass?? we shall see), 3 additional Chromis, and 2 NPS finger gorgonians- a red one for the 125 and a yellow one for the 30! The tank is full of movement, but there's still plenty of room for more! I want enough fish to not have to dose n and p.

Pics tomorrow!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Nice indeed! The Blue Hippo is one of my favorite fish. It's mostly a planktivore, but does eat some algae. I'll be interested to see what he eats in your tank. I'm sure it's very lively with all the Chromis! Those Gorgonians are pretty, I bet. I've heard Reef Roids are a good food for them. Look forward to pics!

 

[ThePurple12]

I heard they’re mainly planktivores, especially as juveniles. If he’s gonna be an algae eater, I hope he goes after the hair algae first!

I have Reef Chili, but I think you’re right. The Chili is made of tiny particles, while the Roids can be mixed into a paste. Once the bottle runs out I’ll switch.

Pics as soon as the halides turn on.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I had a Hippo years ago. I don't remember it eating algae, but at feeding time it went nuts, outcompeting everyone else in the tank. It was a great personality fish, even without big, expressive eyes. And that blue!

 

[ThePurple12]

I did a massive algae export on the sandbed. It turned out to be really easy to remove, as it had grown into huge clumps that I could just reach in and remove. There's still plenty of work for the incoming conchs, though.

The Disney trio:

Can you spot the turbo snail?

Yellow finger gorgonian looking good in the 30 gallon, along with some Hypnea that's just starting to color up:

And the red one:

 

[ThePurple12]

I guess you can't spot the turbo snail, because the image isn't appearing! Meh.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Gorgeous FTS! Maybe the best yet. Nice job on the manual removal too. Your tank looks great! Chapeau!