!!!25G Mixed Reef!!!

Well here are the long-awaited pics:

A sponge that fell off of my zoo colony.


This coral died. I am still trying to find out the cause of death, but it is gonna take a while.


My Spill Detection System (it really is just two wires that beep when connected by water)






 
Nitrate: 15ppm
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Phosphate: (don't have test kit)
pH: 8.3
Temp: 78-80 degrees
Alkalinity: 15dkh (I don't think the test kit worked, getting it tested again)

I have a link to the thread in the first post on this page. It has many explanations that we have been exploring as to the cause of it's death.
The main reasons are:
Stress - recently taken out of Jose's tank with not too much care
Shock - alkalinity change
Maybe nitrates
 
Another update: one of the heads on the tooth coral is starting to regrow after an accident. It seems like it will be back to normal in about 2 weeks.
 
Quick question: if I place the caulerpa algae behind the RBTA, will the stinging from the anemone kill it, damage it, or do absolutely nothing?
 
More Pictures

More Pictures

These few pictures are of me feeding my RBTA. It is very interesting to see it eat, so I thought that I would share:

FISH2006_0206AE.jpg


FISH2006_0206AF.jpg


FISH2006_0206AG.jpg


FISH2006_0206AH.jpg


Rippling Water
FISH2006_0206AI.jpg


Tooth Coral restoring (in back)
FISH2006_0206AL.jpg


My Room Glows Blue at Night
FISH2006_0203AR.jpg


Dead Coral:(
FISH2006_0206AA.jpg
 
New Coral and Chaeto

I just got some free stuff from Naperville Reef. I got a nice patch of xenia and a fistfull of chaeto. The chaeto should bring down my nitrates. Pics will be up soon.
 
Pictures:
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/Thecoralreef731/FISH2006_0224AS.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/Thecoralreef731/FISH2006_0224AN.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/Thecoralreef731/FISH2006_0224AJ.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/Thecoralreef731/FISH2006_0224AC.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/Thecoralreef731/FISH2006_0224AB.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"></a>
 
I have some weird type of algae growing on the back glass that is only visible in pictures, but is very hard to see in person. It is very thin, slimy, and dark green. What is it?
 
Cause of death on those corals: Poor water quality/excess nutrients. Take it from someone who once had a tank that looked like yours

You need to be carefull...you should not have that much nuscience algae in your tank at all, and the excessive growth of the macro is a sign of excess nutrients as well. The cyano on the sand and the back glass isn't good. IMO and IME you have added way too much to the tank too fast and not tested for all the necessary things. (GOOD quality test kits should be used as well...Salifert being the choice around here it seems). SLow down, get a skimmer, only use RODI, and get all your parameters into check. Even then, I still fear the macro will completely take over your tank in less than a year. It happened to me on a very old tank years back.

I use algae as a sign of health for my tank. I scrape the front glass of my tank every 2-3 weeks and even then it's only a pale green film. The sand is pure white and there's no algea on the rocks. If any of that changes then I have a spike in my nutrients to attend to.
 
If you looked at the start date of this thread, you would notice that this tank has been running for 4 months before I added corals. Before that, the tank was used as a fish only tank for nearly a year. I would definately think that I am taking this slowly (maybe too slow :lol: )

As for test kits, I have Nitrate, Nitrite, pH, Ammonia, Salinity, Calcium, and Alkalinity. The only important test kit that I don't have is Phosphate. Me and my local reefers found out that it was the shock of the transition that killed the coral, mainly the change in Alkalinity (Mine is high, and I am working to get it down).

As for water quality; Yes, it could be better. The nitrates are high, and I added some chaeto to my sump to help. If you know of any other way to get rid of them, please chime in. :cool: . I am using RODI water, and I am planning on getting a skimmer, but I need some cash. Right now I am using RODI water from my grocery store, but I am planning on buying a machine soon.
 
Yes, I looked at the start date of the thread. But if there are nutrient problems, and there are, one should not add any livestock more livestock. If can lead to more nutrients and more problems! Take it from a guy who made those mistakes on my first tank :)

Do you use RODI? Do you run a skimmer?
 
Would you recommend more water changes? A guide online told me to avoid excessive water changes to get my alkality down, while dosing calcium. What is more important. Maintaining alkalinity or nitrates?
 
My friendly advise: Save every penny you have and get a good quality skimmer before you buy anything else livstock or not. Look at the smallest EuroReef or ASM. For $200 it would do wonders for your reef. Also consider a phosban reactor. (most phosphate kits don't read accurately enough)

Another piece of advise. Beware commercial RO/DI water. Unless you have tested it with a TDS unit, I wouldn't trust it. I remember a guy on here who tested the "RO/DI" water from his local healthfood store and it was like 170ppm! Some places do notmaintain their units.
 
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