60 Cube build
- Thread starter cloakerpoked
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cloakerpoked
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vr697getta
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have your corals colored back up . the ones in the pics look pretty good.
that tri color i got off you has turned blue not sure what i did to it, but its now blue.
that tri color i got off you has turned blue not sure what i did to it, but its now blue.
cloakerpoked
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I'm still struggling with colors...I think it's a combination of my not maintaining my alkalinity where it needs to be, and probably my bulb. The growth is tremendous, and as you can tell, probably about 50% of the corals colors are awesome, it's just stuff that hasn't done well like my aquadelight, red planet, and pink lemonade that have me frustrated. I also remember a time not too long ago when a lot of the corals that are looking pretty decent right now looked amazing.
The big problem as you can no doubt tell from my pictures is nuisance algae. Bubble algae and hair algae, as well as a new weird reddish growth (3rd picture up from here, with the green/purple acans) that I have never seen, and would love an ID if someone can get me one. I've been running GFO passively in the tank for over a month now, as well as running carbon, and my TDS is still at 0, so I'm not sure if these struggles are just because the tank is only about 7 months old, if something I'm not testing for is in the tank in high concentrations, or what exactly my problem is. My nitrates are at 0. I don't think my skimmer is good enough to do carbon dosing, or I'd start vodka right away to see if that could handle it. Any suggestions you guys have on what I can do to improve this situation would be greatly appreciated.
The big problem as you can no doubt tell from my pictures is nuisance algae. Bubble algae and hair algae, as well as a new weird reddish growth (3rd picture up from here, with the green/purple acans) that I have never seen, and would love an ID if someone can get me one. I've been running GFO passively in the tank for over a month now, as well as running carbon, and my TDS is still at 0, so I'm not sure if these struggles are just because the tank is only about 7 months old, if something I'm not testing for is in the tank in high concentrations, or what exactly my problem is. My nitrates are at 0. I don't think my skimmer is good enough to do carbon dosing, or I'd start vodka right away to see if that could handle it. Any suggestions you guys have on what I can do to improve this situation would be greatly appreciated.
vr697getta
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from the pic it the looks like flatworms
Pretty sure I see them too.
vr697getta
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i had flat worms about a year ago i used flatworm exit. it worked great and haven't seen any since. one thing is your skimmer goes crazy and you will need a good skimmer to pull everything out when the flat worms die. so if you are waiting to get a better skimmer i would siphon out what you can until then.
cloakerpoked
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They aren't moving that I can see, and don't bother the corals that I can tell either...but maybe I'm just missing it. My one monti did lose color recently, but I attributed it to my alk swings. Are these particular flatworms harmful?
vr697getta
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from what i understand they are only harmful when the tank is over populated with them and they all die and can crash your tank. i had flat worms for a while before i got rid of them and no big deal. its when you go to kill them they release some kind of toxin when they die. large frequent water changes and fresh carbon is needed to take on the toxins as well as a good skimmer.
vr697getta
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while in my old tank i never saw any adverse affects on corals and they only seem to be on lps and my sand. i had brown flatworms not sure if the color matters.
cdalmost
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Those are definitely red flatworms that you have. They won't do any damage if you leave them alone, but they will multiply. I read that they can release a bunch of toxins if you kill them all at once (e.g. with "flatworm exit"). Carbon and skimming should take out most of the worst if you choose to take that route.
cloakerpoked
New member
I feed my corals fish poop, calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium. 
I also have phytofeast that I occasionally dose to the tank, but normally that isn't necessary. Every so often, my pocillipora also spawns, as I have several small colonies that have popped up out of nowhere, so I'm sure some of the more aggressive feeders also eat that.
I also have phytofeast that I occasionally dose to the tank, but normally that isn't necessary. Every so often, my pocillipora also spawns, as I have several small colonies that have popped up out of nowhere, so I'm sure some of the more aggressive feeders also eat that.
cloakerpoked
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Significantly less bubble algae in these shots. Hair algae is also subsiding...I think it was mostly just a part of the tank as it matures. Been set up since November, so even though it was "seasoned" live rock, I'm sure that moving to this tank with such a heavy bio-load has caused the normal algae problems to go on for some time.
cloakerpoked
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vr697getta
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i love the piranha on top of the tank.
cloakerpoked
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My parents brought him back from a mission trip to Brazil. He's a real piranha that's been preserved....kinda creepy, I wouldn't want to be swimming in those waters.
