75g Lurking danger and Leafy Seadragons

[vlangel]

Today I decided after wiping the glass that I would rinse the pre-filter, (or attempt to since the lever to unlock it was so tight). It turns out that I had to unlock the hose connector lever (and leave it unlocked) to break the suction so then the pre-filter lever moves very easily. Sometimes I am a buckethead when it comes to setting up new things! Anyway, I am so happy with how easy rinsing the pre-filter is,,,I don't need to move the canister at all. I will just wrap a towel around the base of the canister to catch the little bit of water that weeps out when I unlock the pre-filter and lift the assembly into a Tupperware container where I can transport it to be washed. It wasn't very dirty today, I am thinking that I don't need to rinse the pre-filter more than every 2 weeks.

Right before Thanksgiving I will add a fine sponge and carbon to the top basket to polish the water. I will clean that right after our kids head back and that will give me an idea how quickly that fine sponge gets clogged.

I will say that this BioMaster 850 with the heater and pre-filter were the right choice for my me. Its giving me everything I needed/wanted in filtration

 

[vlangel]

Some pics after yesterday's water change. Ignore the dirty diatom sand and the crazy photo bombing fish! LOL

 

[vlangel]

Fridays are water change day. I do about 7-10 gallons. I dose Flourish on Fridays as well. I dose AFR on Mondays.

Today I decided to see where NO3 and PO4 were. Exactly the same as last time I checked: NO3 10ppm and PO4 .5ppm. I was going to rinse the prefilter even though the flow is good but now I am kind of hoping that some trapped food or fish waste is turning into NO3 since I would like to see that a bit closer to 20-25ppm, so I did not rinse the prefilter.

As far as how things look; the fish look amazing. They are so peaceful with one another. None of the fish are scratching or scraping themselves. They are all eating like pigs.
For the most part the coral look good too. One zoa frag is mostly closed but I am just leaving it be. There are zoas near it that seem to be thriving so I don't think its the location. The hammers that I did not expect to make it are continually improving. However my usually beautiful purple Photosynthetic Sponge has paled to a very pale purple. I guess they have expelled the algae in their tissue for some reason that I can't even guess at. I plan to just let them be and hope they right themselves. Most of my macroalgae are doing well, even with the Foxface and Tang trimming on them. The Shaving Brush and moss balls seem to be favorites. I am hoping their growth can keep up with the fish nibbles. The Codium is the nicest I've had. The reds are holding their own but still are not growing like what I had in the 56g. Who knows? Maybe too much white light. The mangrove looks good but growth is slow. So that's about it.

 

[vlangel]

I did a water change today even though its early (I usually do WC on Fridays) because my son and family are coming in for Thanksgiving. (I got him into saltwater and he got me into coral, so naturally I want my tank looking good when he gets here, especially since he has not seen the 75g in person.)

This tank being only 20" high is so easy to clean the glass compared to my last tank. I ended up using a magnet cleaner on the old tank because I was too short to reach the bottom and I got scratches even though I tried to be very careful. I have never used a magnet cleaner on this new tank and there are no scratches so far and using an aquarium sponge is quick. It was my #1 reason for getting the 75g and it was well worth it. The sandbed still has what I presume are diatoms but they are getting less unsightly. Just part of the ugly phase so I stay the course. If it looks too bad I stir the sandbed so no big deal.

Not much else to report. Fish, coral and macros are all good.

 

[vlangel]

So I added carbon and filter floss in the top basket to polish the water column and wow, did it ever! The water looks so crisp that it does not even look like it is behind glass. Its amazing but it seems that my sinularia and some of my zoas do not like the very clean, clear water as much. :-( Its always something. Anyway when everyone goes home I will remove the carbon and floss next week. My guess is something was removed by the carbon that those coral liked. Hopefully everything returns to normal next week.

 

[vlangel]

Today was water change Friday and I had let it go almost 2 weeks. I will be curious if my NO3 has come up a little which is what I want.
I had removed the carbon and floss earlier this week and slowly zoas/palys are reopening. I never noticed carbon affecting soft coral in the past and I've often run carbon because of the chemical warfare between soft coral. Maybe it was something else?
At any rate everything looks very good; fish and coral.
I love this BioMaster canister filter. I can remove the prefilter so easily but even washing a sponge in the top basket can be done with the canister staying in its place. Both can be rinsed out in less than 10 minutes and I probably only need to do that once a month. That's not much maintenance. Its quiet and it does a great job (although I bought bigger than needed) and its not a lot of work. I am thinking that at least this canister filter is a very legit consideration for some reef tanks.

 

[griss]

Everything looks fantastic.

 

[vlangel]

Everything looks fantastic.

Thanks George! Yes, I am thrilled with how stuff looks but my nitrates are still dropping. They went from 10 ppm 2 weeks ago to 5 ppm this morning. Who said canister filters are nitrate factories???? Maybe I should just take a break from cleaning the canister as long as my flow from the return spray bar is good?

 

[griss]

I guess it couldn't hurt. I can't remember, are you dosing and NO3? I overfeed slightly and have to add nitrate. I think it's because I have a 15 gallon Caulerpa fuge on my 40 breeder.