a simple sps tank

[afernandez]

You only have 2 fish?

I have been fighting some weird fluffy/turf algae that's driving me insane!
im doing a 40g wc tonight or tommorw depends on today's activities with my girls lol.
Anyways I'm going to get to scrubbing with a tooth brush ...wish me luck

 

[reeflover62]

Hang in there Mike it looks great. I also have some algae issues but not that bad.

 

[cFloor]

Battling algae is the worst, glad you are coming out on top! The tank is looking really nice right now. I love the new sandbed in there. Keep up the good work

 

[Scotty freddy]

Hi buddy
Tank has really cleared up nicely mate, keep doing what your doing my friend

 

[glaukos]

You only have 2 fish?

I have been fighting some weird fluffy/turf algae that's driving me insane!
im doing a 40g wc tonight or tommorw depends on today's activities with my girls lol.
Anyways I'm going to get to scrubbing with a tooth brush ...wish me luck

At the beginning it was my choice arlin to have only two fish....now it's bb's choice
Sometimes i wonder how/why he tolerates quasimodo!
I really want one more fish but i'm afraid what he will do to him!
Sometimes i'm thinking of removing him to another tank and put a moorish in there so he will not be so aggressive when he comes back,as if i try it now.A lot of thinking so....i avoid it

Ask your girls to help you out my friend
Good luck with that algea...i can feel your pain
Hope you'll get rid of it soon!

Hang in there Mike it looks great. I also have some algae issues but not that bad.

Thank you for the support buddy!
Glad you like it:beer:
Really hope you will never have algea problems like in my case!
Hopefully AF did the job

Battling algae is the worst, glad you are coming out on top! The tank is looking really nice right now. I love the new sandbed in there. Keep up the good work

Thank you very much for your kind words buddy:beer:
Much appreciated!
You algea battles are time consuming and psychologically drianing(my god what did i just say)
+1 on the sand comment.Huge difference between bb and now,when you have only a smell amount of rocks!

Hi buddy
Tank has really cleared up nicely mate, keep doing what your doing my friend ;-)

Heyyyyy my friend,thank you so much for the support!
I wish too it will stay clear as it is now!
Maybe then it will give me some appetite for sneaky additions

 

[markalot]

Sorry about the HA issues but good to see you hanging in there! So who's the lazy fish not eating the algae?

 

[glaukos]

Thanks for the support mark:beer:
Now that the rocks are clear he started grazing on them again but before he spend all his time swimming and monitoring what is happening outside of his tank
But then again he can do whatever he wants....i have a very soft spot for him:inlove:

 

[reefmutt]

Mike, the tank is looking great and I'm really impressed with how well the algeafix worked.
Any idea what's in it?
We can't get that in Canada (or Quebec, anyways).. I think it's classified as a pesticide or something..
It's good to know that it works as a last resort.
Since you stopped using it, have you seen any ill effects in the tank or a resurgence of algae?

 

[sahin]

Hey buddy! Sorry about the HA problems. It seems like the tank is settling now. DONT make any changes now. Just let the system mature. My tank got a bad case of Cyano...it looked butt ugly for a while...I just let it run its course and its on its way out. Only 25% left.

Get a bucketload of clean up crew to work on any remaining hair algae - I bought about 5 Trochus snails; now I have about 50 of them in the display; any algae has no chance :lolspin: I havent even run GFO in months. Keep up the water changes and keep the ca/Alk/Mg stable so that coralline algae can take over.

You cant be all soft Mike...I'd have a serious talk with that fish of your and tell him to stop watching you and do more work on grazing. :hammer:

 

[glaukos]

Mike, the tank is looking great and I'm really impressed with how well the algeafix worked.
Any idea what's in it?
We can't get that in Canada (or Quebec, anyways).. I think it's classified as a pesticide or something..
It's good to know that it works as a last resort.
Since you stopped using it, have you seen any ill effects in the tank or a resurgence of algae?

Thanks matt,happy you like it buddy:beer:

I'm really impressed too by the algea fix!
I used it too as my last resort because i was really tired my friend,of putting my hands isnide the tank almost every other day in order to remove HA:mad2:
And that i did for almost 4 months!!!
I never liked medicines because i think they only work as a bandaid but i couldn't do it anymore.
I hope algea won't come back stronger!
It's only one week since my last dose so it's too early to be happy or certain that the results are positive for the long run.
I'll let you know as the days go by.

If you need me i'll see what the bottle says about the contents but i think it mentions only 2-3 and the other are secret to protect the formula.

Hey buddy! Sorry about the HA problems. It seems like the tank is settling now. DONT make any changes now. Just let the system mature. My tank got a bad case of Cyano...it looked butt ugly for a while...I just let it run its course and its on its way out. Only 25% left.

Get a bucketload of clean up crew to work on any remaining hair algae - I bought about 5 Trochus snails; now I have about 50 of them in the display; any algae has no chance :lolspin: I havent even run GFO in months. Keep up the water changes and keep the ca/Alk/Mg stable so that coralline algae can take over.

You cant be all soft Mike...I'd have a serious talk with that fish of your and tell him to stop watching you and do more work on grazing. :hammer:

Thanks for the support my dear friend:beer:

You gave me one really important advice there buddy,regarding not making changes now!Thanks for that:love1:
That battle with HA really took much of my time and patience so i don't have any more strength for changes:-(
The only thing i'm thinking is making one or two sneaky additions(you know...like the old and awesome bello way)

Really glad the cyano issue is in the past for you you!Annoying thing too(like the HA)

You are right about the snails sahin but i was always a bit reluctant,because with no reason and at random times some of them died and that led to some no3 etc
So i decided to have only 3-4 so i can see if they are active or went to the snail heaven
I have two blue toxedo urchins that leave the rocks totally bold from where they pass.
50 snails?You have a bad*** crue there!

Lol with the comment about bb lol
You know my love for that fish sahin not many things i can do
I'll try to have that talk though,to see if he will let a third fish in his tank!

Thanks again buddy!

 

[sahin]

How is the tank doing buddy?

 

[Oldude]

Tank atm looks like this

[/URLQUOTE]

Holy sexiness Mike!

 

[glaukos]

Tank atm looks like this

[/URLQUOTE]

Holy sexiness Mike!

Sorry for the extremely late reply buddy but thank you so much:beer:
Really glad you like it but it has along long way to become something even a little close as beautiful ,as yours!
Congrats for your second totm....legendary!

 

[glaukos]

How is the tank doing buddy?

Hi my dear friend,please forgive me for my late reply:-(
Work,summer and the fact i lost big balls kept me in the backround.
Really appreciate your interest:beer:

Like i said BB died.For the last 3-4 months he developed a small bump in his right side.
As days went by,that bump started looking like a pimple.
Then it bursted and having some concerns regarding possible infection,i quarantined him.
I used furan 2 and things went amazingly!
The wound started healing and day by day got smaller and smaller.
He behaved really good during treatment.He was even more calm than he was in the MT.
For the last 4-5 months he was always nervous,always swimming round and round the tank,even during the night etc.
So after the 10th day i made two big mistakes:-(
I made almost 80-90% WC in QT and i immediately used copper because i was qoing to buy a MI and wanted to be prepared for ick,just in case.
I did that in the morning and when i got back in the house in the evening
he was swimming really weird,with swim bladder symptoms.
I immediately put him in the MT but he continued behaving like that and after 2 days died:-(
Sad day.Had him for over 18 months.
A few pics while in QT


Here it started popping out

and here with huge improvement

Unfortunately i didn't think that a big WC would affect him so much or the immediate use of copper would have such a bad impact to his health
I think that if i was home i'd see his first reactions and place him in the MT asap but i wasn't.

Now i have a MI which eats like a pig,a leucosternon,quasimodo and a chtenochaetus.
Tried to pair the MI but he was soooooooo aggressive towards the new MI that i pulled him out of the tank with my hand.
I've never seen a fish so angry,not even tangs.
He was clearly trying to kill him.Bitting him constantly or hitting him with his "nose".
Removed them both,three times(one went to the sump and the other to QT) but when they came back the fight was even meaner.So i kept the old and gave away the new.
Too bad because he was eating like a pig too,after a lot of efforts.

I wanted to buy another achilles but i decided that it's better to do that in my new tank.
No point in moving him twice.
I've had this tank for 6 years and i want to try something new
Atm i'm trying to decide what the dimensions will be.I've two different thoughts....ah,we'll see:beer:

Sorry for the long post but that's what happens when you don't update your tank regularly

 

[markalot]

Sorry about the fish loss.

 

[mhucasey]

Bummer man...BigBalls shall pass into legend....

 

[glaukos]

And some pics

After AF tank developed some cyano but i thought siphoning and WC would keep it low.
Well it didn't and slowly became a nghtmare.
The weird thing is that during that time coral growth was amazing and colors where really good.It was like cyano or the stuff that was feeding it,were food the corals too.
But i was really bored to put hands in the tank again,that previous fight with HA wore me down.
So for the first time i decided to use chemical help.
I used aquamedic anti red and i think a bit more than the suggested dosage.I siphoned the dying parts and tank was crystal clear after a couple of days.BUT after a week it came back,lol
Have absolutely no strength left to fight it so i'll leave it alone.
Maybe i'll use bacteria aggressively or feed more or both.
No3-0
po4-0
Have absolutely no clue what's wrong.
Even put some more rock in the sump just in case that the fact i didn't use much rock,affects the bacterial population.
During the night and in the first hours of the morning there is ABSOLUTELY no sing of cyano.It develops after 9-10pm and around the time that lights go out,there are only some bubbles left.

So the tank looks like this now

 

[glaukos]

some more
You can see some of the cyano at the right

 

[dg3147]

I curse cyano! Been there plenty of times in my old tank, eventually siphoning will get the job done. In my current tank I dose this...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=28146

It's a bacterial additive so no antibiotics in the water. Seems to work for me in my current system. May be worth trying....they make a larger size too.

 

[glaukos]

and some pics from my mobile with the actinic bulbs only.
My camera can't catch that light:-(
Check that growth to this mille,even with that nasty cyano issue i'm dealing
It looked like this before 2 months shy


Do i have to say sorry again for my photo skills guys???:-(
Sorry for the bad pics lol,