Cody's 34g Solana, round two!

[cody6766]

I'd rather avoid live sand too. You don't know the conditions under which it's been stored, and don't know how 'live' it is. I'd rather get my live from a scoop of sand from an established tank or three and a rock from the same. Biodiversity is great, so long as it's not pest biodiversity.

 

[reeferaddict]

just set up the same tank- I also used washed sand from an older tank. Haven't had any issues yet- the LR was fully cycled and all livestock came from the same tank.
What was the 1st sign that the sand was causing trouble? I've been told to watch for phosphates- so far only got a light diatom bloom

 

[cody6766]

I had the normal diatom bloom and the tank looked like it was progressing normally. I added fish and corals and the corals looked stressed. I tossed in a bit of birds nest from my 120 and it died in a few days (confirmation that something wasn't right). I pulled the other corals and let the fish ride it out for a bit. Algae started to grow on the rocks and back wall and the tank started to get cloudy. It was gradual and seemed to get worse as the day went on. I think the cloudy water might have been bacterial, but I'm not sure. I'm guessing it was because it got better when the lights were off and got more and more cloudy as the day went on. The tank is cloudy again (maybe the rock is also problematic), but the zoas on the LR that can't be removed look like they might be doing fine. I haven't really given them a good look because I'm just letting the tank run and not paying a lot of attention to it. Getting new rock, or acid washing what I have is going to be the next step, but the sand bed was definitely part of the problem. I find it odd that the rock would make this tank cloudy, but not the tank it came from before being added, literally within a 30-45 minute span of time between removal, gluing the scape and adding to the new tank. If it doesn't clear in a week or two, I'll probably go after the rock. I have the luxury of time since I have the BioCube running for the fish and consider the zoas expendable.

For your tank, just watch it and keep an eye out for struggling corals. They are the most sensitive and will show the first signs of trouble.

 

[reeferaddict]

what kinda time frame before issues began to arise?

I've had the 2 large LPS and a dozen or so frags and until 2 days ago all were doing great. the fish have been good the entire time... 1 is a purple psuedo that I really wanna remove.... trying a bottle trap

All my levels have stayed in check expect I overdosed calcium, or somehow miss matched the 2 part dose and calcium began to precipitate out of the water- the abrasion was rough on my frogspawn and it lost 2-3 heads
Cutting off the PH until I got my Ca and Alk back in line seemed to reduce any further damage. but now its crystal clear again-

Did you ever do any tests?

thanks a ton

 

[reeferaddict]

by PH... i meant powerhead not Ph, lol

I really think what damaged the LPS's was the particulate matter being abrasive and the flow just made it worse..

I only have a RW-4 in the 34gl and it seems to be too much for my LPS on every setting

 

[cody6766]

what kinda time frame before issues began to arise?

Probably a month to 6 weeks, but I'm not sure.

Did you ever do any tests?

I test Mg, alk and Ca in my 120g from time to time. I don't check for nitrogen compounds unless I feel the need, since I'm normally really cautious when adding to a new tank. I also have a few larger SPS colonies that I'll harvest for test frags. If they make it, I start adding. It's not the best practice, but it normally keeps me safe and I've been at it long enough to know when something's out of whack. I guess I'm a good example of 'do what I say, not as I do' since I cut some corners that I'm comfortable cutting. I'm by no means a pro (or I would have done this right), but I'm not a newbie either.

Watch your corals and see if they get better. If not, test and see where things are and be ready to set up a 10g as a holding tank if you need to. They're only about $10, so having one around is cheap insurance.

 

[reeferaddict]

Thanks for the info- I'll keep an eye on it I had expected problems to arise sooner if the sand was going to be an issue... I used sand that was taken from a tank- and thoroughly washed w RO- dried and stored. I added about 3-4 cups of sand from a fellow reefers tank to seed it. The corals are all doing good now- I lost 2 heads of a frogspawn but it has 10-15 more so it'll be OK I think.. I am almost positive it was the abrasion of the particulate calcium that damaged the soft LPS tissue bc I have a bigger Hammer that gets less flow and it just didnt open for a few days.. the frogspawn gets more flow and I think that was the factor that did it in...

I have a 10gl around hope I dont need it.
As of now my nitrates are fairly low still and phos are getting a bit worse.. so we'll see

 

[cherubfish pair]

Cody, are you going to get an anemone? I've had such bad luck with them. Do you know where online I could get a medium sized one? The only ones I've been able to find online are really small and my cuc usually kills them.

 

[cody6766]

Today is a good day. My clowns will probably be moving back from the temporary BioCube to the Solana. I'm 99% sure the cloudy water was caused from a persistent bacterial bloom. I added a small UV sterilizer to the return line (JBJ, I think...I can't believe I forgot) and the tank cleared in about 3 days. The zoas and palys that were stuck to the LR were open the whole time and my Nitrates and Nitrites tested as undetectable on my API kits. There was also a hold over turbo snail that I missed when I emptied everything that is doing just fine. I'll start moving things over soon, slowly, to make sure it all pulls through.

Cody, are you going to get an anemone? I've had such bad luck with them. Do you know where online I could get a medium sized one? The only ones I've been able to find online are really small and my cuc usually kills them.

Yes. I have had bad luck too, in all of my tanks, so I'm starting with a GBTA. One of my LFSs had a sale and I got a really nice one for $25. It's probably 3-4" right now. I haven't looked online for nems, but I know live aquaria sells them. I have 4-5 good stores within an hour, spread across OKC, so I can find everything I need here. It's nice not to have to order online and deal with shipping. This one looks like it's going to pull through. The last on I added to this tank, earlier on, quickly hid and then withered and died. This one settled on the bottom and looks nice and bubbly. It looks like it's going to work so far. If it does, I'll probably pick up at least one rose, but maybe a few different morphs. One of my local guys gets some really cool BTAs in from time to time, and he's very fair on pricing.

 

[cody6766]

Update: all is well with this tank. I just moved some corals over today, and shot a couple of cell phone pics. The uv sterilizer has been a success and the coals that have been in there are growing. Here are a few pics. I've had that Lobo for about 6 years. It's been moved from OK to FL, then back. It's probably been in 6 different tanks along the way.

 

[cody6766]

More pics from today. fts, just different angles