d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
DamonG
New member
Hey Dennis.. Hope your cheato rebounds.. And the new additions are awesome.. I wanted to share a pic of the tub progress with you.. Lol, you said I was insane, and you just might be right.. It's all the way down of course. And that's in a 40 gallon stock tub, 2 weeks growth from a ball about softball size.. It took a little bit, and mine did like yours because of the scrubber, but it's back in business now.. And of course, the display is crystal clear.. It's actually longer now, and I had to basically roll it over to the left.. It's covering about half of the tub completely..haha, thanks!
That reminds me that I have an update on the cheato.
It's seems as though it had reached it's peak around the time of that video or a little after.
It has since been breaking down and sending my skimmer in to a bit of a frenzy.
The tank looks good, nitrates are still low at around 2 ppm.
But my latest (2nd) ICP test showed that p04 has sky rocketed, which makes sense.
Not sure what to make of it, so just observing for now.
Best case, the cheato rebounds at some point and starts growing again.
Worst case, I take out the remaining and start with a fresh ball.
It's been several weeks already.
If I do decide to remove the remaining cheato I'll go ahead and add the divider to the sump to separate cheato from other macros and begin trimming as it grows too big.
From note 5.. rip note 7
d2mini
Premium Member
lol, yeah.... you cheato crazy.
Good to know, thanks!
I think I'm gonna do a clean-out and start fresh in there.
Just been crazy busy. Haven't even checked to see if any of the other macros still exist.
I'll go back to trimming. Had to see what would happen though! Fun little experiment.
Thanks!
3 Wyoming White Clown juveniles
3 Lyretail Anthias
1 Naoko's Wrasse
1 Springeri Damsel
1 Squaretail Bristletooth Tang
Heuristic
New member
Awesome, thanks. I'm trying to figure out what lens I want to get to help take better pics of fish. I have a nifty-fifty that's pretty good, but it's limited.
d2mini
Premium Member
No word from triton.
I expected some die-off, but this is more than I'm comfortable with, especially with the p04 being off the charts high.
Get the Tamron 90mm. I used that one for years. Probably has 95% of the optical quality of the Nikon 105 and just has more plastic/less weather protection, and comes in a non-vibration reduction version which you don't needs and makes it cheaper.
d2mini
Premium Member
So in order to get a handle on the p04 spike and be able to grow more than cheato I made some changes today.
I completely cleaned out the sump and tossed at least 95% of the chaeto.
Kept just a small ball, and the only other macro that survived was the red Bryothamnion.
So i got some egg crate and created a divider.
Cheato in the back, other macros up front.
Will see how this works out.
And the p04... probably from the half inch thick floor of detritus.
Who needs Miracle Mud?!
I completely cleaned out the sump and tossed at least 95% of the chaeto.
Kept just a small ball, and the only other macro that survived was the red Bryothamnion.
So i got some egg crate and created a divider.
Cheato in the back, other macros up front.
Will see how this works out.
And the p04... probably from the half inch thick floor of detritus.
Who needs Miracle Mud?!
Scorpius
Stick Head
I cleaned out my sump as well today. Even with filter socks I was amazed and ashamed at all the detritus in my refugium. I removed almost all my live rock from the sump and hid my Siporax in a shaded area by my filter sock to avoid algae growth. I also trimmed my Chaeto way back and I still can't get rid of the cotton candy algae growing in it.
Live and learn!!!
Live and learn!!!
Indiana Reefin
Garrett
Really nice tanks Dennis!!! I love the Elos tanks. I have owned both a midi and a mini elos. When I grow up some day I will buy a large elos lol.
Do you have any pics of your Nano?
I am going to put my fluval spec V in my office here soon. Watch out for my build in the nano reef section.
Do you have any pics of your Nano?
I am going to put my fluval spec V in my office here soon. Watch out for my build in the nano reef section.
d2mini
Premium Member
janci
New member
And the p04... probably from the half inch thick floor of detritus.
Who needs Miracle Mud?!
Sump detritus... that is why I still like my filter socks.
Many say they are a NO3 source, but it only takes 5 minutes, maybe twice a week, to replace them and it keeps your sump clean.
Good luck with the macro algae!!
anbosu
New member
I would guess in his case they came in with the live rock. Urchins are great algae eaters, but they tend to bulldoze frags and move things around the tank where you don't want them. Really cool animals and if you don't have SPS they are probably fine in you display.
sde1500
Active member
Gotta say I love my urchin. It seems people always suggest some sort of snail or fish to deal with algae, but not often an urchin. Picked one up a couple weeks ago and it is leaving trails of glistening white rock behind it, where algae used to be.
d2mini
Premium Member
This doesn't apply to all.
The ones in the sump are purple short spine urchins that like to pick things up and carry them around. Like Tuxedo Urchins. That's why they are in my sump. Still good algae eaters though.
For your display, BLACK short spine or long spine are awesome.
Great at keeping the rocks clean, don't pick things up/move things around. Even the long spines are surprisingly gently around coral, maybe even more so than the short spine ones.
Only downside is they grow fast.
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