Diary of my LiL 40 Gallon Breeder(Intense)

Well it's been a long road folks...:)

I had to perform surgery on two pieces of rock to remove caulerpa racemosa. This stuff is amazing- it started growing on two pieces of seemingly dead rock. By dead rock I mean that these peices previously had caulerpa racemosa, yet the pieces were allowed to completely die off for at least 3- 4 weeks. They were then added to the tank. Three weeks later- presto...Caulerpa Racemosa...resiliant to say the least.

There was a small section I trimmed down that is now covered by a mushroom rock- this doesn't seem to be a problem, and there is a small piece growing from underneath a rock. The growth is very slow this time, so it's quite manageable.

Tiny peices of valonia have formed and dissipated, and as usual, when my tank is going through stress, I will get a tiny patch of cyano that can never take hold.

Diatoms have been outrageous. I've only seen a few pods, so my pod population still hasn't reasserted itself. All of the power heads have been laden with deep algae...fuzzy algae...hair algae..the works. The blue legs have done a decent job on some of it...when they can reach it.

I added a sally light foot crab. This guy is an absolute miracle worker. It can climb glass....reach the power heads...and pick polish them clean. I've watched him eat both detritus and algae. He's definately one of the neatest creatures.

Right now the power heads are finally free of detritus, and they are looking very clean. Even the intakes look gunk free...
Most of the detritus, sand, and algae on the rocks seems to be clearing up. The blue legs are doing a great job, and the tank is starting to settle down.
 
I never realized the importance of crabs in a reef setup before. When my tank was crabless, I never blew off the rocks when I probably should have. With the scavengers, it is hardly necessary.

After the little battles and the mini cycles, I have finally added the last of the live rock. The tank looks really good right now, and I am very pleased with my new aquascaping.

I am also very pleased with most of my livestock selection. I say most because as I am happy with the new growth on most of my corals, something that was lacking with some of the poorer initial choices, my choice of a carpet anemone and fire clown may be a problem.

The female fire clown is WAY too aggressive. This makes it very difficult to work on the tank. The male fire clown is skittish and will not fully bond with her. There are a few factors that have contributed to this. First, the maroon clown keeps this dynamic from coming to fruition. It's amazing, because as much as they CAN fight, I've noticed the Maroon and male fire acting like mates.

In fact, the two were actually "sleeping" with each other tonight. My tank is just bizarre sometimes...:)

My goal was to get rid of the maroon clown at the last club meeting, but unforntunately I was unable to attend. I've since added a lavender pseudochromis- a FANTASTIC fish that has really taken to my tank- yet I worry about the carpet.

...and of course my bioload is WAY too high.

I need to rectify some of these issues..and soon.

The carpet has been fine, but when I went up to the cape for Thanksgiving I decided to leave the lights on the tank off. I ended up staying for longer than I had expected and when I returned home the carpet was exactly where he should be. The problem arose when I turned the lights back on(I had decided to leave the tank dark durring my trip).

The carpet went for a walk- presumably to follow the newfound light. He ended up where I thought it was IMPOSSIBLE for him to be...along the back wall of the tank crammed behind a wall of rock:rolleyes: This was following him making love to my power head inlet. Luckily, he's a big enough carpet not to get shredded, and I was quick in cutting off the powerhead so he can move again.

Over the course of the week he has moved down the my rock to the front of the tank. He seems to be content in his new spot, yet he's imbedded his foot in the rock work- curious for a Haddoni that prefers sand.

I'm a bit concerned because the spot he is in does not allow for much growth, and now with the added rock; and having to cover his original spot to fit the rest, there is not much open sandbed for him.

In the upcoming week I'm going to have to make some quick decisions on which livestock stays and goes.
 
I've had a problem with a film on the top of the water. This quickly turns green from the wiping of algae off the glass. Since my tank is settling in finally, this shouldn't continue to be an issue.

One noteworthy thing is the difference in distilled water from store to store. I've recently switched back to using distilled water from Walmart exclusively. Compared to distilleds from Stop and Shop, Big Y, and Walbaums, the Walmart brand seems to have the least phosphates. Poland Spring's distilled isn't any better.

Most of the grocery store distilleds are steam distilled, while the Walmart is reverse osmosis and ozinated, and believe it or not, the difference is noticeable.

It's possible that the grocery store brands have traces of copper if they use the old style copper steam coils.

Thankfully, the Walmart water is the most affordable..:)
 
As I've said earlier, all my corals are exhibiting new growth. However, I have noticed that some of the corals that start out tealer, or even blue, tend to exhibit more greens in my tank. Now this is not definitive, because I think it might just be my eyes getting used to too much blue light. I'm going to try documenting this with some macro shots over the next couple of months.

I finally got around to a long overdue water change today. I emptied out over one third of the tank- almost 13 gallons, and I added 11 plus the last batch of live rock. Since I updated last, this is the second batch that has been readded. My tank now has approximately 60lbs. of Brazilian live rock and over 10lbs. of fiji live rock.

This 70+ lbs. was only added at the rate of about 10-12lbs. over the last few months as I patiently waited for the proper amount of die off coupled with careful observation of the newly added rock. 60 lbs. are the tank's original rock, and the other 10+lbs. were added with the addition of new livestock across the course of a year and a half. I even added some coral skeletons which I thought would make good pod shelters as they buffered calc.

Hopefully, the saga of the Caulerpa Racemosa had finally ended...:mixed:

I've added a few goodies over the course of the last month. I'm going to try and get an updated stocking list and some new pics up soon. I'll throw up a pic of the final aquascaping with all the live rock FINALLY back in the tank.

All hail the pods! Return soon please....:D
 
These pics were taken right after the large water change I just did, so the water is a little cloudy and the corals are closed up:
Tank1.jpg
100_0423.jpg
bluemush1.jpg

Blue Mushrooms
blueric1.jpg

Blue Rics
acan2.jpg

Acan. Subenchinita?
acan1.jpg
Paly1.jpg

Protopalythoa sp?
 
I love this thread! It is like reading "reality" book about reefkeeping. All the ups and downs.

And my hat is off to you for staying strong and getting through it all. It looks like you are getting back in business!
 
Hey man....I just stumbled across this thread and read it from start to finish. What an amazing thread and amazing story as well. Congrats on sticking through so much...there are a lot of people that would have called it quits a LONG time ago. I think that it has definitely paid off for you in the end and I think the tank looks great....I really like the final aquascaping although I really enjoyed drooling over those amazing clams that you had for a while there. Were they lost in the tanks issues :(

I will definitely continue to follow this thread and keep up the great work there....looks like you have a quite a nice collection of lps, zoas, and rics going there....something to be proud of for sure.

Adam
 
divecj5, thanks it's been a long road!

The clams were lost in tank issues...I believe it ended up being a combination of temperature issues....my angel picking on them...and pinched mantle disease....@sigh@

I am itching to try a clam again...hopefully I can find a nice healthy one soon..:)

Tyler, I was going to go to the November one, but I stayed in the cape an extra day...I was sick as a dog anyway...

I overslept for the last meeting..:rolleyes:

I caught a black Stomatella and a green Stomatella mating this morning....where's the Barry White cd?! :P

Lovin my dining room again..
100_0507.jpg
 
fia..when you start a new tank...cover the fresh sand bed with a large black trash bag- then slowly add the water so that the sand bed doesn't shift and you don't end up with a dust cloud of mirky water..;)
 
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