GOFOR'S 52" X 36" X 26" CDA Peninsula & SoCal Tank Room Build

Thanks! I've actually never had an issue with Yellow Longnose Butterfly fish... I've had them with SPS, LPS, and clams. They are usually looking for worms and little crustaceans on the rockwork. I guess it's always a risk when it is a butterfly fish though.

I'm really curious how the zoas do once they are out of timeout under your tank! I love your fish.
 
I'm really curious how the zoas do once they are out of timeout under your tank! I love your fish.

Trust me, me too! My goal is to introduce a variety of corals at the same time so that I give everything a chance to not be aggressively picked on. But, worst case, my coral QT (Waterbox 20) is a permanently set up tank that I can always move the coral back to.

Not sure what the timeline will be on introducing corals, but I'll have a better idea once all of the tangs are in the tank and I know where my nutrient levels will be.
 
FISH UPDATES


Hey Guys,


It has been a while since I last provided an update with any substance. In part, that was due to me simply being extremely busy, but I've also run into a few issues. I'll start with some fun updates"¦


I added what I expect to be some of the last fish residents for the tank that I'll be adding for a little while (I'll likely add some more wrasses or other smaller fish later), here is my team of tangs that will hopefully keep the peace AND clean up any algae that pops up in the tank"¦



Powder Blue Tang: in my opinion, one of the prettiest tangs out there, and made it through my QT very easily (as did all of my tangs). He seems to still be sizing up the other tangs and my Starry Blenny (who tells him to "œGet off my lawn" every now and then), but, at this point, he seems to be all flare with no substance behind his threats"¦ the supermodel of the group.
B8xJ3pn.jpg


wuFnCli.jpg


QFYobLs.jpg


Purple Tang: out of the Zebrasoma genus, one of my favorites. Not many fish with it's deep purple, almost blue coloration, and the intricate lines running laterally down its body make this fish stunning.
2xICjn0.jpg


6i4kmPk.jpg


Whitetail Bristletooth Tang: not to be outdone by the prior two tangs, and one of the prettiest tangs in the "œBristletooth" family, this guy is a worker and has very underrated colors/details. A nice deep purple rim, with a deep red body, yellow eyes, and a bright white tail"¦ the beauty of this fish is really hard to capture in a picture.
MYRBAd7.jpg



And the grazers are at work...

TntBMVt.jpg




Interesting story (that may be of interest only to me) leading up to me placing the tangs into the tank"¦ in preparation of introducing the Moorish Idol and the Regal Angelfish into the tank, I turned the lights on a week in advance to promote some algae growth on the rocks so the MI and Regal would have stuff to pick on throughout the day if they decided to go on a hunger strike when first introduced (which didn't happen). Thinking that since my excess nutrient levels were at good levels (Nitrates at around 7ppm and Phosphates at about .10), that excess algae growth would not be a problem. Something I didn't take into consideration was the fact that I was going to feed my tank significantly more than I had before once I introduced the MI and Regal to make sure they were eating a wide variety of foods, and the resulting byproduct that ultimately fed the very little algae already present in the tank. Long story short (or maybe a medium-sized one), my tank went through a little bit of a hair algae outbreak. So, while I waited for all of my tangs to go through QT (which was over a month since I didn't have room to QT them all in the same tank and wanted to introduce them all at once), I had to take a toothbrush to my rock and siphon as much of the hair algae out as I could two times before my tangs would make their debut. I honestly was a little concerned with whether or not my tangs would be able to make a dent in the rainforest of algae (slight exaggeration, but still) that was now in my tank. All of my planning to try and avoid the "œugly phase" and here it is, staring me straight in the face.



So, I figured I would just add the tangs and see what kind of dent they could make, then help them out in a week or so if they couldn't keep up with the algae growth. Well, I am EXTREMELY happy to say they took out ALL of the hair algae within 24 hours of being introduced to the tank. There is still some green algae that coats part of the rock and keeps them busy, but it looks MUCH, MUCH better. Just waiting now for the calcareous algae to start popping up.



And not to be outdone by the tangs, I also picked up a very beautiful fish that I hope won't hide TOO much"¦



Helfrichi Firefish: I hesitated in adding this fish to the tank because of its shy nature, but it is just such a pretty fish. With that in mind, I initially placed him in one of those acclimation boxes that you attach via a magnet on the side of the tank. Apparently, he did not agree and, after about 36 hours, decided he would wiggle his way through one of the slits in the acclimation box and find his home in the tank. I guess he was ready, since for now, he does not seem to get bullied by anyone and just cruises in the current waiting for bits of food. Hard to get a good picture of him though"¦
 
NOT-SO-GREAT UPDATES


As for the not-so-great updates"¦ I've lost a few fish. First up was my Firefish, who somehow found his way through my mesh top and I found laying on top of the euro-bracing of the tank (this happened before the Tangs were introduced). Then I lost my Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish to what I suspect was bullying by the Moorish Idol. I noticed it mostly at feeding, where the MI would essentially charge the YLB if they were going after the same food and would sometimes even nip at him. I didn't think anything of it and thought it would settle down after a while (especially since I feed so much), but then I noticed what looked to be a slight discoloration (a darker spot) on the YLB, and his appetite being suppressed, then ultimately him passing. Finally, I lost my McCosker's Flasher wrasse, which is a bit more of a mystery, although I think it may have been due largely to the addition of all of the tangs, because it seemed shortly after they were introduced, he simply went into hiding (along with my Royal Gramma) and did not want to come out. It's odd since I don't see the tangs ever interact with any of the other fish except for the Starry Blenny (as noted before). Some of these deaths could also be explained by my other update below, but I inspected the bodies very thoroughly and did not see ANY signs of disease/parasites before or after they passed.


The other not-so-great update"¦ something may have gotten through my QT (or could have been introduced by the two fish I had someone else QT for me "“ not placing blame on anyone, just saying that it was either my oversight in QT protocol, or the one other source I received the fish from). I don't know what the parasite/illness is yet, but I first noticed a few spots with no flashing or behavioral signs on my Moorish Idol. My first thought was that it very likely was lymphocystis since I know that my YLB had this during quarantine, and while it is not curable, it also is not deadly. Then, I figured that if anything was in the tank, it would show up on the tangs, so I figured they would be my "œcanaries" of the tank. After about a 10 days in the DT, I did notice a few spots on the Purple Tang's body (none on the fins) but no behavioral signs, and then those slowly went away (again was thinking lympho here). Then the Powder Blue Tang had 2 or 3 spots on the body (none on the fins) with no behavioral signs, which also slowly went away. Having said that, since the spots have gone away, I have seen the Powder Blue Tang flash here and there. So, I decided, before I even entertain the thought of taking all of my fish out and placing them into quarantine, I would try dosing Hydrogen Peroxide for about 2 months to see if that would address whatever is in the tank. I'm about 2 weeks into this and still don't see any spots on the fish, have seen some flashing here and there by the PBT but everyone is eating great and behaving. So, we'll see what happens, but I wanted to give you guys the GOOD and the BAD of this build"¦ and this is the first roadblock that I will have to navigate.
 
I'm pretty sure we all know where the lymph in your tank came from.

Anything we can do about resizing the pics? Tangs look great btw.
 
GETTING READY FOR CORALS PART II- ACCUMULATING CORALS IN QT


One good part of having a coral QT is that it is a pretty good excuse to have another aquarium. As I had mentioned before, I bought a Waterbox 20 Cube to act as my coral/invert QT, and so far, so good! My plan was to always go a little cheaper with the equipment on this tank, but to not skimp on quality. With that said, I'm running two AI Prime 16HDs, which are more than capable of providing the spread and PAR that I need for whatever type of coral I have in there. I also just recently upgraded my flow, from a really small Korallia pump (I already had one on hand), to the AI Nero 3.


OAnSmOtm.jpg



Also, to keep up with the calcium/alkalinity uptake, I had been just doing 25% weekly water changes along with topping off with Kalkwasser. This has been working fine, but was always going to be temporary, since I don't really like the inconsistency dosing kalk in your auto top-off brings, and when I start QT'ing the more difficult corals like Acros, I'll need more stability. So, I bought a Kamoer X1 Bluetooth Micropump to separately dose my kalk.


M0cM0ISm.jpg



And all the while, I've been picking up some corals (and a clam) here and there for the first wave of corals to be introduced to the DT.


Sx5bVAgm.jpg


N3iGyp8m.jpg


niB3ODxm.jpg



Here is the list so far:

Blue Maxima Clam
JF Beach Bum Montipora
ASD Rainbow Phoenix Montipora?
Bubblegum Digitata
Space Invader Pectina
Firework Clove Polyps
Mint Green Duncan
Green/Purple/Orange Lobo
Koji Wada Pink Nepthea Leather
WWC AOI Zoas
Bowzer Zoas
Rainbow Lord
Red/Green Blasto
Red Blasto
Hammer Garden (orange tip, bi-color, green stem/purple tip)
Mia's Pot of Gold Favia
Baby's Breath Favia
Jawbreaker Mushroom
WWC Fruit Loop Goni
And the good news is that all of the corals are doing great. I just have a few Nassarius snails in the sand bed along with a few Trochus snails to eat any algae that pops up, and I feed the Nassarius snails some pellets here and there, and the corals get a couple of broadcast feedings a week with Phytoplankton and/or some Polyp Lab Reef Roids.


The only pests that have popped up so far is some bubble algae (which is isolated right now to the clam shell and I'll likely treat the tank with Vibrant to eradicate), and a few aiptasia that I think I've eliminated with some F-Aiptasia.


Now onto the continued prepping of the DT...
 
GETTING READY FOR CORALS PART III- NUTRIENTS & SUPPLEMENTATION IN THE DT


Hey Guys, it has definitely been a while, so I'll catch you up on the progress of the tank.


The tank went through a decent ugly phase (despite my best efforts to avoid this). To help move things along though, I used Brightwell's Microbacter Clean to rid the rocks and sand-bed of some sort of algae that was building up, and it just so happens that this stuff really worked. I unfortunately don't have any "œbefore-and-after" pictures, but went pretty aggressive with my approach for about one month, where I added the product daily at the recommended dosage, and then I would do one weekly manual water change (in addition to my automated water changes) where I would scrub the rock and siphon as much of the algae out as I could. I say the product works because, despite my manual removal of algae, I did notice that, not only did the algae's growth slow after about a week to 10 days of use, but I also noticed that the algae came off the rocks MUCH easier as the weeks passed. From my understanding, the product is intended to make it easier to remove nuisance film/algae from surfaces, rather than be relied upon to remove those items by itself, so a little elbow grease is necessary for the product to work its magic (I also went through a few rolls of my fleece filter roller during this time). After about a month of dosing Microbacter Clean, I switched over to Microbacter 7 since I saw some cyano on the sandbed and spots of filamentous algae popping up. After two weeks of dosing Microbacter 7, the sandbed and rocks are all looking pretty good. In fact, I can actually see a ton of coralline algae spots growing, so it looks like the tank is finally ready for the first phase of corals. Here is where the tank stands now:


Major Element/Ion Supplementation:


Now that my nutrient levels are on par and I'm not growing a forest of algae, I've started the process of getting the major elements/ions in optimal ranges and testing this on a regular basis. My approach with supplementing the major elements (Ca/Alk/Mg) is somewhat gradual.

aznfdTEm.jpg

8YZBFOLm.jpg

rJBoRyem.jpg

V8k5FpIm.jpg


DAY 1: At first, with only coralline algae and elemental needs, I'll just try to get away with dosing kalkwasser, which I have been dosing separately from my ATO using the Ecotech Versa continuous duty peristaltic pump. My limitation here is that I will only be dosing a maximum of 5 gallons of kalkwasser per week so that I only have to mix it up in a 5 gallon bucket and swap it out (easy maintenance). I might just get a bigger bucket or a Kalk reactor if I find I'm going through kalkwasser faster than this.
DAY 2: Eventually, I will add on dosing using a modified version of the Balling Method (dosing 2-part using the BRS Calcium/Alkalinity, and using the Tropic Marin Part C). The reason I've decided, at least initially, to go with the Balling Method is purely to maintain stability among the major ions as much as possible (since the Part C is dosing all of the elements EXCEPT for sodium chloride so as to achieve ionic balance and avoid instability in salinity), and to try and keep my pH up.
DAY 3: Ultimately, I may add on a Calcium Reactor for the long-term. Having said that, like I said before, I'm not sure I will ever completely move away from dosing kalkwasser due to its benefits in increasing pH, and I also really like the "œtunability" of the 2-part dosing, where I can dose to my tanks needs (not sure if Alkalinity and Calcium will be consumed at different rates). I might even go with a 3-in-1 approach eventually, dosing Kalkwasser for the pH benefits, run a Ca Reactor to provide the main Ca/Alk supplementation, then use the 2-part dosing to account for any uneven consumption rates between Ca/Alk or elevate any one element.

BGi9XKMm.jpg

chmOXXTm.jpg



And how will I make sure I am within these optimal ranges? Well, I do have a few test kits on hand, but I actually bit the bullet and took advantage of the Black Friday deals several months ago (plus a decent amount of store credit I had built up) and got the Neptune Trident. I'll continue to test Alk/Ca/Mag on a somewhat regular basis (to make sure the Trident is doing its job), but my testing schedule just got A LOT easier.

CZBnmSom.jpg



pH Goals:


Something that I didn't really concern myself with on my last tank was trying to keep my pH up. I don't plan on taking any extreme measures at this point, but I'll use this time to see where my pH is at with my Ca/Alk/Mg at optimal levels and with the lights on, and determine what, if anything, I need to do in order to get it as close to 8.3 as possible. More of a Day 2 item (or in my case, Day 202 or so).
 
How do you like the Versa so far? How would you rate the noise level compared to the Neptune DOS?

Hey Cody... I had a minor mishap when I first started running it (the tubing needed to be replaced as it was not sealed properly), but Ecotech was right on it and sent me a replacement only days after I notified them of the problem. After that though, it has worked like a champ and is VERY quiet. If dosing constantly at low speeds you can't even hear it. The only time you can hear it is when you're dosing a decent amount over a short period (e.g., 50 ml over 1 minute), but even then it is quieter than the DOS.

Having said that, since all of my sump equipment is remote/outside, I can't even hear the Versa OR the DOS.
 
Back
Top