High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

Latest FTS.
 

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Very nice Dawn!!!
Thanks Jesse. I am pleased to be in that place where my tank is at a sweet spot. Nearly all the Coral are flourishing and thriving and all the fish are getting along with each other, ( well, except the 3 feisty damsels, but hey, they are damsels and that's what they do!)
 
“Sweet spot” is dynamic equilibrium at its best:
  1. a state of balance between continuing processes.
PS. It’s the only thing I remember from Chemical Oceanorgraphy 101. Glad your system is smiling at you. 🤗
Ha ha Patrick, the 'operative' word being dynamic! Things are always changing and at the moment they are in a balance state which makes me really happy. I am rejoicing in that but realistic enough to know that things can change, and probably eventually will. It's all part of reef aquaria. You and I have been at this long enough to also know that when our tanks are not at their best that that too can and will change. And after so many years of doing this, hopefully our changes are much more subtle.
 
I have noticed lately how steadily Tommy, my tomini tang picks and grazes on the rocks, gracilaria and now the codium. He very effectively keeps nuisance algae at a minimum in those areas and I am coming to really appreciate what he brings to the tank in terms of maintenance that I do not have to do! LOL. He is more than just a pretty face, I mean pretty fish!
 

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Right on Dawn. I am thoroughly enjoying my Tomini Tang as well! Nice pic! Looks like everything is humming along nicely.
Yes, my tank is in a sweet spot at the moment. Everything looks so nice and healthy. I am wondering if the new LED light fixture suits the Coral more than the T5s. I was always a die hard T5 gal but there are definitely some very nice features to the LEDs like built in timer, remote controller for customizing the color and intensity, low profile over the tank and 14" above the tank for easy access. Whatever the reason I am going to enjoy this season!
 
Today I did a risky treatment in an attempt to help my green BTA to thrive. All my animals except this GBTA are doing great, but the nem continues to inflate under lighting but then it shrivels to almost nothing when the lights are going down. I read from a nem keeper who has successfully treated this condition that it is the result of a bacterial infection in the gut. He suggests removing the nem to a hospital tank and treating with Cipro.

My nem is attached to a dead coral skeleton that I would be afraid of damaging it's foot should I try to remove it. I am also not sure how I could get Cipro either.

However, I do have a medicine chest of marine antibiotics left over from my seahorses and Furan 2 was effective at treating bacterial infections of the gut in the seahorses.

I may be taking a foolish risk to my entire tank to help this 1 nem but I soaked pellets in a very very small amount of Furan 2. Then I turned off my pump and fed those pellets to the nem. At this very moment the nem is consuming the pellets. I attached a pic. I plan to watch the nem and the tank very closely in the next few days. Wish me luck!
 

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Today I did a risky treatment in an attempt to help my green BTA to thrive. All my animals except this GBTA are doing great, but the nem continues to inflate under lighting but then it shrivels to almost nothing when the lights are going down. I read from a nem keeper who has successfully treated this condition that it is the result of a bacterial infection in the gut. He suggests removing the nem to a hospital tank and treating with Cipro.

My nem is attached to a dead coral skeleton that I would be afraid of damaging it's foot should I try to remove it. I am also not sure how I could get Cipro either.

However, I do have a medicine chest of marine antibiotics left over from my seahorses and Furan 2 was effective at treating bacterial infections of the gut in the seahorses.

I may be taking a foolish risk to my entire tank to help this 1 nem but I soaked pellets in a very very small amount of Furan 2. Then I turned off my pump and fed those pellets to the nem. At this very moment the nem is consuming the pellets. I attached a pic. I plan to watch the nem and the tank very closely in the next few days. Wish me luck!
Good luck Dawn.
 
I looked in my display and saw a crumpled coral banded shrimp and thought, " Oh no, I just killed Crusty because of the treatment for the GBTA!"

It turns out that what I was looking at was Crusty's molt! Whew, what a relief. I was thinking if the nem's treatment killed Crusty a mere half hour after I started it, I was really in trouble with the rest of the tank.
 
How many fish do you have?
Yes, that smooth sailing can be fleeting. Actually I think the nem looks a bit better today after it's 2nd dose. Who knows, maybe me taking an action is just a placebo, but it's definitely no worse. The rest of the tank looks as good as it has been.

For me, the fish count in the 56 gallon display is:
3 Yellow tail Damsels, Thing 1, Thing 2 and Thing 3
1 Barnacle blenny, Barney
1 Ocellaris clownfish, Ozzie
1 Tomini tang, Tommy
1 Royal Gramma, Monarch
1 Midas blenny, Charlie Brown
1 Yellow watchman goby, Guardian
1 Coral Beauty angel, Angelica
1 Pajama cardinalfish, PJ
30 gallon Refugium:
1 True Percula clownfish, Perky
1 Green Citrin goby, Jet
For a total of 13 fish! Hey, isn't that the same as you????
 
Here is pic of the nem today. It's mouth looks clean and closed, not gaping. It's more inflated than it has been, so I don't know. I feel optimistic. I plan to treat 5-7 days and then let the nem be. I have other antibiotics but I am not going to try another. This feels risky enough.
 

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