SerpentSlick
Member
How old are the Chromis? I have 4 and everyone keeps telling me that they will kill each other off do to stress. If its a long standing school, any tips?
JP's 240. A decade of work.
- Thread starter JPMagyar
- Start date
JPMagyar
New member
I saw this tank in 06' or 07' I forget but it was amazing then and now simply BEAUTIFUL !!!!!! Joe was quite the host as well showing me the set up. Hope to get to see it again soon
PM sent
Hopefully see ya next week Nick
For the curious, just thought I'd throw up a couple quick notes of what I went through over the last 2 weeks. . . .
The primary issue was recurring cyanobacteria on my sand. When I came back from summer, it was bad, but normally when I do a water change and sand vacuum, it goes away. This time after a 300 gallon water change and two sand bed cleanings I still had a major outbreak on my sand. All kinds of thoughts ran through my head, "Old Tank Syndrome" might be true, phosphates from my Calcium Reactor media, the cessation of kalkwasser use was no longer binding up phosphate, my RO filters were bad, etc. etc.
Well I tried to tackle this one step at a time. So first don't panic and be patient
but that was hard 'cuz it looked terrible, and if I cleaned the sand it would be dirty again within hours! Second start tackling it one potential problem at a time starting with the easy and obvious:1) New lights, both VHOs and Radiums.
2) Add fresh GAC.
Next the slightly harder and time consuming:
3) Empty, vacuum, and scrape the frag tank.
4) Turkey baste and vacuum off all cyano on the LR.
5) Keep all tank walls spotless.
6) Install 100 micron filter pads.
7) Reinstall my phosphate reactor.
8) Clean the Tunzes and improve tank flow.
After all that, I still had cyano. I considered leaving it to see if it would run it's course, but that is definitely counter to my concept of "Keeping a Bonsai". I had a problem and needed to identify it. I don't generally keep phosphate or nitrate test kits so I ran out and purchased both. The good news was, no detectable phosphates either in the tank or the Calc Reactor media, the shocking bad news was I had 2-5 mg/l of Nitrates present for the first time :sad2: Finally though I had something to go after!
I installed a second reactor and filled it with zeolite material, did another sand bed clean and replace, and one more big water change.
Ta Daaa! The tank and sand have been clean and normally slime free for a week (a few minor spots left), and the water is testing consistently Nitrate free!
What do I think happened . . . I think a summer of neglect allowed my system's LR to get clogged up that plus too few water changes, and suddenly the system couldn't keep up with the normal Nitrate buildup.
What's the moral of the story . . . Don't give up; there is always a problem and a solution just take it one step at a time.
Joe
P.S. Total time required over 2 weeks about 10 hours . . . sheesh :hammer:
JPMagyar
New member
My school is about 2 years old now. Seems like the larger the school the better, and feeding tiny amounts frequently seems to keep them busier hunting as well, but I agree they are aggressive little guys. The dominant male in my tank attacks my arm or the scraper or almost anything I stick in the tank.
Joe
JPMagyar
New member
frankpayne32
New member
Your hardwork and dedication to solving the problem has really paid off. Your system continues to look amazing.
yerboy
Member
Hey Joe my build thread is in my sig. It is in some much need of updating but take a look if you like.
blennielove
New member
Beautiful tank, Joe!!!
I've been in this hobby for five years now and there are times when things just gets a little frustrating! Thank you for taking time from your busy day to share and post pictures! You are inspiring!!!
I've been in this hobby for five years now and there are times when things just gets a little frustrating! Thank you for taking time from your busy day to share and post pictures! You are inspiring!!!
JPMagyar
New member
Joe I'm avail tonight lmk
Hey Nick,
Drop me an email at J o e P e c k 6 6 @ o p t o n l i n e dot n e t
Joe
TucanSam007
New member
Hey JP, as many people have said, beautiful tank!..When I see a tank aged full of growth not only do I see beauty, but truly the dedication and mastery of such a delicate system. Very impressive and all the best!
Wow!!!! JP this is truely something to be extremely proud of. This tank is incredible. I only wish I had the room for a tank set up like this and the equipment in the basement. Your corals are beautiful. It must have been torture to part with some of the bigger colonies and start with frags again. However when they grow out to the size they were again that will just be all the more reason to be proud of your tank and yourself and the dedication you put into your reef. This is as good if not better than most display's I have seen at an aquarium. 5 stars for sure.
Caleb
Caleb
JPMagyar
New member
keepin' up
keepin' up
Actually I'm a huge fan of the Coral Gobies. I need to work on some video, but I genuinely believe they eat pests off the corals like Red Bugs and AEFW. I've never seen it in my tank, but have definitely observed that behaviour in other local reefers tanks. I have both pairs of all yellow gobies and a single black gobie. Bad on me I don't have a photo of the black gobie. He's really shy, but I'll try to sneak up on him next week. :eek2:
Thank-you Caleb. You are very generous!
Joe
On tank issues, I'm struggling to keep my nitrates down below 1 mg/l so I'm considering trying a denitrator either a Sulfur unit or an Aquaripure. Looks like more homework
keepin' up
Actually I'm a huge fan of the Coral Gobies. I need to work on some video, but I genuinely believe they eat pests off the corals like Red Bugs and AEFW. I've never seen it in my tank, but have definitely observed that behaviour in other local reefers tanks. I have both pairs of all yellow gobies and a single black gobie. Bad on me I don't have a photo of the black gobie. He's really shy, but I'll try to sneak up on him next week. :eek2:
Thank-you Caleb. You are very generous!
Joe
On tank issues, I'm struggling to keep my nitrates down below 1 mg/l so I'm considering trying a denitrator either a Sulfur unit or an Aquaripure. Looks like more homework
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110galreef
New member
I wouldn't worry about the 1 nitrate. That is probably perfect to keep the sps colorful! I bet it will soon be 0 anyway. Just keep balsting rockwork and skimming!
Do you have the exact names of the coral gobies you have or link to them? I plan to order a few for my 250 g setup?
Also maybe 1-2 for my frag tank. SPS mixed frag tank. Suggestion for that?
Do you have the exact names of the coral gobies you have or link to them? I plan to order a few for my 250 g setup?
Also maybe 1-2 for my frag tank. SPS mixed frag tank. Suggestion for that?
Interesting you mentioned the gobies for pest control. Had noticed the dreaded red bugs in my tank a few months back with little affect on my SPS. I do have one 1.5" frag of "lime in the sky". Still has excellent color and growth but zero polyp extention no matter if it's 2am or 2pm. Been debating treating the tank with interceptor, but really don't want to as the tank is doing very well. Would love to know if gobies would work. No damage to the corals? Was also thinking of a six line wrasse
Btw, feel free to impose on me with some of your "frags"
Btw, feel free to impose on me with some of your "frags"
JPMagyar
New member
Sorry about the delay in answering. My wife's away on a business trip, and being "Mr. Mom" is keepin' me pretty busy :crazy1:
Anyways, the gobies I have are the simple Clown Gobie type. I have 7 at the moment, and yes one pair laid eggs in a millepora, but the area they used recovered with no long term effects. I will keep my video camera handy, and try to record some of their "coral picking" behaviour in the future. Whatever it is they eat, it's not coral 'cuz my corals are all looking great these days, including the ones hosting the Gobies :fish1: Not sure how they would do in a frag system, as they prefer dense branches in which to hide.
. . . noticed the dreaded red bugs in my tank a few months back with little affect on my SPS. . . . zero polyp extention no matter if it's 2am or 2pm.
. . . Been debating treating the tank with interceptor. . .
No damage to the corals? Was also thinking of a six line wrasse.
Btw, feel free to impose on me with some of your "frags"
Hey Mike,
Like I said I don't have proof yet, but since Clown Gobies eat zooplankton and since I have seen them seemingly pick at the skin of hard corals both in my tank and the display tank at Greenwich Aquaria with no damage to the corals, I assume they are finding some critter that's on the corals, and that those critters could be Red Bugs, but I can not find any Red Bugs in my tank even though I have had them in the past and I have an Ogles Mesoscope that's very useful for close inspection.
I would also add that I have dosed with Interceptor twice before in years past. I hated to do it as it killed my crabs, shrimp, and most of my zooplankton, but it did do the job as I was bug free for several years inbetween. Now nothing goes in my tank without an 8 hour regimen of Interceptor, Salifert FWExit, and Coral Revive. Although I rarely add anything new these days. If I found Red Bugs today, I'm not sure I would go that path again. I might lean towards Gobies, wrasses, and even Chromis. In fact that's one reason why I keep my Chromis school so large. They too are voracious eaters of zooplankton, and since they hide constantly in the coral branches as well I can only assume they will eat anything that moves.
As for polyp extension, that's something I've been reading up on and trying to observe in my own tank as it comes and goes for me. My latest guess that I'm keeping notes on in my own system is Nitrate. I had no extension from August until last week, but this week I have good extension across the board, and I see two possibilities Nitrates or food. My Nitrates went from the 2-5 mg/l range to the less than 1 range, BUT I also started dosing a few drops of amino acids in the morning as well because of research I read that showed dramatic increases in zooxanthellea growth when amino acid concentrations were increased.
And, I'm working on a dramatic ramp up in my frag making so look for some offers from me early in 2012 :wave:
Thanks again guys for all the interest and words of encouragement!
Joe
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110galreef
New member
Thanks for the info. I ordered up 2 of the black & white clown gobies, 2 of the green clown gobies and a citron clown gobie. I will put one of the black & white in the frag tank for sure, maybe one of the green clown gobies too. The rest in the DT. I may add a few more later.
Does the pair you have hang together most of the time? Maybe I should keep the 2 clown gobies & black & white together & see how they do paired up??
Does the pair you have hang together most of the time? Maybe I should keep the 2 clown gobies & black & white together & see how they do paired up??
JPMagyar
New member
Sounds like you're gonna have a Gobie party. Yes, out my seven I got 1 pair and they hang out together. The others are very territorial :uzi: They're comical little guys, and I'm sure you'll love the addition!
on the tank note . . .
played around with the camera today after getting everything shiny clean for a visitor. Haha . . . only time I get it perfect is when company is coming
