Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[cFloor]

I like your video on the last page, it's good how much you feed your fish. I'm the same way, I put a ton of food into my tank every day.

 

[mhucasey]

I like your video on the last page, it's good how much you feed your fish. I'm the same way, I put a ton of food into my tank every day.

Thanks, I didn't know how fellow reef keepers would react to it::uhoh2:

If you have a lot of fish and some are a little slower to the party it's the only way to go IMO. Tiny feedings tend to get eaten by the handful of most agressive eaters. Feeding with the pumps off just makes that worse. I am a big believer in well fed fish inherently staying healthy.

By the way, my LFS picked up a juvenile blue faced angel for the reef today. They will hold it and observe for a week, I should be able to take it home next Friday:celeb3:
They will keep an eye out for a Regal as well but the Blueface will be awesome in the tank:dance:

 

[nemodan]

Thanks, I didn't know how fellow reef keepers would react to it::uhoh2:
:

I have reacted very well !!!. Indeed it was nice to confirm that I wasn't the only one feeding the fish in that way.

I thaw 4-5 frozen cubes in an Artemia net under the faucet. Then I pass all to a small plastic container with sea water, mix and feed the fish also with all the pumps on. Like you did. I have a total of 20 fish. 10 in the display tank and 10 in the fuge.

Thanks for sharing that movie with us.

Cheers
Daniel

 

[.Chris.]

Thanks, I didn't know how fellow reef keepers would react to it::uhoh2:

If you have a lot of fish and some are a little slower to the party it's the only way to go IMO. Tiny feedings tend to get eaten by the handful of most agressive eaters. Feeding with the pumps off just makes that worse. I am a big believer in well fed fish inherently staying healthy.

By the way, my LFS picked up a juvenile blue faced angel for the reef today. They will hold it and observe for a week, I should be able to take it home next Friday:celeb3:
They will keep an eye out for a Regal as well but the Blueface will be awesome in the tank:dance:

You're not worried about aggression or nipping from the blueface?

 

[cFloor]

Thanks, I didn't know how fellow reef keepers would react to it::uhoh2:

If you have a lot of fish and some are a little slower to the party it's the only way to go IMO. Tiny feedings tend to get eaten by the handful of most agressive eaters. Feeding with the pumps off just makes that worse. I am a big believer in well fed fish inherently staying healthy.

By the way, my LFS picked up a juvenile blue faced angel for the reef today. They will hold it and observe for a week, I should be able to take it home next Friday:celeb3:
They will keep an eye out for a Regal as well but the Blueface will be awesome in the tank:dance:

Again, I agree with the heavy fish feedings. It's also good for the corals if you have the means to remove the nutrients from your tank, which obviously you do. I've always felt high import, high export is a good thing. I must feed the equivalent to 12 cubes a day.

If you pull off both a blue face and an emperor in your reef, I will be extremely jealous. Both are absolutely beautiful fish! And it will be fun to watch the transformation from Juvi to adult. Best of luck with it, and I'll be following along.

 

[mhucasey]

Again, I agree with the heavy fish feedings. It's also good for the corals if you have the means to remove the nutrients from your tank, which obviously you do. I've always felt high import, high export is a good thing. I must feed the equivalent to 12 cubes a day.

If you pull off both a blue face and an emperor in your reef, I will be extremely jealous. Both are absolutely beautiful fish! And it will be fun to watch the transformation from Juvi to adult. Best of luck with it, and I'll be following along.

Should I be concerned about them being together? They will both be growing up from juveniles at the same time.

 

[cFloor]

I think they will be fine living together, especially since you are getting them as juveniles. It's just an awesome combo that I've always wanted but never done. I think the blue face is more of a risk with your corals but worst case scenario, you can always catch him. I really hope it works out!

 

[mhucasey]

I think they will be fine living together, especially since you are getting them as juveniles. It's just an awesome combo that I've always wanted but never done. I think the blue face is more of a risk with your corals but worst case scenario, you can always catch him. I really hope it works out!

You are correct about that, I can always remove him if he becomes a problem. The LFS specifically recommended a juvi to minimize the chances of him already having learned to eat coral in the wild. I was interested in a juvenile as well so it worked out well. Thanks for the info, I'll probably pick your brain about Angel related stuff as time goes by, it's new territory for me:fish2:

 

[mhucasey]

You're not worried about aggression or nipping from the blueface?

Im hoping he will be ok in the reef, but only time will tell of course. I'm crossing my fingers

 

[Reefvet]

There was some discussion recently about dosing Ammonia rather than Nitrate. Do you think that there is any merit in regularly dosing Ammonia in a reef tank that is using a carbon dosing method? Is the Ammonia a more readily available nitrogen source or does it have to be converted to nitrite or nitrate first?

I think if you solved your cyano problem for the moment I'd call it a good day and wouldn't start dosing anything that can compete / interfere with the AF products.

Let your new media populate and don't change any other significant variables for at least 90 days. That's pretty much the minimum time for the substrat-pro and siporax to populate bacteria into a useful state.

 

[reefmutt]

I think if you solved your cyano problem for the moment I'd call it a good day and wouldn't start dosing anything that can compete / interfere with the AF products.

Let your new media populate and don't change any other significant variables for at least 90 days. That's pretty much the minimum time for the substrat-pro and siporax to populate bacteria into a useful state.

This is good advice..

But I'm also curious if, regardless of systems, ammonia is a 'better' nitrogen source..
Although much, much more dangerous to use due to its toxicity, from what I have read on RC, so it's anecdotal, it appears that it is a better nitrogen source..
What do you think, reefvet?

 

[mhucasey]

I think if you solved your cyano problem for the moment I'd call it a good day and wouldn't start dosing anything that can compete / interfere with the AF products.

Let your new media populate and don't change any other significant variables for at least 90 days. That's pretty much the minimum time for the substrat-pro and siporax to populate bacteria into a useful state.

That's good advice. What I was thinking is this: Ammonia has had a positive effect on the bacterial balance in this tank. Is it as simple as adding a few more fish that can increase the ammonia production? Do you think that an ideal quantity of fish for each tank could be a key to managing cyano? Could the BFC be legit?:eek1:

 

[slavetonet]

I cant understand whats the fuss about cyno. Your tank is a mature one at least a few years old.
Shouldnt have cyno at all - which is a cycle problem somewhere in your system.

 

[mhucasey]

I cant understand whats the fuss about cyno. Your tank is a mature one at least a few years old.
Shouldnt have cyno at all - which is a cycle problem somewhere in your system.

Cyano isn't a big issue in the tank, but it's one of those things that detracts from the overall appearance of the tank. The first of the now two tanks that make up this system was started 3.5 years ago but the addition of the SPS tank was last April, so it's not yet one year old in that respect.

Can you elaborate on what a "cycle problem" is in your mind? Ammonia not broken down fast enough? Nitrate not broken down fast enough? Too much carbon? Too many/few fish?

How did you avoid cyano in your system?

 

[slavetonet]

I am not sure why I dont have cyano.
Tank is 18 months old and it only have cyano issues twice.
1) when the tank was 1 to 3 months old. System isnt fully matured.
2) when i vacuum my sand at 12 months old tank. First time doing it and cyano occur right after the sand was cleaned.
I can say its all down to upsetting the balance of established bacteria fauna in the sand that trigger a mini cycle.

 

[mhucasey]

I am not sure why I dont have cyano.
Tank is 18 months old and it only have cyano issues twice.
1) when the tank was 1 to 3 months old. System isnt fully matured.
2) when i vacuum my sand at 12 months old tank. First time doing it and cyano occur right after the sand was cleaned.
I can say its all down to upsetting the balance of established bacteria fauna in the sand that trigger a mini cycle.

I had a very bad cyano outbreak in the newly added SPS tank about a month after it was brought on line. It went away after a month. This is a Bare Bottom tank with a lot of flow.
It came back on the sand that is in a container in this tank and has hung around on the sand in the LPS tank(The LPS tank was effectively re-started about the same time as the SPS tank since it was drained down 3 times, the sand replaced, and the tank connected in to the new system.)

I added a very thin layer of sand to the SPS tank and it developed Cyano on both the sand and some of the rock. I go pretty tired of the mess and pulled it out, it wasn't worth battling cyano for the sand. Cyano is aways on the containers of sand and here and there on the rocks but it seems to finally be going away.

 

[biggles]

Actually one guy on RC was unable to get nitrogen fertilizers where he lived due to legal restrictions and so he dosed ammonia and it worked great.

Oh yeah. I'm not talking to you after your "little yellow princess" post:fun2:

I'm not at all worried about experienced guys like yourself and many others Matt, it's more the newer guys who might not realise when they are over doing it that's all mate. I can see how it would work

You don't want the stress of trying to keep an acro yellow Matt, trust me mate it's best i carry that burden alone :beer:

 

[dkeller_nc]

I wouldn't freak out about a little cyano in a mature system as long as it's not an outbreak of plague proportions. All 4 of my tanks have some cyano on the sandbed, but it's no big deal. And having a little bit, IMO isn't a bad thing - it's a decent nutrient indicator. If it starts growing, I know it's time for a WC and/or a renewal of the GFO and GAC.

BTW, Matt. I suspect the problem you're going to have with the blueface and especially the emperor isn't interactions with your corals, it will be the size that both will fairly rapidly attain. The emperor rather commonly grows to 9" or more in reef tanks, though I've never seen one in a tank that reached the max that LiveAquaria lists - 15"!

Perhaps the growth of both in 6 months to a year's time will be a perfect excuse for a 240-400 gallon build!

 

[mhucasey]

I'm not at all worried about experienced guys like yourself and many others Matt, it's more the newer guys who might not realise when they are over doing it that's all mate. I can see how it would work

You don't want the stress of trying to keep an acro yellow Matt, trust me mate it's best i carry that burden alone :beer:

I know what you are saying about the ammonia and dosing it. If I did ever try it I'd keep it on the down low until I was sure how safe it is. I'm thinking that more fish would be a better ammonia doser anyway. Your work with Stephen Hawkings on the BFC was trying to tell us all this a while ago:reading:

Its good that you are looking out for all of us by taking on the burden of the little yellow princess:twitch: So Selfless:lol:

 

[mhucasey]

I wouldn't freak out about a little cyano in a mature system as long as it's not an outbreak of plague proportions. All 4 of my tanks have some cyano on the sandbed, but it's no big deal. And having a little bit, IMO isn't a bad thing - it's a decent nutrient indicator. If it starts growing, I know it's time for a WC and/or a renewal of the GFO and GAC.

BTW, Matt. I suspect the problem you're going to have with the blueface and especially the emperor isn't interactions with your corals, it will be the size that both will fairly rapidly attain. The emperor rather commonly grows to 9" or more in reef tanks, though I've never seen one in a tank that reached the max that LiveAquaria lists - 15"!

Perhaps the growth of both in 6 months to a year's time will be a perfect excuse for a 240-400 gallon build!

I wouldn't say I'm to the point of freaking out when it comes to Cyano, but its one of those things that just bugs me. When its restricted to the flubber tank I pay it little mind, but when its in the SPS tank it irritates me probably more than it should. I'm not worried about it causing problems or anything, its just an eyesore.

The good thing when it comes to the tank that the angels will be in is that it is 4' X 3', so while its not long it has a lot of room to swim. If the fish get too big for it I can always trade them to the LFS. Though a bigger tank WOULD be nice:beer: