Myka's 69 SPS Tank 2015

[biggles]

That sucks about the stupid skimmer Mindy, they're either your best friend or they drive you mad :deadhorse1:
The fish will be loving your attempts to get a nutrient reading lol, you'll see some readings sooner or later.
I had a look at those anthias you are waiting to get, very pretty little guys. Are they hard or easy anthias though. I'm pleased you're going to cover the bottom with sand, i love watching the wrasses that sleep in the sand pile pop their heads out when i turn the lights on in the morning. A few of my fish are regulars at the biggles water slide fun park and don't seem phased at all by the trip into the chill out pool.

 

[Myka]

That sucks about the stupid skimmer Mindy, they're either your best friend or they drive you mad :deadhorse1:
The fish will be loving your attempts to get a nutrient reading lol, you'll see some readings sooner or later.
I had a look at those anthias you are waiting to get, very pretty little guys. Are they hard or easy anthias though. I'm pleased you're going to cover the bottom with sand, i love watching the wrasses that sleep in the sand pile pop their heads out when i turn the lights on in the morning. A few of my fish are regulars at the biggles water slide fun park and don't seem phased at all by the trip into the chill out pool.

Ha, too true! The ATB is skimming away. It appears to be operating well, but it is not pulling much out of the water. I think that's simply because there isn't much to pull. It sucks that being summertime I'm having trouble finding fish to stock the tank with. The BFC really needs improvement!

The Anthias I've picked out seem to be similar to Dispar Anthias from my research. I don't have any firsthand experience with them. I believe the biggest hurdle will be to get them eating, and then get them wormed. From what I've read, I don't stand a chance to get them eating without starting with live foods. I will start a large culture of brine shrimp a couple weeks before I receive them, and I will order some blackworms too. Hopefully one of these items will trigger a feeding response. I also plan to buy a couple random Anthias of some other species that already IS eating, and acclimate the new Anthias with these others that are doing well. This should help too. Hopefully a few female Lyretails will do the trick.

Yes, I'm excited to get some sand in there. I just want to get the rest of the unwanted corals out of the tank first, so I can clean the bottom real well before putting the sand in. Then I can get some Jawfish and my Pistol Shrimp will be much happier.

I added that piece of acrylic rod to the top of the overflow weir, and I don't think the Blennies will fit out anymore. No more slip n slide! I worry that they may get caught up in the gate valve.

I lost a couple more frags to overnight RTN - the Red Planet and the new SSC. That's 4 pieces now, and that's the end of my patience! :lol: Seriously though, I did expect to lose a few pieces since I transferred the tank and slammed it full of frags a week later. :hmm2:

 

[markalot]

Sorry about the loss of the acros. I've tried Red Planet twice, and twice I failed while other acros have done fine. I'm missing some magic ingredient it needs.

 

[JB NY]

Sorry to read about the frags Mindy, I am working with lots little bitty frags too, it can be a delicate balance to get them up and thriving in the tank. I think the biggest issues is when we add lots of them at the same time, when you have a mature tank and have a base of thriving acros adding a frag or two at a time is pretty easy cause you can watch them pretty closely. When we have so many at once it makes it a lot more challenging to control the environment for so many individual frags. At least that's what happens with me.

Also on your skimmer, it could be that the new plumbing is effecting the skimmer. I find that when I set up a new tank and plumb and glue all new pipes and tubes that it drastically reduces the skimmer performance and makes the skimmer very erratic for weeks and in some cases more than a month.

 

[Oldude]

Sorry about the loss of the acros. I've tried Red Planet twice, and twice I failed while other acros have done fine. I'm missing some magic ingredient it needs.

In my experience Red Planet is very hardy and grows like a weed.

 

[markalot]

In my experience Red Planet is very hardy and grows like a weed.

That's what I've heard. I wonder if it doesn't ship well?

 

[Oldude]

That's what I've heard. I wonder if it doesn't ship well?

That has not been my experience.

 

[plyle02]

Looking great Mindy, way to go, your corals are sweet... no worries about the skimmer, I have ATB, and it is indeed a powerful weapon in the arsenal... I am not a fan of the eheim pump, the wattage, nor the space, but it works... I mean it works.... I had two situations where it overflowed the entire cup into the tank, only to pull it out within 15 minutes. That is no joke. Stick with what is right, tested, and good, it seriously is the back bone of my system...
Regards,

 

[Myka]

Sorry about the loss of the acros. I've tried Red Planet twice, and twice I failed while other acros have done fine. I'm missing some magic ingredient it needs.

I've had one before and found it really hardy, but it did take awhile to adjust and start growing.

Sorry to read about the frags Mindy, I am working with lots little bitty frags too, it can be a delicate balance to get them up and thriving in the tank. I think the biggest issues is when we add lots of them at the same time, when you have a mature tank and have a base of thriving acros adding a frag or two at a time is pretty easy cause you can watch them pretty closely. When we have so many at once it makes it a lot more challenging to control the environment for so many individual frags. At least that's what happens with me.

Also on your skimmer, it could be that the new plumbing is effecting the skimmer. I find that when I set up a new tank and plumb and glue all new pipes and tubes that it drastically reduces the skimmer performance and makes the skimmer very erratic for weeks and in some cases more than a month.

You bet! A tank full of frags sucks! I can't wait until that magical point where I can add pretty much anything and it's happy. The SWC skimmer started off ok - it wasn't until I used the epoxy that it became a problem. I think the skimmer just needed a clean and it was just a coincidence. The ATB was definitely touchy at first too, but now it's settled out. The epoxy really messed things up! Boy, I can't wait to do that again with the next round of frags!

Looking great Mindy, way to go, your corals are sweet... no worries about the skimmer, I have ATB, and it is indeed a powerful weapon in the arsenal... I am not a fan of the eheim pump, the wattage, nor the space, but it works... I mean it works.... I had two situations where it overflowed the entire cup into the tank, only to pull it out within 15 minutes. That is no joke. Stick with what is right, tested, and good, it seriously is the back bone of my system...
Regards,

Thanks! The ATB is doing a good job. It is pulling more skimmate than the SWC did, but that might just be because of the age of the tank. Who knows at this point. The air intake is a bit noisy on the ATB.

 

[Myka]

I had a couple more overnight RTN, but I'm thinking it's all done now. The skimmer is done acting badly, and things seem to have settled down. I expected to lose a couple pieces because of the tank being squeaky new and squeaky clean, but I did lose more than I thought I would. I was surprised how much the epoxy affected the tank. I think the epoxy was really just the straw that broke the back in this case. New tank, new frags, add some epoxy, all heck breaks loose!

I picked up a large Glowstick Sarmentosa frag from a buddy. I gotta take some pics. It's a really nice piece.

 

[Myka]

Oops, double post.

 

[BigJohnny]

Myka,

I stumbled upon this thread and thought I was dreaming. A beautiful beer drinking blonde with thong jokes and an sps obsession? Someone pinch me. [emoji4] Your husband is a lucky man!

Beautiful setup and I look forward to seeing it mature.

Quick question, have you ever tried suddenly stopping the prodibio supplements and if so were there any drastic effects? I've always been concerned that if I stop dosing the "every 2 weeks" bacterial additives my tank will freak out because the naturals will be left shorthanded.

 

[Myka]

Myka,

I stumbled upon this thread and thought I was dreaming. A beautiful beer drinking blonde with thong jokes and an sps obsession? Someone pinch me. [emoji4] Your husband is a lucky man!

Beautiful setup and I look forward to seeing it mature.

Quick question, have you ever tried suddenly stopping the prodibio supplements and if so were there any drastic effects? I've always been concerned that if I stop dosing the "every 2 weeks" bacterial additives my tank will freak out because the naturals will be left shorthanded.

Ha! Hubby doesn't share my passion for the hobby. He notices when I do things in the tank, and notices if there is a fish missing.

I have stopped the Prodibio dosing before, and I don't notice any sudden demise - it's just fades out. The big difference is in starting rather than stopping.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ha! Hubby doesn't share my passion for the hobby. He notices when I do things in the tank, and notices if there is a fish missing.

I have stopped the Prodibio dosing before, and I don't notice any sudden demise - it's just fades out. The big difference is in starting rather than stopping.

My wife's involvement in the hobby is mainly limited to being jealous of all the time I spend on my tanks, complaints about all the equipment/projects I have lying around, and telling me how grossed out she is by some of the corals. She has this weird fixation where she is really grossed out by polyp extension haha. Especially when I use the word "polyp". As long as we have a pair of clowns she's happy though.

As far as prodibio, when use the biodigest/bioptim do you find you need to use a reef nutrient supplement as well? Not necessarily theirs but just one in general?

 

[Myka]

Oh, I get the complaints about the projects laying around too.

I've never actually found Prodibio to lower nutrients on any tank I've used it in. I've used it on tanks with testable PO4 and NO3 and I haven't seen any reduction. However, on my own tanks, I've usually been able to keep nutrients in the low range I'm aiming for (PO4 <0.08, NO3 2-5 ppm) without the use of anything but good maintenance, a good skimmer, and carbon. I don't usually use GFO. There have been many times where I've had to intentionally feed the fish more in order to raise nutrients. When that happens, I usually have to put GFO online for a bit to keep PO4 down while the NO3 goes up since fish food tends to add too much PO4.

 

[markalot]

That has not been my experience.

Thanks for the info. My second attempt was a growout from Unique Corals, no longer on an ORA plug, but a vendor I trust. I am so tempted to try again.

 

[markalot]

I've had one before and found it really hardy, but it did take awhile to adjust and start growing.

Good, you and Greg give me hope I can try again and not kill it.

 

[BigJohnny]

Let's see some new pics [emoji106]

 

[Myka]

Let's see some new pics [emoji106]

I'll get some up this weekend. There's not much to show off though since the corals are just now coming back from their reaction to the epoxy. Most browned out overnight after the epoxying. I did sell some fluff from the tank bottom though, so it's a bit tidier. I can't wait to have that all cleaned up so I can get sand in there.

 

[BigJohnny]

I'll get some up this weekend. There's not much to show off though since the corals are just now coming back from their reaction to the epoxy. Most browned out overnight after the epoxying. I did sell some fluff from the tank bottom though, so it's a bit tidier. I can't wait to have that all cleaned up so I can get sand in there.

How's everything doing? Would love to see some pics