Renton's Upgrade
- Thread starter Renton777
- Start date
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
I added a small female orange spot filefish to my established male/female pair (which were added on 10/13/2012 from diver's den) late last week. She had been at a LFS for a while and had been eating and had very nice body mass.
Here is a less then steller cell phone video of the trio a minute after I added her to the tank
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-9Z8gvzNI-U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
After the intial investigation the established female kinda went on a jeoulous rampage, chasing the new female as well as going after the established male as if to say "you better not be looking at her!" At points it even looked as if the male tried to break things up and distract the established female.
After about 36 hours things had settled down. The new female kinda keeps to herself while the pair cruises around the tank together.
Here is a less then steller cell phone video of the trio a minute after I added her to the tank
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-9Z8gvzNI-U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
After the intial investigation the established female kinda went on a jeoulous rampage, chasing the new female as well as going after the established male as if to say "you better not be looking at her!" At points it even looked as if the male tried to break things up and distract the established female.
After about 36 hours things had settled down. The new female kinda keeps to herself while the pair cruises around the tank together.
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
Over the past couple of months several corals in my tank have been in decline. A few receded, a few lost color and one or two even died. Just about any new acro I added died within 2 weeks. This is the first time I have faced such a decline since I started in the hobby a few years ago, and that includes my first tank (93 cube).
Most hard hit had been the sps with complete loss of color in my orange monti cap (when those stop growing you know there is something is seriously wrong!) Most of my LPS have been fine.
I tested just about every parameter (except for Nitrates because those had never been a problem, and yes I know I am a fool for not testing them). Did 10 gallon water changes about twice a week for about a month. (system volume is about 200 gallons) Things still did not look great.
Finally I tested Nitrates just for the heck of it and was shocked how fast the test turned pink! Turns out they were somewhere in the neighborhood of 50ppm!
So, I did several things to clean up the tank.
I vacuumed out my sump for the first time in a long time. It was not terribly dirty but I did get some gunk out.
My refugium had become a cramped block of macroalgae. I took out 75% of it and also added a couple pumps to keep the water flowing, I think it had become too stagnant and was a considerable source of my nitrate problem.
I started to dose vodka in addition to running my biopellets.
I also did larger water changes. I really don’t have a great place in my house to setup a large water mixing station, but I bit the bullet and plopped a 55 gallon brute trash can right in front of the tank in my family room.
In the past 3 weeks I have done 4, 50 gallon water changes. Almost immediately after the second water change things were noticeably better. Corals that I had thought were dead started to color up again.
After 3 weeks my nitrates are now under 5ppm. I now plan to do 50 gallon water changes every two weeks and may occasionally do them once a week from time to time.
During this whole process the fish continue to do well and seem as happy as ever.
Prime Example of a piece that lost all of its color, receded and I wrote off as dead, but then started to recover quickly once I did the large water changes.
A hammer with 3 different colors and a few different patterns in it
Multi-pattern hammer
Rock Flower anemone I picked up on a business trip to Columbus
A very cool multi-color favia that really glows under royal blue leds/actinics
Orange hammer
Jack-o-lantern
Anti-Venom Favia that is really starting to grow and sprout new polyps
Sour Cherry 2.0, tough to get a picture because it sits back in the dark, but I know someone would like to see a picture of it now. Still doesn’t have its best color but it is growing and now has 4 eyes.
FTS
Most hard hit had been the sps with complete loss of color in my orange monti cap (when those stop growing you know there is something is seriously wrong!) Most of my LPS have been fine.
I tested just about every parameter (except for Nitrates because those had never been a problem, and yes I know I am a fool for not testing them). Did 10 gallon water changes about twice a week for about a month. (system volume is about 200 gallons) Things still did not look great.
Finally I tested Nitrates just for the heck of it and was shocked how fast the test turned pink! Turns out they were somewhere in the neighborhood of 50ppm!
So, I did several things to clean up the tank.
I vacuumed out my sump for the first time in a long time. It was not terribly dirty but I did get some gunk out.
My refugium had become a cramped block of macroalgae. I took out 75% of it and also added a couple pumps to keep the water flowing, I think it had become too stagnant and was a considerable source of my nitrate problem.
I started to dose vodka in addition to running my biopellets.
I also did larger water changes. I really don’t have a great place in my house to setup a large water mixing station, but I bit the bullet and plopped a 55 gallon brute trash can right in front of the tank in my family room.
In the past 3 weeks I have done 4, 50 gallon water changes. Almost immediately after the second water change things were noticeably better. Corals that I had thought were dead started to color up again.
After 3 weeks my nitrates are now under 5ppm. I now plan to do 50 gallon water changes every two weeks and may occasionally do them once a week from time to time.
During this whole process the fish continue to do well and seem as happy as ever.
Prime Example of a piece that lost all of its color, receded and I wrote off as dead, but then started to recover quickly once I did the large water changes.
A hammer with 3 different colors and a few different patterns in it
Multi-pattern hammer
Rock Flower anemone I picked up on a business trip to Columbus
A very cool multi-color favia that really glows under royal blue leds/actinics
Orange hammer
Jack-o-lantern
Anti-Venom Favia that is really starting to grow and sprout new polyps
Sour Cherry 2.0, tough to get a picture because it sits back in the dark, but I know someone would like to see a picture of it now. Still doesn’t have its best color but it is growing and now has 4 eyes.
FTS
purplereef
Active member
I am glad to hear you were able to turn things around Nathan. How did you get rid of the slime Algae? Are you using IO salt?
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
Dan, I use Reef Crystals. I did not have slime algae. I did once in the cube. I treated it by adding bio pellets and used two treatments of Ultra Life Red Slime Remover. It did its job very well, but I had to turn my skimmer off for a couple days and do some big water changes. Didn't hurt my corals. I am not endorsing you us it because I don't want something crazy to happen and be the one responsible for killing off your treasures
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
I think they may be Goochsters. They guy I bought them from was not sure about the name. Regardless they are one of the brightest corals in my tank!
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
Ok, I will let you know when I cut it, may be a few days until I have time.
Acanthastrea Echinata
How is this growing for you?
It is growing well, but it lost some of its electric green color. Not sure the cause of the fading, but I am trying different lighting and flow locations to try and color it back up.
bills tank
New member
Hey Nathan how r all the corals doing that u got from me ? I see the favias doing good . Can u post some pics of the others or text me and let me know when I can stop over so I can check ot the tank and get a frag or two while im over .
Renton777
Polyp Nipper
Hey Bill, due to the high nitrate levels in my tank recently, I browned out the acors. Since I have greatly improved my water quality I look forward to seeing them color up.
The gold pavona looks good and is encrusting on the plug.
Similar threads
