SaraB's 268 Gallon Build¦ Try #3!

[mpoletti]

Nope, had to take the truck so we could launch the ski boat in and out of the lake yesterday for wakeboarding

I've got 5 torpedo shaped jumpers for the cube! These are the first ones to go into the cube since it was set-up. Just going to add maybe a pistol goby pair and move my tailspot blenny in as well as he's been in the frag tank in a holding pattern.

I <3 jumpers

 

[SaraB]

Man, offline for a day and I miss all the fun :strange: So some some new jumpers...what'cha get? I see the Nemateleotris, which variety? What else Cirrhilabrus, Paracheilinus, Halichoeres or perhaps a Macropharyngodon? :bigeyes:

Good eye Dan! You just never know when I might show up with some new goods!

I got a pair of Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris helfrichi), a pair of Cave Basslets (Liopropoma mowbrayi), and a replacement Blue Assessor (Assessor macneilli) as I recently lost the one I had for over 4 years.

Both of the Cave Bass and the Blue Assessor hid in the rockwork right away, but the pair of Helfrichi were out and swimming about with the LED lights on.

 

[SaraB]

I <3 jumpers

Me too, nothing beats the coloration of them! :bounce2::bounce3::bounce1:

 

[DanW]

Good eye Dan! You just never know when I might show up with some new goods!

I got a pair of Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris helfrichi), a pair of Cave Basslets (Liopropoma mowbrayi), and a replacement Blue Assessor (Assessor macneilli) as I recently lost the one I had for over 4 years.

Both of the Cave Bass and the Blue Assessor hid in the rockwork right away, but the pair of Helfrichi were out and swimming about with the LED lights on.

Nice! I don't think I've seen either the Liopropoma mowbrayi or the Assessor macneilli in person but the photos look nice. No shipping label and on a Sunday huh? Even sweeter!

 

[Dejavu]

I have 5 bags of saltwater

:lolspin:

 

[SaraB]

:lolspin:

LOL, a case of dejavu Brian???

 

[Dejavu]

LOL, a case of dejavu Brian???

I guess you liked that one . BTW nice additions. For awhile I thought you might be crossing to the dark side and getting an angel..... but I guess I'll have to wait for that :fish1:.

 

[SaraB]

BTW nice additions. For awhile I thought you might be crossing to the dark side and getting an angel..... but I guess I'll have to wait for that :fish1:.

Thanks!

When I nuke all my meaty LPS and go fish only ... then you'll see some angels in my tank :worried2:

 

[SaraB]

Nice! I don't think I've seen either the Liopropoma mowbrayi or the Assessor macneilli in person but the photos look nice. No shipping label and on a Sunday huh? Even sweeter!

I would have loved a pair of the candy basslets, but they were no where even close to considering with my budget ... the cave basslet was the closest I could get with still having some cool coloration. I first saw the blue assessor in a Scott Michael book about 5 years ago and went on the hunt for one. They were hard to find, but there was a shop south of here that carried rare and hard to locate fish and I was lucky to find one in December of 2005. It is a cool looking fish in person with its deep blue color. Mine must have got stung by something a couple months ago and developed an ulcer near it's gill and died shortly after This new one is the replacement for him.

Maybe the shipping label was on the bottom?

 

[canyousee]

Hello I know we are not scientists running experiments with control tanks so we can change one parameter and see what happens,yet I some times wish we were. Every one reading this top notch thread has had HA algae and would like to know what steps to take to kill it. So here is just a few parameters you changed to get heading back north. 1: removed DSB 2:changed carbon more often 3: changed GFO more often 4: placed 3 lg bags Chemi-pure in sump 5: New salt mix 6:More flow in DT 7: more elbow grease in tanks 8: Changed from BRS to B-Ionic 9: Changed lighting periods, and these are the ones you shared and I remember maybe more done. My point( too long for sure) is which ones really helped and which ones were of little or no help, who knows, maybe we need to do all of the above or maybe only a few,so next time we really don't know what parameters to change so we all try them all over and over again. Would be great if we had a set plan that said if you have Bryopsis change these parameters and it goes away. Well at least your on the down hill side of recovery. I enjoyed your pod cast on reef threads is the Gary on the pod cast with you the same Gary who takes such stuning pictures of your wonderfull animals?

 

[SaraB]

Hi canyousee! I think the removal of the DSB and adding more flow has had the greatest impact on HA in the tank to date. I still have to remove 1/3 of the CA reactor media out of the frag tank and that should be it for my removal of substrates ... I've just been too busy to finish that part off and now I'm off to MACNA tomorrow! I still have a patch of HA on the far right piece of my liverock, but it is slowly losing ground.

Thanks for listening to the podcasts and yes, Gary on the podcast is the same Gary that has helped me with the plumbing on the tank and is also the fantastic photographer!

 

[canyousee]

Cool, we all should be so blessed as to have a friend like Gary in your life's. Enjoy MACNA, if you would give nineball a high 5 for me.

 

[SaraB]

Cool, we all should be so blessed as to have a friend like Gary in your life's. Enjoy MACNA, if you would give nineball a high 5 for me.

I agree, he's been a huge help with my system and I'm very grateful for that!

Thanks, MACNA should be a fun time and I'll give ninball and mr.wilson a high five for you!

 

[nanonubey]

Lets see some updated pictures Sara

 

[SaraB]

Lets see some updated pictures Sara

Not much to see anymore other than the good looking fish and a bit of green hair algae yet! Maybe I can try and get some cube shots, but I'm not sure the T5's are enough light for a photo is all. My MH bulb went out a few weeks ago and I'm waiting on a new light to try out so I didn't waste funds picking up a new bulb yet.

I have finally cleared out all of the CA reactor substrate in the frag tank so I'm finally done with that. I also have all parts needed for my CA reactor that has yet to be set-up, so that should be happening in the next couple weeks. This will finally give me some stability as that has been my weakest point in the system and my corals can tell the tale! :hmm3:

 

[DanW]

Sara have you noticed any changes in your water quality since removing the substrate in the frag tank? Would be interesting to know if your NO3 or PO4 went down.

 

[mpoletti]

Glad to hear you are finally getting things stable Sara. I could only imagine what you have felt when you look back at your tank. The last couple weeks have been the hardest I've ever had in reefkeeping and I'm still amazed when friends like you, Kenny, Alicia, Ian and Tim keep a positive attitude and move forward :thumbsup:

 

[SaraB]

Sara have you noticed any changes in your water quality since removing the substrate in the frag tank? Would be interesting to know if your NO3 or PO4 went down.

I have not tested those parameters lately, but the last 1/3 of the substrate from the frag tank was just removed on Wednesday night is all. I'll have to break out the test kits I guess

Glad to hear you are finally getting things stable Sara. I could only imagine what you have felt when you look back at your tank. The last couple weeks have been the hardest I've ever had in reefkeeping and I'm still amazed when friends like you, Kenny, Alicia, Ian and Tim keep a positive attitude and move forward :thumbsup:

I wouldn't call it stable quite yet as I had a strawberry shortcake acro randomly melt on me just yesterday. I mean I'm still killing off things like Favia's Bowerbanki's, Duncans and Lobo's now, so nothing is really sacred in my tank anymore! Almost my entire chalice collection is stashed in one of Gary's tanks so I don't continue to melt those. Hopefully getting my CA reactor online will help me with the swinging Alk and CA levels as my daily 2 part dosing isn't cutting it right now! I also need to watch my TDS more closely as I'm burning though the DI resin so quickly with big water changes so that's part of my issue as well. Did I say I LOVE this hobby lately??? :fun5:

 

[pookstreet]

"LOVE" is too mild of a descriptor :spin2:

 

[mpoletti]

"LOVE" is too mild of a descriptor :spin2:

:inlove: