THis is going to be a blog entry, over time. I lost most of the 105 gallon reef due to, A) 8 days in the winter with no power, and 2) though I saved some fish and corals, the sandbed dieoff and the fuge dieoff did more damage, so I lost some fish to a bit of ammonia (which coral doesn't mind as much) and then corals to nitrate (which fish don't mind as much) resulting from the sandbed crash and loss of inverts.
So...kind of a double whammy---exacerbated by an inadequate skimmer, which is a sneakier problem. I exited with nitrate through the roof (over 100) and real unhappy coral, which was demising. I dosed carbon faithfully. Put in a MarinePure block, big one. Got the nitrate down to 50. Then dosed NoPox, using 2 big bottles over time, which finally got the nitrate down to 10 to 15. But just couldn't get the nitrate down that final bit into the 5's to 1.
I also disconnected the sump, hosed it out, washed the whole rubble pile, and reconnected it. That helped, but not lower than 10.
Got a new more potent skimmer, an Eshopps Cone for a 150. It knocked it down to the 1's literally overnight, producing skimmate that literally blew the top off the skimmer: had to weight it with a rock.
So, we solved the ammonia problem back during the blackout. The nitrate problem has been killing us for months. Nearly 9 months. It's now gone.
Complicating the scene, around the time of the blackout, I had just gotten new lights: Radion gen 3 Pro (36" deep tank); and during the depths of the nitrate disaster, I got rid of the power heads in favor of a Gyre (the smaller one), which in my wedge tank bounces off the walls and goes deep, rolling the current underneath the rockwork and up the wall again. But figuring how much light, how much flow, corals are going to like has been just one more complication. I'm losing coral. To what? The nitrate? Or the light?
Having come down to a few surviving corals (euphyllia and acan are the last 2) I decided, well, maybe it's overkill at 60% of the Gyre or too much light at 60% of the Radion on its Radiant profile.
Well, I don't own (can't afford) a par meter, but I know a happy or unhappy montipora when I see it, and they use upper to lower end of moderate sps lighting. So I got a tiny sunset montipora and set it in the full blast of the 60% Gyre, right on top of the rockwork, 8" under the surface, under the Radions at 60%. Now mind, nitrate was still in the 50's. It browned. But survived, with the help of snails and crabs cleaning the brown gunk off it. It pulled in all its green florets and turned brown. Hmmn. Browning isn't a symptom of too much flow, so that's ok. But it's too much light OR too much nitrate. I thought maybe too much light, so I ticked the Radions down with the buttons to about 55%. THat didn't help. It had only little dots where the florets should be.
THEN came the new skimmer, and the nitrate dropped overnight. Out came the florets. Over subsequent days, on those settings, the orange color replaces the brown. and the florets have all their petals, bright green.
It is also puffing up a bit and looking inclined to spread (it's an 'encrusting' type.)
So I decided if montipora (least demanding of the sps sort) liked the flow and the light AND the low nitrate, I'd try an lps that's pretty hardy. Petco had a 15.00 3-head frag of quite battered candycane, very green. (They got it by error: they sell softies.) I got it, took it home, dipped it very zealously) found it a spot, again on top, yesterday. Today, the poor thing is bright-colored and about as puffed as it can get without extruding feeding tentacles.
So I watch. Both corals are looking much, much happier, and the new skimmer is now on medium-wet, as I get all the gunk I can out of this poor system.
Once you survive a crisis, you're not done: in my case, I lost a healthy population of pods, worms, amphipods, etc, which became soupy part of a nasty sandbed that wasn't working, and actually some months ago besought a bag of dirty sand from an lfs I trust---worms and sand life were what I wanted. And I had to gamble on anything unwanted coming with it, and be prepared to deal with the consequences, but the gamble worked. No ich, no parasites, no problems. Clean dirt. With worms.
So that was about 5 months back. Now that the skimming deficiency is fixed, we are RUNNING, and the little corals are trying hard. The battered old acan is still with us, and is going to have some problem overcoming the disadvantage of an algaed skeleton, but it has a fighting chance now, and the new corals are showing signs of better days ahead.
So...kind of a double whammy---exacerbated by an inadequate skimmer, which is a sneakier problem. I exited with nitrate through the roof (over 100) and real unhappy coral, which was demising. I dosed carbon faithfully. Put in a MarinePure block, big one. Got the nitrate down to 50. Then dosed NoPox, using 2 big bottles over time, which finally got the nitrate down to 10 to 15. But just couldn't get the nitrate down that final bit into the 5's to 1.
I also disconnected the sump, hosed it out, washed the whole rubble pile, and reconnected it. That helped, but not lower than 10.
Got a new more potent skimmer, an Eshopps Cone for a 150. It knocked it down to the 1's literally overnight, producing skimmate that literally blew the top off the skimmer: had to weight it with a rock.
So, we solved the ammonia problem back during the blackout. The nitrate problem has been killing us for months. Nearly 9 months. It's now gone.
Complicating the scene, around the time of the blackout, I had just gotten new lights: Radion gen 3 Pro (36" deep tank); and during the depths of the nitrate disaster, I got rid of the power heads in favor of a Gyre (the smaller one), which in my wedge tank bounces off the walls and goes deep, rolling the current underneath the rockwork and up the wall again. But figuring how much light, how much flow, corals are going to like has been just one more complication. I'm losing coral. To what? The nitrate? Or the light?
Having come down to a few surviving corals (euphyllia and acan are the last 2) I decided, well, maybe it's overkill at 60% of the Gyre or too much light at 60% of the Radion on its Radiant profile.
Well, I don't own (can't afford) a par meter, but I know a happy or unhappy montipora when I see it, and they use upper to lower end of moderate sps lighting. So I got a tiny sunset montipora and set it in the full blast of the 60% Gyre, right on top of the rockwork, 8" under the surface, under the Radions at 60%. Now mind, nitrate was still in the 50's. It browned. But survived, with the help of snails and crabs cleaning the brown gunk off it. It pulled in all its green florets and turned brown. Hmmn. Browning isn't a symptom of too much flow, so that's ok. But it's too much light OR too much nitrate. I thought maybe too much light, so I ticked the Radions down with the buttons to about 55%. THat didn't help. It had only little dots where the florets should be.
THEN came the new skimmer, and the nitrate dropped overnight. Out came the florets. Over subsequent days, on those settings, the orange color replaces the brown. and the florets have all their petals, bright green.
It is also puffing up a bit and looking inclined to spread (it's an 'encrusting' type.)
So I decided if montipora (least demanding of the sps sort) liked the flow and the light AND the low nitrate, I'd try an lps that's pretty hardy. Petco had a 15.00 3-head frag of quite battered candycane, very green. (They got it by error: they sell softies.) I got it, took it home, dipped it very zealously) found it a spot, again on top, yesterday. Today, the poor thing is bright-colored and about as puffed as it can get without extruding feeding tentacles.
So I watch. Both corals are looking much, much happier, and the new skimmer is now on medium-wet, as I get all the gunk I can out of this poor system.
Once you survive a crisis, you're not done: in my case, I lost a healthy population of pods, worms, amphipods, etc, which became soupy part of a nasty sandbed that wasn't working, and actually some months ago besought a bag of dirty sand from an lfs I trust---worms and sand life were what I wanted. And I had to gamble on anything unwanted coming with it, and be prepared to deal with the consequences, but the gamble worked. No ich, no parasites, no problems. Clean dirt. With worms.
So that was about 5 months back. Now that the skimming deficiency is fixed, we are RUNNING, and the little corals are trying hard. The battered old acan is still with us, and is going to have some problem overcoming the disadvantage of an algaed skeleton, but it has a fighting chance now, and the new corals are showing signs of better days ahead.
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And they can be a trial; but they're hardy, and there's only one type that nips corals. My big gal, aka Ms. Titanic, Gold, and Tank Boss, is pretty in the way big angels are pretty, with her black-edged gold, and doesn't bother corals; and pretty well ignores other species, once she realizes they weren't added as lunch. That little fish in the photo is about the size of one of her side fins. She's about 4.5 inches long, which is adult for her type.
