Update: I'm not dead yet...

[DMBillies]

Hi guys,

I posted this in the MTRC forum, but figured I should throw it up on here too...

I've been quite out of the loop as it comes to the club due school work and all those other real-world things that prevent me from doing the tinkering, building, trading, and talking that I definitely love.

That said, the 30 gallon tank (which was our frag tank before we moved when we still had our 270 up) is doing just about as good as it ever has with the least amount of work and tinkering I've ever given. At this point, it's safe to say I'm pretty much breaking all of the rules and I've been slowly "testing" my set it and forget it strategy...

The tank is loaded with SPS, I haven't tested my levels in probably 6 months and I haven't done a water change in at least 3 months. I dose periodically and pay attention to how the corals are responding... most of the corals I've had now for well over a year and haven't added anything since I took down the 270, so I know when they aren't happy and it is almost certainly not pest related... leaving only water quality issues to blame and a minor adjustment up. My skimmer motor also burned out months ago. The corals really picked up a lot of color during the week I started to look for one, so I just decided to not replace it unless I started having problems (which I haven't).

The only rule I'm not breaking (which is my saving grace when it comes to the skimmer and the stability of the system) is that I only have a pair of clarkii clowns in the tank. The only other critters are a brittle star, a serpent star, and some snails and hermits.

Anyway, the SPS are all starting to grow into each other and the "hedgehog coral" (we believe it is a Echinopora mammiformis because of the branching structure) we got just before the last swap actually started growing quite nicely over the past few months after doing nothing for quite a long time. We are also having the only success with zoanthids we've ever had and we are getting some nice mats of zoas finally... you just can't beat their flourescents.

A few of the SPS are now starting to poke up out of the water, so if you are interested in something you see, let me know. There are definitely a couple that I NEED to cut. Otherwise, I'm planning to mostly wait so I have a bunch of good stuff at the swap.

Anyway... here are some pics. All taken under 4 very old Geismann T5's (bulbs are from 02/10/08 and 10/24/07; 2 actinic and 2 aquablue... mind you, this tank is super shallow and the lights are only 6-8" from the surface so a little bit of output loss is not a big deal). As always, my pics are horrible...


Hedgehog Coral

Zoas and Green Acro (bottom left)

Pink/Blue/Green Mille and some other stuff

Evil Mel's Mille and Blue Ridge Coral

Bad picture of Chip's Acro, Bright Green Encrusting Monti (top left), and Green Acro

 

[sandalscout]

Hey Brian, glad to hear you are still around, good to see the tank doing well!

 

[NeveSSL]

Wow, man! Glad to know you're not dead! Corals are looking great!

Brandon

 

[ocd_mariner]

Please post a FTS

 

[poolkeeper1]

Nice, You can get with Angela as she Is using the same method of breaking all the standard housekeeping rules also and Is having some success also. I would be curious to know what your Para's are when you get around to testing them to see what matters and what don't. Particularly where your Nitrate and Phosphate levels are?
Zach has a skimmer for sale for a couple hundred with the pump It's a PM beckett type, Not bad for the price JFYI. Anyway looks good when you start to frag I'll take a piece of the Evilmel you have If that Is OK.
Bill

 

[DMBillies]

Please post a FTS

Ummm... the tank is only about 8" tall and is fairly scratched/hazy through the front glass (this was an old fish store tank), so I took all of the shots looking down from the top through the water where there is much more surface area to look upon. I would take a full tank shot from the top, but the light reflects like crazy off of the surface. I thought I could get better shots this way, but I'll have to do some scraping in the next couple of days and get one from the front.

The bonus to looking in to a 8" tall tank that is probably 15" front to back is that it absolutely looks like the corals are sitting on top of each other. I'm not sure that you can see more than a couple of square inches of rock looking in from the front.

 

[DMBillies]

Nice, You can get with Angela as she Is using the same method of breaking all the standard housekeeping rules also and Is having some success also. I would be curious to know what your Para's are when you get around to testing them to see what matters and what don't. Particularly where your Nitrate and Phosphate levels are?
Zach has a skimmer for sale for a couple hundred with the pump It's a PM beckett type, Not bad for the price JFYI. Anyway looks good when you start to frag I'll take a piece of the Evilmel you have If that Is OK.
Bill

Bill, I am actually convinced that my phosphate and nitrate levels are better now than they have ever been. At least, I have had minor algae growth in the overflow and on a powerhead from time to time, but otherwise I have had less algae problems in this tank than I have really ever had.

As far as coral growth, I think I am getting at least as good growth as I've gotten in the past on my SPS and for the first time I am actually seeing my zoa colonies grow and prosper.

If you want the truth I think part of my success is living in a draftier older house, which I suspect has my pH staying a lot more stable across the day than in my old townhouse where I was always having pH problems (although I must say, I've never gotten around to stripping my controller out of my 270 to be able to monitor my levels throughout the day/night).

The other thing that I think is helping is simply keeping my hands out of my tank and not continuously trying to adjust small changes in my various levels. Both things may actually be resulting in greater stability across longer periods of time. Sure, when I adjust it is a bigger adjustment, but day-to-day the changes in various parameters are a relatively slow and steady decline.

I'll try to give my tank a test this weekend just to see where everything is and how out of whack I really am, but I've started really just relying on my eyes to tell me what needs done.

As far as the skimmer is concerned, have a little ASM on there and I just need a Sedra for it (I think it is a 2500), which is pretty cheap... I just actually saw an improvement in my tank when it broke. I'm guessing the skimmer, which is rated for a 90 and I have maybe 35-40 gallons max, has actually been stripping the water too clean with only a pair of clowns in the tank.

It's possible I'm heading for major complications, but as of now I'm as happy as I've ever been with the health/growth of my corals and I'm not having to spend 1/2 of my waking hours tinkering to get it. Time will tell I guess.