Yep. I figured I wasn't quite in the clear yet. But I've got 'em on the ropes!
Weeds
- Thread starter Michael Hoaster
- Start date
I fine tuned the rocks' and macros' placement today. I cleaned the grasses of dinos and removed all but the healthiest of the Ulva. Some were fading and I wanted to remove them before they could release any more nutrients.
I also decided to add some erythromycin to the water. It's an antibiotic that can end cyanobacteria. I already had some on hand, so I gave it a go.
I've been thinking on my main pump situation. There are too many things in the overflow chamber. I need to move some of them, to make use of the return chamber. I've still got more thinking to do.
Here's a couple of pics of my little patch reef:
All rocks are sort of terraced into the hill. I'm happy with the macro placement now.
One of the reds went into the wall. I'm really looking forward to seeing them grow.
I've been examining the rocks everyday with a magnifier. I'm seeing a few small patches of some kind of green macro. I'll keep an eye on it.
I also decided to add some erythromycin to the water. It's an antibiotic that can end cyanobacteria. I already had some on hand, so I gave it a go.
I've been thinking on my main pump situation. There are too many things in the overflow chamber. I need to move some of them, to make use of the return chamber. I've still got more thinking to do.
Here's a couple of pics of my little patch reef:
All rocks are sort of terraced into the hill. I'm happy with the macro placement now.
One of the reds went into the wall. I'm really looking forward to seeing them grow.
I've been examining the rocks everyday with a magnifier. I'm seeing a few small patches of some kind of green macro. I'll keep an eye on it.
All green, all the time.
A small, green macro with a tuft/cup on top. Like a mini tufted joint algae. Further right, two orange sponges, maybe of the tree variety.
A good, red sampler.
Two of my favorites.
The deep end.
Aquaticchaos
New member
This is incredible! I've often thought I'd like to build a system like this and find a way to link it to a reef tank.
Thanks Aquaticchaos! It's coming along.
It's exciting adding live rock and macros to the developing ecosystem. More pieces of the puzzle! With most of the algae gone, it feels like my crew is now able to catch up. Now let's see if they can keep it at bay. I'm anxious to see what pops out of the rock. I can see a fair amount of encrusting sponge, and a few macro fragments. I've just about got the bottom the food chain filled in. Now it just needs time to reproduce and grow.
It's exciting adding live rock and macros to the developing ecosystem. More pieces of the puzzle! With most of the algae gone, it feels like my crew is now able to catch up. Now let's see if they can keep it at bay. I'm anxious to see what pops out of the rock. I can see a fair amount of encrusting sponge, and a few macro fragments. I've just about got the bottom the food chain filled in. Now it just needs time to reproduce and grow.
Thanks Dawn. Yes, the blennies are in flux with the new rock. They are popping up all over the tank and checking out the options. New live rock is like opening a present. You don't know what you're getting but that's part of the fun!
Thanks Kevin. The blackout was effective, as part of an overall scheme. Whether it ends my algae phase is anybody's guess! I was encouraged that after Saturday's dino export, I saw none return on Sunday. If I am successful with this algae battle, I'll try to sum up what worked for me.
Thanks Kevin. The blackout was effective, as part of an overall scheme. Whether it ends my algae phase is anybody's guess! I was encouraged that after Saturday's dino export, I saw none return on Sunday. If I am successful with this algae battle, I'll try to sum up what worked for me.
Tuesday and I'm not seeing dinos. Today was also the forth and last erythromycin treatment. Maybe a trace of cyano lingering. I'm cautiously optimistic.
I played around with my avatar image. I settled for now on a pic of Mr. Zippy.
I played around with my avatar image. I settled for now on a pic of Mr. Zippy.
Cautiously optimistic is a good place to be! I looked at pics from right after I added the grasses and it was a mess! Heavy dinos covered everything.
Then.
Now.
Mr Zippy was in v1. For avatar images you really need a big, sharp, bold picture, so it reads well small. I tried several pics from v2, but they just weren't big enough. Once the tank matures a bit more I'll get something more up-to-date.
Then.
Now.
Mr Zippy was in v1. For avatar images you really need a big, sharp, bold picture, so it reads well small. I tried several pics from v2, but they just weren't big enough. Once the tank matures a bit more I'll get something more up-to-date.
vlangel
Premium Member
Wow, what a difference in the 2 pics. Yes, I see lots of dinos in that first pic and the 2nd looks so clean and healthy. Good job!Cautiously optimistic is a good place to be! I looked at pics from right after I added the grasses and it was a mess! Heavy dinos covered everything.
Then.
Now.
Mr Zippy was in v1. For avatar images you really need a big, sharp, bold picture, so it reads well small. I tried several pics from v2, but they just weren't big enough. Once the tank matures a bit more I'll get something more up-to-date.
I guess I was not reading v1 when you had Mr Zippy. He does make a nice avatar for sure.
Thanks Dawn!
So far, so good, with the algae battle. I've got it beat down pretty good right now. Next, I want my crew to step up and take over. I think I'm approaching having enough snails and friends to do it. I believe clean up crews can do much more good for our aquariums than we give them credit for. You need to know each members' strengths and weaknesses, and diversify.
What I'd really like next is macro growth. Now that I have them placed, I'm leaving them be, so they can settle in and grow. I am seeing growth in the tiny, green macros that came in with the live rock. Also, I can just make out a tiny, green, fern-shaped macro I assume is caulerpa. I was planning to avoid caulerpas this time, but right now I'll take all the help I can get, to outcompete the uglies. Since I haven't been able to acquire one of the macros I had planned for the fake wall, maybe I'll let the caulerpa stand in, and we'll see how it does.
Mr Zippy was kind of an experiment. I wanted to see how long my tank could support him, before he wiped out my plants. It took about six months. It gave me a vacation from pruning, which was nice. But I had to remove him. So, like Phyllis the file fish, Zippy was a temp. But what a great fish!
So far, so good, with the algae battle. I've got it beat down pretty good right now. Next, I want my crew to step up and take over. I think I'm approaching having enough snails and friends to do it. I believe clean up crews can do much more good for our aquariums than we give them credit for. You need to know each members' strengths and weaknesses, and diversify.
What I'd really like next is macro growth. Now that I have them placed, I'm leaving them be, so they can settle in and grow. I am seeing growth in the tiny, green macros that came in with the live rock. Also, I can just make out a tiny, green, fern-shaped macro I assume is caulerpa. I was planning to avoid caulerpas this time, but right now I'll take all the help I can get, to outcompete the uglies. Since I haven't been able to acquire one of the macros I had planned for the fake wall, maybe I'll let the caulerpa stand in, and we'll see how it does.
Mr Zippy was kind of an experiment. I wanted to see how long my tank could support him, before he wiped out my plants. It took about six months. It gave me a vacation from pruning, which was nice. But I had to remove him. So, like Phyllis the file fish, Zippy was a temp. But what a great fish!
Thanks McPuff! Thanks Kevin!
I'm still holding at cautiously optimistic. If my crew can keep it down until my macros kick in, I might be good!
I'm still holding at cautiously optimistic. If my crew can keep it down until my macros kick in, I might be good!
The tank seems pretty low nutrient right now. Even ulva isn't growing. That's kind of surprising, given the ten pounds of uncured live rock I added over a week ago. I'll give it more time. With my dirty sand bed, the grasses are getting all they need.
With most of the algae gone, it looks like my snails are keeping it that way. This is what I hoped for. Balance!
With most of the algae gone, it looks like my snails are keeping it that way. This is what I hoped for. Balance!
I did a slight adjustment of the reds, with another going up, into the wall.
A dino-clean for the grasses today. I'm still not dino free, but there isn't much left. Same with cyano. The grasses got a little beat down by the blackout, but they're slowly bouncing back. The mysterious, little green macros are growing well. Maybe another candidate for the back wall?
My crew is getting there. They just need to reproduce a bit more. The sand bed isn't as wormy as I'd like. I think I must have lost some when exporting algae.
Thanks so much Kevin!
What's next? I still have some issues to resolve.
Dinos are not gone, just greatly reduced. So I'm manually removing while I wait for my crew to take over. My main circulation pump is not turned on. I need to figure out the best way to solve the problems associated with that. I have a few more plants to get, when they become available, and of course, I'd like to add some fish!
I'm kind of in a holding pattern now, walking the tightrope of low nutrients to keep algae at bay, while also trying to encourage the plants I have to grow. As Run/DMC said back in the day, "it's tricky!"
What's next? I still have some issues to resolve.
Dinos are not gone, just greatly reduced. So I'm manually removing while I wait for my crew to take over. My main circulation pump is not turned on. I need to figure out the best way to solve the problems associated with that. I have a few more plants to get, when they become available, and of course, I'd like to add some fish!
I'm kind of in a holding pattern now, walking the tightrope of low nutrients to keep algae at bay, while also trying to encourage the plants I have to grow. As Run/DMC said back in the day, "it's tricky!"
