I checked out the zoo tank today (Sat. 8/25). It looked terrific. The diatoms were completely gone. Nate said in joking that its because we got rid of those ugly white actinics. I wonder if that could be a factor. I have also been trying to maintain the alkalinity at slightly elevated levels in relation to the calcium which my reading indicates can really help. iI filled the alk and Ca dosing buckets and tested all parameters. I still had to boost alk and CA a bit but everything was great. The yellow tang started feeding as well. There are also some signs of corraline algae starting to get a foothold. I also tried banding some nori to a rock and the Naso came right over and literally ripped it out of my hand. He is the coolest fish ever. St. james had no major reason to give that fish up other than his desire to contribute to the cause. Now that the tank is astable, I will start adding more sps and other coral. the girls at the zoo especially jenna are doing a fabulous job of following the tank care protocols. Finally, I will be placing a LiveAquaria order tomorrow if anyone other than nate wants to jump in. Oh, I almost forgot, DaveVG did a terrific job on the pulley system. We still need a better latch configuration.
zoo tank updates
- Thread starter drbronx
- Start date
Amazingly enough, the hippo tang keeps hanging in their. He is eating some green hair algae and a few nibbles of garlic soaked Nori. His ich appears gone as well. If he pulls through, which I still doubt, it would be little short of a miracle (which of course would have to become his/her name.
I just added a new Hippo Tang and a little yellow wrasse to the zoo tank. The tank continues to look good. All corals are thriving and the fish look great. I'll add some more sps's this weekend. parameters are definitely stable now. calcium is holding steady at 380-400 ppm. The zoo put in new windows for the otter tank but when they filled it, the tank is still leaking. They have no idea where the leak is now. The bummer is that we now have a nice tank and people are blocked from entering the downstairs viewing area where the tank is. hopefully, they will soon isolate and repair the problem. Plus the poor otters miss their water.
Paul and I met this am. The new blue hippo is eating but is very shy since the othger tangs have established their territory. The new yellow wrasse has solved that problem my making his new home in the right overflow
. Paul and I were unsuccessful in removing the standpipe to flush him out. We were afraid to break the bulkhead. I think this may be a job for super reefer (NRogers of course!). I glued in (using 2-part epoxy putty) a bunch of sps frags: A very large frag of white tipped staghorn acro, blue acro mille, aqua/teal acro mille, blue tenuis, Cali Tort Acro, green stylopora pistillata, purple monti digitata. I also put in a colony of Woods Polyps. I'll see how these hold up and then add some more stuff. parameters holding up nicely. I just wish that after all our hard work, the public can see the tank. its a wreck down there since they are tearing the walls apart to isolate the leak on the otter tank. paul and I also made up water for the water change which I will complete tomorrow. The only issue is to figure out how much water to remove from the sump?
. Paul and I were unsuccessful in removing the standpipe to flush him out. We were afraid to break the bulkhead. I think this may be a job for super reefer (NRogers of course!). I glued in (using 2-part epoxy putty) a bunch of sps frags: A very large frag of white tipped staghorn acro, blue acro mille, aqua/teal acro mille, blue tenuis, Cali Tort Acro, green stylopora pistillata, purple monti digitata. I also put in a colony of Woods Polyps. I'll see how these hold up and then add some more stuff. parameters holding up nicely. I just wish that after all our hard work, the public can see the tank. its a wreck down there since they are tearing the walls apart to isolate the leak on the otter tank. paul and I also made up water for the water change which I will complete tomorrow. The only issue is to figure out how much water to remove from the sump?This AM I conducted a water change. despite this the skimmer is still going crazy when turned on even in the extreme open position due to epoxying all the corals yesterday. Hopefully it calms down soon. I unplugged it and instructed the caretakers to try it every day. The yellow wrasse is still in the overflow but i made sure he got some food. So he'll probably stay alive until we can remove the standpipe. I also topped off the alk and Ca buckets. i also changed out the chemical media. Fish and corals all looking good.
nwrogers
Got gorgs?
I went up to the zoo today to get the wrasse out of the overflow and was successful. The tank is looking nice but that yellow tang seems to be a mean little guy. It looks like he has been putting marks on naso and the poor naso has no defense 
I hope they sort things out soon and learn to get along…
I hope they sort things out soon and learn to get along…Thats terrific Nate. Thanx bunches. Super Reefer delivers again! The yellow tang defintely has attitude. I haven't seen him mess with the Naso but he does intimidate the blue Tang. Nate: did you happen to see what the skimmer is doing. I hate having it off line for long. I wonder why epoxy and certain other substances make skimmers go into hyperdrive. Are there any other ways to slow it down?
nwrogers
Got gorgs?
I messed around with the skimmer for a few minutes and I couldn’t get it to stop freaking out. I am not sure why the epoxy did that but I never use anything but super glue gel so I don’t have any experience with that stuff. There is really no good way that I know of other than to just wait.
Agreed, we need to meet to discuss next steps like listed above and repeated below:
- Education / Graphics / etc. for the room
- Seahorse tank / plans (if any)
- Donation box next to tank (provided zoo agrees)
- Idea of monthly Q&A's with the public (ask the STRS reefers what they would do)
- Education / Graphics / etc. for the room
- Seahorse tank / plans (if any)
- Donation box next to tank (provided zoo agrees)
- Idea of monthly Q&A's with the public (ask the STRS reefers what they would do)
Vince, dave and I met Wednesday night. We fixed the runaway skimmer problem since Vince remembered that we have a venturi valve to control the air intake. Installing that controlled the foam production which is good since Nitrates were starting to climb. Otherwise everything looked great. No apparent progress on the otter tank. Its a mess down there
nate and paul are working on some tank and critter descriptions.
nate and paul are working on some tank and critter descriptions.
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