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New new 40 breed
- Thread starter David
- Start date
deepblue68
POTM Winner
Very nice looking
I made a few changes to the tank today. Since I added the bio pellet reactor a few months ago, my nitrates have come down, but my phosphates, started climbing. I tried aluminum oxide based media, which I had success with in the past, but it was not helping. So I took the carbon out of the brs reactor, and started tumbling gfo in it today. I moved the carbon from the brs reactor to a media cup on the outlet of the o”flow. Since I replaced the filter sock with the media cup, I added a home made filter tray between the first and second chamber. Hopefully my phosphates will come back in line.
I finally got coral growth. The alien eye challis that I got at the march meeting had 5 eyes when i put it in my tank. It now has a bunch more. It has further encrusted the frag plug. The green monti appears to have a new growth ring around it’s edge. This is the first success I have had with lps coral. Some of the other corals that were doing poorly, are showing signs of recovery. Will take some time.
I’m about 10 months in since starting this tank. I finally spotted a few specs of coralline algae on the overflow box. It took quit a bit longer than my last tank, not that I’m looking forward to having to scrape it off the glass. This tank seems to be slow to mature. I have fought new tank syndrome for the first 8 months or so. I still don’t really see any pods yet. I added some bought pods a while ago. I saw them for a few weeks after, but not anymore.
Give it time, especially for the pods. Soon they'll be all over the place once they reproduce
After a year of messing with my power heads, I have finally stumbled upon what appears to be good random flow, with no dead spots. Instead of power heads at opposite sides, I put the both on the left wall, blasting towards the right across the top. The water swirls downward off the opposite wall, creating good reverse flow across the bottom. My sand bed does not have any sediment, after overnight. The 2 jebao pp4’s are set to mode C, speed 1’ and they are synced. I might swap my torch and my green monti. The monti is in moderately low flow and the torch is no moderately high flow. They would be better suited in opposite spots.
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Oh my goodness! I just noticed that the Ricordea has just moved deeper into the rock crevasse, and is still there! I hope my lights aren’t too much For it, and made it retreat deeper in the rock. It’s lower in the tank, and kind of under a ledge. Seams like an ideal spot for a low light, low flow coral. It might just be acclimating to leds since it was wild collected.
I just started a new job. Graveyard shift. Been doing minimal maintenance to the tank. Its actually responded positively. It’s kind of strange, the sps and the softy’s are doing very well with growth and color. The LPS are still mostly kind of mediocre, with the exception of a chalice that I got at the March meeting. That one is growing like crazy. I guess if sps and softies are doing well, the lps stuff is right in the middle. They were in kind of poor shape, prior, so they might just need a little recovery time. Sps can bounce back pretty quick when conditions are right, you know. There just monti’s. Nothing crazy.
I addaded a new blue chromis today. My original chromis disappeared without a trace a few months ago. I replenished cuc, with some new snails and hermits today. I also got my first acro. Just a basic green stick. I’ve been very well with monti’s, so If this does well, I’m planning to pack the tank with sps.
I am at the point where the alkalinity and calcium consumption has exceeded my water change replenishing. I tested it 2 days in a row, and it was 7.5 and 360. Bought some 2 part, for now. Manually dosed a tiny bit. Will check and dose as needed again tomorrow. Also ordered a Hanna alk checker. The Red Sea titration test is accurate, but not convenient.
I’m finally having some success with euphyllia. After several years of them sitting there, looking mediocre at best, and 0 growth. They have been looking much better lately. SPS grows like weeds in my tank. Softies grow very slowly. I’m still working on getting it a little dirtier, to strike a good balance for an sps dominated mixed reef. 