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Ash's 400 Gallon Reef
- Thread starter Ashish
- Start date
something like this would work but it would look goofy. Even a simple piece of plastic on either side of the seaswirl nozzel may solve the problem. The nozzels can support their weight but its when they are sleeping near the nozzels path that it gets loose and falls. I have about 1400gph coming out of each nozzel so its a lot of flow being directly down to the LPS - so may have no choice but to make something or relocate the trouble maker snails.
So no updates really besides I am having a lot of New tank problems. I thought adding LR to the sump would save me sometime but it didnt.
First few weeks of adding LPS and zoas all was good, and then i skrewed up by pushing the T5 lights on time to get acros in the tank. Anyways, the zoas and LPS didnt like it and caused me to do something that I know is bad, keep changing the spectrum of the radions. I endedup going with similiar schedule WWC used on their old 900 and 500 gallon system where its white light early on and all blue the 2nd half of the day. The reason this works for me is bc the T5 have enough white light that eventually when I have them on for 6-8 hours per day the tank looks good. and towards the end of the day I can have completely blue light.
Another issue
I have terrible luck with tenius. 2 that i had in QT are dieing and one STN. I removed some dead tissue and hope the Cherry bomb bloodline continues but was a mistake to add anything fancy early on when things are still stabilizing. My QT seems to be more mature at 3 months with all lR but still no sign of coraline in my 400 gallon. Very hard to be patient when I already spend years setting this tank up and now i have to wait another 1 year for things to maybe grow things while my equipment gets weared down.
First few weeks of adding LPS and zoas all was good, and then i skrewed up by pushing the T5 lights on time to get acros in the tank. Anyways, the zoas and LPS didnt like it and caused me to do something that I know is bad, keep changing the spectrum of the radions. I endedup going with similiar schedule WWC used on their old 900 and 500 gallon system where its white light early on and all blue the 2nd half of the day. The reason this works for me is bc the T5 have enough white light that eventually when I have them on for 6-8 hours per day the tank looks good. and towards the end of the day I can have completely blue light.
Another issue
I have terrible luck with tenius. 2 that i had in QT are dieing and one STN. I removed some dead tissue and hope the Cherry bomb bloodline continues but was a mistake to add anything fancy early on when things are still stabilizing. My QT seems to be more mature at 3 months with all lR but still no sign of coraline in my 400 gallon. Very hard to be patient when I already spend years setting this tank up and now i have to wait another 1 year for things to maybe grow things while my equipment gets weared down.
To be honest I figured starting a new tank after having a lot of experience would be easy. But there really is something about the age of the system and the age of the rock. I focused on keeping high nutrients in the beggining to go along with the idea that you can basically mature your system faster with it. So I was dosing nitrates and phosphates to keep them at .1 phosphates and 10 nitrates. Well for whatever reason it is, my corals hate phosphate over .04 so I just said screw the dosing and just do water changes and let it ride. Things are more positive now.
So I am pulling my hair out trying to figure out whats causing mostly all my corals lack of PE. I get it acros do that but never seen it on Zoas, LPS, and stylos, (the acans, encrusting montis dont seem to mind). I decided to put some new corals from QT in the display to see how they would react, They reacted the same way (closed up). Now I know its not light stress, PAR is around 100-200 range where I put these softies anyways and I never been the on to overlight.
I have concluded that the main reasons is probably bc I added too much garlic to my frozen food. I asked my wife to get me some garlic cloves when I was making fish food outside, She comes with 2 pieces, I said give me more then that and she comes up with maybe 10-15. In a rush I just grinded it up and mixed it in with maybe 20 lbs of seafood. Enough to last me maybe 3-4 months. I started feeding this garlic soaked food few weeks before the issues but adding the T5 maybe would have highlighted the issues or it just build up coincidently at that time. But every coral that I added last month was doing very good, colors where great and PE was good and montis where encrusting.
My fish are big and poop a lot - There is a constant haze when lights turn on bc the pumps ramp up to full power and kick up more detritus. The garlic is going directly on the corals constantly all day, I was feeding pretty heavy with this frozen food in the evening, maybe equivalent to 9 cubes spread throughout the evening hours. Besides that my tanks been stable with parameters so don't see any other reasons why corals would recede. I moved 2 zoas from the display to the QT tank to further confirm my claims, If they open their polyps then I will start moving those zoas back into the QT untl they are healthy again. The removable frag plugs came in handy
Alk is always 8.2
PH is always 8.2-8.3
NO is 10PPM
PO are .2+
I have concluded that the main reasons is probably bc I added too much garlic to my frozen food. I asked my wife to get me some garlic cloves when I was making fish food outside, She comes with 2 pieces, I said give me more then that and she comes up with maybe 10-15. In a rush I just grinded it up and mixed it in with maybe 20 lbs of seafood. Enough to last me maybe 3-4 months. I started feeding this garlic soaked food few weeks before the issues but adding the T5 maybe would have highlighted the issues or it just build up coincidently at that time. But every coral that I added last month was doing very good, colors where great and PE was good and montis where encrusting.
My fish are big and poop a lot - There is a constant haze when lights turn on bc the pumps ramp up to full power and kick up more detritus. The garlic is going directly on the corals constantly all day, I was feeding pretty heavy with this frozen food in the evening, maybe equivalent to 9 cubes spread throughout the evening hours. Besides that my tanks been stable with parameters so don't see any other reasons why corals would recede. I moved 2 zoas from the display to the QT tank to further confirm my claims, If they open their polyps then I will start moving those zoas back into the QT untl they are healthy again. The removable frag plugs came in handy
Alk is always 8.2
PH is always 8.2-8.3
NO is 10PPM
PO are .2+
I thought about the icp test but gonna wait probably few weeks out to rule this garlic thing. I'm almost certain it's that bc my corals are used to high phosphates. I am hoping it's no some metals creeping out of this dense Marshall Island rock
So I checked the one zoa that I moved back into QT yesterday and its doing much better. Its not struggling to open up.
This is my theory:
I've observed some sandy like substrate in my tangs poop, I figured it was just sand but i have barebottom and noticed more white particles on the bottom. Figured it was just from the rock or frag plugs. Now I am thinking its just Garlic particulates.. I feel is effective at fighting ich bc its a foreign substance that is leaching from the fish gills, resulting in less spots or infection. Detritus doesnt settle in my systems its nearly 100% suspended until mechanical filter clean it up. I run my pumps on X2 higher during day so its kicking up more crap during the day and then the lights turn on. I notice my stylo having PE before lights turn on and then gradually close up. Maybe i didnt mix the garlic good and its concentrated in the one of the bags but I can't think of any reason why zoas would close up for 16 days but not die. They seem to just be irritated by the garlic which has anti fungal property and other things that can't be good in high doses.
This is my theory:
I've observed some sandy like substrate in my tangs poop, I figured it was just sand but i have barebottom and noticed more white particles on the bottom. Figured it was just from the rock or frag plugs. Now I am thinking its just Garlic particulates.. I feel is effective at fighting ich bc its a foreign substance that is leaching from the fish gills, resulting in less spots or infection. Detritus doesnt settle in my systems its nearly 100% suspended until mechanical filter clean it up. I run my pumps on X2 higher during day so its kicking up more crap during the day and then the lights turn on. I notice my stylo having PE before lights turn on and then gradually close up. Maybe i didnt mix the garlic good and its concentrated in the one of the bags but I can't think of any reason why zoas would close up for 16 days but not die. They seem to just be irritated by the garlic which has anti fungal property and other things that can't be good in high doses.
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Yeah I did the same thing as you. I can't believe no one is selling clean aquacultured LR yet. in the past i never had hair algae issues, dinos, bacterias blooms, uglies, etc because I always seeded with at least 10 LB of good Liverock that was taken from the ocean and it spread to the dry rock very quickly, (within 6 months everything looked the same). I honestly feel for newbies right now it can be challenging to have a SPS dominant tank, luckily most newbies dont like SPS and will want Pulsing Xenias and mushrooms
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I have purchased 15 lbs of the unique corals Australian live rock and that’s been in my tank for a few months now. Maybe the particulates getting kicked up and the higher flow is pissing off the corals. Like a constant dust storm knocking into them. Pristine sps reefs tend to always be crystal clear with not much particulate matter floating in the water. I threw special grade into my tank to keep down the oolite so now my tanks become crystal clear like my thriving biocube.
I would stop feeding garlic. If it’s not in the ocean I don’t feed it to my fish.
I would add a camera to the tank if you don’t have it.
usually it’s a fish or a crab. They eat the corals when you are not in front of the tank.
going back on video is a very good way to see what’s going on in your tank.
if you can get a hold of a par meter I would also see how much par your giving your corals.
I would add a camera to the tank if you don’t have it.
usually it’s a fish or a crab. They eat the corals when you are not in front of the tank.
going back on video is a very good way to see what’s going on in your tank.
if you can get a hold of a par meter I would also see how much par your giving your corals.
Jamie S
NJRC Member
The hidden reef has big vats of rock cycling that you can buy. I’m not sure how long it’s been in the system but it would be worth it to ask. Even if it was originally dry and has been in there only 6 months or so it’s still a 6 months head start over dry rock.Yeah I did the same thing as you. I can't believe no one is selling clean aquacultured LR yet. in the past i never had hair algae issues, dinos, bacterias blooms, uglies, etc because I always seeded with at least 10 LB of good Liverock that was taken from the ocean and it spread to the dry rock very quickly, (within 6 months everything looked the same). I honestly feel for newbies right now it can be challenging to have a SPS dominant tank, luckily most newbies dont like SPS and will want Pulsing Xenias and mushrooms
I stopped feeding garlic as of yesterday. Par range is 100 on the bottom and 200 around top of aquascape.
Good point on the camera, it could just be the Uchin stabbing everyone, which is common but shouldnt be an issue since the corals are experiencing some sensitivity to getting light. I did remove about 7 corals, dipped, inspected, and put back in QT. Mainly the Zoas and goni which I don't have a backup so couldnt watch them die. I am planning on doing a 120 gallon water change. These garlic pieces are sprinkled all throughout the rockwork and I imagine they landed on the corals polyps and caused irritation.
Some one in my tank was eating my zoas. I thought I had a bug but when I started looking at my cameras I noticed the pacific blue tang was the one eating it.
I also had a problem growing nepthia in my main display. I had a large piece I grow from a Frag and I cut in on half and put one piece in my 220. Al my tanks are the same water so they all share the same light schedule and parameters.
the nepthia no matter where I put it in the tank was doing bad. I couldn’t figure it out and then one day I notice a piece was ripped off and on the sand bed. I looked back at the video from that camera and my blue tang was eating it.
Lol reef safe my ass. I moved the nepthia back to the frag tank and it’s doing well again.