Back to basics- 29g adventure

[pegasus]

Naa. That's a hydenophora on top and of course, a green candy on bottom. The blue ridge is just brown, so I didn't post a pic.

My bad... but it does kind of favor a brown BR just a little bit. I know a lot of SPS corals tend to brown-out after fragging, and very often after being transferred to a new tank. It should color up after it acclimates to your system. Even if the BR is a muted brown, it doesn't matter... it was FREE... and it's hard to beat free! LOL!!!

 

[snakeblitz33]

That's right. This BR is brown. It had been growing in the LFS tank for over 15 years. I was lucky to get a frag of it, let alone two.

Everything is going well so far. The hydenophora still has its flesh. I'm just going to play it by ear for a few weeks and just see if it works out. Maybe next month when I go to the LFS, he will have a few new choices for SPS corals.

So far so good. Don't like to push my luck. I'm finally having a fair amount of success after a few years of failed attempts because of bad silicone. Heh.

 

[pegasus]

Awesome! Hang in there, buddy! Looks like things are going smooth so far.

 

[eric b 125]

I've bought a few brown frags in the past that have colored up to be some very pretty corals. Just give it time. Glad to see everything coming along!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Blue ridge is a brown coral. Lol. It never will color up, ever. That's its natural color. Lol.

The hydenophora is supposed to be a pretty green but its a green brown mix right now. It's recovering from being at the LFS right now. I hope it will go back to the color that I see in some pictures on the interwebs.

I'm on a mission to get some pink and green birdsnest and some montipora digitata and undata and some M. palawenensis so?

 

[eric b 125]

Blue ridge is a brown coral. Lol. It never will color up, ever. That's its natural color. Lol.

Oop...sorry, I missed that in your earlier posts.

 

[snakeblitz33]

No worries

 

[snakeblitz33]

So far, so good. The hynophora is still coloring up some, I hope that it takes on a nice green coloration.

maybe on the first of next month, i'll buy another sps coral and test my luck. I hope that my lfs keeps getting in these little ten and fifteen dollar sps frags.

the water change went well and everything seems to be back to normal. I have been topping off the tank nearly every day with kalkwasser that has magnesium and strontium included in it. Brightwell aquatics brand, kalk+2 if anyone wants to know.

Not much else is going on, really. I'm having a little success every day, which means a lot.

 

[eric b 125]

How do you like 2-part compared to Ca Rx? If I downsize I will probably end up doing Kalkwasser in the ATO like you.

 

[eric b 125]

I just don't think a smaller tank really needs a reactor.

 

[bang guy]

How do you like 2-part compared to Ca Rx? If I downsize I will probably end up doing Kalkwasser in the ATO like you.

Be very careful with limewater and ATO. Depending on the ATO setup, lime will precipitate and the point where the limewater meets the saltwater. If the limewater drips in without physical contact then it will still form a lime shell due to the CO2 in the air.

I only mention because it not monitored the lime shell can end up clogging the ATO. Weekly cleaning is usually sufficient but it's no longer hands-off one you start dripping limewater.

In mine I added a vinegar drip and that helped a lot but it would still form that Calcium carbonate shell, it just took longer.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I had a two little fishies kalkwasser reactor on my old 75g and it performed perfectly. If you are going to do it, I suggest getting one of those. It does come with a pretty good check valve that prevents the backflow that Bang is talking about. It doesn't prevent it all, but it does a good job. Since the reactors outlet doesn't touch the tank water in any way, it does form a shell on the top, but when the pump turns on, it pushes water into the reactor which causes the water level to rise and it just pushes the shell up and releases the saturated limewater into the tank, very, very, slowly. I wouldn't put a kalk reactor on anything less than 90 gallons and if you had room. For my little 29g tank, it's just unnecessary. Then again, if my tank fills up with SPS corals, I may try it out again, since I have the old reactor in storage and I know I can fit a 10g reservoir underneath my tank. Meh, we will see.

I already had to do some tank maintenance this morning, the water level got pretty low. It seems like this tank is evaporating pretty dang fast, but it is next to the air conditioner unit, so there is a lot of air draw past it.

I'm checking another sps frag website that I like, and I can get 6 SPS frags for $95 with free shipping... which I think is a pretty good deal. I just am unsure if I want to spend that money or save it for an emergency. After all, I'll be a daddy again in about a month. whew!

 

[eric b 125]

Do you think weekly water changes with a quality reef salt would be enough on a SPS dominated 29 gallon tank? Rather than Kalkwasser or calcium reactor? 2-part?

 

[snakeblitz33]

I do monthly ten gallon water changes and use kalk. I'm sure you might could do weekly but might still have to supplement.

 

[bang guy]

You will prbably have to dose occationally if your corals re growing. For a 29 gallon a two part additive might be enough.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I threw my back out on Friday. I've been laying down with a heating pad for the last three days. I had to call in to work today. I've been taking pain killers, but they have not helped much.

I feel more confident in kalk+2 for dosing than a two part. Mainly because its what I have the most experience with and the other reason is that I don't test my water often enough.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yesterday I added two bumblebee snails, six blue leg hermit crabs and a tiger brittle star to help with cleaning up the sandbed. I'll add a couple of nassarius snails when my LFS gets them in.

After I added the new critters, I replaced the maxijet 1200 modded powerhead with a koralia 2. I don't know if it puts out enough current. I may switch back to the maxijet.

The last thing I did was I added the phosphate reactor back to the system. I put in new media and washed it before adding it to the tank. The large montipora apparently didn't like the change and decided to slough off a couple patches of tissue. The rest of the sps corals are fine though. Kinda weird. As a whole, though, I'm pretty sure that it will grow back and do just fine.

I added the phosphate reactor back to the system because the sandbed is looking weird with some type of very short, brown/green algae growing in the sand. It's not hair algae. Oh well, it will probably go away soon enough.

Once the Monti recovers and the hydenophora starts showing more recovery and growth, I might order some SPS corals online.

I'm still doing the ten gallon water changes at the first of every month. Still topping off with kalk.

I need to test my water and see where my calcium and alkalinity stand.

Anyways,... That's it for now.

 

[pegasus]

You may have shocked the system a little bit by dropping the phosphate too fast. It's recommended to start with half the recommended GFO to begin with to avoid any problems. Luckily, it just affected the monti, and it should heal fairly quickly once it adjusts to the low level. I've noticed that my SPS do better with just a touch of NO3 and PO4 present. I've also found a few articles lately attesting to the same thing. Good thing... I'll never have an ultra-low nutrient system! LOL!!!

Speaking of testing water, I need to test mine, also. It's been a couple of weeks, and everything looked great at that time, but I need to re-check to see if I need to make any adjustment(s) to the dosing pump. I tell you, the dosing pump sure has made life a lot easier since I don't have to manually dose on a daily basis. Let us know how the kalk is working out...

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, it could be that dropping the phosphate level so quickly could have had a small impact on the montipora. I'm sure, though, that it will bounce back once it gets used to the system again.

I really want to get rid of the look of the sandbed right now that has all of that algae stuff in it. My new brittle star made a home and was stirring the sand a bit in a spot, which is a really good sign.

I'm going to double my feedings now to twice an evening and about once a week or so I'm going to add phyto. That seems like a pretty good regimine.

As far as dosing goes, I may end up going with a three part system if when I test my water this weekend and find it low, even after dosing kalk all week. So I might be mixing up my own solutions.

Kalkwasser precipitates phosphate out of the water column, so switching from kalk to a three part solution and adding the phosphate reactor is probably going to be a good thing.

I want everything relatively stable in the oncoming weeks. I might buy a pack of corals if I see any major improvements.

My LFS currently does not have any SPS in stock and will not have any in stock for the foreseeable future. At least that is what the owner of the store thinks. So.... I'm left with ordering online or possibly meeting with friends off a local forum.

Anyways, that's all for now.

Eric, I hate that you are tearing down your tank. I know it has to be done... I hope that you are happy with your 29g biocube.

 

[snakeblitz33]

The tank is reaching the five month mark at the end of this month. yay! Things are going smoothly.. I think the transition of the tank from beginning to now I coming along nicely.

Today I am going to measure my calcium and alkalinity. I should have bought a gallon jug of water as well, because I need another one if I am going to do the three part solution.

Oh well, make a little progress every day and it will add up over time.