Louis, there's a single Dispar Anthias and a single Bartlett's. When I started the tank I had 2 Bartlett's, but one wasted away. No aggression that I observed, but he just stopped eating and withered away. These other two seem to be very robust and healthy. And, no, they aren't amphipods (though I do have a ton of them). They're very clearly mysids. Cool little buggers, I think they came in on some Chaeto, so I doubt they'll last long.
Seth, I wish I could say "My tank is doing SOOO well," but clearly I have my own little issues to solve. The Phosphate level is far too high for a reef tank with SPS coral, and the encroaching hair algae is a big red flag as you know. However, I do feel I have a
pretty good maintenance schedule. I change 15-20 gallons of water every 2 weeks (sometimes I'm lazy and only do 10g) and I completely remove and clean the skimmer cup every other day. I also like to swab out the reaction tube when I do this so I don't get too much buildup that develops on the inside of the chamber wall.
Let's see, what else do I do. When I'm on the ball, I change out the filter floss every couple days. I noticed this helps me a lot when I'm diligent about this. I blow down the rocks (especially the barnacle heads I have) every couple days.
If I were to guess, I would say that my PO4 level developed from a couple issues. First, I would say that I have a couple places of low flow that are prone to collect detritus. You can see one in the full tank shot above. The large boulder-like rock on the right side of the picture: there is an angular black crevice on the left of that boulder that leads deeper into the rock work. Strong in the Dark Side that place is. It's a natural gathering point for detritus. Second, I have an admitted tendency to overfeed. I only have 7 fish in this entire tank, so I should be feeding less. It's a difficult urge to ignore though...they're all swimming up against the glass, doesn't that mean they're hungry?? Must...Feed....Fish.....
Finally, I'd say the PO4 spiked because I lost my Chaeto and my GFO was old. Since I swapped out the GFO, cleaned that reactor completely, and got a new (albeit shredded) ball of Chaeto, we'll soon see how my PO4 reacts.
Other things I need to do: I think my flow levels are too low. I wouldn't have guessed that with 2 K-4's and 2 K-3's in the tank, but my Birdsnest corals have developed some abnormal growth patterns. A little research has shown that this can happen in low-flow environments, and it's NOT good because aside from looking funny, the calcium skeleton isn't as strong as it should be and it become prone to breakage. Thankfully the main colony is in pretty good shape, but I am still considering a larger powerhead to replace the K-4's. I also need to invest in a backup return pump. SOMEBODY I know recently had a mishap with his return pump that would have sent me into fits, so I think a backup return pump (even a so-called CHEAP one) wouldn't be a bad idea.
