# My 29 gallon reef tank progress



## rosseg

Hi all! So I got ammonia down to 0 yesterday so I added 10 hermits (5 red legs and 5 blue legs), 3 turbo snails, and a Nassarius snail. They all seem to be thriving, and this morning, I noticed several baby snails on my sand already! 
Also, my live rock had about 3 feather dusters on it when I bought the pieces, now all of which are 2-3 mm larger and my one closest to the top has already split and multiplied!! All of this stuff is very exciting to a new reefer! I also noticed a spiky thing sticking out of one of my live rock crevices which I believe to be a bristle worm, and a couple new things growing around which I can't identify yet. 
I hope to have tank parameters ok for the next week so I can add my percula clowns!! Any thoughts or tips would be greatly appreciated!! My Nassarius is spectacular he keeps his little siphon above the sand and comes out and cleans house at night!


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## tike

What's the nitrite reading?


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## rosseg

Going to take parameters tonight once everything's been in the tank for 24 hours


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## coralbandit

If you just cycle to 0 A, then your nitrites and nitrates (especially trates) should be on the rise. Monitor closely and change water as needed.


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## rosseg

Nitrites were 0, and ammonia is back to 0 today, and nitrates were a bit elevated. I did a 20% water change. Noticed a few more mini feather dusters today and the ones I already saw keep growing!! Things are looking great, I keep discovering more and more new things every day. Winston, the Nassarius is patrolling the sand well, and seems to be doing a good job with the diatoms!


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## rosseg

Picked up another Nassarius snail (and they seem to be buddies, cruising the tank together), as well as a pair of peppermint shrimp, and a harlequin serpent star!! Everyone seems to be settling in well!


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## Reefing Madness

*W


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## rosseg

So woke up to find one of my hermits out of his shell and dead, should I be buying a bunch of empty shells for the red and blue legs? Also found either a dead shrimp or a molted shrimp this morning, I was told to keep an eye out the next day or two and if I don't see it the guy at the LFS will give me a new one.
Do you guys recommend getting a big cleanup crew online w/ extra shells and such for the hermits? Reefs2go any good?


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## coralbandit

If I'm not wrong this tank is 10 days old? Do not add any more anything.Your tank needs to cycle and I don't think it has.Test everyday.Change water as necessary.Are you using RO water? A well run cycled tank should not need large CUC.I think they are mostly entertaining/or pest(hermits ).


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## Reefing Madness

Any Ammonia and your CUC doesn't stand a chance.
Ammonia= 0
Nitrite= 0
Nitrates= Less than 40. Then add your CUC. 2 weeks later add some fish, not all of them on your list at the same time though.


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## coralbandit

please read"cycling process" (permalink) 6.It will explain where you are .


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## roafamily

yes listen to the advice, i got a little happy and carried away but didnt let my tank cycle completely, needless to say i lost some fish, be patient


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## rosseg

Thanks for the advice all, I've heard very conflicting things, but yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see a HUGE population of copepods on my glass, and a bunch new stuff growing. A water test showed everything at 0, so today, I elected to get another Harlequin Serpent, two larger Turbo Snails to handle the algae (after i did a 6 gallon change yesterday), as well as my first fish, an Azure Damsel. I'm told they're extremely hardy, and the most passive of all Damsels. I was taken by his colors, so hopefully he'll get along with things in the tank that I continue to add!


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

Will probably be adding my percula clowns next Wednesday or Thursday, any advice as to what to do in terms of introducing the Azure Damsel? If there's ANY type of fighting, should I pull the Damsel out and take him back?


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## Reefing Madness

Just watch em. Clown fish are not lil pusher overs. You'll just have to watch em. Should be ok. The Clown will stake out a territory and the Damsel should leave em be once that happens.


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## rosseg

Thanks dude, you've been incredibly helpful I really appreciate it. Any timeframe for when I can start adding some hardy polyps?


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## Reefing Madness

I'd wait about a month after adding the fish. Should be ok then.


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## rosseg

And what's everyone's stance on sand-sifting starfish? Saltwater fish has a great deal for 1 + 10 free Nassarius snails, just wanted to see if I'm capable of keeping it/its safe.


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## rosseg

So I picked an AWESOME spot for my beautiful new Feather Duster and he seems to enjoy it, bloomed almost instantly, hopefully he'll attach there. Clowns acclimated wondefully too, and already enjoyed a couple flakes of food. The Azure Damsel hasn't come up from his rock fortress yet to say hello, here's hoping everyone stays safe through the night. Also I noticed my Serpent Star is even bigger, he seems to be doing great too!! I'm so excited about the tank!


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## rosseg

Also installed dual powerheads (300 and 500gph) and flow seems INSANELY STRONG, so I'm only leaving one on for now


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## Reefing Madness

Right on.


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## rosseg

Just gave the tank first dose of iodine and Trace Elements today, AND the clowns and the damsel are getting along pretty well, they ate together pretty peacefully. Corals soon!


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## rosseg

So bit of a problem...I opened up my Solarmax HO fixture to find that it only has the space for the two bulbs inside (one white, one actinic). It looked like there were 2 more slots, I guess an illusion given off by the mirrors. So I need some advice I don't know what to do.....ANOTHER fixture? switch to higher wattage bulbs and stick with 2? helpppppp


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## Reefing Madness

Crap. Well, 2 things we can do here. Use 2 white lights with no actinics, this will give you the same white light if you were using the other unit that has 4 lamps, you just won't have the coloration your probably going to want. But, the unit will work for your corals.


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## rosseg

That's unfortunate. Other options would be getting another 2 bulb unit with 2 actinics right?


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## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> That's unfortunate. Other options would be getting another 2 bulb unit with 2 actinics right?


Well, thats an option, but an expensive one. You might try this:
420 Violet Purple UV Aquarium Light LED Strip 100 Lm/Ft Salt Water Reef Coral | eBay


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## rosseg

This will give me the same effect as the actinics and I can turn the strips on and off right? Very good find!


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

How much should I buy for my 29 gallon to reach the same effect as the actinics?


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## rosseg

And what would be the advantages of that one vs this one 

Aquarium Reef Coral LED Strip 445 BLUE Actinic Light 48" 4 ft 75 stunner LEDs | eBay


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## Reefing Madness

The ones you posted are Blue, the ones I posted are 420nm Actinic, like the same color as the bulbs you would have bought. But by no means am I saying you can't use em.


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## rosseg

Alright, and how much do you think i need? 6 feet enough?


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## Reefing Madness

You would only need enough to set it on the front and back of the light unit you got. So measure that out, as long as the light unit you just bought is. the LED's can be stuck on the unit.


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## rosseg

I'm not sure I understand, they go ON the unit not on the tank itself? on the outside? or underneath where the white lights are?


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## Reefing Madness

You peel off the backing and you stick em where you want em. But, basically why not make em a part of the light fixture that your setting on the tank? Use 2 strips, oine to cover the underside front part of the fixture, and the other to run along the underside of the back side.


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## rosseg

Would this be a good option as well? Or too much light? Price seems almost too good to be true Look at this on eBay:

36" 234W T5 HO Aquarium Light Hood LCD Timer Coral Reef 6x39 Fluorescent Actinic

http://bit.ly/QnWKJj


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## roafamily

alot of good info here


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## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> Would this be a good option as well? Or too much light? Price seems almost too good to be true Look at this on eBay:
> 
> 36" 234W T5 HO Aquarium Light Hood LCD Timer Coral Reef 6x39 Fluorescent Actinic
> 
> http://bit.ly/QnWKJj


Perfect!!! You could keep any coral or invert under that lighting.


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## rosseg

I'm gonna save up for that in a month or two, and sell my two bulb one on ebay/craigslist


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## rosseg

Also, came home today and found a hermit crab snacking on the rock my GSPs are on, and none of them were bloomed. Also noticed a giant *** amphipod scurrying along it. NONE of the bulbs are bloomed, the rock looks dead. Am I screwed? I'm gonna redip all my corals.


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## coralbandit

Hermits generally fall under "pest" catergory in my tanks.Even if they never eat my corals they bug the living h-ll out of them.If corals are photosynthetic and don't open during lighting cycle then they're not being fed.Hermits(2 blue legs) and pencil urchine sent to sump!Everyone is happier besides them.My own personal opinion is cuc are over rated(entertaining ,yes) but pest to more sensative life.


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## rosseg

any chance the colony will grow back? anyway to test if any living polyps are left? are the big amphipods a huge problem?


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## coralbandit

If amiphod is bug in pictures(found searching amiphod) then they're not trouble at all!.They are the food(secret) of life.They could be the best most beneficial thing going in your tank,and a natural non destructive cuc.Bugs are great, part of how the oceans natural cycle works.CONGRATS !No test or re dipping.Leave coral be.If it melts or disappears then it's dead.Corals are incredibly fickle so don't worry about bug , worry about hermit bugging them.


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## rosseg

I know copepods are good, which I have a lot of as well, but I've seen a bunch of posts on forums about big amphipods chowing on coral which is why I was worried. I'm really sad about the GSPs, I don't think they're coming back out


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## coralbandit

salt requires patience.Madness will arrive shortly(we hope) and confirm or refute my info.Corals are fickle one day does not make or(under proper conditions) brake them.On a side note 29G are 30" and 30G long are 36".You gonna put 36" light on 30" tank(29G)?


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## Reefing Madness

Yea, I don't much care for hermits myself either. If they can't find enough to eat then they go after the corals. But, was he snacking on the coral or bits of debre in the coral? Hard to tell. They also run all over the corals as Bandit has said, and in general tick off the corals. The Amphipods are ok, they are not a threat to the corals. Question for you. GSP are pretty tough. Get that hermit outta there, leave the coral alone for a bit, now he may not come out the remainder of the day, they are quite finicky as Bandit has also pointed out. But you shoukd see a head or 2 come out here and there.


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## coralbandit

Thanks madness for re-affirming.I had no clue what GSP (german short haired pointer?) was but upon search; I have 3 very well and healthy greenstar polyps.My oldest two have grown to attach themselves to surrounding live rock.They DO NOT want ANYTHING touching them.They are not as fickle as say leathers, and usually will not stay closed(some heads will open) for more than a couple days(one of my leathers comes out consistenly only when trates are close to 20 or over{slowed my w/c on 75 reef to bi weekly for now}) .Sorry about hermit crab(and I got negative remarks for saying this) but "send" him.


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## rosseg

**** yea they don't have the 30 inch fixture, just the 36. Is this no longer an option, or would it be ok to have it hang over a bit on each side?


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## Reefing Madness

30" INCH T5 HO QUAD AQUARIUM CORAL LIGHTS FIXTURE 96 W | eBay
Catalina Aquariums Solar (2&4 Bulb Configurations) T5 Light Fixture (With Bulbs) | eBay
4 Lamp unit would suffice.


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## rosseg

Thanks Reefing, I will get that soon. For now, I'm flipping out my actinic for another 10k daylight for a total of 48W to at least get a little better.
GOOD NEWS! This morning when I turned the light on, 4-5 heads of the GSP bloomed out! I'm so happy it's alive!


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

Bit of an update: 
I glued 5/7 corals today, and all are doing GREAT and EVERY GSP head is out now, so excited for growth to start! 
Picked up 2 more peppermint shrimp from LFS today, figured I'd give them another shot now that my pH and salinity have normalized a bit more. Also picked up my bangaii cardinal!! All are doing great after 1.5 hours of drip acclimation.


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## Reefing Madness

Very nice. Now you get to enjoy your hard labors.


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## rosseg

Yah thanks for the help man, I'll try to get up some pics either tonight or tomorrow. Things are looking great.


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## rosseg

How do I post pics from my desktop?


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## Reefing Madness

Put the pic onto a pic file on your PC. Click respond, click advanced, click on the paper clip, a window will open, click on browse, find the file click up load, close window, click on the paper clip again, your pic will be in there, click on it.


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## rosseg

Thanks! Tell me what you think:


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

Ughhhh whyyyyyyyy can't I keep peppermint shrimp alive, found one dead when I got home today, and all water parameters are once again perfect. Hoping the other one will survive!
Also, fed my tank with the cardinal for the first time today, and he's showing no interest in food :/ not sure what to do


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## coralbandit

sorry about shrimp. What are you feeding(fish)?


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## rosseg

Tried two different types of pelleted food, as well as frozen brine shrimp which everything else LOVES


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## coralbandit

try mysis shrimp. brine shrimp have little nutritional value.Marine fish can be picky about "dry food".Fish can go a couple days without food, so try brine again tomorrow .


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## Reefing Madness

coralbandit said:


> try mysis shrimp. brine shrimp have little nutritional value.Marine fish can be picky about "dry food".Fish can go a couple days without food, so try brine again tomorrow .


Agreed.


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## coralbandit

if you want your fish to eat "dry" first I recomend new life spectrum marine.Find whatever frozen food they will eat(most really love mysis) and slowly mix a little dry with it to trick/train them. This usally works.I thaw my food in tank water and then pour it in.Marine fish are more nervous(usually)then FW so the less they see you and you disturb them the better ,during feeding.Eventually the fish will know when you dip to get tank water that food is comming.It all takes time to acclimate/train them.I'll guess your card is captive bred so he will probably eat mysis(choice of many breeders(better nutritional value).


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## baeya

Enjoying this thread! Lots of great information.


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## rosseg

Glad it's helping others! I'm going to take my dead shrimps back (48 hour gtee) today and get probably another 10 Nassarius snails, I think they could do a lot more good in my sand bed. Perhaps a conch too.


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## Reefing Madness

Good stuff there.


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## Reefing Madness

Ok, so upon further review of those Actinic LED strip lights. I've just installed mine. They are very dim compared with the Blue LED Strip lighting that I had in there. So unless you plan on putting a crap load of strips in there, I would not go with these, as I have 2 6' strands in there, with the voltage cranked up to 13 volts and you can barely see any color in the tank. So, the advise givin earlier, I take it back. I tested them myself, and would not advise anyone to use them at this point. I'd go with the Blue LED strips, as I've used these for months now, and they are much much brighter.


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## rosseg

OOOPS it was too late lol, they arrived the next day haha. I've been enjoying them, they seem to penetrate my water well, and a couple of my corals are beautifully fluorescing. 
A quick update, I decided to try my hand at an arrow crab, and was/am willing to get rid of him at the first sign of trouble. I've been keeping him well fed, though, and he hasn't bothered anybody.
I also picked up a sweet Candy Cane Coral frag with 4 bulbs, which started off a little slow but now that I have it up near the top, seems to be finally fully blooming.


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## Reefing Madness

*W

Thats good to know they work in your tank. I'll let people know about that.


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## rosseg

So I was feeding the tank its Chloroplex and Brine Shrimp for the weekend, and everything was FRENZIED, really fun to watch, BUT I noticed I had WAY more brittle stars in here than I thought, I got a couple free with my Spikes Corals purchase, and my Candy Cane Frag had like 5 on it when I bought it last weekend, but these were BIG. Almost every hole in most of my rocks had at least one leg sticking out of it, I was pretty shocked to see. Do they grow THIS quickly? Or have these been here a while and I just didn't know about it? Also spotted several babies feeding as well, so they must reproduce rapidly. 
I also noticed what I think might be a fireworm coming out of my top rock, it was pretty thick and fuzzy but went back in before I could grab my tongs. I'll be ready next time to pull it out and get a picture and get rid of it. Exciting stuff!


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## Reefing Madness

Welp, if yiur ralking about them stiicking out of rocks, your now talking about Bristle Worms, not Starfish anymore. And they are a biproduct of excess nutrients in the tank.


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## rosseg

I'm not sure I follow you here, RM, I was talking about two different things, the brittles and the fire worm, do you mean the fire/bristles are from excess nutrients? I should remove this one if I think it could be a fire right? Big brittle growth shouldn't be a problem right?


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## Reefing Madness

Right right. I guess I got alittle mixed up when you were calling them bristle stars. ?


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## rosseg

OK SO I think I have my lighting plan. Found 30 inch 4 bulb fixtures on eBay for 90 bucks. SO my question is, if I keep my 2 bulb as well: keep two actinics in the 2 bulb, and 4 24w 10ks in the 4 bulb (96 watts), will this be enough to keep almost all sps and lps? Do u think there's enough room for both fixtures on top of my aquarium slash should I just put the actinics on at dusk for an hour or so every day? Let me know what you think of the plan.


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## rosseg

Just purchased the 4 bulb fixture for 89. RM, will this plan work for most LPS/my future BTA? How bout some SPS?


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## Reefing Madness

Yup, you will be able to put anything in there, providig your water quality is in very good shape.


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## rosseg

Weird issue here, my heater has kept my tank at a very consistent 77-79, and all of a sudden the last few days I've noticed huge heat increases up to like 85 degrees!! Luckily I haven't lost anything yet, but why is it happening and how can I fix it?


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## coralbandit

possible malfunctioning heater?Check settings and re-adjust(according to thermometer).Also possibility is many have their furnaces starting to run house heat and this could affect tank temp(I have hot air heat and one tank is near vent , now receiving heat from furnace).Yet another possibility could be if you have installed your new lights as they tend to be great source of extra ,hard to control heat.Hope this helps ,and I'm sure you know to try to keep heat near or below 80 if possible.


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## Reefing Madness

To cure problem, add some fans across the top of the tank, blowing across the water surface, this will cool it down.


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## rosseg

Yes! 50% off all livestock At my LFS! Just picked up my flame angel!


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

New lights came today, and got a couple frags from my friends tank, looks like a Green apple montipora, some type of small bird's nest SPS that i have near the top, a couple small mushrooms, and a shelving plain looking montipora. It is a bit bulky to have the two fixtures up top right now, still deciding what time cycle i want them to be up there, but as of now i have 2 actinics and 4 10ks (96W) hitting the tank right now. All the corals seem to be MUCH happier, the candy cane coral is the best I've ever seen it. Water tested today, all levels are perfect, salinity at 1.025.


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

Flame angel is nipping at Nass snails tho :/


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## rosseg

So a bit of sad news this morning, I finally got my lights up off the tank and the temp where i want it last night, and everything was perfect. This morning I woke up to find my bangaii cardinal Otis stuck to the side of one of the circulator powerhead  He looked like he had a bunch of his insides sucked out. He's usually pretty quiet and keeps to himself at the bottom, so this comes as a bit of a shock. Any theories? Water tests out perfect too.


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## coralbandit

If it's a normal powerhead some type of cage(aquaclear sell cage with pad{ditch pad}) around intake would prevent such from happening again.Also (just how I do it) no power head (hydor/circulator) at night since many salt fish actually attempt to sleep(if they have shelter from strong currents).http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-Filter-Powerhead-Attachment-Powerheads/dp/B0002566L0


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## Reefing Madness

Some fish just don't accilmate. Thats just going to happen. I know it sucks waking up to find Otis stuck in a powerhead, but these things will occur. Don't take it to hard thinking that maybe there was something you could have done, because he gave no warning. There was nothing you can do. Say your goodbyes and you try again.


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## rosseg

Yeah tru just sucks he was my 2nd fish I added, he seemed to be thriving for a whole month


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## rosseg

So a bit of troubleshooting help plz- 
My green cup coral hasn't been looking so good, and polyps were barely out today at all, I'm not sure why, couple days ago it was looking great. Could it have been my heat problem and now it's having trouble coming back? I moved it down today just in case i could be giving it too much light from the new lights, but no change. I don't know what to do, I really love the piece  will it likely die ?


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## Reefing Madness

Yea, your going to have to be patient here. Water parameter issues, like heat, will tick em off. Don't keep playing with him, and he should be ok.


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## rosseg

Alright I won't touch him for the rest of the week. Also, how do I know if my Galaxea coral is happy? I see a bunch of sweeper tentacles at night usually.


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## Reefing Madness

Sweeper Tentalcles are a sign he's hungry.


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## rosseg

I don't see them tonight, is that a good thing? How do I know it's alive lol?


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## Reefing Madness

His tentacles are out and moving slightly, yes?


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## rosseg

Yeah, sometimes I can't tell if its the flow or him actually moving tho lol


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## rosseg

Sand is VERY brown this evening when I got home, and very few polyps on the green cup are open, still no progress. Could my new high intensity lights be causing an algal bloom or something? How do I combat this? Also, since I moved my GSP frag up to make room for my new Torch coral, it hasn't opened back up. ANDDDD my torch coral is on its 3rd day in the tank and still won't open up.  tank struggles.
What do you think RM?


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## Reefing Madness

Ok, sounds like lighting shock. Corals aren't happy with the new high intensity lighting. Try knocking down the lighting period now. Drop the hours in half. If you have them on for 10 hours a day, knock it down to 5. Then every 7-10 days up it another hour until your back to your original time frame. Does your unit have a dimmer?


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## rosseg

Good call RM I will put it on at 4pm when I get home from classes tomorrow and leave it on til 10ish.


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## rosseg

However, the Torch was under intense metal halides for 10 hours/day at the LFS, is he still just acclimating to my conditions?


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## Reefing Madness

Oh yea, LED can overtake Halides easily. Was the light he was under 250w or higher?


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## rosseg

Not sure. Ill try this method and keep u updated hopefully everything will recover


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## Reefing Madness

Good stuff.


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## rosseg

So, lights been on for 30 minutes so far today, turned it on to find MASSIVE amounts of hair algae on my sandbed, a couple pieces of bubble algae on some of my rock, and just HUGE overgrowth in general. Hopefully the snails will get to work on this, any other suggestions? Couple polyps in the cup coral are out right now, still no sign of life from the GSP frag. Torch tentacles coming up a TINY bit so far but not much


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## Reefing Madness

Well the brown you were getting was another Diatom Bloom. But Hair Algae now? You will forgive me for not going back to find yiur water parameter readingsl but what is your Phosphate reading again? We may need to cut the lights back a bit more. But for now you've got to be patient again, changing from a T-5 to LED is a huge.lighting leap.


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## rosseg

Its still T5, I just have 6 of them now.....I haven't taken a phosphate in a while, I will have to get to the LFS hopefully this weekend and find out. Anything I can do in the meantime? What do you suggest in terms of how many hours of light?


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## Reefing Madness

Did i miss what colors you put in? More white light than Blue? More Blue than White?
Lets stop short of doing anything different here until we get those water readings back. got a feeling that those are the issue and not the lighting. Just a hunch. Torch usually pop right out after being added to the tank. 
And just shoot me for mentioning LED, got lost in the Thread here. I'm sure you were going....WTH is he talking about here??? Just never mind me.
Need total water parameter readings. My tank went through hell when I went from 175w Halides to 250w Halides. Get your lights back up to normal, my apologies there, was my mistake, I thought you had added LED's and not just another T-5 unit. They will get used to those right quick.


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## rosseg

Ok will do, back to 10 hours per day? I'll get water parameters ASAP.


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## rosseg

3 white 3 blues for now


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## rosseg

Do you recommend siphoning/vacuuming the gravel to get rid of some of the crud? I'm so afraid I'll suckup a snail lol


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## Reefing Madness

ROFL. No, there is no need to do that. It will take time, but it will go away, providing we find out if its the water or not, then we go from there. You can try and stir it up a bit, and siphon it out.


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## rosseg

Lol k. I hope none of the corals die!


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## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> I hope none of the corals die!


Yea, me too.


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## rosseg

So here's the parameters that I personally have the ability to test for:
Amm: 0
Trite: 0
ph: 8.1
Trate: 10-15
Spec Grav: 1025


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## Reefing Madness

Notin wrong wit those numbers


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## rosseg

You think its a Phosphate issue tho? I'll try to change 5 gallons out tomorrow.


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## rosseg

Woke up this morning to find the Arrow Crab dead ughhhhh I don't understandddddd


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## rosseg

Andddd temp is back up inexplicably to 82.3 this morning...


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## Reefing Madness

Arrow Crab dead now huh. No, Don't think its Phosphates with him.
Calcium
ALK
MAG
Can you get those numbers also?


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## rosseg

I was able to get alkalinity done real quick today, was at 120, guy said it should be up over 200 for my coral load? Thoughts? Could this be the reason for my shy torch? The GSP is open today by the way!


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## Reefing Madness

175 to 200ppm would be ideal. Converted here, you should read between 8-12dKH. At your 120ppm, that is 6.72dKH, thats really low.
SaltyZoo's Alkalinity Reading Conversion (meq/l / dKH / ppm CaCO3) Utility
So now I'm curious what your Calcium is at.


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## rosseg

Any suggestions to get this up/would this have killed my arrow crab too? Things are a mess ;(


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## Reefing Madness

If your CA is low, yea it can kill em.
Raising your ALK:
Aquarium Chemistry; Calcium, KH, GH, pH, Electrolytes, Magnesium, Mineral Ions, Cations


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## rosseg

I just did a 6 gallon water change, and added the pH/alk buffer I got when I first set my tank up (with little success) and I should be getting my master kit in the mail soon to test for Phos and Calc myself. In the meantime, what do you suggest? baking soda?


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## tike

For a tank your size...... water changes will get the calcium and alk back in the numbers you need them. I wouldn't add the buffer at all because it will throw off your calcium numbers. 10% water changes per week will keep your numbers stable. Be patient with it...corals can be quite resilient.


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## rosseg

Yeah but I want to be stable enough where if I let an extra week go by my whole tank isn't going to crash. Sometimes I can't get out to the store and get more water/salt or have the time to mix as a student. I'll let you know the progress of tomorrow morning. Also, which should be higher, the torch coral or the green cup?


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## Reefing Madness

Torch and Cup will need alot of light.
You can buffer your tank if need be. Baking soda will work for short term rise.
Seachem Buffer or Kent Marine Buffer. Or consider Randal Farleys 2 part mix.
Aquarium Chemistry: A Homemade Two-Part Calcium And Alkalinity Additive System — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog


----------



## coralbandit

Kent "super DKH" raises PH. Kent"coral builder" raises KH (carbonate hardness,you should have kh test also).


----------



## rosseg

Readings after PWC last night:
Calcium: 480
Phos: 0-.25
Alk: 143.2ppm

Thoughts?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Time to bump it up. Additives. Do you have a lot of coralline growing in yiur tank yet? This takes ip a lot of Ca, Alk and Mag. But, I belive its time for you to watch that part and start dosing.


----------



## rosseg

Why the algal growth tho?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Phosphates at .25. Bryopsis is only algae that will grow in clean water.


----------



## rosseg

Just had Mg done it was normal. Could this slightly low alkalinity really be causing all these issues? I just bought the kent buffer and some emerald crabs for the hair algae


----------



## Reefing Madness

CA, ALK and MAG all effect one another. Your Corals and Live Rock utilize all this stuff, and its gotta be there for them or they get ticked off. They also don't like Phosphates.


----------



## rosseg

****tttt I think I did something real bad. When I put my crabs in I elected to move my torch up and I guess I didn't realize my own strength and it broke off with some of its skeleton still attached to the putty/rock. I immediately covered the exposed skeleton with putty and put it higher, but most of its polyps fully retracted. Am I screwed? I think this is the last day I can get a refund for the piece.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Can't just go nuts when these things happen, they are somewhat resilient. I'd put em where you want em, and leave em alone for a couple of weeks, see what you get. They don't much getting moved around alot, that will tick em off. Torch shold be ok, the heads are higher in the columns, the bottom is the skeleton.


----------



## rosseg

K yep I'll monitor it. Crabs look to be munching away, and I gave my first dose of Kent Buffer today, 7 mL for the 29 gal tank. I'll measure my values in the morning and let you know where I'm at.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Right on. Should be able to get you set back up here in short order.


----------



## rosseg

Just for the future if this does happen again, will the bottom broken piece also be able to grow into a new colony or is that just dead calcium skeleton?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Don't think that part will grow out anything. The heads are lil farther in the upper portion of the skeletons.


----------



## rosseg

Good to know. Also, sorry one more question for the day- is there any cleaning I should be doing/maintenance on my filter? I haven't really touched it since day 1. I also was wondering if all the bubbles from the pumps/filter could be bad for my livestock/how do I decrease them?


----------



## Reefing Madness

I would clean the filters out once a week.
Bubbles? Where are the bubbles from? They kinda tick off corals if they keep blowing their way.


----------



## rosseg

Crap! That may be why things got so dirty lol!! What's the best way to disconnect and clean a cannister filter? And one of my powerheads and the output nozzle of the filter both spew out bubbles, how do I stop it?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Powerhead to close to the surface? Where is it getting air from?
Cleaning the filter would probably solve that bubble issue.
Top remove and clean, what style is it?


----------



## rosseg

Fluval cannister. NO tap water for cleaning right?


----------



## rosseg

Pinpointed the problem- its one of the powerheads (a hang-on top of tank one). I'm not sure why it's always spewed bubbles tho, not sure how to fix it.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Must have an air inlet of some sort?? Or to close to the top thats its creating a tornado form the surface into the powerhead. Can you lower it more in the water?


----------



## rosseg

I can't lower it, its got a valve attachment thing tho that I assumed hung outside the tank as well, is it supposed to be in the water?


----------



## Reefing Madness

I don't know what it is, possible thats where the air is coming from. What kind is it?


----------



## rosseg

Thanks for all the help RM, the reason I want everything perfect ASAP is bc I want to take advantage of R2G.com's sale this week. This is what I'm looking to purchase:
6 Pack Saltwater CUC- to replenish some of my other types of snails and hermits
Candy Cane Mushroom- for my mushroom rock
Saltwater Flame Scallop
2 Peppermint Shrimp (for this price, I'm hoping maybe online-bought shrimp will do better than LFS shrimp lol)
1 Fighting Conch
1 Head of Duncan Coral
and probably one other head of some new LPS


----------



## Reefing Madness

Nice!!


----------



## rosseg

How long does it take for the buffer to take effect? Just remeasured and pH and ALK are exactly the same as this afternoon. Also, do I need to dose everyday?


----------



## Reefing Madness

They shoulda bounced already. Should be able to test after a few mins. Need more. And as far as dosing every day, you'll have to watch the parameters. You'll watch a few days or so, then you will get into a routine of just dosing a regular amount every so many days.


----------



## rosseg

Gave 2nd dose today about 3 hours ago, just tested again and still NO change.


----------



## Reefing Madness

What are you using, and what dose are you using?


----------



## rosseg

Kent dKh Buffer, 7mL for my 29 gallon tank


----------



## coralbandit

the kent DKH raises your PH and nothing else.Kent coral builder raises KH(carbonate hardness).I know the name of product is screwy,You better check your PH if you've been adding and only checking KH.I have used these products for the last year and my buddy did same thing(used kent super DKH thinking(because of product name)he was adjusting carbonate hardness,he wasn't.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Has your PH gone haywire? Your going to need to keep dosing until you get it up. But watch the PH. Now, personall, I don't do things the way directions are formed. So, you see where I'm going with this. But on the other hand I don't want your tank to crash. Once you get to where its good, then it will be a routine dosage and not an everyday occurance.


----------



## Reefing Madness

coralbandit said:


> the kent DKH raises your PH and nothing else.Kent coral builder raises KH(carbonate hardness).I know the name of product is screwy,You better check your PH if you've been adding and only checking KH.I have used these products for the last year and my buddy did same thing(used kent super DKH thinking(because of product name)he was adjusting carbonate hardness,he wasn't.


It doesn't???? Umm, HUH??? Where did I miss out on this bus?
Directions:
Dissolve one teaspoon of Superbuffer-dKH in a glass of fresh water. Add directly to tank or sump for each 20-30 gallons (80 liters) of tank capacity *each day until the desired pH and alkalinity *(carbonate hardness or KH) are reached. Wait 1 hour to re-measure alkalinity, but wait 24 hours for pH to stabilize, before re-measuring (full pH increase and stabilization may take up to 48 hours!). This product is designed for reefs and may be used in fish only marine systems also.


----------



## Reefing Madness

An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com


----------



## rosseg

I'll keep dosing every day, hopefully it'll start to go up. No change in pH whatsoever as of last night.


----------



## coralbandit

The Kent CORAL BUILDER raises KH. I've used kent for a year(only brand of PH,KH,CA additives I have used) and dkh never bump my KH like coral builder.That being said when one is low, the other usually is also(PH,KH) so I add both(not in equal amounts) and get good results.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Spread baking soda (594 grams or about 2 ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300°F for one hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. Overheating is not a problem, either with higher temperatures or longer times. Dissolve the residual solid in enough water to make 1 gallon total. This dissolution may require a fair amount of mixing. Warming it speeds dissolution. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade, while washing soda may not have the same purity requirements. Arm & Hammer brand is a fine choice. Be sure to NOT use baking powder. Baking powder is a different material that often has phosphate as a main ingredient.


----------



## rosseg

Should I give the kent stuff a couple more days before I switch to baking soda?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Interesting as it is. I'd go with the Baking Soda now, the Kent stuff shoulda already showed something. Or give CoralBandits stuff a shot.


----------



## coralbandit

it's the coral builder to raise KH or my tank would have failed by now,my 75 eats it.I buff 2x a week. madness knows his stuff but without research I'm leery of baking soda(never even heard about pre heating it so maybe he's on to more than I.)Pre heating in other applications is reffered to as decarboloxation which changes some chemicals to there similiar agents.
It's a dope thing relating to alchemy.


----------



## rosseg

On a brighter note, my torch opened more than it ever has today, go figure lol


----------



## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> On a brighter note, my torch opened more than it ever has today, go figure lol


----------



## rosseg

So today after 3rd day of dosing: pH is up to like 8.2, hardness went up to 9dKh, and calcium is holding steady at like 480-500. Thoughts?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Ywa!!!! Bout time!!!! Had me worried that I didn't kniw what I was talking abiut. Whew!!!! Good stuff!!!!!!


----------



## rosseg

This is where we want everything to be- no? 
Plan is to check tomorrow and see if I need to dose daily


----------



## Reefing Madness

Well, your CA is high. Should be 420-460. But other than that. BIG THUMBS UP!!


----------



## rosseg

Hair algae is growing more, and the crabs haven't touched it yet. Planning a big WC tomorrow to get rid of phosphates. I want it gone!


----------



## rosseg

Just did a 7 gallon water change in prep for my order arrival tomorrow and cleaned the cannister filter. WHEW WHAT A JOB!! You say do this every time I do a water change?!?! LOL reefing is tough!! I turned all my circulation back on and one of my powerheads isn't working -_- gotta get this running before tomorrow afternoon!


----------



## rosseg

Fixed it! All looks good I'm gonna test for everything tonight to make sure were good to go. Torch looks great today, but cup coral is stressing again! I moved him up to more light and better flow.


----------



## jenndraper

Thanks for the advise. I can't wait to get a new aquarium.


----------



## rosseg

Bit of an update:
Still struggling with hair algae in some places, keep picking it up every day to try and keep it clean, emerald crabs must be busy doing other things I suppose.
Shipment came alright, however, the Orange sun coral and zooanthids came VERY dead, as did about 1/3 of the snails. Pretty disappointed. The shrimp are doing GREAT tho, as are the conch and the scallop, which is beautiful. The Duncan has yet to really open up, I just moved it from the sand to a mid-point in my tank.
I'm still very worried about the cup coral, it seems to be losing flesh in 2 small spots, and hasn't really been fully bloomed in about a week and a half now. Parameters all look good, hope it will make a comeback :/


----------



## [email protected]

Subbed..good info here..and don't be stingy with those pics. Lol


----------



## rosseg

Alright guys, I'm at my wits end here. My cup coral is looking worse and losing more flesh by the day. My algae problem is quickly spiraling worse despite my efforts to clean every other day. I had two of the peppermint shrimps die today, AND now my Torch, which has been doing so beautifully, hasn't opened in two days. Just checked params and every thing is normal, nitrates are less than 10, phosphates are even lower than .25, and KH was at 10 (pH 8.1). Temp is perfect, I just don't get it anymore. Calcium is the only thing high, at like 540 or so (which is weird bc I haven't done a WC in a week, seems like none of it is getting used up at all....). So I don't get it, I'm incredibly frustrated, and I'm going away for a month in two weeks and having someone watch my tank for me so I'm terrified I'm going to lose stuff because it's doing so poorly right now. HELP PLEASEEEEE RM


----------



## Reefing Madness

So hows it going Ross? Get things calmed down yet? DIp the Dip work?


----------



## rosseg

RM! I tried to get in touch with u but PMs wouldn't go thru here, and the other place looks like its down....
Anyway I cut a lot of the dead coral away, and cup looks a littleeee better today I think, but still not great. The torch is still yet to emerge. I'm about to complete my third water change in 3 days. Ammonia and nitrite were 0 earlier tho. The hair algae is overTAKING some of the corals tho, I'm going to bring lights down to 6 hours, do you think thats ok?


----------



## Reefing Madness

You can do that, break it up into 2 5 hour light sessions if need be. But,the hair algae is feeding of nutrients and phosphates in the tank. Any way you can get any Phosphate remover in there, into a filter or anything of that nature?


----------



## rosseg

What do you recommend?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Chemipure Elite has Ferric Oxide in it. Thats whats need to remove Phosphate.
Aquarium Chemical Filtration Media: Chemi-Pure & Chemi-Pure Elite Chemical Filter Media


----------



## rosseg

And i'd remove my regular carbon in exchange for this? I'll try to pick it up this weekend.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Also, I don't like running Carbon 24-7 in a Marine Tank:
Activated Carbon: HLLE Smoking Gun Found | Coral Magazine


----------



## rosseg

SO I took out my carbon bag from the filter, and replaced it with a bag of this stuff- how long before I see a difference? And is it necessary to get a new carbon bag/change it out with this bag every now and then?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Its best to use the tie bags that you can use over and over again. How long it takes would depend on how much it needs to absorb. Won't take long.


----------



## rosseg

I used the bag it came in, is that what you mean by tie-bag? And what about swapping with carbon? No carbon ever?


----------



## Reefing Madness

You can use carbon from time to time, I'd not leave it in for a 24-7 period though. Its not necessary. Yea, reusable bag.


----------



## rosseg

K i'll keep this new bag in for a few months then. Woke up this morning and algae is worse than ever lol, I'll give it some time.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Yea, kinda looks as if it'll will never go away, but it will. If you think its getting that out of hand, being that you have GFO in the system now, turn leave your lights out for 3 days. Keep an eye on your skimmer though, as right at the 3rd day, it will be taking out some serious crud from your water, as the algae will die off. This will take care of it. Its not a sure fire way but, we can go a week then bump it up to 5 days. This will not harm Corals.


----------



## rosseg

I don't have a skimmer  my girl says she'll get me one for Hannukah tho haha


----------



## Reefing Madness

Hmm, aight then. You will need to do a couple of water changes the 2nd and 3rd days to get rid of those nutrients that will build up. Sill can be done.


----------



## rosseg

K, lights went on today just to check on things, and it looks worse than ever ;/ I'm keeping them off today, and hopefully the chemi-pure will start working as well. On a side note, more brown jelly on the cup coral ;/ i went conservative last week but I think i'm going to have to cut away about 80% of it and hope the remaining 4 polyps will proliferate


----------



## Reefing Madness

Yea, cutting the crap off and going with the healthy coral, or whats left, if sometimes all yoiu can do, depending on how bad it has gotten. No turning on the lights. Can't do it. Leave em off for a total 72 hours. Some peeps have put trash bags around the tank to keep all light from getting in. But for now, we'll just go with the 3 day black out.


----------



## rosseg

Came home today on Day 2 of the lights being off to find my Flame Angel dead against the powerhead. Very expensive and sad loss


----------



## Reefing Madness

Crap!!! Sorry man, that sucks. Signs of stress?


----------



## rosseg

Probably the Ich that I suspected, right?


----------



## Reefing Madness

If you saw that on him, then yes. Wasn't the fact that the lights were out. Man, your taking hits here that suck.


----------



## rosseg

getting pretty down on the tank and myself


----------



## Reefing Madness

Things will happen, just kinda sucks that its happening all aat once. But, fear not. Not real happy about this one, but i've lost quite a few fish myself, I know how you feel. And there are alot of people that i've dealt with that have gone through the light thing your going through right now, and have come out really hapy with what they see. This does work, gotta trust me here. We can fix this.


----------



## rosseg

I will, following the advice. I'll turn it on tomorrow night (3 days).


----------



## Reefing Madness




----------



## rosseg

So what's the plan for today? Turn on lights and all algae should be dead and floating so do a big water change? What if there's a lot still alive?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Yes, yiu should have a bunch if nasty dead alage. You will need to do a water change, big one. If it is not all gone, we will extend out 2 more days. Everyone that I've had do this has said their tanks look crystal clear, but they all had skimmers to remove the oeganics as they died off.


----------



## rosseg

I looked in this morning and it still looks like there's a decent amount.


----------



## Reefing Madness

You ever throw up a pic? Maybe its Bryopsis. And this treatment won't kill Bryopsis. ?? You sure its hair algae?


----------



## rosseg

Its def a big improvement, there's still some brown which could very well be bryposis/cyano, but WOW big difference. Pics to come. My new encrusting hydnophora couldn't be happier. Def will refrag the pagoda tonight then do the big water change.


----------



## rosseg

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----------



## Tones

Sounds like evertying has progressed well


----------



## Reefing Madness

Hell!!! LOOKS GREAT!! If your asking me.


----------



## rosseg

What do you think the brown still is? Any other measures I should take? To prevent it from coming back? Water change in 2 minus two hours


----------



## Reefing Madness

Im not seeing any brown, can't tell ya there, but if its golden brown then its residual Diatoms. Cyano is a Silicates issues.


----------



## rosseg

RM- recommend me the best skimmer to be the most bang for my buck!! The gf is springing for it for Hannukah!


----------



## Reefing Madness

The Best Skimmer?? Your kidding me right?? Crap, I think I remember, you don't have a sump. ?? I can't remember.
Super Reef Octopus Hang On Back Skimmers | ThatPetPlace.com
Reef Octopus BH100 Hang-on-the-Back Protein Skimmer - Bulk Reef Supply
Deltec External Protein Skimmer MCE Series


----------



## rosseg

Haha no no sump. Why would I be kidding?


----------



## rosseg

Also, JESUS 509 dollars?!?!? My range was like 100-150 hahah can I get a good one for that?


----------



## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> Also, JESUS 509 dollars?!?!? My range was like 100-150 hahah can I get a good one for that?


That's why I said your kidding me. Deltec is like one of the top rated skimmers out there, but they cost a pretty penny. =)


----------



## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> Also, JESUS 509 dollars?!?!? My range was like 100-150 hahah can I get a good one for that?


Sure you can. What was the Reef Octopus cost? Thought it was close. I'm on my phone so its difficult to look at all the links I have stored.


----------



## rosseg

289$. Looks huge too! :/


----------



## Reefing Madness

Hmm, thought I linked 2 of them. What was the Reef Octopus BH?


----------



## rosseg

More doable! I'll grab that one! Also I have a population boom of a shell-less type of snail, I see em all over the tank. I'll try to get a pic, they don't seem to be causing any trouble.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Limpets?
Pests Invading the Reef Aquarium Hobby: Part 2 - Flatworms, Snails & Limpets


----------



## rosseg

Uh oh, woke up this morning and there is NO trace of my azure damsel......


----------



## Reefing Madness

Holy Cow!!


----------



## rosseg

UGHHHH searched everywhere he's most definately gone, this makes no sense- any theories?


----------



## Reefing Madness

They jump.


----------



## rosseg

no signs of a jump he's still no where to be found.....


----------



## Reefing Madness

Sorry. Probably won't find him. CUC probably got him.


----------



## rosseg

Andddddd this mornin hair algae is back worse than ever before, and it looks like my remaining 3 fish have ich and I'm studying for finals next week and then leaving town I'm seriously about to give up I'm at my wits end ....


----------



## Reefing Madness

OUCH!!!! Don't know what to say at this point. We have done just about everything necessary for this tank. All I can say is that I'm sorry it hasn't worked for you.


----------



## rosseg

So what do I do now wait for the fish to die and take algae off by hand and do the lights thing again? Would the skimmer help? Also once I have no fish what do I need to do to keep the tank cycling?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Skimmers are always a good thing to run. they remove the debre from the water column before they have a chance to collect. But, your tank is the only one i've run into in a couple years thats having issues. Don't know why, unless your test kits are not working. Phosphates need to be 0, Nitrates under 30. ALK- 8-12, Calcium 420-460, PH- 8-8.4 and MAG- 1250-1350. Now thats where I've advised all to keep their numbers. I just can't figure out why yours is messing with us. Unless we are trying to get rid of Bryopsis here, then we have to go another route, Bryopsis is a clean water algae.
As for the fish. I have no idea what the heck is going on there, never had anyone lose so many at one time, truly got me pulling my hair out for you. Leave the fish alone for now, if they are healthy, they will fight off the ICH with no problems. If we mess with them, you will definately be stressing them out, and they don't need it.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Ok, just went back through the thread, didnt' see any pics of the Algae in question. So we may be dealing with Bryopsis, and we can kill that also. But, first I need to ID this so we are not just doing this blind. Does it look like this stuff?
http://www.hawaii.edu/reefalgae/invasive_algae/chloro/bryop_pen.jpg
http://www.hawaii.edu/reefalgae/invasive_algae/chloro/bryopsis_hypnoides.JPG



Here is the treatment. 
Bryopsis Algae Control Method Worked - Salt Water Aquarium Secrets


----------



## rosseg

Sorry been out today and came home to find one clownfish dead, the other barely swimming so I'm sure hell be dead by morning. Very sad day.


----------



## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> Sorry been out today and came home to find one clownfish dead, the other barely swimming so I'm sure hell be dead by morning. Very sad day.


----------



## rosseg

Here's what it looks like in there. Once all the fish die, what do I do, it has to be fishless for how many weeks? And how will the tank survive (beneficial bacteria) without any fish?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Tank should remain fishless for 6 weeks. You've got a CUC and some coral in there, what is it you were planning on doing?


----------



## rosseg

Will that run fine?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Yea, it will be fine withiut fish. Just don't go adding a mess of them when 6 weeks is up.


----------



## rosseg

What do you think the algae looks like? Hair?


----------



## rosseg

Alright and here's the plan- skimmer gets here Thursday- I'm thinking maybe I didnt do a big enough WC after the first algae die-off, only did about 8 gallons or so. Now, I'm going to keep the lights off for another 3 days- (with the skimmer running for one) and the skimmer should pick up all the extra crap I didn't get before (correct me if I'm wrong?) Do I combine this with a big water change or will this be enough?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Run the skimmer the whole time. Not just the last day. There is a lot of nutrients in that die off. That Cyano bacteria. What kind of food are you feeding? What is the sand bed? Silicates is one of the things that feeds this.


----------



## rosseg

No I know i'm going to run the skimmer as soon as I get it, but lights are off starting today, so it'll get here Thursday, on the third day is what I'm saying. I feed two varieties of pelleted food, but there's definately hair-like stuff coming off sand and rocks as well. I forget what the sandbed is I'll have to check. Pretty sure its aragonite.


----------



## Reefing Madness

Yea, the cyano will get hair like pieces coming from it. Cyano is not just a glazing all over everything. It looks just like what your looking at.


----------



## rosseg

What should I do?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Are we running a Phosphate/Silicate remover in there yet? Have we tested your Phosphate levels? Only reason I ask is because we have 13 pages to look through, and I forgot. =) Something is in the tank that is causing this, we gotta weed it out.
Ultralife Reef Hair & Sludge Removal System


----------



## rosseg

I'm running the chemi-pure that you recommended. Phos was 0 3 days ago, never been higher than .25


----------



## Reefing Madness

Chemipure Elite, right? The regular doesn't have Ferric Oxide in it, which doubles as a Silicate remover.
29g Tank, whats our flow in there? How do you have the powerheads placed?


----------



## rosseg

Yeah the elite. I have two powerheads, one 500gph and one 250gph i believe, plus the outflow pump from the filter + the incoming protein skimmer as well. 
Quick question- once everything calms down, would it be feasible to make this into a clownfish/seahorse tank? Would this be difficult to do?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Not difficult to do no. Sea Horse need much less flow than what you have, all you would need to do is add Sea Grass and or tail holds for them and remove a powerhead.


----------



## rosseg

So what's the plan? Also what's the maintenance I need to do on the skimmer/how often?


----------



## Reefing Madness

Maintenance on Skimmer is cleaning the head, neck once a week. You don't want the neck filling with garbage.
What are we planning for? Cyano killing? Blow it off with a powerhead, let the Skimmer get it. Lets see if that plus the Chemipure Elite eliminates it.


----------



## rosseg

WOuld you recommend Chemi-clean? I've been hearing good things. And time is running out til I leave town :/


----------



## rosseg

It doesn't even fit unless I take BOTH lights off! Ughhh!!!! Don't know what to do!!!


----------



## rosseg

Ok apologies for the freakout, I managed to fit the skimmer and I think my two lights will fit as well, but just barely, it's pretty tight up there. It SEEMS to be working, making noise and taking in and expelling water and such but how do I know if it's doing its job. Does the pump actually have a flow to it or it is just for sucking water in? I don't feel any flow coming off of it. Also, where does it suck in water from (so I know where to aim my crud)? Also don't know if I have my foam controller thing setup right, with all the sponges. Please help!


----------



## Reefing Madness

Gotta follow the instructions on this one in order to get the water flowing. You will see it working, like the chamber will be full of froth. Did you fill the unit with water? All the way up.??


----------



## rosseg

Didn't come with any instructions whatsoever. Both chambers are filled with water/foam in both chambers. What about my question of inflow and outflow?


----------



## rosseg

Thoughts?


----------



## rosseg

Also, I'm getting a ****ton of micro bubbles all over the tank which is further worrying me that I don't have this set up properly. Should I disconnect the air hose? Does that serve a purpose?


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## Reefing Madness

The air line is what gives you the foam in the chamber. Air is drawn in with the water and chewed up. Micro bubbles are normal for a just cleaned unit or brand new unit, they will subside after break in time. No worries there. And all looks well to me, you've got er hooked up correctly. Is the chamber nice and white with foam? Or is it light? Should be a heavy foam look. From where I'm sitting, and the fact yiu have micro bubblrs, looks good to me.


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## rosseg

Ok awesome thanks. Any idea how long til the bubbles go away? the other end of the air tube is just dangling loose from the top of the unit is that alright? Chamber has a very decent amount of foam. But the water level is supposedly supposed to be almost to the overflow? It's nowhere near, do I fill it with external water? I put more water in the tank and that didn't seem to do anything. Also, what's the deal with the pump?


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## Reefing Madness

.Ok, here we go. Water in your tank is way to low for this. The skimmers water will only be as full as your tanks height, thus the reason your water line is low, your tank water is low. I'd take the airline intake and flip it around so its right side up. then connect the airline on the outside of the tank to the lil hose connector at the tpp right of the Skimmer. This would be shown in pic #3 at the top of this page, its a silencer. Its black and has 2 little inlets for a hose, use only one of them.
Air bubbles, can take up to 2 weeks for a new unit. But usually only lasts a couple days.


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## rosseg

I added water in the tank so its almost up to the brim, I've seen no real difference. I'm not sure what you mean by flipping the airline intake, it is up (?) . My two prongs on my silencer must have been made poorly or something, because the hose doesnt fit securely on them and just kinda hangs off (nowhere near a true seal). Will this be detrimental?


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## Reefing Madness

Dentremental, no. Just quiets it down some. Your airline in the water, on the intake, is pointing down, no reason for it to point down, you just have some hose hangin there that doesn't need to be is all. the intake strainer can be twisted upright, so that the hose nipple is at the top, with the airline going straight out the top of the tank.


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## rosseg

I flipped it up, and did my regular maintenance to the tank, finally placed my hydnophora and secured all others that weren't secure before I go away next week (using epoxy). Day 1 and sandbed looks AMAZING, almost like day 1 of the tank, no noticeably big cyano clumps. Came down randomly and found the skimmer going NUTS and filling up the cup super fast, had to empty it. I'm assuming it was getting rid of the epoxy residue? Means its working I suppose! I raised the collection cup up to the recommended water line so it won't overflow. Thoughts?


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## Reefing Madness

Nice!!! I think your getting the hang of this now!! Going at like a pro. =) thumbs up.


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## rosseg

Some cyano clumping today, don't know why, brushed it up again so the skimmer could get it.


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

SO disaster has struck, a million things have gone wrong according to my tank sitter since i left. First, the powerhead fell again, burying the tank, and she said she couldn't even reattach it for some reason, so now there's minimal flow in the tank which is bad enough. NOW, i notice in a pic she sent me that my Whammin Watermelons, my most consistently healthy and proliferating piece since i started the tank is GONE. The plug, everything. GONE. It must have blown off the rock during the powerhead disaster, but she now says she can't find it ANYWHERE in the sand. I'm crushed, does this make sense? Is it possible? Pulling my f**** hair out over here


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## phil_pl

Going out of town is the scariest with a reef tank. I have had fish go missing but never a frag plug. It has to be in there somewhere. Depending on how you powerhead fell it could have been blown into your rocks or been buried. How minimal of flow is your tank getting? (whats the size of your return pump?)


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## Reefing Madness

Tell her to put the powerhead at the bottom of the tank, and kind of situate it so that its blowing straight towards the surface.
Wait a few hours, then start the Plug search, calmy, should be able to fine it, if its a plug. Calmly look, slowly.


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## rosseg

I been stressing her out hardcore and I don't know if I can ask her to do much more than she's been doing i'm sure she's been overwhelmed already. She said she sifted through the front and back sand and nothing. Very sad, makes no sense.


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## Reefing Madness

Probably not in the sand. But wedged in the Rocks.


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## Sully

Man, I feel for you. I went out of town a few weeks ago and had a neighbor watching. Luckily, things went fine. I hoping the best for you!


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## rosseg

Coral has apparently been located!! Good call on between two rocks!! If she can just hold out another 8 days I'll be home to fix everything up


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

So, interesting development, in one of the pics my tank sitter sent me, it looks like my blue mushroom is migrating off of its plug I got it on 4 months ago! It looks like its sliding down the rock. Any idea why this is happening all of a sudden? 
Also, I payed a visit to the awesome LFS here in Raleigh, and as long as my tank parameters are good next week I'm bringing home quite a load of awesome stuff!!
I have 2 cleaner shrimp coming (hoping I have better luck keeping them alive then Pepps), an awesome Pagoda cup (with different color polyps then my last one, very full vibrant piece), a sweet yellow Fungia which I fell in love with with lots of polyps, AND my FINAL PRIZE - a beautiful green bubble piece!! Finally getting my dream coral! Very excited, and I hope everything makes the trip. I'll be sure to post loads of pics.


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## Reefing Madness

Very nice man!! Very NICE!!
Mushroom doesn't like where its at, its moving. You can glue em down, and they can walk off.


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## rosseg

But why all of a sudden? Been fine there for months.....


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## rosseg

OH also, a nice 35$ frogspawn colony that they weren't sure if it was already sold or not, guy didn't think so, so it's mine lol.


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## Reefing Madness

rosseg said:


> But why all of a sudden? Been fine there for months.....


Something has changed in the tank.


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## rosseg

Any ideas?


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## Reefing Madness

Powerhead falling over.


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## rosseg

Even now that the tank has returned to homeostasis? That was like 2 weeks ago.


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## Reefing Madness

Dont know what to tell you. Just throwing out an idea.


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## rosseg

Well, the tank sitter can no longer find the mushroom lol idk where it went, hoping I can locate it tomorrow when I get home. SO NERVOUS! I hope the tank and my two snakes are alright. I'm bringing home the bubble coral and fungia and two cleaner shrimps. The pagoda cup I checked on at the LFS today, and it looks like its got brown jelly the same one mine did! So I got a refund, not taking the piece.


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## Reefing Madness

Good luck, hope everything is cool.


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## rosseg

Well, came back, and things didn't look too bad, saw a bit of growth in my GSPs, and bird's nest, but not too much else. Looked like my toadstool leather has a little bleached spot on the top, and won't really open up this morning. No sign of the rogue blue mushroom that walked off. Added everything to the tank last night, and acclimated the shrimps for 45 minutes, one almost immediately was attacked by 2 snails in the sand, and didn't look well when I went to bed, this morning I can't find either of them. Probably dead I think? I don't understand why I can't keep shrimps alive. Plate coral is doing well, and I brought home a green open brain too that seems to be doing well. The green bubble coral opened for us last night when I put the lights on to check it out, but won't open this morning....odd....I'm a little worried.


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## Reefing Madness

Now, Now...Patience with the new guys here. Gotta let them settle in. As far as the shrimp go, you'll have to find them, they don't come out of hiding much.


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## rosseg

Yah, just weird the bubble coral opened a bit last night, and now won't open at all really this morning with the lights on. Parameters are good too, just checked. That one shrimp is definately gone because he wasn't even holding himself up when I went to bed. No sign of the other one. Don't know what it is about shrimps in my tank, definately glad i didnt get the fires lol


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## Reefing Madness

Hmm, I've got a couple in my tank, and really have to hunt to find them, they are always in hiding, in caves. Only way i find them is their anntenna sticking out.


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## rosseg

Also, I just sat and watched, and the bubbles inflate a little, but get blown around so they retract back. Unfortunately, there's not many spots in my tank with little flow, so i pushed it to the middle between two of my rocks and I'll see if it opens up. Any advice, like should I tinker with the powerheads to change the flow? My torch is still sitting at the top getting smacked around, and LOVING life (he's fully opened).


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## Sully

I gotta agree with RM on this, just be patient and give it some time. I was at the LFS recently and one of things he talked to me about NOT doing was being a tweaker. Tweakers constantly want to go in and change things cause they dont like the set-up or think somethings upset (not calling you a tweaker at all, just trying to provide some insight I got). Corals are live animals and everytime you change anything, they can get upset. I always want to go in and move things to try and make it better but I've learned to just leave things be and watch. Changes may be in order but nothing that can't eait until you see how things are adapting.


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## Reefing Madness

Sully said:


> I gotta agree with RM on this, just be patient and give it some time. I was at the LFS recently and one of things he talked to me about NOT doing was being a tweaker. Tweakers constantly want to go in and change things cause they dont like the set-up or think somethings upset (not calling you a tweaker at all, just trying to provide some insight I got). Corals are live animals and everytime you change anything, they can get upset. I always want to go in and move things to try and make it better but I've learned to just leave things be and watch. Changes may be in order but nothing that can't eait until you see how things are adapting.


*i/a*


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## rosseg

So some updates...
- no sign of the rogue mushroom
- came home to ****LOADS of what I think are amphipod bugs running around the tank, whatever fish I put in there in February are going to have a field day 
- Still only semi-opening bubble coral, I don't want to mess with it, but at the same time I know for sure they dont open when they feel there's too much flow. when should I make adjustments? give it a few more days? 
- My one candy-cane head looks like its about to split, very exciting. 
- Fed the tank yesterday, the torch and new open brain and fungia particularly LOVED the feast


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## Reefing Madness

Good stuff, very good stuff!!!
If the Bubble is opening up some, how much visible flow do you see on it? are the Bubbles getting blown about? See, the reason I don't want to touch or move it is because it was open in the spot yoiu placed it on day one.


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## rosseg

It was never all the way open, I just put the lights on quick the night I got home to see it, and it bloomed a bit, same as it has the past few days. Yes, the bubbles get knocked around a bit. I took out my big powerhead so now I only have 2 in the tank as of last night, but still no luck.


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## Reefing Madness

Ok, so is it sitting under direct lighting? Might want to put it off on the side a smidge, if it was taken from a low lighting area, it may be light shocked at this point. If your going to move it, try getting it to a lower lighting spot, with low easy flow. That should do ya.


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## rosseg

The pieces all came from an LED tank so I didn't think I could shock them, but ill move him into my cave today when I get home. Fungia plate is having the time of his life out in the open haha


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## Reefing Madness

Ah, ya never know with these things. Better safe at this point than sorry. The LEDs he was under might have been crap LEDs and just barely getting the corals by. Who knows.


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## rosseg

Bubble seems to be a little more open today inside the cave, but still not fully! My birdsnest frag fell down earlier so I had to reattached it, and ALMOST fell directly into the mouth of the bubble lol I just barely saved it. Reefs2go is having a sale on the remaining LPS that I REALLY want to close out my corals desired list, as well as some other great deals (including my final try on shrimp). Here is the potential buy list, hoping to pay by tonight, let me know what you think! Also got 100$ gift card for holidays + the 50$ in store credit I had so I'm getting like 240$ worth of livestock for 90$. 

1. Green Pocillopora Frag
2. Fuzzy Arrow crab- to replace my old arrow that I really liked (kept him well fed and he was a good boy!)
3. 2 Green Ricordeas (only 3 bucks a piece)
4. 2 Scarlet Leg Hermits (Buy 1, get one, and they look pretty- do these guys usually cause problems?)
5. 2 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimps
6. 2 Fire Shrimps
7. Saltwater Blastomussa Merleti (awesome piece that's on sale)
8. Hammer Frag
9. Frogspawn Frag


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## Reefing Madness

In a 29g, you might want to rethink the last 2 items. They come small, but, they both have sweeper tentalcles that can come out and munch other corals near them if they get hungry.


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## rosseg

SO yeah shipment was postponed til this Saturday, and I've hopefully worked out spots for my last wanted LPS so hopefully things will go well. My bubble coral has finally acclimated and looks great, candy cane head is about to split as well!


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## Reefing Madness




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## Sully

Sweet!


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## rosseg

So....
One fire shrimp sadly did not make the trip. I acclimated the other 3 shrimp for 2 hours and put them in, the other fire shrimp started wobbling immediately and he didn't make it through the night. The 2 cleaner shrimp are great size and doing well so far tho (knock on wood). My ricordeas, the blasto merlett all look good and are light acclimating on the sandbed. The frogspawn and hammer are still not fully acclimated, but open a bit, and also look great. The hermits are pretty sweet as well. Getting a bit crowded, thinking of removing one of my emerald crabs to reduce the potential for murder lol


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## Reefing Madness

Na, YA NEED A BIGGER TANK NOW.


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## rosseg

Haha when I finish school and me and my gf get a place i'm planning a 150. That's 2 years away tho. Also, found the rogue mushroom! Sitting in the sand in the back of the tank!


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## Reefing Madness

Right on.


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## rosseg

So here's my first n00b question in quite some time lol....for my corals on the sand like the green bubble and my open brain....how do they grow? If there's no new rock or substrate to encrust over? Does my bubble need to be on rock to grow?


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## Reefing Madness

They are an LPS Coral, and make their own skeleton. That why with those and SPS, its important to maintain CA, Alk and Mag at optimum levels.


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## rosseg

Thanks fr the response RM. will my putty at the base of the skeletons hinder growth? 
Also, LFS is having big sale next two weeks just in time for me to get fish back in my tank. Couple questions tho:
If my new clowns try to host one of my euphylias, what can I do to stop em ?
Also, do you think two clowns (week one) and a diamond goby + flame angel is too much in a two week period in terms of bioload?


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## Reefing Madness

The epoxy will not hinder growth.
Cant stop the clowns, they will more than likey host.
Yes, I think adding that many a one time is a bad idea. I know your system has been up fr awhile, but now you need to get the bacteria going again for the bio load your introducing.


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## rosseg

So maybe just clowns and diamond goby the following week?


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## Reefing Madness

Yea, that will be ok.


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## rosseg

Thanks. Corals are looking fantastic, just did my water change, torch looks like its about to split a 3rd head!! Open brain and bubble coral look to be growing as well!


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## Reefing Madness

Sweet!!! Nice!!!


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## rosseg

Wonderful! I'm also thinking of breeding my clowns and keeping them as the only fish in the tank for a while (except the Diamond Goby). What combos will get along, are relatively inexpensive, and will make pretty babies?


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## Reefing Madness

I haven't kept track of Marine Fish and Breeding. Sorry I can't help on that part.


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## coralbandit

Clown can and will breed if they are happy in their tank.Best to get 2 small(young) fish as they are capable of changing sex to make things work.Unless you get a mated pair(confirmed) it will take a year to two before they spawn for you.They prefer rock or a terra cotta pot,and do not need an anemone.Perculas seem to be the most prolific, but any pair that is happy will dance.The hard part is feeding the fry.They need rotifers(preferably live) for 2 weeks or so.Those you will have to culture and maintain yourself.Raising rotifers is not rocket science but takes experience to know when to dump half so they don't starve do to over population.Some LFS have rotis that they sell to start your culture or you can start from scratch.There's a lot of info on net about this.Practice culturing rotis and the clowns will do the rest.I hope to soon be breeding my picassos as they have been with me over a year now.I plan on moving them to a sperate tank soon although they will lay eggs in community when ready.Good luck!


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## Reefing Madness

Breed Clownfish | Saltwater Fish Breeding


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## coralbandit

1^ As usuall a great link with accurate info.Thanks!


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## rosseg

Thanks guys, great stuff. I picked up a regular ocellaris and a black ocellaris (half off fish so got him for only 30$). They are getting along great already, and look great. This morning they did start trying to host my torch and my hammer, which were none too pleased about it. Is there anything I can do about this, or will the corals eventually acclimate to the abuse?


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## Reefing Madness

Corals should be alright, providing they are big enough already to take the abuse.


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## rosseg

They're not too big, the hammer is especially is just one small head


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## Reefing Madness

Its possible they will kill that small coral. They are pretty rough on them.


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## rosseg

Anything I can do to intervene? The more I'm watching it now, the more they are focusing on the torch, which is significantly bigger. The hammer hasn't retracted either.


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## Reefing Madness

Nothing you can do, short of removing the Corals. But, if the corals are still out and not retracting, i'd leave em.


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## rosseg

Well today all the Euphylias are as big as I've ever seen them- ESPECIALLY the torch! It's incredible! It's inexplicable! So I decided to feed mysis to my inverts today, and the clowns weren't especially interested, but love their pellets! What a great scenario haha! The cleaner shrimp do enjoy stealing pieces right out from my corals' mouths though lol.


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## Reefing Madness




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## rosseg

Think I'd be ok getting a diamond goby and a small Green clown goby this weekend? Shouldn't be too bad adding these two small bioloaders right ?


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## Reefing Madness

Yea, they lil biggers.


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## rosseg

They What lol?


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## Reefing Madness

ROFL. Yea you'll be safe with them. I was just trying to say they are small, and called em lil buggers. =)


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## rosseg

Soooo back with a little problem-
Things have been going great past few weeks, fish load is up to my two ocellaris clowns, a chalk bass, and a new red firefish which I just got Saturday. I picked up what I believe is a trachyphilia from the sale 3 weeks ago, was marked at 60 from 130, and it was/is a BEAUTIFUL piece. However, since my water change last week, I noticed two bleached/necrotic spots on the coral, doesnt look like skeleton, just simply white tissue. Ran parameters today, and everything is stellar, Ca 500, KH 10, Ammo 0, Phos 0, etc. Any idea what could be happening? Haven't seen the bass or anyone nip at it, and it's been pretty much unbothered on the sandbed. 
In the pic, those two whitespots have now joined into one wide white band of tissue. Looks like its spreading. I really want to save this thing, any idea what's going on? Doesn't look like brown jelly.


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## rosseg

Still spreading  RM any thoughts bud where you at?


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## Reefing Madness

Welp, only thing I can come up with is to dip the coral, see if we can kill the fungus growing there.
Or its bleached out because of the light intensity difference between your tank and the one it came from.


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## coralbandit

1^ with lighting.Too strong of a light can and will cause photsynthetic corals to expell their zoo and thus the term" bleaching".If coral can't go lower or in a partially shaded area then cut lighting cycle to less hours and bring back up slowly.


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## rosseg

Coral has been in tank 2 weeks before beginning to die. FOUND the problem UGH one of my ocellaris is going around nipping at EVERYTHING. My candy cane is partly closed up, he's doing it to zooanthids, and nipping at the frogspawn and hammer too!! GODDAMNIT!! Guy at LFS said they could be laying already and looking for a good location and will do that. His mouth is also hanging open as well. I tried catching him to get him out and I can't and I have a damn test tomorrow then im going to CT for an entire week!! UGHHHH I HAVE THE WORST LUCK EVER.


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## coralbandit

If they weren't a gaurenteed pair you payed extra for then I'll say there is little chance they are preparing to breed already.Being a nusciance?


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## rosseg

Yeah one's mouth is just wide open and he's like sucking on every coral. Hoping it's just a phase, but looks like my trachy isn't going to make it, necrosis is still spreading after 2 dips.


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## coralbandit

Wish you luck,I used coral RX when my duncan got brown jelly and long and short of it was it did no good.I (with the duncan having individual heads) even got to remove(cut off) parts that seemed to be infected leaving only "seemingly "healthy heads but within weeks it all got infected.
Good luck.


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## Reefing Madness

Holy CRAP!! Clownfish munching on CORALS??? YOu have got to be kidding me. Now i've heard it all. WOW


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## Sully

Ross, are you sure they are mouthing or just not looking for something to host? I got an occelaris and a double hammer head coral at the same time. He was trying (and now successfully) to host that thing within hours. The coral couldn't care less about the clown trying to host it. It's even worse at night when the HH closes up some. He gets right up in between the two heads and does his little dance all night. I've NEVER seen him touch anything else in the tank.

Hope you haven't gotten the rouge clown!


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## rosseg

So things have been going decently for a while, i couldn't resist buying this little metallic BTA from my LFS for 40 bucks. Looking super healthy and gorgeous. However, he's taken up residency for the last 24 hours almost completely under one of my pieces of LR. Should I leave him be or try to find him another spot?


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## Reefing Madness

Gotta leave em be. Even if you were to move him, he'd walk around again anyways. He's basically gotta find the right spot.


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## pkowilich

hi i'm new here. i read this whole chain and after seeing was in here, i have to wonder if the title is wrong, is this a 129 gallon tank? i have a 29 with a fuge and hardly have anything in it. its been 3 months and its still cycling a bit. just wondering. hope everything is working well in the tank.


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