So it has been about 4 months now since actually getting the tank and its refugium going, and I think that things are going remarkably well. The refugium is definitely doing its job and my ammonia, trites and trates have been mostly perfect, with a couple of snags inbetween.
At first I didn't have enough light, didn't have uv filtering, and was still acquiring equipment. I had an early green algae bloom that was taken care of with the UV light. Then I got a wild hair and changed the timing of the refugium light to only 6 hours. This caused a brown diatom explosion on the sides of the tank. Upping the hours on the refugium allowed the chaeto to out thrive the brown stuff, and with the snails, and all the other things going on, the brown stuff is now almost gone.
All of the fish and the emerald crab I have purchased, except one coral beauty angel, are still alive and doing well... the CBA never did like the tank from the very start. My snails are all reproducing, even the sand cleaners that they say are hard to breed.
Recently I started introducing some beginner soft corals and then lastly I got 2 anemones for a very good price and added them in there. I have learned now how to mix up kalkwasser and how to adjust my alkalinity, calcium, and am now much better at regulating my salinity and pH.
So far, no coral deaths, but very slow growth... probably due to the constant above 80° temps and I have been slowly finding the best spots to put the corals considering my water flow and I am still trying to work all that out. I had my first aptasia and so far so good... I think I got it out of there... at least no others have appeared yet. The anemones are still not very happy and for the most part have been hiding under rock overhangs, but once a week I have been feeding them a bit of shrimp, hoping that someday they will feel comfortable enough to find a place in the light to hang out.
So here are some pictures of the corals, a volunteer starfish and one of the anemones as it came out one day. The refugium has allowed even this young tank to be stable enough to keep all of this going, and I am sure that without it, I would have already failed at this... I am terrible about water changes. So far, things seem good. The water is clear and nothing is growing out of control. All of the fish, the 2 Damsels, 2 clowns and 1 blenny are all active and eating well 2 times a day. I have stopped adding new stuff to the tank for a while so as to let things stabilize and at the 6 month point I may try to add in some of the more expensive corals.
In the meantime, I have designed up my own homebrew pvc expansion chamber to run my overflow water through to get exposure to the UV bulb, and I have ordered floating switches and a plastic stand to hold them and a relay, and have designed an anti-overflow switch to my return pump so that if something happens to the overflow, I don't come home to a wet living room.
Have a great day everyone, and thank you for stopping by my little piece of the ocean, in Kingsville, Missouri.
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