Custom 4ft Shallow Peninsula - Part 1

scottrotton · Jul 5, 2018

Update.

So far I noticed 3 Fish with small signs of ich

1 kole tang
1 Anthia

1 x wrasse (by far the worst infected)

Polyp lab medic hasn't damaged any corals yet. The protozoa has fallen of the kole tang. Hopefully the free swimming [emoji474] ich die before they reattach.

Now the weirdest thing is i was going to catch the wrasse yesterday and treat seperatly. But when I woke up he was already in the sump of my tank, I though he already died when he was missing from the dt and went to check my dosing containers, he was eating all the pods in my sump. It's like Santa broke in and caught it for me to save me breaking my scape. Or he somehow got over the overflow box. I like to this its Santa

Nice one Santa [emoji318]

scottrotton · Jul 7, 2018

To add to my nightmare week I have possibly nuked my tank.

I came home yesterday to find all my corals closed and some expelling their insides. I first thought it was the polyp lab medic.

Until I put my hand in the tank and realised the temperature was through the roof.

So not only am I battling ich I also have a heater problem.

I fixed the heater issue and today I have looked at the tank and the water is very cloudy.

Probably some die off, so far no fish are dead.

Hopefully most of my corals pull through. It seems sps are OK. Lps are the ones stuggling.
Will do a 30% water change each day to help with any param swings whilst everything stablizes

buddy. · Jul 7, 2018

What was the problem that caused the heater to stick on?

scottrotton · Jul 8, 2018

buddy. said:
What was the problem that caused the heater to stick on?

It was actually my fault. During maintenance I must have pulled the temp probe out of the water. So heater was stuck on

scottrotton · Jul 30, 2018

This months update,

After my issue with Ich and Brown Jelly, i manage to save all corals, even the wall hammer which i'm very happy about with my new technique.

as all the fish are out of my tank and i dont have the cash for a full upgrade yet i decided to just do a rescape, i bought some Real Reef Rock for a cheap, although it came with some shelves and im not a fan of those types of scape i thought i would give them a try, if it doesnt work i can break them up and use for frag plugs over the next 10 years.

So this week i have removed all rokc from my tank, the fish are in my nano, i will

move all corals into the sump and maybe another container if its not quiet big enough
Drain my main display and empty all sand etc, leave it to dry for a day
Rescape
Refill
Quick cycle with Sachem stability
Seneye can monitor for a week or so
Add corals Back in
Leave for a 4-6 weeks
Add fish back in over 2-6 weeks

Fingers crossed i come out on top as this is a whole lot of changes to make

Funlad3 · Jul 30, 2018

scottrotton said:
This months update

…

Fingers crossed i come out on top as this is a whole lot of changes to make

Mistakes aside, it looks like you did a great job saving the tank from boiling and it sounds like you know exactly what you're doing to treat the fish. I came to compliment the tank build (which is gorgeous), but you've got your husbandry down pat.

Also, props for another balling system user! By far the best method for stable and continuous coral growth. That millie exploded on you!

scottrotton · Jul 30, 2018

Funlad3 said:
Mistakes aside, it looks like you did a great job saving the tank from boiling and it sounds like you know exactly what you're doing to treat the fish. I came to compliment the tank build (which is gorgeous), but you've got your husbandry down pat.

Also, props for another balling system user! By far the best method for stable and continuous coral growth. That millie exploded on you!

Thanks, its taken so many mistakes that although im no expert im certainly comfortable now making informed changes knowing exactly the risks im taking doing it but also the reward if it goes correct. i no doubt will have some other pest at some point but im hoping it will be limited and rare occurrence unlike now where im constantly battling something.

It amazes me how i even bothered with any other system after finding the balling method, aquaforest balling is amazing due to something as simple as equal parts, because of this i spotted issues with my dosing pump not calibrated properly and containters were emptying slighty quicker than others. With the red sea system i used to use i never would of found that out. Just gets to show the simple methods are the best, well in my eyes they are!

Im yet to find anything easier then balling + refugium, i may try and experiment in the future with balling + refugium 12 hours + algae scrubber 12 hours.

scottrotton · Jul 30, 2018

double post

Brew12 · Jul 30, 2018

scottrotton said:
Thanks, its taken so many mistakes that although im no expert im certainly comfortable now making informed changes knowing exactly the risks im taking doing it but also the reward if it goes correct. i no doubt will have some other pest at some point but im hoping it will be limited and rare occurrence unlike now where im constantly battling something.

It amazes me how i even bothered with any other system after finding the balling method, aquaforest balling is amazing due to something as simple as equal parts, because of this i spotted issues with my dosing pump not calibrated properly and containters were emptying slighty quicker than others. With the red sea system i used to use i never would of found that out. Just gets to show the simple methods are the best, well in my eyes they are!

Im yet to find anything easier then balling + refugium, i may try and experiment in the future with balling + refugium 12 hours + algae scrubber 12 hours.

Calcium reactor + refugium is probably a little easier. Since you are dissolving corals in the reactor it takes care of most of your trace elements, also. I haven't gone that route yet, but I'm sure I will get there in a few years when my Alk/Calc demand increases substantially more.

Good luck with your recovery!

Funlad3 · Aug 1, 2018

scottrotton said:
Im yet to find anything easier then balling + refugium, i may try and experiment in the future with balling + refugium 12 hours + algae scrubber 12 hours.

I'm not a big fuge person as they can be tricky to keep clean, but I really wish I had the pH stabilizing effects of running one opposite of my light cycle. I may experiment with dosing sodium hydroxide for alkalinity at night to stabilize instead.

scottrotton · Aug 1, 2018

Funlad3 said:
I'm not a big fuge person as they can be tricky to keep clean, but I really wish I had the pH stabilizing effects of running one opposite of my light cycle. I may experiment with dosing sodium hydroxide for alkalinity at night to stabilize instead.

What do you prefer?

Funlad3 · Aug 2, 2018

scottrotton said:
What do you prefer?

I've been running (and advising friends to run) sumps with no fuge for a while, but some of them have smartly decided to keep a fuge chamber with just macro algae in it for easy cleaning and siphoning. If you run filter socks before the fuge chamber, you'd be in even better shape.

If you meant sodium hydroxide vs. sodium carbonate (which is what I currently use), hydroxide would have a more immediate effect on increasing the pH than the carbonate and to a greater level. If I switch to it, I'm going to have to do some chemistry to figure out just how much more I'd need to use and probably increase the time over which I add it to the tank to minimize the size of positive swings in pH.