Oh no, someone is watching this?! Thanks commanderwho for the bump. I know I owe some updates as I’ve just hit 300 days!
A lot has happened, but overall things are going very well and I am pretty proud of how I’ve gotten this far. I’ll try to be brief and stick to the highlights/lowlights: (spoiler alert, its
Livestock
I finally decided to add my last fish in April, an orchid dottyback. Got him from Dr. Reef, highly recommend as the fish was in terrific health, fairly grown and settled in quickly. Otherwise, adding him has to be considered a mistake. The territorial nature and the fact that they’re prodigious diggers was something I was not ready for. My goby is now a refugee with barely a cave to call his own. I never see the pistol shrimp, though I can still hear him so I know he’s alive. I kind of knew there was a risk with this fish, but I truly failed to think through what failure might look like or how I might rectify it. “Oh I’ll just get him out if there’s a problem.” Lol, good luck catching this fish. We’ve all come to an uneasy truce. The dotty is a really a cool fish, but this was a distressing self-inflicted mistake.
Corals
For the most part corals are doing super. I have pretty much maxed out my real estate with 20 different corals! Good news: my frogspawn and neon hammer have puffed up to over twice the size. Acan popping new heads like crazy. I had a tiny hitchhiker discosoma mushroom on a zoa frag that is now the size of a half dollar and split twice. The pocillopora that I must have moved four times and left for dead twice, now THRIVES at the top of my rock work. I’m also 99% certain it has “sprouted” all over the tank. I see similar polyps everywhere, and was told they can propagate in this way!
Bad news: of course chemistry is big element to current success, and I think is responsible for some failures. My sinularia colony (upper left in old photos) withered and died. My pipe organ also took a sudden step back and is looking bad right now. I also got a big sunset monti frag that has never liked my tank, and has basically bleached out. I attribute these issues to nutrient levels (see chemistry.) Also, with my euphyllia suddenly all huge, they now cast a ton of shade on the frags below. They’re also quite crowded. I’ve considered trying to reposition them a bit, but felt the risk was too great and it would be a more complex task than I anticipate.
Chemistry
This has been the battle. I came to discover my phosphates were sky-high (Hanna would max out.) After a great deal of testing and investigating, I found the the “RODI” I was buying from my LFS had over .2 phosphate. I found a place that’s better, though still not 0TDS. Can’t do a RODI in my place so this is what I’m working with. In order to bring that in line, I put the skimmer back in. It seems to be making the difference (though now nitrates are super low.) I think this nutrient drop killed the sinularia. Had a small patch of cyano during all this, but that has gone away. I’m also convinced dosing phyto was the secret ingredient to get through such wild levels without any nuisance outbreaks.
With the nutrient issues, I thought it would be a good idea to get an ICP test. Honestly, I can’t recommend this enough. The information and analysis is comprehensive, but it’s well presented and easy to understand. Well worth the money, just for peace of mind. The test came back largely positive, nothing unexpected but low in a number of trace elements. Based on that I stopped buffing with soda ash to 9+ dkh, and started using liquid AFR. Then went the extra step and got a X1 Pro dosing pump. Been fine tuning the dosing, but very easy to setup and glad I got it. Looking forward to another ICP at the 1year mark to see where things land.
Other
Critters! I have a ton of feather dusters including one big one that just keeps growing at the top of the tank. Suddenly noticed pineapple sponges tucked away everywhere. Coralline growing steady, I absolutely love how it looks. Just spotted some tentacles sweeping out of the rock that I believe is a brittle star! On the downside… too many vermetid snails and still blasting an Aiptasia every few weeks.
Overall, trying to observe and fine tune. Letting the corals grow and maybe hit “cruising speed” with this thing. Going to Aquashella in a couple weeks for the first time. And… thinking about another tank!
Oh well rather have it all right way first time then fill it and try to remove pump later. Also, last question, for now, either of you do a refuge in chamber 2 or have an opinion on them? I do hope to keep a mandarin eventually once take has been up a while and so i know that means pods.
