Geezer's (Mostly) SPS Reef

[ReefGeezer]

Dropped in for an update. The tank is still doing well for the most part. There is always something. I struggled with Aiptasia for a minute but have conquered the little buggers. A combination of a Copperband Butterfly to eat the little ones and AiptasiaX to kill off the bigger ones seems to have been the killer combination. And now, I have one of my favorite fish in the tank. He's now eating most everything I put in the tank and getting fat & happy. He was my third attempt at a Copperband.

With the addition of the Copperband, I have quite a heavy fish load in the tank. Nitrates and phosphates are creeping up a little, but still ok. The Zoanthids are loving it, but while the SPS corals are doing great, their growth has slowed a little. Red turf algae is still more prevalent than I would want and there are a couple spots of Cyano here and there.

Here's a picture not too long after the lights started to ramp up. My apologies for the poor photo quality.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Took a few crappy pictures...

 

[ReefGeezer]

Oh... and I got a piece of my old Red Monti back. It started a a quarter sized frag. Growing like a weed, like its mother.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I had to frag some Zaos. They were taking over. Now I have a frag rack full of Sunny D's, Armor of God, Blood Suckers, and Eagle Eyes. I still have a couple out of control colonies though.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I had to frag some Zaos. They were taking over. Now I have a frag rack full of Sunny D's, Armor of God, Blood Suckers, and Eagle Eyes. I still have a couple out of control colonies though.

Nice looking Coral!!!

 

[ReefGeezer]

Snapped another crappy picture. I got to get a better phone.

 

[ReefGeezer]

I got a new phone so I had to take a picture. Better than the old one by a mile, but still no filter to make the colors pop. One day I'll detail the tank and get a filtered picture.

Everybody is happy, but phosphates have risen to about .25 ppm. I turned the skimmer off to see what would happen. Question answered... phosphates rise!+ Seems like the only things the elevated phosphate bothers are the Rainbow Milli and the Walt Disney Acro. Their growth has slowed some. The other SPS, LPS, and Softies don't seem to mind. I'm also getting some Cyano here & there.

 

[Chemjab]

Merry Christmas all. Long overdue update: The 90 has moved to the basement where it will be a part of the Man Cave. And yes... the fish and corals are still living in the Brute.

With the upstairs remodel nearing its conclusion and Christmas nearly over, I finished up phase one... build an avalanche proof aquascape. I also wanted to leave a lot of swimming room in and around the rock. Here a pic of the progress.

I like this newer rock work much more than the first set. It's nice being able to look back and read about your journey. Good stuff.