My 75 gallon adventure

taulgrl · Jan 10, 2023

ereccer said:
Huh interesting. I wonder how effective RODI is at removing chemicals of that nature. My current tanks are all well water > RODI, but I will be setting up a tank using municipal water in Essex soon. Still with RODI.

I use a 5 part RODI system and would think it would catch most stuff. Just a theory but the PA guys said they notice a change every fall but this year was, by far, the worst.

Eric R. · Jan 10, 2023

taulgrl said:
I love that you are a teacher w a classroom tank. I taught high school science for 19 yrs but closest I came was a betta tank! My goni is hanging in there - no tissue loss yet and as my phosphates have gone down w water changes (1.5 to now 1.0) it is extending a tad and looking a bit perkier. My tank was so stable until this fall. The guys at Pet Advantage also experienced an explosion of algae growth around the same time in their reef tanks and blame it on lampreycide that they think was added to the lake...

Also, very cool that you also taught HS science! What subjects? I'm hoping to develop a whole marine science program, including marine biology and chemistry classes.

taulgrl · Jan 23, 2023

Update on algae irradication project:
1. Dosed Phosphat-E 4 different times and brought Phos from ~1.5 to ~0.25 (Salifert). Dripped it into 5 micron sock w ~300 gpm pump running water thru:

2. time to tackle the bryopsis: dosed 9.5 capsules of ReefFlux into sump. Miraculously within 1 day my Foxface decided the bryopsis was yummy and started eating it. Within 4 days it was gone:
Before treatment:

4 days later:

3. Going to wait 3 weeks before doing water change and adding carbon back. Meanwhile, phos is creeping back up (to 0.7) so added PhosGuard to sump rather than add Phosphat-E on top of the ReefFlux. So far everyone is tolerating this very well (except the bryopsis hehe).

Eric R. · Jan 23, 2023

Nice results! Hope you beat it!

(If it does come back though, you know to let me know about it, right?)

Mschmidt · Jan 23, 2023

Fight the good fight.

taulgrl · Jan 29, 2023

So far so good with tank’s response to ReefFlux. Hope I won that Deltec skimmer lol. I think I’m overdo to add a skimmer to my filtration

Eric R. · Jan 29, 2023

Good luck! I think generally used skimmers can be a good deal, they tend to last a while.

Eric R. · Jan 29, 2023

You can also see if these folks are still offering the free test for their skimmer: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/f...otein-skimmer-dc-pump-with-controller.946803/

Mschmidt · Jan 30, 2023

In the spirit of sportsmanship I will say good luck on the skimmer. But I want it too.

taulgrl · Jan 30, 2023

Mschmidt said:
In the spirit of sportsmanship I will say good luck on the skimmer. But I want it too.

Haha I saw that! Good luck to you too

taulgrl · Feb 19, 2023

Algae seems beaten back for now but having a hard time keeping phos level below .2. Didn’t win the Deltec skimmer so bought a Bubble Magnus Curve 5 that I’ll be setting up this week. Also bought a harley shrimp for my asternia problem. it is enjoying its drive from CT (where i bought it) to VT rn.

taulgrl · Feb 21, 2023

Skimmer is set up and seems to be settling in pretty well. Was able to put the cover on the cup a few hrs after this picture. There should be plenty of organics in this 2 yr old tank!

harley shrimp is MIA and I’m worried he may succumb to the same mystery fate as the three emerald crabs I (separately) introduced. Only found the empty shell from one

I’ve been reading a lot of rip clean threads and decided to start stirring my sand almost daily and cleaning a few rocks at a time each week. Still have lots of cyano every day, a growing asternia population and a goniopora coral that is even more ticked off than before but hopefully, eventually, things will get better

PO’d goni above gobi lair

Sleeping Giant · Jun 6, 2023

Tank looks great, your skimmer looks like a guy hanging out in the sump, holding a pole lol I'd put googly eyes on it for sure lol

taulgrl · Jun 6, 2023

Sleeping Giant said:
Tank looks great, your skimmer looks like a guy hanging out in the sump, holding a pole lol I'd put googly eyes on it for sure lol

Hahahaha !!

Eric R. · Jun 7, 2023

Did the cyano clear up? I find that the occasional 3-4 day blackout, after cleaning all the visible cyano up, helps tremendously to get rid of it and doesn't negatively affect my corals/macroalgae. Also, my conch and goby help keep the sand stirred up.

taulgrl · Jun 7, 2023

Cyano did! I finally got my Phos down to where it should be which seems to be helping w algae and cyano a lot. Harley shrimp is alive and well but my Goni is worse. Going to try a modified KFC dip as last ditch effort to save it. I guess that’s the fun of reefing - there’s always something to fix!

Sleeping Giant · Jun 10, 2023

taulgrl said:
Cyano did! I finally got my Phos down to where it should be which seems to be helping w algae and cyano a lot. Harley shrimp is alive and well but my Goni is worse. Going to try a modified KFC dip as last ditch effort to save it. I guess that’s the fun of reefing - there’s always something to fix!

fun fun, we all have those fun issues lol

Drewe · Jun 10, 2023

Gorgeous tank - if you haven't read through your first few posts in awhile, you should! You and the tank have come so far. How are you keeping the xenia in check? I have some in the first tank I built (also a 4ft 75g) and it is pretty overwhelming to keep on top of. I'm also beyond jealous that your chromis don't murder each other. I started with 5, now down to 1 - they just gang up on one at a time until they die in my experience. Now I just have a big guy that's mean as ****

edit: actually i can't tell, is that goni?

taulgrl · Jun 11, 2023

Drewe said:
Gorgeous tank - if you haven't read through your first few posts in awhile, you should! You and the tank have come so far. How are you keeping the xenia in check? I have some in the first tank I built (also a 4ft 75g) and it is pretty overwhelming to keep on top of. I'm also beyond jealous that your chromis don't murder each other. I started with 5, now down to 1 - they just gang up on one at a time until they die in my experience. Now I just have a big guy that's mean as ****

edit: actually i can't tell, is that goni?

Thanks so much for the kind words!! I really appreciate it. I love my tank but I feel like I am always battling something. To keep the Xenia in check I pull the rock it is on and pull stalks off with tweezers. It is a pain and I'm not always great at keeping up with it! I also think I ran into the issue you did with the chromises. I have 2 large/mature ones and added 3 more. 2 mysteriously died. I thought they died from disease but the remaining 1 kept showing up with damaged fins and sores. Turns out he was getting bullied by the 2 large ones and I'm pretty sure now that that is how the other 2 died. The remaining 1 leads a pretty solitary life of avoiding the other fish and healing from his fairly frequent injuries. I'm hoping he grows quickly enough that he can start to better defend himself.

My goni was doing great for quite a while (I got it from ReefBum who does a podcast and lives close by) and it is my favorite coral. Then I had a weird water quality/algae issue and it closed up. For good. I think it is still barely alive but after doing an aggressive dip a few days ago it isn't looking any better.

You need to post a build thread! I'm always looking for 75g tanks to follow.

Drewe · Jun 11, 2023

taulgrl said:
Thanks so much for the kind words!! I really appreciate it. I love my tank but I feel like I am always battling something. To keep the Xenia in check I pull the rock it is on and pull stalks off with tweezers. It is a pain and I'm not always great at keeping up with it! I also think I ran into the issue you did with the chromises. I have 2 large/mature ones and added 3 more. 2 mysteriously died. I thought they died from disease but the remaining 1 kept showing up with damaged fins and sores. Turns out he was getting bullied by the 2 large ones and I'm pretty sure now that that is how the other 2 died. The remaining 1 leads a pretty solitary life of avoiding the other fish and healing from his fairly frequent injuries. I'm hoping he grows quickly enough that he can start to better defend himself.

My goni was doing great for quite a while (I got it from ReefBum who does a podcast and lives close by) and it is my favorite coral. Then I had a weird water quality/algae issue and it closed up. For good. I think it is still barely alive but after doing an aggressive dip a few days ago it isn't looking any better.

You need to post a build thread! I'm always looking for 75g tanks to follow.

I'm setting up 75 INT in a week or two that I'll be doing a build thread for! Should be fun. Not a 4ft tank though, 36x23x19.