PDR's RSR 350 - Retired

[Hemmdog]

Alright so here is the promised update, only 8 days late ;Facepalm;Eggonface

Current maintenance routine:
- Daily 1.5 gallon water change (roughly 2%)
- Change mesh filter stocks on Wednesday and Saturday
- Clean skimmer cup and neck as needed - usually once a week
- Manually Dose 15ml of BRS ALK, Ca and Tropic Marin Part C
- I have been changing carbon (rox .8 run in a bag in the sump) every 2 weeks, but I am going to try and push it to once a month.

Feeding:
- Fish Frenzy at 12 and Reef Frenzy at 7 - I soak both in 10 drops of selcon before feeding (I have slightly reduced the amount fed during each feeding due to elevated p04 and no3)
- Nori several times a week
- PE Calanus once a week

Parameters as of 2/24/19
- Alk - 9.0
- Ca - 450 - (last tested on 2/2/19)
- Mg - 1450 - (last tested on 2/2/19)
- No3 - 20-25 - (up from 10 on 2/15)
- P04 - .21 (up from .15 on 2/15 and .1 on 2/2)
- Salinity - 1.025 - (1.026 is my target)
- Temp - 80.6-81.0

Recent changes/additions:
- 2/2/19 - added a juvi Maroon from ORA - successfully paired with my existing maroon thanks to @Lovemyreef2015 and @DSC reef
- 2/2/19 - added a Kamohara Blenny from ORA
- 2/20/19 - added a Striped Blenny from ORA, Smiths blenny from ORA, and maxima clam from ORA (the clam had to be rehomed to my frag tank due to harassment from my CBB. - Big thanks to @DSC reef for his help with the clam.
- 2/23/19 - I moved all my zoas from the frag tank to the display. I still have not finished placing all of them, but since I didn't really have room for them and I hate the look of frag plugs in the tank, I glued the zoas to rubble rock, then attached the rubble rock to a frag plug that I then buried in the sand to help with stability. So far it seems to be working out well.
- 2/25/19 - I took my way too small (and full) algae reactor offline and reworked my sump so I could run a fuge and skimmer.


Now on to some problems:
- Obviously my nutrients have been rising way too fast, I am hoping that reducing my feeding slightly and switching back to a fuge will help control the issue.
- My mandarin has been acting strange for the past few days and is starting to look thin. I have reached out to a couple of the fish experts and they weren't sure what's going on with him (or her?). Check out the video below and let me know what you think. No other fish are acting strangely.
- Some of my zoas were acting up but most of them are back to normal (incidentally, they started to recover the day after I removed the week-old bag of carbon from my sump, but I believe that to be a coincidence).
- I have not been able to keep sps and most lps in my tank for some time. I can move some from my frag tank and within a couple of days they start to look terrible. SPS flesh gets thin, starts to pale and polyps are retracted. LPS gets thin and retracted. After trying this multiple times I have come to believe my flame angel and possibly yellow tang are to blame. I have never observed my flame aggressively going after any of the coral but it could be just enough to cause issues. I also broke down and ordered an ICP test just to be sure there isn't anything strange going on.

I haven't taken many new pictures, but I'll add what I have. I've included some pictures of the issues.

Zoa issues:




LPS in the frag tank:


And the next day in the DT:


The zoas have not been fully placed yet, but here is how they look on the rock with frag plug on the bottom. I personally think it looks better than just a frag plug:


The new Maroon



FTS taken on 2/18/19


FTS taken on 2/23/19 after moving all the zoas to the DT. I'm just keeping those frag racks on the front until I get them sold off.


I was originally planning on keeping sps and/or the clam here, but since that isn't going to work, I could use some input.


Here are a few family pictures from my son's first birthday, a trip to the Georgia aquarium and his party






I think that's it for now! Next will be my frag tank update and issues.

Sorry to hear your still having some problems brother . For your daily water change is that heated sw? And is it just sw you made days before and is still mixing or just sitting in jugs? I was doing the daily small water changes and was having similar problems. Tank looks good though

 

[DSC reef]

Nice update and great pics. Your mandarin appears to be a Male. The mandarin looks good to me, ours would do some crazy dancing around powerheads and the back of the tank towards the end of the day. Looking forward to the ICP test results from the DT, I'm not too sure it's a fish bothering your corals. I'm happy to see the clowns doing well, amazing shots. Give that clam some time and light Thanks for sharing photos of your family trip my friend.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Great pictures, what did you use to take them? Your son is a little cutie and love the family picture! we definitely want to visit the Georgia aquarium. I'm so glad your clowns paired up

 

[PDR]

Looking good, brother!


This is an awesome picture! Happy Birthday!

Thanks!

Sorry to hear your still having some problems brother . For your daily water change is that heated sw? And is it just sw you made days before and is still mixing or just sitting in jugs? I was doing the daily small water changes and was having similar problems. Tank looks good though

Thanks!

I mix a new batch every 10 days and keep it unheated and unstirred. I do mix it for a few minutes before I use it for a change every day, I just don't keep it mixing 24/7. I change it into the sump (in the chambers where the heaters are) while the return is off. It has never caused my temp to fluctuate.

FWIW I have had these issues with the sps and lps while both neglecting water changes and doing weekly water changes as well.

Nice update and great pics. Your mandarin appears to be a Male. The mandarin looks good to me, ours would do some crazy dancing around powerheads and the back of the tank towards the end of the day. Looking forward to the ICP test results from the DT, I'm not too sure it's a fish bothering your corals. I'm happy to see the clowns doing well, amazing shots. Give that clam some time and light Thanks for sharing photos of your family trip my friend.

Thanks man! I should have mentioned this, but the mandarin is doing this thing almost 24/7, not just at night. He's been doing it so much the last few days he doesn't spend much time eating which is what worries me. Yeah I'm looking forward to the ICP test as well. My plan is to get it in the mail tomorrow. The main reason I'm starting to suspect livestock is when I think back I have had issues with LPS and SPS for years in this tank. I first tried some sps (purple stylo and birdsnest) about 1.5-2 years ago. I blamed the demise on my blennies at the time. I have had various fleshly lps (mainly acans) off and on since the tank was new and except for blastos, they have all been retracted and bit the dust in a relatively short period of time. I could be totally wrong though, wouldn't be the first time lol.

Great pictures, what did you use to take them? Your son is a little cutie and love the family picture! we definitely want to visit the Georgia aquarium. I'm so glad your clowns paired up

Thanks! Just an iPhone X, no filters or anything. Sometimes I will edit them slightly in photoshop, but none of these were. Thanks, we sure think he's pretty cute . Thanks again for the help with the clowns!

 

[Fudsey]

I'm wondering if you might have something rusting somewhere? Power head, pump ...something.

 

[Fudsey]

Great pics too

 

[PDR]

I'm wondering if you might have something rusting somewhere? Power head, pump ...something.

Yeah this has crossed my mind. I went on a pretty extensive “rust hunt” a few weeks ago and came up empty. Two of the powerheads are only a couple of months old and the other two are less than a year old. I couldn’t find any signs of rust on them but you never know.

Edit: If it was a rust issue, wouldn’t my inverts, especially the brittle stars, be struggling?

 

[PDR]

I meant to add a picture of the new sump layout. I haven’t routed the cords yet or cleaned the sump in awhile so it’s a little messy



Does any one else use an unreasonable amount of towels when they work on the tank? This is my towel cart that is usually full. I fill up the hamper (trash can) once a week a least. This is probably one of the reasons my wife doesn’t love the tanks lol

 

[Fudsey]

I usually use 1 or 2 when doing a water change but that's about it.

 

[PDR]

I usually use 1 or 2 when doing a water change but that's about it.

Yeah I guess I'm just messy lol.


Something else I forgot to mention is how much I like the fang blennies. I feel like they are an often overlooked fish, and I am surprised how much I enjoy having them in the tank. The striped blenny is especially beautiful in person.

 

[DSC reef]

Blennies are neat fish. Years ago we had a lawnmower blenny that had a cool personality but then he started to leave these cool looking bite marks on chalices, lol;Rage

 

[Fudsey]

I love my canary blenny, such a character. Sleeps vertically in one of the tanks front corners every night...lol

 

[PDR]

Blennies are neat fish. Years ago we had a lawnmower blenny that had a cool personality but then he started to leave these cool looking bite marks on chalices, lol;Rage

I do think the algae eating blennies have the best personally, but they are definitely one of those fish that are reef safe until they're not lol.

I love my canary blenny, such a character. Sleeps vertically in one of the tanks front corners every night...lol

My wife was filling up the ato while the lights were still off this morning and noticed the striped blenny sleeps with his tail sticking through the frag rack and his body bent laying across the rack. The kamohara sleeps on the left side powerhead every night.

Just snapped a couple of quick shots of these guys. I noticed how inquisitive they were when I was trying to focus on them.

 

[DSC reef]

Nice pics man!

 

[Fudsey]

Just for reference

 

[PDR]

I turned my blues on 100% to get some pictures of the frags (fwiw I take pictures of my frags under both blue and white) and noticed how good the tank looked. My lighting schedule was such that I only ever got to see the tank under all blues at 5-10% intensity.

I slightly modified my lighting schedule before it ramps down to have a couple of hours of all blues at 100% intensity. I'm always hesitant to change my lighting but I'm hoping such a minor change won't have any negative effects.



I'm not planning on keeping those tiles in the tank, just haven't had the time to frag them yet.




This colony is in the back of the tank, you can't even see it from the front, such a shame.




These are all unedited iPhone pics, it's amazing how much better they look in person.

 

[PDR]

And just to prove I wasn't making it up...

 

[NY_Caveman]

Midas Blenny for me. Of all the fish I have ever owned, this guy might have the best personality.

 

[PDR]

Midas Blenny for me. Of all the fish I have ever owned, this guy might have the best personality.

I totally agree, I loved my midas blenny.

 

[Hemmdog]

Midas Blenny for me. Of all the fish I have ever owned, this guy might have the best personality.

Do they look that color when they age? My LFS has had one for a few weeks but it looks just yellow to me. It is a Midas he said. If so I might get one, that looks so cool lol.