Rêverie Reef - Video thread

[Ardeus]

 

[chizerbunoi]

The magnifica looks good. Do you then feed the phytoplankton mix for the rest of corals?

The pond would be neat since your in a climate that can support it. I have a Koi water garden and enjoy it a lot. But you have to watch out for predators.

The cost is not bad over time. Split it up into phases over the next 3-5 years. Selling off some RBTA could help fund and also open real estate for some other corals. I have a big issue with RBTA too. If I got rid of more, I probably would add a LTA or another Sebae.

 

[Ardeus]

I have been dosing Vibrant to try to get rid of bubble algae for 2 months, so I stopped feeding phyto.

I dosed weekly for the last 2 months and I just began dosing every 4 days.

Vibrant really messes with the tank, the platting montis can't handle it and I want to finish dosing Vibrant as soon as possible. If in a month I still have bubble algae I will give up.

I have been thinking a lot about the pond and the more I think the more I see it as bad idea.

Temperatures here can be extreme. 3 years ago I measured 118 degrees right in the place where the pond would be.

This winter I filmed this from my balcony.


It will be very difficult to close those 2 arches with double glazing and with a single glass the temperature control in that area would also be very difficult.

And then I remember the amount of glass I would need to clean at least every other day. And the sand.

I haven't given up on the idea completely but I'm pretty close.

 

[Ardeus]

Yesterday a Banggai suddenly died. He was barely alive when I saw him and I don't know what happened.

I doubt it was due to aggression between them, they have all been pretty chill for a long time now.

I ordered a bottle of clove oil because I think that's the best course of action in these situations.

The last fish or coral I got was over 6 months ago (a male filefish and a blue carduus acro) and I don't want to buy anything live anytime soon, ideally never again. No more corals or fish, I just want to take care of what's in the tank now.

I know it's a difficult goal, but even if I fail, it's a good objective to have.

 

[Ardeus]

I decided to play with a macro lense but I didn't like the results. I ended up using the footage for something different than I had planned.

 

[Teen reefer]

Wow, cool tank and I hope to see more in the future.

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks. Have you watched all the videos?

I'm going to count them just out of curiosity.

Edit: 130 videos! I need to get a life.

 

[Ardeus]

I'm kind of in a crossroads now.

I have been dosing Vibrant since early January trying eradicate bubble algae. I began dosing once per week and I carried on with that dosage for 2 months.

I see a few bubbles floating here and there but there's lots of places where they look very healthy and still growing.

The tank didn't react well to Vibrant. Minor Alk swings causing RTN in plating montis and nutrients creeping up like never before.

I took the chaeto out of the refugium before starting Vibrant and that may be the main cause for the nutrients spike.

A few weeks ago I decided to begin dosing every 4 days. I wanted to end this as soon as possible so my tank could get back to normal.

I am going to up the dosing to every 3 days.

I have enough Vibrant for 3 months at this rythm and I am going to use it all, to try to eradicate the bubble algae.

Now, here's the problem: What do I do about the nutrients?

PO4 is easy: more GFO.

Now, high NO3 is something I haven't dealt with before. It went from 3 to 25 since January. Before Vibrant I had to dose Nitrates.

Do I let them rise for 3 months or do I risk carbon dosing while Vibrant is doing its thing?

I'm afraid I'm going to mess things up even more and create a problem with cyano by carbon dosing.

Last time I tried something much more harmless like dosing Acropower, I got a problem with cyano that took many months to go away.

 

[chizerbunoi]

How about softies like Xenia or Kenya tree to your sump?

 

[Ardeus]

I have some xenia and aiptasias in the refugium but they don't have enough mass to have a significant impact on the nutrient levels.

I thought about having a true xenia refugium, but I don't have the heart to pull them out regularly.

 

[chizerbunoi]

Sometimes replacing the sand bed little by little helps too.

 

[Ardeus]

The tank seems at the same time stable, but on the edge, I'm afraid of messing up if I change anything.

I will just ride it out watching the corals very carefully and when I finish dosing Vibrant I will look at numbers again.

The Banggais are also in an unstable phase since the main couple broke up and I also need to watch them closely.

All in all, the tank is scary right now.

 

[Ardeus]

I can't wait to get off of Vibrant.

My nitrates, which would never get above 5 are probably now above 50.

A week ago I decided to try vinegar dosing, very slowly.

Yesterday I noticed dinos in some areas and I stopped the carbon dosing experiment.

On the other hand, alk consumption went up.

I really want to stop Vibrant, but on the other hand I want to make sure bubble algae DNA is out of the tank for good. I have been dosing Vibrant for 4 months, had some losses and I don't want it to have been in vain.

But when to stop? Just a few days ago I found a small group of bubble algae living under a patch of bryopsis.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Wow!! Absolutely beautiful!!

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks!

I do a lot of research on reef aquascaping and although I can't make dramatic changes to the tank, I've learned a lot from freshwater aquascaping masters and the few techniques I managed to apply to the tank, really make a difference.

That photo was a screenshot from this video.

 

[Ardeus]

It's been 7 months since I got the last coral and fish.

Living away from LFS's helps, but I wonder how far can I go.

I have different motivations to not get more corals and fish.

In the case of the corals It's mainly for the sake of reducing diversity and avoiding the "1 of each" look. I keep spreading frags of the corals I already have all over the tank and I think it helps in making the tank look more harmonious. It's what you see in natural reefs.

I also don't want to introduce any (further) pests to the tank, but that's a secondary reason in what concerns the corals.

But this is precisely the main reason why I think 10 times before giving into the temptation of getting another fish: I don't want to risk bringing a disease into the tank. I quarentine all the fish, but it's not 100% guaranteed.

The plan is therefore not to get any coral EVER, and I will only consider getting more fish after at least half of the current fish population is gone. Even then, it's not likely.

 

[Ardeus]

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Awesome!!

 

[Ardeus]

I'm done with Vibrant.

I can't find any more bubble algae and I need to get my tank back on track so it can start licking its wounds.

This involves getting the refugium working but I will wait a few more days before adding chaeto back.

I also stopped dosing vinegar and the dinos went away... phew!

I'm not sure if it's because I stopped dosing Vibrant or because I pruned some corals and there's some healing going on, but alk consumption went up, I had to increase the bubbles of CO2 per minute on the calcium reactor by almost 50%.

 

[Ardeus]

I'm still toying with the idea of the lagoon outside.

I think I'm going to make a test without any glass panes in that area, so the tank will be exposed to the elements.

I will place my 100 gallon cube outside, get a temperature controler, connect a large fan and see how effective is evaporation in controlling the temperature when it's 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

This photo was taken closer to winter so the sun is lower and direct sunlight enters deep into the area where the tank is located.

During summer, with the sun higher, only a small portion of the tank will recieve direct sunlight.