Saint's 40 breeder

[stAlphonzo]

Nice! The good news is, this little spot is only a bit of it, there is a lot more forming all over the tank. It all just sprung up in the last day or two. That gives me hope that it will spread fast now that conditions seem ripe!

 

[saintsreturn]

Love the progress so far Great work on posting your journey and dont sweat the fact that this is new for you. This group will encourage you as you need it and sit back and look at pictures when you dont.

Nicely done on taking your time through the cycle. You will be much happier in the long run doing it this way. Also, the stand looks sharp!

 

[Johniejumbo]

I have a fairly new 40b myself. It’s been a royal pain tho. I’ll just reef vicariously through your pics lol. Good start!

 

[stAlphonzo]

Love the progress so far Great work on posting your journey and dont sweat the fact that this is new for you. This group will encourage you as you need it and sit back and look at pictures when you dont.

Nicely done on taking your time through the cycle. You will be much happier in the long run doing it this way. Also, the stand looks sharp!

Hey saintsreturn, thanks for your kind words! I have really enjoyed posting the journey (and logging everything as well) and actually it's one of the things that has kept my patience in check. When I feel like the GHA, for example has been with me forever, I can look back and realize it was only a week and I should chill out ... people here have been insanely helpful. I can't imaging doing something like this in the days before the internet!

Everything else is moving along. I am constantly backlogged with projects that need doing. The stand really needs a door and some shelves, electrical and controller setup and my sump. Fortunately for me the hobby is patient enough to tolerate my snails pace!

 

[stAlphonzo]

I have a fairly new 40b myself. It’s been a royal pain tho. I’ll just reef vicariously through your pics lol. Good start!

Hey Johnie! You are more than welcome to virtually reef along with me

What's up with your tank? Do you have a build thread? I would love to see what you've got going!

 

[Johniejumbo]

Hey Johnie! You are more than welcome to virtually reef along with me

What's up with your tank? Do you have a build thread? I would love to see what you've got going!

I may have to make one soon! I have kept reef tanks for 15 years or so and never had so much trouble getting my water to clear up. I had a 36g bowfront that was doing great and found a heck of a deal on this 40b and swapped it out. Since then I have had all manner of difugalty. Think it’s on the right track now though. If I make a thread I’ll let you know!

 

[stAlphonzo]

Yeah, please do, I'd love to follow along!

Strange that this one has given you so much trouble after so many years. I guess every little ecosystem ends up being different in some way. I don't know too much about the layout of the 36 bowfront, but I really like these breeders. Such a great shape. Feels much bigger than it really is.

 

[stAlphonzo]

Well now, wanna see what happens when you visit the fish store on a whim? I popped in mostly to check out the corals and see what their stock was of fish so I could plan my first additions. I knew it was coming soon since I'm probably easily ready to add something in 4-6 weeks.

I found these 2 little snowflake clowns in the same tank getting along really well. They are raised by a local breeder and they were only $19.99 each, so I couldn't resist. I wasn't planning on adding 2 of anything at the same time, especially not the first fish, but they are so small that I figure it shouldn't put too much burden on the systems capacity for processing waste. They probably don't need my QT tank since they were in the store's QT, but I'm going to try to maintain discipline. The question is really, should I pre-emptively treat and follow what's been outlined by Humblefish here, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/

Seems like the right thing, but I am always hesitant to medicate when it's not required. Don't want to stress them out anymore than they already are. That said, after acclimation, I added them to the tank and fed mysis shrimp right away, which they devoured.

 

[Johniejumbo]

Good looking lil clowns! Quarantine is pushed pretty heavily, and for good reason. I will readily admit that I don’t usually qt. I am pretty cautious about picking fish and I do keep a qt up in case I feel I need it and I run a u.v. sterilizer for a few weeks after I introduce new fish but I think that probably only makes me feel better about not quarantining

 

[stAlphonzo]

Good looking lil clowns! Quarantine is pushed pretty heavily, and for good reason. I will readily admit that I don’t usually qt. I am pretty cautious about picking fish and I do keep a qt up in case I feel I need it and I run a u.v. sterilizer for a few weeks after I introduce new fish but I think that probably only makes me feel better about not quarantining

Yeah, I hear ya. I was really close to putting these two right into the tank, mostly because there aren't any other fish and the are locally bred. But, I'm really trying to let 'be a patient reefer' permeate my every instinct ... ;Blackeye

I am going to observe for a while and decide what to do regarding treatment. I will probably buy the treatments anyway since they're probably good to keep onhand.

So far, my partner in crime is pretty enamoured with the new fishes. She is working the camera like a pro. I will have to take a look at her photos and post some more. The fish are all over the tank already so she got some good ones!

 

[stAlphonzo]

Sometimes I catch myself wondering if I'm being too patient. I am working hard at it for sure, but I wonder if I'll be able to recognize when to stop being patient and jump into action.

I have heard a lot about the 'uglies' I will face when using dead rock, the diatoms that are nearly required and the inevitable hair algae. The diatoms came and went as expected but recently the hair algae that formed is spreading and getting longer. It's becoming more spread across the sandbed and flapping from the tops of the rocks, waving in the current, taunting me to do something about it. Here are a few shots to show what's going on. Crappy, full tank shot....

 

[stAlphonzo]

Even the crabs can't get away ....

 

[stAlphonzo]

I still feel like waiting is out is the best course, but there is always some doubt. I have read that this bloom is a a good time to feed some herbivores and let them clean the water and create a stable environment over a few months or more. Not sure about that either, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

My original crew was good for the diatoms but really can't cut this stuff. I had 3 Nerites, which are big and pretty cool, but they only sit around the rim of the tank. They must be getting enough to eat, but they don't move much from up there. I also got some Nassarius snails but came to find out that they really require meat and don't touch the algae. I haven't really been feeding the tank anything except some target reef roids twice a week so I hope they're alive. There were also a bunch of dwarf ceriths, dozens maybe. They are pretty excellent because they get into the tiniest cracks but they aren't good for bulk.

Today I got 2 Astraea snails and 3 Trochus snails as well as 4 ceriths and about 3 really tiny hermits. They are really just getting settled but at least one of the Trochus are on the move. It has crawled into this nook in the rook. It sweeps around in circles and sometimes widens the perimeter around that nook. I don't know for sure but I would swear that there is about a half inch around that nook that is completely clean of hair and I'm sure it wasn't like that earlier. I will keep watching it now that I know how much is missing.

Here is the would be hero of the tank...you can see what it's up against though.

 

[stAlphonzo]

Otherwise though, things are great. There is corraline popping out everywhere. Almost looks like my kids took a red crayon and started working on the rocks.

 

[stAlphonzo]

The corals are mostly doing amazing with the possible exception of the zoanthids. They were really happy for a few weeks when I brought them home but they are looking a bit peeved. They didn't seem to like the target feeding, which seemed to make them close up right after. They also really don't seem to like the algae growing nearby or the crabs that crawl on them to eat.

The center of many of the heads is a bit silvery. Though they look angry, they also look like they're starting to spread, so I don't really know what to think.

 

[stAlphonzo]

The Micromussa is really looking the best. It's polyps are almost always extended and its colors are vibrant. It always looks better after a feeding too. Here is a shot but sadly I took it before I fed.

The acan lord looks similar and they both look like they are spreading already.

 

[stAlphonzo]

Last but certainly not least, the Lapastrea looks like it's growing too, but again, I don't know what I'm looking at. I feel like that read fiber stuff coming out of the base is probably new growth.

 

[Johniejumbo]

It’s progressing nicely looks like. It doesn’t look like it’s very bad to me!

 

[stAlphonzo]

Oh yeah, and the clown fish are happy as can be in Qt. They love their little caves but always come out when I come up to the tank. They start dancing around and coming up to the front, showing off to get me to feed them. The littler one seems to look at the bigger one and do what it does. Getting a sense which one is going to be the female, lol. They have a ton of personality. They devour the Hikari bloodworms, like the Sipriulina brine shrimp, but don't much care for the mysis shrimp. They usually take a bite and spit it out.

Here's the bigger one saying hi

 

[stAlphonzo]

It’s progressing nicely looks like. It doesn’t look like it’s very bad to me!

Thanks Johnie! It's good to hear from an outside perspective. I get too close sometimes and the days feel like months, lol. I'm going to just let everything do what it needs to. I do finally have a skimmer on the way and I think I have all the stuff ready to get the sump going. It will be nice to get that project finished. Hopefully it will help the overall look of the tank, even if it's just getting rid of the HOB, moving the Chaeto and moving the heaters