SC Aquariums 50 gallon PNP

[Philipgonzales3]

Calcium sill in the 300’s! Your killing me ! Lol. Get it up to 420 and keep it there, things will look even better.

Don’t feed any dry food for awhile including reef roids, let that phosphate come down. That’s high for only 5 nitrate.

Bump up your flow on the side of the tank with the green cyano by your euphyllia, that should help.

Your fish look healthy, clowns and hawk are a little thin but that wrasse is juicy.

Lol to be fair that was before I adjusted my dosing. Calcium should be a bit higher now. I'll do a test today lol like I said I've been slacking a bit.

No dry food has been feed in a long time. I'll order some more reagent today for sure. Thanks @Hemmdog I needed a bit of a kick in the pants to get back on track lol.

 

[Hemmdog]

Lol to be fair that was before I adjusted my dosing. Calcium should be a bit higher now. I'll do a test today lol like I said I've been slacking a bit.

No dry food has been feed in a long time. I'll order some more reagent today for sure. Thanks @Hemmdog I needed a bit of a kick in the pants to get back on track lol.

Lol you got this man. The tank still looks great. Be proud!

 

[Why-Me]

I second everything @Hemmdog said, they look good but could eat more, same for corals, need more from the fish poo etc not reef roids.
You got this!!
and don't feel discouraged about testing
#honestyinreefing I haven't even tested salinity in 3 weeks and have done 4 water changes in that time and have a secondary brute full with sw too. I don't have cal or mag test kits only alk and have only tested that twice in the 4 months I've been setup.
So far for me less is more approach has worked.
I do know all our tanks like stability but to a certain point; if you're always chasing numbers then you're always causing a swing in parameters which isn't always good. Even if you end at the right parameters all the influx to get there may have caused slowed growth or discoloration in corals.
Going to have the 40 breeder setup next month so I've just been telling myself if it looks good leave it alone. Otherwise with all the test kits and other stuff I'd be another month or two behind in getting the 40 setup.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Well I think I'm going to give up on filter socks. I just noticed my sump was foaming like crazy. I didn't run a filter sock while on vacation as I wouldn't be here to change it out and didn't want to task my pet sitter with that (my uncle).

Anyway I forgot to add the sock right away. I added It Friday or Saturday, I can't quite remember. I forgot about it until today and I went to change it out and my sump was super foamy. This is not the first time I noticed foam after switching filter socks. I spray the socks down with hydrogen peroxide and then wash them in the washer with an extra rinse cycle (no detergent, bleach, etc).

I'm thinking here that the risk isn't worth the reward. From what I understand a sock isn't necessary. I'm thinking the socks are picking up some residual soap in the wash. That's my best guess at least. Washer is a year old Samsung High Effeciency washer if that matters any.

 

[Hemmdog]

Well I think I'm going to give up on filter socks. I just noticed my sump was foaming like crazy. I didn't run a filter sock while on vacation as I wouldn't be here to change it out and didn't want to task my pet sitter with that (my uncle).

Anyway I forgot to add the sock right away. I added It Friday or Saturday, I can't quite remember. I forgot about it until today and I went to change it out and my sump was super foamy. This is not the first time I noticed foam after switching filter socks. I spray the socks down with hydrogen peroxide and then wash them in the washer with an extra rinse cycle (no detergent, bleach, etc).

I'm thinking here that the risk isn't worth the reward. From what I understand a sock isn't necessary. I'm thinking the socks are picking up some residual soap in the wash. That's my best guess at least. Washer is a year old Samsung High Effeciency washer if that matters any.

Welcome to the no sock life!

 

[mattzang]

heh, took me all of like a month to get over filter socks. i did buy an acrylic sock holder and a red sea cup thingy, so i toss some filter padding stuff in there. lasts for about a week and then i throw in out and then toss a new one in there. super easy. but i've also gone without before and i'm not sure i noticed any water clarity differences

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Some pics from today. Looks like bubble algea maybe on my Rasta's? My mermaid tail is still alive. It's color is faint but it's still growing slowly. Hopefully it recovers.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Just a few pics today after my water change. My hammers and frogspawn and what not were all opened up really huge but of course they shied away once they saw the camera (actually from me moving them a bit and/or brushing up against them when cleaning the glass).

So as always there is some good with some bad. I've removed several of the dead SPS, I need to remove a few more pieces but just taking things slow. It appears I have some bubble algae and some apstasia as well as various other algae on the rocks and sand. I want to get another sand sifting fish, maybe another Goby, soon as well as a few more snails. I also have an Aiptasia lurking in the tank. So have to figure out how to get rid of it.

All in all these are good problems to have since for the most part the tank is looking pretty swell.

On a personal note about two weeks ago I lost my first four legged friend. He was my first dog and a really good dog at that. He went everywhere I went and the times where he got left outside by himself for short periods of time he would wait at the doorstep for me to open it. Like when we would go to my mom's house in the country and she doesn't allow dogs in the house or the couple of times I would forget to bring him inside with me lol.

Unfortunately he started chasing cars out of the blue. You see I would never have him tied up and he would stay by my side at all times. A couple weeks before he passed he started chasing cars and was getting more and more bold. I was just telling my mom that same day that he was going to end up getting ran over. Of course it is my fault he is gone as I should have done something to prevent him from chasing after cars. Total fail on my part as a dog owner. RIP Rocky boy...I'm going to miss you bud.

Sorry for going off on a tangent but just wanted to share.

 

[Why-Me]

Beautiful coral pics, sorry you lost the SPS but more importantly your pupper, I know the feeling.
You'll take care of that aptaisa in no time!

Side note...Nice exhaust on the truck, sounds good.

 

[Why-Me]

Is that bleeding apple scoly splitting?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Is that bleeding apple scoly splitting?

I think it's just begging for food. I think they take decades to split from what I remember reading. One thing I did forget to mention is that the devil's hand my friend gave me split off a piece. There is a picture of it in my previous post of the peice on a rock. So I'm excited to see if it grows.

 

[DiscGolfRob]

Really sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. That's always a tough loss. The tank is still looking good, and it's nice to see you on here!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

@Why-Me

It gave up on begging for food. In all honesty I haven't fed it in a long time lol. I'll probably give it a little bit of reef roids tonight.

 

[mattzang]

sorry to hear about your dog man, that's really rough

tank looks good!

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Quick vid. Excuse the algea lol.

 

[Why-Me]

WOW there's so much life in there!
I'm jealous!

 

[mattzang]

sweet euphyllia collection!

i miss my xenia.. but it scared me when sprouts of it started popping up kinda want to do a nano tank just for different xenias, kenya tree, cestipularia type stuff. i assume 0 water changes is the literal way to go there

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Thanks bunch for the kind words @Why-Me, @DiscGolfRob, @mattzang !!!

You guys helped me to see the beauty in my tank again and helped me realize how sweet it is. Hopefully the budget will open up for a few more corals and goodies soon lol.

 

[DiscGolfRob]

WOW there's so much life in there!
I'm jealous!

This was a great way to put it. Your progress has provided a lot of inspiration for mine, in these early days of my build, so it’s awesome to see updates.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Picked up a yellow headed sleeper Goby today! I've been feeding the tank half a cube a day since my last Goby died. I'm going to ramp up the feeding a bit, add pellets back into the mix and feed twice daily now. Also got a couple emerald crabs and some margarita snails.

I also added 10 pounds of carab sea fiji pink. I also got some Aipstasia X.

Also picked up a Stiphodon Goby for my son's tank. Forgot the darn algea scraper though so just going to order one on Amazon.