TheKingInYellow goes bare black bottom - 50g SPS dominant!

TheKingInYellow · Dec 1, 2019

They are being reluctant to eat but they've only been here 24hrs.

Trying arctipods and rotifers right now, and have Thera .5mm pellets on the way.

TheKingInYellow · Dec 4, 2019

Jesus two of them are already dead. LFS said I should not have QT'd them, and just done a 3hr drip. They were at 1.018 salinity though, so that seemed like too much stress to put them through.

Last two are hiding. Paid $350 for these 4 and I think I'm going to lose them all

TheKingInYellow · Dec 8, 2019

All the Anthias died within 72 hours. Ugh.

Decided to stick with easier fish and my LFS hooked me up with a pack of Blue Gudgeons which my wife completely fell in love with. She has a soft spot for things that are so ugly that they are cute, which is a great compliment for my own looks, right?

Anyhow they are in the QT eating well and already responding to food signals.

TheKingInYellow · Dec 11, 2019

Gudgeons are doing great, and they eat like horses. No idea what happened with the Anthias. I'll clean up the QT glass tonight and try and get a decent picture of them..

TheKingInYellow · Jan 2, 2020

Really overdue for an update. The Gudgeons are in the display and the first batch of corals are going in this weekend. I'll post pics when that's done.

Keiki · Jan 26, 2020

TheKingInYellow said:
Well aggression in the display tank has gotten a bit out of hand. The Blue Margin wrasse has killed the Carpenter's and my Chalk Bass.

Can't say for certain but he's clearly the bully and those two took the brunt of it. He's chasing the damsel now.

I'll try and get him out this week and return him for credit

Blue Margin wrasses are usually easy going. They also need a sand bed and lots of hiding places. Maybe this made it aggressive?

TheKingInYellow · Feb 15, 2020

So I've been holding off adding corals during the ugly phase of this tank but I'm six months in and it's still an ugly phase.

Wondering if this is Dinos? It grows everywhere.

I do feed heavy but my goal was always heavy in heavy out, bare bottom, high flow. For this 50g display I'm running a pair of MP40s, a Clarissa 3000 which is direct fed from both overflows with no bypass, Marinepure spheres, and a Nyos 120 skimmer. I dose 5ml of NoPox a few times a week.

I'm fine to keep waiting it out but I feel like I'm getting nowhere at the moment.

naterealbig · Feb 16, 2020

Bare bottoms take a while to stabilize biologically. You aren't doing anything wrong either. New dry rock makes things even longer. After things stabilize, you will be in the clear, however for the life of the system.

One thing that i prefer on all my setups, is a minimal rock structure. This accomplishes many things. It allows for fewer nooks and crannies for detritus to hide which helps keep the tank cleaner. It allows better flow patterns from your powerheads, which prevents detritus settling, and allows more and better flow for your corals - especially as they grow. It will also allow more room for your corals to grow.

No magic fixes, but a tip that may help give you an edge.

naterealbig · Feb 16, 2020

TheKingInYellow · Feb 20, 2020

Just concerned that pulling rock with livestock in the tank could cause an ammonia/nitrite spike.

TheKingInYellow · Mar 24, 2020

Okay pretty much 72hrs of blackout and a chemical treatment later and there is still some along the back where a little ambient light could get in.

All the fish look good, did a 12ish gallon water change and I'm running carbon.

Let's see where this goes.

TheKingInYellow · May 26, 2020

I've cleared out a bunch of rock, done lots of water changes, vibrant dosing, three huge trochus snails and manual removal. Finally getting somewhere, and finally have coralline algae!