Turtle's 14g SPS Nano Build.

[SashimiTurtle]

Yea, trying to remember to feed more. I think that's why my terra del fuego snd the purple nurple aren't as colorful. I dropped a full cube of mysis in there last week, the shrimp went fool.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I ordered some ROX carbon and GFO from BRS. I think my PO4 is a little too high as I have some algae trying to take over my sand bed and the bottom of my rocks, but at the same time, a few corals are looking a bit pale. When that gets in I'll reduce the amount of carbon I'm running to allow a bit more NO3, and add a bit of GFO and see how that works.

 

[Amoo]

Be very careful with the GFO man, been there done that got the t-shirt. Definitely go really slow with bringing it online. I ran GFO in my old system for 48 hours and STN a few frags within 48 hours simply because it works so well.

Also why do you think your Carbon is pulling out your NO3?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Be very careful with the GFO man, been there done that got the t-shirt. Definitely go really slow with bringing it online. I ran GFO in my old system for 48 hours and STN a few frags within 48 hours simply because it works so well.

Baby steps... got it. I might not even need it. Could be corals just can't use what is there because of low nitrates.

Also why do you think your Carbon is pulling out your NO3?

Because I was way over 8ppm on the Red Sea Pro NO3 test. The test says to wait 9 minutes for the color, and I had a darker purple as soon as I added the last reagent. Never did the high range, just knew I needed more carbon. Glass needed cleaning twice a day and I saw some green algae growing in one spot. Upped my carbon amount in the media basket and now I'm 2ppm or maybe a tad below. Phosphates were a strong 0.08ppm, also Red Sea Pro test. Glass stays clean now for the most part, but now I'm getting what I believe are dinos over the sand, a few frag plugs and starting to creep up the rocks. As far as I can remember, it started when I increased my carbon amount.

After taking a step back and thinking, I do that best at work where I can't see the tank, I think I've almost bottomed my NO3 out and I'm causing some funky imbalance that's growing that stringy brown stuff, and bleaching my corals. What I'm going to do in the morning is pull the carbon, and add a bit of coral food every day instead of my normal every few days. I have KNO3, but I'd rather tackle this with natural food than chemicals. I'll get y'all some pictures tomorrow so you can see what kind of stuff I'm growing.

 

[Amoo]

 

[SashimiTurtle]

It's been forever since I watched that video. So, @Amoo, what do you suggest?

 

[Amoo]

Scrub what you can off the rocks and sand, do a larger then normal water change or two over a couple of days to try to get your phosphate in check and not shock your corals then add some GFO to your carbon.

It's not so much the PO4 levels I see as a concern, yeah they're high but meh, I think the bigger problem is the imbalance of PO4 to NO3.

It's easy to spike your phosphates when you're essentially ghost feeding daily, but it's generally a little harder to spike the nitrates in the correct balance.

How much longer are you fallow on that tank?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Umm, I think the end of the month it should be clear... When did I move the 'nem over here?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Post #264 was Aug 30th, and I said I moved it a few days ago... so I should be right at the end of my fallow.

 

[Amoo]

LOL you're asking me? Wanna say like 3 weeks ago? you posted it in this thread so there's a date.

So here's my thoughts. Your Carbon is working really well for you in the current state of the tank, you've just noticed your PO4 slowly getting too high. I would water change out of the high PO4, then run like 5-1 Carbon to GFO to start. Once you've got your fish in there and are feeding regularly and dealing with all the pooh and whatnot associated with that you'll have a better idea of how your maintenance schedule is working for PO4 and NO3 balance.

I wouldn't go and start making major changes to things right before you're about to put your fish back in as things can spike back out of control very quickly then it's much harder to get them back in line.

 

[Amoo]

Forgot to mention to scrub and vacuum out all the algae you can since you may be doing the larger water changes anyways.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

LOL you're asking me? Wanna say like 3 weeks ago? you posted it in this thread so there's a date.

I was more asking myself? I found it, look up.

So here's my thoughts. Your Carbon is working really well for you in the current state of the tank, you've just noticed your PO4 slowly getting too high. I would water change out of the high PO4, then run like 5-1 Carbon to GFO to start. Once you've got your fish in there and are feeding regularly and dealing with all the pooh and whatnot associated with that you'll have a better idea of how your maintenance schedule is working for PO4 and NO3 balance.

I wouldn't go and start making major changes to things right before you're about to put your fish back in as things can spike back out of control very quickly then it's much harder to get them back in line.

Now I need to decide which fish goes in here as the fish I had in here is dead. I'm thinking the six line gets a new home. Tangs are way too big, and the clownfish pair are borderline too big. 3.5" and 3" clownfish in a tank that's 20" long?

 

[Amoo]

I know I was joking with you Tone translates poorly to text.

Wait I'm trying to remember which kind of clowns do you have?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Darwin Ocelaris...

 

[Amoo]

Ok I thought you had Occys, but thought I remembered you commented in the Maroon thread so wanted to be safe. I would say you could get away with the clown pair and possibly a small goby but you would be pretty maxed out at that point. Would make for a nice and simple setup though. If you find the clowns are too much you could always move them when you get your 90 up. Because you know, catching fish is fun.

I know I'm a terrible person, I remember the eel and the BTA

 

[SashimiTurtle]

It's ok, it can be hard to keep up with everyone elses fish. I think you have percs, a butterfly and um... a tang? Lol I remember something about a tang. I know you have a H. mag 'nem...

My fish list goes like this,
40b QT
Ocellaris clownfish pair
Six line wrasse
Caribbean tang
Lieutenant tang
10g macro algae tank
Dwarf moray(because it has a tight fitting, heavy lid)
14g peninsula
Coral banded shrimp
BTA

Both tangs were purchased with the intent of having a 160g peninsula next year, but compromising with the "future wife"(convo with @Katrina71), we ended up deciding on a 90g cube. I'll probably post them on the local reef club facebook soon. Both are healthy, been thru 30+ days in 2.0ppm copper and have been eating like pigs the entire time.

She wanted a 60g true cube, and I convinced her to go with the 3' tank to fill the space in the wall, but leave room between the wall and the fireplace. I actually have 4'x2' shelving in the garage and I showed her what the size of a 120g would be and she was ok with that... but I'd have to buy more lights to cover the area.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I remembered you commented in the Maroon thread so wanted to be safe.

Oh yea I remember that thread now. I was just saying that I liked lightning maroons but they got a little too big for me, and that my LFS had a lightning maroon with a color I've never seen. It was red like normal, but the stripes were gray, almost black. Should have taken a picture.

 

[Amoo]

LOL see you're just as bad as I am, no butterflys or angels

Do you guys already have the tank? The 90 I mean, if you've already done the work on the QT, may as well keep the happy and healthy fish until you can get it up. You could also dump them in the tank you just took down and run it as a FOWLR until you got the 90 up.

The Wrasse in that 14 would scare me, I think he would basically try to kill anything else you put in there being such a small tank.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Have not bought the 90. Just got thru the convincing stage, now I'm in the squirreling away money phase. Hard to do when you're paying for a wedding... Few days of overtime and I can get most of it. I know it'll be a SCA 90 cube with wooden stand, no canopy. I like open top rimless tanks. Not fond of MDF under a box of water either. Plan on using a trigger sapphire cube sump and I have a skimmer, return pump and power heads from the 75. I want to get an AP700 for the light, so what I may do is get eveything and let it cycle while I save up for the light.

I'm not sure really sure about setting the 75 back up. I think I had a seam starting to go because I had a very small drip under the tank. Never could find where it was coming from.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

So, a thing happened today...

Yep, that's right. My ocellaris clownfish pair, Bonnie and Clyde, made it out of QT today. They were a little confised at first because I grabbed them early this morning while they were sleeping. They hang out at the back wall, near the top of the tank. Actually, really close the the BTA, but here's a size comparison photo.

They are both longer than the 'nem is wide. They seem to be adjusting to the new home. No aggression towards each other, but I've never seen that with these two. I don't think I'll add any more fish in there, it looks pretty full with just them in there.