Well, I have lots to update y'all on. I came down with pneumonia right after my last post. Had to go to the urgent care for antibiotics, and had absolutely no energy to spend on the tank. Thankfully, the antibiotics pretty much Uno Reverse carded the pneumonia and I was feeling better in a few days. Sadly that few days was over the Thanksgiving holiday, so I had no appetite and missed out on all the great food.
Once feeling better, it was on. I caught the majestic angel very quickly. Placed the trap in the tank with some frozen food inside and it was only a matter of time before it was trying to figure out how to get inside. Once the fish was in I triggered the trap and placed it in the sump. Next was the ebili. It was 100% uninterested in the trap, regardless of where it was placed, or how much food was in it. This meant only one thing, I had to tear the tank apart. I removed the entire right side rock structure and after chasing the angel around the tank for about an hour with my wife helping... we caught it. It also went in the sump and I managed to get the rocks mostly back in the same place.
Now that both angels were confined to the sump, my two new zoa frags started to open back up and made a full recovery. The three frags I made from my single colony of stargazers were eaten as well as the single clove polyp frag. The trumpet is still alive, but too far gone. I'm certain it isn't going to make it. The favia and blasto are also fine. I'm 100% certain the eibli angel was the culprit, as I witnessed it attacking several corals including the anacropora and blastos on the rocks. I never saw the majestic touch anything, and the LFS I took them to doubts it was an issue either... but after all the damage, I decided not to risk it and removed both of them.
With the fish caught, it was time to sort out the RODI. I was still unsure if metal contaminants from the water heater were getting thru and the sediment filter looked horribly nasty. The TDS meter was still showing 0tds after the membrane even before the DI, as well as after the DI was 0. My source water usually hangs in the 70-90tds range. First order was getting a stand built for my RODI/saltwater mixing station. I've had 2, 55g storage tanks for a few years that I just never set up. I bought them with the intentions of making a mixing station, but the 44g Brute, AC pump and 50' hose just worked too well for water changes. I want to eventually automate water changes on this tank, so a mixing station was a necessity. I built the stand 6' wide by 2' deep, and tall enough to comfortably store salt buckets and 5g totes underneath, which ended up being 17" to the underside. I have the tanks, and RODI set up with all new filters, membrane and DI resin. I placed a temporary valve and 90
I received results for the ICP test Tuesday, and they told me next to nothing as far as why I have been having problems with GHA. My suspected iron getting past the RO was false, even tho the sediment filter was RED with some solid red particles in the bottom of the filter. Everything in the RODI sample was nonexistent except for silica, which isn't going to cause GHA. In the tank, Ca was 472ppm, Alkalinity 8.0DKH, Mg 1327ppm and all other major elements were spot on. Trace elements were mostly in line, with Iodine and Barium showing very low. All of the toxic metals tested zero. Oddly enough, silicon was in the normal range in the tank.
Nutrients, however, were bottomed out. I'm thinking this could be a threefold issue; One, I've removed the timer(GHL controlled powerbar) from my refugium lights. Since I've had the GHA issues, I've left the refugium lighting on 24/7. Two, I have GHA feeding on whatever nutrients are available. Three, the Reefmat is so efficient at cleaning the water, uneaten food, and all over waste, that makes it to the overflow doesn't have a chance to break down and add nutrients to the tank. For now, I've unplugged the lights from the refugium. I also added some powdered coral food to the auto feeder. It is scheduled to spin once at 10am and once at 12pm. I've also been feeding frozen more often in the evenings.
Yesterday, I finally made it over to the FLS to trade in my angels and got replacement fish. I picked up a moon wrasse
Thalassoma lunare, and a biota dragon goby
Amblygobius phalaena. The wrasse has been swimming around actively since I added it and ate at feeding time tonight. It's very pretty but almost impossible for me to get a good picture of. Every picture I take turns out blurry because it doesn't stop moving. The goby hung around the bottom for a little while, and then went into hiding. I haven't seen it since, hopefully it comes out soon.(While editing in photos, I walked by the tank after the lights had gone off and saw the goby next to the entrance to a cave. When I tried to get a picture, it darted back in.) I also added a second urchin, a purple colored pin cushion. It has been climbing around with some super long feeler feet things. It seems pretty happy with the abundance of GHA.
I forgot to pick up a new roller for the Reefmat, as I've almost exhausted another roll. I've been averaging almost 30" a day, which seems pretty excessive. It might just be how my tank operates, or maybe it's the GHA... anyway I'm at almost 109' of my second 115' roll. So, I went up to the closer LFS this afternoon to pick up a new roll. Luckily, I got the last one they had in stock that wasn't already purchased online. While I was there, they twisted my arm, beat me up and forced me to come home with three new button scolys. I swear, that is exactly how it went...
. The first one is red with orange and yellow stripes, the second one has a green center with an orange edge, and the last one is sorta dark purple with green and bluish stripes.
