Fishproblem
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It actually seems a little bit quieter lately, even if it's not silent.Fishproblem, after using the zoo med canister for a while, is it quiet or loud?
It actually seems a little bit quieter lately, even if it's not silent.Fishproblem, after using the zoo med canister for a while, is it quiet or loud?
There was initially an anglerfish and one other fish in the 3 gallon I linked, and now they've got a clown in there. In the second video he describes how they do an almost 100% water change, leaving just enough to keep the fish in water when they drain the tank. I'm not awfully interested in keeping that kind of bioload in my tank, because I understand that it creates much more potential for disaster, and I'm just not experienced enough to justify it. That's also why the sexy shrimp are a distant goal.With fishless other than nutrient import there shouldn't be much of an issue. I could see water changes being more of an issue if they kept a fish in there as they produce ammonia and require a food source that pollutes the water. Not saying you won't have to keep an eye on salinity and trace elements (ie Alk, Mag) but beyond that corals don't produce a whole lot of waste.
IDK if I already asked this, but what are you going to stock with?There was initially an anglerfish and one other fish in the 3 gallon I linked, and now they've got a clown in there. In the second video he describes how they do an almost 100% water change, leaving just enough to keep the fish in water when they drain the tank. I'm not awfully interested in keeping that kind of bioload in my tank, because I understand that it creates much more potential for disaster, and I'm just not experienced enough to justify it. That's also why the sexy shrimp are a distant goal.
If I feed the corals, that will definitely contribute to a greater bioload, right? I'm under the assumption that even zoas and ricordea need to be fed if there aren't fish in the tank, as there's no particulates in the water column for the corals left over from feeding any vertebrates? Or is that totally off base?
I mentioned it early on I think. I'm planning to go with just ricordea, zoas, and rock flower anemones to start. Once (and if) it's super established and I've really confidently got a handle on maintaining the tank, I'd like to get a trio of sexy shrimp. I've been told that there are some super tiny gobies that can do well in a pico this size, but I don't think I'm comfortable trying that any time soon.IDK if I already asked this, but what are you going to stock with?
Freshwater! Apparently the only difference between the two is the colors they change depending on the readings, so I've been comparing my freshwater kit results to the saltwater color chart online. Clearly it's not going well though lolI’m curious, are you using the freshwater or saltwater API test kit? Or a different test kit? If it’s the FW one then maybe it’s not working right or something.
Maybe ask your LFS to give you a SW color chart next time you visit them?Freshwater! Apparently the only difference between the two is the colors they change depending on the readings, so I've been comparing my freshwater kit results to the saltwater color chart online. Clearly it's not going well though lol
Maybe ask your LFS to give you a SW color chart next time you visit them?
I'm sure it does look a bit different in person, but it shouldn't be this far off. Not sure that just the chart is available, but per BadisBadis' advice, I'm not going to bother with the API kit anymoreIt’s possible that the online chart just looks different in person
Have you used both? Salifert gets mentioned a lot on here, but I've heard good things about the Red Sea kit as well! if you've got input on which is better I'd love to hear it. I'd love to get a whole set of the hanna checkers, but that's gonna have to wait until I'm sure salt is my thing.Definitely get a salifert or red sea test kit. The ammonia is so hard to read on the api and you could have levels that aren't readable on the api, I had the same issue. Personally I got the red sea kit and that really helped pinpoint what my parameters actually were since api is very broad in the ppm readings. If your ammonia test is the blue tube then thats a faulty reading.
I haven't used the salifert tests yet (I actually posted a thread about api vs red sea vs other test methods) and I'm real happy with the red sea. But I'm sure the salifert is good too. The PH in the api and red sea is the only one thats still accurate on both. The only other method thats more accurate for ammonia is a seneye control kit or an apex system. But I've also found out that those controllers aren't worth since you really don't need a controller once your tank is cycled or if you have thousands of thousands of dollars invested in your tank. I have hanna products also. they work well (only salinity and phos)I'm sure it does look a bit different in person, but it shouldn't be this far off. Not sure that just the chart is available, but per BadisBadis' advice, I'm not going to bother with the API kit anymore
Have you used both? Salifert gets mentioned a lot on here, but I've heard good things about the Red Sea kit as well! if you've got input on which is better I'd love to hear it. I'd love to get a whole set of the hanna checkers, but that's gonna have to wait until I'm sure salt is my thing.
Either way, I think I'll be going to my lfs for some new testing supplies tomorrow.
I wonder what the implications of a faulty reading are for my freshwater test results, too...
I'll go look for that thread! I think I'd like to go for the red sea tests if possible.I haven't used the salifert tests yet (I actually posted a thread about api vs red sea vs other test methods) and I'm real happy with the red sea. But I'm sure the salifert is good too. The PH in the api and red sea is the only one thats still accurate on both. The only other method thats more accurate for ammonia is a seneye control kit or an apex system. But I've also found out that those controllers aren't worth since you really don't need a controller once your tank is cycled or if you have thousands of thousands of dollars invested in your tank. I have hanna products also. they work well (only salinity and phos)
Also are you making sure you're rinsing out the test tubes and droppers with RO water In between testing?
Yeah use distilled, thats better than rinsing in the tap. Just less chance of contamination. And good job rinsing in the tank water before use too.I'll go look for that thread! I think I'd like to go for the red sea tests if possible.
I've been rinsing in tap between use and then rinsing out in the tank prior to filling to test (test tubes and pipette). I'm using distilled right now. Should I rinse with that instead?
Haha, I try to be good, I really do!Yeah use distilled, thats better than rinsing in the tap. Just less chance of contamination. And good job rinsing in the tank water before use too.
I just realized the thread was on another saltwater forum, not here lol
Thanks! Means a lotTank looks great! I'll be following along.
I love macros! Very different from corals, and they add a lot of texture that you don't see in many tanks.Thanks! Means a lot
Not much to write home about today. I've been ghost feeding and dosing aquavitro seed all but one day that I forgot to since the first dose. Salifert ammonia test arrived in the mail, and I got to it right away. Result came back with 0 ammonia. So now I have to twiddle my thumbs till the nitrate test arrives. Either I've got a cycle that's eaten all my ammonia, and I'll get a beautiful nitrate reading this week, or something has gone very awry and I have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrate. We'll see!
Been thinking about macroalgae a lot lately, too. The algaebarn website is just too tempting. Right now I'm really hoping to get some blue hypnea and pom pom gracilaria. Seems as though both are native to the caribbean, so fit the theme well. And well, that's it! I'll probably write quite a bit about my macroalgae hopes and dreams tomorrow.
Yeah! They're awesome! I'm trying to consider how the tank looks with and without blues, so I'm thinking blue hypnea, a sun coral, and a red rhodophyte will make for awesome viewing regardless of the lighting. Also I'm a planted tank geek when it comes to freshwater, so why fight it? lolI love macros! Very different from corals, and they add a lot of texture that you don't see in many tanks.
I've got some Gracilaria Hayi (pom pom) in my mantis tank and my reef tank, and it does well. Likes high light, for sure - flow doesn't seem to matter as much, although higher flow keeps detritus from settling on it. I've also got some carpeting Halimeda in my mantis tank that I like a lot. I've kept several different species of Caulerpa in the past, too, and they're all fun. I have a bit of red grape caulerpa in my reef now, and it's been a fairly slow grower in comparison to C. Prolifera. I'd recommend ordering from Live-Plants.com - Algaebarn is cool, but they tend to be expensive IMO.
Blue hypnea is nice, but I'd research specific requirements before pulling the trigger. I've never tried it myself, but I've heard it can be pretty picky on lighting conditions. I had actually never specifically heard of Rhodophyta, but I guess it's a relatively common macro. Dragon's Breath and Red Ogo would be similar ones to look into, if you can't find exactly what you're looking for.Yeah! They're awesome! I'm trying to consider how the tank looks with and without blues, so I'm thinking blue hypnea, a sun coral, and a red rhodophyte will make for awesome viewing regardless of the lighting. Also I'm a planted tank geek when it comes to freshwater, so why fight it? lol
I've definitely got enough flow to blow the dust off, but not enough for any "high flow" organisms, that's for sure. Thanks for the tip about live-plants.com! I didn't even know they exist.
You're right, I do think I need to keep another macroalgae alive before I try the blue hypnea. Yeah, I think any "red algae" falls under the rhodophyte category. So long as it's native to the Caribbean and fits in my tank, I'll take it. Beginners can't be too picky, I think!Blue hypnea is nice, but I'd research specific requirements before pulling the trigger. I've never tried it myself, but I've heard it can be pretty picky on lighting conditions. I had actually never specifically heard of Rhodophyta, but I guess it's a relatively common macro. Dragon's Breath and Red Ogo would be similar ones to look into, if you can't find exactly what you're looking for.
Lol if you have a video of you closing the tab after the long response, I would make you post it on r/WatchPeopleDieInside.Aw man, I wrote out a whole update and then I accidentally closed the tab...
In any case, BIG NEWS! Something is growing in the pico reef! It's brown cyano algae, but whatever! Still something! There's the tiniest speck of it at the back of the tank with a single bubble, and about four other small spots on the rockwork and sand. What do I do? Suck it out with a turkey baster? Then what - do I stop running the lights through my cycle? Cyano + bubble:
I'm loving the new orientation of the tank on my dresser because now I can see it from my bed! And my dresser is way less cluttered. Here's what it's looking like now:
Ideally, I'll get new clear vinyl tube when I get the glass lily pipes so that I have the length to totally push the filter behind the vase. I cut the stock hoses too short for the new arrangement. Whoops!
And! The cord management before and after. What a difference! It's all on the side of my dresser that's easily accessible but we never see unless we're changing the rabbit's litter so that's perfect. (Yeah we have a free range house bunny. It makes power cords complicated.)
The new placement of the light leaves a shady spot on the right hand side of the tank... perfect for a sun coral, and a great location to target feed polyps. What the heck, I'm gonna get one. I feed my fish every day, I can feed a coral every day too.
I haven't been able to get test kits yet. My LFS usually has Red Sea and Salifert, but yesterday all they had left was one Salifert Ammonia test. And was set to expire next month. I left it . But! huge props to Pacific Aquarium cause the employee noticed the expiry date as he was about to ring me out, and pointed it out to me. He told me they might or might not be getting more in on Wednesday, but that's too long for me to wait only to find out they didn't. Don't worry, I still didn't make it out without buying something lol.
So now I've ordered the Salifert Ammonia and Nitrate kits from Amazon. Ammonia will be here tomorrow, Nitrate by Wednesday. Fingers crossed they both show up tomorrow! I can't wait to get accurate readings. I went with Salifert because from what I can tell, they're both accurate, but Salifert is cheaper and more user friendly, and while Red Sea is a bit more accurate I felt like Salifert would do the trick for now.
Speaking of expense... did a little mental math today, and I've cruised past $250 for this build with my test kit purchase. $100/gallon so far, and I haven't touched a single coral! Still feels worth it.
Pacific Aquarium didn't have any ricordea yesterday, but they did have a few zoas and palys. They had a few zoa frags that were a dullish green with coral pink all around the edges. It was bright and beautiful but pretty subtle. I loved it, but not sure it's worth $45 for a single polyp? I'll keep it in mind though.
Otherwise, still ghost feeding, and still dosing seed. Wish me luck!
It would actually be a pretty long, sad video because fishlore usually saves my responses when I leave a thread without posting, even though I never do that when I actually intend to post. So it was just me looking through all 52 of my tabs and then hitting the back button on my browser a lot before slowly coming to the realization that it was all gone. 6 stages of grief right there XDLol if you have a video of you closing the tab after the long response, I would make you post it on r/WatchPeopleDieInside.
Good to know! I'd rather save the money for shipping on coral and livestockI don't find the Phosphate Red Sea test kit difficult to read - no more than any other kit. The lower levels do all look similar, but they're good enough for me. I do own a few Hannah Checkers, and I do like them, but don't feel they're necessarily worth the high cost.
I'm not one to really push for insanely low levels - I get them within range, and let the tank ride wherever it's comfortable. I actually end up using API Test strips more often than anything else - they let me know ballpark info on my tank, and if something looks a bit off, I pull out the liquid test kits and Hannahs.Good to know! I'd rather save the money for shipping on coral and livestock
Do you find that the low levels are too low anyway, so it's informative enough in that sense?
Thank you so much for going through the whole thread! Wow! This is so great. So far I'm using API for pH and nitrite, and salifert for ammonia and nitrate. I think that phosphate is going to be the next test I buy - based on yours and Harrison's input, I'll probably go with Red Sea.I can only second Harrison.
I have a Hanna alk test (HI755), and their salinity meter (HI98319). The salifert alk test kit is ridiculously stupid enough to make the Hanna kit worth the price. Saliferts calcium test kit requires the same “add drops until color changes, then compare reagent left over to determine calcium” ridiculousness that the ALK test does, so I feel that the Hanna calcium price is justified. The only snag is that, for ALK at least, the accuracy is +/- 1dkh. I don’t remember the calcium off han
The salinity meter is on par with quality refractometers in regards price, so I feel the digital readout, and ease of calibration made it worth the price
But $50 to test my pH?! Not happening. Same thing with nitrates. Saliferts nitrate test kit is easy enough, and includes instructions on determining lower concentrations visually.
That was the general plan. I'm using Tropic Marin Pro, which I believe has sufficient trace elements to keep everything happy with water changes alone. My whole plan so far has been to use water changes to manage most things, rather than dosing, protein skimmer, etc. I just like the idea of having the kalk around becasue it's more generally useful than, say, aiptaisia X.As to maintaining levels in your pico: don’t worry about dosing kalk, just do water changes! RedSea blue bucket has sufficient levels of alk, calcium, and magnesium, and runs $28-$30 per 50g bucket. If you’re willing to order online, ReefCrystals can be had for less than $12 per 50g bag, and has sufficient levels.
Ugh I want to go for the sun corals so badly. I do have a spot in the tank that I think would be great for placement to make for easy target feeding. When you say not to glue it down, does that mean I can just sit it on the sand bed and it'll stay put there? That would be great, and I imagine make fragging easier too.Sun coral in a pico: don’t glue it down, and simply move it into a Tupperware container of tank water to target feed every polyp. That will give you a chance to reduce excess nutrients, and keep your CUC from stealing the food from the sun coral. A 1/4-1/2gal water change would more than sufficiently manage levels, and give you wiggle room.
Wow! What a hot tip! I'm really glad I read this before I did my water changing today. Do you know anything about the science behind that?If you’re still in the cycle process, dropping the salinity down to 1.019 will SPEED UP the process. Additionally, don’t let the nitrite level exceed 5ppm, or it will inhibit the development of bacteria that break down the ammonia. Dr. Tim Hovanec (THE Dr. Tim) did a great presentation about this at MACNA.
omg I so appreciate this. I was wondering if the light was much too close. I guess I'll have to rig something with the cable to suspend it if I can't bully the gooseneck into doing what I need it to. I'll work on that today!Raise your light! You’ve got a massive hotspot in the center, and little coverage on the sides. Ideally, you should rent a PAR meter to determine appropriate height, as well as brightness, but taking it up to about 7-8” would probably work best for light spread.
I also despise the blue/purple that a lot of tanks are run at, but almost all of the corals metabolic needs are met with light in the 380-520nm range, which is all blue/purple. Using a PAR meter to set the intensity on the blue/purple spectrum (Probably between 100-150 PAR max), and then add in only enough white to get to the color spectrum you want will be best for the coral.
Yeahhhhhh I've read that they can develop a taste for coral, but I'm willing to take a shot at keeping them fat enough to behave. Fingers crossed that they host my future RFAs!I had a group of sexy shrimp in my display, but the developed a taste for SPS coral, so they live in the sump now. They never hosted my carpet anemone, ricordea, Star polyps, Duncan, Goni, alvea, or any other corals. Super cool shrimp, though!
Ugh. The idea of putting something in a canister filter on this tank has been so controversial. I'm not sure I'll be using chaeto in the canister at all, in favor of including macroalgae in the display. I'm definitely not going to add chaeto in until after I've got more nutrients going on, but if I do put it in the canister, I planned on lighting it with an LED grow light strip wrapped around it. The plastic is transparent grey and the canister is small enough that the light penetration would be more than enough. And I'd be able to totally cover the light so I don't have to deal with a pink glow in my bedroom at night lolHow are you planning to light your cheato reactor? Did you answer that, and I missed it?
Super dope, I'll see what the LFS has on my next pilgrimage.Red Sea or Salifert. Whichever is easier for you to get your hands on. Those ammonia alert plastic things that hang in the aquarium are also very popular for monitoring free ammonia levels. The test kits will indicate all sources of ammonia, the little alert thing only warns you of the levels of free ammonia.
Very cool, now I'm back on the Sun Coral Express. I just love them so much.Yep! You can just set the sun coral somewhere on the substrate, or on a rock. You won’t have any fish to knock it over.
Same reason I was drawn to it! I found that the tiny box of Tropic Marin was really easy to find despite the supply issues. I guess most folks who are paying for it are buying in more bulk. Hopefully the covid vaccine works and Germany gets to start shipping things outside of the country again. Apparently their national covid response has been a huge part of the supply issue, which I suppose I can't complain too much about!I really like the idea of tropic Marin, and their use of pharmaceutical grade ingredients, it just seems that there are regular supply interruptions, which added with the cost, has kept me on RedSea.
WELL then. What a helpful video. It looks like I have definitely been stalling my cycle by not doing a water change as soon as I realized my salinity was up above 1.030 SG. I had a hunch that it could be problematic, and this definitely confirmed! I've changed out a gallon of tank water for distilled water, which has gotten my salinity down to 1.022 SG, but I need to get to 1.015 before I'm in Dr. Tim's recommended range for growing bacteria quickly. I'll change a bit more water out tomorrow to get there.the Dr. Tim MACNA presentation is available on YouTube! Just google “dr Tim havonec MACNA”. It’s about a 30 minute video.
Found it on MACNA.org
Video Category
I'll poke around for a PAR meter and see where I can find a loaner most easily. Interesting about the older bulb setups... we really are creatures of habit, who rapidly let habit become superstition!Your LFS May have a PAR meter to rent, or your local reef group on FB. Just enter your city name, and “reef club”. I’m sure you have one, and the larger groups usually have communal equipment like PAR meters for use. I ramp my lights at almost equal levels, except for a 20-30 minute period where the blues come on first. I like a crisp, 12k-16k light temp look, so I ramp my lights in the color that I like. I think people got hooked on using actinic bulbs as a sunrise/sunset from back in th day when actinic was paired with metal halides, and the actinic came on first. I haven’t looked for information that says using blue to ramp up/down is better, but I haven’t seen it preached, either.
I see the irony there now. Driving with one foot on the gas and one on the brakes. Sounds good! Simple. I like it.Nix the cheato reactor. It’s a form ofnutrient export meant to help reduce the need for water changes. Trying to reduce water changes in a system where water changes are your main way to stabilize calc/alk/mag would just be goofy. Use it as a way to move water, and call it a day k
hahah I hate testing water but I hate junk cluttering my tanks even more. I'm a slave to the #aestheticYou can absolutely keep testing, instead! I don’t like testing water, so any viable shortcut is preferred.
I cannot WAIT. I've been lucky to keep work and have healthy friends and loved ones who have all stayed safe thus far, but being stuck at home without even an office to go into has really messed me up. Thank god I have fish tanks, tbh. Otherwise I would have started banging my head against the wall a loooong time ago!I am SO READY for a vaccine. I will take all the vaccines. I would like life back to normal, and fish stuff to not be in short supply.
I'm definitely at 0 ammonia. The tank seems to be processing it as quickly as it arises, so that's great. Nitrite is still a little iffy. It's getting processed into nitrate, but not quickly enough to get down to zero. I have yet to test today, but I'm eager to see where the numbers are.It sounds like your cycle is basically over, if you’ve gotten to zero ammonia/nitrite, and high nitrates. I don’t think the system is stable, but the basics are there to level out.
I think you're onto something with that assumption though. I'm really fascinated by the lighting thing. Idk if you're familiar with his tanks, or saw me mention it earlier in this thread, but inland_reef on IG has an incredible reef with macroalgae, gorgonians, and a few other corals that are all growing under twinstar freshwater LED - no actinics at all.I’m really only making a broad assumption on the use of blue lights for sunrise/sunset, but that’s when I remember it becoming popular, and carrying over to LEDs. My sunrise here on the Atlantic certainly isn’t purple.
I'm definitely keeping the idea in mind for down the line. Gonna work hard to keep this build as simple as possible and only add features as they become necessary.The cheato reactor may be a good idea down the road, if you find your nitrates/phosphates creeping up even with water changes. I know I’ve said it a million times, but even with my daily 5%, and my prolifera in the sump, my nitrates hang around 2ppm. Anything below 5, and above 1 keeps me happy.
Thank you for the guide to gorgonians! I'll be sure to refer back to this when it comes time to buy! They're so cool and after having seen some really awesome photos of a bunch of them growing off a dock with sun corals, I've had my heart so set on peppering a couple into the layout of this tank. Look at me. I started this saying I was planning on 1-3 species of coral, and now I have a list of 5 and counting. I'm going to add only the smallest frags possible and let them grow, but I have a feeling that if all goes well I'll be fragging pretty frequently. We'll be in a bigger place this time next year, so perhaps there will be more real estate for gorgonians soonGORGONIANS! My only suggestion is to buy a bigger house, because I really think you’re going to love them! Stick to Caribbean gorgonians, as most of them are photosynthetic. The larger the polyp, the easier they are to feed. If they have a white polyp, and you don’t know the species, don’t buy it. There are photosynthetic gorgs with white polyps, but a lot of the non-photosynthetic gorgs have white polyps. Briareum is probably the easiest of them all. It’s not technically a gorgonian, it’s basically brown star polyps. However, it has that shape, so it’s a great, hearty starter that won’t need supplemental feeding. From there, in descending order of my favorite, to least favorite, are:
Plexaurella
Pterogorgia - *need very high light, and feeding for long term success
Muriceopsis
If you look at KP Aquatics, avoid what they call Orange Tree Gorgonian, and the yellow/red finger gorgonians. Those are NPS, and will require daily feedings to survive. On live-plants, stay away from their “purple fan”. All the rest on both sites are photosynthetic, and will be easier. They’ll all need a fair amount of water movement, as they shed to help keep algae off of themselves.
Really! That's so disappointing, I'd been seeing great reviews for it. Man, maybe if I order it in the dead of winter and after the holidays I'll have okay luck with it getting here in good condition. I'm not trying to buy stupid stuff, but I've definitely blown $20 on useless aquarium purchases before, so I think I'll live if it doesn't work. How big was the tank you dosed? I figure if I just dump the whole thing in a 2.5 gallon system, maybe the sheer abundance of spores per gallon will make it likelier to work. I hope.I bought a bottle from ARC reef in May of 2019, and was not impressed. I live 187 miles north of their facility, and it still sat for almost a week before USPS was finally passed the package. Their website states it’s bottled fresh the same day the shipping label is printed (which is when USPS is notified there’s a package, and the tracking begins on their site), so that means it sat for 6 days in ARC Reefs warehouse in that bottle. We had more days in May of 2019 that were over 95 degrees than all of 2016, 2017, and 2018, so I received a bottle of rotten water. They didn’t return any phone calls, or e-mails, and I didn’t have any coralline growth in that system until 9 months later, when I introduced scrapings from another tank. It was an absolute waste of $20 for me.
Oh yeah, the clean up critters are definitely going to wait until there's stuff to graze on. But I am glad to have the virgin nerites to look forward to, especially. they're so pretty! and I'm a huge dork for tiny tidal creatures, so even the prospect of a cuc isI like to wait until everything is covered in algae before adding my CUC. The stores around me keep their CUC in clean tanks by the hundreds, so they’re no doubt starving when I buy them. Lots of food, I think, helps them settle in.
Well first you have to waste untold hours of your life on fishlore... jk. Highlight the relevant text in the post you're replying to and wait a second. A popup option appears allowing you to select "multi quote" or "reply". Multi quote has never worked for me. I just click reply in the popup and it adds just that text to the response. Type your response, rinse, and repeat as needed.First: how do you break down a whole post into multiple quotes?
Thanks for the reminder. I'm getting a little impatient, but hoping to see a fully finished cycle and some stability in the tank relatively soon. I do have to say that I'm really glad I fishless cycled, and even that it's taking so long (to me. It hasn't been that long at all lol) because I'm getting a lot more practical understanding and literary education on the nitrogen cycle.Remember that the bacteria that break down nitrite replicate at a much slower rate, it’s something like once every 40 hours, so they’ll lag behind the ammonia bacteria.
Right right, I should have acknowleged the color, as well. I would be tossing and turning over that too! I'm actually not super averse to corals looking more natural (aka sad and brown), depending on the setup. Though if I paid a premium for a frag with a name that sounds like a powerful and expensive strain of indica, and it showed up in my tank looking like a piece of potato, I'd be pretty upset. So I guess I'm mostly talking about the fact that I'm not sure the heavy blues are necessary for healthy growth. For display purposes, I totally get it. This is all stuff I'll be thinking about for years and for future setups though, not this one.Broad spectrum bulbs (Especially the 10-15k t5s) still have a high peak in the blue. The focus on using as much lower spectrum as possible, beyond being what the coral utilize the best, also helps with color. I run my tanks at between 12,000, and 15,000k. I’ve bought some zoa that looked like yellow sundials at the shop that are basically brown in my tank. Literally zero chance I’d have paid $60 for those brown turds, but under basically blue/UV, they looked like $60 stunners. This was years ago, and I still wake up sometimes mad about it. (They still look like brown turds, btw).
Hmmmmm. The fairy dust option is a good one but I don't have any friends irl who have reef tanks :/ I guess I'll try the sad lonely reefer option of the ARC bottle, and if that goes sideways I'll just wait till I can find some pink coralline somewhere nearby that I can harvest or buy on a frag or rock or whatever.I used an entire ARC bottle in 12 gallons of water (it went into a 15 gallon tank), so I overdosed it, thinking it would help. Assuming it doesn’t freeze in shipping, ordering in Feb/March may work. You can also just get coralline scraped off of another aquariums glass, break it up, and sprinkle it in like magical fairie dust.
The photo showing the algae isn’t opening properly for me, but that light green film algae is a good sign!
Thanks for the reminder. I'm getting a little impatient, but hoping to see a fully finished cycle and some stability in the tank relatively soon. I do have to say that I'm really glad I fishless cycled, and even that it's taking so long (to me. It hasn't been that long at all lol) because I'm getting a lot more practical understanding and literary education on the nitrogen cycle
Right right, I should have acknowleged the color, as well. I would be tossing and turning over that too! I'm actually not super averse to corals looking more natural (aka sad and brown), depending on the setup. Though if I paid a premium for a frag with a name that sounds like a powerful and expensive strain of indica, and it showed up in my tank looking like a piece of potato, I'd be pretty upset. So I guess I'm mostly talking about the fact that I'm not sure the heavy blues are necessary for healthy growth. For display purposes, I totally get it. This is all stuff I'll be thinking about for years and for future setups though, not this one.
Hmmmmm. The fairy dust option is a good one but I don't have any friends irl who have reef tanks :/ I guess I'll try the sad lonely reefer option of the ARC bottle, and if that goes sideways I'll just wait till I can find some pink coralline somewhere nearby that I can harvest or buy on a frag or rock or whatever.
but I don't haaaave a fuge or a protein skimmer! As far as seeding with little living things though... I've seen people adding pods and worms and stuff to their tanks and while I appreciate (and want to take) a holisitic approach to a well rounded ecosystem, what is the benefit of say, pods and spaghetti worms? I'm not planning on a fish in here for quite some time if ever, so do pods serve as a helpful addition to the CUC, or will they just sorta hang out?testing, testing. It’s easy to get impatient. You’re at the point where I would have started adding pods, and beginning to treat it like a fully functional tank. You’re at the point where I was with the 40b where I stocked the refugium, fired up the protein skimmer, and added tisbe pods.
aha! that's the missing link I was looking for. interesting... I wonder if there's a way to rig a decent cooling system for LEDs that would do the trick. that's a build for a future home though!So the heavy blues, in like the 380nm to 500nm range is, from all that I’ve read, where zooxanthelle gets all of its necessary photosynthetic radiation. So you can absolutely run a tank on just 6,500k lighting (which is natural sunlights kelvin temp), but I believe you’d need more wattage to meet the necessary amount of proper light spectrum. When wattage = heat, less is mobetter.
You know what? They really don't. But I go to Pacific Aquarium and while they do some corals and saltwater fish, they really specialize in freshwater planted. (Though they do have some incredible saltwater displays, including a few nano and pico ones that are so inspiring). I have yet to explore the saltier LFSs in NYC.Does your LFS have lots of coralline on their frag tanks? They may be willing to scrape some off for pocket money.
ARC isn’t as pink as you would think for something called “pink”. In my bottle was a piece of rubble. ARC says it’s there to allow spores to settle while in the bottle, and it did eventually turn purple. But it was a bottle of pink, so I’m guessing this is their pink. Pick outside in sunlight, and in a tank, against Caribsea Purple life rock. Please excuse my calloused man hands.
but I don't haaaave a fuge or a protein skimmer! As far as seeding with little living things though... I've seen people adding pods and worms and stuff to their tanks and while I appreciate (and want to take) a holisitic approach to a well rounded ecosystem, what is the benefit of say, pods and spaghetti worms? I'm not planning on a fish in here for quite some time if ever, so do pods serve as a helpful addition to the CUC, or will they just sorta hang out?
aha! that's the missing link I was looking for. interesting... I wonder if there's a way to rig a decent cooling system for LEDs that would do the trick. that's a build for a future home though!
. I have yet to explore the saltier LFSs in NYC.
Huh. That's so weird, but also really helpful. I was definitely looking at pics that were pinker than that. And their product images on their site are very different. But, for $22 I'm gonna take the shot and buy it. Should I wait for the cycle to stabilize a bit more? I've read that it succeeds in stability, and that I need the right calcium, mag, and alkalinity for coralline to grow. Without anything else in the tank though, my salt mix should provide?
cool! I guess I'll start looking into some creepier and crawlier potential members of the cuc.If you choose the correct pods, they act as a part of the cleanup crew. Both spaghetti worms, and certain pods will eat detritus, and left over floaty bits. Plus, the pods are cool to watch flip around on the glass.
I learned about kessillogic from a BRS video about lighting! I've been looking at their lights a lot, actually. it seemed like a bit much for what I'm planning on for this build, but I'll end up with one sooner or later. i do really like how they lock you out of self-sabotage that way. i'm actually really tempted to try one of their freshwater lights too, the next time I go for a serious upgrade to one of my existing setups.I think you should snoop on Kessils! They have what they call “KessilLogic”, which basically prevents the user from changing the output of the LEDS that serve the blues, but allow you to adjust the red/green/white to make the light whatever color you want, without messing up the necessary light for coral. Much better than the infinite adjustability of many other LED manufacturers.
allll the way into manhattan!Well, vaccine, and then road trip!
also, yes. I expected like “pride Mohawk pink”, but their sample pebble definitely came in as “not as dark as purple, so we’ll call it pink” pink