Tank build - newbie again... need thoughts

[Floyd R Turbo]

Ah yes, reef fests...always a good time. MACNA is in Des Moines next year. It'll be a biggie. Free admission under 17 (first time for that in MACNA). MACNA 2011 > Home

 

[Idaho-Tank]

So I was gone over the weekend... came home to a small area of my Green Pacillipora covered in brown slime... Uh oh.... I acted fast and pulled out the entire colony - cut off everything affected and even a few branches that looked like they potentially were. 24 hrs later I don't see any more brown slime.. and no other corals have been infected yet. I hope I don't see that again.. looks like it can take a colony out quick.

I also had one of my newest frags - a Wild Green Acropora fall over on to a digi frag. It killed off half of the digi frag in the matter of 12 hours.

Other than these two problems things are going great. I need to get some photos of my newest frags posted up.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

So no more signs of brown slime! Happy about that.

So I finally took a few photos of most my new frags I bought at the recent SLC reef fest...

 

[Idaho-Tank]

 

[Ziggy953]

Awesome pics!

 

[sean112280]

Nice looking Frags you got there

 

[capj64]

In the post #243, what is the coral in the last photo?

 

[Idaho-Tank]

^I believe it is a Green Hydnophora....

 

[capj64]

I think that may be what I just killed >.< I bought it at my LFS but didn't have any luck at all with it and I couldn't remember what the guy said it was to find care instructions for it.

 

[cmor1701d]

Nice pick ups. Congrats!

 

[ChizerBunoi]

This journal is awesome. Nice to see it from start to finish. Also you did an awesome job to building everything, especially the sump.

I really like the stand for the new 180 gal.

 

[Jimbo7]

im still amazed how fast you filled this tank and how natural it looks. Looking great man!

 

[Idaho-Tank]

^Thanks guys.

Things are going great still.. Recently fragged lots of my SPS and and zoas and took them with me on a trip to Portland. Made some GREAT trades. Just put everything in the tank yesterday - will get some photos in the next day or so.

Also, over the past month or so I have been battling a little bit of cyno and flat worms. I would siphon off both about once a week. It seems that between the siphoning and the addition of a yellow and six-line wrasse my flat worm issue is all but gone. But the small cyno issue remains... its not terrible but is annoying. I cut my feedings back some... wondering what else to try. I think it might also be partly due to the age of my tank.. seems like a lot of tanks around the 4 month deal with this don't they?

 

[Jimbo7]

There are tons of little phases and cycles tanks go through. Every tank will battle cyano at some point, there really isn't any getting around it. Sounds like you are on top of it though which is important. It is much harder to battle if you let it get a foothold.

Do you rinse your food at all? If you feed mysis or something that isn't a blend, you can rinse it in ro/di to get any excess nutrients off the outside. The water that binds the food is usually just a giant nitrate and phosphate factory.

 

[Ziggy953]

If you have any prefilters or sponges in your system clean them out with old tank water during a PWC, clean your skimmer out pump included, check your overflows for detritus as well as your sump. Thawing then rinsing your frozen foods in Ro/DI will greatly reduce the amount of nutrients you introduce into the system.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

^Yeah I think its just part of a 4 month old tank.

I made my own frozen food... Its ground up so it would be impossible to really rinse. I do have a pre-filter and replace it about 2-3 times a week. I also clean my skimmer weekly.

 

[Ziggy953]

Excellent. Sounds like you are just going through those growing pains of a new tank.

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Cyno problem has about disappeared - still have a little here and there but for the most part it is not a problem. Been a few weeks since I added several new things from my trip of trading in Portland. Thought it was about time to post up some photos of some of my new stuff. The black Magic Milli I have was a big hit in Portland - and have even had two people from other areas in the country wanting to buy some frags of it.

Tyree Minefield Cyphastrea

Pavona Maldivenses

Candy Coral

Torch

Trachyphyllia Brain

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Some of the new Zoas:

 

[Idaho-Tank]

Full tank shots as of tonight: