Mebbid's 90g reef journal

[Mebbid]

I'm finally getting around to posting this now that I've finally gotten my tank situated and the algae bloom fixed.

This is an upgrade from my old 20g tank.

Equipment:
2x Taotronic lights
Jaebo WP40 wavemaker
2x hydor koralia 240
29g refugium
300w Eheim Jager heater
Reef octopus BH 1000 skimmer
Sunsun 13w UV sterilizer

Stock:
Pink spotted watchman goby
2x Ocellaris Clowns
Snowflake blenny

This is a picture I took when I was having the most problems with my algae bloom. It was like that for 2 weeks or so before I was able to rectify the situation. Sadly, I lost most of my SPS and some of my LPS during this.



With the addition of both a protein skimmer and a UV sterilizer It has finally cleared up... It's nice to be able to see my fish again!



Thankfully, the corals that survived seem to be happier than they ever were in my 20g. My duncan that I have had for over a year without any new growth at all sprouted a new head within a week of the water clearing up. And my other corals are growing very nicely.

[Oscarr19]

Looking good! I'm looking forward to see where you take it from here.

[Brookster123]

Very nice!!

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[bribo12]

Looking good mebbid! Glad you're getting growth


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[Mebbid]

I decided to stick some of my caulerpa in there and give it a trial run.; I'm letting it root itself in the gravel so it's not soo much work to get out if I decide that I don't like it anymore.



This is a pic of my newest coral. A decent looking birdsnest frag I got for a decent price. Just a little guy but it's already showing new growth.

[Mebbid]

Hair algae in my refugium. Im waiting for the plague to go to my display but so far it hasnt

[Macscale]

Looks good Mebbid! If I could change something with my tank, it'd be adding an algae scrubber.

[Mebbid]

Well, looks like I unintentionally made an algae scrubber thats just one of the baffles in my fuge

[jrudd013]

Awsome tank. Im addicted to the build. Can't build all the time myself so watching others is a secound best. Keep the updates coming. Lookin great so far.

[Mebbid]

Originally Posted by jrudd013

Awsome tank. Im addicted to the build. Can't build all the time myself so watching others is a secound best. Keep the updates coming. Lookin great so far.

Thanks! I've been wanting to upgrade my 20g reef soo badly for the longest time. I finally went and got it taken care of and it couldn't make me happier

And with that, a picture of my tank of my pink spotted watchman goby!



He's fully grown and at least 4 inches long if not a little bigger. I saw him fight with my snowflake blenny the other day which was scary because my blenny is a lightweight compared to him.

[54seaweed]

be sure to stay on that caulerpa it grows fairly fast if not groomed regularly
wait a year after i got my 90 i thought that was it now i want bigger lol
just dont want all that work again that goes with it

[Mebbid]

Hehe, after I graduate and get a real job my next fish purchase will be something around a 300g. But for another year and a half or so I am content with this 90

[bond300]

Looking Good! I have to ask...what type Salt do you use??

[Mebbid]

Originally Posted by bond300

Looking Good! I have to ask...what type Salt do you use??

I use IO Reef crystals.

[Mebbid]

I noticed the skeleton of my birdsnest has started bleaching even though the polyps look fine. I turned the light down a little bit and decided to check the water parameters.

8.0pH
0ppm ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate
0.03 Phosphate
7.2dKH
1100 mag
350 calcium

I have no idea what it would be, but something is sucking the alkalinity / calcium out of the tank. I was hoping with such a sparse amount of coral in the tank and having around 100g as my total system volume it would negate the need for supplements. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.

[bribo12]

Hey I responded in the other thread but I'll pos here too.
The mag needs to be raised up before the other 2 can be. Although I do not think the low alk or calcium is causing the bn to bleach. An alk swing could of definitely done it or not light acclimating it.


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[Mebbid]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Hey I responded in the other thread but I'll pos here too.
The mag needs to be raised up before the other 2 can be. Although I do not think the low alk or calcium is causing the bn to bleach. An alk swing could of definitely done it or not light acclimating it.


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Thanks There's not a lot of people paying attention here so I figured it'd be good to have a separate thread. I did manage to get the parameters fixed and in the optimal zone. I reduced the lighting over the birdsnest and am gonna give it a week or two to come back. It's still growing nicely though.

The biggest surprise is my duncan. I had it for over a year in my 20g tank and it never grew a single extra head on it. I took a nice look at it today and noticed it has a total of 4 new heads growing at once. Was quite a surprise

[Mebbid]

A hermit crab took residence in a shell that has some palythoas attached to it.. Mobile frags!

[jdwhite807]

Looks great Mebbid!

[Mebbid]

Originally Posted by jdwhite807

Looks great Mebbid!

Thanks!


Since I have a crap ton of potassium nitrate from my planted tank fertilizer, I decided to take a stab at dosing that daily into my tank. Dosing 5ml of my mix should raise the nitrate level by 1ppm.