Sniperhank's UPGRADED 55 gal Build

[Sniperhank]

Maintenance day has come to us again!

Sadly, I must continue to report the downfall of my open brains. Def not looking good.

But that is ok, with running Phosguard and Chemipure Elite in my reactor I am reporting not even 1/3 the algae growth from last week. Amazing. That is the biggest victory in my tank over the last 6 months.

Clams! I not only really like my clams, but I have spent all week reading about them even more. This was sparked off by seeing a couple hippopus hippopus in the Eye It Buy It section. Such cool clams. But, I'm getting away from the two I have. The Derasa has been acting odd with closing up, so I inspected him some today and all appears well. I'm assuming he is closing up due to an odd change in flow that started kicking up a small amount of sand this week...I like my powerheads but man would I kill for ones that don't reverse during brownouts, which I get pretty often. The maxima clam is also doing well. I've been watching him closely and using this week's increased reading to monitor since I'm still gun shy after losing the gold maxima awhile back. Unlike the gold, the black/white has attached himself to the small piece of rubble I put under him in the sandbed! First time for it, so my victories continue. Still very excited about having a clam in a color I'd only read about and doing so well.

So this week's summary, I think I'm just not ment to own open brains. Though I love all things to do with the sandbed, from coral, clams, and other livestock, there are still tons of different options out there to fill the real estate...though my tank is full and I should never think about buying anything other than filter media, salt, and water at this point. This has sparked off dreams of a tank bottom covered in clams...I must have a hippopus hippopus!

[Sniperhank]

Blue Symphodium




B/W clam and engineer goby

Both clams

[NarwhalLover3]

I love your sympodium!

[Sniperhank]

Thank you. I love it too. I had to move it into the sandbed as it started growing like a weed...as all polyps do IMO. So there are a couple other 'starter' spots in the tank. But it is probably one of the most beautiful colors out of any polyp.

[NarwhalLover3]

That's awesome. How long did it take to grow out that much?

[Sniperhank]

A year I think?

[NarwhalLover3]

Wow. They seem pretty slow growing. Beautiful though.

[Sniperhank]

Well, they grow around the same rate as my zoas. There was an alkalinity issue in the tank that had them closed up for some time.

[kdpuffer]

I've always wanted some blue sympodium but I can't find it anywhere locally. One place had some they were getting ready to frag then they found nudis that decimated it.

[Sniperhank]

This is my second round with it. The first was decimated in the tank swap and a nidibranch. The second also came in with a nidibranch. Sure are pretty things, just too bad they eat my polyps. But real hardy once they are established in the tank, considering the nidibranch , alk drops, being moved from the top of the tank into he sandbed...

[Sniperhank]

Well, got the opportunity to work both my days off this week. Thank god I'm salary so I made less money than normal in reality... came home to see my one Radion unable to stay on. Emailed Ecotech about it, they think the power supply is spent. Going to call tomorrow and hope it is still under warranty. If not, guess I'll just buy one.

[Keithhjs]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

Well, got the opportunity to work both my days off this week. Thank god I'm salary so I made less money than normal in reality... came home to see my one Radion unable to stay on. Emailed Ecotech about it, they think the power supply is spent. Going to call tomorrow and hope it is still under warranty. If not, guess I'll just buy one.

Ouch! I sure hope its a warranty then.

[Sniperhank]

It is just odd though since right now there are no issues going on with it. Doesn't make sense.

[Sniperhank]

Well, I panicked some last night. I came home from work and saw my clam gaping. I prepared water for a quick water change. I then noticed my powerheads were blowing in the wrong direction. A brownout put the water into the clam and was blowing it like that. I simply picked him up and put him in the opposite direction and so far today he is happy as a clam... Still going to do a double water change this week I think.

[Sniperhank]

And the clams. Forgive the small "fog" currently doing the water change and haven't scrubbed off all the glass yet.

[Dary421]

Hank,... Reef keeping just has a way of keeping one on the edge of their seats huh? ,. Sounds like you got everything back under control

[Sniperhank]

I'm hoping it is Dary. After working 65 hours last week I don't even know what I did with the tank until today... Things have always "been under control"...I just can't stand the algae growth I have going on in my display. From bubble algae clinging to the base of my powerheads to...well my usual constant rambling about the growth. Come to the conclusion that I will be unable to get it under control as long as I'm using distilled rather than ro/di. Aka no ro/di until new house with a better water source.

I took the brain corals out of the tank. Still some tissue left on them, but they are just adding more garbage into the water that I'm struggling to manage. With them removed, the rest is doing ok I believe. Still great reaction time out of the coco worm and the clams. Hard to believe that the coco worm is supposed to be hard to care for...makes me come to the conclusion that in the ULNS setups we strive for makes it so hard, where mine has all kinds of crap floating around in it makes it simple. Maybe if I keep it alive for a year I'll ask for an electric flame scallop for my birthday to see if I can keep it alive.

[Dary421]

Originally Posted by Sniperhank

I'm hoping it is Dary. After working 65 hours last week I don't even know what I did with the tank until today... Things have always "been under control"...I just can't stand the algae growth I have going on in my display. From bubble algae clinging to the base of my powerheads to...well my usual constant rambling about the growth. Come to the conclusion that I will be unable to get it under control as long as I'm using distilled rather than ro/di. Aka no ro/di until new house with a better water source.

I took the brain corals out of the tank. Still some tissue left on them, but they are just adding more garbage into the water that I'm struggling to manage. With them removed, the rest is doing ok I believe. Still great reaction time out of the coco worm and the clams. Hard to believe that the coco worm is supposed to be hard to care for...makes me come to the conclusion that in the ULNS setups we strive for makes it so hard, where mine has all kinds of crap floating around in it makes it simple. Maybe if I keep it alive for a year I'll ask for an electric flame scallop for my birthday to see if I can keep it alive.

Hank,..check out my tread ,..I just posted something you might be interested in trying ?

[Sniperhank]

Just started reading it.

[Sniperhank]

It is an interesting read. Never heard of it. It might be of help if I can find it around here. Having it shipped in might make it not so worth while. Idk. I'll think about it.