chipmunkofdoom2
Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I've updated, so I just wanted to drop by and post a new pic and give a status update on the tank. First things first, FTS:
The biggest news in the tank is I'm battling a pretty serious algae outbreak. I'll get to the details on that in a minute. The good news is there's a lot of goods stuff going on in the tank. I think the algae caught a ride in on the rock rubble I got from the LFS. These pieces are growing coralline algae VERY quickly. I'm hoping that as soon as I get some of the algae taken care of, it'll begin to spread to the other rocks. Also, while I haven't seen many amphipods (1, to be precise), my tank is absolutely TEEMING with copepods, and spirobid worms are popping up everywhere. I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount that made it in from just a measly pound of rock rubble.
In other news, my clowns are getting along just fine. I was worried they'd both be very aggressive toward each other since the two I received were both larger and similar in size. They haven't been figthing at all, however. I've seen both of them doing the "submissive dance" to one another. I'm not sure what that means, or if they've chosen an alpha yet, but they're getting along perfectly and haven't been aggressive toward one another even the tiniest bit, so I'm not complaining.
I changed my aquascape just a bit as well. I was doing some manual removal of the algae and while trying to get the one rock to lean up against the other, I sort of liked the look of the rock just laying flat. I decided to leave it that way. This will give me more room for vertical coral growth (I know, counting my chickens).
Now back to the algae. It looks like GHA. There are probably a few reasons why I'm having such a hard time with it.
First is overfeeding. I had to take a trip for work last week (left Sunday morning, got back late Wednesday night). It was an unplanned trip, or else I wouldn't have ordered the fish. To make a long story short, I was leaving on Sunday, and the fish had only arrived that Tuesday. They had barely started eating, so I made sure to feed them as much as I could (within reason) before leaving so they'd be okay while I was gone. They made it through just fine.
Second is that I had serious detritus buildup. The tank has been up for just about 2 months now, and I have been doing weekly water changes and siphoning junk as I go... but when I returned back from the trip, there were piles and piles of detritus everywhere. Mostly snail poop, but still, just a ton of garbage polluting the water. That's probably where a good bulk of the algae is coming from. To combat this, I got a cheap HOB filter and some Marineland floss from the local Petsmart for some mechanical filtration (don't worry, I'm changing the floss every 3 days at the most). I'm basting the rocks and the few dead spots daily in order to stir up the junk and give the filter some time to catch it. I also have begun doing daily water changes of 1 gallon. I got a large Brute trash can and have decided to mix up about 15 gallons of saltwater at a time and simply do a gallon change a day with that until it's gone. I'll then mix up another 15 gallons and repeat. The daily water changes give me a daily opportunity to siphon off some detritus and to baste the rocks to get as much junk out as I can.
Third is something I'm just sort of considering very recently, and that is the dry rock I'm using. I got the dry rock from an aquantence when he was breaking down his tank. I hadn't asked many questions about his tank or what it was used for, but I think he may have used it for a FOWLR tank, and I think he may have had nutrient problems. Long story short, this rock may have absorbed a significant amount of phosphates and other nutrients from his tank, and those may be leaching out now. This could be why the algae outbreak was so severe in my last tank. It's hard to say.
Regardless, my daily water changes, along with daily siphoning/basting and some mechanical filtration, should bring the outbreak under control. I also ordered a simple airstone skimmer as well, and hope to receive that in the next week or so. I'm hoping that as the tank becomes more established, I can reduce the frequency of the water changes and/or remove the HOB. I'll have to let the tank dictate that.
One thing I will say is that this whole experience with trying to keep the tank clean has made me glad that I've gone with a bare-bottom setup. In my previous tanks with sand, I don't think I ever would have noticed all the junk building up. I never cleaned my sand in previous tanks because I wasn't sure how best to do it. But I'm loving the ease of cleaning that this bare-bottom brings.
There are a few other updates I've made (I modified my LED light and added a motor controller to my top off pump), but those will have to wait for another time. This post is long enough as it is!
The biggest news in the tank is I'm battling a pretty serious algae outbreak. I'll get to the details on that in a minute. The good news is there's a lot of goods stuff going on in the tank. I think the algae caught a ride in on the rock rubble I got from the LFS. These pieces are growing coralline algae VERY quickly. I'm hoping that as soon as I get some of the algae taken care of, it'll begin to spread to the other rocks. Also, while I haven't seen many amphipods (1, to be precise), my tank is absolutely TEEMING with copepods, and spirobid worms are popping up everywhere. I'm pleasantly surprised by the amount that made it in from just a measly pound of rock rubble.
In other news, my clowns are getting along just fine. I was worried they'd both be very aggressive toward each other since the two I received were both larger and similar in size. They haven't been figthing at all, however. I've seen both of them doing the "submissive dance" to one another. I'm not sure what that means, or if they've chosen an alpha yet, but they're getting along perfectly and haven't been aggressive toward one another even the tiniest bit, so I'm not complaining.
I changed my aquascape just a bit as well. I was doing some manual removal of the algae and while trying to get the one rock to lean up against the other, I sort of liked the look of the rock just laying flat. I decided to leave it that way. This will give me more room for vertical coral growth (I know, counting my chickens).
Now back to the algae. It looks like GHA. There are probably a few reasons why I'm having such a hard time with it.
First is overfeeding. I had to take a trip for work last week (left Sunday morning, got back late Wednesday night). It was an unplanned trip, or else I wouldn't have ordered the fish. To make a long story short, I was leaving on Sunday, and the fish had only arrived that Tuesday. They had barely started eating, so I made sure to feed them as much as I could (within reason) before leaving so they'd be okay while I was gone. They made it through just fine.
Second is that I had serious detritus buildup. The tank has been up for just about 2 months now, and I have been doing weekly water changes and siphoning junk as I go... but when I returned back from the trip, there were piles and piles of detritus everywhere. Mostly snail poop, but still, just a ton of garbage polluting the water. That's probably where a good bulk of the algae is coming from. To combat this, I got a cheap HOB filter and some Marineland floss from the local Petsmart for some mechanical filtration (don't worry, I'm changing the floss every 3 days at the most). I'm basting the rocks and the few dead spots daily in order to stir up the junk and give the filter some time to catch it. I also have begun doing daily water changes of 1 gallon. I got a large Brute trash can and have decided to mix up about 15 gallons of saltwater at a time and simply do a gallon change a day with that until it's gone. I'll then mix up another 15 gallons and repeat. The daily water changes give me a daily opportunity to siphon off some detritus and to baste the rocks to get as much junk out as I can.
Third is something I'm just sort of considering very recently, and that is the dry rock I'm using. I got the dry rock from an aquantence when he was breaking down his tank. I hadn't asked many questions about his tank or what it was used for, but I think he may have used it for a FOWLR tank, and I think he may have had nutrient problems. Long story short, this rock may have absorbed a significant amount of phosphates and other nutrients from his tank, and those may be leaching out now. This could be why the algae outbreak was so severe in my last tank. It's hard to say.
Regardless, my daily water changes, along with daily siphoning/basting and some mechanical filtration, should bring the outbreak under control. I also ordered a simple airstone skimmer as well, and hope to receive that in the next week or so. I'm hoping that as the tank becomes more established, I can reduce the frequency of the water changes and/or remove the HOB. I'll have to let the tank dictate that.
One thing I will say is that this whole experience with trying to keep the tank clean has made me glad that I've gone with a bare-bottom setup. In my previous tanks with sand, I don't think I ever would have noticed all the junk building up. I never cleaned my sand in previous tanks because I wasn't sure how best to do it. But I'm loving the ease of cleaning that this bare-bottom brings.
There are a few other updates I've made (I modified my LED light and added a motor controller to my top off pump), but those will have to wait for another time. This post is long enough as it is!