Wrangy's 50 Gallon ZEOvit Rebirth
- Thread starter Wrangy
- Start date
Well it's rather irritating haha but nothing I can't handletell us how ya really feel
already made a good dent on it!Definitely a PITA! I'm slowly getting it all gone so it'll all work out
lolThanks mate, I appreciate the kind words!
Cheers Dave
Still following it
Just using the basics and some acropower and that's it but still going zeo as best I can!
Well it's be just over a week since I got back from Qld and a wonderful holiday, in that week I think I've manage to accomplish a decent amount of work on the tank. The tally stands at 3 water changes (about 40%), mass work on removing and killing as much algae as possible, testing and testing, new carbon, slowly bringing the lights back to normal times, changing the Radium bulb (the weekend) and a zeovit stone change on Monday! And another water change either tomorrow or Saturday as well.
I'm happy to report that things are slowly improving and the algae is most definitely reducing due to the hours I've put in to killing it off. The corals are perking up a little and I'm hoping the few unhappy acro's start to bounce back very shortly but I'm buckling down for the long run with these picky bastards lol although they're not really that picky as I know what the problems are and I'm working to fix them! Alk is the number one issue there was when I got back as it was all the way up, nice and high at 12dKH!! I died a little but then retested and well it was up at 11.5-12dKH. Given this fairly large spike that had probably happened over the course of the preceding month I'm fairly happy with how the tank has gone and I'm hoping there are no delayed deaths because of it. The rest of the parameters we all good and within normal bounds but I will report that it's the highest nutrient levels I've seen in the tank for quite some time!
Nitrate: 7ppm
Phos: 0.05ppm (the test kit did expire in Dec though so it may be a little off)
Mg: 1230ppm
Ca: 400ppm
Fish are all good, happy and much fatter now! Even my lovely little possum wrasse is starting to get braze in his new home, I actually get to see his little head poke out whenever I feed I suppose I've rambled enough though so some pics are needed aren't they
Frags are all still kicking along nicely!
My candy apple goni is doing really really well now it actually has a proper home haha
Clam as per usual
The firetruck has pailed out a lot and has lost it's metallic green base but is still red so I'm happy
The worst effect acro and unfortunately one of my favourites is still not looking great, I'm really hoping this guy makes it through
Getting some new growth here and there though
I do love the odd chalice or two though
Zoa's doing well:
And lastly a FTS:
I've got a few changes and plans in the coming future and as I usually like to plan for some big changes may be occurring but usually as every time I say this it may not even happen haha one of them is gettign the CaRx running so hopefully at least one will occur!!
I'm happy to report that things are slowly improving and the algae is most definitely reducing due to the hours I've put in to killing it off. The corals are perking up a little and I'm hoping the few unhappy acro's start to bounce back very shortly but I'm buckling down for the long run with these picky bastards lol although they're not really that picky as I know what the problems are and I'm working to fix them! Alk is the number one issue there was when I got back as it was all the way up, nice and high at 12dKH!! I died a little but then retested and well it was up at 11.5-12dKH. Given this fairly large spike that had probably happened over the course of the preceding month I'm fairly happy with how the tank has gone and I'm hoping there are no delayed deaths because of it. The rest of the parameters we all good and within normal bounds but I will report that it's the highest nutrient levels I've seen in the tank for quite some time!
Nitrate: 7ppm
Phos: 0.05ppm (the test kit did expire in Dec though so it may be a little off)
Mg: 1230ppm
Ca: 400ppm
Fish are all good, happy and much fatter now! Even my lovely little possum wrasse is starting to get braze in his new home, I actually get to see his little head poke out whenever I feed
I suppose I've rambled enough though so some pics are needed aren't they Frags are all still kicking along nicely!
My candy apple goni is doing really really well now it actually has a proper home haha
Clam as per usual
The firetruck has pailed out a lot and has lost it's metallic green base but is still red so I'm happy
The worst effect acro and unfortunately one of my favourites is still not looking great, I'm really hoping this guy makes it through
Getting some new growth here and there though
I do love the odd chalice or two though
Zoa's doing well:
And lastly a FTS:
I've got a few changes and plans in the coming future and as I usually like to plan for some big changes may be occurring but usually as every time I say this it may not even happen haha one of them is gettign the CaRx running so hopefully at least one will occur!!
Corals are looking stellar Dom your great husbandry skills are showing, well done ! 
Thanks GlennCorals are looking stellar Dom your great husbandry skills are showing, well done !
The compliment means a lot! I'm hoping when I move the tank I can get my calcium reactor running and get a better layout going, I'm even thinking of trying for a floating scape which I think would be cool!Thanks
She's my absolute pride and glory! The first clam I got and I've had her nearly three years now and she's just as gorgeous as the first day I got her!
Well I took some nice up close pictures of some of my favourite and more unusual zoa's yesterday during my water change and I think they've turned out real nice like! Also got a couple of acro pics to go with it as well
Firetruck seems to be going real strong again
And the frags look amazing with the swirl of colour too!
Purple tip frag from Rob
Robusta still going well too
I LOVE THIS little pocci and it's finally growing again!
Oh and one of my all time favourites, the sunset/goldrush monti!
And of course now we move onto some real eye-popping candy colours
Diabolique's are probably my new favourites!
These friggin things!
Some nice-uns
Firetruck seems to be going real strong again
And the frags look amazing with the swirl of colour too!
Purple tip frag from Rob
Robusta still going well too
I LOVE THIS little pocci and it's finally growing again!
Oh and one of my all time favourites, the sunset/goldrush monti!
And of course now we move onto some real eye-popping candy colours
Diabolique's are probably my new favourites!
These friggin things!
Some nice-uns
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
Well I took some nice up close pictures of some of my favourite and more unusual zoa's yesterday during my water change and I think they've turned out real nice like! Also got a couple of acro pics to go with it as well
Firetruck seems to be going real strong again
And the frags look amazing with the swirl of colour too!
Purple tip frag from Rob
Robusta still going well too
I LOVE THIS little pocci and it's finally growing again!
Oh and one of my all time favourites, the sunset/goldrush monti!
And of course now we move onto some real eye-popping candy colours
Diabolique's are probably my new favourites!
These friggin things!
Some nice-uns
Looking awesome Dom. What do you think the key factors are in maintaining such fantastic colours in your Acros?
Well, I have to say that the tank got a very serious make-over yesterday! I had an experienced eye come around and we went to work, removing some of the old, brown acro's from the tank, clearing out room and removing a couple of problems! I think overall it was a great success and I got some AMAZING frags too
As the day begun the canvas looked a little like this:
With lots of putty, glue and, well, a few choice words when things weren't sticking lol we worked through and did as much as we could. The scape of the tank is unchanged but it was a little bit of an acro revamp and it turned out real nice lol and so this is what we're finished with:
Under actinic tubes
And with the halide on, please excuse the cloudiness lol:
Across the top, it's a little more fraggy now lol
Around the smaller clam got a bit of a mix up too
Now on to some of the glorious, amazing frags that I got! I honestly could not be more blown away with these babies!!
Pavona maldivensis, there was an acro glued to the dead spot haha but that was moved elsewhere!
I think this is known as the teal stag? Either way the hairiness and colour on this are pretty cool!
This one is definitely going to be a stunner!
One of the pinkest acro's I've ever seen!
The colours on this are impossible to photograph. It is literally the coolest acro I've ever seen, it is the most vibrant purple and the corallites don't even look real they glow that much! Even if that was the only thing going for it it's a pretty unbeatable piece but the real kicker on this baby is the bright orange polyps! H.O.L.Y SHIT! Annnnddd here's my shitty photo that does it no justice
Not a newbie but I'm FINALLY getting some actual nice blue growth on this tenuis!
Now there's going to be a big change in the way I run the tank for henceforth.. I'm no longer running zeo. As I've currently moved out and the tank is still at home, I haven't had the chance to be back there every day, especially with work. This has meant that a lot of zeo dosing has been missed and the stones are probably coming up to two or three months old now so they're doing jack! In fact all dosing of anything but Ca, Alk and Mg has ceased. The only things in the tank aside from them now are carbon and the skimmer (and the stones as I've been too lazy to pull them out lol).
The other major change I'm making will be to add a few litres of Seachem Matrix, not the carbon but the biological growth media. It's about 20x more effective than traditional live rock (averaged out) so I'm thinking a few litres of this should give the tank a good kick up the bum to get me some glowing acro's!
I've also changed one of the pure actinic bulbs to a lagoon blue and I much prefer it for the acro's, I lose some pop with the zoa's but I can deal till I get some LED strips That's about it really lol I'll post some more if I think of it!
As the day begun the canvas looked a little like this:
With lots of putty, glue and, well, a few choice words when things weren't sticking lol we worked through and did as much as we could. The scape of the tank is unchanged but it was a little bit of an acro revamp and it turned out real nice
lol and so this is what we're finished with:Under actinic tubes
And with the halide on, please excuse the cloudiness lol:
Across the top, it's a little more fraggy now lol
Around the smaller clam got a bit of a mix up too
Now on to some of the glorious, amazing frags that I got! I honestly could not be more blown away with these babies!!
Pavona maldivensis, there was an acro glued to the dead spot haha but that was moved elsewhere!
I think this is known as the teal stag? Either way the hairiness and colour on this are pretty cool!
This one is definitely going to be a stunner!
One of the pinkest acro's I've ever seen!
The colours on this are impossible to photograph. It is literally the coolest acro I've ever seen, it is the most vibrant purple and the corallites don't even look real they glow that much! Even if that was the only thing going for it it's a pretty unbeatable piece but the real kicker on this baby is the bright orange polyps! H.O.L.Y SHIT! Annnnddd here's my shitty photo that does it no justice
Not a newbie but I'm FINALLY getting some actual nice blue growth on this tenuis!
Now there's going to be a big change in the way I run the tank for henceforth.. I'm no longer running zeo. As I've currently moved out and the tank is still at home, I haven't had the chance to be back there every day, especially with work. This has meant that a lot of zeo dosing has been missed and the stones are probably coming up to two or three months old now so they're doing jack! In fact all dosing of anything but Ca, Alk and Mg has ceased. The only things in the tank aside from them now are carbon and the skimmer (and the stones as I've been too lazy to pull them out lol).
The other major change I'm making will be to add a few litres of Seachem Matrix, not the carbon but the biological growth media. It's about 20x more effective than traditional live rock (averaged out) so I'm thinking a few litres of this should give the tank a good kick up the bum to get me some glowing acro's!
I've also changed one of the pure actinic bulbs to a lagoon blue and I much prefer it for the acro's, I lose some pop with the zoa's but I can deal till I get some LED strips
That's about it really lol I'll post some more if I think of it!
Thanks Dave, there are a couple of key factors in maintaining acro's in the best health
- Strong lighting (MH is king but T5 and LED are also great, you just need to find the right balance)
- Stable parameters, even if they're not perfect or off a little, if they're stable you're solid
I would highly, highly recommend keeping an Alk of 7-7.5dKH though.- Good, non-linear flow. Keep it strong, not blasting directly at them but it moving around everywhere so that the polyps don't need to hold themselves and can blow around in the current to catch plenty of food.
- An underrated aspect that isn't mention much is have as much nutrient input as you can possibly manage all the while aggressively removing it! You want the two to pretty much balance but the more you can put in without problem the healthier things will be. Just think about how much food is out there on the reef!
I'm not really sure on any other things really, they're the basics and if you can control them then that's when you can start tweaking and getting things really going!
anarchy
Well-Known Member
I agree with almost everything here. I would only keep alk at 7-7.5 if you have a low nutrient tank. In my case i do not so ive ran alk anywhere from 8.3-9.6 and had no issues. Higher alk will also cause faster growth. But if you start getting rtn when alk is over 8 then your tank is ulns and you need to run a lower alk or add some nutrientsThanks Dave, there are a couple of key factors in maintaining acro's in the best health
- Strong lighting (MH is king but T5 and LED are also great, you just need to find the right balance)
- Stable parameters, even if they're not perfect or off a little, if they're stable you're solid
- Good, non-linear flow. Keep it strong, not blasting directly at them but it moving around everywhere so that the polyps don't need to hold themselves and can blow around in the current to catch plenty of food.
- An underrated aspect that isn't mention much is have as much nutrient input as you can possibly manage all the while aggressively removing it! You want the two to pretty much balance but the more you can put in without problem the healthier things will be. Just think about how much food is out there on the reef!
I'm not really sure on any other things really, they're the basics and if you can control them then that's when you can start tweaking and getting things really going!
I always forget to ask you buddy. What fish are in this tank
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Part of my reasoning behind it as well is if it's what keeps them happy in the ocean surely it works in our tanks lol
At present:
- Female Bellus Angel
- Kole Tang
- Female Black Ear Wrasse
- Yellow Tail Pygmy Angel
- Possum Wrasse
- Cleaner Shrimp (not a fish I know but worth adding lol)
The plans for when I move and maybe upgrade (I've been given a yes to it haha) is to remove the pygmy as he's a bastard! Add a male Bellus, get another possum wrasse, add another cleaner and then go all out and get 5 purple queen anthias
haha I'm a sucker for punishment!!Thanks mate! I appreciate the kind wordsJust doing some catch up, looking great Dom! Some of those Acros are sick. Keeping the alk low is key in my mind. My tank sat at about 400/7 and I had great color under the LEDs. That radium bulb has served you well
They are really and truly amazing and I was absolutely blown away by the generosity of Biggles for all the frags and his help!I think that 400/7 is a great level to be running a tank at! The Radium has done wonders on the tank and despite the running cost and the heat I don't think I'll be going back to anything else!
Well as you can see the tank is starting to get a little full with all the new frags, even after a bit of work lol but I'm really really happy with how the tank is looking and running after completely halting zeo. It's just skimmer and carbon at the moment and soon to be added will be Seachem Matrix. The unfortunate part about me being happy with the tank now is that I'm moving it soon lol moving and potentially upgrading so it's going to be a whole new fun adventure! For the moment I'm just going to enjoy the tank hopefully everyone else does too
Scott Conoly
Member
Great aquascaping! Like the corals mounted next to the power head. What'd you use there?
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I no longer keep pairs as they seem to enjoy the freedom of flight. I'm waiting for the move and a nice new cover before I try it again...Thanks Scott
Those corals are actually on a frag rack lol I decided that was a better spot for the powerhead so I took advantage of the frag rack to hide it!Here are a few new shots
A couple of across tank shots, scuse the ol' reflections though lol
And how can you do a small update without some top downs! I have to say after stopping zeo and using a bit of Biggle Juice the tank is pumping along and I've never had better acro's, I really happy with how things are going!
And this little bugger is finally going baby blue again!! Taken wayyyy too long but I'm glad to see it coming through for me!
