NEW RSM250......and it begins!

[ryanjoelsmith]

Just got into the office and the clowns are looking great! I think i may have actually improved the reef scape now that I've had a night to sleep on it and look it over with fresh eyes, any suggestions? The Center as well as the top ridge flow much better and the right side is looking more bold and less pieced together.

I'm looking to add a WXM module and another vortech mp10es to the the opposite side of the tank. I'd like to get some good flow back and forth and the controllers are a little too linear without the module.

All snails and hermit crabs are accounted for, hoping to spot one of the peppermint shrimp as I did not see any yesterday night when I tore the right side cave apart to catch my now orphaned dottyback.

The water is amazingly clear and the Deltec 500ce is doing an amazing job.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Well I've confirmed that all my peppermint shrimp are dead. It was not the dottyback though, it was a critter much uglier!

When I first acquired the LR someone in the office told me they had spotted a crab. I was initially worried that it was a gorilla crab or some other murderous critter. I asked if they noticed any hair on the legs and they said, "no". All I could do at that point was just hope they were right and keep my eyes open.

My girlfriend was at the office today and said she noticed a claw reach out of a rock and try to grab one of the hermit crabs! Sure enough, I went over to check and there he was, a gorilla crab!!! Fresh and full off of three peppermint shrimp he was looking to continue his rampage and move onto my hermit crabs.

I was able to easily pick the rock out of the tank and remove the serial killer with a set of tweezers.

It's amazing how many hours I stare at my tank and never see the elusive killer yet the gf shows up and in 1 minute spots him! Needless to say I owe her for saving me time and money!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GTBlackIce]

Glad you finally caught your killer. Hope this puts an end to any more potential losses / killings [emoji6]

Sent from my Xperia Z3

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Well it's been a number of days since the last update so here is a quick list of new additions.

3 x emerald crabs
10 x margarita snails
1 x hammer coral
1 x torch coral
1 x green tip toadstool
1 x green star polyp rock

Ammonia is at 0 as well as nitrites.

In more good news, I haven't lost a single critter yet, miniature feather dusters are popping up everywhere, livestock stowaway corals are appearing AND one of the three peppermint shrimp are still alive! Turns out and serial killer crab didn't get em all.

All the new additions were added on Friday. The corals are all on the sand bed adjusting to the light. They all seem to be doing very well.

And a cameo appearance by the largest of the three emerald crabs!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

What is this?!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Adrienne]

You've got some nice looking corals but from one 250 owner to another, be wary of stocking a new tank fast. It takes some time for the rock to develop enough bacteria to handle extra corals/fish. Recommended is one coral per week, one fish per month.

 

[Pat24601]

What is this?!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd think red coralline algae. Which is considered good. If you get a turkey baster and it blows off, though, then it's cyano and that's bad.

Looks like coralline to me in the pic, though. I'm just not too good with ID from pics so I tend to doubt myself.

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Lol nonono the white slug critter.

The red is coralline


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pat24601]

Lol nonono the white slug critter.

The red is coralline


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OIC. I didn't even notice it. Long day.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

hard to tell from that pic... but if you are saying he is a "slug" a nudibranch is the 1st thing that comes to mind... need better pic

lots & lots of types... here one example

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

That looks about right. Should I be concerned of this little critter?

The advice to take it slow is heard . One of the benefits of my live rock/water is it all came from a well established system. I monitor my water daily and am limiting light as well as feeding. The live rock has tons of growth and the CUC are loving life.

I wouldn't recommend taking the same approach I have but I have had great success in the past following a similar path. The tank also sits in my office so it gets quite a bit of TLC throughout the day


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Does anyone know why my conductivity rises and lowers from night to day?

Right before the lights came on it was at 40.7 and now 1 hour later it is at 43.3.......when I checked this morning and saw how low it was I was quite concerned as tat would read lower than 1.020 salinity. At 43.3 salinity conversion is 1.021 which is still low but not a full out emergency.

My refractometer is reading at 1.023

I'm wondering if my cond probe needs calibrating....

Any thoughts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[newo11]

My bet would be the probe needs calibrating. You shouldn't get large variations in salinity quickly.

But.....rising salinity would be a result of evaporation (although that is very quick to happen in an hour!)

Nice tank btw!

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Thanks!

The conductivity probe fluctuates up and done. My actual refractometer is steady.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[StevesLEDs]

Very nice looking setup! Congrats on the new tank!

Do you have a titanium grounding probe in your aquarium water? That might resolve the sensor fluctuation.

Jeff

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Well.........despite better judgement............I'm trusting my instincts. Three days ago I added three more corals and moved the others into more desirable locations.

Added a two part dosing system with the Neptune DOS.
Testing as of today:
Calcium 390 - dosing of 24ml per day starts at 12am tonight for 12 hours
Alkalinity 10 - not adjusting, just monitoring for now (good ol' Calgary water!)
Magnesium 1275 - starting dose tomorrow
Iodide < 0.06 - dosed 6ml of Warner marine concentrated iodide

Ammonia is non detect
Nitrite just barely reading
Nitrate less than 0.1 ppm

Deltec skimmer is full systems go.

I would like to switch a bulb for an actinic to get some better pop from the corals but they seem to be quite happy so I may leave it for another day.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for bulb combos that will really pull the colours out? I've heard ATI's are a great bulb. Any thoughts?

As an aside, since moving that torch coral up it is absolutely blowing up!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

tanks looking great !

before I upgraded to Steveleds I ran these ATI bulbs & loved the look
36" 6x39W Lights T5 - Recommendations

ATI Blue Plus + T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) - 3
ATI Purple Plus T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) - 1
ATI Coral Plus + T5 Bulb, 36" (39W) - 2

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

oooooooo I haven't seen Steves led upgrade! Maybe i'll save a little cash.........

I am having an absolutely horrible time with this Neptune Dosing unit. Out of the box pump #2 is faulty and pump #1 (which calibrated perfectly) did not dose at all last night!

Neptune seems to have a good rep but they only trouble shoot through email which takes way too long.

 

[ryanjoelsmith]

Well, It seems my foot is buried deep in my mouth. While there is an issue with one of the heads the other issue with missing doses was 100% my fault.

I'm judging myself for my poor attitude and so is this new addition starry blenny!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Great Pic ! I also have a starry blenny & love them, great looks