ReefGuy's 55gal Journal

[Dentoid]

Looking great Dennis!

[BigAl07]

Very nice pics bro! Thanks for sharing!!

[Craig Manoukian]

Great looking skimate!

[ReefGuy69]

Update: Still have some algae covering the rocks. I really dont know if the phosban is working. I dont know if i have it turned down to low or to high. But i thought it would take care of the algae. I feeding very little every other day and sometimes every two days. Just have two clowns to feed. I was getting detrius on the sand so ive added two more powerheads to blow the top layer of sand. hopefully that helps. Ive got some turbulence going now. Im doing a 20% water change every week to week and a half. All levels are at 0. Ive got good coraline algae growth. Im getting 4ppm on the TDS meter for my water changes. Keeping salinity at 1.025. My bulbs are less than 3 months old. The only thing i can think of is there are two windows within the line of sight from the tank. They are towards the back of the house so dont get to much sun, but im wondering if the little bit of light that comes through them is causing the algae to grow. I wouldnt think that small amount of light would throw it off. the tank isnt in the direct line of the sun but may be getting light from outside. The sun comes from the front of the house but doesnt hit the tank from that side. Im thinking of riggin up a cardboard cover or sheet of some sort to see if that cuts down on the algae. On the up side my Chaeto has grown some. It looks alot better then when i first put it in. I keep wanting to take the algae from the display and throw it in the fuge to grow down there since it grows so well in the display. Im keeping me eye out for a sand sifting star or a bigger clean up crew to keep the sand clean if the power heads dont work out. Money has been tight latley. Trying to get the house updated so its more energy efficient as well as get debt free.

[ReefGuy69]

Wahoo... A few weeks ago i kind of fragged a zoo and put it on its own rock. It can be seen a few pics back. Well i looked today and it has split and has a little booger growing off its side. So i have zoos splitting, Shrooms splitting, and cant get rid of the algae. Its not over taking but seems to still be hanging in there. Its not on any of the lower rocks. Just the upper shelf.

[JWarren]

Hey you fragged a zoa and it's growing! That's cool man!

Get a big bunch of cheato in your tank or some other type of micro algea and create some compitition for the algea on the rocks. That will help it die out. You can brush the rocks with a toothbrush (new) to help remove it and blow the rocks off with a turkey baster. Doing these things will all help!

It's loving the light up top. But, should be easy to get to.

[ReefGuy69]

Sorry i havent been on much. Been working and doing maintenance on the new house. Things in the tank are going good. Still batteling algae. I dont have the bryopsis anymore but now its long brown leafy looking stuff. and long green tube looking things and a few spots of bubble algae here and there. But these all can be easily plucked so its not a pain like the bryopsis and hair algae was. Recent additions are a Engineer goby hes black and white. and a sand sifting starfish, and a flowerpot coral. I have pics of the star fish and the coral but the goby was out and about on the first and second day and now today hes seemed to found a hole or something because i dont see him out and about anymore. Hopefully hes ok... Star fish is doing great. He hides in the sand all day and at night he comes out and crawls all around. Great for stiring up the sand. The Flowerpot Coral is doing great to. Its doubled in size since i put it in. It has seemed to grow more heads. I think hes happy. My wife loves it. Well here are the pics.

[Craig Manoukian]

Glad to see you posting! Nice pics!

[tbittner]

Welcome back, Dennis!

Beautiful Gonipora! Please do take an hour or so and read up on them. They're almost impossible to keep alive, although there has been new information become available that helps.

[ReefGuy69]

Thanks Terry.. I will admit i didnt do research on this type of coral and i got it because my wife liked it. I didnt know they were hard to keep. I just did my research and found a nice site im going to reference. Looks like this weekend im picking up some more cyclopeeze. and going to target feed with that as well as the mush mix i have been feeding. hopefully I can keep it long term. here is a site devoted to keeping them longterm.

Goniopora.org:::Goniopora Reference Web Site

[tbittner]

That is an awesome site, dedicated to keeping Gonioporas. I love these corals but I just don't think I'm ready for such a hard to keep coral. Heck, it's been months (at least it seems like it's been that long) since I haven't had PVC cement on my fingers so I don't have time for it yet.

[JWarren]

Nice update Dennis!

Looks like you are on the right track with your tank man! Keep doing what your doing, you will beat that algea! Just keep an eye on that bubble algea so it don't get out of hand on ya.

[ReefGuy69]

Update: Well it has been a while since I posted. So I have a minute to update on whats happened the last few months. I lost one clown. Just dissappeared on night. My sand sifting star fish is still chugging along. Hes a hit with the family. One clown is still happy and healthy. I added a black and white goby. Hes gotten huge. He started out this little thing and now looks like a giant eel. He loves building tunnels and burrows underneath the rocks. Luckily i did a good job pre planning and have all my rocks on top of pvc and had most of them bonded together. So i didnt have any rocks fall. I had one time that a power head came loose and landed in the sand blowing sand all over my Flower Pot coral. By the time i noticed it in the morning half of him was gone. Im hoping he rebounds. The other half looks healthy and like its starting to spread some. I still battle algae. I recently changed the power heads positions and it has slowed its growth. Im going to change the bulbs soon and im hoping that will help. I think i need to add to my clean up crew. A few snails and crabs have died off over the months. My snails always seem to find my power heads and they get sucked up. It is very lightly stocked as you can see. I havent had to do many water changes. I also feed very light. Maybe once a week. And everything looks very healthy. I will post a pic as soon as i can so you can see it updated. Im going to focus more attention and money back on the tank now that alot of our house projects are wrapping up. I want to get a blue hippo tang. I miss the one i use to have. i think were going to keep it lightly stocked so it wont be a problem. My fuge is completly filled with Chaeto Algae. I really need a new skimmer. I just dont think the one i have works well. So im going to save up one of those. My whole fuge, sump area has really worked out great. Not a single leak... knock on wood. So i can testify that plumbers Goop for sealing Acrylic to Acrylic works awesome. Its been a year now and it keeps on going. Well hope to get back on this site more often. And i will get a pic up in the next few days.

[ReefGuy69]

Well i have pics. First a little update. I figured out what might be causing most of the algae. I recently tested my RO/DI output and it was at 1800-2000PPM yeah you read it right the first time. So i realized someone must have hit the valve and jumped it up. So i changed it back to put out 4-45ppm. So i think thats going to put a huge dent in it. Ive basically been putting tap water into my tank. oh well you can learn until you live. So i will be checking that more often. Im also thinking of submitting my tank for the ulgy tank contest. Maybe i will get the help i need. I recently added the Blue Hippo Tang. Hes small so he will have plenty of time to grow. And we added a firefish. Wow can those things swim fast and they love to jump. Good thing the top of the tank is covered with the grates. Well heres the updated pics. Hope its coming along right.

Heres the full tank shot



updated pics of the star fish




The Blue Hippo Tang



The Firefish



The fuge full of chaeto



and i have no clue what this is. But ive let it grow and grow because my wife says its pretty pink and not hurting anything. any thoughts?

[ReefGuy69]

Well i did it i submitted my tank for the Ugly Tank Contest. If i win it will be bittersweet. if ya know what i mean.