Woodstock's 90 gallon

[Woodstock]

Thanks! yep, It feels good


Now, if I can just squeeze a chiller and auto top off system somewhere in my evershrinking sump area, I THINK I'd be satisfied. ...... a heat resistant shelf to place the ballasts on would be nice too.

[Montanareefer]

[Woodstock]

Good news and bad news to report:

Bad news:
1)the CBB is nipping pretty badly on my newly aquired candy cane's "tenticles" and the pipe organ's smaller polyps!! I've moved the corals from the sand up higher on the rocks to see if that helps. If she doesn't, she'll have to find a new home

2) I have brown algae "threads" all over everything at the end of the day . Maybe from the new MH? The strands have oxygen bubbles covering them.... at the end of the 7 hour MH period, it looks like a brown snot ballon storm!! I'm just doing extra water changes... all water parameters are great.

Good news:

1) I purchased a Nikon Coolpix 995 camera (thanks reefrunner ) which I'll be learning to operate this weekend.... really, all I need to do is find the "auto" button

2) 5 new frags added to the tank this past week!! I'll post a few pics of them soon.

[Woodstock]

This should keep Fantasia from eating it

[Playa]

You reef is looking so nice:-)
Beautiful cane. Keep up the good work woodstock!

Luis

[VINA DEL MAR]

Woodstock how long are you going to keep that coral inside the container?The coral needs water circulation and light and it might die.Anyway your tank is nice and good choice upgrading your lights to MH"s keep the good work!

VINA

[Woodstock]

Thanks Luis ..feel free to give me a few pointers!

Vina, it's only temporary until I can make a decision as to which animal will have to go. I placed the coral in a very high flow rate that almost blows the container away so there is LOTS of water flowing through it.

[cheeks69]

Looks beautiful Woodstock !!! Congrats

[Hooked]

Hi Woodstock, I was thinking about the algae bloom you got with the new lighting, and I thought I remembered reading that you use tap water for top-off? Maybe I'm imagining that; however, if that is the case, you may need to start using RO for top-off. Just something you might want to consider

[Woodstock]

Hummm... good point, but I've NEVER had this type of algae bloom before and I just started (March) using RO water for the water changes. A few things it could be: 1) bad RO water? 2) increased temp from 80 to 83? 3) using a new kent coral supplement? 4) new lighting? 5) new kalkwasser mixture? (using 2 tsp of vinegar per gallon of water now) 6) dead conch? (missing 2 now)

What do you think?

[Hooked]

JMO, but I think it's the lighting. The coral supplement could contribute. How big were the conch's and do you have other scavenger's that would have cleaned them up quickly? I have tons of snails and never have any spikes even when something large dies, because they consume it so quickly. Do you actually have empty shells or are have you just not seen them for awhile?

I wouldn't think the vinegar (distilled white-right?) is a problem, as I use 30ml in mine, which would be 3 times your 2 teaspoons (5 ml) (Are those #s right--5 ml in a tsp?)

Do you have a TDS meter? They are fairly inexpensive and it would be a good precaution to test the water you're buying.

HTH

[ScottT1980]

I too think it is the lighting and nothing more...I have heard a number of tales similar to this (i.e. new lighting upgrade = algae bloom). I can't remember off hand but I think the problem generally subsides with time, of course with a little proactive help (boost the cleanp crew a bit, staying on top of water changes, etc...). It could be a few other things as well as just an additive effect (bad water + new lights + vinegar, etc...) but I just have a hunch that your new lights are the primary contributor.

Nevertheless, it wasn't even all that noticable when I saw so it doesn't appear to be an epidemic and workign on the problem now might save some headaches in the future.

When I get a chance, I will try to find some threads to post...

Take er easy
Scott T.

[Woodstock]

Thanks for the replies

No empty shells, just missing conchs. Yes, distilled vinegar. No TDS meter yet (good idea). Only 2 snails left due to my copperband butterfly... I have added a several hermits but need many more i think.

[Hooked]

The conchs may reappear. I've heard of them dissappearing for long periods of time, then just as suddenly re-appearing.

Just as a comparison (as our tanks are the same size) I have over 100 snails (I lost count at some point)--nassarius, bumblebee, astrea, nerite and margarita. No hermits. I also have 3 serpent/brittlestars and a sand cucumber. In my opinion, you need a larger clean-up crew.

I don't have anything against hermits, I have them in my small tank, but I think snails are more efficient and less opportunistic.

[Woodstock]

I agree! I do have 2 cleaner shrimps, several nassarius snails and a large brittle star. I need to get snails that hide during the day so my butterfly doesn't eat them... which are those? strombus?