125 Gallon Office Tank

[bluecheese]

I added some cerith snails last week. Between them, the nassarius snails, and the sand sifting starfish, the sand seems to be well churned and is now free of surface algae. Also the cyano seems to have hit its peak and is slowly dying off. That or one of the new critters has been eating it. Either way, good riddance.

 

[AnotherReefHobbyist]

I added some cerith snails last week. Between them, the nassarius snails, and the sand sifting starfish, the sand seems to be well churned and is now free of surface algae. Also the cyano seems to have hit its peak and is slowly dying off. That or one of the new critters has been eating it. Either way, good riddance.

Great job making your way through the ugly phase! I am just starting to hit it on my new tank, no fun.

 

[bluecheese]

Great job making your way through the ugly phase! I am just starting to hit it on my new tank, no fun.

Thanks. I'm just wondering if I'm moving out of the ugly phase, or if there is something worse on the horizon.

 

[John Bolden]

Thanks. I'm just wondering if I'm moving out of the ugly phase, or if there is something worse on the horizon.

Nice, about are you going to have any sps I forget if you said already (sorry if you did).

 

[bluecheese]

Nice, about are you going to have any sps I forget if you said already (sorry if you did).

Pretty soon I'm going to try a test coral - probably a small zoa.

 

[John Bolden]

Pretty soon I'm going to try a test coral - probably a small zoa.

Maybe try a Rasta pretty cheap and look really good or a ricordia mushroom.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Breaker of bad news: There is “always” something worse on the horizon. Lol!! But you’re doing great! Keep the photos coming.

 

[bluecheese]

The rocks are now being covered by spots of this green algae. Any idea what it may be?

 

[bluecheese]

Remember when I said the cyano was dying off? About that…

 

[Soren]

Remember when I said the cyano was dying off? About that…

You probably still don't have enough competition for nutrients, such as desirable algae. Cyanobacteria is not likely to go away, but may be kept at an indiscernible level with enough of the right competition.

The school of chromises looks great!

 

[bluecheese]

You probably still don't have enough competition for nutrients, such as desirable algae. Cyanobacteria is not likely to go away, but may be kept at an indiscernible level with enough of the right competition.

The school of chromises looks great!

Thanks. I'm leaving the cyano be for right now. If it looks like its getting out of control, I'll go the Chemiclean route.

 

[Soren]

Thanks. I'm leaving the cyano be for right now. If it looks like its getting out of control, I'll go the Chemiclean route.

That seems like a good plan.

This is just my opinion with pretty limited experience at this point, but it seems like the best route to stability may be to only be concerned about the "uglies" that can actually cause damage. Keep things at a manageable level, but it seems a hard battle to truly eradicate everything not wanted in a reef, since so many things are interlocked in the natural ecosystem.

From what I have read here on R2R on many threads, it seems like it can become a game of chasing your tail if you act too fast to eradicate one "ugly" just to trade it for another. Pick your battles and accept that not everything will be perfectly how you want it.

 

[bluecheese]

That seems like a good plan.

This is just my opinion with pretty limited experience at this point, but it seems like the best route to stability may be to only be concerned about the "uglies" that can actually cause damage. Keep things at a manageable level, but it seems a hard battle to truly eradicate everything not wanted in a reef, since so many things are interlocked in the natural ecosystem.

From what I have read here on R2R on many threads, it seems like it can become a game of chasing your tail if you act too fast to eradicate one "ugly" just to trade it for another. Pick your battles and accept that not everything will be perfectly how you want it.

To be honest, the cyano doesn't really bother me all that much. Its a pretty color, and watching it move in the flow of the tank is sort of mesmerizing. But now I want to get rid of it so I can add corals that will be just as mesmerizing to watch in the tank.

 

[Soren]

To be honest, the cyano doesn't really bother me all that much. Its a pretty color, and watching it move in the flow of the tank is sort of mesmerizing. But now I want to get rid of it so I can add corals that will be just as mesmerizing to watch in the tank.

I agree, I actually like the look of some cyanobacteria, though it gets ugly when out of control and covering everything, especially since it can lead to problems.

Why do you need to wait until the cyanobacteria is gone before adding corals? I'm not challenging, just don't recall this being an issue from my previous research? Once you have competition for the nutrients, such as algaes and corals, the cyanobacteria may be likely to recede on its own.

Also, something that may help reduce it: I have read and experienced that increased flow helps get rid of cyanobacteria, as it prefers low-flow areas.

 

[bluecheese]

Why do you need to wait until the cyanobacteria is gone before adding corals?

My concern is putting a coral in there, and the cyano takes over the tank, either killing the coral or making it sick. I may be over thinking it, but that's where I was getting that from.

 

[Soren]

My concern is putting a coral in there, and the cyano takes over the tank, either killing the coral or making it sick. I may be over thinking it, but that's where I was getting that from.

I'm fairly sure that, if cyanobacteria takes over the tank, you have many serious issues that would likely harm or kill corals. Keeping cyano in check before adding corals can be a good plan, but I think the way to look at it is more about water chemistry stability, proper flow, and nutrient import/export ratios rather than about the individual organisms.

I hope that makes sense. Essentially, I see cyano as an indicator of lack of nutrient export by desirable means and/or insufficient flow. Fixing these issues will both help the desired organisms as well as inhibit the cyanobacteria.

I certainly agree with not putting corals in the tank yet if they are expensive, but limit the risks and start with cheaper and hardier corals. Your rockwork still looks pretty devoid of visible life enough that I agree with your plan of waiting longer for the corals.

 

[bluecheese]

The cyano-plague continues

 

[bluecheese]

Yeah, so the boss decided to get a test coral without checking with me first.

I really wanted to get the cyano under control before adding any coral, but here we are.

After a quick dip, the coral was placed on the substrate. The polyps are currently retracted. I’ll monitor this little guy, and hopefully he’ll be completely open in a couple of days.

The boss knows a local guy who grows and sells coral. Which is cool, but I really wish he would have run this by me first.

 

[bluecheese]

Polyps starting to open

 

[afrokobe]

I know people don't like to use chemicals, but chemiclean works wonders for cyano. I got it during the uglies and did one dose. I haven't had cyano since. Great looking tank otherwise!