A few pictures of my 400g reef

[melev]

@melev No signs or trouble with the HLLE I've heard can be a problem with these captive bred tangs? Just curious

What was described in one article felt like a disservice to the fact they were successfully captive bred. A proper diet can help most fish improve in health and appearance. I never blinked at the minor issues, they were not unexpected. Whether it was HLLE or thinning of the flesh around the eyes, I think in time they will improve. I've had them about a month or so now.

Typically HLLE runs along the lateral line, and these fish don't have any issues there. I'll try to get some better pictures to show the fish more clearly, and also document their progress (or lack thereof).

 

[melev]

Mark great write up on the art. I ordered the business card holder for my office.

Awesome. I have one of those myself, and it looks amazing.

 

[melypr1985]

What was described in one article felt like a disservice to the fact they were successfully captive bred. A proper diet can help most fish improve in health and appearance. I never blinked at the minor issues, they were not unexpected. Whether it was HLLE or thinning of the flesh around the eyes, I think in time they will improve. I've had them about a month or so now.

Typically HLLE runs along the lateral line, and these fish don't have any issues there. I'll try to get some better pictures to show the fish more clearly, and also document their progress (or lack thereof).

I believed that it was a disservice as well. These are a great success for the hobby! I'd like to see close ups of them. I have had a couple customers ask about them and would love to give them the best info I can. Thanks for sharing.

 

[melev]

I'll try to get some better pictures. Fish are not my specialty when it comes to photography.

 

[melev]

Yesterday was the 2.5 year anniversary of the 400g reef. Of course when I took the picture, the light on the right had already cycled off.

 

[jenkinscrew2578]

So nice...love seeing your setup everytime I pickup an order.

 

[melev]

Last night's blog is about why I spend money at the LFS and why I think it's important: http://melevsreef.com/blog/when-visiting-lfs-05222016

And I even uploaded one of my shortest videos ever to Youtube today. lol

 

[that Reef Guy]

Yesterday was the 2.5 year anniversary of the 400g reef. Of course when I took the picture, the light on the right had already cycled off.

Looks Amazing!

Keep up the Good Work Marc and Keep Posting Pictures and Updates

 

[that Reef Guy]

Typically every 4-6 weeks. But lately I've done a bunch of them to get nitrates back under control. So I guess I should have been doing more all along. lol

What do you Try to Keep your Nitrates at?

What do you consider to be too High Nitrates?

 

[melev]

What do you Try to Keep your Nitrates at?

What do you consider to be too High Nitrates?

I'd prefer to keep them under 10ppm if possible.

 

[melev]

About 12 weeks ago, maybe longer I suddenly had a serious spike in nitrate. It measured 180ppm, which seemed highly unlikely. I bought a brand new kit and retested the water, and got the same result. Plus my staghorn coral was suffering, turning white across the base and spreading more each day.

I may be repeating myself in this thread, but to recap:

• I took out the entire sandbed in the refugium zone, which was about 5" deep and 4.5 years old. The sediment within was significant, and it took me some time to wash it all clean, then reset that compartment with cleanly rinsed sand and rinsed macro algae.
• I changed 800g of water over a 21 day period, doing 55g at a time every other day.
• I restarted my biopellet reactor with Biospheres

After all that, Nitrate was down to 20ppm. The white area stopped spreading in the staghorn colony.

For the next month, I figured it would get better. Instead they rose back up to about 50ppm, so I addd another 1000ml of biopellets to the reactor, and made sure to dose Prodibio on schedule so the bacteria present in the system would not be lacking.

Just tested nitrate again, and it's measuring about 10ppm. All is well once more.

 

[that Reef Guy]

About 12 weeks ago, maybe longer I suddenly had a serious spike in nitrate. It measured 180ppm, which seemed highly unlikely. I bought a brand new kit and retested the water, and got the same result. Plus my staghorn coral was suffering, turning white across the base and spreading more each day.

I may be repeating myself in this thread, but to recap:

• I took out the entire sandbed in the refugium zone, which was about 5" deep and 4.5 years old. The sediment within was significant, and it took me some time to wash it all clean, then reset that compartment with cleanly rinsed sand and rinsed macro algae.
• I changed 800g of water over a 21 day period, doing 55g at a time every other day.
• I restarted my biopellet reactor with Biospheres

After all that, Nitrate was down to 20ppm. The white area stopped spreading in the staghorn colony.

For the next month, I figured it would get better. Instead they rose back up to about 50ppm, so I addd another 1000ml of biopellets to the reactor, and made sure to dose Prodibio on schedule so the bacteria present in the system would not be lacking.

Just tested nitrate again, and it's measuring about 10ppm. All is well once more.

Wow that is alot of work.

I make all my Tanks Barebottom Now.

It is a Million Times Easier!

Sand is the Devil as it Traps Nitrate and Phosphate and you have to Clean it.

I Love Barebottom

 

[jenkinscrew2578]

Yeah i vacuum my sand about once a month in between my small weekly water changes. Seems to do the trick for me.

 

[melev]

I tested my nitrate Sunday night, and after two months of no water changes and time for the biopellets to kick in, they measured 10ppm.

Pictures from today.

Dory is hanging out with 17 clownfish and seems to want to join them inside the anemone tentacles.

The staghorn seems pretty nice, lately.

Also, here's my recent blog about my insanely low electric bill:
http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php/29344-A-nice-low-electricity-bill

 

[melev]

I got productive today and did all my water tests.

78.8F
8.08 pH
321 ORP
Alk 13
1.025sg
Mg 1250
450 Ca
5 No3
.03 Po4

And I tested the frag system as well, since it is standalone. I still need to dial it in better, dosing wise.

78.2F
8.11 pH
1.026sg
Alk 6
Mg 1200
600 Ca
0 No3
0 Po4

And I got a fan installed on my reef - something I haven't bothered with in years. I made a bracket, and used some doublestick tape to secure it to the rim of the sump. It has a small weighted bag on the taped area to assure it develops a good bond, and I'll remove it after 24 hours. This is 3M double-stick tape designed for wet environments. The Apex will turn the fan on and off based on tank temperature.

 

[that Reef Guy]

I got productive today and did all my water tests.

78.8F
8.08 pH
321 ORP
Alk 13
1.025sg
Mg 1250
450 Ca
5 No3
.03 Po4

And I tested the frag system as well, since it is standalone. I still need to dial it in better, dosing wise.

78.2F
8.11 pH
1.026sg
Alk 6
Mg 1200
600 Ca
0 No3
0 Po4

And I got a fan installed on my reef - something I haven't bothered with in years. I made a bracket, and used some doublestick tape to secure it to the rim of the sump. It has a small weighted bag on the taped area to assure it develops a good bond, and I'll remove it after 24 hours. This is 3M double-stick tape designed for wet environments. The Apex will turn the fan on and off based on tank temperature.

Whys is your Alk Really High is one Tank (13) and Really Low in the Other (6)?

Both are Dangerous Numbers.

 

[melev]

Whys is your Alk Really High is one Tank (13) and Really Low in the Other (6)?

Both are Dangerous Numbers.

Alk was 22 on the reef a week ago. 13 isn't dangerous by comparison.

And on the frag tank, I'm still trying to get the dosage dialed in.

 

[that Reef Guy]

Alk was 22 on the reef a week ago. 13 isn't dangerous by comparison.

And on the frag tank, I'm still trying to get the dosage dialed in.

22!

My God how did it get so High?

Your Doser Break?

 

[melev]

22!

My God how did it get so High?

Your Doser Break?

I think the pH controller went a little wonky. I removed it and went back to my old Milwaukee that has always worked properly.

 

[revhtree]

Great job on the fan @melev!