Squishie's Coral Quarantine Tank

[Squishie89]

I have coral quarantine tank that also doubles as a frag tank. The main purpose of this tank is to acclimate corals to my home, get them settled, and make sure there are no really bad pests. Hydroids are a big thing for me and ended up making me tear down my display (still in the process of getting that back up). Corals are dipped in Bayer Advanced upon arrival. I do plan to keep a fish in here eventually, just having trouble getting the right specimen.

Tank: 40 Breeder
Lights: 2 Kessils 360's
Skimmer: Aquamaxx HOB-1
Filtration: AquaClear 50 (Holds sponges and carbon, can put other media if needed)
Water Movement: Gyre X-130
Heater: Jager 200W with a Finnex Heater Controller
Other: 10lbs of rock (started dry), cups of live sand, The Blue Glow frag racks, Eshopps frag rack, The Alternitive Reef frag holders (Chalice Domes, Big Uns and Little Uns), Eshopps Frag Cave
Foods/Additives: Fauna Marin LPS pellets, Microbacter7. Possibly also: Acropower, Goniopower.

Water changes are done usually weekly of 10g with Reef Crystals and RODI.

Tank was set up in late June. First corals were added on July 12th. More added on August 8th. Then got a ton of corals on September 4th at MACNA. And more on September 23rd.

 

[Squishie89]

Photos of current inhabitants

 

[Squishie89]

Current problems/nuisances:
Diatoms
Hydroids
Aiptasia
Hair algae
Black worms

Bubble coral was injured and is suffering badly

 

[Squishie89]

Photos taken this evening:

 

[Squishie89]

Bubble coral is making a comeback. I dipped it in revive and have been feeding Fauna Marin LPS pellets every other day, and once a week dosing AcroPower (all corals seem to like this, not just acros/SPS). Hydroids are still a big issue I am working on. Right now every one is getting new plugs/bases and large corals like the scoly are going to have their skeletons/bases covers in super glue. I am trying to avoid using Fenbendazol if I can. Also need a real CUC in there, the stomatellas are working hard, but, there is a lot of ground to cover.

But who cares about all that, here are some photos:

Wellso flesh macros

This scoly is FAT

Eating yesterday

Nice and full today. Still has a long way to go, a lot of flesh to regrow, but I think it stands a chance.

 

[Cristy17]

CONGRATS on the comeback! Your corals are looking MUCH better! I have been watching your treatment stratagy and following your postings rooting for sucess! Nice job..hope all your corals pull through!

 

[Squishie89]

CONGRATS on the comeback! Your corals are looking MUCH better! I have been watching your treatment stratagy and following your postings rooting for sucess! Nice job..hope all your corals pull through!

Thank you! It is definitely not a sure thing that the bubble coral is going to make it, but the fact it keeps eating and keeps inflating are good signs. My bounce frag is also being a bit moody which is very nerve racking haha!
I see you are in Rockville, MD! Are you on WAMAS?

 

[Cristy17]

I am not but may join...just need to make sure I have the time. A long time ago (late 80's), I was one of the first members' to a similar group that would meet once a month and discuss saltwater tanks and invertebrates. Keeping corals was unheard of then! The best part was we used to go to the Baltimore Aquarium on trips and have a "behind the scenes" where we would go after they closed and have staff members and marine biologists at our disposal for questions and getting behind the tanks to see all the inner workings. That place is amazing!

 

[Squishie89]

I am not but may join...just need to make sure I have the time. A long time ago (late 80's), I was one of the first members' to a similar group that would meet once a month and discuss saltwater tanks and invertebrates. Keeping corals was unheard of then! The best part was we used to go to the Baltimore Aquarium on trips and have a "behind the scenes" where we would go after they closed and have staff members and marine biologists at our disposal for questions and getting behind the tanks to see all the inner workings. That place is amazing!

At least get on the forums! We are all super friendly =) We actually have a meeting coming up on the 17th that will be in Bethesda: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/74986...g-an-sps-monster-extended-discussion-with-qa/

 

[rw09903]

At least get on the forums! We are all super friendly =) We actually have a meeting coming up on the 17th that will be in Bethesda: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/74986...g-an-sps-monster-extended-discussion-with-qa/

Wamas is great! Your corals are looking good btw!

 

[Squishie89]

Well here is an update. Most things are doing really well. Have had some hiccups, but working through them.
-Overtightened the holding screws on the skimmer and broke it. Tried to repair it but it didn't work, so I had to buy a new one. New skimmer was a bit wonky, so combined the 2 to make the perfect working skimmer.
-Bubble coral has been steadily declining. Did not help that the hermits thought that a dying bubble coral was the greatest place to play. Finally got a pvc fitting to act as a stand/protectant from the hermits, but this might have been too late.
-Been working on the hydroid problem. Hydroids are why I tore down my 90g display (and the rebuild has been put on hold due to structural problems), so hydroids are something I take very seriously. As mentioned, for most people they just die off or never cause much problems. For me, I can grow them without even trying: I have an ultra low nutrient tank, no fish, just corals and CUC, barely any sand, barely any rock and still they reproduce like they are in paradise. But I am making headway; there was a massive colony in the skimmer that I got rid of, and found there were colonies on the underside of my blue ridge coral. I still need to scrub the rocks because there is a kind on there, but it seems I making progress. I am catching medusae (the jellyfish stage of hydroids) daily and removing them so I hopefully catch them before they reproduce.
-CQT will be moving sometime in the new year. The floor where the CQT is and where I had hoped to have the 90g can't hold both of the tanks. Moving the 90g isn't an option, so the 40B (CQT) will be moving into the kitchen, which is only about 60 feet to the left. I plan on doing this by myself (with family help). Hopefully all will go well, thankfully no fish in there yet so pretty straightforward plan. Put corals into buckets/cups/bags, drain tank water into buckets, move tank and stand and equipment, put water back into tank, put corals back in.
-Corals doing poorly: bubble coral, acro, favia, bounce mushrom. This bounce just does not like me, but I am going to keep trying haha.
-My biggest growers right now are: stylo, blue ridge coral, pocillopora, duncan, helmet/plate coral. Zoas are not far behind.

Here are photos mostly from today, I have amassed quite the collection of corals for only having been back into corals for less than 6 months haha.

FTS and overview of the inhabitants

LPS

LPS + Softies

LPS + SPS

LPS + SPS + Softies

Shot of my giant gonipora

Where the big fatties hang out

Lepta and bubble coral


Medusa Jellyfish Hydroid



The ailing bubble coral. It has good days and bad days. Also its new stand




And just some random shots
My amazing Scoly



One of my newest acquisitions, meat coral


Wellso eating

This lepta is so gorgeous

A little stomatella snail sleeping

The coral I have had longest in this tank, a duncan, has over 20 polyps on it!

Bounce that hates me

 

[Squishie89]

Well how about an update!
-Bubble coral died. That sucked, it was one of my favorite purchases from MACNA.
-My bounce mushroom is finally coming back a bit, starting to get a bit more inflated and looking happier.
-Hydroids/medusae are still an "issue".
-On 1/11/16 I started dosing some ZeoVit/Korallen-Zucht products. Sponge Power, Coral Vitalizer, Phol’s Xtra, Amino Acid Concentrate LPS. Dosing for 50g. Some corals showed immediate improvement (although the skimmer had been offline while it was cleaned and fixed and put back on the same day, but I think the KZ stuff is the cause) which was nice to see. At the same time I have had a increased amount of medusae show up since I started this regimen.
-Corals that are doing very well: blue ridge coral (I don't think this coral would care if it was in radioactive waste, it is always growing), blue stylo, green birdsnest (really need to get a comparison photo together of this guy), duncan although I think it's growth has slowed a bit, zoas, candy canes.
-Right now I have: 1 scoly, 1 "mini scoly", 1 wellso, 1 trachy, 1 lepta, 1 blue ridge coral, 1 favia, 1 green birdsnest (was told it was a pocillopora, but I am pretty sure it is a birdsnest), 1 red birdsnest, 1 acro (half dead), 1 rainbow monti, 1 stylo, 1 gumdrop mushroom, 1 bounce mushroom, 4 kinds of zoas, 1 red polyp porites (coming back from the dead), 1 duncan, 1 candy cane, 1 st. thomas mushroom, 1 octospawn, 1 green flowerpot, 1 yellow flowerpot (dying), 1 slipper coral, 1 helmet coral, 2 blastos and 1 plate coral skeleton (hoping babies will pop out).

 

[Cristy17]

Sorry that your bubble died. All in all, looks like you were able to save the majority of the corals which is always a big plus!

 

[Squishie89]

Things are going pretty decent in this tank.
-Probably going to have to start dosing soon. Waiting on fresh test kits and then need to test for a week or so and determine what the tank needs.
-I have moved my bounce mushroom around a few times but it wont go back to where it was when I got it. (This post has photos of when I got it and where it has been http://squishie90gfowlr.tumblr.com/...ast-night-i-was-going-through-some-old-photos). My 2 guesses are either too much light or something with the parameters (either too clean or something with the cal/mag/alk). It is still alive, which is a start. Both of my other mushrooms are fine and doing well though.
-My St. Thomas mushroom had 2 babies and just the other day I moved them into a glass with rubble for them to attach to so then I can get them on a frag plug, grow them out and sell 'em.
-Other corals doing extremely well: blue stylo (growth both towards the surface and on the frag rack and recently a branch has split), green polyp birdsnest (insane amount of branches on this thing), candy cane, green goniopora, zoas and duncan.
-Corals not doing well: yellow goni (just refuses to die), acro (again, refuses to die), bounce mushroom, rainbow monti (no idea what happened here, just stopped putting polyps out).
-This weekend I am getting some acros and a clam which I am excited about. My luck with clams is not good, but everything needs to be quarantined so might as well try now.
-This tank will be getting moved in the not too distant future (I hope). The floor can't take both this tank and my 90g I am rebuilding and much easier to find a new spot for this tank. Should not be too bad since it only has inverts and corals.
-Knock on wood, but for some reason the hydroids/medusa have died down to where I haven't caught any medusa in almost a week.

Because posts are useless without photos IMO. Some of these photos are crappier than I would like, but you get the idea.

 

[Shep]

Your qt tank looks better than some tanks!

 

[Squishie89]

Your qt tank looks better than some tanks!

Aw shucks, thanks! I try to keep it decent (all the better to find pests!). It really bothers me and makes things harder how disorganized it is.

 

[hybridazn]

Glad things are on the up for you!

 

[Squishie89]

Well it has only been a week so not much has happened.

-Got 6 frags and a clam last weekend. One frag RTN but everything else is going well!
My history with clams is not good but I have a good feeling about this one.
-My bounce mushroom did indeed die. Right now I feel what happened was it got too much light and ended up dying of stress. Still working on figuring out what areas of the tank have what lighting/flow because it is so oddly set up.

So new stuff

Left to right, Rainbow Pocci, RMF Acid Trip Mille and Bali Echinata


Yellow stylo next to my gigantic, wont stop growing in every direction purple/blue stylo


Don't have a photo of my new rhodactic mushroom that was an add on/discount frag

Clam!!! It is in a very awkward place for photos

 

[Squishie89]

Well things are going well.
-New frags and clam are doing very well. Mouth on the clam seems a little bit "gapey" to me, but I am trying not to mess with it.
-Figured out I am bleaching the heck out of my meat coral. I ordered more frag racks so I can get it out of the light.
-Might be trying to raise my kessils higher but not move their placement if that makes sense, which is tricky because I am using the tank mount arms. 90-95% of things seem happy so I don't want to screw it up.
-Working on a little project that might be moot due to this tank moving this month or next, but mapping out where the corals are in the tank to figure out what areas in tank are what light/flow areas. I find it very frustrating that I place corals where I think they would like it and they don't so I need to figure out what areas are what.
-I also took the skimmer off. Due the super low bioload, it was barely pulling anything out. So far so good, I do have it cleaned and ready to go back in if necessary. And there is no carbon in the HOB, so right now the only filtration is bacteria and weekly water changes.

 

[Squishie89]

Things keep on going!
-CQT is doing well without a skimmer and no carbon. Really enjoying not having the skimmer on there. It created so much salt creep and salt all over the lenses of the lights. Such a pain. Not to mention I can see/get to the left side of the tank now!
-My big huge St. Thomas mushroom had 2 babies a couple months ago and I finally got around to getting them on rocks and now onto frag plugs, going to let them settle and grow a bit before I sell them!
-Not much else happening

Sponges galore! My CQT grows sponges very, very well.


Big momma mushroom in the back there


Baby 1


Baby 2


Need to find a new spot for this guy at some point, just wont grow


Gumdrop mushroom, rainbow monti, yellow stylo, blue/purple stylo


Growth from the big stylo is crazy


Horrible photo, but you can see how the rainbow monti is coming back (seems the "main" area may have died?)