Fish Update

Here are a few pictures of some of the fish I currently have in the display.

The algae is pretty much gone from the display tank. I am now dosing 5 mL of vodka daily and the nitrates are around 1 mg/L and the phosphates are at 0.03 ppm. I am slowly ramping up the lighting period so I can add coral without the algae growing back. The algae growth in the refugium has really taken off after adding a second light and running the lights 24/7.

Fish Update

My tank is currently an algae farm but here is a quick video of the fish I have. I added a Chevron Tang as well as a Male Pintail Fairy Wrasse. I am letting the tank run its algae course before I add corals back into the display. I removed the corals in August because the green hair algae was beginning to overtake the corals. I let the tank run for two weeks with no lights to kill the hair algae but to my surprise it did not make a huge dent. I am currently running a refugium with Chaetomorpha algae and dosing vodka. I still dose ZEObak and Sponge Power but the other ZEOvit products are not being used. Nitrates are at 2.5 mg/L and phosphates are between 0.05 and 0.08 ppm. I am no longer running GFO, I occasionally dose lanthanum chloride. I still run ROX 0.8 carbon passively in a mesh bag in the sump. I am currently running the metal halides for 3 hours per day and the T5's for 6 hours per day.

DIY Balling Method

I am experimenting with my own DIY Balling Method. I use Randy's recipe for DIY three part and added a few of my own supplements. I added 2 tbs. of strontium chloride into the calcium mixture (2.5 cups calcium chloride per gallon of RO water). I am also adding 5 tps. of potassium chloride and 10mL of Sachem Reef Trace into the magnesium mixture (5 cups magnesium chloride and 3 cups magnesium sulfate per gallon of RO water). The alkalinity mixture contains 2 cups soda ash per gallon of RO water. I want to start slow and document my findings. If I don't see results and my levels do not maintain via weekly testing I will adjust the dosing accordingly. I am currently adding 24 mL of alkalinity daily to maintain my levels. I am starting with 16 mL of calcium mixture and 12 mL of magnesium mixture.

May Update

The corals have been in the tank for two months are beginning to encrust and gaining color. The Mystery Wrasse has developed a strange red bump on its lower lip, I am not sure what it is.

My ZEOvit dosing schedule is:

Daily

0.5 mL of ZEOstart3 

Shake rocks daily

Twice per week

4 drops of ZEObak

15 mL Micro-Lift Special Blend

5 mL Brightwell MicroBacter7

4 drops of ZEOfood7

4 drops of KZ Sponge Power

4 drops of KZ Amino Acid Concentrate

Current parameters:

Temperature: 79

pH: 8.1

Salinity: 35ppt

Alkalinity: 9.3 dKH

Calcium: 430

Magnesium: 1240

Potassium: 430

Phosphate: 0.11

Nitrate: 2.5

I am running ROX 0.8 carbon and GFO passively in a mesh bag in the sump.

Updates . . . Well from my frag tank

Since there isn't much to show in my display tank yet here is a picture from my frag tank.

I run four ATI Blue Plus, one ATI Coral Plus, one ATI Purple Plus and two ATI Actinic Plus in a TEK 8x54 watt T5 Fixture. I do not run a protein skimmer but I do have macro algae growing and two fish living alongside a few snails.

Happy New Year

Happy 2015, since my last post I have changed out my UVL Super Actinic T5's for ATI Pure Actinic 03. I borrowed a PAR meter and surprisingly the level was higher on the ATI bulb despite The Grim Reefer's findings in 2007. I have also taken the ATI Power Cone 250 I-Series offline because it does not pull out much waste and the frag tank I have running does not utilize a protein skimmer and the nutrient levels are 0 ppm even with daily feedings and fish in the tank. It is very nice not hearing the protein skimmer running anymore. I will keep everyone updated with my results.

Quick Update

The tank may look like it did not grow much over the past few months because I fragged a lot of coral this summer. I will let the corals heal and grow out more before I take more pictures.

Ricky's Poison Ivy

Time For An Update

Its been two months since my last update and the tank looks great! I installed a three pump dosing unit in June for calcium, alkalinity and kalkwasser. The corals grow much faster with the stable parameters. I added one liter of DeNitrate rocks to help lower my nitrate from 25ppm but after a months use they have not dropped at all. Today was the first water change in two months, I have been frustrated with the tank and took a step away from the tank but now I am back.

PAR Values

I am currently running two (8 month old) 250 watt Phoenix 14K metal halides with Lumatek dimmable ballasts on HQI mode and two (two month old) 54 watt UVL Super Actinic T5's.

Time for an update!

I removed a few corals and replaced them with new frags. I also added a few more fish :) I was having trouble these past few months after upgrading my protein skimmer because my corals lightened up a lot and looked a lot like the ZEOvit tanks (not a look that I prefer). I started feeding heavily and bumped my nitrates up to 10 mg/L and saw my colors come back. They are a little darker than I would like but in a few months they will be back to normal. I am also going to add a refugium back into my sump. I feel that my tank was more stable when I had one with the old protein skimmer. Here are a few top down shots.

 Banana Caroliniana

 Tyree Purple Dragon Eyes

 Ricky's Poison Ivy

Ultimate's Rainbow

Skittles Granulosa

Tyree Purple Monster

PC Superman

Reefermadness Rainbow Nasuta

20,000 Leagues Dragon

 Cornbred's Ice Dragon

 Battle Corals Doomsday Lokani

ORA Hawkin's

 30,000 Leagues Lokani

 Cebu Pylei Fairy Wrasse

 Geometric Pygmy Hawk

Pink Margin Fairy Wrasse

ORA Pearlberry