homer1475's 80 gallon build

[homer1475]

Also after doing some maintenance today, I noticed my GSP that was growing great up the back glass is mostly dead. Since its on the back glass at the bottom, I don't typically look at it(honestly I hate it, but the wife made me keep it). The mat is mostly black, and 90% of the polyps are gone.

[soulpatch]

Looks like the bad salt did one good thing then.

Glad things are looking up again fir you man

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[homer1475]

My LFS finally came through with a starry blenny! Cute little guy going through TTM right now. Man having a mixing station makes TTM so much easier.

Only had 2 small frags of acans pulled through, although they still don't look the best, but they are recovering. Bought another acan frag last night just to "test the waters" so to speak.

Only issue I'm facing now is my elegance coral seems to be sloughing skin from the base of the skeleton, its like right where the living tissue meets the hard skeleton. Has me worried as it hasn't been puffed up lately either. Not sure if this is normal, so I'll have to do a bit of research today to see.

Bought an LED grow bulb for my fuge as I've put 3 different wads of cheato in there and they all die out. Now whether this is because of the lighting or the lack of nutrients(tests read .02 PO4, and 0 NO3) I'm not sure, but in the last 2 weeks I've had the LED light, its doubled in size. I'm going with lack of light.

Clam I bought while in PA at TPP died. Shrimp and CUC had a good meal that night. Think I'm just going to let things settle down right now before adding anything else. Once things start thriving again, I'll look into some more corals.

[homer1475]

Just so you guys can see what I'm talking about with the elegance, heres a couple pics.

When I first bought it



And this morning.

[soulpatch]

Hopefully not ECS but I would suggest you give it an iodine dip and such to see if that helps. Perhaps also a melafix or such to treat for potential bacterial infection.

Though elegance tend to go downhill fast. My fear of this is why I havent brought one home yet...

[homer1475]

Don't think its ECS as the mouths haven't inflated.

I posted in the LPS section and someone suggested too much light as it's right front and center. I've moved it to a more shadier spot. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I'm not too hopeful. Everything I've bought from TPP has died. I will not be going back there anytime soon.

My next trip down I'll have to try and hook up with you Soul and we'll go check out some other shops you know about.

[soulpatch]

yeah I dont buy anything from TPP except salt and food. Since their ownership change a couple years ago they have gone downhill FAST.

There are quite a few good shops within a short drive or an hour or so of me. My local guy for corals though is still my favorite. I have a shop in Philly now I go to for fish if not ordering online and we have a few other guys who have "shops" with awesome corals.

I'm switching to going to local guy's houses and getting frags of their named corals. April 15 for instance I will be running out to grab a Walt Disney Acro and a few other named pieces.

[homer1475]

I ended up loosing the elegance to ECS. As the days past it started to look more and more like classics signs of ECS. When it started to fall apart I pulled it from the tank and threw the skeleton away. I kind of wanted to keep the skeleton as there was a couple large feather dusters on it, as well as a cool orange sponge. When I started to see pieces of the elegance floating around the tank, it was time to toss it before it polluted the tank.

Came home to a dead citron clown goby(stuck to the side of the MP10). I'm guessing just plain old age did him in. In the last month or so I've noticed him getting a blacker look, and even though he ate like a pig, he was getting skinnier and skinnier. I've read their life expectancy is only 4 to 5 years and who knows how old he was when I got him. I've had him nearly 3 years, so I do think it was just old age.

Starry blenny is almost done with TTM, and still waiting to find a possum wrasse as my last fish additions.

Nothing new in the way of corals as I still have something weird going on in the tank. Nothing is dying, but nothing is thriving either. The 2 acan frags that made it through the bad salt still don't get fully puffed up, and the new acan frag I got to test to see if everything was OK, doesn't puff up fully. Every other LPS in my tank is happy and growing though, it's just acans seem to have problems.

Bought a COB LED grow light for my fuge, and chaeto is growing like weeds for the first time ever! I've tried par38 spot lights, led daylight bulbs, twisted cfl bulbs, and even plain old daylight LED's and have not seen any chaeto grows at all, some wads even turned white and died. With the LED light(pink in color) just in 2 weeks my chaeto has doubled in size and is a thick deep green mass loaded with pods.

My finding with a brighter LED grow light kind of confirms what BRS found out about different lighting for chaeto. Although mine is not a dedicated high wattage LED grow light(just a screw in 28W), the spectrum and intensity do matter when growing chaeto.

[homer1475]

I've got to figure out whats going on with my reef! Just ordered a couple triton tests, not cheap, but if I can figure out whats wrong, it's well worth the money.

I've thrown away more money in coral in the last 2 months then what I payed for 3 triton tests.

[soulpatch]

It took me a few months after my bad salt to get things back in line again. I have no hard data but I am convinced that stuff bonded to rock/sand and caused issues longer term then just in the water column. Triton tests are awesome though as I have seen a few of them done by local people. I just wish they weren't so expensive and the turnaround was faster.

[homer1475]

Decided to go for a drive after work yesterday, and ended up at my LFS. Why oh why do I take my wife with me? Ended up with a nice green plate, and of course my wife picks out yet another fish! A black leopard wrasse. Think with this addition I'm going to skip the pygmy wrasse. Either I skip the other wrasse, or I go bigger already.

I still have my starry blenny going through TTM, so I told her we couldn't get it as I don't have room or the equipment to do a whole nother TTM setup. Luckily for her this leopard is in my LFS DT and has already been through TTM, and QT. I believe my LFS when he says hes done these things to fish in his DT as I've seen his TTM and QT setups. So into the DT he goes last night.

Woke up this morning to sand kicked everywhere and piled up against my clam so hard he can't open. I'm assuming because of the wrasse, as the leopards like to hide in the sandbed. Hopefully he emerges in a couple days and is fine because I haven't seen him/her since I threw it into the tank.


Soul,
Triton tests aren't that expensive($49.00) when you figure in I've thrown away about 400$ in frags, clams, and an elegance in the last couple weeks. From what I've read the turn around time is 3 to 4 weeks. Certainly not fast enough to catch any problems in a hurry, but it will give me a better idea on whats going on with my tank.

[homer1475]

Man if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all!!

Tank is really starting to p*ss me off!! I'm about sick of it! If I had a hammer in my hand, I would smash the whole damn thing!

Had one of my 2 acan frags fall over next to a lobo last night, figured I would get it in the morning, went to pick it up this morning and the lobo is missing some flesh, and the acan is a dead skeleton.

Someone tell me why if I can't keep my favorite coral, do I continue in this hobby?

Saw a thread today of someone who took over a few acan frags(2 or 3 heads) from a friend. 5 months later and they are full blown colonies(10+ heads). I don't have a single coral that grows anywhere near that.

Thinking back now, my biocube was rocking. This tank nothing lives in it but fish. What I find odd is this tank is way more stable and at better parameters then my biocube ever was.

So disappointment in this hobby right now. If it weren't for the loss of fish lives, I would tear the tank down and start over.

[soulpatch]

I hope the triton tests reveal what you need man. I have had some things explode in growth since going into the new tank but others have been slow to nil. I even have the 2 different growth rates with just acans. I have one that is easily doubled in size in months and another that has maybe a new head in like 5 months. 1 hammer grows a ton whereas another doesnt.

[homer1475]

It's just disheartening to buy things and watch them die.

I'm just so frustrated to have a rocking tank, move everything over to a bigger tank to only have all the problems I've been having.

[soulpatch]

Well such is life but at the same time when you finally iron it out you will enjoy it sooo much more.

For me I am finally getting going with my calcium reactor and started to see new colors and such as the tank stabilized (though I am offline right now while I get my parts fixed from SpectraPure). It has been a fight and things getting in line makes it much more enjoyable.

My fight currently in the tank though is bubble algae. It is not super bad but I have got to figure out how to get rid of it knowing I will never get to the parts inside the rocks. I need to get in there this week and start poping the lil bastards. I know peoplpe say they spread by popping but then again they are spreading now so if I wipe out all I can see I should have a head start on em I woudl think...who knows though

[homer1475]

And thats what I keep hoping for. A better tank I can actually enjoy.

I knew lobos packed a wallop, but never thought it could kill the acan in such a short time(it was literally 6 hours). I thought for sure the acan would win that battle.

[soulpatch]

with the exeception of some fragile SPS I have not seen anything that an acan has won in my tank.

[Devaji108]

Oh man Homer,
sorry your having a hard time. hang in there buddy.
hopefully you will find something out in a few weeks with the test coming back.

I would wait until you get the test back to add more corals tho. keep positive vibes as soul said once this is over you will enjoy the tank even more!

[homer1475]

Got my triton test in yesterday and mailed it back this morning. Will be very curious to see what they find.

My large female leopard wrasse will not leave the little black leopard wrasse alone and for the life of me I cannot cach her to put her in an acclimation box. For now I'll just leave them be and hopefully they'll work it out. I did get the black leopard to come out last night after lights out and fed her some frozen mysis. She ate like a pig and is back hiding in the sand today. If the aggression continues for more then a couple days, Ill tear the rock out and catch her.

[Devaji108]

good luck hopefully they work it out!
I have been playing around with the idea of a leopard wrasse...I hear there hard to get eating tho..did yours eat right away?

[Agraves77]

good luck to ya!

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by Devaji108

good luck hopefully they work it out!
I have been playing around with the idea of a leopard wrasse...I hear there hard to get eating tho..did yours eat right away?

Mine ate right away, but the only thing she will eat is pods. I have tried frozen mysis, pellets, flake, baby brine, basically everything undert the sun, and the only thing she will eat is pods. She has a fat belly and so does my mandy, so even though I can't see them, I'm positive I have plenty of pods.

In other news, I put my starry blenny in last night. He's been munching away on GHA like there is no tomorrow! 24 hours in my tank and he has one rock completely bare! Super stoaked about this guy. Great personality, chows algae like theres no tomorrow, and pretty cool looking IMO.

[GfordQC]

Originally Posted by homer1475

Mine ate right away, but the only thing she will eat is pods. I have tried frozen mysis, pellets, flake, baby brine, basically everything undert the sun, and the only thing she will eat is pods. She has a fat belly and so does my mandy, so even though I can't see them, I'm positive I have plenty of pods.

In other news, I put my starry blenny in last night. He's been munching away on GHA like there is no tomorrow! 24 hours in my tank and he has one rock completely bare! Super stoaked about this guy. Great personality, chows algae like theres no tomorrow, and pretty cool looking IMO.

My starry is one of my faves as well! Always cominnup to the glass wanting to get some food. Roaming around and eating algae. Has yours changed his color yet? If mine gets angry or flustered it turns almost all white or has white areas around his body.

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by GfordQC

My starry is one of my faves as well! Always cominnup to the glass wanting to get some food. Roaming around and eating algae. Has yours changed his color yet? If mine gets angry or flustered it turns almost all white or has white areas around his body.

Funny you mention that. When I picked him up from my LFS he was almost white in their tank, I questioned him if it was the same fish I asked for and he assured me it was. He told me they change color depending on their mood.

All the while I had him in TTM he was whiteish looking, never that deep black color you see online. When I put him in my tank he instantly turned that nice black with white spots. I have noticed when he gets excited his spots turn almost blue in color. Other then while in TTM and at my LFS, I have not seen him turn white since being in my DT.

Pretty cool fish IMO.

[soulpatch]

This talk and I honestly forgot I had put a tailspot blenny in my tank not too long ago and havent seen him since. Sad that I "forgot" about a fish but I did. I will have to go on the hunt tonight to see if I can find him...