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Fijicube 81 gallon (1 Viewer)

I like to do 3 consecutive tests quick with the tester and take an average as sometimes you can get an odd reading. If you don’t the vial sometimes there’s reagent residue on the glass inside that throws it off.
 
as far as testing goes with Hanna this is what I have started doing. run the test, fill the vile half full of ro/di shake and dump, then I refill with ro/di water and cap it till you want to test again. dump that than fill with tank water and dump that, than I refill tank water to be tested. this is how I've gotten much more consistent results.
 
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Well the lights out experiment for cycling didn’t keep the uglies away completely but things are really starting to square themselves away. Nutrients are really stabilizing. Did 20+% water change that I do weekly and nitrates are at 2 and phosphate is at .04. I have some algae, it’s a leafy type not the hair algae I am used to seeing in my tanks. I do like the way my rocks are set up, makes scrubbing algae way easier. Coraline hasn’t taken hold yet but it isn’t dying on the snails I have with coraline on their shells. Next step will be measuring PAR and waiting on some coraline before adding some coral.
The Laboute wrasse didn’t make it out of quarantine with Reef Collective so have decided to try a captive bred yellow tang. He should have plenty of pickings on the rocks by the time I get it. IMG_3004.jpegIMG_3005.jpeg
 
Green is always better than brown! Looks like sea lettuce maybe?
 
spsick said:
Green is always better than brown! Looks like sea lettuce maybe?
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It’s leafy and easy to scrub off with my battlebrush toothbrush 😀 once I brush off an area it doesn’t seem to come back very quickly. The snails will eat the leftovers but don’t seem to remove it all the way. You’re right though at least it’s green.
 
Gotta give a shout out to the lowly Turbo snail 🐌 after having Trocus, Margaritas, and a few other snails in the tank who didn’t touch the leafy algae I have growing on my rocks. They all stayed on the back glass which is ok cause there is some film algae there too. Anyway 4 Turbos are making short work of all algae on my rockwork and it’s only been two days. Definitely would recommend the Turbo for rock cleaning. I know they are a bigger once you have corals as they knock a lot over but right now they are perfect.
 
Turbos are the ultimate crisis clean up crew because they don’t live super long but shred algae for a few months!
 
Haven’t done an update in a while. Went through a couple stages with my rocks. Lots of lettuce type algae that has been all cleaned up by my troop of Turbo snails. Then had some brownish film that came with nutrient drop off. Things have definitely stabilized in the last few weeks. Nitrates are normally between 5-10 and phosphate runs between .05 - .15. Got a few SPS frags in the tank in the last couple of weeks. Got them all as fresh cut. Just starting to see a little growth at their base so keeping my fingers crossed. Also seeing some coraline finally. Thinking about adding 1 or 2 small Maxima clams to the sandbed next. The tank and equipment are running well although my InkbirdSmart heater controller has fried two of my outlets on my DJ power strip. Moving to an IM heater controller soon even though the InkbirdSmart has run well. Also thinking about adding a Hydros Launch controller for some redundancy. Need to wait a bit since I just purchased a new ClearView custom lid. Will add a photo of the new lid once installed.IMG_3068.jpegIMG_3067.jpegIMG_3066.jpegIMG_3072.jpeg
 
Added one more frag. A beautiful Solar Flare millie. Fingers crossed I am able to grow it out. I love the Millies. Parameters are good for the most part. I am adding 4tsp BRS Soda Ash per day and keeping Alk at around 8.0-8.3. Calcium around 230 and need to add about 1.5 oz per day to maintain so there is some uptake in there somewhere. Phosphate bottomed out on me and have been adding Brightwell phosphate additive daily at 2-3ml to keep it between .02-.05. Can definitely tell in the coral color when there is phosphate vs none. Nitrates are stable at around 10. I think I need another fish or two 😁IMG_3086.jpeg
 
Well back to square one...... Dynos. My phosphate must have stayed too low for too long. My Millie is still doing ok but everything else is on its way out. I have managed to get my phosphate back up above zero without adding phosphate every day multiple times. Hoping to get some sort of algae growing and will wait. I have turned the lights down some and dont see any stringy bubbles but everything got covered with brown so guessing that is what is going on. Pretty frustrating but it is what it is.
My new custom lid from Clearview Lids should be here in the next week or so, pretty excited about that. Will post a photo once it is on the tank.
 
Big time bummer. I would highly recommend getting a microscope view on the “ick” asap though. Depending on what it is (Dino’s or diatoms, and if Dino’s what type) it will totally change your action plan to stamp them out. Especially if it’s ostreopsis Dino’s, as they’re the most toxic (I.e. killing your corals) but they’re pretty easy to deal with via a properly sized uv plumbed directly into/out of the display.

Let me know if you need a consult, I’ve been through the buggers several times on several tanks. Blech.
 
Varig said:
Big time bummer. I would highly recommend getting a microscope view on the “ick” asap though. Depending on what it is (Dino’s or diatoms, and if Dino’s what type) it will totally change your action plan to stamp them out. Especially if it’s ostreopsis Dino’s, as they’re the most toxic (I.e. killing your corals) but they’re pretty easy to deal with via a properly sized uv plumbed directly into/out of the display.

Let me know if you need a consult, I’ve been through the buggers several times on several tanks. Blech.
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I have a UV sterilizer but have not used it yet.
 
Whatever the brown stuff is will not blow off like Dino’s usually do. It’s a fine brown hair like stuff that starts in the tips but slowly moves down the rest of the coral. Thankfully I only have a few pieces of coral. I want to get the tank in a position to grow corals but seem to get frustrated more often than not. Good thing I like fish
 
Hang in there Jake, I think all you gotta do is just give it time. Unfortunately with dry rock and sand it takes its own sweet time. The bottle bacteria doesn’t really do anything other than assist until the nitrifying bacteria gets going when new.
 
asifiqbal2 said:
Hang in there Jake, I think all you gotta do is just give it time. Unfortunately with dry rock and sand it takes its own sweet time. The bottle bacteria doesn’t really do anything other than assist until the nitrifying bacteria gets going when new.
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Yeah it was just bad timing on my part. Should have known it wasn’t quite ready.
 
You never know until you try. At least the corals contributed to the genesis of the biome on the way out 😁
 
Custom lid from Clearview Lids came today. Fits perfectly and looks super sleek and clean. Now if I can just get the inside of the tank squared away….

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