KJoFan's SCA 150g Build (1 Viewer)

[KJoFan]

So after suspecting disease in my fish population I chose to qt all fish and go fallow for 76 days. The clock hasn’t started on the fallow period just yet but all fish are through qt and slowly moving into their temporary home.

I worked on a re-scape today and ended up with this. The water hadn’t fully cleared up but you get the idea.

And a few coral pics to end the night.

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[KJoFan]

Ok, experts, help me out. My fish population was mostly removed...6 weeks ago? The remaining few left the system a few weeks ago. So, now I'm fishless for the next couple months. This means no food has gone into the system now for a few weeks. I have a little bit of cyano, however when I tested nutrients they were high, 50 NO3 and 0.2 PO4.

I am attributing this somewhat to a lot of stirring up of the sand recently, and some removal of sand, along with some established rock coming out and some newer rock going into the system. Just been a bit of an upset I think. I'm not terribly worried about the nutrient levels, except that I usually attribute cyano to low nutrients. I still also have some algae on the rocks, but it seems static. My skimmer is really not working much with nothing going in for it to skim.

I'm thinking of a weekly dose of Vibrant to perhaps deal with some of the nutrients and keep the algae in check. Wholesale waterchanges aren't that economical, so if the Vibrant can bring nutrient levels down I'd prefer that route. I can't explain the presence of cyano though and am hoping not to fuel it with the Vibrant.

My other concern is feeding the corals. Everything is doing fine so far, but I'm concerned about getting the acros what they need. I do have Acropower, do I start some kind of dosing of that to provide something for them, despite the elevated nutrient levels?

 

[abhishek]

Ok, experts, help me out. My fish population was mostly removed...6 weeks ago? The remaining few left the system a few weeks ago. So, now I'm fishless for the next couple months. This means no food has gone into the system now for a few weeks. I have a little bit of cyano, however when I tested nutrients they were high, 50 NO3 and 0.2 PO4.

I am attributing this somewhat to a lot of stirring up of the sand recently, and some removal of sand, along with some established rock coming out and some newer rock going into the system. Just been a bit of an upset I think. I'm not terribly worried about the nutrient levels, except that I usually attribute cyano to low nutrients. I still also have some algae on the rocks, but it seems static. My skimmer is really not working much with nothing going in for it to skim.

I'm thinking of a weekly dose of Vibrant to perhaps deal with some of the nutrients and keep the algae in check. Wholesale waterchanges aren't that economical, so if the Vibrant can bring nutrient levels down I'd prefer that route. I can't explain the presence of cyano though and am hoping not to fuel it with the Vibrant.

My other concern is feeding the corals. Everything is doing fine so far, but I'm concerned about getting the acros what they need. I do have Acropower, do I start some kind of dosing of that to provide something for them, despite the elevated nutrient levels?

I wish people knew what acroporas need actually !!! If it were me, I won't add aminos to a new system with cyano already in the system . Just give acros time to settle and I wouldn't do anything extra for 6 months even if it means loosing a couple here and there .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[KJoFan]

I wish people knew what acroporas need actually !!! If it were me, I won't add aminos to a new system with cyano already in the system . Just give acros time to settle and I wouldn't do anything extra for 6 months even if it means loosing a couple here and there .

Regards,
Abhishek

Even if the system is fishless with no food/nutrients going in?


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[abhishek]

You have nutrients level up right ? Then I would start with just the acros and see how they perform . You can always try aminos if acros start looking pale . You can even feed the tank just benereef which I really love as I have never been able to overdose even with 4-5 teaspoons a day

 

[KJoFan]

You have nutrients level up right ? Then I would start with just the acros and see how they perform . You can always try aminos if acros start looking pale . You can even feed the tank just benereef which I really love as I have never been able to overdose even with 4-5 teaspoons a day

I shall follow what you say, as you know far better than me. I am not worried as yet really, everything is looking just fine and with decent color so I won't upset the apple cart if I can help it.

The cyano is minimal anyway, and mostly only in places where flow could improve here and there.

On another note, what I thought might be cyano on the rockwork, appears to be the beginnings of coralline algae instead. Finally! @jlanger I saw your post about hitting a bit of a groove with your tank finally. It looks like your coralline growth on the rocks is far more advanced than mine but I did a bit more putzing with swapping rock and didn't get that good TBS rock.

I do have an explosion of pineapple sponges all over though, so I consider that a good sign. Things are moving along.

 

[abhishek]

I shall follow what you say, as you know far better than me. I am not worried as yet really, everything is looking just fine and with decent color so I won't upset the apple cart if I can help it.

The cyano is minimal anyway, and mostly only in places where flow could improve here and there.

On another note, what I thought might be cyano on the rockwork, appears to be the beginnings of coralline algae instead. Finally! @jlanger I saw your post about hitting a bit of a groove with your tank finally. It looks like your coralline growth on the rocks is far more advanced than mine but I did a bit more putzing with swapping rock and didn't get that good TBS rock.

I do have an explosion of pineapple sponges all over though, so I consider that a good sign. Things are moving along.

well I don’t know more than you my friend . Am more of a person who likes to wait and what happens and take things slowly rather than prophylactically adding something .

 

[jlanger]

I shall follow what you say, as you know far better than me. I am not worried as yet really, everything is looking just fine and with decent color so I won't upset the apple cart if I can help it.

The cyano is minimal anyway, and mostly only in places where flow could improve here and there.

On another note, what I thought might be cyano on the rockwork, appears to be the beginnings of coralline algae instead. Finally! @jlanger I saw your post about hitting a bit of a groove with your tank finally. It looks like your coralline growth on the rocks is far more advanced than mine but I did a bit more putzing with swapping rock and didn't get that good TBS rock.

I do have an explosion of pineapple sponges all over though, so I consider that a good sign. Things are moving along.

The explosion of pineapple sponges is definitely a good sign. Those were an early indicator that my system was returning to being "viable" for more life than just the fish. I was beginning to fear that my system would become just a pineapple sponge farm as they were so prolific. Now that I'm seeing more life in my sump, the pineapple sponge population has decreased and there are other sponges growing in their place.

I wouldn't say that much of the coralline algae came from the TBS live rock itself. Most of the algae was seeded from when I brought my old corals back to my system. As the corals died, the algae covered the skeletons and eventually found its way onto other surfaces; especially the trochus snails. As my rock was suffering from lyngbya and other issues, the snails were turning bright pink. Since I was using kalkwasser in my top off water, the only real benefactor was the coralline algae and snails.
What caught my attention to how fast the coralline algae was growing was that when my display was "dismantled" to catch the cleaner wrasse, I removed the one "small" rock and replaced it with another dry rock that I had picked up. I was expecting to see it get covered in diatoms and other uglies but the coralline algae took over first and the rock is covered in the pink algae.
I will say that having added the TBS live rock added enough other life forms that helped stabilize my system and the coralline algae benefitted from that.

Back to your cyano issue and dosing Vibrant...
When I dosed Vibrant to combat the bubble algae, I did get a serious cyano bloom. I'm trying to recall how long it lasted, but I do know that I used the Live Rock Enhance and Fritz-Zyme 460 to help clean up the after effects. I still have a couple of small patches of green cyano in a couple of spots on my rocks, but they'll be easy to remove with a siphon during my next water change.

And I dose AcroPower. It's random and not very consistent, but corals need aminos as a building block. I should spend some time and watch the recent [BRS?] video concerning aminos to learn more.

 

[KJoFan]

well I don’t know more than you my friend . Am more of a person who likes to wait and what happens and take things slowly rather than prophylactically adding something .

What you say makes sense to me. I will hold on the Acropower anyway for now and see how it goes. If they start looking dry, then I might start to worry.

The explosion of pineapple sponges is definitely a good sign. Those were an early indicator that my system was returning to being "viable" for more life than just the fish. I was beginning to fear that my system would become just a pineapple sponge farm as they were so prolific. Now that I'm seeing more life in my sump, the pineapple sponge population has decreased and there are other sponges growing in their place.

I wouldn't say that much of the coralline algae came from the TBS live rock itself. Most of the algae was seeded from when I brought my old corals back to my system. As the corals died, the algae covered the skeletons and eventually found its way onto other surfaces; especially the trochus snails. As my rock was suffering from lyngbya and other issues, the snails were turning bright pink. Since I was using kalkwasser in my top off water, the only real benefactor was the coralline algae and snails.
What caught my attention to how fast the coralline algae was growing was that when my display was "dismantled" to catch the cleaner wrasse, I removed the one "small" rock and replaced it with another dry rock that I had picked up. I was expecting to see it get covered in diatoms and other uglies but the coralline algae took over first and the rock is covered in the pink algae.
I will say that having added the TBS live rock added enough other life forms that helped stabilize my system and the coralline algae benefitted from that.

Back to your cyano issue and dosing Vibrant...
When I dosed Vibrant to combat the bubble algae, I did get a serious cyano bloom. I'm trying to recall how long it lasted, but I do know that I used the Live Rock Enhance and Fritz-Zyme 460 to help clean up the after effects. I still have a couple of small patches of green cyano in a couple of spots on my rocks, but they'll be easy to remove with a siphon during my next water change.

And I dose AcroPower. It's random and not very consistent, but corals need aminos as a building block. I should spend some time and watch the recent [BRS?] video concerning aminos to learn more.

If I could get a good top down photo of the rocks I'll post it for assessment, but in my googling the other day it seemed more likely to be the start of coralline rather than cyano on the rocks. I only did one dose of Vibrant last week, will probably do another today. My aim is to bring the nutrients down some if possible without causing more issues like you mentioned.

The bits of cyano I have currently are mostly in the frag tank where flow could be better in some areas. All in all it's not an issue by any means though. Many of my trochus snails have huge heads of hair algae, they look like chia pets. As I can reach them I do pull them out and scrub them off and they stay clean after that. It's kind of amusing though. I added some kalk to my ATO reservoir this last time I filled it.

I think I'll cautiously move ahead with some Vibrant dosing for the nutrients, but hold on Acropower for the moment, though I know many people use it or a similar product. I just would think eventually some kind of food source would need to be providedsince the fish are on vacation at the extended stay hotel.

One note about the fish while I'm updating. I had a scare with a Potter's wrasse in QT laying on the bottom and breathing heavily. A couple rounds of General Cure and he was right as rain and still going. The yellow tang ended up with a nasty case of septicemia, red streaks all over. He got antibiotics and recovered nicely. No fish were actually lost in my overcrowded QT tanks for a few weeks. I did however lose my yellow tail tamarin recently after all that. I think he just ended up starving without pods to hunt every day.

 

[KJoFan]

This light pink stuff doesn’t blow off with the turkey baster so I have to figure coralline.

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[DarkSky]

This light pink stuff doesn’t blow off with the turkey baster so I have to figure coralline.

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Looks like coraline to me!

 

[KJoFan]

Update:

So, turns out that was NOT coralline but the start of cyano. Joy. I struggled with the algae and then cyano as well for the last couple weeks. I opted for a double shot of Reef Flux for the algae. It has knocked it back and some looks white and sickly but has not wiped it out completely by any means. I will let it ride a little longer and then consider another dose maybe.

I also broke down and treated with chemiclean a couple days ago. It took care of probably 80% of the cyano. So again will have to assess if another dose is in the offing or not.

All in all things look improved though. I moved my acros from the frag tank a couple weeks ago where they were looking fantastic, to the display where they have looked less than fantastic. I have lost a few and the rest for the most part look a bit starved. They have the same water chemistry but did change lighting from LED/T5 to MH.

So, I started Acropower 1-2x week. I don't see a huge improvement but no more have RTN'd so...yay? Despite my algae I would guess available nutrients were starting to really wane due to no fish load for 6+ weeks.

The good news is, all fish went back in the display last night after a 6 week fallow period to hopefully eradicate velvet. So, I am hoping now that some grazers are back in there and some fish poop will be generated, it will help the overall system.

Throughout the QT/fallow period I only lost one fish, my yellowtail tamarin which I think just starved out without a pod population in the temp quarters. Everything else survived, though a few had some rough patches while in the QT tanks that I was able to bring back from the near dead.

Next up will be letting things settle in again, then I need to replenish my CUC as I had a good amount of snail die off in the recent past for some reason.

Overall, despite using socks and having good flow in the tank it always looks fairly dirty. Just a lot of particles and gunk around it seems and nothing has been in there to produce gunk for weeks so..I don't even know at this point.

Anyhow, onward and upward, we'll see how the system reacts to the fish being back. It is nice to see some life in there again and remember what my fish look like from the side and not just top down.

I don't have any good photos to share so wall of text it is.

 

[KJoFan]

Quick FTS from earlier. Doesn’t look great but has surely looked worse. Getting a bit of a diatom outbreak from the mini cycle the fish add back caused.

Coming up on the agenda is replenishing my CUC. I had a fair bit of snail die off not long ago for whatever reason. That might help clean things up a bit.

Also need to swap out the MH’s for T5 w/ Reefbrites here after things slow down a little.


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[KJoFan]

I’m still plugging away down here trying to make the tank better.

I decided awhile back to switch to T5 only instead of MH. I finally got the swap done today. Now there’s a Giesemann Matrixx 48” 8 bulb fixture over the tank. I need to attach some Reefbrites to it yet and it will be done.

I always felt my sps looked much better in the frag tank under the Giesemann Aurora hybrid than they did after I moved them to the display under the MH. In fact one nub in the frag tank is recovering and looking very good vs some losses in the display. So, we’ll see what this light can do for the display.

The hair algae is gone, the cyano and dinos are gone. The fish are happy and healthy. We’re working on coral health and stability.

A few shots of the better looking corals.

And FTS:

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[jlanger]

So glad to hear and see that things are finally turning for the better.
I'm a huge believer (and fan) of T5 lit reef aquaria but I built my canopy to accommodate LED fixtures when they were all the rage. The interior opening is less than an inch too short to fit a 6x36" ATI fixture, so I would need to build a new canopy if I wanted to switch back. But I think these new Radions are working out just fine. (I only tried one halide fixture and didn't like it; but that was in 1995 and it was a terribly built and hot hunk of junk.)

 

[KJoFan]

So glad to hear and see that things are finally turning for the better.
I'm a huge believer (and fan) of T5 lit reef aquaria but I built my canopy to accommodate LED fixtures when they were all the rage. The interior opening is less than an inch too short to fit a 6x36" ATI fixture, so I would need to build a new canopy if I wanted to switch back. But I think these new Radions are working out just fine. (I only tried one halide fixture and didn't like it; but that was in 1995 and it was a terribly built and hot hunk of junk.)

I am hopeful the T5's will help the sps take off a bit more and gain some color. I don't really have any complaints on the MH, they are proven lights, but it seemed like the sps were responding favorably in the frag tank to them so, why not?

I did speak too soon though regarding any issues. While doing my waterchange earlier I observed my one Potter's wrasse chasing the other relentlessly. Sigh. They've cohabitated peacefully for months until now. I don't know if one is working on a transition or what the case is, neither looks particularly different yet, both still appear female to me.

I feel unless the one gets beat up to the point it's an easy catch, I don't know how I'd catch it now. Perhaps I can try the mirror against the glass trick, but I don't know if that's a long term solution since they had lived peacefully previously.

 

[KJoFan]

Caught these just before lights out.

Hungry favia:

Blues:

Orange filter:

Space Invader:

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