evolved's Wrasse & Reef Tank (Old)

Not bad on price. Those probably won't last long at those prices. And yes, you'd need at least a 75 to make that work well; a 90 would be better.

Updates? Well, lets see...

I have nutrient issues right now. How do I know this? I have brown cyano everywhere and HA. Oh, and the coloration of my SPS are fading. :/ I believe it's phosphate based, but it might be a trace element as well. It's even growing on top of the coralline on the back glass. What I've done so far: reduced the photo-period (meh), removed about half of my overgrown chaeto (some was dying in the middle I found), cleaned the skimmer (oh boy, had it slowly reduced in production over the last three month. Note to self, clean every 2 months), reduced feedings (and leaning more on rinsed frozen stuff as opposed to pellets), cleaned ATO container (which was surprisingly clean), and removed the lexan covers on my lights which have hazed up a bit. And it still doesn't seem like I'm catching up. So that leaves me to believe it's either my current bucket of RSCP or it's leaching from my sandbed (ugh). I put in a few Trochus snails and a blue tuxedo urchin in last night; we'll see if they can't make a dent. I used to have great luck with hermits, but my Halichoeres wrasses have figured out they're a great food source. I've even tried adding some after lights out - to no avail. I'm also switching over to Brightwell Salt; my last few WC's with RSCP seem to have made things worse. Hopefully that'll do the trick. I'm tempted to lightly siphon my sandbed, but that does make me a bit nervous. Plus my sandbed is covered in corals. But HA is growing on the substrate surface... So for now I'll be doing weekly WCs (with Brightwell) and changing in fresh GFO.

I took a recent vacation; all mostly went well. The temps dropped here while I was gone on the last day, and my tank did fall a bit more than I would have liked it to swing, but I've got a handle on that now. I did lose a frag of strawberry shortcake, but it had been declining for a while. That's the second SPS frag I've lost in that location, so I'd say it's pretty obvious that isn't a good SPS spot. :-X I also lost my blue maxima I've had for a while on Monday; a bit mysterious there. After the mantle bleached it never did super well again, but I believe the final straw was the small temp drop. I also think it wasn't getting enough light anymore, which brings me to something I mentioned earlier; the hazing of my lexan LED covers. I'll try to get a picture of what I'm describing in a few days, but the lexan got kinda hazy at the location of the diodes, especially the Royal Blues. So I've got a new piece of acrylic waiting to go back in their place, I just need to cut it when I have a chance today/tomorrow. I've just removed the covers for now. I'm also thinking this hazing is partly responsible for most of the color fade on the SPS.

I don't have great news on the fish front either. I need to remind myself I have bad luck with flashers the next time I think about buying one... At least I've still got the female Red Tail. The McCoskers was lost to a swim bladder issue (likely due to dirty needles upon collection; I did get a DD credit for this one), the Royal was lost about a week ago to a jaw infection, and the male Red Tail was lost to an unknown issue (something internal - but I believe this to be unrelated to whatever happened to the Lineatus). Not cool, really. All my other fish all look/act fine however, so needless to say with everything going on right now I'm in no hurry to add any more. When things get back to my liking, I'll probably snag another Lineatus and a Labouti however.

 

Thanks for the update, first of all.
I had weird HA/light colored cyano(?) on the sand bed as well after the cyano creep on some rocks recently, but it might have been because I slacked out on the routine water changes. I did siphon some out, where were the worst. Its now back on track, I have a feeling that the BioPellets have helped take care of the issue as well.

 

Wow, I am sorry hear about your fish loss. On a slightly sadistic note, at least I am not the only one some wrasses just don't do well with. hope things get better soon.

 

Saw you added a new wrasse! Looks like it's time to update this thread with some FTS's! This tank is definitely grade A!

 

As soon as I get it looking right again...

I've been dosing Lanthium Chloride daily now (a small amount), and I'm definitely gaining ground. I'm hoping I'll have it back to glory in a month or two. I really just need to get the cyano gone now, and wait for everything to fully color back up.

 

How long have you had your Fromia star?

 

More like how long did I have it.

Lasted about 8 months, started dissolving.

 

Thats about par i think. I had a linkia in my 46 for about 2 years. My wife really wants a star like that again but i heard fromia are better suited than linkia to home aquaria.

 

Drs. Foster and Smith Diver's Den® - Cirrhilabrus jordani

 

You can get a red fromia that looks almost exactly like a linkia star. I've had 2 now, one lasted just over a year, and the current one is just coming up on 10 months old.