Very nice tank, good build thred too. If you ever find out what that "unknown SPS" is from a few posts back let me know, i have the same one i think, BRIGHT green polyps and a dark green/brown base, i assume it's a pocci... but?

Thank you!

I have only had them about 3 weeks or so. I feed them plankton twice a day and they gobble it up. They seem ok. No aggression. I might add an auto feeder as they also take flake. Would give me an extra feeding or two/day.

thank you. I still don't know the name. I just got into SPS with my 70... so I do not know anything about them to be honest. My buddy has been hooking me up with frags when he comes by so I am trying to learn. It is growing like a weed in my tank though!

Bah
 

Well my frag of "wanna be" hornets is dying off. All my other zoas are doing great... including my African Blue Steels... so why these are not, are beyond me. I guess sometimes things are poor shippers or something.

They are very nice, even though they are not the Hornets they were sold/promoted as, I do not like the fact they are dwindling away.

Any suggestions?

Too much light? My purple deaths have to be in the dark almost or they don't do to well.

Blue Steels
 

Here is a pic of my African Blue Steel Zoas. These came from Saskatoon compliments of Myka (Mindy).

They are doing great and I am happy to say it! For the record they had of dying off... mine look awesome. I have had them since remembrance day... so over 2 months. My last two frags died in a couple weeks max.


http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=4061

I will move them to a shady spot asap! Who knows?

Current Water Tests
 

NH3 - 0
NO3 - 0
NO2 - 0
Ca - 460
Kh - 90** Low


I am going to have to start dosing for Kh a little more frequently. I have never once dosed Calcium in this tank since its beginning in August last year. So that's not a bad thing. H2Ocean salt seems to be holding its own.

Corals are doing well... asides from a couple zoa colonies that seem to be struggling... Heart of Atlantis zoas and Hornet Morph. The Heart of Atlantis is from ages ago.. and never really grew in my 20. It started to grow when I moved it to the 70 last year... but then recedes again. Baffling me. Tough little Zoa.

KH and Anthias
 

So yesterday I switched from powdered SeaChem Reef Builder to liquid Seachem Carbonate. I got tired of constantly mixing the powder before dosing. Now I just measure into a sump chamber and let my pump mix it up. So much easier.

I have been, and always have, fought with my Kh level. Usually sits around 90. I dosed the liquid yesterday and early this morning. Tested, and now, for the first time in who knows how long, Kh has risen to 120. Good start.

Today I only tested:

Kh - 120
Ca - 460


On another, more sad note... one of my female Maldives Anthias passed on. It was doing very well until the male of the trio settled into the tank. He became an Alpha fish very, very quickly in the tank and started to chase the females. I moved her to my refugium last night as she was still alive... but today... no sign of her. The male is VERY fat and eating well.. and again being Alpha male... eats before all others but tang

Current Water Parameters
 

Ca - 400
Kh - 90
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0
NH3 - 0
Ph - 8.4

The alk is low you can get away with it for a bit but too long you can have major tissue losses. Its not good to have large swings dosing and then checking a few hrs later and it was 120 so it was probably higher and fell. I see you are using h2 ocean salt i had the same problem with that salt. It was actually some of the worst salt i had ever used.

No matter which salt I use, I always have Kh issues. At least with H2Ocean I have yet to dose calcium since this tank was set up last summer.

I am playing with dosing to see what I need to doe regularly to keep it up.

What kind of salts are have u used. I have used reefers best, royal nature, and instant ocean and had better results than h2 ocean.

I have used Instant Ocean (years ago - will never use it again), Bio-Sea, SeaChem Reef Salts and now H2Ocean. Asides from the Kh issue, H2Ocean has given me great results.

I don't foresee myself switching from it anytime soon.

Pat my only concern for u is I see you are not even checking potassium and magnesium. From my experience with the salt all 3 levels were very low and for the price and hassle of bringing them up I could buy a different salt.

Ive been using H2Ocean for two years....love the stuff.....so much so that I nearly had to buy it from a competitor recently because RC was in between shipments......Ive used some obscure brand that came in a bag that I cant recall the name of now, Seachem (hated it), Reefers Best (liked it but switched because of availability) and lastly H2Ocean.....

sorry to hear about the anthia mang:sad:

ive always like reefers best as well after switching from h2ocean.......now its sea water all the way baby so well see how that works for me lol:) ill ship you some if you want itttttt:):):):)

Strange maybe i had some really bad batches, +1 on the reefers best usually buy 10-15 boxes at a time when ever i can find it.

Pics
 

Just a couple pics from today.

Male Maldive Lyretail Anthias...he is doing very well. I installed a feeder on my tank and picked up some NLS Finicky Eater Pellets. The male eats anything I drop in the tank. The female is a little more frozen oriented right now.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=4116


Green Bubble Coral

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=4117

I will test my magnesium today.. as I actually do have a test kit for it. I will try remember to pick up a potassium kit next week.

I really never considered testing them before.


I am working on my reservoir a bit as well. I have a 20 gallon food grade container from Zeebest and some plumbing parts. I have a relatively good size pump and a heater already running in the container. I am tired of messing around wasting time with water changes.

Soooo... to begin with, I am going to make the reservoir into a "gas tank" kinda pump system so I can simply turn a valve and fill pails with a flexible pipe. This for the time being will save me some time.

BUT... I got the go ahead from my wife to plumb the tank into the laundry room DIRECTLY BELOW!!

I am going to have two reservoirs set for water change and top up. Pump directly from the room below into the tank. I also need to do some work on my main drain (due to a recent drainage back up issue) so I am going to also set a drain from the tank up stairs directly into it so I can eliminate buckets from my daily life forever. Wohahah. I will also work with the water lines since my water tank is also directly beside my reservoir "area".

Now to find a salt system so I don't have to scoop the salt anymore. Anyone feel like coming over? I need... some help. Ha ha ha!

Anyhow. The build never ends. Planning stages right now. Once I finish renovating the bedroom... I have more time to begin this. :lol:

Wooo
 

So today saw a complete cleaning and water tests (that I had).

Looks fantastic!!

Tests:

Temp - 76.1 (lights off), 76.5 (lights on)

SG - 1.029 - ***Water change to lower to 1.025***

NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - <5

Kh - 130
Ca - 380

PO4 - 0
Mg - 1480

Cu - 0 (go figure - ha ha)


I have been dosing builder to raise my Kh and now that it is, it seems the calcium is actually dropping.

I believe the trace amount of NO3 is due to a heavier feeding regimen. I installed a feeder to give my Lyretail Anthias a couple extra feedings a day.

I also removed my foam pad from the sump. Going to go foam/filter sock free and see if it works for my system. So many people argue against the use of them "clean water through old S***" . So, removed. Why not try it out.

So are u moving your sump and system downstairs? If you are was in Calgary yesterday at someones house and he had like 3ft by 2ft by 18 tanks drilled on the bottom super cheap.

No. For now the sump will remain upstairs. I am going to run lines for removing water and lines for pumping the salt mix back up. Also water lines and a small RO unit Jason is bringing over. Simplify my water changes. No more buckets.

In the next 5 years we are redoing our upstairs floors... hardwood... so then I will move the sump down as well and only keep the tank upstairs. Baby steps Wes. Baby steps. Ha ha. Its a start.

Lol ok. If you are getting a tub make sure to get a vertical one mine is horizontal and it starts to get dirty looking after a year or so and cant get in the 4x4" hole to clean it.

Yea... I am using 20 gallon vertical tubs. Food grade from Zeebest Plastic. Lid and all. The really nice heavy white ones.

Todays tests
 

NO3 - 0
NO2 - 0
PO4 - 0

Kh - 100 (dose builder)
Ca - 360

Calcium is noticeably dropping now that I am regularly dosing Builder.

I am going to need to get more regular in the calcium/Kh dosing schedule.

Question.... where do you get a test for Potassium Wes? I was looking for one today. And why test it?

Ooo Ooo Ooo!

I got a new brain coral. Blue and Red. I saw it at Aquarium Illusions and could not pass the tank twice.

BEAUTIFUL piece!

Pics soon!

Did I mention... this coral is FANTASTIC!!!

NEW CORAL!!!!
 

Ah... here is my new baby...

It is a blue and red brain coral... but type I am uncertain of. Anyone able to give a positive ID?

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/pic...pictureid=4192

The colors are amazing! I bought it at Aquarium Illusions yesterday. Could not resist. I love it!

Also... on another note... both the male and female Maldives Lyretail Anthias are taking NLS pellets. The pellets are in an auto feeder and give 2 extra feedings a day on top of the frozen dinner they get. They are looking very healthy and well!

That's awesome Patrick! I'm glad you took that home. Nathan and I had been eyeing that one up for quite some time now.

Wonderful brain coral Pat. Looks very healthy and colorful.
I'm going to take it next time your gone and I'm maintaining your tank!:twised:

Jerk. Yes. You. Ha ha!

I have been looking for one as well, only way I can find one is to order from J&L.

Nice brain as well Patrick.

Test Results
 

Current tank parameters:

SG - 1.025

PH - 7.9 (lights off)

Kh - 80*
Ca - 660*
Mg - 1320

NO3 - 0
NO2 - 0
PO4 - 0


* - Calcium and Kh out of balance. Dosing/Absorption rate not figured out yet.


Does anyone have Ca/Kh product recommendations? I have been using SeaChem's Builder and Calcium Advantage and would definitely be open to trying a better product (if there is one that actually makes a difference).


Thanks.

Maldives Anthias Update
 

Well unfortunately I lost the female Lyretail yesterday. She seemed to be doing fine over all, but the male definitely bullied her.

This I am sure contributed to her demise. The male is still fat and sassy. Running my six line around and eating anything he can.

I hope he continues in this fashion.

My male anthias is a PITA. :lol: Constantly chasing my midas blenny into his hole when comes feeding time. Annoying but funny to watch the blenny bite the anthias when he turns to swim away.

Currents Parameters
 

I tested with 2 separate kits. My regular Hagen and API.

API...

Ca - 540
Kh - 179 - 1st test
Kh - 161 - 3rd test


Hagen...

Ca - 540
Kh - 120 - 2nd test
Kh - 160 - 4th test (1st new bottle)
Kh - 160 - 5th test (2nd new bottle)


Mg - 1440

SG - 1.025


As you can see the first Hagen test was off. The bottle was low and I guess they become unreliable. I had two spare bottles so I tested with both as well as an extra test against the API. As you can see.... fairly consistent.

The first Hagen bottle... garbage.

My tank is finally nice and balanced. Ca is high as is Mg, but its not the end of the world. At least its not low still!


BONSAI!!!!

Todays results

Mg - 1360
Ca - 540
Kh - 150

Not bad.

Probably Symphyllia sp.

Zoas and Palys in my tank.

Alien Eyes Zoa
Armor of God Paly
Eye of Rah/Blowpop Zoa
Blue & Gold Zoa/Blue Ice
Heart of Atlantis Zoa/Black Crystal Death Zoa/Blue Shuriken
African Blue Steel Zoa
Crazy Skirts Zoa/Purple Puddle
Eye of the Storm Zoa
EZs Zoa/Lunar Eclipse Zoa
Green Crossette Zoa/Lilypad Zoa
Green Implosion Paly/Emerald Paly
KeddRedd Zoa
KO's Nightmare Zoa
Pink Panther Zoa
Radioactive Dragon Eyes Zoa
Belle Zoa

Unknown ID:
Hornet Morph
Watermelon Morph
Orange face/Yellow skirt Zoa
Orange face/brighter orange skirt Zoa
Pink Zoa
Reddish skirt/Green ring/purple mouth Zoa
Mint Green/neon green mouth zoa
Neon orange skirt, blue ring, orange mouth

This last one I obtained from Denny a ways back... it had lost color and is now coloring. Appears...

Reddish skirt, blue ring, possibly yellow ring next and white mouth.

I will try attach pics to all when I get the chance.

New fish day!
 

New fish yea!

I got tired if my Rainford not doing his job well enough. Great sifter for a nano , but not my 70.

I added a six spot sleeper goby. Already eating frozen and sifting the tank. And only added 30 minutes ago!

Pic soon !