January 20th Update
Parameters today:
SG 1.023
Nitrate (Pinpoint monitor): Undetectable
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
phosphate (Hanna Colormeter) 0.01
Mg (salifert) 1190ppm
dKH 7
Ca (salifert) 420ppm
Things that are happening this week;
I noticed cyano forming last week in tiny patches, I siphoned it out. This week its back and its everywhere. Last time I delt with this was 2004 and I fixed it by correcting my then low dKH levels. This time around I don't really know what to do. I'm researching it again to see what new information has come out on dealing with it.
I am experiencing STN on my biggest colony of SPS. You can see in the photos below the fresh white skeleton showing through. In one photo there is cyano on the colony before I blew it off. I'm unsure if it is related or not to the dosing program I am on as it was fine prior to starting the program.
My surviving clams came back to me. Delphinius was kind enough to hold onto them while my tank settled back to where I wanted it. Its really nice to see them again. Both are open and the mandarin is happy to have his favorite hiding/hunting spot back again. I can't wait until I can add more clams in the future, I really miss my field of clams.
The tang that I was holding for a friend is now mine. I convinced him to trade the tang for a good meal. I am now the proud owner of a tang that EATS!! GHA. I'm planning a 6ft tank right now to move him to in the next month or so. The tang also taught my imperator angel to eat GHA, so I can't complain.
Speaking of the GHA its still proliferating. I manually prune about 1/4 cup every few days. Its not as thick as the GHA I delt with in my previous tank, so that is a bit of a relief. I'm slowly going to start moving out infested rocks so I can cook them. It is going to be a long and slow process, but I think it needs to be done.
I'm thinking that there are two possible sources that are feeding the GHA right now, a) my RO/DI itself, b) my rocks from my original first set up in 2004. The only rocks that do get covered with GHA are all rocks that I got in 2004 when I set up my first tank. I had to go back through all my photos to make this connection.
I did starve a bunch of my hermits in my sump as suggested, now that they've been returned to the tank I hope they start chowing down. My urchin has finally abanadoned the tank walls as his perfered spot. Instead he how hangs out on the rocks, sadly its the underside, rather then the tops with the GHA.
FTS from Friday the 17th
FTS from today, the 20th
The imperator angel.
Mandarin
Necrosis on my colony
Other corals in the tank
The clams, home at last.
