An update is long overdue!
I am very pleased with the results of ditching the Zeovit system. Back to the basics!!
I'm on my second rotation of GFO now. I still get the same phosphate test result of 0.008 ppm using a Merck kit. The rampant Grape Caulerpa growth has slowed down, and the red and green bubble algae has finally backed down some. The 5 or 6 Emerald crabs may be helping too!
I used to rip the Bryopsis off my clams in clumps every couple weeks for about 8 months. That was the only place in my tank that had Bryopsis...and try as I might I just couldn't get it to stop growing on them, and now it is gone. The day after I put GFO back online (about 8 weeks ago now), there appeared a black cyano on the top rocks in my tank directly under the halides. It is persisting to this day. Not sure what is up with it. I'm hoping with good maintenance it will cure itself. Also getting a bit of cyano on my sand...I need a couple bigger powerheads.
So far so good on the RBs. *fingers crossed* However, I noticed one of my Validas browning out...I know what that means, and most of you Acro keepers probably know too. The first corals to get an AEFW infection are Validas. Hooray! Wtf?? I mean seriously??? Is my tank cursed this summer or what?
So I pried out the two infected colonies and a couple bonus colonies and gave them all a 20 minute dip in TMCC scraping eggs off beforehand. All except the Alien Freckles Acro...he's special, he got a 45 minute dip because I forgot about him!
He survived. That Acro has taken a real s**t kicking this summer. He's nearly all bleached out, but the neon green polyps are still neon as ever. Go figure. LOL
I would post up a FTS, but the tank is a mess with Acros laying all over the place (haven't glued them back down yet).
So here are some pics of non-Acros!
Def not an Acro...Tuxedo Urchin (after I pulled off all his decorations):
New Stylo that is too far from the glass to get a good pic:
Ok, so here IS an Acro! This one is red, but I'll be darned if the camera will pick up the color very well...hmmmph.
Meteor Shower Cyphastrea:
Oh I lied again, another Acro. This one is a deepwater of some sort that is
finally coloring up...has SWEET neon green polyps:
A couple Goniopora frags. These ones have a good track record for survivability:
Blue Rics:
Palau Nepthea:
Favia (one of my oldest pieces):
