28g JBJ HQI

[makana]

Here are some updated photos. I managed to get the K1 pointed so that it doesn't cause too much issue for the bubble coral. The bubble cora hasn't opened up as big with it on but I think it will once it adjusts. I'm not sure what the green plant growing next to it is. It spring up out of the rock. I appear to be down to one hermit crab also. Not sure what happened to the others. They just vanished.

[BlueAbyss]

Looking very good, you're off to a great start! That hitchhiker macroalgae is Padina spp., I believe.

[makana]

Well its been a while since I updated this. I have been battling hair and cyano algea for weeks now. I am not sure what is causing it and I'm not making much headway at stopping it. All my inhabitants are doing well. I do need to get a proper sized cuc but the the lfs never seem to have anything. I was finally able to get the K1 positioned so that I can have it on and not bother the bubble coral.

[makana]

Well its time for a long overdue update. My bubble coral died (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=61551). I tried everything I could think of and nothing helped. Once it was gone what I thought was part of it's skeleton, moved and turned out to be a tiny clam.

I had a large battle with nitrates that I finally won. 3-4 water changes a week did nothing. I finally started dosing sugar and that worked slowly but as soon as I started cutting back the nitrates came back. I finally bought an eshops75 HOB skimmer and within a week I had 0 nitrates and have ever since.

I added a yellow watchman and a purple fire fish. I think that will pretty much be it fish in this tank.

I added pulsing xenia, an open brain, and some mushrooms. Most of the mushrooms died right away and the remaining ones don't look like they will make it. I can't find any cause, all I can think of is maybe shock from the MH light. I don't know if maybe I need to learn how to acclimate corals to the light. Half the xenia shriveled up and died as well when they were added. The other half looked good and then started to die as well. I moved it up to the top of the tank and it rebounded great and is doing well. Makes me wonder if the new 20k bulb is maybe not putting out.

I discovered IO salts shortcomings and started dosing it for my water changes. Right after that something began using up the calcium and alk at insane rates and I had a steep learning curve (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=66997). I added a JBJ ATO controller with an aqualifter pump using full strength kalk for top off water. This helped with stability but my alk still drops 1 dkh per week.

I'll add new pictures when I get a chance.

[makana]

Well it has been far too long since the last update. I bought a house and moved across town without any losses.

My sun coral slowly deteriorated and died. I'm pretty sure it was from the clown fish hosting it at night when it would open up to feed. Some of the tissue was gone from the skeleton and algae took hold on the bare spots. After that it stopped feeding and I could not get it back. I setup a hospital tank for it but I think by that time it was too late.

I had a serious algae outbreak and am still fighting remnants of it. I tried everything with minimal success. I finally removed half the rock and cooked it, then the second half and cooked that. I have cheato in the display and an ATS I'm trying to get going in the back chamber. In the middle of the battle my skimmer pump melted.

I had an aiptasia problem that I had been battling since day one and I finally picked up a peppermint shrimp that made short work of my problem. My cleaner died shortly after that. I'm not sure if the new shrimp had anything to do with that or not. Apparently they don't live that long so maybe it would have died anyway.

[makana]

The watchman goby did not survive long. It developed sores and died. It seemed to be out swimming around at the lfs but just hid in my tank. I had to target feed because it would not come out for food.

I have added a crocea clam, maze brain, candy cane frag, and gsp. I have had a real challenge with light acclimation and I think a lot of my corals have struggled with that. My open brain was doing fantastic since day one. Then I switched the bulb to a phoenix last year and I still don't know if it is recovering or slowly getting worse. The red tissue developed green spots that turned almost clear.

The maze brain has done great since I put it in. It has grown a lot from the frag I bought a year ago. The candy cane was up and down a lot for the longest time. Sometimes it would look deflated, like the skeleton was about to break through. It finally adapted to the tank and is now doing great. In the last few weeks it has begun developing another head. The xenia had turned into a small forest that the clown fish called home until I added an urchin with a fondness for wearing xenia. Now it is a little sparse but should come back.

[makana]

At some point I added a toadstool that seemed to rot around a spot on the stem. I eventually fragged the head and cut off the rot. There are 3 frags from that currently growning in the tank.

Current stock list: Clown fish, purple fire fish, green chromis, blue tuxedo urchin, peppermint shrimp, crocea clam, GSP, xenia, open brain, maze brain, candy cane, toadstool, hermits, turbo snails, nassarius snails.