Christy's 180 build

Greenmaster · #1 07-26-2010, 01:07 AM

Yay! It's always nice when you find a lost fish.

christyf5 · #2 07-31-2010, 03:57 AM

Another update as I've decided to start ultralith and today is the day. Looking at the tank, the nutrient load is just far too high, rampant algae, majanos, vermetid snails etc have got to go or at least get toned down some. My previous use of ultralith eliminated brown wafer algae and well, most algaes except for coralline and caulerpa. It also seemed to eliminate vermetid snails. I can't remember if I had aiptasia or majanos at the time but hopefully it slows their growth too.

Looking at some of the corals, they've really lost a lot of color due to the excess nutrient load. Its nothing that can't be fixed via waterchanges and due diligence with feeding but its the algae that bugs me the most, that and the majanos which I think I counted about 50 more pop up while I was gone. So much for the killing spree.

This is a crap photo but you can sort of see the corals have diminished in color some from last month:

July 30

June 11

Ugh those are terrible photos and you can't really see much of anything. My "indicator coral" which tells me how happy the tank is and how happy I am with the tank is the big pink Pocillipora damicornis on the left hand side. Here is a closer shot:

Its spent most of its life being the funny shade of browny pink it is today and I've spent most of its life trying to make it the lovely pink it was on June 11th. I'm determined to get it back there.

Some comparison photos of coral coloration:

June 11th

July 30

June 11

July 30

And just some shots of various pests I want gone from the tank for later comparison:

Wafer algae:

Halimeda:

Majanos:

Lance · #3 07-31-2010, 04:19 AM

In the FTS comparison pics the Regal tang is in almost exactly the same position.

Good luck with the ultralith. I hope it works for you.

jorjef · #4 07-31-2010, 04:25 AM

I need to hi-jack for a second. In the last photo there is some round pink'ish/purpleish growth on the rocks with round holes in the middle...What is this stuff?? I have some of the same but also grows in long stringy lengths...Seems to be some type of sponge

christyf5 · #5 07-31-2010, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorjef

I need to hi-jack for a second. In the last photo there is some round pink'ish/purpleish growth on the rocks with round holes in the middle...What is this stuff?? I have some of the same but also grows in long stringy lengths...Seems to be some type of sponge

yep its a lower light sponge, the whitish type seems to get those long strings on them and after a few years if you try to separate your rocks you'll find they're glued together by the sponge. Kind of neat that it secures your rockwork for you but also annoying that there can be so much of it in there. I also have a couple of other sponges in the tank that come in pink and red, no strings but they look sort of the same as well as yellow ball sponges which are really neat

christyf5 · #6 07-31-2010, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance

In the FTS comparison pics the Regal tang is in almost exactly the same position.

yeah he really hates the black cloth I put on the back of the tank for FTS. He wigs out in that corner practically the whole time I have it on, which is why sometimes the pics look like arse, cuz i'm trying to get the shot too quickly.

lastlight · #7 07-31-2010, 05:58 AM

Perhaps the color is a bit diminished but your tank really great mature look to it. I've never had that wafer algae...call me nuts but it kinda looks cool?

christyf5 · #8 08-01-2010, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastlight

Perhaps the color is a bit diminished but your tank really great mature look to it. I've never had that wafer algae...call me nuts but it kinda looks cool?

it does kinda look cool but eventually covers every rock and gets to plague proportions. It also gives the tank a dull brown overcast which is less than attractive. I don't mind it in small patches but that never lasts long.

fishytime · #9 08-02-2010, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

it does kinda look cool but eventually covers every rock and gets to plague proportions. It also gives the tank a dull brown overcast which is less than attractive. I don't mind it in small patches but that never lasts long.

do we see a small naso in your near future?

......or are you just gonna manually pluck it out?

christyf5 · #10 08-02-2010, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishytime

do we see a small naso in your near future?

......or are you just gonna manually pluck it out?

naw I don't think I can do a naso unless they've made a dwarf version. Once the wafer algae starts to "plate" its easy to siphon out but I'm hoping the ultralith does the trick