Ska's 28 Macro Algae Display - Page 13

skabooya · #**121** 09-05-2010, 05:48 PM

So I picked up a calcium and magnesium test kit because of the sps and lps. Guess what. Im way off. My calcium is down at 300ppm. To slowly raise it to just over 400 is going to take me 10 days of 1/2tsp a day of seachem calcium and magnesium additive. When i get it up to the right level im going to calculate how fast its used up so i know exactly how much to dose and how often.

I knew IO salt was low in this stuff but geez.

whatcaneyedo · #**122** 09-05-2010, 06:18 PM

IO actually isn't low unless you're using an old bucket. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505 The new values are pretty good and right around where I target. Of course there still can be some variation between batches... but those should be minor.

skabooya · #**123** 09-05-2010, 07:22 PM

Shouldnt be old. I just bought the stuff a few months ago. Maybe a bad batch?? hmm
In any case its only been a 1/2 hour and guess what i see. zoas starting to open up

Just a little but its still more than before. I guess they do need some more calcium and magnesium. Poor guys.

Also SURPRISE! my hubby came back with my fishie surprise hes been talking about. Its my absolutely most fav fish EVER!!! Coral beauty. Stunning fish. So far she (im calling it a she) hasent picked on any coral. Just the rock work and sand. She stole my peppermint shrimps home lol and loves hanging out with my clowns who have just recently laid eggs!!! mmmm free food. Shes a pig and is a pretty calm one so far.

whatcaneyedo · #**124** 09-05-2010, 09:51 PM

Have you tested your newly mixed up saltwater or just your tank water? Your tank water is obviously going to be lower if you haven't been supplementing simply because its been getting used up.

skabooya · #**125** 09-05-2010, 10:06 PM

omg duh. thanks i totally forgot about checking the fresh salt mix lol.

skabooya · #**126** 09-29-2010, 02:41 PM

So i havent taken any pics yet like i normally do because i dosed the tank with prazi pro for my Coral beauty angelfish. The tank was quite cloudy. It cleared up for a day but Im also turning off the skimmer on weekends and feeding coral those days and using selcon and garlic extreme. Skimmer gets turned back on for the week. The tank hasent really cleared up yet but it is much better.

I also tried cleaning off my zoas again which only opened for a day when i recieved them and havent open since. Ive tried dips, and scrubs. They havent really worked. So, I tried putting them in a higher flow area which in turn is actually higher up in the tank and much closer to the lights... guess what... the brown film that was coating them is going away and they are slowy starting to open up. YAY! Hope they open up all the way but i wish they would survive on my sandbed so they are easier to frag. Now i dont know if it was the stronger flow or higher light or both that are making them happy. Im wondering about getting another powerhead to put along the sandbed for a higher flow.... but my mushrooms are happy with the flow so im also wondering about doing a total re-plan of my scape.
Im thinking all rics and mushrooms of any kind at the bottom of my tank. LPS at the uppermost part of my tank and zoas in the middle to top.

How can i frag zoas without cutting off the rock they are on too???? They look like they would be hard to peel off unlike gsp. The rocks they will be remaining on will not be able to come out of the tank for fragging either. *Sigh* How to do it???

skabooya · #**127** 10-09-2010, 04:43 PM

tank ended up being super duper cloudy. I couldnt see to the back of the tank. I added activated carbon. Feeding a lot less (Im afraid of starving animals in there now), running skimmer 24/7 and guess what i have now... green water.
In any case I have too many organics in the water. My pod population went way way down after adding the prazi pro.
Stupid thing said it was supposted to be safe in the display. I guess its not. Never again!

All params are still good. The corals are suffering a bit now because of the lack of light due to the cloudyness.

Im going to try another WC to see if it temporarily helps but all i can do now really is play the waiting game until the green water goes away. In my planted tank it took almost a month (2 years ago) but then it was super crystal clear.

skabooya · #**128** 10-16-2010, 04:26 AM

So now my tank is clearing up. I can see to the back of it now. Its still cloudy but not anywhere near as bad as it was previously.
Go figure my zoas are all open and looking good where as when the water was clear they were closed and unhappy and wrinkley covered in brown slime. hmmmm

Anyway All the other corals are not happy, my mushrooms are white and my green with orange spot mushroom is almost gone. My lps are shrivelled up. Rics have no colour to them anymore. Macro on the other hand is BRIGHT RED!

I guess it was too long with minimal light (about a month) so now i dont expect many of my coral to survive

Madreefer · #**129** 10-16-2010, 04:50 AM

Is there a reson you treated your whole tank with prazipro? Someone else should chime in but I think that stuff kills alot of things such as pods and inverts. Was it for a flukes treatment? You may have had alot of die off in your tank that could cause the nitrates. Not the greatest idea to add chemicals like that in your display tank. More for quarantine tanks.

skabooya · #**130** 10-18-2010, 01:38 AM

Prazi pro says its supposted to be safe in display tanks and causes no harm to inverts, corals, etc. Yes it was for flukes
Well my inverts are completely fine but my pod population is at almost nothing. So, im guessing thats what helped cause the green water.

in any case its getting much better now... despite coral loss from lack of light