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Post by jasonandsarah on Sept 8, 2015 6:51:10 GMT -5
Red sea Mag test? RC can run a little to high on the Mag levels. That's one of a few reasons I b switched back to IO.
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 8, 2015 9:08:50 GMT -5
Red sea Mag test? RC can run a little to high on the Mag levels. That's one of a few reasons I b switched back to IO. Yes the red sea test. Interesting that rc does that. I guess my fears that since I'm not dosing low levels would be a problem was incorrect at least currently. |
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 10, 2015 20:42:01 GMT -5
Had a bit of a scare when I got home tonight. There was pieces of fire shrimp scattered all over the tank. I had visions of the zebra hermit deciding that I hadn't been feeding it enough(it's really not big enough to take out the shrimp but you know what your brain does). Just molted NDB. This is the second crustacean that I've had molt within a week of purchase(last one was a pom pom crab). Not sure if it's the change in environment triggering this or a stress factor issue. At least they both molted successfully, so I shouldn't complain.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Sept 10, 2015 21:34:02 GMT -5
Had a bit of a scare when I got home tonight. There was pieces of fire shrimp scattered all over the tank. I had visions of the zebra hermit deciding that I hadn't been feeding it enough(it's really not big enough to take out the shrimp but you know what your brain does). Just molted NDB. This is the second crustacean that I've had molt within a week of purchase(last one was a pom pom crab). Not sure if it's the change in environment triggering this or a stress factor issue. At least they both molted successfully, so I shouldn't complain. Normally a crustacean molting is a good sign that they feel comfortable. At least in my experience if they feel threatened at all then they won't risk it. |
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Post by Pokahpolice on Sept 12, 2015 3:11:18 GMT -5
Did you test KH? I saw CA & Mg numbers but not KH? Bleaching from the tips in sounds like low ALK to me. You're going to struggle keeping SPS if your not testing KH and CA often. CA isn't as critical as KH but the 2 need to be your top priority. Once I came to terms with that (took me 10 years of being in the hobby), my sucess rate has drastically improved. I haven't lost a coral in well over a year.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Sept 12, 2015 7:38:45 GMT -5
Well sps bleaching at the tips could also be to high Alk. When you have low nutrients and higher then Nsw Alk it causes tips to beach and if not corrected soon enough, then Stn or Rtn.
I do completely agree that if you want to keep most Sps you'll need to keep your Cal, Alk and Mag (imo) as stable as possible. Where you keep them is totally up to you.
As of late I've been keeping my tank fairly close to Nsw since I run a Lns. I've seen some of the best results in growth since I started using this method.
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Post by Pokahpolice on Sept 12, 2015 12:46:37 GMT -5
Agreed but high Alk is tough to get if you're not dosing.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Sept 12, 2015 13:26:13 GMT -5
Unless your using RC for weekly water changes with minimal corals that uptake the big 3. I think he probably has a build up of elements.
I used to be really pro RC but now I'm not. I use instant ocean because it's a lot closer to Nsw levels and my tanks levels.
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 12, 2015 20:10:48 GMT -5
I had checked my ALK but wasn't sure about the results so I redid it tonight. Still not sure if I'm doing it right. color changes to pink around the 8 ish range but doesn't ever turn the deep red like the card seems to indicate which would mean over 14.
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 12, 2015 20:15:53 GMT -5
Also solved a problem that's been bugging me a week or two. I would occasionally find a puddle of water on the floor. Two obvious sources; The AC110 or the aquamaxx hob-1 skimmer. But I'm not getting enough skimmate for it to ever overflow. Turns out the bubble stop on the return pipe slows the outflow to the point that it backs up to where the inlet pipe enters the skimmer. A dribble of salt water would occasionally seep out around the outside of the intake pipe and drip onto the floor. I removed the bubble stop and put the original 45 degree angle pipe back on. I'd rather deal with having to clean salt creep off of the lights than water off the floor.
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 13, 2015 15:51:28 GMT -5
Adding sexy shrimp may have been a mistake. They pretty much took out the purple pocillopora frag that had been growing nicely. I had heard they could bother corals if not well fed but this seems extreme. After adding them I upped my feedings from the usual one dose of flake food for the molly, to a few pellets in the evening and well as hand feeding a piece of krill to the fire cleaner shrimp daily. I was also placing a piece of krill in the maxi mini they were hanging around so that they could eat some before it consumed it. Apparently pocillopora mucus is tasty stuff though.
Looks like this is going to stay an lps and softy tank for the time being.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Sept 14, 2015 6:26:15 GMT -5
That really stinks! My Sexy shrimps were always model citizens and I've never heard that before. Then again I feed a ton of food so maybe that's why?
Either way it didn't really pay off very well for them to be good because my melanurus turned them into a snack rather quickly. Melanurus also ate my lettuce Nudi's.
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 14, 2015 6:53:34 GMT -5
That really stinks! My Sexy shrimps were always model citizens and I've never heard that before. Then again I feed a ton of food so maybe that's why? Either way it didn't really pay off very well for them to be good because my melanurus turned them into a snack rather quickly. Melanurus also ate my lettuce Nudi's. yeah I've been reading up and they seem hit or miss. I was just really surprised that I wasn't getting them enough food. I tend to worry about overfeeding as opposed to under. Mixed up a mush of leftovers(powder from tubifex worm, powder from blood worms, marine snow, frozen zooplankton) and am experimenting with target feeding things. If nothing else it should put plenty of stuff for them to forage around on. Which will hopefully allow the pocillopora to recover. The wrasse ate a Nudi. I didn't think much of anything liked the taste of them? |
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Post by jasonandsarah on Sept 14, 2015 7:34:23 GMT -5
That really stinks! My Sexy shrimps were always model citizens and I've never heard that before. Then again I feed a ton of food so maybe that's why? Either way it didn't really pay off very well for them to be good because my melanurus turned them into a snack rather quickly. Melanurus also ate my lettuce Nudi's. yeah I've been reading up and they seem hit or miss. I was just really surprised that I wasn't getting them enough food. I tend to worry about overfeeding as opposed to under. Mixed up a mush of leftovers(powder from tubifex worm, powder from blood worms, marine snow, frozen zooplankton) and am experimenting with target feeding things. If nothing else it should put plenty of stuff for them to forage around on. Which will hopefully allow the pocillopora to recover. The wrasse ate a Nudi. I didn't think much of anything liked the taste of them? Melanurus love worms(nudi's) shrimp and crabs. |
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Post by fermentedhiker on Sept 16, 2015 19:39:17 GMT -5
Met up with Tempest(Meghan) after work and picked up a pom pom crab pair(M/F) and a pistol shrimp. The pistol shrimp found a cave in the live rock to clean out. The crabs were in no hurry to hide which is a pleasant change from my other pom pom crab.
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