Lazys two 20s

[Lazyfish]

Yes as you say this was also too low just over 7 Most of my readings were low while my sg was right where it should be at 1.025. I tested with a refractometer I even recalibrated it and even rechecked the reading with an old hydrometer I had and got right at about the same thing

I totally didnt think about it but you are completly right the corals probly would react more strongly to an alk fluctuation than ph while the fish would react more strongly to ph swings. A sudden drop during a water change in both could have caused exactly what I experienced to happen.

Im just relieved the fish bounced back.

 

[Stoned]

The damage and stress from any major event can cause corals to die slowly meaning days / weeks or months after the event. This is what to me several times. Put the tank cruise and dont pay attention to it. Drop in nutrients or alk drop. Fix it. Seemingly all is well, then a few weeks or a month later things die off seemingly with ''no cause''. Sometimes it's what happened well before we notice the coral dead or dying that was a contributing factor or the exact reason. Sorry to hear this. Glad it's bouncing back.

 

[Lazyfish]

Yes I'm gona cross my fingers and hope it recovers and just try to keep up my regular mantinance keep it stable and hopfully things wont die on me. I expearanced something simmilar when I later on lost my big trach and some others after they went through that bad cold snap and extended power outage.

 

[BluewaterLa]

I agree with @Stoned
When adding new corals I never do a water change after for a few weeks to allow them a chance to acclimate to my tank water.
Changing water right after additions makes for more stress. They are bagged/ shipped, taken out of their water into your tank so that is two changes right there. If you dip them thats added stress. Then you change water which changes parameters or certain levels in that tank water so there is a third water difference. All equals stress.

Having water change drop your DKH and PH is never good, always test newly mixed salt water especially if you are not mixing entire bucket or container of salt at one time since the chlorides used are all different size and weight. This can cause settling of the different chlorides in turn can cause different batches of saltwater to be higher / lower in parameters.

 

[Lazyfish]

The water change had actualy occured prior to the corals being introduced that same day instead of after it was just normal mantinance and I wanted to do it before they were put in to decrease stress especially with being dipped. I guess I should have clarified that. I also like to give new corals time before a water change.
After assessing the tank last night I ended up not doing the aditional water change. I did mix a batch of sw just in case but ended up not useing it.
I realy should have tested prior to use especialy since it sat before useing it. It was a dumb mistake to make honestly.

Everything's looking normal tonight thankfully and the fish are all eating like normal.
Executed 2 more asterinas caugt one on the zoas... how many are in here anyway! One escaped me and fell into a hole in the rock...I'll get him next time.
Im about to start eradicating these things in my other tank too. Most people concider them as "Reef safe" should probly add with caution to that. ...They are only reef safe untill they get a taste for other things like polyps, zoas and baby nems they seem to be activly seeking them out at this point altho it may have started due to over competition by the snails they seem to have developed a taste for them. They are now on my not to be trusted list.

 

[Stoned]

I make smaller water changes instead of one large one. It keeps the tank more stable. I also always test a new bucket of salt. Besides salinity i also test Alk and phosphates. Reef crystals burned me years ago. New saltwater had phosphates which built up over time causing coral loss.

 

[Lazyfish]

Phosphates in newly mixed salt water is something I dont beleive I've tested for. Good to know. Im also not gona let mixed salt sit for a couple of days before I use it anymore either. I've never had issues with it in the past but not after this.

I have a very old bucket of reef Crystal's sitting on my portch I've considered useing but when I checked it the salt smelled vaguely of ammonia or vinegar. Im probly gona toss it. I'm almost tempted to mix some and run a full set of tests to see what the results are. Might just do it for fun when I have time to mess with it. Things probly 9 years old.

 

[Stoned]

I thought it was my mixing container was leaching phosphates. I ended up mixing some in a new red solo cup to 1.025. Phosphates tested at 0.20. I'm now a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

 

[Lazyfish]

My frag rank should be in tonight may have to shift things around a bit to place it. Hopfully the frags will be out the standard 20 soon. Got some medium coarse argonite sand gona seed it from my existing tank and put live rock and rubble from the established ones for now. I have a bunch if frag plugs cooking in the back chambers. I'll throw those in the filter section with floss and carbon for now.

 

[clsanchez77]

I thought it was my mixing container was leaching phosphates. I ended up mixing some in a new red solo cup to 1.025. Phosphates tested at 0.20. I'm now a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

Agree, you have to watch out for the Red Solo Cups

Seriously though, RC has a lot of documented issues with it regarding nitrates and phosphates. There are some additives in the salt that seem to breakdown over time and contribute a small nutrient load. The problem is that nutrient load compounds over time if you do regular water changes.

Personally, I have been using AquaForest since and have been very happy with it. There are better salts available, but AF was at a good intersection of price and quality. Seems product availability has been an issue since my tank broke. I have not been able to jump back in yet, still doing home repairs.

 

[Lazyfish]

Got the frag tank in...may take a bit longer to get running than I thought. I'll have to source a diffrent light and atach it somehow in or mounted too the hood. The original lights I planed to purchase ecopico strips and the alternatives by trulumin are no longer manufactured. Also this is not the original cubey with a 12wt light that would have been fine for softies/ lps...its a "delux" has a media rack, spray bar and single overflow but only 5w of lights...gurrr...they could have atleast upgraded the pump it's still 40gph...
Alredy been working on it I removed all the hood screws I can reach doubt they are stainless. And striped out the lights and bord. I think I may still have my old skyye light with broken bracket it would work I beleive it's a bit more blue than I usualy run things but maby I can get it to work. I guess I should start a thread for it because of all the mods I'm doing.

 

[Lazyfish]

In the standard im 20.
Look who's discovered the nems! Ogre is out but I havent seen Goblin the smaller one clawed one with the broken off leg in a few days she usualy likes to hide. She was hiding alot more than this one since I got her. Shes ususly burried up in the gsp. Hope shes ok.

She was fanning away and went a little nuts when I added some powder consistancy coral foods.

 

[Lazyfish]

I picked this guy up with an order not too long ago. It was super cheep. I think it's got some potential to color up nicely. The valleys have a green and golden color there are hints of blue on the ridges and a nice green growth edge but it's hard to see with the feeders out. This things always looking for food. It was looking particularly hungry today so I took some pics.

 

[Lazyfish]

Those darned asterina have realy hurt my zoas a few colonys have realy just a few polyps left now others are almost or completly untouched I've gotten most if them out the tank but I still keep finding the odd one munching them or crawling on a wall or a rock. My nitrate and phos is a bit low right now as well so things are not looking there fluffiest. I'm working on getting it back where it belongs.

I'm popping off the most targeted zoas and will move them to the 3g frag tank to help them out when it's running hopfully they can grow back out with no asterina munching them. Im going to be very carefull not to introduce any in the new tank.
My vulcans blood. Pink diamond, rastas gator eyes and sunny d on the other hand are going nuts.
They realy hurt my mary Jane's, speckled fire and ice and fruit loops and a few others.
I'm realy mad about the speckled fire and ice and mary Jane's I realy like both if those.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Those darned asterina have realy hurt my zoas a few colonys have realy just a few polyps left now others are almost or completly untouched I've gotten most if them out the tank but I still keep finding the odd one munching them or crawling on a wall or a rock. My nitrate and phos is a bit low right now as well so things are not looking there fluffiest. I'm working on getting it back where it belongs.

I'm popping off the most targeted zoas and will move them to the 3g frag tank to help them out when it's running hopfully they can grow back out with no asterina munching them. Im going to be very carefull not to introduce any in the new tank.
My vulcans blood. Pink diamond, rastas gator eyes and sunny d on the other hand are going nuts.
They realy hurt my mary Jane's, speckled fire and ice and fruit loops and a few others.
I'm realy mad about the speckled fire and ice and mary Jane's I realy like both if those.

I would do a Bayer pesticide or similar dip and rinse to ensure none of those pests go in the new tank. Do you know if you got rid of those zoa-eating nudibranchs?

 

[Lazyfish]

They were on that one batch of frags from aquasd. I dipped those frags and also carefully inspected them for more nudis or eggs. Have not seen any evidence of them having gotten in the tank. I've witnessed the asterina eating on my zoas multiple times. This issue actualy began just before getting those frags. I have been systematicly eradicating each star I find.
I plan to Inspect and most likely dip any frags going in the frag tank. I rarely see them any more I have removed quite a few and continue to do so when I see them. The zoas are opening up alot more now and I dont see the dammaged polyps like I was seeing before but im not getting notable growth and I'm still finding the odd star.

I will intentionally introduce micro brittle stars, stomatella,bristle worms micro collinista snails posdibly a few nas snails to the new tank but frags will be clean of hitch hikers.
I am going to be very carefull to keep them out.

 

[Lazyfish]

Caught them at it...the clam isnt hurting the clown. Thankfully its usualy prety tolerant I can even usualy mess with it and it only closes half way.

 

[Lazyfish]

Ogre fanning away she loves when I broadcast feed. Looks like she may molt soon I see some green and brown algae on her shell looks brown here but its realy more greenish. These were 4k I hate that making gifs out of them cuts the quality so much.

My super agro warcoral/favites whatever is fending off the cabage coral that's been overshadowing it lately. Honestly surprised it took this long for it to attack.

 

[Lazyfish]

I seem to have misplaced my gel filters...the toadstool is about to shed and the green Kenya is angry I chopped a few bits off last night. It's quite large now.
My tank is fading onto red it drowns out any real color but I like looking at things with the red lights at night lots of things that come out after lights out dont see red well and it makes them easy to observe.
I've noticed things that were big and fluffy with the lights on shrink up as the light goes down then puff back up later on after it's been dark awhile and start putting out feeders.

Oh the grandis pallys are fine they are in the other 20. Ive gotten some nice steady growth with that coppery orange leptastrea it looks very nice and now I realy realy realy want a john deere leptastrea for that spot so I got it ready I think the shape of that rock looks better with this scape too.

 

[Lazyfish]

After the problem with ph/alk my bizarro cyphastrea started looking rough. It seems to be the only thing with dammage so far. I moved it to try to get it to recover.

Just some pics from today. The zoas that were not too heavily predated on are finally showing some recovery.

Not sure what this one is green skirt and a pale whiteish green center it's very light reflective.

The trachs <3. The green acan that came in sutch bad shape is recovering.

Micromussa amakusensis.
The ufo and mind teaser amakusensis are looking great and have new polyps the dragon slayer hasnt had any noticable growth but is overall unchanged... It eats good...soooo? The holy grail frag has been problematic since day one. It wasnt fully healed when shipped and most of the polyps had been cut somehow. Just as it started looking nicer my bowerbanki webt and stung it. It's been limping along but has now shrunk up to half its size it's still feeding but not growing at all. I think finding a healthy fully healed frag may be the only option for me to grow one out at this point.

This thing had actualy left polyps on the plug when it was removed. They are starting there own littl colony this one is making a nice round shape and had had fastest growth almost doubled in size.

The ufo actualy has a green outer ring but you cant see it too good when it's super puffy looking for food.