CDA 87G

[scuzy]

Let's talk about something that I've seen over the years, especially with new tanks, and the lack of maturity in most of them. Cyano.

This tank is no exception and there's a decent amount of cyano in the tank as it's maturing.

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Most people would freak out if their tank looks this way, but to me, it's all part of the process. Chemiclean would nuke it all in the matter of 48 hours and I've considered it, but I've seen it before in new tanks and rather let the cycle ride its course and correct for itself over time. I'm just keeping thing consistent with my normal maintenance (5G water changes) and let things mature. It's slowly subsiding and there's less of it over time. My rocks, which were once covered is now pretty much cyano free and inhabitated by other types of algae. I'll let the snails and hermits worry about the cleanup.

One of the reasons why I love banded trochus is that they do consume bit of cyano, but it takes awhile for them to put a dent in it. What you'll notice is that after consuming a bit of cyano, they drop on their back and pass out for awhile. I usually just make sure that I right them up, even though none of the fish bothers them, to make it less of an effort for them. You can see the areas where they consumed the cyano off the overflow box here, leaving the coralline behind.

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Almost like the snails are drunk


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[scuzy]

Btw you can use one of these if you don't want a masterpiece.

https://tr.aliexpress.com/item/-/2021561158.html


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[Ibn]

Yep, pretty much. They're slowly eating through it so I'm not too concerned.

Thanks for the link to that pump. I'll keep an eye on how this setup works with the existing manifold. Currently doing ~1 drop/sec and holding steady.

 

[daddio]

Yea, I had an outbreak on the second display. Having both tanks plumbed together, I could tell it was a new tank issue 'cause the 1st tank was clear. It went away on its own after a bit. Can't wait to see the new tank in person.
Cheers!

 

[iani]

Btw you can use one of these if you don't want a masterpiece.

https://tr.aliexpress.com/item/-/2021561158.html


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I was told by the manufacturer that their pumps are only rated for 6000 hours or 250 days of continuous use. Not very good for running a CaRx.

 

[Chromis]

Looks like your coralline is having no trouble, it should outcompete all that cyano soon.

 

[scuzy]

I was told by the manufacturer that their pumps are only rated for 6000 hours or 250 days of continuous use. Not very good for running a CaRx.

This one is too? I heard these are 24/7 use versions.


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[iani]

Nope, its a stepper motor. The manufacturer even went so far to say that the warranty is 1 year, but if the pump has over 6000 hrs of use they will not warranty it even if it is under 1 year.

 

[scuzy]

FX-Stp is a DC motor no stepper.


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[Ibn]

Looks like your coralline is having no trouble, it should outcompete all that cyano soon.

Yep, the cyano is disappearing daily. I've never had any issues with coralline other than the abundance of it. Here's how the rocks are looking like already after only 2 months in the tank. The seed was from a couple of turbo snail shells in the DT and a 4x2 piece of rock in the sump from the old tank.

The snails are making quick work of the non-coralline algae that was left behind in the wake of the cyano.

 

[iani]

FX-Stp is a DC motor no stepper.


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https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about-stepper-motors/what-is-a-stepper-motor

I think STP stands for stepper

 

[fishy408]

Yep, the cyano is disappearing daily. I've never had any issues with coralline other than the abundance of it. Here's how the rocks are looking like already after only 2 months in the tank. The seed was from a couple of turbo snail shells in the DT and a 4x2 piece of rock in the sump from the old tank.

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The snails are making quick work of the non-coralline algae that was left behind in the wake of the cyano.

That's amazing coraline algae growth, what's the secret formula? I've been buying little pieces of coral with live rock just so I can spread it around the tank for faster growth, but it's been growing really slowly.

 

[Ibn]

I actually don't know what the formula is. Since I keep a number of sps I usually keep parameters pretty stable overall from the beginning and have a ton of flow. It might just be the specific strain of coralline as well, but can't really say. I saw the first spot of coralline 2 weeks in and it hasn't stopped spreading. It's predominantly pink coralline at the moment and I'm now seeing the first sign of purple.

 

[Ibn]

Anthias are some of my favorite groups of fish with their bright coloration and constant activity.

Not the cleanest shot, but one of the new additions to the tank, Pseduanthias dispar (dispar anthias).

The single polyp of rainbow acans from Neptune are overgrowing the disk it was on, so I moved it to a larger one and built a ramp for it out of Epoxy Sculpt.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Love me some anthias too ... just don't love the extra feeding that they seem to require.

 

[Ibn]

Love me some anthias too ... just don't love the extra feeding that they seem to require.

Apex AFS scheduled to go off multiple times a day when I'm not in the office.

Here's some of the SPS in the tank.

Every sps tank has to have a setosa.

BC Spainbow. Lost my big colony but did back this up with a friend, which was returned when this tank was started. Used to be brown, but the colors are slowly coming in. Looks good now, but it'll be better when the tips really comes on and it gets a bit larger. One of the few sps that loos great in low light.

Copps' 24k milli. Doing well and still holding its colors. Starting to encrust and beginning to nub. Gets a ton of flow and light.

One of my favorites is the OG purple monster. Lost my last small piece so when Sang listed his for sale, I jumped on it. Has a lot of growing to do.

Also from Sang, the Oregon. Have it mounted in a weird spot so it's kind of hard to see, but here it is peeking out.

RR The Vinh

Upscales microlados. Old school classic.

RRC Pink Cadillac. The crash took out half this piece, but it's slowly coming back and starting to encrust again.

JF Firecracker. Pink with yellow axial tips.

Palmer's blue

Waiting for this one to grow out to see what it looks like. It's got some good potential so far. Labeled as Crystal Jade and picked up at the swap. Searching by the name didn't bring anything up other than a wild piece from Yourreef, but that one looks like an Aussie and carries a different growth shape and coloration.

Pearlberry growing well.

Copps' Bella's acro. Sometimes you buy corals due to their unique structure. This is one of those.

Tabling A. hyacinthus still growing out well. It's lost some of its coloration, which I hope will return.

 

[Ibn]

Some of the no name pieces that looks promising that I'm growing out. Keep/resell depending on how they do once they grow in.

This piece lost its green base and turned brown and stalled. It's starting to shoot some branches out so hopefully it colors back up soon.

One of the various tenuis that rainbows under blues. Daylight pics are meh otherwise.

Pastel/white as it gets. The colors are very slow on this one, but I like the softer colors on it.

Looks great under blues. Decent in daylight as well. This one might be a sleeper and hoping it's a tabler that fills in where I currently have it.

Aussie piece. Interesting shape with white body and purple tips. Waiting to see how this one grows out.

Another no name tenuis. Have yet to see the polyps on this one, but it's mounted pretty high and gets a ton of flow and light.

Aussie. This one came in bleached with yellow tips. The piece at Neptune looks a muddy brown with yellow tips. This one is just straight pink at this moment.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Oh you did manage to get a piece of Palmer's Blue mille, it'd be interesting to see how that colors up under LEDs.

 

[Ibn]

That's the piece that was labeled as the Palmer's blue from the frag swap, so it's been growing under LEDs since mid April (2 months).

 

[JVU]

Thanks for the update and beautiful pics!