Cali Kid Corals

GrizFyrFyter's first reef tank

I came across a tank in desperate need of attention. The owner says he hasn't done a water change in at least 2 months. Hair algae everywhere and over growing corals, bubble algae so bad it floating around in the current. Coral skeletons everywhere. I can't identify anything because the entire tank is brown and white. No fish, no snails, no crabs in sight. I wasn't expecting anything worth my gas to come out of the tank but he said he had some stuff that wasn't dead yet.

This is the pink birds of paradise he has, pic was taken 2 months ago.
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I gave him $5 and got 5 pieces of it and a sad skeleton on a frag disc that I'm told is a mummy eye chalice. Drip acclimated the frags, iodine dipped them, plucked the nasties off and crossed my fingers...
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Walked by the tank half an hour later and I'll be dammed....
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Every BoP frag has polyp extention. I'll do my usual marine snow feeding tonight and see where I stand tomorrow.
 
Picked up some new coral yesterday. Strawberry fields acropora, superman Monti, orange entrusting Monti and a pink/green hammer coral. Also picked up a 4 bulb t5 to supplement my MH. Just need to deal with my phosphates now and get rid of the algae.
 
Recent changes; I'm tired of trying to dilute my phosphate issue. Looked into gfo, then biopellets. I had my wife convinced I needed a biopellet system, then I almost bought a gfo reactor but timing didn't line up. Did some more research and decided the most cost effective and natural way to do it was an algae scrubber. There are some horror stories out there about gfo and biopellets done wrong but I'm hard pressed to find an algae scrubber horror story. It's been running at half power (i only have one side lit) for 24 hours and already has some green and brown specs. I may modify it by enclosing it in an acrylic box with bottom drains in the future.

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Fun new scrubber.
Some concerns from the picture though:
I know you plan 2 lights, but still not sure that is enough.
But more importantly, water flow looks rather sparse.

Scrubber are great at Nitrate reduction, but not miracle solutions for Phosphates.
I occasionally have to use some GFO. But not the many-cups-per-month type.

I have an old scrubber acrylic enclosure box. Roughly 22x20.
Includes a slotted pipe that fits it.
Free if you want it.
 
I was tinkering with flow. It's wide open now.

I am ordering a red par38 bulb next week and I'll probably get a second one. If that isn't enough light for a square foot of sheeting, there isn't enough light in the world.

I was looking into building a box for it. I would do the dump pan if I had more room under my tank.

Thanks for the input
 
Nice work! The clowns are beautiful!

Just a suggestion...........the par 38 bulbs are the colored ones made for growing coral?? Kind of expensive if I recall. For your turf scrubber, you can use the 18w LED bulbs from home depot.......they are approx 5000K and perfect for growing algae. Much cheaper and good quality IMO. I have two over my fuge and it grows chaeto like nobody's business. Just a thought, might save you some cash. Nice work on the tank.
 
Nice pics! Fun little shrimp there.

Strange growth on scrubber. Is that a tight spot type light? Seems like over-saturation in the middle, and not
enough light on the sides. But I forget what the specific holes/colors mean if something goes wrong.
Consider putting a quick scrubber thread on algaescrubber.net. Good place for very specific help like that.
 
I have a cf bulb (packaging said 7k) with a back shield to focus light. It does have a plastic cover over the bulb too, just something to make me sleep better.

It's only been running for 10 days, yesterday was the first hint of green growth, everything else has been brown and red. I would like to get a red par38 bulb just for the longevity and no spectrum change. I should be getting a light for the other side of the screen this week but it's a freebie.
 
Yeah, light is likely too blue. That can photo-inhibit the algae where it is strong, slowing growth.
It will probably fill in, but new red bulb should really fix it.
 
Cool, you will be closer to several very nice fish stores. Not sure if that is a good thing for you, but at least there is that. ;) Make sure to let everyone know if you need help with the tank move. I have a bunch of large garbage cans and bins you can borrow.
 
I may hit you up for those. I'm already close to several nice shops, closer to more than I will be in SL.

I'm Not thrilled about my in laws baby sitting my critters but I have grown attached to them and don't want to sell them and buy others later. Once the house is done I will be loving into a bigger tank.
 
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