Replaced the first gen Radions on 8/5/15, due to shadowing and lack of growth of certain corals. Replaced with an ATI 8 bulb, 54 watt T-5 fixture, supplemented with 2 Build my LED "Super Actinic Reef Spectrum" fixtures.
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August 26, 2015 15:25
Re aqua-scape is complete. Jin from Reef Licious returned all corals, fish and inverts to my newly re aqua-scaped aquarium. Jin glued all corals to their new locations. I love how Jin located all corals. Tank looks amazing.
Over two weeks since new aquascape created. Since mostly all new rock was used , I have been testing for No2 and NH3/NH4 and both have consistently tested 0. Consequently, Jin will be bringing all my fish, corals and inverts back sometime next week ( week of 7/1).
Jin from Reef Licious (formally Vivid Reef) came by and aqua-scaped the tank using Tonga and Tukani live rock. I love the new aqua-scape, much more open creating much better flow through out tank.
Fish, Inverts and corals will remain in Jin's store until I'm sure any rise in ammonia or nitrite does not occur. I will be testing for No2 and NH3/NH4 for the next few weeks.
OK, so Jin from Reef Licious (Vivid Reef) came and began the re-aquascape process. All animals (corals, fish and inverts)as well as most of the live rock are being removed to the store and will remain there until new aqua-scape is completed and tank has cycled (ammonia spike etc).
Lost my Blue Throat Trigger last night. He did not come out when I fed the tank earlier in the day. Later on in the early evening, I saw him clinging to the rock where he sleeps and the Emerald Crab was trying to eat him while he was still alive. The Trigger seemed unable to flee, so I removed him from the tank and disposed of him. I feel bad. The Trigger was my favorite fish in the tank. I will get another Blue Throat for sure.
The guys from Vivid Reef came by today to evaluate my tank and after visually observing the tank and conducting water parameter tests, they concluded the following; 1)Aquascape is too tight. Too many areas where flow is restricted. 2)Power heads need to be readjusted to allow better overall flow. 3) Too much sand. 4)Need more of a CUC. 5) Po4 is too high (0.25). 6) No3 is too high (10). 7) Alk is too low (7) and 8) Ca is too low (380). All water parameter test were conducted using API test kits.
I don't agree with all of this evaluation. For example, I don't agree that Alk and Ca are too low. On the low side yes, but not too low. So I have raised Alk to 10 dkh and Ca to 420-430 ppm. I have however, moved the position of both power heads as suggested and have employed Jin from Vivid Reef to re-aquascape my tank. This process will begin on 6/4, with all the animals (fish and corals) being removed from my tank and will be temporarily housed at the Vivid Reef store. Then, on 6/5, Wed. Jin will begin to re-aquascape the tank. I think he will employ new rock so a cycle will more than likely take place. So, when tank has cycled, all animals will be returned to the tank. Looking forward to the process and I'm very excited.
No3 and Po4 have been increasing (No3=10-20, Po4= 0.07) over the last few months as indicated in recent test results. Initially, running GFO had lowered Po4 to 0.02, however, Po4 began to rise again (0.04) after only one week of use. Replaced the GFO media but Po4 remains at 0.04.
I have been able to lower No3 a little by reducing the amount of food I feed the fish but still remains between 5-10. I do not think I over feed so I am at a loss as to why these parameters remain on the high side. I think my husbandry has been good (frequent water changes etc) so, I decided to bring in the guys from Vivid Reef to evaluate my tank.
Also today, ORP reading is low. However, this is due to changing ORP probe yesterday.
Due to the results of my measurements testing today, I temporarily stopped auto dosing Ca until it comes down to normal levels. Also, K is too low, so I will start dosing Potassium on a daily basis until normal levels are met. No3 remains a little higher (5-10 ppm)than I like, so I will continue to monitor feeding and Po4 is slightly higher (0.04) than I like also. I just changed the Rowa media on Tue., so hopefully when I test again next week, the Po4 will be lower.