Not much to update, but for what it's worth.
All my params seem OK on paper and heading in the right direction - last tests on 22/2 were
I've done a couple of big weekly water changes and have been syphoning what I can off the rocks and sandbed. Fingers crossed I am getting on top of it. It does come back, but each time is a little slower.
Visually the corals aren't thriving, but they are surviving.:(
I also spent an hour and syphoned both sumps clean and cleaned the return pump back at the start of Feb (see 5 posts back). Since cleaning the skimmer the anti over foam function of the skimmer has been working better and I am getting a dark tea coloured skimmate out of it, about 1/2 a cup daily. I've also noticed the filter socks are catching a lot of the cyno/dyno/whatever it is (which indicates to me it might be ding and coming off - this definitely wasn't the case previously).
I added a Bangaii way back on the 19/01/2013 - a little something for myself to start the New Year. I also had a small Powder Blue Tang on hold at Reeflections, but it passed before I picked it up. The Bangaii has been eating Mysis like a pig but still refuses to eat the pallets. Hopefully in time she'll (a little hard to tell, but I suspect a female) get the idea. For what it's worth here's a shot. I know the rule about cleaning the glass, but I haven't cleaned it in about 2 weeks. I'll try and get a few betters pics by next weekend, including cleaned glass
And last night I picked up a small Powder Blue from Reeflections. I had it in my Ghetto "cage" in a tank to try and help it eat, let the other tangs get used to it, etc. Turns out it constantly tried to get through the bottom to swim down and the other tangs didn't pay it any attention (it is significantly smaller than every other tang in the tank). I decided to bite to bullet and throw it into the DT. I watched it for a good 20 mins and nothing even bothered with it. It's swimming with "the big boys" fine, not showing any signs of wanting to hide, etc. Here's a pic of it, complete with dirty glass. The clowns in the background give you an idea of size.
The spots on the fish aren't actually there - that’s my dirty glass. I have noticed a "tiger like" stripe pattern of lighter blue - I'm assuming this is an indication of a little stress (being added to the DT just now) and hopes it will disappear by night’s end.
It looks very thin in the body, but the stomach seems to bludge a little. Who knows maybe it did eat a bit of the nori whilst in the Ghetto cage for the day. Ernie seems to think all smaller PB's are thin so I'll trust him. Also seems consistent with @Rob PB and his has survived a while.
I dumped a heap of feed into the tank (Vegie mix, brine shrimp and NLS pallets) but it doesn't seem interested in anything as yet. Hopefully it gets the idea in the next few days.
Anyway, off to do a little work on my DIY LED's - maybe the longest build out there. Hopefully I'll get it all finished tonight (or tomorrow at least)
All my params seem OK on paper and heading in the right direction - last tests on 22/2 were
- Temp: 27.8 (seems to swing between low 26's and high 28's during the day - once the Halides are out this shouldn't swing so much)
- pH: 8.49
- Alk: 10.52
- Salinity: 1.026
- Ca: 432
- Po4: 0.06
- Mg: 1230
I've done a couple of big weekly water changes and have been syphoning what I can off the rocks and sandbed. Fingers crossed I am getting on top of it. It does come back, but each time is a little slower.
Visually the corals aren't thriving, but they are surviving.:(
I also spent an hour and syphoned both sumps clean and cleaned the return pump back at the start of Feb (see 5 posts back). Since cleaning the skimmer the anti over foam function of the skimmer has been working better and I am getting a dark tea coloured skimmate out of it, about 1/2 a cup daily. I've also noticed the filter socks are catching a lot of the cyno/dyno/whatever it is (which indicates to me it might be ding and coming off - this definitely wasn't the case previously).
I added a Bangaii way back on the 19/01/2013 - a little something for myself to start the New Year. I also had a small Powder Blue Tang on hold at Reeflections, but it passed before I picked it up. The Bangaii has been eating Mysis like a pig but still refuses to eat the pallets. Hopefully in time she'll (a little hard to tell, but I suspect a female) get the idea. For what it's worth here's a shot. I know the rule about cleaning the glass, but I haven't cleaned it in about 2 weeks. I'll try and get a few betters pics by next weekend, including cleaned glass
And last night I picked up a small Powder Blue from Reeflections. I had it in my Ghetto "cage" in a tank to try and help it eat, let the other tangs get used to it, etc. Turns out it constantly tried to get through the bottom to swim down and the other tangs didn't pay it any attention (it is significantly smaller than every other tang in the tank). I decided to bite to bullet and throw it into the DT. I watched it for a good 20 mins and nothing even bothered with it. It's swimming with "the big boys" fine, not showing any signs of wanting to hide, etc. Here's a pic of it, complete with dirty glass. The clowns in the background give you an idea of size.
The spots on the fish aren't actually there - that’s my dirty glass. I have noticed a "tiger like" stripe pattern of lighter blue - I'm assuming this is an indication of a little stress (being added to the DT just now) and hopes it will disappear by night’s end.
It looks very thin in the body, but the stomach seems to bludge a little. Who knows maybe it did eat a bit of the nori whilst in the Ghetto cage for the day. Ernie seems to think all smaller PB's are thin so I'll trust him. Also seems consistent with @Rob PB and his has survived a while.
I dumped a heap of feed into the tank (Vegie mix, brine shrimp and NLS pallets) but it doesn't seem interested in anything as yet. Hopefully it gets the idea in the next few days.
Anyway, off to do a little work on my DIY LED's - maybe the longest build out there. Hopefully I'll get it all finished tonight (or tomorrow at least)
