Tank Log:  Month 13

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General Observations
As noted last month, the tank had a minor outbreak of dinoflagellates along with some cyanobacteria.   I have taken a number of actions documented below to control it, but in general, the tank has not been seriously affected as can be seen in the health of the specimens in the picture above.

Current water parameters:

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Alkalinity -     3.2 meq./l

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Calcium -      400ppm

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pH -                8.00 Night to 8.30 during the day

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Temp -           80.5 to 84F

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Salinity -         1.0255

 
MandarinPair2.jpg (36254 bytes) I added a female Mandarin Dragonet in month 11 with the hopes that she would pair up with the male I had.  This month we were treated to a dramatic courting show by the male.
MandarinPair1.jpg (36164 bytes) The female did not appear to be holding eggs, but that did not dampen the males enthusiasm and he put on this display for at least 30 minutes.

 New Additions

EleganceCoralNew.jpg (48677 bytes)

 I received a new Elegance Coral as a gift for fathers day.  It has just been put into the tank and is not yet opened up.  It is placed on the sand in the back left corner of the tank in a low current, moderate light area.  Here is the link to the specimen sheet.

Deaths/Specimen Problems

None this month

Tank problems and opportunities for improvement.

As noted last month, I have been struggling with an outbreak of dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria.  To combat it, I have done a number of things.

  1. Increased water changes to about 20 gallon / week which is about a 10% change.
  2. Added Phosgard to the sump to remove any phosphates or silicates that have accumulated in the system.
  3. Refreshed the GAC (carbon) to help pull out any misc. impurities.
  4. Cranked up the skimmer to skim fairly heavily
  5. Reduced tank feedings by about 1/2 to reduce the introduction of organics.
  6. Added two Maxijet 1200 powerheads behind the live rock and attached them to the wave maker to help improve general circulation in the tank.
  7. Siphon out any visible cyano and dinoflagellates a couple of times per week.
  8. Started dripping Kalk at night to help keep the pH up at a higher level.
  9. Added small amount of macro algae to the sump to help compete for nutrients.
  10. Added an 18W UV sterilizer to the sump running off a Rio 400 pump.

I added the UV unit to the sump after several weeks to see if it would help.  Ships use UV to kill dinoflagellates in bilge water, so it seemed like it was worth a shot. 

Sump6_02.jpg (39389 bytes)

 Here is a picture of the sump which shows the macro algae on the right which is contained in a plastic tub and lit by a Lights of America 65W porch light.  These lights work great for growing macro algae. 

The black cylinder to the right of the light is the 18W UV unit.

The problem appears to be under reasonable control.  Though there are still signs of the problem, it is very minimal at this time.  I will continue with the current setup and see how things fair over the next month.

Maintenance 

I have changed my water changes to two 15 gallon water changes or so a week until I get a leg up on the current problems.  I will then probably resume a 15 gallon a week change schedule once things are under control.

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