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Tank Log: Month 17 |
General Observations
It has been 2 months since the last update. The tank continues
to do pretty well overall. Growth of corals continues at an acceptable
rate. I continue to take 20-40 frags of SPS corals each month. The
cyanobacteria that was controlled with antibiotics 2 months ago continue have
not made a reappearance and there are no signs of any remaining dinoflagellates
from a couple of months ago.
Current water parameters:
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Alkalinity - 2.6meq/l (low - need to boost) |
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Calcium - 385 (low - need to boost) |
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pH - 8.05 Night to 8.35 during the day |
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Temp - 78.5 to 81.5F |
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Salinity - 1.024 as I write this which is on the low side for my tank. I have typically run my salinity in the 1.0245 - 1.025 range. I am going to try raising it closer to 1.026 - 1.027 for a while to see the effect. I have heard of phenomenal SPS growth in a reef tank that is run at 1.027 salinity. |
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The Rose Bubble-tip Anemone which had reached a good foot across in size has finally decided to split which is a good thing. Unfortunately, after splitting, both halves have decided to relocate up near the overflow where they cannot be seen very easily. They can be seen in the tank pic above. Hopefully they will relocate to a better spot. |
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Here is a shot of a blue-eyed hermit in the tank. Not sure of the exact type of hermit, but it seems to be growing fast. It is currently residing in a large Astrea snail shell and has large cruncher type claws. I'll have to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't start causing damage. He has already been observed stealing food from the Elegance coral. |
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Here is kind of an interesting picture. It shows where green Hydnophora, pink Montipora digitata and pink polyps have all grown together. Surprisingly the Hydnophora, which is a very aggressive coral is losing the battle. It can be seen the flatworms have gathered at the point where the main battle is going on, apparently taking advantage of the dieing tissue that is present there |
New Additions
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None this month |
Deaths/Specimen Problems
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The Achilles Tang that was added a couple of months ago did not make it. When added to the tank, it was an exceptionally healthy looking specimen, but he gradually wasted away over time. It appeared that his nutritional requirements were not being met and he constantly had a minor case of ick which probably sapped some of his strength. He would pick at the live rock and would eat some of the Nori seaweed and some cucumber and zuccini squash that was offered, but never would eat very much. I could not get him to take any other foods. Because of his picky eating habits, I was not successful in trying to treat his ick with garlic soaked foods. |
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The Copperband Butterflyfish just disappeared one day. He has been in the tank since month 9 and has been doing very well. He has been feeding very well and looked very robust right up to disappearance so I do not thing his demise was related to any health issues. His disappearance comes as a surprise and no signs of his body were found. |
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The flatworm population in the tank has been on the increase over the last month or so. Might be related to the nutrients released by the demise of the cyanobacteria. Here they can be seen near some pink polyps. I siphon some of them off when I change tank water, but otherwise I am not going to worry about them too much. They should recede as the tank comes back into balance. |
Tank problems and opportunities for improvement.
As noted above, there is a small outbreak of red flatworms. They are more of a cosmetic concern at this point, but will continue to monitor their numbers to try to keep them from getting completely out of hand. My experience with them in the past has been that they will probably recede on their own. I did frag up the Pink Stylo which was degenerating. About 1/2 the frags look like they may be viable. I'll let them grow out for a couple of months and see how they do.
Maintenance
Doing normal maintenance at this time. 10-15 gallon water change each week or two. I am also continuing to drip a gallon or two of Kalk every so often to help keep the pH above about 8.3 during the day and above 8.0 at night. I also had to refill the calcium reactor last month with about 8lbs of ARM media.
