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Tank Log: Month 3 |
General Observations
The tank is now at the three month mark and still progressing well. SPS
growth continues at an accelerated rate from my previous tank and I have started
to take frags of the larger colonies. Coloration of the SPS continues to improve
as time goes on. The sand bed does not yet show much in the way of life
forms yet, but the smaller particle size I used does allow the sand to move more
and stay whiter in the process which is a nice side benefit. The sand
sifting gobies also seem to appreciate it greatly.
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The Fungia disk coral that was added last month has colored up dramatically. It is now taking on an incredible hot pink color. |
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Derasa clams have decided to spawn for the first time (that I am aware of). Both clams are approximately 8" long. This picture shows the white derasa expelling its spawn. |
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Pic to the left shows the two derasa clams while they were spawning. They are the large yellow derasa next to the Sarc and a large white derasa on the right side of the picture. |
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On the same day the derasa spawned, the Ocellaris clowns have also spawned for the first time in their new tank. Here you can see the female making a pass at the spawning site to lay her eggs while the male waits his turn to fertilize them. This pair spawned repeatedly in the 70 gallon tank. |
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The emerald crab that was introduced last month has been observed actually eating bubble algae. It also has eaten Sargassum which is fine with me. |
New Additions
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Red Anemone This is a small reef compatible (mostly) anemone. It is about 1 1/2" across and has just been introduced into the tank in this poor picture. I am placing it on a small rock on the sand to see if I can keep it from wandering around. It does have a fairly powerful sting. |
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Yellow/Green Acropora Approximately 3" frag from a large wild colony. Color is a fairly unique yellow/green color. It has been placed in a medium light/water current area. |
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Kole Tang Smallish 3" specimen. Kole tanks are very good herbivores for a reef tank. They have unique scubbing mouths that allow them to eat fine algae on the rocks. They also are detritus eaters and spend part of their day picking at the sand. |
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Blue-spotted Watchman Goby This fish actually lived in the SPS prop tank, but I decided to move him to the 225. |
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Fox Coral These corals like low water flow and moderate lighting, so I have placed this specimen on the right end of the tank where it will get these conditions. |
Deaths/Specimen Problems
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Crocea Clam Introduced and died before I even got a picture. The clam looked OK at the LFS, but did not open very well when placed in the tank. It was situated with some maxima clams, but within a week, it became non-responsive and was removed from the tank. |
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Green Sinularia. I have had this specimen for about 5 years now. The picture to the left is from when it was in the 70 gallon tank. It started to have some problems before the move to the new tank and recently has started to disintegrate even further. This specimen was moved to a 20 gallon soft coral prop tank under a 175W Mercury Vapor light where it can be watched. I did not want to take a chance on its possible demise polluting the main display tank. That was about 2 weeks ago and so far, the die-off looks like it may have stopped. Fortunately, I have a nice baby from this parent animal in my tank in the office. |
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This pic shows some of the disintegration of the Sinularia |
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I had added 3 red-footed moon snails in Month 1. All three have died in the last month. After doing more research on these snails it appears that their natural habitat is the S.Cal coast where they live on and eat kelp seaweed. It appears that most or all of these snails are doomed due to their cool water / feeding habits in the wild and should probably be avoided. |
Tank problems and opportunities for
improvement.
Algae still needs to be cleaned from the front glass every other day
to keep it looking OK. I am beginning to think that the calcium reactor
CO2 is promoting the extra algae growth. The turf algae that was noticed
last month continues to grow. I started adding a phosphate/silicate
remover to the sump to see if it would have an effect. The tank does not
have measurable amounts of either of these, but we'll see if it has a beneficial
affect. The compound has been in use for about 2 weeks and so far, it
appears as though the algae growth has slowed. The Sally Lightfoot crabs I
added have not seemed to go near this type of algae. Some of the hermits
are picking at it, but don't seem to have much affect.
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Here is a picture of the turf algae that I am battling. |
My CO2 canister emptied out after only a little over a month. This was much too quick. This time, when I refilled the canister, I used yellow gas line Teflon tape instead of the normal white Teflon tape. I also used a little silicon grease on the CO2 washer to help it seal. The tank has been holding it's initial starting pressure for over a month, so I am pretty confident that I have the CO2 leak corrected.
