|
Tank Log: Month 9 |
General Observations
The tank is now nine months old. Growth of corals continue to
be very good and the fish continue to have very good heath. The rose
bubble tip anemone (BTA) has doubled in size and decided to relocate between
several heads of SPS corals. It killed part of the moon coral which has
been relocated out of harms way. I continue to frag some of the larger
heads of coral to keep them in check. Sales of the frags continues to
allow the tank to be self supporting for the last couple of months.
Current water parameters:
 |
Alkalinity - 3.5 meq./l |
|
Calcium - 480ppm |
|
pH - 8.05 Night to 8.35 during the day |
|
Temp - 78.5 to 81.5F |
|
Salinity - 1.026 |
|
|
This side shot of the tank shows that the staghorn frag death from last month which also killed part of the adjacent orange Montipora digitata has stopped. |
 |
This shot shows the new location that the BTA has chosen. The Ocellaris clowns have shown no interest in hosting in the BTA. They prefer the company of some Xenia elongata. |
New Additions
|
|
I have decided to add a medium sized Copperband butterflyfish Chelmon rostratus. My experience with them has been that they are very reef safe, but somewhat delicate. They will feed on small fan worms in the tank. So far, besides what he catches while foraging amongst the live rock, this specimen is taking only frozen brine shrimp and hopefully he will start to take some of the other prepared foods. |
 |
Click here to see the specimen sheet for the Copperband. |
Deaths/Specimen Problems
|
None to report this month. |
Tank problems and opportunities for improvement.
|
|
As noted last month, I have been having a fair amount of diatoms growing on the glass lately as seen to the left. I added about 300 grams of Phosgard for a week and it reduced the diatom buildup significantly. |
 |
One side affect of using Phosgard is that Sarcophytons, such as the one to the left, do not like it and will tend to close up and look haggard during it's use. Conjecture is that they leak aluminum compounds into the water that the Sarcs are sensitive to. It doesn't seem to case them long term problems and can be avoided if it is used in small quantities over time rather than a large shot like I used. |
Maintenance
I continue to do weekly 10 gallon water changes with Kent salt.
