The Holiday season is upon us and the cold weather is not lacking here in Chicago. Today is one of the coldest days I’ve experienced, -5F with a wind chill of -32F! It looks like someone sprayed that tacky festive snow in the corners of my home windows, only it’s condensation & slush. I don’t [...]
The Holiday season is upon us and the cold weather is not lacking here in Chicago. Today is one of the coldest days I’ve experienced, -5F with a wind chill of -32F! It looks like someone sprayed that tacky festive snow in the corners of my home windows, only it’s condensation & slush. I don’t plan on leaving the house today, instead I started up a fire, had one too many shots of espresso, and am attempting to do some maintenance on the glassbox.
Today’s measurements are looking good, except for Calcium:
- Alkalinity 8.5 dkh
- Calcium 475 ppm
- Magnesium 1350 ppm
- Nitrate 0 ppm
All tests were done via Elos test kits with the magnesium and alkalinity tested at double resolution. 475ppm of Calcium is nothing to fret about, but it is higher than the 420 I prefer. Interestingly, Zeozym users have reported an increase in calcium levels after dosing the product. (You can read more on this by ZeoHead Jamie here.) Despite the elevated calcium levels I have not noticed an increase in coralline algae, like I usually do at levels above 450ppm. These are likely not linked, but worth noting nonetheless.
We have also adopted a lighter version of balling light; incorporating Strontium Chloride in our Calcium Chloride solution and Potassium Iodide in our Sodium Carbonate solution. The addition of both is minute, but it makes dosing less tedious; cutting it from 4 different solutions to add, to 2. You may be left asking why just KI & SrCl2? That’s because the Japanese trace/vitamin solution that we dose includes just about everything else. I do believe certain trace elements can have an influence on the coloration of stony corals, but I am still very skeptical of their overall usefulness. So far I cannot report any negatives, but with so many variables I cannot directly attribute any success either.
Since the Acropora eating flatworms (AEFW) the tank has been a mess. After the first round of dips using Revive I did not find anymore AEFW, but to err on the side of caution 2 more dips have been done for a total of 3 full dips. Not a single bite mark or AEFW has been found. I am hesitant to declare victory, but so far things look good!
Nearly all the corals have been reattached to the aquascape except for two large branches of our Acropora horrida. I do plan on changing some of the aquascape soon, so these will be on the bottom pane of glass until I make a suitable rock structure to add. Since removing our enormous Montipora capricornis, the tank is much more open and another structure will help add some dimension.
Our new Roaops hybrid butterflyfish is doing swimmingly extremely well. This little one has quite the appetite and attitude. During the day it is the boss and chases around the much larger Declivis, however at night the Declivis is still king. For the first we week there was some serious aggression during nighttime, but it has since subsided. The Hybrid had some ruffled scales, but has healed nicely and should brighten up with a healthy diet. Like most Roaops, this hybrid takes to any foods you offer.
I am extremely excited and proud to own this fish. The Tinkeri complex are some of the most beautiful Chaetodontids, and in my mind this hybrid does a terrific job at representing the subgenus. With so many variations of fish within this group there are some serious questions that I hope will be answered in the future.
The new Superkaru spotlights are still doing a great job. I do plan on adding one other spotlight, as well as a 250 DE halide in a true parabolic reflector for a wider spot effect. In addition to the spotlights I have been trying a new red LED spot. In the photo above the arrows show the red highlights from the LED. The effect on pink Seriatopora hystrix is like real life photoshop color manipulation. Unfortunately even with some editing, my poor camera cannot pick up the true colors…
Lately I have been spending some time researching LEDs and hope to have some cool DIY projects to share soon. Truthfully it’s just a matter of having enough time in the day. This holiday season is my first break longer than 3 days in two years. I need a major vacay. If anyone has any trip recommendations I am all ears. I plan on taking one in the spring to someplace warm and far far away.
Back to aquaria… I also will be increasing the flow in the tank. As much as I like having a slow return pump feeding nearly 100% through the skimmer, with more flow needed I’ve decided to swap out the return. It takes no additional room in the tank and will help improve oxygenation. Right now I am debating between an Eheim 1262 and Laguna 900. I was considering a Red Dragon or ATB, but there seems to be little to no gain over a plain Laguna. After the return pump is upgraded, another Vortech may also be on order.
I will wait to see how I can direct the additional flow, but either way a sand bed is in the works. I have begun my search for the right substrate which is surprisingly more difficult than you would think. With heavy flow, ooltic is out of the question. It’s a matter of finding the right color and grain size. We shall see.
That’s all for now. The tank looks to be stabilizing since the AEFW treatment and colors are starting to comeback. I am excited to make a few livestock additions, but other than that the tank is in cruise control. Time to sit back and enjoy it as the animals grow and mature.
