Jahmic's 20L zoa garden
- Thread starter jahmic
- Start date
After a couple changes and about a month of observation, I think that I was giving the tank too much light for quite a while.
I had tried running the white LEDs for a 3-hr midday burst, but kept seeing polyps close up and looked stressed, so I went back to running all blues. Since I removed the factory controller from the LED fixture, I don't know what percent they had been running at...but my best estimate would be about 60-70% (adjusted with a potentiometer). I was also starting to fight cyano in the tank...siphoning it off a couple rocks and blowing it loose before water changes helped keep it in check, but it never did go away completely.
About 6 weeks ago I decided to do another 3-day lights out. After it was over I turned the blue LEDs back on at the lowest setting, and slowly turned them up in small increments over the course of several days until everything was opened up and looking happy. The blues are now running at close to 30-40%, and everything is opened up and I'm no longer seeing ANY stressed colonies/frags. The cyano eventually migrated from the display to my HOB fuge...but I added some chaeto a couple weeks ago (was previously only running that red macro in there), and after siphoning out the cyano with last week's water change, I haven't seen any come back.
I'll eventually get a PAR meter under there to see what my levels were before and after the change. I'm convinced that I was getting too much light for a while, so it'll be interesting to see what the PAR levels are with the 2 settings I've been running.
I had tried running the white LEDs for a 3-hr midday burst, but kept seeing polyps close up and looked stressed, so I went back to running all blues. Since I removed the factory controller from the LED fixture, I don't know what percent they had been running at...but my best estimate would be about 60-70% (adjusted with a potentiometer). I was also starting to fight cyano in the tank...siphoning it off a couple rocks and blowing it loose before water changes helped keep it in check, but it never did go away completely.
About 6 weeks ago I decided to do another 3-day lights out. After it was over I turned the blue LEDs back on at the lowest setting, and slowly turned them up in small increments over the course of several days until everything was opened up and looking happy. The blues are now running at close to 30-40%, and everything is opened up and I'm no longer seeing ANY stressed colonies/frags. The cyano eventually migrated from the display to my HOB fuge...but I added some chaeto a couple weeks ago (was previously only running that red macro in there), and after siphoning out the cyano with last week's water change, I haven't seen any come back.
I'll eventually get a PAR meter under there to see what my levels were before and after the change. I'm convinced that I was getting too much light for a while, so it'll be interesting to see what the PAR levels are with the 2 settings I've been running.
Wow, thanks! I've contemplated taking it down a few times with the new build going on...thanks for the positive feedback...it definitely motivates me to keep the tank going. 
LOL...I'll be sure to cut several frags for the next DBTC meeting if that's a fair trade.
That angel is an African Flameback. Got him from Charlie because he nipped clams, then moved him to my zoa tank since he nipped my sps. He hasn't touched any LPS (duncans, euphyllia, chalice, acans, favias)...but he does on occasion nip my zoas while picking at the algae. He usually doesn't do any damage,and I haven't had frags disappear overnight, but I've also witnessed him bite a new polyp in half that was covered in algae...so it's a toss up.
Still want him? lol. I love the fish, and am willing to tolerate his nipping of my zoas. I find that if I'm good about feeding him twice a day, he behaves...that didn't work with the sps, but it seems to keep him away from softies.
LOL...I'll be sure to cut several frags for the next DBTC meeting if that's a fair trade.
That angel is an African Flameback. Got him from Charlie because he nipped clams, then moved him to my zoa tank since he nipped my sps. He hasn't touched any LPS (duncans, euphyllia, chalice, acans, favias)...but he does on occasion nip my zoas while picking at the algae. He usually doesn't do any damage,and I haven't had frags disappear overnight, but I've also witnessed him bite a new polyp in half that was covered in algae...so it's a toss up.
Still want him? lol. I love the fish, and am willing to tolerate his nipping of my zoas. I find that if I'm good about feeding him twice a day, he behaves...that didn't work with the sps, but it seems to keep him away from softies.
Woke up this morning and found my fire shrimp laying on it's side. Thought it was a molt at first...but it was definitely the shrimp. I didn't have time to check the parameters before work, but my angel looked fine, as did the coral. He hides 100% of the time, and I didn't look for him yesterday when I fed the tank...last time I saw him would have been Sunday. With the weather warming up, my house did get fairly warm yesterday (it was 83 inside when I got home, tank was 84), so I'm wondering if that temp spike got him...I usually keep the tank at 78.
A/C is running now, so hopefully I don't have any more issues. I was at work yesterday kicking myself for not turning on the A/C...looks like that goof wasn't without its repercussions.
I didn't have time to check the parameters before work, but my angel looked fine, as did the coral. He hides 100% of the time, and I didn't look for him yesterday when I fed the tank...last time I saw him would have been Sunday. With the weather warming up, my house did get fairly warm yesterday (it was 83 inside when I got home, tank was 84), so I'm wondering if that temp spike got him...I usually keep the tank at 78.A/C is running now, so hopefully I don't have any more issues. I was at work yesterday kicking myself for not turning on the A/C...looks like that goof wasn't without its repercussions.
Yea...I'm overdue for an update.
Tank is still running. I thought I was having issues due to the light level in the tank for a while. I just ran the blue LEDs and my zoas had no growth; turning the whites on just made them angry. Gave it some more time and did more frequent water changes to bring my nutrients down...but that seemed to do nothing for them.
Finally one day my rock nem started walking on me. I had been feeding it weekly, so I thought that was odd. Unfortunately by the time it found a spot it likes...it was hiding in the back corner completely hidden from view. In any case, checked my Alk and it was 5.2!!!!!!
As it turns out, mixing 2 gallons of aquavitro salinity with a maxijet 1200 was a bad idea. I had decided to check the alk in the tank after noticing a large amount of precipitation in the bucket...so you can add me to the list of people that fell victim to mixing the salt too much. Even though I used it within an hour or two, that amount of agitation caused some issues. I ended up losing a couple frags...but I didn't have a crash or anything bad like that. My chalice and monti digi are even fine and never looked stressed.
I switched to microbe lift salt after winning the bucket at ReefEd and have slowly brought my alk back up with dosing. Everything seems to be doing well again as my zoas started growing over the past few weeks.
I also moved my LED fixture up several inches so that I can run the whites for a few hours. That also seems to have helped growth....and the extra height eliminated what seemed to be hot spots in the tank where some zoas always looked like they were getting hit with too much light. I have been slowly increasing the output of the dimmable LEDs after raising the light, and seem to have found the "sweet spot" with most of my frags looking happy.
I'm going to give it a few months and see if the growth continues...as I've had virtually no growth for several months (it stopped after blocking the natural light that was hitting the tank through my window). If growth doesn't pick back up I'll be switching to T5s.
I'll try to get some updated pics soon.
Tank is still running. I thought I was having issues due to the light level in the tank for a while. I just ran the blue LEDs and my zoas had no growth; turning the whites on just made them angry. Gave it some more time and did more frequent water changes to bring my nutrients down...but that seemed to do nothing for them.
Finally one day my rock nem started walking on me. I had been feeding it weekly, so I thought that was odd. Unfortunately by the time it found a spot it likes...it was hiding in the back corner completely hidden from view. In any case, checked my Alk and it was 5.2!!!!!!
As it turns out, mixing 2 gallons of aquavitro salinity with a maxijet 1200 was a bad idea. I had decided to check the alk in the tank after noticing a large amount of precipitation in the bucket...so you can add me to the list of people that fell victim to mixing the salt too much. Even though I used it within an hour or two, that amount of agitation caused some issues. I ended up losing a couple frags...but I didn't have a crash or anything bad like that. My chalice and monti digi are even fine and never looked stressed.
I switched to microbe lift salt after winning the bucket at ReefEd and have slowly brought my alk back up with dosing. Everything seems to be doing well again as my zoas started growing over the past few weeks.
I also moved my LED fixture up several inches so that I can run the whites for a few hours. That also seems to have helped growth....and the extra height eliminated what seemed to be hot spots in the tank where some zoas always looked like they were getting hit with too much light. I have been slowly increasing the output of the dimmable LEDs after raising the light, and seem to have found the "sweet spot" with most of my frags looking happy.
I'm going to give it a few months and see if the growth continues...as I've had virtually no growth for several months (it stopped after blocking the natural light that was hitting the tank through my window). If growth doesn't pick back up I'll be switching to T5s.
I'll try to get some updated pics soon.
Well...recently made the switch to T5s, but it was probably too late.
As it turns out, I think my nem moved to that back corner to soak up some sunlight since it's close to the window. I couldn't see it back there, except for when I got over there to pull out the HOB for monthly maintenance. A couple weeks ago I had a sudden algae bloom...bad enough to wear I could barely see in the tank. There was also a large amount of detritus covering the rocks and a few zoa colonies disappeared....checked my nitrates and they had gone from about 2 to 50 in a couple weeks.
Turns out I lost the large rock nem, and it fouled the tank.
I did several large water changes over the last couple weeks to bring the nitrates down, although they are still sitting around 5-10 right now. The 4 bulb T5 does seem like an improvement; I've noticed a few colonies that had been stretching for the light are now sitting close to the rocks and have opened up some. Overall though, the tank is looking pretty bad. My chalices were completely unphased by the nem's death, which I thought was odd...but I'm definitely not complaining.
I have a small frag of zoas growing very well in the fuge of my cube...I'm tempted to just move the stuff from this tank into there and call it quits on this build. 2 things holding me back...I don't want to introduce nuisance (bubble) algae into that system, and I enjoy my angelfish too much to tear this down.
I'm seriously considering getting the tank back in line, transferring a few corals, then getting rid of the rest and turning this into a macro tank...I think my angel would be happy surrounded by a buffet of algae.
As it turns out, I think my nem moved to that back corner to soak up some sunlight since it's close to the window. I couldn't see it back there, except for when I got over there to pull out the HOB for monthly maintenance. A couple weeks ago I had a sudden algae bloom...bad enough to wear I could barely see in the tank. There was also a large amount of detritus covering the rocks and a few zoa colonies disappeared....checked my nitrates and they had gone from about 2 to 50 in a couple weeks.
Turns out I lost the large rock nem, and it fouled the tank.
I did several large water changes over the last couple weeks to bring the nitrates down, although they are still sitting around 5-10 right now. The 4 bulb T5 does seem like an improvement; I've noticed a few colonies that had been stretching for the light are now sitting close to the rocks and have opened up some. Overall though, the tank is looking pretty bad. My chalices were completely unphased by the nem's death, which I thought was odd...but I'm definitely not complaining.
I have a small frag of zoas growing very well in the fuge of my cube...I'm tempted to just move the stuff from this tank into there and call it quits on this build. 2 things holding me back...I don't want to introduce nuisance (bubble) algae into that system, and I enjoy my angelfish too much to tear this down.
I'm seriously considering getting the tank back in line, transferring a few corals, then getting rid of the rest and turning this into a macro tank...I think my angel would be happy surrounded by a buffet of algae.
I know that this does not help right now, but I wanted to maybe save everybody some trouble later... mixing 2 gallons of any kind of salt is very error prone. The stuff settles no matter what the manufacturer says and you are just at too much risk of getting a batch with unequal parts. If you are going to be mixing 2 gallons very often, then use the bags and stir/mix them up VERY WELL on your own. Many people that use buckets split the salt in two buckets and roll the heck out of them to get everything stirred back up as well as they can.
If you mix a 50G bag of any quality salt (I personally don't think that all commonly used salts are all that quality), it won't precipitate and should mix up very nice. This is one of the many reasons that larger tanks are more stable and salts available in 50G back (which typically mix up to 1.025-26 perfectly in a 44G brute) are sometimes opined to the best (like Instant Ocean).
The scary thing, is what if you get tons of the particle size with iodine (which is like bleach in too large of quantity), or some with no calcium. It happens.
If you mix a 50G bag of any quality salt (I personally don't think that all commonly used salts are all that quality), it won't precipitate and should mix up very nice. This is one of the many reasons that larger tanks are more stable and salts available in 50G back (which typically mix up to 1.025-26 perfectly in a 44G brute) are sometimes opined to the best (like Instant Ocean).
The scary thing, is what if you get tons of the particle size with iodine (which is like bleach in too large of quantity), or some with no calcium. It happens.
Good post, thank you for bringing that up. I learned that well after deciding to switch salts based on my bad luck with mixing small batches. I was definitely aware of that being a risk, and always did my best to roll the buckets before mixing, but I now know that probably doesn't help all that much. Lately I've been mixing 25 to 40 gallons... My 90 cube looks way better then my previous attempt with a 28g, and I definitely have seen an improvement in this tank as well.
Guess I'll try to keep this tank running...
Did a fairly large water change yesterday; I also took advantage of the fact that the tank is BB and pulled half the rock out. I rinsed the rocks in a 50/50 mix of tank water and new salt, and was able to siphon out most of the detritus that was underneath the rock. I left one half of the tank alone so that my angel could hide without getting too stressed...I also didn't want to disturb all of the rock at once and risk having another nutrient spike due to killing off too much bacteria/sponges/microfauna while transferring the rock. I did a slight rescape when I put the rock back in there; I created a nice overhang with a cave that should help keep that area of the tank a little cleaner...we'll see. There was just a lot of stuff under that rock...I know most of it was from the nem death, but it was always a problem area that I had to hit with a turkey baster/siphon to keep clean.
Since I had ordered some macros from Reefs2go over the weekend, I went ahead and added some red grape caulerpa and red gracilaria last night. I'll also probably add some dragons breath back to the tank...I pulled it out a few weeks ago and placed it in the fuge of the 90 to seed the tank with some more copepods.
My zoas do seem to be responding well to the T5s at least...I still need to dial in how high that fixture will sit over the tank, and should definitely change the bulbs soon. I typically run T5s til they die and don't worry about "spectrum shifts", but the 50/50 10k/actinic color combo just isn't to my liking.
Hopefully things turn around. I'm going to keep a close eye on my chalices, as I'm not sure how they'll adjust to the new lighting. I did move them closer to the light and will start target feeding with reef chili at night once I get the nutrients back under control. I haven't checked the nutrient levels in the tank yet...but I'll probably update with that info over the weekend.
I did find a nice clump of blue ochtoides hiding in my HOB when I pulled everything down to clean it...my angel devoured the rest but a piece took hold in the AC70 and was growing right next to the U-tube via sunlight coming in through the window. I pulled half of it and added it to the fuge of the 90. I also found several tiny chitons all over my live rock...dunno where they came from, but I hope they are breeding since I added a couple fuzzy chitons when I started the tank. Pretty sure those added bonuses convinced me to keep the tank running.
Did a fairly large water change yesterday; I also took advantage of the fact that the tank is BB and pulled half the rock out. I rinsed the rocks in a 50/50 mix of tank water and new salt, and was able to siphon out most of the detritus that was underneath the rock. I left one half of the tank alone so that my angel could hide without getting too stressed...I also didn't want to disturb all of the rock at once and risk having another nutrient spike due to killing off too much bacteria/sponges/microfauna while transferring the rock. I did a slight rescape when I put the rock back in there; I created a nice overhang with a cave that should help keep that area of the tank a little cleaner...we'll see. There was just a lot of stuff under that rock...I know most of it was from the nem death, but it was always a problem area that I had to hit with a turkey baster/siphon to keep clean.
Since I had ordered some macros from Reefs2go over the weekend, I went ahead and added some red grape caulerpa and red gracilaria last night. I'll also probably add some dragons breath back to the tank...I pulled it out a few weeks ago and placed it in the fuge of the 90 to seed the tank with some more copepods.
My zoas do seem to be responding well to the T5s at least...I still need to dial in how high that fixture will sit over the tank, and should definitely change the bulbs soon. I typically run T5s til they die and don't worry about "spectrum shifts", but the 50/50 10k/actinic color combo just isn't to my liking.
Hopefully things turn around. I'm going to keep a close eye on my chalices, as I'm not sure how they'll adjust to the new lighting. I did move them closer to the light and will start target feeding with reef chili at night once I get the nutrients back under control. I haven't checked the nutrient levels in the tank yet...but I'll probably update with that info over the weekend.
I did find a nice clump of blue ochtoides hiding in my HOB when I pulled everything down to clean it...my angel devoured the rest but a piece took hold in the AC70 and was growing right next to the U-tube via sunlight coming in through the window. I pulled half of it and added it to the fuge of the 90. I also found several tiny chitons all over my live rock...dunno where they came from, but I hope they are breeding since I added a couple fuzzy chitons when I started the tank. Pretty sure those added bonuses convinced me to keep the tank running.
