Wow, it's been 5 months since the last post in this thread. That is way too long.
I will admit, I have lost interest in a lot of things with everything else that is going on. From the Rc Hobby to my aquarium. But, I'm hoping to change all of that and get reconnected with everything.
I hate to admit it, but I have not done a water change in a very long time. I ran out of Calk (which puts calcium back in the tank as well as some other trace elements) and the only thing I have done is filled my ATO (Automatic Top-Off). Other than that, I have done nothing to the tank. And as I'm sure you guys remember, I had an algae problem that was horrible. But I did have a reactor, and I was running GFO (Granulated Ferric Oxide) as well as carbon. I don't remember when, but I woke up one day, looked at the tank, and there was NO algae in there. I mean NONE! I have no idea if the fish just got hungry, or if the GFO was working, but something worked.
Because of this, I turned my sump light back on for my refugium to try and grow my little pods again. They all pretty much died out from the lack of light down there. I also raised my intensity up on my lights. I had turned them down to 45% not only for the algae issue, but also because it saves on my electricity bill.
We did add a few new members to the tank. The wife and I were fed up with our urchin eating all of the coraline algae off of the rocks, and it also ate my Xenia (wanted him gone just because of this) so we took him up to a shop that said they would trade him off. Well, once I fished this massive urchin out of my tank and put him in a 5 gallon bucket (it's the only thing he would fit in) then drove up there, they said they wouldn't do a trade on an urchin. Yeah, that figures.
So we left there with only getting some Kalk since the tank needed it and started heading back south to my house. Along the way we stopped at PetCo which I hate for fish. But I thought I would check them out. They ended up having some really great looking Bangi Cardinals which is the ONLY reason we got the urchin for in the first place. When they need protection, they swim within his spines. And we wanted to raise the fry (babies) since these fish are going for about $25 each.
Well, they had a sale on the Cardinals so we picked up 5 of them. They also had a sale on a Royal Gramma which is one of my favorite fish and I had one in my last tank. They look nice, but these guys are a little badass lol. This one is very small though, but he holds his own in the tank. And I'm happy to say, all of the fish are doing great. The last round of Bangi's we got had a virus that killed them off after about a month. These are showing no signs of anything and I KNOW they were captive bread so there is no depletion of the reefs or oceans. I hope they stay this way because they are great to watch.
I"m sure you remember the Fox Face that I got a while back, well, he is fat and healthy as ever. I have been putting some dried seaweed in there for him and the Tang and they are tearing it up! Those two are almost always together and it's like they are both having a measuring contest with each other. They are always doing something to try and make the other mad lol. It's great to watch these two.
My clowns are doing great, but I'm going to find them a new home. They are not a "mated" pair, but they are a "bonded" pair. I'm sure in the right tank, they could mate up, but just not in this one. Too much going on. I really want to get some Picasso Clowns. Google it, they are quite unique, and expensive so they have to wait.
My Blenny is also doing quite well, but with the loss of all of the algae, I"m worried for him. But he is fat and so far healthy. There is a picture of him below under a rock.
My Monti is doing amazing. Even without water changes or calcium, this stuff just grows like crazy.
I purchased a 2 head hammer frag and again, without water changes or calcium, it has exploded into 8 heads. Doing great.
As stated, my Xenia was eaten by the urchin. If the Bangi's survive, I will be happy without Xenia to have little fry swimming in the urchin. But if they die, the urchin is going to become fertilizer for my garden.
My Zoa's are doing okay. They are not spreading like they should, but that is to be expected with the lack of water changes. They are filter feeders after all.
The green stars are taking over the tank though. In the pictures below, there is a large swath of green in the middle, that is the green stars. So Matt, if you need more, I'm sure I can get you some lol. There is a ball in there that they originated on, and I have no idea where it is now. It's been completely over grown with these things.
And sadly, I still can't find my Goby. He just up and vanished. He is not in the tank, he is not on the floor and he is not in my over flow or sump. I'm pretty sure he got poked by the urchin, died, and the urchin and shrimp ate him. I love that fish and will get another one.
Oh, and my Chromis. Anyone want the two that is left? They were the dominant two in teh tank and they are the only ones left alive. Little badass' lol.
So that should catch you up on what is going on with the tank. I am making up about 45 gallons of Di water now so that I can do a water change. I feel the tank deserves it. I do know after this change, I'm going to need to order some more salt, but that is going to have to be when things settle down and I have $60 to spend on salt. But for now, I'm going to do a massive water change, then some small ones every couple of weeks. I just hope that is enough to keep it all going like it is. And with the addition of the Kalk, everything should start growing like crazy.
Man I missed making these posts.
Here are some pictures of the tank taken a couple weeks ago.
