alexandre

As requested.. Still along way to go but I think things are starting to take shape...

I thought that scrubbing and reducing light would only delay the inevitable, as eventually I will have to turn the lights up again.. (my sps wouldn't be very happy either!) I have been slowly increasing the time that the halides are on and noticed that everytime I do this, the rocks go a little greener.. The coralline that is growing now is red.. At first it was the purple coralline that was growing but this has really slowed down to be taken over by red coraline and brown spots (??? Not sure what these are?).. I've been asking myself the same question about mature tanks!! The only parameter that I haven't got under control is nitrate. I have been doing 10% water changes every week.. How are your nitrate levels? apart from reducing food (which I have done already), what would yo recommend to bring nitrates down to zero (I am already growing macroalgae in the sump)

Latest Pics... btw, I solved the microbubble issue by reducing the flow to the return pump.. All the filter floss served no purpose!! amazing how you stumble upon solutions Here is my regal tang hiding behind my gonio... Juvenile Emperor.. The white bits on its fins seem to appear and then dissapear.. Don't think that it's ich but nodules growing over wounds.. Nice shrooms Polyp extension... and another

Hi Guys.. Have had this Gonio for three weeks now and it's been behaving very well... but today, for the first time it seems to have blown up... Is this normal???

Thanks for the replies.. I'm using rowaphos already (hence the zero phosphate reading). Phosphate was registering before I started using rowaphos.. Don't really want to scrub the rocks cause that will just get rid of all the coraline that's been growing.. Any other suggestions?

Hi Guys, Here is my problem.... Tank 3 months old Parameters: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5 Phosphate: 0 Large skimmer, good flow (35x +), using RO/DI Water, using macro algae in sump, lighting Geiseman Infinity 2x 250W + 4 x 54W (Halides on for 5 hours and the rest for 12), loads and loads of critters No hair algae but this green coating.. Will it go? Coraline is encroaching on all the rocks but a little too slowly for me! Is all this down to nitrate??? I know lighting plays a part but by turning it down am I not delaying what will happen when I switch the halides on for longer time periods? Any suggestions would be helpful!!!

Beautiful Rose Anemone..

Latest Addition

Hello

New friends..

Skimmer Action... I get this ever day nearly... Am using lots of Rowaphos and have stopped turning the halides on.. Rocks covered in algae... Paramaters: PH: 8.2 Amonia: Undetectable using salifert kit Nitrite: Same as above Nitrat: 5-10 PPM... Phosphate: Undetectable I think I'm going to try to grow some macro-algae in the sump.. In your experience, how long did your initial algae blooms last???

Really beautiful tank!

Harold! Gouldian.. You are right but I'm way too impatient PH kept creeping up so I hooked up the CO2 canister to the skimmer... Seems to have brought things under control.. I hope!!

These are the biggest I could get! I didn't think that they were small at all.. The base ones are quite big... Don't really have any dead spots at all... The smaller rocks at the top were the best way to hide the overflow...

There are pipes that go from the top of the overflow all the way across the back of the tank. The pipes have small holes in them. I can divert all the return through this flush system every couple o days to clear any debris that has settled in dead spots behind the rocks..

FTS..

Ltest attempt at stopping the micro bubbles

The belly of the beast...

New additions.. If you can spot them!

Help!! Was setting up the kalkstirrer and accidentally poured half a glass full into the sump, since then the PH reading on the aquatronica has been 9.1/9.2. It was 7.9 before.. I have tried to put CO2 through the skimmer and this lowers the PH but as soon as I stop it goes right back up to 9... I don't understand why so little kalk would have such a dramatic effect... I have no living creatures in the tank so am not too worried, but what would you recommend I do to bring the PH back to acceptable levels?? If I leave it 2-3 days and run the calcium reactor 24/7 do you think that it will drop naturally or do I need to do something more drastic???

Last one was actually from yesterday.. I think the micro bubbles were coming from the water level being too high in the sump.. I think this is fixed now.. Will still need to put Algae already started growing.. Should it be there this early??? I haven't switched on ozone or UV yet.. Am waiting for the bloom to properly start and will hopefully then be able to ttack it quickly I thought it would take a little longer.. Test kits arrive tomorrow so I should get a clearer idea of what is going on... Do you guy think that 26 to 28.5 degrees celsius is too high?

It's clearing up slowly...

I will try to find some this weekend... Having real trouble with micro bubbles at the moment.. Anyone have any ideas that don't involve filling the sump with sponges? (That's what I'm doing at the moment).. I have three baffles and I've put huge sponges in front of the return bulkhead... Also, what do you think is the highest temp you would be comfortable for your tank to reach? and the range? How about salinity at 27 degrees? I think I may have added a touch too much salt! Last question, my skimmer is relatively noisy.. Would you guys be comfortable with leaving a skimmer off for 2-3 hours every couple of days? gf already unhappy and with the noise on top of it she'll probably end up leaving me!!!! Thanks for the advise, still learning a lot..

Another view of the scaping

Return & flush system The flush runs along the whole back of the tank..