Spring cleaning!
by
, 04-01-2014 at 03:51 PM (2730 Views)
Well it has been quite some time since I have posted on here so here we go. Sunday I decided to take the time and perform an annual cleaning of the equipment, sump, sand, rocks, refugium, and tank. I cleaned all the non calcium based algae off of the overflow and the votech power heads but I could not find my old Korelia pumps in time for me to willingly soak the power heads long enough to clean coralline off of them and honestly I am quite content with the overflow being covered in it so it will stay like that until I get OCD about it.
While going to the lfs I decided to pick up a couple of coral frags one is this acan lord (no that is not cyano on the sand, it is the one red led on that side of the tank being picked up on my phone camera, also the lighting is much bluer in person than it appears here)
I also picked up this little green monti cap
I still have been skittish about adding new corals since I have lost so many over the years. I have never been successful with any sps besides montipora capricornis and have lost any acan lords I have attempted in the past. I know it sounds crazy but I have been wondering if maybe it had something to do with having a tank almost too clean. I have never registered any nitrates or phosphates on any test I have done so i have begun trying a supplemental program. I have started dosing Prodiobio's Reefbooster along with their biodigest and bioptim and I hope to see good results.
A year ago I traded my T5 lighting for a chiller. When I went to hook up this new piece of equipment I over tightened one of the fittings and broke it before I even got a chance to test it out. When I ordered the replacement fitting it was a newer model fitting and it did not fit. Needless to say I had yet to even make sure the chiller worked let alone did not leak up to this point. Well I have noticed lately a faster evaporation rate and a temperature that consistently stayed at 80 in the tank so I decided on Monday to finally find a fix for the chiller fitting. So after a little ingenuity I finally have the chiller hooked up, it does work, and the tank is now set to a firm 77 which I hope also helps me with my corals.
A few quick notes: I have officially had the two clownfish, yellowtail damsel, and branching hammer coral for 4 years, the yellow tang for 2 years, lawn mower blenny for 8 months (fat and happy he eats out of the water column as well as off the rocks,) and I have had my mandarin dragonnette for a year (also fat and happy I add more pods to the tank every 3 to 6 months)