r/ReefTank

Ok reefers I need some help. I’m a newbie, this is my first tank and it’s about 10 months old. This gramma is about 8 months old. We had a fairy wrasse that was a bit of a good bully, so we would really go weeks without seeing the gramma at all. We got rid of the wrasse, and she started coming out, but this was the result. She’s been swimming like this, or sometimes she just lays on the sand. Salinity and calcium were high this morning.
Parameters before a 15-20 gallon water change.
Salinity 1.0275-1.028
Ph 8.4
Magnesium 1265 ppm
Phosphate .18 ppm
Ammonia .06 ppm
Nitrate 16.7 ppm
Alkalinity 9.0 dKH
Calcium is a blinking 600 ppm on the Hanna tester. I’ve tested it twice to make sure.
Several hours after water change:
Salinity 1.0265-1.027
Alkalinity 9.2 dKH
Calcium 525 ppm
Calcium finally registered something.
I didn’t do full testing, just what I felt was important. I haven’t seen it eat at all in the last week, and shies away when I try and put thawed shrimp in front of it. I’ve set up a hospital tank, but I don’t want to stress it with moving if I can help it. Any thoughts?

The last 45-60min of the day feel like a different tank as the lights dim to the west, and all the fish have gone into hiding.

Wanted to show the tank, figured I would take time to answer any questions to people who want to know more / new to or exploring reef tank hobby.

I always seek ways to simplify my setup and protocols.

Been awhile since last posting. Summer was absolutely brutal on the farm. Lost a good bit of colonies from the heat swings. Birdsnest all died and so did the giant stunner chalice. The result was the chemistry of the system being completely thrown off for a couple of months. We’re still recovering, but when things like this happen we always bounce back better than before. We’ve been taking steps to make sure the system won’t experience temp swings like that, and I’ve taken the opportunity to really dial in the chemistry. So needless to say the saltwater pond needed a reboot. Took out 50 large Bangai cardinals and about 100 babies, cleaned the sandbed, and changed the rockwork to allow more flow and no dead zones. Overall it’s settled in very nicely and the corals are doing great. The best thing is that now that its not 60% birdsnest, the fish are way easier to appreciate.

If any of you are familiar with the coral farm in mass, they sell these things called crud cups. Basically some rock, pieces of whatever mixed in, and they sell them.

I bought two. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but im actually impressed. This is a few days after dumping the crud cups into a mushroom box and running it in my sump. Photo has been color corrected because of the blue light in the sump but it’s almost spot on.

Now what the heck do I do with this stuff? Can I glue these things onto frag plugs or just let them attach to rock and then just move them into the tank? Thanks in advance.

Hello yall! Need some help/suggestions to help get rid of this brown hair algae. My perimeters are in the photo below.

Excited to add some fish and small cleanup crew after cycling the tank. Next stop... The ugly phase!

This was a donor tank that I fixed up decently well. After around a month or 2 after getting I found some coral loosely attached to a rock and I decided to glue it down. The donor doesn’t remember what coral it was, so now I’ve turned over to Reddit.

Was able to get 15 BTA out and ready for LFS store credit/cash. Here’s to another week of staring at a clean tanks!

This guys is so damn cool looking. Just added to the tank a few days ago, but it’s on the verge of full polyp extension.

It’s been a little while since our last post, so I figured it was time for another ReefShield Aquatics update! I've been super busy with life recently, so it's been a little longer than I had planned.

We’re now about one month away from closing on the house, which means we’re getting very close to the point where this stops being a construction project for our builder and starts becoming a real fish room project for me!

The basement is basically complete and this is the state we will be inheriting it in. A little bit of drywall, exposed ceiling joists, and a whole lot of open space. Behind the scenes, a ton has happened since the first post. The electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and other mechanical systems are now in place, and we recently passed our rough building inspection. This is the part of the build where a lot of the work isn't fish focused, but it's laying the foundation for everything that comes later.

Once we close, then the fun part begins! We're getting close...

While we've been waiting, I've been using the time to plan out as much as possible so that I can hit the ground running once we get the keys.

I've been working through the tank layouts, quarantine systems, filtration, RODI / saltwater stations, water-change systems, electrical/equipment locations, storage, humidity control, and probably about a thousand other little details.

I'm trying to solve as many problems as possible before I start putting tanks and equipment in the room. I'm sure I'll still make plenty of mistakes, but hopefully I can avoid some of the really expensive ones.

Does anyone have any cool ideas I should consider before I get started?

Hey guys, I went on a trip recently and left my clownfish in the care of a friend. When I got back, I noticed their poop looks really weird. It's this brown, stringy filament-like stuff coming out of them.

They're acting completely normal and eating normally, but it looks like they're bothered by it. They sometimes try to rub themselves against the rocks or move around trying to get it off.

Does anyone know what this could be? And what should I do to help them?

[effacé]