DChemist

Yeah, absolutely beautiful fish (very reasonably priced, too)... It's great having so many good local fish stores so local.(laugh)

Update II... Here's a photo of my problem... I thought I completely lost this purple monti the week after the crash. It's gained back some of it's color and the polyps are extending well. I'm going to do my best to help these recover. One approach is to add more grazers. Today I added 4 red-legged hermits to my cleaning crew. Already I've seen them clean up a couple of patches. I've just been setting them where I want them to work. This one even climbed up here without me telling it to. The other approach I'm taking has been the addition of a scribbled rabbitfish. I'm impressed- he started eating algae within ten minutes after acclimation and addition (Yes, I didn't quarantine him- I felt the benefits outweighed the risk). I'll post pictures of him this next week... As always, any feedback is welcome.

Fly- Thanks again for your advice... I picked up a scribbled rabbitfish from Patrick at Saltwater Fanta-Seas today. He's doing very well- already eating. Buying it felt very impulsive but I feel it is one of my best options. Even supported in recent studies (naughty). http://presszoom.com/story_124042.html Only drawback will be selling or trading him if he outgrows the 40. I've also added some more red legged hermits. They've camped out where I placed them and are eating too.

Fly, thank you for your thoughts... I have been skimming as wet as my CPR HOB will allow. I haven't been aggressively changing water- because things have been going well (until this algae growth). I was planning another 25% this weekend.

Update... I played around with the voltmeter (looking for stray voltage and /or current)... Either I don't have any or I'm measuring it wrong. Regardless, the tank is improving. Corals I thought I lost are still alive and are recovering. I'm getting suspicious that the reason for the crash may have been my Halimeda crashing or "going sexual". It's entirely white and falling apart. My wife said around the Halimeda was the last to clear and the odor was very much like Halimeda. (have you even trimmed it, let it dry out a little and smelled it?) I've posted a question in the discussion forum asking what I should do about the fine green algae growing on the recovering corals.

After my tank crash last week, things are recovering. Corals I thought I lost are coloring up and have polyp extension. As a result of the crash though, my tank is cycling. First were diatoms (golden brown)- which I could blow off the recovering corals with a turkey baster. Now I'm having a fine green algae growing on the corals. They don't blow off and I'm growing concerned they will interfere will the coral's recovery. I'm not sure what to do about this. I've thought of some options but need your advice. I could... Leave the corals alone and let them recover on their own if they can. Add hermit crabs- I've got just a couple and I do see them eating the algae growing on the coral. Add an algae eating fish- If I add a fish; which would be best? I think adding a Tang would only be temporary, the tank is only 40 gallons. Brush the algae off with a soft bristled toothbrush. Would this damage the corals? Run a phosphate remover in a bag in the skimmer. Has anyone else had this same experience? Any other ideas?

http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2899 Based on the feedback from this thread- I wonder how many frags he'd sell this time around?

I wouldn't let it turn into a stray voltage debate (perhaps just a discussion)... I've got the ground probe wire plugged into the only good ground around my tank and I've PM'd you a couple of questions (I hate to appear too ignorant on my own tank thread). I'm not sure I'd be seeing the improvements in my tank if I still had a problem with stray voltage- though I will test in order to eliminate that as a cause.

I haven't- I didn't think it'd be an issue since the tank has a grounding probe and everything's wired through a GFI... How would I check it? I've got an inexpensive voltmeter. Holly, sorry for the sarcastic sounding remark. I should have assumed you hadn't read the most recent posts and I've been pretty upset about this.

Huh? ?!? It did- it's kind of depressing now...

Thanks fly guy. It's amazing to watch the small improvements every day. I've increased target feedings- and the survivors are responding well. I anticipate I'll have a nasty algae cycle(s) to go through... The diatoms are already kicking in.

I'm not satisfied I've discovered the cause. I've only stated the facts as I know them... The powerhead that had fallen against the live rock is the only thing my wife discovered out of the ordinary. I'm definitely open for suggestions/thoughts.

And some before and afters...

And...

In no particular order...

Post Apocalypse Pictures (sad) Here goes... Picture intensive.

Catastrophic Event! I was in Los Angeles this past week (Monday through Thursday)... Tuesday morning my wife called me quite upset- The tank was all cloudy and stinky. The cause was not obvious; temperature was OK, etc. There was one powerhead that had fallen, blowing directly on/into a liverock. Visibilty through the cloudy water was only a couple of inches. Losses included a firefish, cleaner shrimp, red headed goby, conch, and several acroporas (I'm sure there are others that I'm forgetting). These were likely due to either a lack in oxygen and/or a spike in ammonia. I have some survivors- the tomato clown looks as if it will make it though it's fins are pretty ragged (lost over half of it's pectorals). I may still lose all of my montiporas except the orange digitatas. The stylophora and pocillopora are both doing poorly (very little polyp extension). The Favites is struggling (you can see his skeleton poking through) but is eating. The capnella's and xenia have been severely stunted and some have completely dissolved. The heartiest have been the frogspawn, caulastreas, mushrooms and ricordia, and the green star polyps. Treatment included redirecting powerheads to better oxygenate the water. The skimmer was adjusted to run very wet and pull out as much as possible. I had my wife replace the carbon I was running with fresh and added two more cups of carbon to a second sock (actually an old nylon stocking). She was ready to change some water (only had about 4 gallons made up) but only measured a trace amount of nitrate and no nitrite. Later, I asked Pat from Saltwater Fantaseas to stop by and troubleshoot any problems, rescue any corals, etc. He measured the following... CA- 380 KH- 8.6 Nitrite- 0 Nitrate- 2 ppm pH- 8.0 Mg- 1170 Ammonia- 0 He said the salinity was a little high but not lethal (I generally have kept it at 36 ppt). He ended up not taking any of the corals with him, the damage was already done. I changed 25% of the water today (measuring trace amount of nitrite now). Tested boron at 5 (understand NSW is about 4.4) so that (or alkalinity) is not the cause. (sad) The reef looks very bad- I'll post pictures soon (not for the faint of heart). More to follow- feel free to ask questions...

Of course... (worthless)

I use a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z2 (4.0 mega pixels)... Nice easy camera to use- obsolete because Konica Minolta has since been purchased by Sony.

16 hours actinics, 12 hours 10K T-5's over aragonite DSB (not very fine).

What are you planning to put in this aquarium? Just fish? Or corals and other invertebrates? This information will help folks better address the water chemistry, equipment, etc...

Japanese Ultra Cherry Blossom Pulsing Xenia Oh, I just saw this thread- I haven't read it all yet but I'm about ready to frag my Japanese Ultra Cherry Blossom Pulsing Xenia... if anyone's interested.

Happy Birthday!

I don't think google forces you to use their creator (but you can investigate further)... and no ads.