DaveZ

Without being able to see the rockwork, I’d say that looks like Dinos. Like SVT said, it’s usually an imbalance of bottomed out nitrate to elevated phosphates. @Its_cchando you know what your levels are at for NO3 or PO4? That would be a good indicator of what this actually is. There are tons of different types of dinos but most are those snotty brown ones that look stringy with some air pocket at the end. They’ll often times diminish during lights off and them come back during lights on. Water changes don’t help with Dinos. The best option is to get nitrates up asap. Here are a few things you can do right away once you find out this is dinos: -Take the skimmer offline (if you run one) until you’re back in balance. If you have a full skimmer cup you can consider dumping some of the skimmate back into the tank to raise up those nutrients, but I won’t blame you if you don’t want to do that one. -Start feeding the fish more and more frequently. I wouldn’t worry as much about all the food not being consumed as that can help raise them up. -I have personally gotten rid of Dinos a few times in the early days of a few systems by dosing Phyto. I personally love this method as it’s fully natural, it also boosts a lot of the microfauna in the tank that can help outcompete the Dinos. -Consider dosing NO3 products to just raise nitrates. Sometimes feeding can hit both NO3 and PO4 and you really only want NO3 to be raised when dealing with Dinos. Hopefully this all helps in some way.

Never been there. We really do need a new reef specific shop here in the Vancouver WA area.

Welcome! I’m a Vancouver reefer as well (west side near I5 & 500) and also keep a nano tank. Been running this Nuvo20 for over 5 years now. I do have a few staple beginner corals for closer to wholesale prices if/when you’re interested. Always happy to answer any questions as well…for transparency I am more into the coral side than fish.

Ya I sent a dm a bit ago but haven’t heard anything back.

I’ve always wanted some manual roller mat to come to market for an AIO. But $100 for a manual roller that cost them maybe $8 to manufacture? Oof. This should be $35. If it was sub $50 I’d get one to try it but not at those price points.

Depends on what you consider “easier”. That’s a fairly subjective term. If difficulty comes in the form of water instability, then that’s really dependent on how you setup your system and less to do with water volume. My 5 year old IM Nuvo20 is the easiest tank ever. Rock, sand, 2 powerheads, 2 lights, 2 heaters, chemipure blue for media, return pump, 2 dosers for 2-part. (See picture below for reference). No skimmer, no reactors, and 5g water changes every 2 weeks. PO4 locked in at 0.04. NO3 locked in between 3ppm-5ppm. Never fluctuates. Difference here is this 20g only has 2 fish: clown and Starcki damsel. The biggest issue I see with nano reefers is they pack too many animals (that poop too much) for the water volume. Keeping corals should be easy in a nano, and stability should be easy but you will sacrifice having fish in there. Skimmers suck for nanos so it doesn’t really work. I would never suggest more than 3 or 4 fish in a sub 20g system -or- be prepared for consistent weekly water changes. Then again if pack 35 fish in a 120g tank you’ll likely run into the same issue with instability 🤷🏽‍♂️ So although the statement “big tanks are more stable” can be accurate, it’s still quite circumstantial. Just depends on the amount of fish/coral to water volume. It’s just easier for reefers to put too many fish in a nano than too many in a 120g-220g system. Plus better/more effective equipment for those larger size tanks. But like everything in this hobby there are trade offs: try telling someone with a 250g system that battling dino’s, pests, algae, some chemical imbalance, etc. is “easier” to deal with in that size system vs a nano. Anything goes off in this Nuvo20 and it’s a 15 minute fix with back to back daily 75% water changes (15g - 1 brute bin) and some new carbon. That sounds a lot easier to me than back to back 75% water changes in a 250g system. So summing up the whole point: what is “easier” depends on circumstances and system setup.

Shoot me a PM. Got some bigger pieces ready to go. Just keep in mind that these are not going to be mini colonies for the same prices as frags.

Thanks for the heads up. Do all Parkrose do this? Got a few out here in Vancouver WA that I could check out to see what they have.

…all I see here is calcium reactor media 🤣 Sorry I cannot help with price as I only sell alive corals. This would be trash or calcium reactor bound for me.

I go for the cheapest possible option. So green gel super glue from dollar store for me.

Oh I missed the nitrates and phosphates. Ya my main acro tank sit at 2ppm nitrate and 0.02 phosphate. The 54ppm NO3 and .59 PO4 is far too high for Acros. I wouldn’t try Acros until your tank is going to stabilize at ~10ppm NO3 and .1 PO4. You should try easier SPS first like Stylophora or any Digi.

Sorry to hear this @Yourmedic. It’s a tough part of the hobby and don’t beat yourself up on it. As reefrun said, dry rock is a tough one to start with and can take a good amount of time to stabilize the full biome to handle sps. Lots of other factors for sps than just water parameters and par values. Have you seen coralline growth taking pace? If not, that’s a good indicator the tank isn’t mature enough for acros to do well. What was the process of decline look like? STN from the base up? Flesh peeling off from the tip or sides? Going pale and no polyp extension? I have found that observation of coral and learning how acros are supposed to look and reading the signs of stress can point toward the main contributing factor. personally I needed to learn that you cannot have enough flow for acros. Most of the early death I saw was a lack of flow. I would say you would want the flow to be strong enough to make your torches not extend. That’s likely closer to the sweet spot for acros. But if you’re willing to come up to Vancouver I can get you some super hardy acros for $10 per frag for a good size piece when you’re ready to try again.

I will take all of your aiptasia! 😁 Got the next round of Berghia nudibranchs hatching and growing and can use a fresh supply of food for them. I’ll shoot you a DM. thanks @Emerald525!

Sorry to hear about the aiptasia battle being so challenging. I have plenty of Berghia nudibranchs available if you find a temp home for your wrasse. I will sell to hobbyists at wholesale prices but you’d need to come to Vancouver WA for pickup.

@itotianigot a frag of torch up in Vancouver WA if you’re interested.

As aiptasia is the only food source of Berghia Nudibranchs, yes once they eat all the aiptasia they die. just keep in mind that once you have aiptasia in the tank it’s never going to be eradicated. It grows in your plumbing and every possible nook and cranny of rock. Best case once you have it is aiptasia management. if you have hundreds of aiptasia just keep in mind a few Nudis will not make quick work of it. This is more like a 3 month project of killing them back. 10+ would get the job done faster. but eventually yes once they eat all the aiptasia the Nudi’s die. It is not so easy to get them out as they only really come out at night and unless all flow is off they do tend to hide. So likely not catching all of them in time but always a great idea to take them into a shop. Some shops will give $ for them if you are selling back at wholesale pricing. Less generous shops will give some mediocre store credit (but better than dead Bergies). Just keep in mind that the aiptasia will likely come back at some point and it’s a constant but long cycle of needing Bergies, getting rid of Bergies after they eat all the visible aiptasias, then aiptasia growing back and then getting more Bergies. Repeat. but as for rotting Bergies when they die, that depends on your clean up crew. I’ve had clean up crew make quick work of dead fish in the past before I notice the fish is missing. Bergies are small. The biggest ones will be the size of the tip of your pinkie finger. So as long as your tank is mature and you have some semblance of a clean up crew, I wouldn’t be worried about dead Bergies for your system.

Wish I was closer. I would totally come get this for the kalk dosing.

I have around 15 Berghies so far in this growing batch and I am finding more babies each day. Not sure when they’ll be fully ready for a new tank though. I don’t like selling the real small babies or even small juveniles. They’ll like be big enough for a new tank in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

@cdp1276Yes, I have been primarily bringing adults into LFS and letting them sell em. I’m in Vancouver WA. If you’re interested in getting them direct from me with the current hatch that is being raised, you can shoot me a DM.

I know it might not be OT, but have a bunch of Golden Basket Blue Thunder acro. Far faster grower than the Oregon Tort but lighter blue coloration. I have tons of frags from small to large to XL and even mini colonies willing to part with. Pricing varies on size desired Here is what GB sells them for: https://shop.goldenbasketreef.com/collections/sps/products/acropora-gb-blue-thunder-1 Location: Vancouver WA off I5 and 500

I’d go with the Fiji Cube 38g peninsula or 32g AIO https://www.fijicube.com/collections/all-in-one-aio-aquarium Either that or get a custom acrylic tank built to the exact dimensions you want. I have a contact if you’re interested in a custom built acrylic tank.

I like the mini Jebaos. The SLW (Nero knock offs) is a great line that doesnt require much maintenance and it is appropriately priced too. For a little 8g, I’d say to go with the SLW 5 as that’s likely the smallest one. Gives some basic controls for flow types and you can always dial it up or down depending on flow. But honestly for just a fish and cuc, it’s likely not necessary as the water turn over and oxygenation will come from the HoB. likely good enough even if there’s some basic softies.

Don’t go Jebaos. I’ve gotten 2 and each has had pump heads that don’t work out of the box. my best suggestion is look for awesome dosers direct from China in places like AliExpress. For example here’s a legit Kamoer X4 that’s normally $400+ from American retails for $224. https://a.aliexpress.com/_mOxpTGC

@Zach0225welcome to the most addicting part of the reef hobby. When I first got into reef keeping I never thought I’d be into sps, now I likely will never setup a tank without some sps. Mainly acros for me. I primarily keep nano tanks, so I might be in a more unique position than others on the forum who keep sps dominated tanks. I’ll post pics later to showcase what I’ve done so it’s not all talk. Here would be my advice for someone getting into this side of the reef keeping hobby: First: really consider how much time you have for this. Many tanks can be low key and low maintenance. Sps dominated, especially acro dominated is not this. If you want to be successful long term, you’re going to need to put in elements of work, regardless of automation. There’s no such thing as an ultra low maintenance sps tank. Just ask Ryan from BRS; they threw the kitchen sink worth of automation onto their ULM series and the sps dominated one imploded. Second: pick a mentor and stick with a method. The people who I see failing at SPS are ones who are always trying these things and tinkering. Just find someone who has the tank you want and then model the system after that. Third: chase stability and key parameters for your method, not the name game, color hype, new method fads or newest/flashiest marketing in equipment. Fourth: these tanks can be a roller coaster; one day you’re soaring next you can be falling fast. Color in coral can dip out of nowhere. Stuff can just STN. It happens to us all and although we should always seek to achieve best husbandry, sometimes 💩 happens. Learn from it and become better for it. Fifth: enjoy the process. Enjoy it now even when you don’t have it. Start dreaming and looking up different tanks now to find the one that you want to model after. Find the method that best fits your ideals and style. To answer your question, no you don’t “need” anything other than lights, flow, heat and element replacement. There are areas you can cut corners and some things you just shouldn’t skimp on. Each person will have their own personal preferences there so once again, ask a mentor who has the type of tank you want and do what they’re doing. My tanks: 40Breeder display. Maybe ~50g total water volume. Been running for a little over 2 years. Two bommies with one bigger one that has a ledge, one smaller that sits lower than the ledge. -2 Radions and 1 T5 blue+ bulb. Slightly modified AB+ spectrum. -Tons of flow. MP10s and Gyre. -Oversized skimmer. -Carbon/GFO mixed reactor. -Water changes every week to every 2 weeks. This tank consumes about 120ml of ESV b-ionic 2 part per day. -Lots of amino acids and twice a week I dose Brightwell Replenish. The tank is overran with frags at the moment as my frag tank had a bad swing after my recent move. So it’s just housing everything at the moment. Nuvo20 - this is my original tank I set up 5 years ago. This is far more mixed reef, which I do love. Took years before SPS would stay alive. Once again, high light and high flow for such a small tank. No nutrient export besides rock, sand and water changes. No skimmer. Just a bag of Chemipure blue. Regular weekly water changes at around 20% (4g). Both pictures have been taken in the last week or so. Hopefully this helps in some way. I’m always open to answer questions but far more active in Facebook or text than the forum.

Andy, these i’s mean the pump is internal. Likely a good option for your tank at this stage. 👍