MReef20

8 minutes ago, ocboat said:

the shipping probably would have been as much as the rock.

The overnight shipping was $65.  Not cheap, but worth it to me.  Not sure if that is a "flat" fee or changes depending on weight (I ordered 50 lbs).

Yeah, the only reason I found out about it is because I called after ordering just to get an idea of lead times for shipment.  That's when Dan suggested it as an option.  He can either ship Southwest or Delta freight (i.e. pick up at airport), but he said that Delta has been hit or miss recently due to Covid restrictions.  He was able to get mine on Delta, so that saved me a trip to Spokane!

So, if you do want to go that route I'd probably call to check with him first.

I'm learning that I waaayyyy underestimated how long it truly takes dry rock to become well established, and you aren't really able to replicate the bio-diversity that you get from live rock.  There's something to be said about about keeping a tank "clean" from unwanted hitchhikers, but I think I've focused too much on that and lost out on the beneficial stuff.

For what it's worth, I'm sure that there are going to be some less than desirable hitchhikers that make it in the tank from the rock I just got (I did spot a few pest anemones), but I'm just going to do my best to inspect/remove, blast with kalk paste, and then not worry about it.   

To my knowledge, vermetid snails are not necessarily a problem, other than causing irritation to corals if they get too close...they can look unsightly though, and I get that.  Peppermint shrimp are hit/miss with aptasia, but I think there are enough options out there that you could keep them at bay, but I know aptasia can spread like crazy.

Have you thought about ordering from https://ipsf.com?  They've got great bio-diversity packages, and I've ordered from them before and was happy.  This way too you wouldn't have to worry about introducing anything unwanted.

12 minutes ago, ocboat said:

The rock looks great.  I've ordered from them two different times with the latest being a couple of weeks ago.  Both times I've had it shipped priority mail with the first shipment taking two days and the latest taking three. I'm sure not as much survived as the above rock but I'm very happy with the minimal die off and the diversity of the rock. I was able to start with SPS corals after just one month after now at 10 months everything is doing great.

I would have probably been ok with priority if I had ordered in say the March-May time frame.  Good to know for next time though.

42 minutes ago, EMeyer said:

The life on that stuff looks great. 

Hows the density? Is it mined limestone or real coral skeletons? 

Don't think we've tested a GLR tank yet, I can do a 50% discount on microbiome testing of this tank if you're interested. It'd be interesting to see what kind of microbial community came along with all that nice surface life.

Some of the pieces are pretty dense/heavy, some have a more porous look/feel.  I believe that they are coral skeletons.

I'd love to get the microbiome testing done, but I'm not sure of the logistics (I'm in Tri-Cities).

57 minutes ago, Lazyreefer said:

Nice I have definitely looked into this and am very interested in how it goes for you, good luck! 

Thanks!  Yeah, I've put it off for some time, but just felt like I was missing out on the biodiversity.  I had originally been looking at KP Aquatics, but decided on Gulf Live Rock based on reading some good reviews and it was overall a better price. 

Hi all, I just wanted to share my (recent) experience with ordering live rock from gulf live rock.com.  I've really been itching for some "real" live rock, as I think some of my struggles are due to using only dry rock.  Originally, I was concerned with the USPS shipping time frames (2-3 days) and what die of I might expect.  after placing my order on this past Monday, I called on Wednesday just to get an idea of lead times.  I talked to Dan - super cool guy.  While their website doesn't advertise it, he suggested that overnight shipping would potentially be an option, if in budget.  I was totally on board with minimum shipment time from ocean to tank, so I agreed.  I was able to pick up the rock yesterday, and I gotta say, it looks great!  This is my first experience with picking up live rock via air freight, but I'm very encouraged/optimistic!

5 hours ago, bboileau92 said:

Well, after the light came on this morning it decided it was fine. It's back to harassing the solar fairy wrasse. I'll be keeping an extra close eye on him to be sure he's doing well before he goes in the display. 

Great to hear!  I mean, not the harassing the wrasse part, but the back to normal part 

Breathing rapidly or normal?  What are you using for Ammonia test?

Hi Taylor, tried sending you a PM but it said you were unable to receive messages - do you still have live rock for sale?

Thanks!

Looks sweet!  Just ordered their 90 - super excited about it!

That's a good thought and makes sense - hadn't considered it!  Starting back up with the Lanthanum routine, and I'll step up the frequency of carbon change out.

Update - things seem to be continuing to slowly improve overall.  Two interesting (and not super encouraging) observations:

- Milli's have not been doing well, I think I'm losing a couple of frags (other stony corals seem ok)

- I noticed today that I seem to be having a "spike" in snail deaths (mostly seems to be Turbos) with two or three dying over the past week or so.  Smaller snails seem fine, and hermit crabs are definitely fine.  Thoughts on what could be attributing to recent snail deaths?

Nitrates have been hanging at about 20 ppm and phos at .35 ppm.  Are they up too high at this point?

It's pretty significant so far, and softies (esp.) seem to be appreciating the higher nitrates.  Nems have been on the move (may be due to light changes), but look OK otherwise.

Ok, update time.  Seem to be making some progress (at least visually).  How long should I let my lights go in "super blue" mode?

Oops, just saw that it sold!

20 hours ago, Matteo said:

@MReef20 this is perfect for what you need. Has the kessil mounts and bulbs too!

 

Op: nice fixture! Wish I had the tank size. 

Thanks for the heads up!

On 12/9/2020 at 8:46 PM, titus'reef said:

I also had some imbalance with my tank due to lack of nutrients. 0 Po4 and No3.
It started with cyano and chemi clean did wonders only to make room for the dinos. Luckily now I’m Dino free. I used phytoplankton and also dosed some Microbacter 7. A cheap Jebao 36w UV also helped. I stirred the dinos from the sand at night and let the UV do it’s thing. 
 

It makes sense to run the UV at night - any adverse effects?  Assuming it would kill the phyto too, but I guess that's not an issue as long as the critters still eat it?  Here's what I think I'm planning to do:

1. Dose nitrates to maintain at least 1-2 ppm

2. Increase temp to 82

3. Turn white lights way down and run on a reduced (6-8) hour schedule

4. Dose phyto daily (does time of day matter?)

5. Run UV at night 

Thoughts?

Yeah, I'm in the Tri-cities so that's a bit of a drive  Might have to give algae barn stuff a try and bottled stuff in the meantime.

8 minutes ago, Flash21 said:

I have been using this brand 3 times so far...I use about 30-50 mls a day.  

Where were you able to find that?

Oh, and is there a specific measurement of phyto or just what the dosing instructions call for? (and I'm assuming daily)

Any specific type of phyto?  Live vs. bottled (like Seachem)?  I'm assuming I'll want to run the skimmer wet during this process.

I can dial the whites back - I'm running Kessils

Great suggestions - no ill effects then from raising it up to say 82?

Been dosing nitrates, numbers have come up to about .75 ppm, so that's good, but no slowing yet in the dinos and the ticked-off corals still look ticked off.

Has anyone tried Dino-X and/or a 3-5 day black out?

Thanks for the tips! @Flash21 what a big difference!  

For the short term, I'm giving the stump remover treatment a shot - RBTA has been looking really sad.  Will let you know how it goes!

I'll check those options out - thanks for the input!