Smite's Stout CDA - 205G
- Thread starter Smite
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The tank seems to really be improving now. I felt like I saw slight improvements within a few days of lightly dosing vodka. I decided to add 100ml distilled white vinegar to a gallon of my calcium chloride part B, basically cut CoralEuphoria's amount in half. If I did my math right I'm dosing around 3ml of vinegar a day right now. Polyps are coming out more and I feel like my coloration is getting back to normal. I plan to test my parameters later today and see where I'm at.
Only real negative I see is suppressed ph since adding vinegar. I'm dropping to 7.85 for a low so nothing too bad. The gallon should last me about a month at my uptake rate. It'll be interested to see if it continues to improve.
EDIT:
Tested my parameters and nutrients haven't dropped but my ALK consumption seems to have increased.
Alk 7.7
Nitrate 25ppm +-
Phosphate 0.29 (this one surprised me)
I forgot to add a positive so far seems to be a major reduction in cyanobacteria and film algae on the glass so far. Maybe that has to do with the nutrient change but overall, very little cyano compared to before.
Only real negative I see is suppressed ph since adding vinegar. I'm dropping to 7.85 for a low so nothing too bad. The gallon should last me about a month at my uptake rate. It'll be interested to see if it continues to improve.
EDIT:
Tested my parameters and nutrients haven't dropped but my ALK consumption seems to have increased.
Alk 7.7
Nitrate 25ppm +-
Phosphate 0.29 (this one surprised me)
I forgot to add a positive so far seems to be a major reduction in cyanobacteria and film algae on the glass so far. Maybe that has to do with the nutrient change but overall, very little cyano compared to before.
Last edited:
Still progressing. I upped my vinegar to 200ml per gallon in my calcium 2 part. I’ve been counter acting the ph drop with kalkwasser. I found a more ideal range, looking forward to seeing if uptake increases. Color seems to be getting better. Im going to get out my DSLR once things improve a bit more.
FTS
FTS
The tank is looking awesome. It is glowing under the blues!
Where are you sourcing your fish from? I want to get some of the same tangs like achilles, sailfin, etc. Do you do TTM or full QT or just drop them in? I'm leaning towards a TTM with peroxide and medicated food, but would like to know what other reefers do.
Where are you sourcing your fish from? I want to get some of the same tangs like achilles, sailfin, etc. Do you do TTM or full QT or just drop them in? I'm leaning towards a TTM with peroxide and medicated food, but would like to know what other reefers do.
I buy most of my fish from Seaside in Huntington Beach. I've had great luck there. Other than them, I'll use Age of Aquariums in LB for some things.
I don't QT anymore. I do freshwater dip new additions to check for gill flukes. I have one of those holding tubs they use to collect your fish at the LFS. I'll hang that inside my sump, filled with RODI water with an air stone running. For a large fish/group of small fish or one that jumps, I'll cut the tub off a gallon of water and hold it in place, inside the sump with my mag float. This brings the RODI up to temp and gives enough time to aerate the water, reducing ph shock for some fish. While thats going on my new addition is temp acclimating in its bag in the sump. After 30-45 minutes of aeration and temp adjustment, I'll add the fish to the RODI. It sits for 5 minutes in there. I'll watch the whole time. Some will play dead. I just watch the gills, breathing will be stressed so I'm watching to make sure the breathing doesn't drop off and slow. Times up I check the container for any fallen flukes.
If no flukes they go into an acclimation box. That lasts a couple days up to a few weeks. My scopas and foxface took sometime for my powder brown to lose interest.
From there it's high quality foods as a staple. Rods Reef or LRS is what I feed for frozen. I have Cool Mysis and their veggie version mixed up in my auto feeder.
I got tired of QT. I had great luck with it for a while but for some reason started striking out big time. I felt bad killing so many fish so I just started doing what I stated above. I'll say, the FW dip is huge even if you're going into QT. If you do have flukes or velvet is can buy you some time giving temporary relief. That can let you get them eating; and raise levels (if using copper) slowly without issue.
Before, I always did full copper treatments with CopperPower. It works with the hannah copper kit well. Prazipro, metroplex/focus for internal parasites.
I don't QT anymore. I do freshwater dip new additions to check for gill flukes. I have one of those holding tubs they use to collect your fish at the LFS. I'll hang that inside my sump, filled with RODI water with an air stone running. For a large fish/group of small fish or one that jumps, I'll cut the tub off a gallon of water and hold it in place, inside the sump with my mag float. This brings the RODI up to temp and gives enough time to aerate the water, reducing ph shock for some fish. While thats going on my new addition is temp acclimating in its bag in the sump. After 30-45 minutes of aeration and temp adjustment, I'll add the fish to the RODI. It sits for 5 minutes in there. I'll watch the whole time. Some will play dead. I just watch the gills, breathing will be stressed so I'm watching to make sure the breathing doesn't drop off and slow. Times up I check the container for any fallen flukes.
If no flukes they go into an acclimation box. That lasts a couple days up to a few weeks. My scopas and foxface took sometime for my powder brown to lose interest.
From there it's high quality foods as a staple. Rods Reef or LRS is what I feed for frozen. I have Cool Mysis and their veggie version mixed up in my auto feeder.
I got tired of QT. I had great luck with it for a while but for some reason started striking out big time. I felt bad killing so many fish so I just started doing what I stated above. I'll say, the FW dip is huge even if you're going into QT. If you do have flukes or velvet is can buy you some time giving temporary relief. That can let you get them eating; and raise levels (if using copper) slowly without issue.
Before, I always did full copper treatments with CopperPower. It works with the hannah copper kit well. Prazipro, metroplex/focus for internal parasites.
@mattyzang and @drexel are more knowledgeable on TTM and some of the newer QT protocols than I am. Might be worth a message, or maybe they'll chime in here for you.
I decided to use some Rowaphos to pull my po4 down closer to .16. I added the amount needed to do so and did the slowest drip that seemed consistent from my reactor. I assumed at that rate it would take a couple days to pull down. Well, I'm an idiot and it did it overnight. The calculator was pretty accurate atleast but I'm worried I'm gonna see some issues from that overnight drop. Bummer, I never use po4 remover for this reason. I should have been more cautious. One mariculture piece is looking light and my RR Blue flame TN'd but that one just never seem to fully recover. I've fragged it up and hopefully the small pieces will survive. The rest of the tank looks unphased, hopefully it wasnt' too big of a F up.
I decided to use some Rowaphos to pull my po4 down closer to .16. I added the amount needed to do so and did the slowest drip that seemed consistent from my reactor. I assumed at that rate it would take a couple days to pull down. Well, I'm an idiot and it did it overnight. The calculator was pretty accurate atleast but I'm worried I'm gonna see some issues from that overnight drop. Bummer, I never use po4 remover for this reason. I should have been more cautious. One mariculture piece is looking light and my RR Blue flame TN'd but that one just never seem to fully recover. I've fragged it up and hopefully the small pieces will survive. The rest of the tank looks unphased, hopefully it wasnt' too big of a F up.
Humblefish forum is a great resource for any QT protocols and I wouldn’t hesitate to ask any questions there. If using copper, you need to go slow and measure/test constantly to ensure proper levels. I think a lot of people are switching to a hybrid TTM, which seems to be better or easier on most fish. I typically use general cure as my fluke treatment, as it takes care of a few other things at the same time and is less harsh on wrasses and sensitive fish. Two full rounds are usually sufficient. Metro (w/focus) in the food is a must for two weeks. The great thing about using metro/focus in food, is you can feed your main display without any issues (don’t feed directly to corals or inverts though), as the medication is bound to the food.
I only QT myself if I purchase a fish on a whim, otherwise I buy my fish from Adam (Ocean Devotion LA). To me, it’s worth spending the extra money having someone who’s job it is to fully QT fish and also who sources healthy fish from the start. It may seem cheaper to QT yourself, but there’s a lot of effort, time and skill involved in bringing a fish through a full, proper QT and I usually don’t have that much extra time when I’m working. So having a professional QT your fish might be worth it?
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I only QT myself if I purchase a fish on a whim, otherwise I buy my fish from Adam (Ocean Devotion LA). To me, it’s worth spending the extra money having someone who’s job it is to fully QT fish and also who sources healthy fish from the start. It may seem cheaper to QT yourself, but there’s a lot of effort, time and skill involved in bringing a fish through a full, proper QT and I usually don’t have that much extra time when I’m working. So having a professional QT your fish might be worth it?
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It’s funny, I recently used Rowa to bring down PO4 too. I learned a long time ago that it’s better to halve the recommended dose and change out the media every couple of days, than to use the full amount at once, regardless of flow-thru. But, having been cautious with Rowa, I was completely careless with carbon.
I thought I reduced the amount enough to not cause any issues, but apparently not. I dosed DIY coral snow, then turned on the reactor with carbon. The combo of coral snow and carbon at once, cleaned the water too fast and a few things freaked out from the increased light. One being the RP ultra violet, it just browned out instantly. It’s holding on, but looks so funky now. What’s crazy, everything else seems to have grown quicker with the light increase, clearer water.
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I thought I reduced the amount enough to not cause any issues, but apparently not. I dosed DIY coral snow, then turned on the reactor with carbon. The combo of coral snow and carbon at once, cleaned the water too fast and a few things freaked out from the increased light. One being the RP ultra violet, it just browned out instantly. It’s holding on, but looks so funky now. What’s crazy, everything else seems to have grown quicker with the light increase, clearer water. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That RP ultraviolet is crazy like that. I once dosed that AB something that looks like coolant when it hits the water. That ultraviolet slimed like mad, turned the flow back on and by the time the flow pushed the slime off it was looking brown. Good thing is it doesnt seme to kick the bucket easily 
Yeah, I'll be doing that from now on. I was surprised how quickly a slight trickle = can equal turnover of 210 gallons. So far, everything else looks fine and the blue flame frags although tiny are holding on.
Yeah, I'll be doing that from now on. I was surprised how quickly a slight trickle = can equal turnover of 210 gallons. So far, everything else looks fine and the blue flame frags although tiny are holding on.
Not sure why my crazy expensive iphone can't focus on things under 12" away but here is a quick top down fly-by. I've got a gyre that is noisy under water apparently, please excuse the noise. I'll take one in the day photoperiod soon.
Overall things are looking better and I feel like color has improved too. Daily live phyto (OGReefs) and the distilled vinegar dosing seem to be a good combo for my tank right now. I recently went out of town and pre measured my phyto and LRS in deli cups. Lots of color improvement and some new growth just in that short time. Sometimes it takes a few days away to see how much things are improving. Now if my last couple pieces could wake up, it'd be all smiles over here.
Shit list:
Heliarch millepora
Wild enchinata (2 small frags left from colony)
RMF Candyland
CC Bahama Mama
Those are still alive, but still in limbo for health and coloration
I'll say the last remaining polyps of that maricultured setosa frag seems to not only have held on, but started encrusting. Color looks good on what's there, hopefully it'll start to make a rebound too.
Overall things are looking better and I feel like color has improved too. Daily live phyto (OGReefs) and the distilled vinegar dosing seem to be a good combo for my tank right now. I recently went out of town and pre measured my phyto and LRS in deli cups. Lots of color improvement and some new growth just in that short time. Sometimes it takes a few days away to see how much things are improving. Now if my last couple pieces could wake up, it'd be all smiles over here.
Shit list:
Heliarch millepora
Wild enchinata (2 small frags left from colony)
RMF Candyland
CC Bahama Mama
Those are still alive, but still in limbo for health and coloration
I'll say the last remaining polyps of that maricultured setosa frag seems to not only have held on, but started encrusting. Color looks good on what's there, hopefully it'll start to make a rebound too.
