Water Change…
Have been blowing the rockwork out daily with a maxijet powerhead, trying to get detritus out of the rock and into the skimmer. I think it’s working, in that every day less detritus gets blown around.
I did a 5-gallon water change last night. Nothing exciting there!
Double checked the tank alkalinity yesterday, right where I want it. Measured 8DKH in the evening, before a 1DKH dose of 2-part. I’m dosing 100ml of recipe 2 Alk in the morning, 100 ml of recipe 1 CA in the evening, and another 100ml of recipe 2 Alk at night again. I hope to “automate” this with some dosers soon, automate in quotes because I’ll need to remake a gallon every 2 weeks or so.
The new blenny is still alive and kicking, but I’m still trying to get its belly fattened up. The new prostrata is still brown, but showing some new growth where I accidentally broke it. New growth looks to be purple, which would look great if I could get the coral back to its green color. Definitely has bright green polyps.
Eating…
I have gotten the new blenny to start eating… I think. I’ve tried an assortment of foods over the past two days, and have had the most success with Spectrum pellets that I’ve allowed to soak for 5-10 minutes to soften up before feeding. I am hoping that the fish has been eating enough to start gaining energy.
I use a 1/4″ acrylic tube for feeding. The blenny yesterday started swimming towards the top of the water column and striking at the tube as the food inside slowly sinks down. That’s a good sign! Tonight I saw the blenny swimming around the rock work and tank walls, occasionally grazing on hair algae. I also take that as a good sign! We’re definitely not out of the woods yet. The fish has no real belly to speak of, but at least has the energy to start exploring and foraging.
Wow, It’s Been a Month!
I can’t believe a month has gone by since I’ve updated the blog!
First things first – alkalinity and calcium levels are now STABLE! I went with my gut and ordered some recipe 2 kits at the same time I ordered pH and alkalinity test kits. Turns out this was the corrcet thing to do. I hate using the pH color chart kits, but from what I could tell my pH was above 8.3 in the mornings (when it should be at its lowest) and pushing 8.5+ in the evenings when I was dosing supplements. Since kalkwasser and receipe 1 cause localized spikes in pH, I was in all likelihood precipitating out almost everything I was supplementing to the tank. Recipe 2 slightly lowers pH, and I have seen no indications of precipitation since using it. I am supplementing 200ml of alkalinity a day, which is equivalent to 2DKH. This is less than I was topping off with kalkwasser, let alone the recipe 1 additions. pH levels still look good in the tank, hovering around 8.3
Other news… I ordered replacement wet-side components for the Vortech pump. I had accidentally lost a washer when cleaning the pump and didn’t realize it. The pump was making an annoying chirping sound and falling off the wall. I overtightened the nut and stripped the threads before realizing I had lost the washer. Ordered the new parts off the EcoTech website, they were here in 2 days. Pretty respectable turn around time. Now the pump is operating perfectly, again.
I have begun blowing detritus out of the live rock again. Don’t remember exactly when I stopped doing that, but I was seeing an increase in algae. I’ve also continued removing caulerpa by hand. It seems to be effective.
Got in on a Vivid Aquariums purchase the other day. Earlier this year I had ordered a few acro’s from them and was really impressed with the shipment. This time… not fantastic. Ordered a green prostrata, green torch, and red spotted blenny. The torch looks great, no problems there. The prostrata browned during shipping, but I can’t be too surprised by that. Many SPS corals brown during shipping, and I could have just gotten lucky with my previous order. One of the most striking corals in my tank right now (in my opinion anyway) was dog-poop brown when I bought it. I have high hopes for the prostrata. No tissue recession, polyps are out and looking good. My real disappointment is with the blenny. Severely pinched belly when it arrived. It has been striking selectively at food, and swallowing only a portion of what it takes into its mouth. I’m concerned about its outlook.
