leliataylor 2015 CGOC thread

[leliataylor]

Mine opened up nicely, although my camera does not like taking pictures of them. This photo does not show their real color.

27085

[leliataylor]

Eating like a champ. Now to control the algae.

[Troy Valentine]

Nice Polyp extension! What type of lighting are you running?

[leliataylor]

Thank you. It is a 12W PAR 30 refugium LED bulb from Reef Radiance.
SPECIFICATIONS:

Power: 12 WATTS

Layout: 12 X 1 WATT LEDS:

2 RED LED @660 nm

5 ROYAL BLUE LED @ 450 nm

2 VIOLET LED @ 410 nm

3 WHITE LED @ 6500K Kelvin

The system I had planned on putting the palys in spiked nitrites the day before the meeting, so I had to scramble and come up with plan B. I placed them a 30 gallon tank that is plumbed into a nursery tub and a 29 gallon sump. I placed the light over the top of the tank. Since it is not dimmable I have have been gradually moving the light to acclimate the coral. I have seahorse fry in the nursery so this tank has a large number of pods in it.

[12_Egg_Omelette]

Are you going to blast it with peroxide one and done, or is that to aggressive for the contest?

[leliataylor]

Are you going to blast it with peroxide one and done, or is that to aggressive for the contest?

Only if I get too much algae. LOL I don't think the palys or the fry would like a peroxide bath.

I did a 20% water change on the system today, changed the filter sock and cleaned the skimmer. Had more fry born this morning so the paly's have about 100 new fishy friends making nutrients. I am expecting the fry to begin depleting the pods and will be adding enriched BBS next week (once the fry are large enough). Until then I will closely monitor the pod density and add more if necessary. The system is cleaned daily and a 5% water change is done at that time. Current tank temperature is 72'. The light is now directly over the paly's and is 12 hours on and 12 off.

[leliataylor]

Another week has passed. I did move them up higher in the tank and increased the flow. The fry have consumed most of the pods in the system so I am supplementing them with BBS as of yesterday. I am also giving them Reef Roids twice a week. I am starting to get some algae in the tank which is to be expected, so I will have to deal with it.

[leliataylor]

I had to move them to another tank today and they are still a bit ticked off at me. The system they were in is attached to a occupied fry nursery and I needed to do a long term formalin bath on that system, which I am sure they would not have appreciated. I will try to get a pic of them tomorrow, once they have settled in. They just have not fully extended yet.

[leliataylor]

Got them settled in and they have opened back up nicely.

[leliataylor]

I have some new growth on the left side and on the right, also a Bryopsis outbreak which I am working on.

[leliataylor]

I have been battling Bryopsis, GHA, filamentous algae and cyano. Started adding Kent Tech M and the Bryopsis is slowly turning white and melting. One plus side the two buds from last week are still growing very slowly and I haven't killed the palys yet.

[Davie118]

Looking good and way to hang in there through all these algae battles! :)

~Greg

[klwheat]

Understand the algae battle...keep at it!

[leliataylor]

Thank you both for the encouragement. I really hate nuisance algae and one way or the other I will win this battle. They cyano and GHA is gone, the bryopsis is turning white and the emerald crab is taking care of the filamentous algae.

[leliataylor]

Well the blob has continued to grow on both side, but no new heads. The bryopsis on the other hand is slowly going away.

[leliataylor]

I am hopeful. The paly is sending out a long cylindrical structure near its base and the bryopsis is mostly white.

[Davie118]

That should be a baby. Yay!

~Greg

[quicksilverz]

how did you get rid of that green crap going on the plug because is suffocating mine. Just curious.

[leliataylor]

I have been treating the tank the frag is in with Kent Tech M since 8-09 and cleaning the plug daily with a toothbrush. It has been a slow process, however the polyps are looking better.

[quicksilverz]

I have been treating the tank the frag is in with Kent Tech M since 8-09 and cleaning the plug daily with a toothbrush. It has been a slow process, however the polyps are looking better.


Dang I don't want to go through all that. I might try.

[leliataylor]

The problem is once it is introduced to the tank it is there and will grow. You need to get your Mg levels to about 1700-1800 and your dKH to 7-8. Once it dies back it will send out spores that can reinfect the tank when your water parameters change. You need to maintain high Mg levels for 3-4 weeks. Right now everything is looking much better, however I am having to change out my filter sock every other day. I have also added one emerald crab and 5 hermits to help knock this stuff down. Run low light, frequent water changes, skim wet and if all else fails a flame thrower works well. Also reduce your nitrates and phosphates.

[leliataylor]

Well the one bud appears to be developing a mouth and it looks like there may be a couple of more in the works. It is growing slowly, however it is growing and the nuisance algae is no longer propagating.

[leliataylor]

The first new head has a mouth and there is a new bud above it. There also appears to be a couple more new buds to the left of the first one (not really visible in this pic). Since I am getting the algae under control I have been able to increase the lighting the last couple of days which seems to be helping it grow. Considering I entered this contest expecting to report I killed my palys, I am thrilled that they are actually making new heads.

[leliataylor]

Well the upper bud has gotten much larger. When I changed the lighting to get a picture it retracted so for now, this is the best picture I can get for now.

[leliataylor]

I still have the same 3 heads so nothing new to report.