Heidi's 150g cube

what is that purple gorgonian called in post #32 9th picture down? is that a purple sea plume?? ive wanted one of those!

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Originally Posted by jolson10450

what is that purple gorgonian called in post #32 9th picture down? is that a purple sea plume?? ive wanted one of those!

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I got that from steveperry98 at the grandrapids swap. He had a lot of frags he was selling. I think they were like 10$ for a pretty decent sized piece. I am not sure what the fancy name is for it but he just called it a sea fan and I know it comes from Florida.
Hope that helps!

Nate, Badfish, AJ & everybody else: Thanks for all the kind words!!

Heidi

Awesome job Heidi! Loving the fan :)

Decided to post an update. This will be a picture-less week for my impatience has caught up w/ me. So let this be on the record. I am willing to admit when I mess up and folks, I think that is what happened. I set up this tank with every intention of waiting for 6 weeks to "cycle" which is what you are suppose to do. But as you all know I succumbed to the impatience bug and a put in my coral about 10 days later and fish 2 weeks later.
"So Heidi, hows that working out for ya?"
Not so good, nothing is dead yet all livestock is doing pretty well. But, and this is a theory really, because I didn't wait for my good bacteria to build up before adding stuff I now have Dinos. That's right its not cyano it is for sure dinoflagellates. If I can get a decent picture I will show you all.
They started coming in the form of kinda a reddish dusting on the sand and rocks last Sunday. I was headed out of town for the week so I left the tank w/ normal feeding and lighting instructions. When I got back last night this film had turned into stringy stands of bubbled brownish red snot. NASTY. I called some people and hopped on the web to read as much as I could about this crap so I could eradicate it. So here is what I am doing to get rid of the dinos based on a bunch of reading from here and other forums. I figure with this combo and a ton of manual removal I can at least get it under control eventually.
So I messed up, but I am not a quitter and I love my tank and will do everything to make it all beautiful again. If you think of something I am not trying feel free to post it up in here. This is for learning that I am shareing this with you, please keep your nasty comments to your self and TRUST me know you all "told me so" :big_grin: Just hoping something I do now will help my tank:
1. I put blankets over the tank and turned off the lights, I will uncover it for a few hours a day and turn on just my blue lights to do a fish only feeding once a day. I am thinking I will do this for 3 days.
2. I might go all lights out but not yet for I need to do a lot of mechanical filtration and removal first.
3. I bought a "gravel vacuum" I am using this and a turkey baster to blow off and suck up the crap on the sand and rocks. I am also blowing off all my coral about every couple hours and will keep that up during the day as long as I need to.
4. Even thought I jut hooked up a brand new RODI I will not be doing a water change yet.
5. I am going to dose MB7 and a carbon source (not sure what yet)
6. I am raising the PH and KH with kalk "drip top off" both were pretty low, and I hear a PH of 8.6 will sometimes kill this stuff.
7. Filter socks and carbon in the socks (I have been changing the socks every couple hours today and will change the carbon tomorrow and once a day for a while.
8. Bought some of this "bio-magnet" clarifier stuff from CaribSea, I am not sure how it works but I pretty much read every bottle in the pet store last night and this stuff sounds like it might kinda clump the crap I blow into the water column and make it easier to filter out or suck out w/ my handy vacuum. Here is a link to that stuff, wondering if anyone has tried it: Bio-Magnet Clarifier 8 OZ. | Aquarium Supplies | PetSolutions

So I will update you guys with anything new in a few days for now all I have to say is. .. . DINOOOOOSSS!!! :confused:
Heidi

Sorry to hear about the dino'l heidi! I hope it is a short battle!

That is a shame, hang in their you have the makings of a beautiful tank.

I have a BRS Dual Reactor you can borrow if you'd like. I don't use it now but keep it because I know I will need it someday.

I would go ahead and dose the MB7, but dont dose the carbon source yet. It can fuel your problem, or possibly prolong it.

I wouldnt dose the bio magnet till you find out exactly what it is.....it may be just another bacteria additive, similar to the MB7. Might not want to mix these two.....not certain, but better safe than sorry.

Hows your PH level? Keep it on the high side while fighting this stuff. Run some GFO. Lights out, completely, for 3 days has helped alot for me in the past. Dont change any water.

Sounds like you are off to a good start already. I am confidant you will pull through this one.

So I did a ton of the above stuff cause I hated to go for 3 whole days with no light. I have been dosing MB7, no carbon source yet. So less light doesn't cut it people. I tried lights out for a day and half light for a few days. It greatly reduced the amount and growth but as soon as I turned on the lights an a few hour in i would start seeing "redish brown" sneaking in on the gravel. So on Wednesday my thought was if I don't get rid of this stuff it is going to suffocate all my coral. I had wanted to hold off on the lights because I have such great color etc. Plus not feeding the fish for 3 days seemed harsh too. So Wednesday at 4:00pm I took the plunge. I turned off the lights and covered all 3 sides with blankets to completely black out the tank. I worried a few times and peeked in with a tiny one led flashlight to make sure I didn't see dead fish or rapid white coral. other then that I only messed w/ my tank to add my MB7 and empty my skimmer for 72 hours. When I uncovered it today I have no losses except a little frag of sps I had gotten 2 days before I did the lights out. It turned all white, I forget what its called rtd maybe?? Its all good though cause that was a freebee browning I was trying to bring back to "life" any way.

Happy to report I don't see any trace of dinos, anywhere. I am going to slowly re-light my tank as not to bring them back and shock anything. I will continue to dose MB7, hold off on a water change, and dose to keep my PH up.

Did I beat the dinos??
Only time will tell.
:shrug:
Heidi

Good to hear! Hope you got it fixed.