My SCA 66g Upgrade

[civics14]

Got my CUC from Reef Cleaners and I've got to say they dropped the ball. I ordered a package with hermits and didn't receive any hermits It seems like half the astraea snails are dead, the water was pretty murky and stunk bad. I still can't believe they didn't include the hermits

Did you reach out to them? I hear they are good to work with to resolve these types of issues.

 

[hiimsean]

Did you reach out to them? I hear they are good to work with to resolve these types of issues.

I did. I’m sure they’ll resend stuff, especially the non existent hermits lol. All the astraea snails are in the same place I dumped them. I might pull them by the end of the day so they don’t foul up the tank if they don’t get going.

 

[hiimsean]

We’ll RC is refunding for the astraea and hermits. Kind of pisses me off cause I bought the package deal to get free shipping. Guess I’m going to have to look locally now

 

[hiimsean]

I was able to pick up a handful of hermits and a few astraea snails. Just sucks paying triple the price for the astraea snails. All that RC sent were dead so that sucks too.

The main thing that pisses me off about the whole RC order is their response was use ups shipping next time. Then don’t offer free usps shipping with your packages. Also i find it ridiculous that it took 3 days to receive the package from pretty much West Palm Beach. Almost any ground service that is 1-2 days shipping.

 

[sharis100]

I was able to pick up a handful of hermits and a few astraea snails. Just sucks paying triple the price for the astraea snails. All that RC sent were dead so that sucks too.

The main thing that pisses me off about the whole RC order is their response was use ups shipping next time. Then don’t offer free usps shipping with your packages. Also i find it ridiculous that it took 3 days to receive the package from pretty much West Palm Beach. Almost any ground service that is 1-2 days shipping.

RC is great if you pay for the expedited shipping typically. Never use USPS for live stuff as they typically do not guarantee and there are always chances of delays. If you overnights or 2 day ship, most things will live unless extreme weather or other issue in packaging. I have had issues with astrea snails in smaller shipments- only when I ordered large quantities have I actually received live astreas no matter which vendor online I have used- with about dozen attempts over the last many years.

 

[hiimsean]

RC is great if you pay for the expedited shipping typically. Never use USPS for live stuff as they typically do not guarantee and there are always chances of delays. If you overnights or 2 day ship, most things will live unless extreme weather or other issue in packaging. I have had issues with astrea snails in smaller shipments- only when I ordered large quantities have I actually received live astreas no matter which vendor online I have used- with about dozen attempts over the last many years.

This is my fourth order from RC and never had a loss like this. Maybe a few astraea die but an overwhelming majority have been fine.

 

[hiimsean]

I got some astraea and hermits from Creation a few weeks ago and I also got a pair of fighting conchs from Premier Aquatics. I did a waterchange and did some rock scrubbing and most of the ugly stuff is gone. Corals all seem happy in the tank except for zoas. I had a few melt on me, not sure if they're getting too much light or what. The six bubble tipped anemones are doing great. Two of them don't want to leave the acclimation box I had them in. The others have found some pretty good spots away from corals. I'm going to try some SPS next to see how things go.

I haven't hooked up my dosing equipment yet or the algae scrubber. At this point I don't think I'll need the scrubber. I've been feeding pretty lightly in this tank to avoid unwanted nutrients. I'm also very impressed with the RO Regal 150 skimmer. It's quiet and consistently pulls gunk from the tank. I'm also pleased with using filter floss in the sump to prevent it from getting too nasty. I end up changing it every week and half to two weeks. I feel like the water is clear for the most part.

 

[hiimsean]

 

[hiimsean]

One of my favorite things about having an aquarium is my daughters fascination with it. She loves watching the fish, always looks for my tiger conchs, asking about different corals and anemones. I love it

 

[hiimsean]

Things have been going fine with the tank. I haven’t been satisfied with the lighting so I decided to go LED on the tank. I picked up a pair of Gen 5 Radion XR15s. I got them hung today. I’m already linking being able to control the colors better.
I’ve just got some green film algae in trying to kick. I started putting kalk in my ATO also.

 

[hiimsean]

Under my tank has been a rats nest of wires. Today we went to ikea and picked up a cabinet that will hold all electronics

 

[hiimsean]

Since the tank is coming up on a year I decided to start testing the tank because I’m considering dosing. Everything looks happy but not consistently growing. Torches are very happy in the tank but I’ve lost most SPS I’ve put in, most after I changed lights and still adjusting the schedule.
I did a 5gallon water change yesterday and tested today.
Alk - 9.3
Ca - 315ppm
Nitrate - 4.4ppm
Phosphate - 0.12ppm
Calcium is concerning. I didn’t test my mag.
pH depending on the day fluctuates between 8.2-8.4(Highest over the week)
I also add kalk to my ATO when I remember. I’ll be testing around the same time tomorrow.

 

[hiimsean]

Todays reading
Alk - 9.3
Ca - 340
Nitrate - 2.9
Phosphate - 0.11

slightly confused as to why calcium went up. I guess it could be the test, I’m using the Red Sea Ca titration test and Hanna for the rest. Maybe I’ll try a store this weekend to compare results.

 

[hiimsean]

Finally cleaned things up. Underneath my tank was a mess of wires and made everything difficult. We bought two storage units to use as bedside tables and equipment storage. It is still a bit of a mess of wires that needs cleaning but it’s much better. Unfortunately I don’t have before pics

 

[NAS]

What is the lid on this?

 

[hiimsean]

What is the lid on this?

Clearview

 

[hiimsean]

Super excited to do my first DIY does of coral snow and mb7. I’ve had green slim/ Cyano issues so hopefully this will help out. I’ll get some before and after shots. Just mixed the snow mixture so I’m letting it sit for a few hours now

 

[hiimsean]

I feel like the coral snow and mb7 worked really well. Last night everything was still clearing up and I haven’t had much of a chance to do anything today.
I’m going to do a water change today and hopefully the snow and mb7 again this week.

 

[civics14]

I feel like the coral snow and mb7 worked really well. Last night everything was still clearing up and I haven’t had much of a chance to do anything today.
I’m going to do a water change today and hopefully the snow and mb7 again this week. View attachment 71095View attachment 71096View attachment 71097View attachment 71098View attachment 71099View attachment 71100View attachment 71101

I started using that DIY Coral Snow weekly with water changes and blowing my rocks off. I think its great!

 

[hiimsean]

I’ve been using the snow weekly with water changes but I still have the green cyano building up after a few days. I’m trying to up my water changes but with the newborn it’s been tough. This has been something I’ve been able to distract our 4year old with. She loves helping with water changes.
I did my first online order with Aqua SD for a couple LPS and green bta. I moved around some rockwork to create more space sine the acantho I got looks to be pretty big.