Good to be in June ( the up date)

[Mad Mead]

So Its has been hard and its be a lot of reading and pleading for help. Yet here I am with all of my hair and a great looking tank 5 and a half months later. I would Like to say Thanks You all as well to Lee for all of your help it has done me well. I love every min with my tank. Its pleases me to make my charts, do my testing, cleaning and to write in my journal. It clams me when my leg hurts. I'm a every happy saltwater tank keeper. I think that dude to you guys here at reefland.
Okay so here how it's doing
I have found two sea slug's (white and green and green with a yellow strip) tinny little things. just want to kiss em. Have placed the last of my rock in the tank top it off at 15lb. I have placed the last piece of coral in my tank from my bday as well.
water level
PH 8.2 NO2 0.0 NH3 0.0 NO3 0.0 PO4 0.0 KH 9 Ca 400 Alk 4meg Meg 1125 S.G. 1.024
Temp. 79.3
Last is Pics

thanks again every one please let me know if my link workedhttp://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0806.jpg

[Mad Mead]

okay so I'm putting up pic of one of the two sea slugs that has grown in my tank. would love to hear from anyone who has owned one or is well knowledge in the area. Thank you for any help keeping these guys a live.

[chrisfont23]

A handful of Turbo Snails should eliminate that hair algae.

[Original Fin]

Thanks for the update and the pics.

Yours is a nice story, and I'm glad you were able to find something that comforts you, and that we get to be a part of that.

I enjoyed he same things you described about starting out...all the testing and notekeeping, nose pressed up against the glass at all hours. It is fun. It was also a bit nerve racking for me from time to time, so sometimes the idea that staring into our little zen gardens will bring peace, tranquility and relaxation just goes right out the window.

Oh, and I can never be fully satisfied with the way things are going...aquascaping, water quality, livestock, equipment etc...But maybe that's just me. I am learning to appreciate things as they are though. I'm glad in a way that I haven't loaded the tank up with expensive rare/LE corals. It's just as enjoyable, if not more, to watch a handful of modest frags grow out and fill in.

The pics do seem to to be baby seahares/seaslugs, but you may want to do some image searches on very similar looking nudibranches which can be destructive to certain types of corals, or other types can be beneficial as nuisance predators. Just depends on which type they are, so a positive ID on the species is important.

[Mad Mead]

Thanks Fin it been loads of fun. I have looked on line for a similar pic no luck so far. I do know it is a herbivore you can clearly see its teeth marks on the leaf. I need to do more reading due to this is unplanned baby. no dad around no car seat ohboy.
Hey Chris my lsf has none so I went with herm which clean but not the hair. i order some online and only one snail made and its not what I order. He eat slow and only new small growth.

[Mad Mead]

so what i have read on here no one has had any success with sea slugs or Nudibranch in weeks up to months. I have read that my plant life I had started with first in my DT is great food for them. i also can tell the yellow striped one is not really a strip but a edge of the top his body like the Lettuce Nudibranch or a type close to it. There have been a few people too keep them up to 3 life cycle. So i will do my best to keep reading and learn a much as possible to be one of those people to have success.
So Please if you know even how thing started going wrong for you. those are things that will help me not to let it happen

[Mad Mead]

nothing people not even a smart ass remark, come on give me somethingI right here

[Mad Mead]

Okay so when I got up today my tank looked just awful. I my not to sure why this could be. On Monday i took back to the LFS my Scooter and Coral shrimp and one very big hermit. they have out grown the tank sad day but that the choice I have made when picking a small tank. So the levels are good
PH 8.3 NO2 0.0 NH3 is not quit 0.0 PO4 0.0 NO3 0.0 KH 9 Ca 400 Mag 1300 Alk 4meq BAlk just reaching 2meq CAlk 2meq
All of my mushrooms are small and droopy. pretty much every thing is lighter in color and droopy i have no idea why this would be happen please help

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Not sure what the cause is but I would get some saltwater ready for a large water change.

[Mad Mead]

do you think it should be a full 80% change I went and got more water I always have 3gal ready but thats only 50% water change if I use it all can make up to 9 gal but will take time to heat it up and would like to wait at least a full day before using it.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

If you have 3 gals of saltwater ready, I would start with changing the 3 gals and get more ready in case it's not enough. If you don't have any saltwater ready, get enough to make a couple of 80% water changes, mix it for 24 hours and do a water change. If the ammonia and/ or nitrites climb or if your livestock seems to be getting really bad, you may have to change the water before it mixes for 24 hours.
How has your temperature been? Any temp, Ph, or salinity swings?

[Mad Mead]

I has been real hot outside so I placed a fan next to it. temp a steady 79.4 When I had a babysitter for the tank at the end of last month. the SG was high 1.025 close to 1.026 i had to do three water changes to bring it back down to 1.024 where I keep it at.

[Mad Mead]

Okay.... So I did two 80% Water change over 4 day span. one mushroom didn't make it. Over all every thing else is doing much better over all. My Sea slugs have both made it though and have grown a half a cm. there so tinny. hehee The green SP look great again and the featherduster no longer looks wet. Much better cleaner looking if you get what I mean by that.

I also went back to the collganman water and instead of the LFS water that the babysitter had change it too. I think that and lowering the SG back down to 1.024 where I like it. was the big helper


Big thank you to FoMoCo Master Tech for the help you rock.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

I'm glad things are looking better for you. Keep a close eye on it for the next couple of weeks before you consider yourself out of the woods.

[Mad Mead]

I have had my first huge upset. My happy 4th turned sad when I got home form taking care of my Mother. I had a tank sitter form my LFS in which he had worked for me once before. Was okay last time no big miss ups. This time not good. The loss so far is all my happy people eaters, red and tough mushrooms, Sea Slug , Emerald Crab, Snails, Hermit Crabs, Paintbrush Plants, my cylpods growth.

I always have 6gals of mixed water made up which means He had to of spilled something in my made up water. So mad.. I mean it very basic thing to mix's salt water. how could you do it with out check it..What the F!!sorry. So SG at 1.029 all the water was bad tank and Mix's. of course my levels are all over the place due to the Fup sorry. I have worked hard to keep my tank form whipping out completely. But I had to get it of my chest just so upsetting.

[chrisfont23]

Sorry to hear. Maybe you can get that LFS to replace everything for you on account of their screw up?

[Original Fin]

Noooo!

I am so sorry. That is truly heartbreaking. What did the so called maintenance expert have to say for himself?

Just keep rolling with it Mead. Once you get past the die off and your parameters get back in line, let us know. I for one would be happy to send you a couple frags to help re-establish your reef.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

That's a real bummer! Trusting that someone else will care for your tank is risky buisness but that's no excuse for paid professionals. I'd like to know what the caretaker had to say too.

[Mad Mead]

Thank you guys. I knew you would feel my pain. Its upsetting when you wok hard at something to have a outsider miss up, its tough.

Chris the LFS gave me a 75 dollar gift-card. The thing is even though it is someone who works from the store the store is not responsible the person caring for the tank is.. They gave me the gift because it looks bad on them. which is very nice of them. but that hardly covers any thing. The Happy People a-lone coast 9.95 a polyp 14 of them
..

Fin the guy has only has sent txt to me... not saying he is to blame.. That the heat must of had some of the cause to this.. hahaa What! I wont go into the smack down I gave him for that txt... in the end he said i could pay him half and he would use the other half I would pay him to buy things to replace the lose.. I laughed at this and then took pic of all my payslips I have for all my purchases' and then a txt with a total to just show him what it cost me to have things in my tank. not even close to what I have paid him
Thanks

Once you get past the die off and your parameters get back in line, let us know. I for one would be happy to send you a couple frags to help re-establish your reef.

. Only if I can send you something in-return (I'm a chef so it could be food. I mail food all time and a note if heating is needed)

FoMoCo Master Tech
it is a bummer..
all i can do is move forward but with friends who feel my pain is what gets us to move on
Thanks everyone

[Mad Mead]

Just wanted to let you know where I was at with the tank.. Its been hard to look at my tank in its sad state. everything looks very uncomfortable yet the life wants to come back.

What I have done-In the past 3weeks. I have slowly moved the SG down to 1.024 where it should be from 1.029 thanks goodness. I took my time to do this not to loss any more in the tank. I haven't done to much cleaning not to stress the tank out and in hopes to bring back my pods population. This week I added a bottle of Tiggpods to help that a long. this though has let the hairA out of hand but with (Chis Thread I will be doing the same to get ride of it) Thanks Chris I plan on placing the feather Duster back in this week-end he has hated the bucket but that's life.

My life left in the tank my green started polyps have made it. last week they came back out of there rock yeah I tiered up a little bit. great moment for me. Two of my Blue mushrooms that I took out made it okay in the bucket. They where inside out there off and on for a week or so but they made it tough little guys. My Xenia i left in the tank and was the only thing that didn't seem to mind the swing odd i know. but it is in the most flow in the tank. I feel like that the only reason to it. but just happy it didn't die. it has grown in some.

That's all I have now but I do well with loss and will move on with my head up. It will be a month before i get new stuff I wont feel safe if i don't wait it out as long as I can. Lastly my levels
ph 8.2
PO4 0.0
NO2 0.0
Ca 400
KH 8
NH4 0.0
NO3 2.5