Just an update on some of the issues I have been working through with the tank.
I couple months ago I moved my new skimmer, the SWC cone 180, to a different compartment in the sump and adjusted the height. It was 1/4" too high and caused micro bubbles on startup, and left the skimmer skimming at minimum. I bought some fine carbon from BRS, and every time I changed the carbon, the TLF reactor would clog within a couple of days. The combination of insufficient skimming, lack of carbon, and my overzealousness with additives (especially Iron) left the tank covered in a thin layer of hair algae. Pieces of foreign macro algae on frags (like bryopsis) started growing out of control.
After fixing the skimmer and the carbon, and testing the phosphates and nitrates (0.05 and 5), I added some more GFO to my other reactor and started manual removal of the algae with tweezers and a toothbrush. While I was fairly effective, I also managed to knock down many of my glued-in frags, which I have to wait to glue back in due to the layer of algae.
I was getting frustrated with the constant maintenance, so I went another route. I picked up a Foxface for the display tank, and a tiny baby Kole Tang for the frag tank. Within 2 days all the filamentous algae was gone, leaving just a little brown layer, which they are slowly cleaning off. They are doing a wondeful job, and I will need to pickup another Tang for the display. I will also have to sell some of the wrasses to make some room, I would like to keep the bioload fairly low.
I also picked up a large reactor which I was unsure of what to do with. I have GFO and Carbon already running, and no refugium, so I decided to run Cheato in the reactor and light it from both sides. I thought the cheato would tumble with the powerful flow of the pump, but it is staying still. I am thinking of putting a valve on the out-take to try to get it to tumble.
Coral pictures will come later this week when the cleanup is done
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