DIY Fish and Coral Food

I must start by stating this is not my idea and has been written about many times in several good books. However, I thought I’d bring it to life with a few pictures and a UK spin on things.
I started out by visiting my local fish mongers and set about chosing some of the basic ingredients. The beauty of this recipe is you can make with what ever fish meat is available at the time or whatever your tank requires. This basic recipe is about 2 ounces of white fish, 2 ounces of frozen peeled king prawn (uncooked), 2 ounces of mussels in their shell and some nori sheets plus some algae pellets if you have them. Total cost is around £2.87 for this small batch.

Start by shelling the mussels and scraping all the goo into a bowl. Next remove the skin from the white fish and cut into small cubes, then add to bowl. Chop the prawns into small peices and tear up some nori sheets. You can add gelatine if you desire, it helps bind the ingredients together but if freezing, not really necessary. You will need to add some RO water, around 2 ounces, to make the mixture slightly wet.

Next you will need to use a hand blender and wizz up the ingredients until you have a smooth paste. You can also add some vitamins and coral nutrients should you wish.

Now you can either freeze the mixture in a ball/slab and use a cheese grater as required or use some eggcrate (see below) to make individual portions.

A few hours in the freezer and you have your very own reef food. This recipe should make around 100 cubes, not bad for a couple of quid!

October update but no trick or treat

Things have been going very well since I finally got rid of the cyano. *There is something very satisfying about overcoming a major problem, my dilemma is now where to put all the corals.
Anyway, here's a latest FTS prior to shopping.

I popped in to see Nev today and came away with a few Frags - when don't you?

Blue polyp encrusting monti

Purple plating

Purple/vimto

Blasto

All pics taken with iPhone 4 (not the new one)

PAR

Well the new radium bulbs are now 100 hours old and time for test using the photo meter.

Current par values under radiums

Left top 255
Left bottom 125
Middle top 450
Middle bottom 200
Right top 375
Right bottom 160

Slight improvement shown in all areas besides top left over the previous BLV bulbs which were around 10 months old.

Cyano beaten

I mentioned in my last post that cyano was taking over with no obvious reason as to why?
I tried some products but they had no impact and as a last resort I dosed the tank with
Red slime remover RX by blue life http://www.bluelifeusa.com/Blue-Vet-Rx

I can't recommend this product highly enough for cyano removal! Within 48 hours I had a sparkling tank again and the ORP levels have soared to over 350 - unprecedented in last 6 months!

Dreaded Cyano

Well I was feeling fairly smug about beating the hair algea problem and the reef gods punished me with a lovely cyano outbreak. I'm not entirely sure what is causing this hut clearly the must be some disolved organics (doc) fueling the cyano. First step was to examine the skimmer ( a deltec) for further clues. I recalled that I was getting less skimmate of late and on further inspection it became obvious that it was encrusted with calcium deposits and the pump was not producing enough bubbles. A good soak amd clean with some acetic acid and within 4 hours it was good as new!
The next step was to introduce some more bacteria to combat the cyano - I have opted for Dr Timms waste away & refresh. 7 days into treatment there have been no signs of improvement.

Frags from Fishmans

I'm celebrating my recent win against the hair algae which is on the retreat and will soon be all gone.

Acro - Green Slimer!


The Historix - Birds nest coral - in the background was Fragged by me after Chris kindly donated a few pieces for me to try!

Acan - Not a Lord


Millipora


Digipora - Purple with brown polyps


In will post some growth pictures in the next few months....

Beating Hair Algae - A guide

Well folks I am slowly eradicating the hair algae and felt able to add a few new small corals.
If you stumble across this post I will share my steps to date:

1. Massive water changes ensuring the RO water is zero TDS (total dissolved solids) and using a quality salt brand - Tropic Marin Reef Pro
2. Up the herbivors - I purchased 20+ snails including turbo, astrea & money cowries.
3. Increased water turbulance - I noticed some dead spots due to position of bommies - added another powerhead.
4. Testing for phosphate - found that P was at 0.06 - not that bad but could be lower.  Now running media chamber with some phos remover.  Levels currently at 0.045

Randalls Goby & Pistol Shrimp video

I took this video around the turn of the year to show how strong the commensural relationship is between these animals. 

I hope you like the music - I think it works?

Peroxide - not just for blonde hair

Dosing Peroxide (H2O2) is an other interesting way to control/kill algae. Dosing Peroxide has proven to be very effective against Cyanobacteria, Black Brush Algae and Green Hair Algae but like any quick fix, this method won’t solve the root cause of algae in your aquarium. I recommend dosing Peroxide in conjunction with steps to get at the root cause: nutrient imbalance, light, etc.

Why Peroxide?
Peroxide is caustic (not toxic) which mean that it is able to burn or corrode organic tissue by chemical action. According to what I found online (see WaterScapeNorthwest.com, Peroxide has also been scientifically proven to reduce the capability of algae to form new cell growth. Peroxide also rise the O2 level which some algae (like cyanobacteria) hate very much.

How Much Peroxide Is Safe
I have been looking around the Internet trying to find a general dosing rule. I have found many posts where people claim to use 0.5ml to 2ml per gallon of 3% Peroxide in tanks with fish and shrimp without any problem. I also found many posts where people claim to use as much as 3ml of 3% Peroxide per gallon. Most say they perform a 25% water change 30 min after dosing peroxide.

Overdosing peroxide can kill so I try to use it VERY conservatively! As Tom Bar was saying on The Barr Report, “besides gassing fish with too much CO2, Peroxide seems to kill the most, followed by Excel overdosing”. Seen this way, I will certainly not be one of those who dose 2 or 3ml per gallon. Actually, I am way more conservative than that and only dose 0.2ml per gallon every 4 hours! I don’t see the need for more. It is enough to treat small patches of algae at the time and I don’t have to freak about killing fish or inverts. I have been dosing 0.2ml per gallon every 4 hours in both fresh and saltwater aquarium without problem and it is very effective. I never had to do a water change after dosing Peroxide. The only precaution I take is to not dose Peroxide near my corals and anemones when treating my reef tank.

Using Peroxide
The best way to use Peroxide for algae control is to spot treat a small patch of algae with a syringe. Spot treating with Peroxide takes some time but it is very effective. To spot treat, turn your filter off to stop water flow, and inject some Peroxide directly onto the algae you want to kill using a syringe. You are free to use as much Peroxide as you want but I strongly recommend you to not use more than 3ml per gallons and to proceed to a 25% water change 30 min after. If you want to stay on the safe side, 0.2 to 1ml per gallon is perfect. As said previously, I get good results with 0.2 ml per gallon so why use more and run the chance to kill the aquarium inhabitants.

This week I am trying to treat some live rock outside of my display tank hoping this could be a good way to clean the rocks of hair algae without risk. I will post the results here once I am finish with this experiment. Basically, I move the rock outside the tank and spray Peroxide on it. After 15-20 min, I rinse the rock and move it to a quarantine tank and wait for results. To be continued…

One last thing: Only use a fresh bottle of Peroxide (H2O2). Buy smaller bottles at a time, say 2-4 oz, this way you always have a relatively fresh bottle on hand. Peroxide goes flat over time.

Conclusion
Peroxide is a great help in killing unwanted algae. It allows to do it without all the work involved in using bleach or side effects of most copper based algaecides and similar products. Peroxide is also very cheap!


Source: Aquariumslife.com

Growing out frags

Before and after shots of Frags from Nev, aka Screwloose,  which have established their base and now growing out. The pictures show exactly four months growth under 250w halide, supplemented by T5 lighting.

silver digitata with blue polyps (before)

(after) - 4 months on


Green plate, with light green polyps (before)



Montipora hirsuta (before)



Blue tip stag...looks like anyway



I am most stunned by the growth on the green plate and the digi.  If this growth carries on, I will be fragging these in a year or so!

Current stock

Doing a quick Audit on coral stock; way more than I realised!

Left Bommie:
FRogspawn
Blasto
Purple Mushrooms
Green Stag
Frogspawn
Alien Eye Zoa
Red Plating Montipora
Blasto (again)
Turbinara
Green Paly
Toadstool
Favia
Yuma
Green Florida Rics
Blue Sponge

Pink Zoa (in between bommies)
Purple Frilly Gorgonia
Fungia (actually on substrate)
Red encrusting Monti

Middle Bommie
Montipora Hirstuta
? SPS of some kind
Green Turbinara
Brain
Green Monti Plate
Duncans
Floro Candy Cane
Zoa (white with green lashes)
Zoa (Yellow with green lashes)
Acropora
Brown polyp green encrusting monti
Green Plating Monti
Large Green polyp toadstool
Nuclear green Palys
Red/pink Acan x2
Green/white Acan x2
Silver Digitata
Red skirt zoa

GBTA on rear Wall

Right Bommie

Green Torch
Huge Pink Xenia colony
Candycanes (mainly brown)
Floro Hammer
Large Green/brown Paly colony
Brown Clavularia
Green Favia
Floro green Rhodactis sp. (green fuzzy mushroom)

Bivalves

blue maxima clams x 3
Flame scallop

Fish

Yellow Tang

Blue Tang

3 x Common clown

2 x yellow belly damsel

royal gramma

yellow boxfish

randals goby

coral beauty

Algae outbreak - getting better

It's been emotional but the end is in sight for my algae nightmare.

I've changed salt brand back to Tropic Marin, removed the green wrasse (it was predating snails), siphoned off the algae every week, got rid of the bio pearls & removed most of the substrate. I've also added a few more mexican turbos and a large sea hare!

Once the long hair algae is scraped/sucked up, I've noticed the tangs & other herbivores are able to graze the rock (they wont touch hair algae).

Here are some top down pics for a perspective change,






I have noticed some Cyano bacteria (red slime) so will be keeping tabs on this.

Algae outbreak

For balance I am going to show you the dark side of this hobby. I have had an unexplained outbreak of algae. Nutrient levels have never been lower, so I just don't know what the issue is. It could be the salt and I wonder if the fact that all my snails have been eaten by the jade wrasse as exacerbated the problem?

Anyway, I am resolved to rectify this problem & will eliminate potential causes one by one.

One of nevs Frags coming on but look lower....

Fun times with a PAR Meter

I've been playing around with my new Apogee Quantum Sensor (part owned by Gary). Still testing various things but delighted to report that the PAR rating on the substrate is 110.

Using a multimeter means any result is multiplied by 5 to get the PAR reading.

Frag This

Swapped an old powerhead with Nev for some frags.
Frags from Nev (aka Screwloose) are tank bred & therefore tend to be much hardier than frags taken from a wild mother colony.

silver digitata with blue polyps


green plate, with light green polyps


montipora hirsuta


green turbinaria


Blue tip stag...looks like anyway

New Camera

Been playing with the new camera and quite pleased with some of the results