String Mucus on Frogspawn

Because we can tell whether the N pollution is a problem just by looking at the coral and the tank in general, the most important tests that we use are Alk, Ca and Mg. The best three test kits for the money also happen to be the least expensive. It's the Red Sea Reef Foundation(Alk,Ca,Mg). On Amazon right now it's $51.33 with free shipping. A really good thing about it is that the refills are about $15 so we don't have to buy the whole thing again when all we need is more Alk tests. See if this link works:

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sea-Reef-Foundation-Test/dp/B004FUJ5NE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461617125&sr=8-1&keywords=red+sea+test+kit+pro

I would not get any Stars at all right now in that tank. Here is a recent thread about Blue Linkia.

http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=79684

Mandarins need live food and plenty of it. Feel free to search the many discussions that have been posted here about this topic too. The live food I'm speaking of is that growing in the system. Buying live food is prohibitively expensive. With all the Damsels and the recent week of no feeding, there are very few live bugs in the display tank. I would not recommend a Mandarin in that tank. In fact, that size of tank is the bare minimum size that could reasonably support a Mandarin's live food needs.  

BTW, If you are looking for ideas for your next fish, consider the Clownfishes(of course), the Blennies, the Cardinals, the Wrasses, the Pygmy & Dwarf Angelfish, the Rabbitfishes and the Tangs. Remember the Assessor that Ross was so proud of and how cool it was hanging upside down under the huge Blue Wall Hammer Coral? That fish along with the Royal Gramma or the Pseudochomis would also do well as a next fish.

Aloha,

Mark 

Mg is well within range.

What I recommend is what a lot of us here use. The chemicals and how to do it is discussed in the Reefkeeping Tips thread linked below. It may surprise you that it's so simple and so inexpensive.

Aloha,

Mark 

Edited by Mark Peterson - April 21 2016 at 7:30pm

Update:

Everything is looking soooo much better than what I saw in the image posted in the OP. No Frogspawn skeleton is showing and the anemone looks like an anemone.

Alk 9.2 dKH, Ca <290 ppm, and Mg 1340 ppm. No need to check N compounds. I can see that everything is fine. The Nitrate test kit must be bad/old. Calcium needs to be dosed heavily and Alk will need to be dosed moderately as the Ca level rises.

We checked SG with a Refractometer and found it to be currently 1.020. It can be raised to 1.025 by topping off with salt water in place of RO water.

The fish are acting normal, eating algae and doing the things that fish do. This tank is headed for the

Aloha,

Mark 

Okay so here is an update. It's now been a few days of the sump light on all the time and the photo period of the display like 17 hours. Only one tiny feeding has been done. I did a water change on Monday night. Also most of the macro algae that has been in the display is now gone with alot getting trapped in the fan. I've seen a couple of the damsels picking at it occasionally so that is probably why I haven't had much success with it. The corals have come out a tad more but not much. I tested the nitrate right before the water change and just barely did. The color is the exact same in both tubes. So my only conclusion is there must be another nitrate factory in the tank. My thinking is there is a layer of sediment/ sand in my sump. I only put a tiny amount of sand when I started it up. I also see tiny tiny bugs swimming around in there. Could this layer of sediment just be waste and tons of nitrates? I'll post a picture. Thanks

Edited by Hottsauce23 - April 20 2016 at 2:39pm

If the Goby is not out much and isn't actually moving much sand around, then no worries. Enjoy it when you see it. The typical reason it doesn't chase the food being fed is that it's probably still finding enough to eat in the sand. A hungry Goby can be trapped using the Pop Bottle Fish Trap(google it).

The sponge, yes it's a Nitrate Factory. Because there is a filter sock, I would remove the sponge. I know how interesting a "sand throwing goby" can be. They do have personality, but IMO they are murder on the sand bed. They eat all the bugs and worms that should make up a good part of the biofiltration. I would not have one of those unless there was enough sand area to feed one and still do needed biofiltration, like a sand bed of 16 square feet or more. There are many smaller tanks that house them but who knows how much better the biofiltration and tank health would be without?

Because the hydrometer needed cleaning when used for the first reported reading of 1.030, the actual salinity was probably closer to 1.033, right?

Edited by Mark Peterson - April 17 2016 at 12:31am

The sand looks good. It looks like the common CaribSea Special Reef Grade sand. And there is plenty of it. It's whiter than I expected. That makes me think it's being vacuumed at each water change. Is that the case? 

Edited by Mark Peterson - April 15 2016 at 8:10am

And what type of sand? Do you have a close-up pic?

Is the Ammonia and Activated Carbon Sponge a filter pad or a granular media? Typically we don't mix carbon and ammonia media for use in reef aquariums(they are more for freshwater aquaria). In fact, after this pollution issue is resolved you will probably never need to worry about ammonia ever again.

Hydrometers are good devices but really ought to be calibrated before use(or after cleaning as described below), otherwise they may be off by as much as 0.003. It's okay, fish and coral can live okay in anything from 1.020 to 1.030, but it's better to be more exact than 0.003. Calibration is easy. Compare the reading to the same salt water measured by a Refractometer. All LFS should have a refractometer and be willing to test a sample of their salt water with both devices. Simply note how far off it reads and mark that + or - value on the hydrometer with a permanent marker.

A temporary high reading comes about when a tiny bubble sticks to the needle. A re-dip in the water is the quickest way to resolve this. Microscopic bubbles will have a tiny but insignificant influence. If exactness were really that important I would be using the more expensive and delicate Refractometer myself.

A longer term issue develops over time if the hydrometer has not been periodically cleaned by soaking in white vinegar for 10 minutes. The Calcium Carbonate that forms on the needle makes it heavier so that it reads lower than the actual specific gravity(SG, salinity).

Regarding the readings changing, salt dissolves quickly enough for water changes, but salinity does not change without an outside influence, such as evaporation or RO top-off. In my experience different readings usually occur because salinity was not double checked by the hobbyist. If in doubt, I check the tank water before the water change, check the water change water and then check the tank water after the water change.

When checking salinity with my Hydrometers, I typically measure twice to be sure I'm getting the same reading, or three times if the first two readings didn't match.

Hope this helps.

Aloha,

Mark 

Edited by Mark Peterson - April 14 2016 at 3:54pm

What is it hanging on to in the Refugium? I always put sand in the Refugium for more biofiltration and for Caulerpa to use. Rubble rock in the Refugium is okay, and useful to an extent, but LS can harbor a much larger population of bacteria, perhaps as much as 100 times larger than LR, depending on the sand grain size.

Rubble Rock is great for holding down Caulerpa. Every tank needs to have some rubble rock, small pieces of LR (marble to ping pong ball size), because it not only makes for more natural looking aquascaping to have a zone of rubble, but it's a place where bugs can live in the display, protected from predators. Take a larger piece of LR and/or dead coral skeleton and break it up with a hammer and chisel or flat screwdriver. Dump all the pieces (and calcium carbonate dust) back into an area on the sand.

Another way to stabilize Caulerpa is to use an elastic to hold it to a rock outcropping or to hold it to a dead coral skeleton, or even bury the rhizome in a couple spots in the sand, deeper than before if necessary. As it grows, it will start attaching itself to the sand. For some reason I love pulling up Caulerpa that has sent it's "roots" deep into the sand bed.

Speaking of sand, what kind of sand is it and how deep is the sand bed? A deeper sand bed, or a less deep bed of Oolitic sand harbors more bacteria for biofiltration. I have a ton of excellent Oolitic Sand for $0.50/lb.

Like the Refugium light, leave the display light on the extended photoperiod for a week, or as long as you think is needed.

Look again. I wrote two brand and product names in that post. I doubt Petco has it, but your nearest "real" LFS, Bird World, should carry it.

Aloha,

Mark