saltwater newbie attempting a 55 gallon reef

[BTB0923]

WOW I love the white rock you have what great shapes!!
Well done coming along nicely!!

Thanks! I'm hoping it darkens up and gets some purple on it pretty soon.

 

[mr.reef24]

I haven't been able to find any info on target feeding GSP (green star polyps), but I did learn some other stuff. It turns out this coral is extremely hardy and is actually known to sometimes retract for days at a time randomly. So I guess the coral is probably fine and I'm just going to wait a few days to see if the polyps come back out.

yes that is true and I misread and thought you were talking about sun polyps for some reason my bad. But like you read that is normal for them to do it I have a colony retract for 6 month's then come back and triple in size months later.

mr.reef24

 

[BTB0923]

I came downstairs this morning and the green star polyps were out again I also noticed that one of my peppermint shrimp shed its skin. Should I take the skin out of the tank or just leave it?

Also, I like where I've placed the montipora aesthetically, but I'm concerned that it might not get enough light and turn brown. Is it ok where it is?

Since I've added the fans to cool the water my evaporation has gotten out of control. I'm having to top off the tank every 8 hours or so to keep the return pump from sucking up air. Not only is this constant maintenance a hassle but I'm also concerned its causing salinity fluctuation in the tank. I'm going to have to construct some kind of DIY Auto-top-off system. Anybody have a good link?

 

[Myteemouse]

Monti is fine
Star polyps are great
Looking good my friend!!
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3450218&posted=1#post3450218
ATO link!!!

 

[Myteemouse]

Thanks! I'm hoping it darkens up and gets some purple on it pretty soon.

Are you two part doseing??
A&B for Cal/ALK ???
Your purple will come in no time and you'll be cussing it out as your scrapeing your glass LOL

 

[BTB0923]

I've got the Brightwells two-part supplements, but since I started using the Seachem Reefsalt my levels have stayed in range and I haven't had to use them. I've been using treated water for top-off to slowly raise my salinity so that might be keeping the levels up. When I get to the proper salinity and start topping off with reg RO water I'll see if I have to start experimenting with the supplements again.

I've noticed that some of the coraline algae I have growing already has gotten a little brown at the edges. You can see it in the second pic I attached to my last post. This seems like a bad sign....is it normal?

Thanks for the ATO link btw!

 

[Myteemouse]

Well coraline doesn't like to be exposed to air
It also grows better under really blue lights and not the brightest..
It will grow.
To help it along take a knife and scrape some off the rocks to spread it around the tank!

 

[mr.reef24]

you should take the peppermint shrimp shed out. also the GSP's look incredible glad they opened up for you.

mr.reef24

 

[Otto_VonBacon]

Well coraline doesn't like to be exposed to air
It also grows better under really blue lights and not the brightest..
It will grow.
To help it along take a knife and scrape some off the rocks to spread it around the tank!

No it doesn't. I did a water change and all the coralline that came in contact with air is now a greenish color and is flaking off.


Tanks looking good.

 

[BTB0923]

Thanks! My coraline algae is doing that too. I think I know why....I accidentally let the water level in my sump get down too low and the return was spraying air bubbles all over it for a few hours while I was at work. Would that be bad for corals also? Parts for a DIY Auto Top Off system are on the way!

Some of my leather coral is looking a bit unhealthy, kinda shriveled a bit and the polyps are not coming out. Does leather coral like a lot of flow?