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Thanks heaps Matty. I'm disappointed that some of our corals are in the "hard to keep" category. Our LFS labels his corals with the following numbering system:-

1 = Easy to keep corals that work well for most people
2 = Can be kept alive by 50% of reefkeepers & is more difficult
3 = Hard to maintain - for experts only.

Our corals were all in category 1.
We bought 3 of the goniopora, because the clowns love them so much

Anyway, the chiller is running, but we are having trouble setting the temp. We follow the instructions, set the desired temp, but it still creeps up - not by much. Will continue to fiddle.

Cheers
TW

Matty, if you stop in here again, I have a question for you. The coral that we have that you've identified as an elegance coral. Were you talking about the coral I named as coral no. 2? We were are the LFS again today, where we bought it. I didn't have pen & paper on me, but tried to remember as best I can it's name. They labeled it "Purple Tipped Catophylia" or something quite similar to that. Is that one of the elegance group?

Cheers
TW

Cataphyllia = Elegance coral, yep.

here is a link to reefcentral where they are talking about it. I haven't read the whole thing, but just about any thread on elegance corals lead down the eventual path to talking about their miserable track record in the hobby.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well, hubby will be starting all over again. It will still be a 3 foot tank, but wider & higher. He should be able to build a more interesting reef with the extra width & height.

He's ordered the following tank:-

36' length
24" wide
24" high

It will have a capacity of 89.8G, instead of the current 31.5 - so more than double the water volume. It should be ready in a week or two.

This time around, it will have the mini reef filter (sump) instead of the cannister filter.

The change over will be done gradually & eventually this tank will be shut down.

Cheers
TW

Hey, that sounds great! I love the wide tanks, it should be a beauty.

How are all the corals and fish doing?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks for popping in Matty.

Well, so far, most are doing well. The elegance just seems to be growing & growing - taking over it's area of the tank. One of the gonny's is a little sad, but we can link that to hubby dropping a heavy piece of live rock on it. A lot of damage was done at the time - a whole section was scraped off it at the time. When it is open, you can't tell it's even damaged, but if the lights have been out, or we've annoyed it by doing tank maintenance, it closes down. It's only when it closes down you can see the damage. We watch these ones, as they (as well as the elegance) are the troublesome ones - also the favoured ones by the clowns. Apart from this accidental damage, so far so good & our fingers are crossed.

Not the same for our poor yellow tang. He was happy & healthy for quite a while - best eater in the tank & always exploring every nook & cranny. Could fit himself through the most tiny openings in the rocks & coral. Then he appeared with a purple coloured splinter thing that poked into his face & stayed stuck there for maybe a week. We didn't know what to do. After a week, it worked it's way out and again, all seemed well for a week or two. Then one night, about 2 weeks ago his behaviour went crazy. No scratching or spots or anything like that, but suddenly he was just agitated. Flaring his fins, racing here & there, jerking up & down. Then he began hiding in the back of the tank, not coming out for dinner. Last night he died & we're quite sad about that.

No new fish (or anything new) for the time being. No point, until we set up the new tank. I just hope he didn't pass something along to the other occupants (2 clowns, 1 flame angel & the corals). At the moment they seem well, so fingers crossed.

Cheers
TW

Bummer about the tang and coral bashing. I hope that goni hangs in there for you. The are a very cool coral when happy.

IMO a tang will probably do better in the larger tank with more room swim around. Maybe give one another shot after you upgrade. Start it small if you can....hold out for a very nice specimen. I know it can be hard, but patience is a very important aspect of reefing.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The new tank & cabinet has been delivered. It's 89.8G.
Every other tank in the house looks tiny in comparison. It is just sitting empty for the moment, but I think we are maybe picking up the reef filter (sump / refuge - what ever you call them in US, but LFS here is calling it a reef trickle filter).

Then we have to figure out the plumbing & gradually transfer everything across.

Wish us luck & fun

Cheers
TW

A lot of times the trickle filters contain bioballs and whatnot. I wouldn't bother using those. They tend to trap detritus over time and cause problems down the road. I'd just use plenty of LR in the display as your main bio filtration. In the sump, I'd have a DSB and some cheatomorpha or other algae to suck out nutrients.

Good luck

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients