Christy's Reef

Well after all those threats I finally took the plunge and powerwashed the rock last Wednesday. If nothing else, it was satisfying to watch that algae and caulerpa peel off the rock like melting butter. Oh it was sweet! Now I have the rock sitting in rubbermaid containers with heaters and powerheads just to see if they are going to cycle. I checked the ammonia levels yesterday and it was at zero. Its hard to tell if its because there is nothing left to die on the rock or because everything is fine. Someone on ReefCentral suggested that I "cook" the rock but I don't know if I will do it for the full recommended time which I think is about 6-8 weeks as the tank is empty now (as in no rock but all the fish and corals are still hanging out in there). I think the fish can handle it but I don't know about the corals.

So now I must attack the main tank. I'm starting to wonder about the whole dinoflagellate situation as I see some of my snails are eating it, of course others are upside down on the sandbed which previously indicated to me that dinoflagellates were at work. But the fact that they can eat it and stay alive sort of tells me that maybe it isn't dinos. Besides, this algae is a light yellowy color, sort of like what I saw immediately after the dinos died during those craptastic algae cycles I had last year. I suppose I'll just remove it manually and then take the tank down and the sandbed out and restart. If it is dinos I don't want to take any chances.

On a side note the midas blenny, left without a hiding place to sleep in at night, was viciously attacked by my number one suspect: the hawkfish. I found him Friday morning trying to swim without a tail. The wound goes right down to the flesh. He doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects but isn't found to be swimming in the water column as often as he used to, I imagine its pretty tiring. I don't see anyone else in the tank that could possibly be the culprit as I have no crabs in the tank at all and the hawk is known for this type of behavior. So the hawkfish is currently living in the sump until I find a home for him. What an incredibly bad fish purchase that one was. I'll have to do more research next time.

And probably not the smartest move but hey, when have I been smart about this hobby? :P I got a new regal tang from a friend that was downgrading his tank. "She" (I can't help it, everytime I look at her I see Dory from Finding Nemo and thank god she doesn't have those googly eyes, they'd freak me out! :P) is about 4 inches and her name is Nori courtesy of her previous owners. Apparently that is all she would eat during her first 2 weeks with them. She seems to eat whatever is handy so far so they have trained her well. She's pretty quick so I haven't been all that successful at getting pictures of her. As you can see, that picture pretty much sucked but it gets the job done. :)