You know in The Simpsons where Homer chokes Bart and his tongue does that wiggly worm thing as he is gagging? Thats what I'd like to do to my calcium reactor. For such an expensive piece of equipment, it sure is a piece of crapola. Once again my calcium is stuck at 350 and it doesn't seem to be maintaining it at all. I wish I had a working pH meter so I could see wtf is going on with the reactor effluent but as I seem to be incapable of owning one that works for longer than 3 months or so, that ain't gonna happen any time soon. I did buy a salifert pH kit but apparently it only tests the range from 7.7-9.0 or something. Who the hell has a reef tank at 9.0 pH? Everything would be dead? Granted who the hell has a reef tank at 6.2 either? (or whatever the calcium effluent is supposed to be set at)
As this reactor worked fine with its previous owner I'm starting to suspect other things. First on the list is my own ineptitude with tank equipment, that's a given. Secondly is that stupid needle valve which I swear is turning itself off or at least down. I suppose I should be thankful that it isn't turning itself up. I'll have to go purchase a new one and hope like hell I can remove the old one (and that it solves the bloody problem!).
So of course things can't just proceed nicely with the tank, I suppose I've had my 2 weeks of fun with it (which seems to be about my limit, then I find something else wrong). I found a few frags with some extreme tissue necrosis. Of course none of them are the brown pieces of crap that I'd like to die (because at least that would be something rather than just sitting there being brown!) no they're my precious precious red table and my new purple cross (both photos pre-necrosis). So typical. Grr. The purple cross is starting to lose tissue at the base while the red table an entire section is going, almost gone. I'm hoping it was just an extra piece that I shoved in next to the main body. I'm also hoping it isn't contagious. I did notice that the large cap next to the purple cross may be blocking any "major" flow to the coral. I have done some "particle flow testing" where I put some food by the coral to check the current. There is current but not much. Guess its time to frag that ugly cap, it never did get the fab purple rim on it anyways, and it grows like crazy.
I got a wack of new zoos for the nano (sorry no pics, maybe next weekend). Guess I'm giving it another go. I really didn't know what I was going to do with this tank but then someone posted a bunch for sale and there I go off and running again. It really is an addiction. I think I'm gonna keep the tank fishless for awhile, feed it reef roids or reef chili or something to keep the sandbed fauna (what little there is in there) going. I've been transferring brittle stars from the main tank ot get things happening in there and there was quite a pod population emerging until I had to temporarily house a leopard wrasse in the tank who found it a veritable smorgasbord and ate almost every last one. There are probably a few left, in the overflow and hopefully it doesn't take long to build up the population again. I love watching them on the acrylic panes.
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