Three and half month update:
Marking this period as it is now a week before the glass gets dirty on this setup, a most welcome change. Seems to have shifted up a gear and coralline coverage accelerated rapidly.
Took a punt on some more corals that were fading in the store, the SPS nest at the top wasn’t too box clever when it went in. But glad to say it’s recovering, colouring up and spreading back over the skeleton:
Getting spread off some of the corals onto the rock. Even the nugget of Cyphastrea is making slow but steady progress over the days now:
Probably seems silly to be getting excited about such small amounts of growth, but very pleased to be seeing any growth at this early stage. Appear to be getting some things going in the right direction. The War coral is off onto the rock as well:
What isn’t going right is the Anemones and the Hammer coral. The Hammer coral seemed to suffer a bacterial infection, then declined rapidly. As for the Anemones, they’ve turned brown but continue to feed. Not doing anything to aid the situation as unsure if this should be a worry, an unforeseen consequence of a parameter shift, or an ongoing reaction to something that hasn’t even been noticed.
Most things are showing growth and colour though so reticent to react. Goniopora and Alveopora are thriving in the setup:
Montipora are also doing well, as is the freebie digi that was thought dead:
Assuming the purple tips occurring at the bulging lower down are new growth tips for branching?
Macromussa and Blastomussa species seem content in their placing. They feed well but no major growth as such yet:
Same story with the Duncan, Trumpet, Psammocora and Montipora hybrid. Stable is good enough for now:
On the setup… the floss for mechanical backed up with the small Bubble Magus skimmer is staying. Much more control compared to the refugium and since removing the chaetomorpha, not having to dose micros at all to achieve good colouration beyond what is in the 25% weekly water change.
This may change with time but can’t see the benefit on running a refugium for the time being. The tank is teeming with pods and other life so a refuge for them is not a justification. The K1 media in the sump is housing a ton of pods without anything messing with parameters so it makes the refugium moot for now.
Also corrected flow. Got some Cyanobacteria appearing in dead spots:
Installing the second gyre solved the problem overnight. Woke up next day and it’s been gone since.
As for the fish, the clowns keep hosting the most ridiculous areas but each to their own. Goby is doing well and has trained me to feed him by flicking his tail on the thermometer:
Does it like clockwork which is really useful if you forget to feed, he’s not shy in giving you a reminder when you’re walking by the tank. What he lacks in colour he makes up for in personality.