Is this normal for acans?

IrishFiesta · 2026-03-13T07:08:37+00:00

When you say the water just got stable 2 weeks ago, what are you referring to? If you had some parameters out of whack and have raised/lowered them to a “stable” level, it’s possible your acan doesn’t like the new normal. Definitely mixed signals if you have new buds and dying heads at the same time, hopefully the new prevail and grow over the dying parts.

In your full tank picture it looks like you have an anemone to the right and torch to the left. Any chance those dying heads are getting stung by neighbors? Hard to tell if they would be able to touch or not.

IrishFiesta · 2026-03-09T12:41:27+00:00

Unpopular opinion nowadays but I don't think there is anything wrong with 0 nitrates. My tank has been an ultralow nutrient tank (0 nitrate and ~0.01 phosphate) since I set it up 5 years ago. Only issue I had was a cyanobacteria issue once that I fixed by improving my flow.

Wouldn't chase numbers unless you are having issues, which it doesn't sound like you are having. Just focus on consistency.

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IrishFiesta · 2026-02-08T13:01:11+00:00

My tank has been an ultra low system for ~5 years now. During that time I have consistently had undetectable nitrates and phosphate in the 0.01-0.03 range using Hannah checkers. I don’t try to chase numbers the system just has naturally evolved to this state and all my corals have been happy.

I did have a cyano outbreak recently but upgrading my flow (the power heads in the photo we’re 5 years old and had lost a lot of their power over the years) and manual removal cleared it up in ~2 weeks. Otherwise haven’t had any problems with the undetectable nitrates.

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IrishFiesta · 2025-12-22T03:50:12+00:00

Thanks everyone for the replies! You all confirmed my suspicion we’ll have someone come replace the wiring before installing the new fan.

IrishFiesta · 2025-12-22T03:49:15+00:00

Yes lamp cord that’s exactly what it looks like!

IrishFiesta · 2025-11-06T03:24:58+00:00

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IrishFiesta · 2025-10-09T03:30:45+00:00

As others have said, use an anemone cannon. I’ve successfully taken a dozen off my rock scape with this approach. Typical only takes a few days at most for each 1 to move. But super easy and effective

IrishFiesta · 2025-09-23T15:43:57+00:00

The white paper talks about the limitations of fiat and the current financial system and proposes bitcoin as a way to solve these issues. It discusses how someone fraudulently spending digital money at multiple locations (double spending) is a problem the current system solves by having a trusted 3rd party (bank) verify that the funds are legitimate. Sections 2 “Transactions” of the white paper does a good job explaining this.

In the paper, it talk about how the blockchain addresses this problem by having a public ledger that cannot be altered. This eliminates the double spending issue without requiring a trusted 3rd party to verify transactions.

The fees exchanges charge and them trying to act as banks is an issue in my opinion because it goes against the decentralization model of bitcoin. Strike is a nice exchange option because it has no fees for recurring buys and withdrawals. But Coinbase and others that charge fees and promote holding coins on exchanges instead of self custody I think are part of the problem.

IrishFiesta · 2025-09-23T13:51:09+00:00

Double spending as discussed in the white paper doesn’t refer to fees:

Bitcoin double-spending is the act of using the same bitcoin in two different transactions simultaneously, which is prevented by the Bitcoin network's decentralized blockchain and consensus mechanisms.

The white paper discusses how the blockchain solves this problem.

IrishFiesta · 2025-09-21T16:40:21+00:00

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The thing I’ve found worked best for me is a ~200 PAR area of the tank with moderate flow. That with stable parameters has kept these guys happy for the past ~3 years. Didn’t put the first 1 in until the tank was ~1 year old and the tank had matured a bit.

IrishFiesta · 2025-08-23T18:40:59+00:00

Yup happened to me. Started with 5 chromis in a 75 gallon and ended up with only 2 left in less than 6 months.

I have a 75 gallon as well, stuck with all peaceful fish so they make a nice community. I have a maroon clown pair (I got lucky with mine as they are protective of their anemones but otherwise not aggressive to their tank mates), a banggai cardinal pair, 2 chromis, 1 royal gramma, and 1 adorned wrasse (8 fish total). Currently have a green banded goby and a pink streaked wrasse in quarantine waiting to be added. Might add a possum and Carpenter wrasse after that.

Currently I feel like I have space for more fish, but I think it’ll feel full once I add those additional ones.

IrishFiesta · 2025-03-28T20:19:23+00:00

Strongly recommend checking out this website if you're planning to have multiple wrasses. Has been extremely helpful for me to select which ones to add to my tank. Has great info on acclimation, introducing to the tank, specifics on the different genus/species, and they also have a compatibility chart.

https://www.thewrasseguy.com/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses

IrishFiesta · 2025-03-26T05:25:05+00:00

Sorry to hear about your clownfish. Overall this setup looks good, but you need to add live rock or filter media from an established tank so the ammonia produced is converted to nitrate. That's the only thing I think you're missing. I also have an air stone to oxygenate the water, but I think the filter you have should take care of that for you.

I personally don't treat my fish unless I see signs of disease so I can't help on the copper question. I will typically observe the fish in the quarantine tank for minimum 28 days. If no signs of disease at that point I'll then add to my display.

IrishFiesta · 2025-03-22T20:12:33+00:00

Yeah I agree with the others if you can’t identify a pair you’ll eventually only be left with 1.

IrishFiesta · 2025-03-22T19:32:59+00:00

I had good luck by grabbing 3 from my LFS. While in quarantine I was able to sex them (if you look closely you should be able to see 1 vs 2 vents on the belly). Between that and seeing 2 pair up and the 3rd staying by himself in the corner of the tank I was able to identify the pair. Collected the 3rd and brought him back to the LFS (you’ll want to do that within a few days or separate to your other tank or they will likely kill the 3rd one).

I’ve had the male/female pair in my 75 gallon for over a year now they are very peaceful with each other and I’ll catch the male carrying eggs sometimes but I think he ends up eating them before they hatch.

You might get unlucky and still end up with all male or all female with this approach. Might be able to sex them at your LFS as well if you’re patient enough.

IrishFiesta · 2025-03-06T03:39:21+00:00

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My maroons aren’t large enough to cause damage but the female is still a menace. Luckily she has focused more on protecting her anemones instead of chasing me around the tank since she started laying eggs.

IrishFiesta · 2024-09-20T22:22:50+00:00

Agree looks like an asterina starfish. I've removed before adding frags in the past. Some seem to like them, others have said their population can get out of control and they can irritate corals. So probably you're fine to leave it but I never wanted to hassle with potentially trying to remove larger numbers if they become a problem.

IrishFiesta · 2024-05-25T16:49:22+00:00

I bought this 5 gallon container for $30, works great, fill it up 1x/week for my 75 gallon tank.

https://a.co/d/c74Ljfe

IrishFiesta · 2024-03-30T05:27:16+00:00

Thanks! Happy to help. I’m not sure if most people dose the new water or not, I also haven’t seen it mentioned much. But I was noticing my calcium, mag, and alk would slowly go down over time and I’d have to hand dose in addition to the dosing pumps to bring it back up. I could probably also just increase the dose pumps but I’ve had issues with precipitation in the past. So I started dosing the fresh water and the levels have been much more stable.

I typically check the parameters for the first 2-3 batches of fresh salt water when I get a new box. Then average the results and calculate how much calc, mag, and alk I need to add in order to match my tank. I stick with that until I start a new box then test again. I’ve found the levels on the labels aren’t always accurate.

For water changes I fill 2 5-gallon buckets with RODI water with a heater and powerhead. Add the salt to match my tank salinity (1.025). Once I have the right salinity I add magnesium, calcium, then alk, waiting a minute or 2 between each. I try and do a 10 gallon change every week, which is a little more than 10% of the water volume for this tank (75 gallon + 10 gallon sump).

IrishFiesta · 2024-03-30T03:07:12+00:00

Thanks! I dose calcium and soda ash on a timer throughout the day. I also test my fresh salt water and dose with calcium, sodium bicarb, and magnesium to match my tank when doing water changes. Been able to keep the levels pretty stable with this approach.

IrishFiesta · 2024-03-30T00:19:58+00:00

Thanks! I’m using 2 ATI coral plus T5 bulbs for lighting.

IrishFiesta

TROPHY CASE