JB NY
Active member
Sorry I missed this post. For carbon, I am only running a little less than 1/2 cup per 100 gallons, about 1 1/2 cups total. Up until about 6 weeks ago I ran carbon for maybe one week on and 4 weeks off.
270 Gallon SPS tank for JBNY
- Thread starter JB NY
- Start date
Sorry I missed this post. For carbon, I am only running a little less than 1/2 cup per 100 gallons, about 1 1/2 cups total. Up until about 6 weeks ago I ran carbon for maybe one week on and 4 weeks off.
JB NY
Active member
I have not updated this thread in a while.
At the end of Janurary I made a major change to the system and flipped over to Triton. Over the last year I had had numerous talks with lots of different people about what is going on in my system. For the most part no one was really able to pin point what the problems were. Before my series of crashes I was able to keep SPS like nobody's business, great growth great coloration, alk would bounce from 6 to 10 dkh with no issues in the tank. NO3 was undetectable, and PO4 was at 0.01. I carbon dosed and used GFO, but really didn't pay any attention to it, changed GFO once a month or every two months, did water changes twice a month. Somewhere along the line something changed that is now making keeping SPS very difficult. For the last year my readings have been more stable than ever before but I still seem to have quite a bit of problems keeping SPS.
A few different discussions brought me to making the change to Triton, one was with Julian Sprung who commented on how sometimes one species suddenly fails to thrive and eventually dies after many years of thriving in a tank. It's as if the tank becomes immune to that species and instead attacks it, Julian said he has seen this in a few tanks over the years. His guess is it is a microbial effect, but there may be some influence of allelopathy. Something changes in the tank as it gets more mature and causes a decline in the ability to biologically break down allelopathic substances that constantly exude in the water. That kind of reasoning was why I originally stopped carbon dosing to reduce nitrates. The idea that over time bacteria colonies in the tank change and something takes over in the system that makes keeping SPS difficult.
Next was a discussion with Joe Caparatta over at Unique Corals about burning tips on SPS and the general problems I have been having. His thoughts were that some trace elements were being depleted faster than normal in my system, and when that happens I am seeing this as recession of my SPS and burning tips. This explanation does fit my experience of good growth and color for a few months then brown out and recession. The problems are almost always followed by me doing a series of water changes (about 200 gallons worth) and then the system bounces back for a few months. To do some initial testing, back in September I started using Brightwells Koralle-VM and found that it did seem to help my corals recover faster, so I continued to use it. I was using it everyday but by December I started forgetting to dose a few days every week, as well as didn't get around to water changes as much, due to being busy around the holidays.
So after the last round of problems with recession and tips burning I decided to give in to the idea that maybe my system is somehow using up some trace elements faster than normal and this is what is causing my issues. So I ripped out my CA reactor, bought 2 Neptune DOS dosers and switched to Triton dosing. The week before I switched I did 160 gallons of water changes using IO.
That is the last water change I have done in my system.
The turnaround has been remarkable. In short I have had zero problems since making the switch. In addition to the Triton dosing II have been dosing daily a homemade solution of Zinc and Manganese as well as some Brightwell Iodine. I am still dosing KNO3.
Here are some updated pictures from yesterday.
At the end of Janurary I made a major change to the system and flipped over to Triton. Over the last year I had had numerous talks with lots of different people about what is going on in my system. For the most part no one was really able to pin point what the problems were. Before my series of crashes I was able to keep SPS like nobody's business, great growth great coloration, alk would bounce from 6 to 10 dkh with no issues in the tank. NO3 was undetectable, and PO4 was at 0.01. I carbon dosed and used GFO, but really didn't pay any attention to it, changed GFO once a month or every two months, did water changes twice a month. Somewhere along the line something changed that is now making keeping SPS very difficult. For the last year my readings have been more stable than ever before but I still seem to have quite a bit of problems keeping SPS.
A few different discussions brought me to making the change to Triton, one was with Julian Sprung who commented on how sometimes one species suddenly fails to thrive and eventually dies after many years of thriving in a tank. It's as if the tank becomes immune to that species and instead attacks it, Julian said he has seen this in a few tanks over the years. His guess is it is a microbial effect, but there may be some influence of allelopathy. Something changes in the tank as it gets more mature and causes a decline in the ability to biologically break down allelopathic substances that constantly exude in the water. That kind of reasoning was why I originally stopped carbon dosing to reduce nitrates. The idea that over time bacteria colonies in the tank change and something takes over in the system that makes keeping SPS difficult.
Next was a discussion with Joe Caparatta over at Unique Corals about burning tips on SPS and the general problems I have been having. His thoughts were that some trace elements were being depleted faster than normal in my system, and when that happens I am seeing this as recession of my SPS and burning tips. This explanation does fit my experience of good growth and color for a few months then brown out and recession. The problems are almost always followed by me doing a series of water changes (about 200 gallons worth) and then the system bounces back for a few months. To do some initial testing, back in September I started using Brightwells Koralle-VM and found that it did seem to help my corals recover faster, so I continued to use it. I was using it everyday but by December I started forgetting to dose a few days every week, as well as didn't get around to water changes as much, due to being busy around the holidays.
So after the last round of problems with recession and tips burning I decided to give in to the idea that maybe my system is somehow using up some trace elements faster than normal and this is what is causing my issues. So I ripped out my CA reactor, bought 2 Neptune DOS dosers and switched to Triton dosing. The week before I switched I did 160 gallons of water changes using IO.
That is the last water change I have done in my system.
The turnaround has been remarkable. In short I have had zero problems since making the switch. In addition to the Triton dosing II have been dosing daily a homemade solution of Zinc and Manganese as well as some Brightwell Iodine. I am still dosing KNO3.
Here are some updated pictures from yesterday.
reefmutt
Active member
Some more
[IMG
Oh man... This.... This.... Baby blue base with yellow highlights...
I'm crying on my iPhone, Joe.. So nice.
Amazing growth as well!
ADVRESOURCE
New member
I'm glad that your changes made a positive impact on your coral. Your pictures look great. I hope I have a fraction of the success you've created.
wowkingjames
New member
Nice set up.
reefitted
New member
These are great results Joe. I'm glad your moving in your favorite direction. Your post prompted me to do a little more research into your "cures" and learning is always a great thing. I looked into the Triton dosing system and rationale. My tank, almost in the same time frame has also rallied from your similar decline, to a wonderful degree in SPS coloration and growth and yet I didn't change anything but changed my lights. This leads me in agreement with your following the concepts of Julian Sprung on microbial growth and decline. More info on the Triton info sites attesting to microbial, elemental, and balance of a system, humbling me in realizing that micro-system "balance and equilibrium" can be attained at different elemental fractions. What a great hobby, and you are in the heart of the hunt. Congradulations, looks awesome.
Beautiful tank! I am planning a similar sized build, and am impressed with that stand you designed and built. I'm particularly interested in how well you think the frame has handled the weight, over time? The use of plywood in the vertical supports is probably giving you great service over this amount of time - it must very stable. What about the horizontal framing members you have tying the vertical supports together? Did you get any movement/shrinkage/etc in those? Or did the 1.5" of plywood on top keep all of that in check? I think you used kd 2x syp for the lumber parts of the frame, right?
BTW, I found this thread by first looking over on Sawmill Creek! I wonder how many folks there are that actually are members of both ...
Tom
BTW, I found this thread by first looking over on Sawmill Creek! I wonder how many folks there are that actually are members of both ...
Tom
JB NY
Active member
That guy is really looking good. I am excited for what it will look like as it grows.
Thanks, I am just happy to have some good success after so many problems.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Most of the time I think we can make a few adjustments and put things back on track, occasionally we run into a real head scratcher and it takes a lot of work. I have be pretty adamant that I did not want to break the tank down and start again, I would rather take the long haul and try and figure out what is wrong. I think I am on the right track now though!
JB NY
Active member
QUOTE=foxt;24602612]Beautiful tank! I am planning a similar sized build, and am impressed with that stand you designed and built. I'm particularly interested in how well you think the frame has handled the weight, over time? The use of plywood in the vertical supports is probably giving you great service over this amount of time - it must very stable. What about the horizontal framing members you have tying the vertical supports together? Did you get any movement/shrinkage/etc in those? Or did the 1.5" of plywood on top keep all of that in check? I think you used kd 2x syp for the lumber parts of the frame, right?
BTW, I found this thread by first looking over on Sawmill Creek! I wonder how many folks there are that actually are members of both ...
Tom[/QUOTE]
Thanks Tom, I think quite a few people are into both woodworking and aquariums. The stand has held up great. It is rock solid, I have noticed no movement or issues at all. It's been almost 8 years and I still love the design. The vertical supports worked out great, and there is no movement at all in the stand.
I'm not sure what you mean by this?
BTW, I found this thread by first looking over on Sawmill Creek! I wonder how many folks there are that actually are members of both ...
Tom[/QUOTE]
Thanks Tom, I think quite a few people are into both woodworking and aquariums. The stand has held up great. It is rock solid, I have noticed no movement or issues at all. It's been almost 8 years and I still love the design. The vertical supports worked out great, and there is no movement at all in the stand.
I'm not sure what you mean by this?
Kiln Dried (kd) Southern Yellow Pine (syp) for the 2x4 frame material ... sorry, should have spelled it out!
JB NY
Active member
It is pine, I picked it up at lowes, but I don't remember more than that.
Rickyrooz1
Acropora Nut
Which one is this?
Is this the BC Sky Doppel?
Is this the BC Sky Doppel?
JB NY
Active member
I do not, the only thing I did was switch to Triton for dosing, basically removed my CA reactor and started dosing, everything else I kept doing.
Personally I don't think we need that kind of high turnover in a sump anymore, I probably have 4-5x right now.
Which one is this?
Is this the BC Sky Doppel?
First one is the Pikachu, the 2nd is the Sky Doppel.
Thanks for the reply on Triton flow. The method explains that 10x flow through the sump is an attempt to keep the sump and DT water combined as a single body of water. Water flow rates have always been a bit of a mystery to me, I just know what I read. My planned tank is about the same size as yours, and it will be great if you get positive results from your switch and maintain a 4-5x flow rate!
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Joe,
How long are the Triton Elements lasting you?
This is what you are buying and using correct?
http://uniquecorals.com/triton-base-elementz.html
Also, how much zinc and manganese are you dosing on a daily basis?
