28 nano Rebuild

[lexzbuddy]

I've decided to rebuild my tank after some serious issues with a very invasive sponge. It has displaced the bacteria in my live rock, filter media and all but halted nitrate breakdown. So, I have surrendered.

New live rock and a radical refreshing of the system. All those things I have meant to do but are difficult to make happen when the tank is up are going to happen now.

I have decided that I need better circulation and flow but as the tank is relatively small, I wanted a way to do this without a sand storm / washing machine effect. I have bought a pair of DC pumps and they are going to be hooked up to two separate spray bars. One at the top and the second just above the sand. I'm hoping this will reduce the detritus settling. I bought a JB Wave controler so I can set up a counter current and experiment with flows a bit more. I have found that Wavemakers in a tank this size to be very limited in what they can achieve. They are very directed and never seem to do what I want. So, I'm going to try dumping them entirely in favour of the spray bars. I don't know if many, if any have tried this but I thought I would try it out to see how it works out.

Light, fed up with the 14k lights. I'm going to try out a 20k in the hood to see what it's like. If the corals and Critters approve then that will be fun and new for me. If not, I may go down the DIY LED route... I am not telling the wife yet as that's more money. Need to know basis and all that.

I'm hoping to finish the coral move today albeit I am ever the optimist so fingers crossed. I have the Frag plugs, coral RX and glue all ready to go so it's just a question of getting them off the live rock without hurting them.

I'm also going to make a couple of "reef rods " to build my scape with. I've never tried it before but I want to see if it makes general maintenance easier and helps with longterm water quality.

After that it's all pretty routine. I'm looking forward to the refreshing of the system. It will take a few weeks to cycle the tank but I'm hoping it's painless and quick.

If anyone wants to chime in and make any suggestions at this stage, I would definitely be happy to hear from you.


I've made a list of tasks etc as I have been using this to keep myself organised. I thought I would post it here too, just for info.

Tank Rebuild

New Equipment

Copepod feed - 80% brown algae & 20% green algae??

Acrylic cement RS Arrived
Tie wraps RS Arrived
15 diameter drills Arrived
Sodium carbonate - chiller cleaning Arrived
Jerry cans x 6 Arrived
Cycle starting culture AMS Bacti-Pro Extra 237ml Arrived
Nature's Ocean Aquarium Sand: Samoa Pink 20LB Arrived
Heater Eheim Jager 100 watt Arrived
Pump Jebao DC 2000 Arrived
Aqua Medic T meter Arrived
D-D Eze Clean 500ml Arrived
Heater 100 watt Arrived
Thermometer?? Arrived
Frozen Fish Food Arrived
Cheap Salt Arrived
Live rock (12 to 14 kg) Arrived
Cheap sand - 12 kg approx Arrived
Light for corals Arrived
New sintered media for EHEIM filter Arrived
Replace Bio-balls with big sintered material Arrived
Egg crate Arrived
Acrylic for filter sock Arrived
Frag plugs 10-off Arrived
New 20k halide bulb Arrived


Action Plan - Preparation
1. Make up plenty of RO water - 200 litres
2. Make up 150 litres seawater

3. Get storage bins clean and ready
4. Locate powerhead
5. Locate glass heater
6. Prepare bins - new LEDs for coral quarantine
7. Fill with salt water and bring up to temperature

8. Build coral support "reef rods"
9. Filter sock bracket modification, (acrylic)
10. Dual return pump parts - familiarise and test

Start - Transfer the Critters
1. Lift the corals out
** This has grown arms and legs as the corals on the live rock
must be placed on plugs etc.
Huge task for cleaning.
Everything surviving - Acans looking rough.
2. Lift the hermits and snails out
3. Lift the rock out - stuff in bin
4. Drain the tank down
5. Take the fish out last
Poor wee sods

Initial Cleaning List
1. Skimmer
2. Powerhead
3. Circulation pump
4. Chiller pump
5. UV unit
6. Chiller
7. Pellet reactor
8. Top up system
9. Titanium Heater

Clean Tank
1. Jet wash the tank
2. Scrape off any sponge, algae and tube worms
3. Clean sump section
4. Sterilise

Rebuild
New pumps
New dual return pump setup
1. DIY new spray Bar
2. Drill and install new spray Bar
3. Install new pipework
4. Find a way to fit both pumps into section 4

Tank
1. Fit egg crate & Reef Rods
2. Fit Filter Sock Bracket
3. Add equipment to sump
4. Set Up sump equipment flows etc
5. UV and Chiller - remember to use quick connects and crook
6. Install new 20k light
7. Build the most awesome rock scape ever (lol)
8. Fill tank with water
9. Add sand

Final Filter Install
1. Clean filter unit, 100% eradication of tube worms/sponge
2. New filter pads to be installed
3. Replace filter media - add some starter and wick up in bowl
4. Clean hoses
5. Fit crook to return hose, quite, valves and add diffuser

Chiller
Cleaning the chiller will be a challenge. This will require some nasty chemicals to destroy the organic material yet leave the chiller uncorroded. Copper and unknown brazing is evident in the heat transfer unit. Suitable chemicals unknown.
1. Research Base and acid compatibility
2. Identify potentially safe products
3. Research sponge dissolving chemicals
4. Select best match for safety and function
Will try these:
1A. Sodium Carbonate - silicate deposits
2A. Eze Clean (I think it's citric acid) - calcium deposits


I've been pontificating about making a sort of nitrate reduction keg. Basically a small barrel with loads of sintered media and a circulation pump. I'll bodge something up after the tank is back up and see what it does, if anything.

 

[cherubfish pair]

following

 

[lexzbuddy]

update 1

update 1

OK, all my bits have arrived. All the tubs are filled with fresh saltwater and ready.

The corals are out and in their tub with their lights. They all seem to be doing well now and I am systematically cleaning them to get them into tip top health.
I have tried H2O2 dunking on a couple and I am amazed at how well it has worked. It really is miracle juice. I was very sceptical so I tried it out on an acan that was on its way out. Well, all the unwanted gunge has just disappeared and the Frag looks like it may recover. I'm using a 1:5 ratio of 12% hydrogen peroxide with saltwater. 2 to 3 minutes then rinse in fresh SW.

My new pump controller Arrived from America so I am looking forward to trying it out. I'll wait until I have the tank ready with the new DIY spray Bar installed. I did a quick calculation on flow through the spray Bar and came up with 0.012 bar pressure drop. The pump supplies 0.22 bar of pressure so the flow should be largely unaffected. Can't wait to see it going, I'm such a kid at times.

My dining room is a mess with all the tubs and such. Wife's a saint.

 

[PaleRider]

I'm sure the shipping time from the states is killing you.

 

[cherubfish pair]

Boy send some sponges my way I could use some filter feeding.

 

[lexzbuddy]

This is not a good sponge, it has seriously screwed up my tank. Normal sponges are slow growing things, I had some on my live rock and all was good and right in the world. This one seems to penetrate and cover anything and everything. I have just stuck all my old live rock out in the back yard to dry and die. Terrible shame as it was awesome live rock.

I have bought new rock and gravel, stripped down the tank and I'm in the middle of quarantining all my livestock. Work in progress but I'm getting there. I'm almost ready to hook everything up. I need to install the new spray bar and pumps, I was going to do it today but I have spent the last 3 days cleaning and stripping pumps, filters and so on. I did make my reef rods today so I wasn't completely lazy. My chiller is still flushing, what a mess.

Fish have been living in a tub for a week now, I added an external filter and a skimmer to keep the water quality up. They are a little restless but the don't seem too stressed.

Coral in a tub is doing great. They are looking happier in a 50 liter tub of salt water than they have looked in ages. I feel it vindicates my decision to do this the way I have and not rush things. It has been expensive but I hope that once I am done, I have learned something. The thing I am most surprised about is how a simple tub with excellent water quality seems to permit everything to thrive. We put in a wee sand bed in the tubs with the fish and 6 ceramic coffee mugs. They love it! Who would have thought? It's like they all get separate rooms.

I took a few picks of the coral tub yesterday and once I have the pumps setup, I will post the pics. Seriously, my goniopora has full extension and is about the size of a small Mellon. Madness.

Too much typing, time for sleep.

 

[lexzbuddy]

up and running

up and running

Tank ismupmand running, system cycled and all is well.

1. Dual spray bars work better than I had hoped. Each bar is connected to its own pump and the controller is set to alternate between 90 and 30 percent over 2 minutes per bar. The effect is a huge turnover of water and no dead sports. The oscillating current really keeps the rocks clean and virtually nothing settling on the sand. I'm have about 2000 liters per hour going through. The tank is 128 litres so excellent results. Unlike powerheads the flow is very well distributed so it isn't harsh or just blasting away locally.

2. The reef rods were easy to make. The diamond hole saws worked a treat for cutting 16mm holes through the live rock. I didn't rinse the rocks as well as I should have after drilling and as a result I had high calcium and magnesium initially. Water changes have brought them back down. I can't prove it but the elevated levels probably helped me out. Any algae that had managed to survive until the rebuild dissolved away in a matter of a few days.

3. System is stable, I'm sitting on nitrates of about 2 or 3 ppm. I had real trouble with the sponge or truncates before but all the hard work seems to have eradicated them. Pleased as punch.

4. DKH has required constant supplement since rebuild. I am seeing lots of signs of growth on my hard coral so I think that is where it is going. I know it's early days so I am being extra diligent about parameters and waterchanges for the time being.

5. New 20k halide definitely looks better to me. I would like more blue / violets in the spectrum for more pop but I will leave it as is to see how the corals do under it. I had 14k before and was not happy with it. I am still considering LEDs as my tub with a pair of TMC AQUARAY AQUABEAM 600 seemed to work wonders, particularly considering my corals were living in a 50 liter tub of water, no filter and just a circulation pump and heater.

I will upload some pics once I finalise the rock scape this weekend.

 

[lexzbuddy]

pics

pics

OK, here are some pics of the tank as a baseline.

 

[lexzbuddy]

sulphur reactor

sulphur reactor

I have just bought a sulphur reactor and set it up on Friday night. I'm now getting zero nitrate level on the outlet of the unit. I think I'm in with a shot of controlling my nitrates with this thing. It actually works. The amount of crazy stuff out there that does nothing but empty your bank account is madness. So, I hope to see some positive results in a few days and weeks. It's always an issue with small tanks so let's see if this is the key to no more nitrate.

 

[lexzbuddy]

nitrate reactor = silver bullet

nitrate reactor = silver bullet

OK, I'm about 3 days into using this nitrate reactor and I have gone from 20 ppm to 0.5 ppm. I'm astounded by how fast it has removed the nitrate from my tank.

This is the silver bullet to nitrates as far as I am concerned. I am going to take 1/2 of the sulphur media out to be safe. My goniopora is looking a bit unhappy but I think it's just the sudden change in parameters. I really didn't think it would work this fast. I have tried all sorts to rid myself of the dreaded nitrate and this is unbelievable. My KH is not dropping that much so I don't know what all the fuss is about. Maybe I'm just in the early stages with the reactor and sulphuric acid production hasn't really kicked in yet.

In any case, amazing. I'd say this is at least as big a deal as getting a skimmer. It's early days but if this really is as good as it seams a lot of issues have just been cured.

 

[lexzbuddy]

tank pre reactor

tank pre reactor

link to tank photos

s12.photobucket.com/user/lexzbuddy/media-full/Mobile Uploads/DSC_0026_zps80awro8k.jpg.html

s12.photobucket.com/user/lexzbuddy/media-full/Mobile Uploads/DSC_0025_zpsunzdxex8.jpg.html

 

[ReefWreak]

Nice looking setup.

Which nitrate reactor did you go with? I'm surprised that you went with one. I'm glad it's working, but I think there are a lot of easier/cheaper ways of dealing with nitrate that are a lot easier to control for. Either way the tank looks good, and I look forward to seeing updates!

 

[lexzbuddy]

Goniopora spawn

Goniopora spawn

I thought my goniopora was a bit under the weather with the addition of the sulphur reactor. Poor polyp extension but tissue looked healthy. I spot fed it earlier today and it started to SPAWN!

I just sat watching for ages, mesmerised.

Chuffed :celeb2:

 

[lexzbuddy]

Aquamedic Snails Blue

Aquamedic Snails Blue

Nice looking setup.

Which nitrate reactor did you go with? I'm surprised that you went with one. I'm glad it's working, but I think there are a lot of easier/cheaper ways of dealing with nitrate that are a lot easier to control for. Either way the tank looks good, and I look forward to seeing updates!

I went with the Aquamedic SN Blue unit. It's grossly oversized for the task but I am planning a larger Aquarium around Christmas and thought It made sense to purchase something with some flexibility and future proofing.

It seems to work though.