A Living Room Reef: 90 Gallon Mixed Reef Build
- Thread starter troubadour11
- Start date
troubadour11
Member
Ok, I was able to grab a video. This is from a couple days ago. It disappeared over night and has looked healed ever since. DisBeReef said when she moved him from the last bucket to the QT, he was a real a$$ to get moved. Said he kind of got pinned on that side when she was trying to move him.
To me, it has looked like some scale damage and little mark/bruise from getting beaten up a bit on the final tank transfer. The scales slowly loosened and peeled back until they fell off. There has always been nice new, healthy looking tissue around and underneath it.
Looked like scale damaged from a bite when I kept large aggressive freshwater fish. But without the painful bite look. Just some loose damaged scales. I could be wrong, I've never actually had saltwater ich yet. But it didn't look anything like a cyst and rupture like freshwater ich. And, keep in mind, it had been through the full tank transfer method following all timelines correctly. Plus two, 3 day, baths of Prazi-Pro during the TTM.
Here's the video:
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<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9IFhUXAzXB4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Marty, you're probably right. I should probably empty it more often. It is a mesh sock and not a really small micron poly sock. So it really only catches big stuff. I was really only doing it to run a little gfo, but I'm out and the stuff in there is probably spent. So I'll be pulling that soon anyway.
We're running fresh 0-tds RO/DI water right now. Going to do a 30 gallon water change this weekend. I'm going to clean out the detritus out of the sump with a shop vac. Then we'll scrub the gha in the dt and remove what we can easily for the rest of the water.
I'll probably check all my levels again tomorrow morning before the water change. We trying to decide if we should introduce the Purple Firefish or not. We're dripping some salt water to raise the SG on the Firefish up to tank levels. Even if we decide to keep it under observation, at least it's ready to go when we feel it's time.
The Zebra Barred Dartfish (3) are in a new bucket round with some Prime and Prazi-Pro. Saturday we'll be ready to transfer them to QT. We've got a new filter established in the sump. So if we need to keep the Firefish, we can move him back to a bucket and clean the QT and swap in the 3 Dartfish to observe. They've been looking good in the buckets. Active, swimming, eating, and a little quick and feisty when getting moved.
It would be awesome to get a new batch of fish up in the DT all of the sudden.
I'm also happy to be on 4 days off, plus looking forward to a LFS visit this weekend
Post water change and cleaning of course :bum:
To me, it has looked like some scale damage and little mark/bruise from getting beaten up a bit on the final tank transfer. The scales slowly loosened and peeled back until they fell off. There has always been nice new, healthy looking tissue around and underneath it.
Looked like scale damaged from a bite when I kept large aggressive freshwater fish. But without the painful bite look. Just some loose damaged scales. I could be wrong, I've never actually had saltwater ich yet. But it didn't look anything like a cyst and rupture like freshwater ich. And, keep in mind, it had been through the full tank transfer method following all timelines correctly. Plus two, 3 day, baths of Prazi-Pro during the TTM.
Here's the video:
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<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9IFhUXAzXB4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Marty, you're probably right. I should probably empty it more often. It is a mesh sock and not a really small micron poly sock. So it really only catches big stuff. I was really only doing it to run a little gfo, but I'm out and the stuff in there is probably spent. So I'll be pulling that soon anyway.
We're running fresh 0-tds RO/DI water right now. Going to do a 30 gallon water change this weekend. I'm going to clean out the detritus out of the sump with a shop vac. Then we'll scrub the gha in the dt and remove what we can easily for the rest of the water.
I'll probably check all my levels again tomorrow morning before the water change. We trying to decide if we should introduce the Purple Firefish or not. We're dripping some salt water to raise the SG on the Firefish up to tank levels. Even if we decide to keep it under observation, at least it's ready to go when we feel it's time.
The Zebra Barred Dartfish (3) are in a new bucket round with some Prime and Prazi-Pro. Saturday we'll be ready to transfer them to QT. We've got a new filter established in the sump. So if we need to keep the Firefish, we can move him back to a bucket and clean the QT and swap in the 3 Dartfish to observe. They've been looking good in the buckets. Active, swimming, eating, and a little quick and feisty when getting moved.
It would be awesome to get a new batch of fish up in the DT all of the sudden.
I'm also happy to be on 4 days off, plus looking forward to a LFS visit this weekend
Post water change and cleaning of course :bum:troubadour11
Member
Well, what's new!?! I'm working on the weekends again :mad2:
But, here's some "exciting" stuff to share I guess. I picked up a new piece of equipment recently... although I don't have it up and running yet.
Dual Reactor for Carbon/GFO. I assumed I'll always be running carbon with a mixed reef, and it seems like GFO might be useful right now. So I took advantage of some sales and picked this up super cheap and brand new over the holiday!
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And since things were on sale and we got free shipping. I picked up 40 pounds of oolitic Caribbean white sand to add to our refugium and DT as needed. We had always felt we ended up a little short of where we were shooting for. Plus, with the tall 90 gallon DT, there is plenty of room for a sandbed on the deeper side it seems.
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We also ordered 20 pounds of Tonga Branch Rock (dry). I plan to use some of this to make some bridge / overhang type swim throughs between our towers and maybe a choice piece or two on the tops of the towers we made. Just to break up the pattern and have some a-symmetry to the rockwork.
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We released our 3 new Zebra Barred Dartfish last night when I get home before work. Saw all 3 of them this morning huddled in a sand bed down in the corner by the YWG/pistol den. Glad we had the screen tops though. They tried to jump a couple times right after introducing them. I'm excited... they look like they'll be neat and interesting to watch. Seems like we have lots of long fish now though with 3 of them and firefish. Time to switch up body shapes.
So we picked up another Royal Gramma to try. We've managed to get 2 of them through QT and into the 10 gallon observation/holding tank. Both of them have died in there a day or so after getting to it. So of course we've emptied, cleaned, dried, etc the tank. The 3 ZB-Dartfish just made it through no problem. So here is hoping we get to add one of those next finally! :bounce2::fish1:
Next time I'm around and get some shots of the corals, I'll tell you all the story how I basically doubled my SPS collection the other weekend :facepalm: :lolspin: :wildone:
But, here's some "exciting" stuff to share I guess. I picked up a new piece of equipment recently... although I don't have it up and running yet.
Dual Reactor for Carbon/GFO. I assumed I'll always be running carbon with a mixed reef, and it seems like GFO might be useful right now. So I took advantage of some sales and picked this up super cheap and brand new over the holiday!
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-
And since things were on sale and we got free shipping. I picked up 40 pounds of oolitic Caribbean white sand to add to our refugium and DT as needed. We had always felt we ended up a little short of where we were shooting for. Plus, with the tall 90 gallon DT, there is plenty of room for a sandbed on the deeper side it seems.
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We also ordered 20 pounds of Tonga Branch Rock (dry). I plan to use some of this to make some bridge / overhang type swim throughs between our towers and maybe a choice piece or two on the tops of the towers we made. Just to break up the pattern and have some a-symmetry to the rockwork.
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We released our 3 new Zebra Barred Dartfish last night when I get home before work. Saw all 3 of them this morning huddled in a sand bed down in the corner by the YWG/pistol den. Glad we had the screen tops though. They tried to jump a couple times right after introducing them. I'm excited... they look like they'll be neat and interesting to watch. Seems like we have lots of long fish now though with 3 of them and firefish. Time to switch up body shapes.
So we picked up another Royal Gramma to try. We've managed to get 2 of them through QT and into the 10 gallon observation/holding tank. Both of them have died in there a day or so after getting to it. So of course we've emptied, cleaned, dried, etc the tank. The 3 ZB-Dartfish just made it through no problem. So here is hoping we get to add one of those next finally! :bounce2::fish1:
Next time I'm around and get some shots of the corals, I'll tell you all the story how I basically doubled my SPS collection the other weekend :facepalm: :lolspin: :wildone:
troubadour11
Member
Hey everybody! What a fun and exciting weekend!!!
Other then the fact I was feeling a bit under the weather. I got tons of sleep, and got to watch the tank and update a few things with all the time I had lying around over the weekend!
First off, I'm running our GFO/Carbon reactor now. I hooked it up to our spare Cobalt MJ pump we had that I use for water changes. I think it's the one rated for like 500-700 gph. Somewhere in that range. I'm glad I didn't get the MJ-1200 with it. I had to dial back the flow with the ball valve quite a bit with this little pump. I couldn't imagine doubling it. That would be way to much flow!
I started off with 1 cup GFO in the 1st stage and 2 cups carbon in the second stage. I wish it was magic and all this algae was gone over night! But at least were slowly working on it again. I need to get a Po4 test just to get an idea of where the tank actually is sitting. No3 almost always tests 0 now despite the algae.
I'll be interested to see how the tank changes over the next couple months with the reactor on-line. I'm really hoping if we get rid of the majority of this nuisance algae, we see a big turn around in our corals. Because most are doing good. Most SPS and a few select LPS aren't as happy as they should be.
So once upon a time... DisBeReef and I went to the LFS on "Black Friday." We really didn't expect to get much. We were just running errands and thought we'd see what they had in. Well, we ended up buying 2 pieces for a great price! And then shortly after returning home, those 2 pieces turned into 7 :-/ when I dropped one on the plastic grabbers and it shattered into 4-1inch pieces!!! GAH!!! We promptly distributed said pieces around the tank to different spots to see how they do in different locations.
Here are some shots of the pieces that have been spread around the tank for a couple weeks now. Very frustrating. One piece shows new growth, but seems like it's skin is slowly dying or bleaching too. I finally get signs of growth, but the colony looks like its suffering despite growing!?
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Here is the piece in the top center of our tank. You can see how it clearly has some new growth in the spots where it fractured clean when I dropped it. And that growth is in the 2 or so weeks since the day after Thanksgiving. But you can also see how the base and edges seem bleached and don't look good to me. I'm a little confused how it is growing, but not looking very healthy. But at least it's growing, right!?
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Then this isn't the greatest picture. But you can see 2 more pieces of the Orange Digi that got shattered. Just testing in different spots some.
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On this same trip, we also picked up a nice Fungia that DisBeReef is really excited about finding. Once again, such a good Black Friday Deal that we couldn't pass it up. I'll have to get a good shot of this sneaky purchase from awhile back to share with you...
So this weekend, a local fish club was having a sweet event with a bunch of vendors and local owners setting up a pop-up frag sale event for the day! DisBeReef and I ventured out and paid our entry fee with raffle tickets. We stuck around for about 1.5 hours and shopped (picking up a few choice purchases) and then threw all our raffle tickets in for the assorted choices up for raffle that hour.
We got lucky and our ticket got drawn twice! We won a 5 gallon bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro salt and one of these:
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Not a bad trade for $20. Bucket of salt and a Hanna Alkalinity Checker
:smokin:
Other then the fact I was feeling a bit under the weather. I got tons of sleep, and got to watch the tank and update a few things with all the time I had lying around over the weekend!
First off, I'm running our GFO/Carbon reactor now. I hooked it up to our spare Cobalt MJ pump we had that I use for water changes. I think it's the one rated for like 500-700 gph. Somewhere in that range. I'm glad I didn't get the MJ-1200 with it. I had to dial back the flow with the ball valve quite a bit with this little pump. I couldn't imagine doubling it. That would be way to much flow!
I started off with 1 cup GFO in the 1st stage and 2 cups carbon in the second stage. I wish it was magic and all this algae was gone over night! But at least were slowly working on it again. I need to get a Po4 test just to get an idea of where the tank actually is sitting. No3 almost always tests 0 now despite the algae.
I'll be interested to see how the tank changes over the next couple months with the reactor on-line. I'm really hoping if we get rid of the majority of this nuisance algae, we see a big turn around in our corals. Because most are doing good. Most SPS and a few select LPS aren't as happy as they should be.
So once upon a time... DisBeReef and I went to the LFS on "Black Friday." We really didn't expect to get much. We were just running errands and thought we'd see what they had in. Well, we ended up buying 2 pieces for a great price! And then shortly after returning home, those 2 pieces turned into 7 :-/ when I dropped one on the plastic grabbers and it shattered into 4-1inch pieces!!! GAH!!! We promptly distributed said pieces around the tank to different spots to see how they do in different locations.
Here are some shots of the pieces that have been spread around the tank for a couple weeks now. Very frustrating. One piece shows new growth, but seems like it's skin is slowly dying or bleaching too. I finally get signs of growth, but the colony looks like its suffering despite growing!?
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Here is the piece in the top center of our tank. You can see how it clearly has some new growth in the spots where it fractured clean when I dropped it. And that growth is in the 2 or so weeks since the day after Thanksgiving. But you can also see how the base and edges seem bleached and don't look good to me. I'm a little confused how it is growing, but not looking very healthy. But at least it's growing, right!?
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Then this isn't the greatest picture. But you can see 2 more pieces of the Orange Digi that got shattered. Just testing in different spots some.
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On this same trip, we also picked up a nice Fungia that DisBeReef is really excited about finding. Once again, such a good Black Friday Deal that we couldn't pass it up. I'll have to get a good shot of this sneaky purchase from awhile back to share with you...
So this weekend, a local fish club was having a sweet event with a bunch of vendors and local owners setting up a pop-up frag sale event for the day! DisBeReef and I ventured out and paid our entry fee with raffle tickets. We stuck around for about 1.5 hours and shopped (picking up a few choice purchases) and then threw all our raffle tickets in for the assorted choices up for raffle that hour.
We got lucky and our ticket got drawn twice! We won a 5 gallon bucket of Red Sea Coral Pro salt and one of these:
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Not a bad trade for $20. Bucket of salt and a Hanna Alkalinity Checker
:smokin:
troubadour11
Member
Just because our Blasto is so happy!!! I'll try to snag a picture of the new polyp this pieces has growing next time I find it closed up. There's a nice polyp the size of a pencil eraser growing on the top left of the base.
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And here is an update on our Stylo which I think is doing pretty good.
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And now for our new pick ups from the F.R.A.G. show this weekend!!!
Indonesian Gold Torch with Mint Green Tips!!! I'm LOVING this piece. REALLY COOL looking under our lighting! In person at least
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:bum: And you know I wasn't making it out of a show like that with only a torch!
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And here is an update on our Stylo which I think is doing pretty good.
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And now for our new pick ups from the F.R.A.G. show this weekend!!!
Indonesian Gold Torch with Mint Green Tips!!!
I'm LOVING this piece. REALLY COOL looking under our lighting! In person at least -
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:bum: And you know I wasn't making it out of a show like that with only a torch!
troubadour11
Member
Besides the torch, we came across this killer Leptoseris piece!!!
This first picture does not do it justice at all. This is just a close-up while I was dipping/treating the pieces and acclimating them.
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It's a huge frag compared to what I usually see for this. Plus, it was 1/2 the price of what the teeny-tiny frags they usually sell go for! It's about 2.5-3 inches by 1.5 and looking great so far!
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And you absolutely know we weren't getting out of there without something EVEN better then those first two pick-ups!!! :-D
I'm a little nervous about these. But I couldn't pass up the offer. Kind of a buy one, get one of another color for 1/4 the cost. So we ended up with 2 of these for what we would have paid for one good one at the store this size.
Finally got us some clam action!
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Well, that's all the newness for now! Fun weekend!!! We also are LOVING our Zebra Barred Dartfish (3) that we added to the DT. Great fish, but they love to jump!
We also have our new Royal Gramma through Bucket Transfer / Prazi-Pro treatment and in our 10 gallon observation/QT. Once we match parameters there, that feisty little devil is ready to hit the DT! Starting to get quite the fishy-filled reef going over here! :fish1: :beer:
This first picture does not do it justice at all. This is just a close-up while I was dipping/treating the pieces and acclimating them.
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It's a huge frag compared to what I usually see for this. Plus, it was 1/2 the price of what the teeny-tiny frags they usually sell go for! It's about 2.5-3 inches by 1.5 and looking great so far!
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And you absolutely know we weren't getting out of there without something EVEN better then those first two pick-ups!!! :-D
I'm a little nervous about these. But I couldn't pass up the offer. Kind of a buy one, get one of another color for 1/4 the cost. So we ended up with 2 of these for what we would have paid for one good one at the store this size.
Finally got us some clam action!
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Well, that's all the newness for now! Fun weekend!!! We also are LOVING our Zebra Barred Dartfish (3) that we added to the DT. Great fish, but they love to jump!
We also have our new Royal Gramma through Bucket Transfer / Prazi-Pro treatment and in our 10 gallon observation/QT. Once we match parameters there, that feisty little devil is ready to hit the DT! Starting to get quite the fishy-filled reef going over here! :fish1: :beer:
troubadour11
Member
In case anyone is interested in the feed back I got for our stock list.
Here is the post I got back in the "check out your stock list" thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=23335621&postcount=13047
It's looking like we are on the right track and about had the list pretty flushed out.
Getting close to being able to release the Royal Gramma soon and then we might be moving on to a harum of Flasher Wrasse maybe :bum:
Here is the post I got back in the "check out your stock list" thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=23335621&postcount=13047
It's looking like we are on the right track and about had the list pretty flushed out.
Getting close to being able to release the Royal Gramma soon and then we might be moving on to a harum of Flasher Wrasse maybe :bum:
troubadour11
Member
Awesome new coral pickup Troub! I'm not sure if it's better to drop a coral on a hard floor and get multiple frags or drop it on the carpet and have to setup a quick dip bucket to pull all the dog hair off.
Thanks guys!
Yeah, we were super excited about the orange digi deal. I'm just hoping I can keep them alive :-/ Still running the GFO/Carbon reactor and waiting for the algae to start wearing thin. Seems like we've had a bit of improvement now, at least on the algae, at almost a week of running the reactor. Most of the corals that are having troubles continue to do so. While some seem perfectly happy and growing. And a select few SPS seem unhappy, but showing new growth?
I feel like the clams seem to be happy. The big one hasn't moved much at all. Just opens / closes and filters the water. It's had nice extension and had it's exhalent siphon out every day when I get home. They tend to start closing up as the lights dim for the night though. The electric blue clam has rotated around in the spot that it's in a few times. But it opens up and extends it's siphon all day long too. So I'm hoping it's just trying to find a comfortable spot and then will settle down. If anyone has any clam tips, we're all ears :bounce2:
We released our Royal Gramma into the DT last night after feeding the tank as the lights were getting dim. It hovered and checked out a nearby Occy Clown for a moment, then darted to the tops of the rock. It sat there for a second, then vanished. I'm guessing we won't see it out and about for a few days now until it settles in. I didn't even believe DisBeReef had a RG in our buckets doing the transfers. I thought she was messing with me and just running empty buckets of water. EVERY TIME I looked in the buckets the RG was hiding. LOL. I'm looking forward to checking him/her out settling into town this weekend! :fish1:
I think we might take a break on adding new fish for a bit now. The tank seems to have gotten so much fuller all of the sudden with the Tailspot, Purple Firefish, 3 Z-B-Dartfish, and now the Royal Gramma! We might give the tank time to adjust to the new bio-load and settle in for awhile. It's so much easier to feed the tank and corals now that there are more fish in there... Maybe I'll work on some rock or cabinet additions while I let things adjust for a bit over the holidays.
As promised, I tried to grab a shot of my favorite Blasto when it was closed up and you could see the new baby polyp starting on it. Not a great shot, really grainy because it was low-light at the time and I was in a rush. Maybe I should have tried one with the flash...
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I'm still trying to figure out why we aren't being as successful with corals as we like. Because really, our "big 3" levels have been good for a long time now. I am currently still suspecting high Po4 levels as we work on the algae and run the reactor.
I tested things last Friday - 12/12 and saw the tank was at:
Mg = 1275
Ca = 420
Alk = 8.9 (-)
SG = 1.025
Ph = 8.1
No3 = 0
*dosed 90 ml Mg to bump the level back up closer to 1290-1300.
I checked a few things this morning before heading out due to a few of the SPS not showing as much PE and looking bad in some spots...
Mg = 1275 (dosed another 90 ml Mg this morning)
Ca = 410
Alk = 8.6 (+)
PH has never tested outside of 8.1/8.2.
So it looks like a couple things.
1, I may need to start dosing Mg more often between water changes. It had been stable at 1290 for a long time.
2. I'll probably add in some Ca once the Mg bumps back up a little higher. I'm shooting for the 430-450 and 1290-1320 range respectively. Still using Kalk in the ATO to keep up with the Ca/Alk demand in general.
3. It looks like the new clams and the corals are starting to soak up some Ca and Alk maybe. :thumbsup:
The Alk has been pretty much dead on between 8.5 and 9.0 for the last 2+ months at least. Primarily it's been between 8.7 and 8.9 depending on the time of day I test with two drops closer to 8.5 that were adjusted for and slowly recovered back to where it's at.
At this point, I still need to pick up a Po4 test kit. But I'm pretty sure I'm facing some issues there between the algae we have and the negative things I'm seeing in corals. Slow and steady we trudge on...
:wildone:
biggles
Premium Member
Happy new year to you and the family Troub
I think the only problem you may have and the reason why your corals are struggling is the obvious nutrient imbalance you still have judging by the algae covered rocks in those pics.
Water changes, more aggressive GFO use and wet skimming while scrubbing some of that stuff off so it can break down and be removed by the skimmer, GFO etc. What does your sump water smell like atm, clean and crisp or a bit 'off'. Stick your head over the sump and smell it - and no i'm not bloody joking. If it smells at all swampy or rotten seaweedy you should up your carbon use as well
I think the only problem you may have and the reason why your corals are struggling is the obvious nutrient imbalance you still have judging by the algae covered rocks in those pics.
Water changes, more aggressive GFO use and wet skimming while scrubbing some of that stuff off so it can break down and be removed by the skimmer, GFO etc. What does your sump water smell like atm, clean and crisp or a bit 'off'. Stick your head over the sump and smell it - and no i'm not bloody joking. If it smells at all swampy or rotten seaweedy you should up your carbon use as well
Ok... I'm putting 1 more piece on today and calling the rock-work done! Instead of :hammer: some more rock... I think I'm just :deadhorse1: It's looking pretty sweet now. Pictures are coming up.
The tank has a 10 inch wide by 5 inch built in overflow on the middle/left 3rd of the tank. Then with the tank, I got an adjustable Durso style stand pipe and a 3/4 inch return with "Y" split locline spout. So I'm expecting to run both the drain and return through the overflow. I might have to get some type of extension for the locline though to make it reach they way I was expecting for flow. Right now I'm thinking I'll tie it all together with braided/reinforced vinyl tubing. All the bulkheads I got with the set up are barbed for tubing, I think...
Other then all the fun the wife and I have been running around enjoying. Here's an errand I ran the other day. I had to go to the grocery store (which happens to have a LFS right by it :bounce3
I only wish I could have one of these guys. Sweet Lips are SO awesome... not in my puny little 90 gallon reef though:
And of course I am still thinking some kind of dwarf angel as my one of my final fish. So those flames look pretty sweet too!
Here's a couple fish just clowning around :facepalm:
I couldn't get a good one of these 2 up close together. But they were pretty:
One of their frag sales tanks:
One of their store display tanks. Next time I got back, I'll get the other side which has a HUGE clam on display:
what store is this?
troubadour11
Member
1st off - sorry for the almost 2 month delay. It's been a busy time on the family side of life with a lot of extreme ups and downs. But I think mostly ups, so we've got that going for us :dance: On the tank side, we've been trying to improve the situation, but it's been a slow battle.
Thanks for the happy news years wishes biggles. I haven't posted much lately due to lack of internet access during work hours on this new project. But I've been lurking around and reading. Your new set up is looking amazing. I can't wait to see the transfer process when you eventually move things over :thumbsup:
The tank water and sump smell fine. Like fresh clean saltwater. No funk at all. As for your observations on our tank. I think you're exactly right. I feel we have a bad nutrient imbalance. We are still fighting with it too. All of our corals do great until they eventually shut down and get over-grown by algae. So I'm feeling quite confident that I have Ca, Alk, Mg stable and figured out.
I test for No3 ever since setting up the tank with an in-expensive test kit. I saw some in the very early stages after setting the system up. But it tests at 0 to occasionally 5-10. But typically it's 0-5 or 0. It's hit 10 one or twice in the almost 2 years. I think our remote DSB in the 75 gallon fuge keeps No3 fairly low. And yes, the algae in the tank currently is absorbing some. But all of this makes sense. When I have algae, it tests 0-5 always. When I don't have algae as much, it bounces around between 0-10 depending on water changes. I've really never seen it over 10 that I can remember. So I'm not as concerned on No3 reduction right now.
Po4 on the other hand. I've picked up a Hanna ULR-Phosphorus checker. I've had it about a month and used the 5 packets that came with it. I have an order ready to restock my reagents. Po4 is definitely the imbalance and not getting absorbed/removed. Which makes sense when I thought about it. I was never successful at getting macro-algae started in the refugium. I've had a couple attempts at a couple different algae fail. This I explained to myself was because we didn't have as many fish in the system yet, were feeding less (but feeding coral food at the time), and didn't have the nutrient levels to maintain the algea. Especially since we weren't having nuisance algae issues at the time.
Fast forward to now and we have almost double the fish in the system as back then. Had more corals that were doing good and growing. But yet I had not altered our nutrient removal set up since it had been keeping up with the lower bio-load. Then we get the algae explosion and I order the ULR tester. Po4 first tested just under .02!!! :mad2: I immediately hang GFO in our filter sock and order a 2 canister reactor. I started the reactor off at 1/2 canister (about 1.25 cups) gfo and a full canister (2 cups) of carbon. Then bumped it up to a full canister (just over 2 cups) gfo and a full carbon. I still haven't bested the gha beast yet and now am running just over 4 cups gfo filling both canisters and have my 2 cups carbon in a mesh bag hung in the sump. We also don't really target feed our corals nearly as often. Maybe once a week or every 10 days. And we don't always get every coral every time. We make an effort to feed enough, slower/smaller portions/etc. We haven't used any coral foods or the like at all since we first started to see algae problem. Which is a good couple months now.
Since those changes, the ULR tested progressively lower. And actually tested 0 yesterday for the first time. The previous test was just below .01, down from closer to .02. And I doubled the gfo to both canisters full for the last week. So it seems like we're finally making headway on the driving issue. I'm going to continue to run both canisters full and change them every other week for a bit and keep the carbon hung passively in the sump.
We've been running filter socks, scrubbing the rockwork, and manually removing continuously in some way. Since I started running the filter socks and changing them out 2 or 3 times a week, my skimmer basically shuts down unless I feed live phyto or something small enough to not get caught in the sock. I do still have live phyto cultures running. But I maybe feed it every 3 or 4 weeks. I stopped using it as much since the algae outbreak.
Maybe we're making headway, maybe not. It's tough to tell still. But I find it hard to believe we won't get ahead of it soon.
I removed one WP-25 and added a WP-40. Hoping that will help keep detritus suspended and make its way into the filtration. So now we have 1-wp40 (running in w-1 making a nice big rhythmic wave) and 1-wp25 running in else mode.
Oh, we have also added another 20-30 snails recently. Last LFS trip I dropped in 10 new turbos on-top of the nerite and ceriths we bulk ordered recently. And we currently have a juvenile Yellow Eye Kole Tang in TTM right now. I think it's coming up on it's 3rd or 4th transfer on Monday. So we should have it in the 10 gallon QT mid-week or so. We will observe it in there for a few days. But it's been looking good so far. So I'm hopeful we will have a tang in there to help break-down the algae soon. And I'm super excited to get this big prized fish into our system. It's going to be awesome in contrast to all the other varied/smaller reef fish. That's the bright spot right now.
:lol: I had asked if they minded me taking some pictures before snapping some. I always love seeing the juvi-Sweetlips they get in. Maybe one day I'll own a gigantic tank big enough to keep one :rolleye1: PM me if you're local and want more details on it's location. It's still around.
Hey there buddy! Glad you found the build. Yes, it has grown quite a bit over the last year or so. You're always welcome to stop on by when you're in town. Hopefully it's soon! I'm getting my stuff together to start getting some more work and updates done to the system soon. I'm starting to get running a saltwater set up a bit more now. So now it's time to finish up some of the design choices and put a few finishing touches to the look of the set up. It is a living room show piece after all, so I want to get some cabinetry work done and a little more finish and polish to it all.M.Arian; said:
Happy new year to you and the family Troub
I think the only problem you may have and the reason why your corals are struggling is the obvious nutrient imbalance you still have judging by the algae covered rocks in those pics.
Water changes, more aggressive GFO use and wet skimming while scrubbing some of that stuff off so it can break down and be removed by the skimmer, GFO etc. What does your sump water smell like atm, clean and crisp or a bit 'off'. Stick your head over the sump and smell it - and no i'm not bloody joking. If it smells at all swampy or rotten seaweedy you should up your carbon use as well
Thanks for the happy news years wishes biggles. I haven't posted much lately due to lack of internet access during work hours on this new project. But I've been lurking around and reading. Your new set up is looking amazing. I can't wait to see the transfer process when you eventually move things over :thumbsup:
The tank water and sump smell fine. Like fresh clean saltwater. No funk at all. As for your observations on our tank. I think you're exactly right. I feel we have a bad nutrient imbalance. We are still fighting with it too. All of our corals do great until they eventually shut down and get over-grown by algae. So I'm feeling quite confident that I have Ca, Alk, Mg stable and figured out.
I test for No3 ever since setting up the tank with an in-expensive test kit. I saw some in the very early stages after setting the system up. But it tests at 0 to occasionally 5-10. But typically it's 0-5 or 0. It's hit 10 one or twice in the almost 2 years. I think our remote DSB in the 75 gallon fuge keeps No3 fairly low. And yes, the algae in the tank currently is absorbing some. But all of this makes sense. When I have algae, it tests 0-5 always. When I don't have algae as much, it bounces around between 0-10 depending on water changes. I've really never seen it over 10 that I can remember. So I'm not as concerned on No3 reduction right now.
Po4 on the other hand. I've picked up a Hanna ULR-Phosphorus checker. I've had it about a month and used the 5 packets that came with it. I have an order ready to restock my reagents. Po4 is definitely the imbalance and not getting absorbed/removed. Which makes sense when I thought about it. I was never successful at getting macro-algae started in the refugium. I've had a couple attempts at a couple different algae fail. This I explained to myself was because we didn't have as many fish in the system yet, were feeding less (but feeding coral food at the time), and didn't have the nutrient levels to maintain the algea. Especially since we weren't having nuisance algae issues at the time.
Fast forward to now and we have almost double the fish in the system as back then. Had more corals that were doing good and growing. But yet I had not altered our nutrient removal set up since it had been keeping up with the lower bio-load. Then we get the algae explosion and I order the ULR tester. Po4 first tested just under .02!!! :mad2: I immediately hang GFO in our filter sock and order a 2 canister reactor. I started the reactor off at 1/2 canister (about 1.25 cups) gfo and a full canister (2 cups) of carbon. Then bumped it up to a full canister (just over 2 cups) gfo and a full carbon. I still haven't bested the gha beast yet and now am running just over 4 cups gfo filling both canisters and have my 2 cups carbon in a mesh bag hung in the sump. We also don't really target feed our corals nearly as often. Maybe once a week or every 10 days. And we don't always get every coral every time. We make an effort to feed enough, slower/smaller portions/etc. We haven't used any coral foods or the like at all since we first started to see algae problem. Which is a good couple months now.
Since those changes, the ULR tested progressively lower. And actually tested 0 yesterday for the first time. The previous test was just below .01, down from closer to .02. And I doubled the gfo to both canisters full for the last week. So it seems like we're finally making headway on the driving issue. I'm going to continue to run both canisters full and change them every other week for a bit and keep the carbon hung passively in the sump.
We've been running filter socks, scrubbing the rockwork, and manually removing continuously in some way. Since I started running the filter socks and changing them out 2 or 3 times a week, my skimmer basically shuts down unless I feed live phyto or something small enough to not get caught in the sock. I do still have live phyto cultures running. But I maybe feed it every 3 or 4 weeks. I stopped using it as much since the algae outbreak.
Maybe we're making headway, maybe not. It's tough to tell still. But I find it hard to believe we won't get ahead of it soon.
I removed one WP-25 and added a WP-40. Hoping that will help keep detritus suspended and make its way into the filtration. So now we have 1-wp40 (running in w-1 making a nice big rhythmic wave) and 1-wp25 running in else mode.
Oh, we have also added another 20-30 snails recently. Last LFS trip I dropped in 10 new turbos on-top of the nerite and ceriths we bulk ordered recently. And we currently have a juvenile Yellow Eye Kole Tang in TTM right now. I think it's coming up on it's 3rd or 4th transfer on Monday. So we should have it in the 10 gallon QT mid-week or so. We will observe it in there for a few days. But it's been looking good so far. So I'm hopeful we will have a tang in there to help break-down the algae soon. And I'm super excited to get this big prized fish into our system. It's going to be awesome in contrast to all the other varied/smaller reef fish. That's the bright spot right now.
That picture was from a while ago now. This was a local fish store in Thousand Oaks, Ca. It's over by the grocery store we go to. I like to walk through and look instead of walking the grocery store isles pushing a cart
:lol: I had asked if they minded me taking some pictures before snapping some. I always love seeing the juvi-Sweetlips they get in. Maybe one day I'll own a gigantic tank big enough to keep one :rolleye1: PM me if you're local and want more details on it's location. It's still around.PM received, and I think responded to. I typed out a message and clicked submit, then everything disappeared :sad2: and I was back to my profile page. Let me know if it went through. But I'm back and around. I'll try to get a few pictures up in the next week or so. I'll definitely get some pics or a video when I release the tang to share. But for the most part, we've just cut down on things, taken our time, thought about things, and tried to solve the import/export imbalance. :clown:Troub, you're going to have to make me PM you.
markalot
...
I got it, twice!
Thanks for the update. I'm going to have to think about some kind of remote Nitrate sink myself, having all kinds of high nitrate issues. troubadour11
Member
Hey troub, what's been happening bud. I hope all is going well for you. How's the tank going? I'd love to see a recent FTS when you have a chance
Hey there. Boy has it been awhile. DisBeReef and I have been busy working away at life and watching our tank stay the same despite efforts to improve it. Still battling gha. I've gotten a little discouraged on the whole thing.
Can't successfully grow macro algae in the fuge. Can't get rid of micro algae invasion despite feeding very carefully to not over feed or anything. Haven't used anything but some frozen food or pellets in a really long time. Barely target feed corals to reduce waste. Maybe once a week. No reef roids, live phyto, or other food additives. Lost almost all but maybe 1/3 of our corals over the last 8-10 months. Some left are fine and appear to be growing. Like the blastos. Others do fine for half a year and then the algae over takes them and they die off.
We have the Tailspot Blenny that is super interesting but has no chance of keeping up with the algae. Never thought it would. But still a great fish to have. We lost our first Y-eye Kole Tang. Got picked on and would never eat anything once it got out of qt and into the dt. So now we've just added our 2nd YEKT. Got a medium size one this time. Doesn't seem to be getting picked on, but I have yet to see it eat anything since going in the big tank. I sure wish it would eat the algae that is all over.
Lots and lots and lots of manually algae removal and cleaning. Does nothing, it just comes back after a few days. Running 4 cups gfo in a reactor and 2 cups carbon in a bag in high flow of sump. Spent a fortune on gfo already and it's done nothing that I can tell. Very demoralizing.
One of the reasons I haven't been in here much is that I'm so depressed with how the tank has gone the last year no matter what I do. There are some other reasons too. One of which being no more internet access at work. These big blockbuster films require top level security so nothing leaks. So I can only access stuff via my kindle fire or phone. Makes it thought to post, especially pictures. I usually did my posts over my lunch break.
So I can't get any pics up now. But I'll try to update the visual state of things this weekend. Back to the grind for now.
martinphillip03
New member
Why do you think you can't grow chaeto?
What sort of test kits do you have?
When you do a water change, do you use RO water.
How many snails and crabs do you have?
How much skim mate do you pull out of your skimmer?
Marty
What sort of test kits do you have?
When you do a water change, do you use RO water.
How many snails and crabs do you have?
How much skim mate do you pull out of your skimmer?
Marty
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