An addicted reefer chic's 40B franken tank w/ 2 30g display macro tanks...

Fragged the h311 out of the maricultured acro that was STN'ing. Going to do a big water change tomorrow since that's my WC day. Hopefully I don't lose the rest of my favorite piece.

Anyone else have any input on why I could lose 4 maricultured pieces within a couple weeks...while my other SPS is ok?

On another note...here's my red planet that I purchased as a small frag in October under the Mitras (cell pic):



 
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If you are changing 15 gallons of water a week, I would throw out the test kits, stop dosing and stop doing anything. With that amount of water changing, you don't need to dose. NYC water is great and I used it for many years but they just opened up the new water tunnels and they are about 22 miles long made out of new concrete and God knows what else is in there from the 35 years or construction. I would not trust it any more. The old tunnels are over 100 years old and made out of cobblestones so any questionable substances were washed away decades ago.
 
Paul B said:
If you are changing 15 gallons of water a week, I would throw out the test kits, stop dosing and stop doing anything. With that amount of water changing, you don't need to dose. NYC water is great and I used it for many years but they just opened up the new water tunnels and they are about 22 miles long made out of new concrete and God knows what else is in there from the 35 years or construction. I would not trust it any more. The old tunnels are over 100 years old and made out of cobblestones so any questionable substances were washed away decades ago.
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Hmmm...I wish it was that easy. Even with the water changes, I've been having to dose exactly 34ml of ESV B-Ionic Alk daily to keep it stable and from dropping way below 7. I have a large amount of SPS in the 40B. It's just that I've lost 3 1/2 maricultured mini colonies within the last month. Everything else is doing fine, great color, growth, PE. I'm of course using RODI and run through sediment filters monthly to extend the life of my carbon blocks/DI/membrane's. Pre-RODI the TDS is high. I personally would not use tap...have seen too many algae ridden disaster's because of that. I just need to figure out what's going on with these maricultured acro's. Maybe I should just avoid maricultured acro's. sigh. :(
 
Green Eyes, it just seems to me that the people who test the most, dose the most and change the most water have the majority of problems. I dose some homemade calcium and baking soda a couple of times a week and rarely change water. I also have many SPS that are doing fine. So even though I am in the vast minority, I think less is better.
But it's just me. But good luck and I hope everything turns out OK.
Paul
 
Paul B said:
Green Eyes, it just seems to me that the people who test the most, dose the most and change the most water have the majority of problems. I dose some homemade calcium and baking soda a couple of times a week and rarely change water. I also have many SPS that are doing fine. So even though I am in the vast minority, I think less is better.
But it's just me. But good luck and I hope everything turns out OK.
Paul
Click to expand...

I'm definitely not knocking your methods and am always very grateful for your input as I have much respect for you as a reefer. Like you, I run a very different system than most people. I'm just trying to find that happy medium and what works for my system.

If I fall back on water changes my phosphates would be through the roof due to continuous feeder for my NPS tank. For me, SPS maintaining amazing color is everything...I don't want to look at a tank of browned out SPS and I don't want to starve my NPS. Maybe I will try cutting back to 5g bi-weekly water changes ...increase my phosphate removal methods considering the continuous feeder...add more macro algae, etc. With the amount of SPS that I have I can't give up on dosing.

Thanks again, Paul! :)
 
Keep ya' head up mean green eyes it will all come back around in due time, i see that your very diligent too so no worries there.
 
Mariculture has always been impossible for me to keep. When I first started with SPS, I had a few tank grown frags in my tank. I then purchased a calcium reactor, and decided to make my tank an SPS dom tank. I started going to a local wholesaler with a friend and started purchasing 100s of dollars worth of mariculture and wild colonies. Out of probably 10-15 colonies I lost every single one. The only way I could save a few was to frag them, and i usually had to frag it before they rtn/stn. I never lost a single tank grown frag, yet at the same time mariculture pieces would die within weeks or a couple months. I finally stopped buying mariculture, and only buy from local hobbyists. I'd rather spend more $ on a small frag then a $1 on a huge mari colony that will more then likely stn within a couple weeks.

Another thing, those stupid mari colonies gave me AEFW. I'm still battling them today.

This is all of my SPS, ready to be switched over to their new QT tank. Hopefully in a couple weeks ill be AEFW free... Stupid mariculture. Lol

mu7egy9e.jpg
 
Chaotic Reefer4u said:
Keep ya' head up mean green eyes it will all come back around in due time, i see that your very diligent too so no worries there.
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Thank you! :) This hobby, though stressful at times, gives me way more joy than grief. As I sit here looking at my system right now, it makes me smile...I could never give this up...it's truly a piece of me.

SchnitzelReef said:
Mariculture has always been impossible for me to keep. When I first started with SPS, I had a few tank grown frags in my tank. I then purchased a calcium reactor, and decided to make my tank an SPS dom tank. I started going to a local wholesaler with a friend and started purchasing 100s of dollars worth of mariculture and wild colonies. Out of probably 10-15 colonies I lost every single one. The only way I could save a few was to frag them, and i usually had to frag it before they rtn/stn. I never lost a single tank grown frag, yet at the same time mariculture pieces would die within weeks or a couple months. I finally stopped buying mariculture, and only buy from local hobbyists. I'd rather spend more $ on a small frag then a $1 on a huge mari colony that will more then likely stn within a couple weeks.

Another thing, those stupid mari colonies gave me AEFW. I'm still battling them today.

This is all of my SPS, ready to be switched over to their new QT tank. Hopefully in a couple weeks ill be AEFW free... Stupid mariculture. Lol

mu7egy9e.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice frags and best of luck with the new QT and getting rid of the AEFW!

I think that I may have found a reason why I lost 3 1/2 of the acro colonies that I purchased. I had purchased the 2 of the Red Sea Pro test kits(Ca, Alk & Mg)...both with expiration dates between 2016 an 2017. I purchased one from a vendor at my local frag swap last Oct. and one at Bulk Reef's black Friday sale. Well the newer Red Sea KH tritant (different bottle) was showing that my KH was between 8 and 8.4 when it was actually freakin' 6.1! Fml! It drove me nuts. I just figured it out this past weekend when I even had a fellow reefer from my reef club run both of my Red Sea kits and Salifert kits against his own Salifert kits. Everything matched up perfectly, except that one KH test. So I will be contacting Red Sea about it this weekend and see what they say. I'm really p*ssed about it...not even at them...sh*t happens...just the situation. I absolutely hate losing livestock for any reason, especially with all of the work, effort, love and attention that I put into this system.

The crazy thing about this whole debacle is that all of the frags that I have of maricultured colonies are doing amazing and have maintained color/growth. As if they're more sensitive if left un-fragged. So if I see a "must have" maricultured colony I will have my lfs cut it the h3ll off of the base that it's mounted on. I've read this helps on a few other threads too, but no one can fully explain it.

System is properly stabilized now and testing all week at a stable Ca 440, Alk 7.7dkh and Mg 1350. Currently running through 34ml/day of ESV Alk, 68ml/week of Ca and 330ml of Mg.

Got a gorgeous 1" frag of what appears to be "DFS pixie dust" and I'm in love with it. This:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/coral-database/128515-dfs-pixie-dust-acropora.html?filter[5]=SPS

A very good reefer buddy just surprised me with small frags of red and green dragon this past weekend. I'm in love with them and I can't wait to see them grow out/coloration that I get from them under my Mitras.

I re-did my continuous feeder setup with a full sized mini-fridge with a 3/4" venturi valve. Now I just need to purchase a GHL 4 pump stand alone doser and it will be set.

My only issue is that I'm getting backflow from the top 30g macro/NPS tank and it shoots out the venturi if my return is off or there's not enough water pumping through the venturi. Learned this the hard way during last weeks water change and flooded my bedroom. D@mmit! Oops. lol

Ordered two 3/4" pvc check valves online, but apparently they have a stainless steel spring in them...so I'm scared to use them. Anybody know where I can find some 3/4" pvc check valves that are reef safe? Nobody carries them locally...have tried home depot and all of my plumbing supply places.

My saddleback clowns finally started hosting one of the freakin' 5 RBTA's in the top macro tank last night which was a beautiful sight. The male had been hosting a green hairy mushy and the female a large patch of GSP that carpets the sand bed right next to it. Clowns! lol They also spawned for the first time in my system a few weeks ago. They will be the only clowns in my 180g once I get it up and running.

:dance: Movie time with my son...later Reefer's...
 
Most, but not all, stainless steel is OK for use with saltwater. It just depends on the chromium content (there are lots of stainless steel alloys, higher chromium means greater corrosion resistance). I would go ahead and use the check valves you have, but just monitor them occasionally to ensure that the spring isn't corroding.

On that same subject, fully immersed stainless will last a lot longer than stainless that's in the air, but exposed to near 100% humidity with seawater.

It sounds like you found the issue with your SPS, but one additional comment I'd add is that if your RODI system is well-maintained (of which I have no doubt after reading this thread), then you need not worry about what the NYC water authority is feeding into your set-up. It's true that chloramines are harder to remove with carbon than chlorine, but by the time the water gets through a carbon block, an RO membrane and post-RO deionization, there's no chlorine nor ammonia still present. The only issue with inadequate chloramine removal is the longevity of your RO membrane.
 
Drae said:
Good stuff. Nice work on your tank. Hats off.
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Thank you! :)

dkeller_nc said:
Most, but not all, stainless steel is OK for use with saltwater. It just depends on the chromium content (there are lots of stainless steel alloys, higher chromium means greater corrosion resistance). I would go ahead and use the check valves you have, but just monitor them occasionally to ensure that the spring isn't corroding.

On that same subject, fully immersed stainless will last a lot longer than stainless that's in the air, but exposed to near 100% humidity with seawater.

It sounds like you found the issue with your SPS, but one additional comment I'd add is that if your RODI system is well-maintained (of which I have no doubt after reading this thread), then you need not worry about what the NYC water authority is feeding into your set-up. It's true that chloramines are harder to remove with carbon than chlorine, but by the time the water gets through a carbon block, an RO membrane and post-RO deionization, there's no chlorine nor ammonia still present. The only issue with inadequate chloramine removal is the longevity of your RO membrane.
Click to expand...

The stainless steel scares the crap out of me because I had to replace my mag12 a couple weeks ago due to the screws rusting. I still haven't received the check valves thanks to STUPID fedex. Tracking was last updated Thursday as "out for delivery" and there hasn't been a single update since. A friend told me that Bulk Reef carries check valves...so I was thinking about ordering one from them instead.

This actually:

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/catalog/product/view/id/2681/

In regards to the RODI, I bought a years worth of carbon blocks and sediment filters (replaced monthly,) and replaced my RO membrane during a Bulk Reef group buy. I also purchased their 150gpd upgrade kit to add to my BRS 75gpd 5 stage. I have all the bells and whistles...pressure gauge, flush kit, dual TDS meter, booster pump, auto shut off, etc.

This is what I run through it...

Purtrex 5 Micron Sediment Filter
MATRIKX CTO 5 Micron Carbon Block
MATRIKX CTO PLUS 0.6 Micron Carbon Block
Two(2) - 75 GPD Dow Filmtec Membrane
BRS color changing DI

I flush the system for 5 minutes before I make water...each and every time. Ever since Hurricane Sandy, I burn through sediment filters much faster than I used to.
 
One note regarding check valves - despite BRS's description, I wouldn't install one of these on a return pump's exit line. It's far better to just have the return line just under the surface of the tank water to allow it to suck air and break the siphon if the power goes out.

The reason is that check valves introduce a great deal of hydraulic friction, which means that they will have a big (negative) effect on the return's overall flow. So then one either has to have a much bigger return pump ($$$ in pruchase price and electricity), or just put up with a much lower turnover rate.

For the same reason, I replaced the loc-line on my new Cadlights 50g set-up with just a 45 deg PVC elbow. The loc-line introduces a great deal of head pressure - with it, I was getting about 250 gph, without it, I'm getting about 400 gph.

With regards to your RODI set-up, replacing carbon blocks monthly seems a bit excessive unless you're really running the snot out of your filtration system. If that's the case, it may be much more cost-effective to get one of the "double-size" empty cartridge holders and DIY media containers, and fill it with loose catalytic carbon. For a typical aquarium-person's setup that needs perhaps a gallon of RODI a day in make-up, you shouldn't have to replace the carbon but once every 3 months, or even longer.
 
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