Another log of a Newbie starting out with TBS rock!

[dwculp]

Somedays you shouldnt get out op bed

Somedays you shouldnt get out op bed

Came in today to work on the tank, continuing the battle against algae. I should have stayed home........

First off, I bought 45 gallons of water and began pouring it into my mixing trash can, it was already about half-full. I poured in about 18 gallons when I noticed I was standing in water. Trash can had a leak.

What a mess.

Started cleaning and siphoning. Was scrubbing rocks and siphoning the algaea out and didnt notice the other end of the siphon hose had come out of the waste water bucket and was drining onto the floor.

What a mess.

Cleaned up that mess and began siphoning again. Went to check the salinity of the mixed water and dropped and broke the hydrometer. I am smart, I have a backup hydrometer.

I dropped and broke it also.

Luckily I had measured the salinity of the mixing water before I started siphoning out tank water. I just like to take a reading just before I put the water back in.

I hooked up the pump and placed the return hose into the tank and began pumping 15 gallons back in. I went over to the sink to clean a powerhead, while I was over there the return hose slipped out of the tank and began pumping water on the floor.
What a mess.

Im going home and going back to bed.

Oh, however, it still doesnt cease to amaze me the things in the tank. Ladies and gentlemen, I have had thisw thing up and running for 10 months and I still find new things!! Today I found a tiny, 1 inch long 100% translucent shrimp sittiing on a rock.

 

[ewest99]

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.


My tank is only at the curing base rock stage, is this type of thing going to be a common occurance in my future?

Been following the thread awesome pictures, christmas tree picture makes a beautiful background on the computer here at work - nice job.

Eric

 

[dwculp]

No, you shouldnt expect to have to battle algae all the time. This is my first major battle with algae.

 

[Scuba Oz]

Dave, sounds like you are cursed!! What the heck is happening to you? Guess it can only get better huh!!

Good Luck!!

 

[patsan]

And then other days you sit and look at the tank in amazement of the beauty of it. That's what most days are like!

 

[Scuba Oz]

That is true Pat, there is nothing better than sitting watching the tank and seeing what goes on in there. How the little crabs go about their business and the snails. ZFinding something new all the time, its just amazing what goes on in our glass boxes

 

[dwculp]

Yes, it is amazing. A friend of mine comes in often and always says "Man, that TBS stuff is amazing. I think they have the magic formula for reef tanks."

I thought I turned the corner on this algae the other day but I guess I was wrong as it continued to come back. I may have turned the corner today as there appeared to be less algae buildup overnight today than usual.

Tomorrow will be telling.

 

[Scuba Oz]

Let us know, I am checking this thread a lot seeing how it is going!!

 

[ratherbediving]

Dave-- that was a pretty funny writeup about all the incidents with the tank, but I feel your frustration.

I've had a few small floods myself-- not too much water, but my tank is on carpet. Wife is none too pleased I hate to say. But on days where you DON'T break your hydrometer twice, I'd say it's definitely a worthwhile hobby!

You really do need to get that PO4 under control, not just the algae; hopefully your phosguard or phosban will take care of it soon. Getting in that new cleanup crew I am sure will do wonders for helping out with the algae that doesn't clear up.

Good Luck

 

[dwculp]

Turning the corner

Turning the corner

Ok, I really think I have turned the corner and I am on the downhill slope of this algae problem. I came in yesterday and it looked as if there was less algea buildup on the rocks and sand. Today there was less algae buildup on everything, it was still quite a bit of algae but less than usual. The PO4 level is currently .25 ppm.

FAR less than it was.I will continue to change water and scrub rocks until it is over. In fact, I am thinking of taking every rock out tomorrow and scrubbing it really good and re-aquascaping.

 

[Scuba Oz]

Dave, are you running any phosguard in the BakPak outlet where we put carbon? I ran some in my 37g when I had a little PO4 and it helped a lot.

Glad to hear it is coming to an end though. It can get frustrating fighting that crap, seems to never let up!

 

[dwculp]

SOMETHING ATE MY RICORDIA!!!

SOMETHING ATE MY RICORDIA!!!

Ok, Im ****ed. I came in today and my new ricordia was gone!! It had become my favorite. Something ate it. It is NOWHERE in the tank. Gone, disappeared, vanished, nowhere to be found.

I didnt see anything in the tank picking on it, but if I was a betting man I would put my money on a peppermint shrimp. It had become my favorite, I was looking forward to seeing it grow!!!

In other news the algae problem is slowly but surely diminishing. Less algae today than usual. I took apart one side of the tank and scrubbed the heck out of the rocks and rearranged things. Will do the other side tomorrow. The rocks are still pink under that covering of algae!!!!

PO4 levels are now down to less than 0.25. It is actually closer to 0 than 0.25 on my test kit.

 

[H2OLUVSME]

glad the algae is getting under control. th pep at my office tank destroyed 10-12 rics in a few days time. i was out of town and didnt get to feed the tank for a few days. all the fish and corals, except the rics, are fine. im pretty sure it was the peppermint. i read some where that peps are pretty notorious for eating rics

 

[dwculp]

I am pretty sure it was the peppermint shrimp, they eat anything they can get ahold of. Who originally determined peps were reef safe??????

 

[dwculp]

Scary.....

Scary.....

I started thinking about something tonight. The first time I actually tested for PO4 was after 90 gallons of water changes at 15 gallons apiece and it was at 2.0 ppm. Now, of my 40 gallons of total tank volume I figure I probably have 30 gallons of water, the rest is taken up by rock and sand. This means I was doing a 50% water change each time and bringng the PO4 levels down 50% at a time. Here is what that means in terms of starting PO4 levels:

90 gallon change - PO4 = 2.0 ppm
75 gallon change - PO4 = 4.0 ppm
60 gallon change - PO4 = 8.0 ppm
45 gallon change - PO4 = 16.0 ppm
30 gallon change - PO4 = 32.0 ppm
15 gallon change - PO4 = 64.0 ppm
0 gallon change (the start of the water changes)- PO4 = 128.0 ppm

HOLY CRAP!!!!

Now, that assumes there was no build up of PO4 in between the water changes and nothing was leaching out PO4, which it probably was and PO4 was probably no where NEAR that level but it means that it was still pretty darned high!!

It turns out that earlier in the summer the cleaning crew unplugged our science freezer (which they are not supposed to do!) where I keep all my frozen food (mysis, brine, squid, formula 1 and 2 etc) and left it unplugged in 90+ degree heat for a few days and then plugged it back in, refreezing my food. So the food sat and rotted for a couple of days and was then refroze - instant PO4!

 

[Scuba Oz]

Scary when you look at the PO4 levels that way huh!

Man thats a bummer you lost all that food because of a mistake by the cleaning crew

 

[H2OLUVSME]

thats really screwy Dave. i hope nothing else like that happens. im not totally convinced that it would cause PO4 in the numbers that you post but it definatly couldnt help or be healthy!

 

[dwculp]

Actually, as the food sits and rots it could decay into PO4 making the PO4 levels higher than normal. I threw the food out, nothing like wasting $60.00 in frozen food. When I buy frozen I buy a LOT of frozen food at once so it lasts awhile. This was pretty new food also so it is disappointing!

 

[dwculp]

The continuing algae battle

The continuing algae battle

The battle continues..........

Today I had more buildup on the sand. It is pretty amazing that it covers the entire sand bed overnight!!! The rocks looked pretty good though and it does appear that growth is slowing down.

I am also going to replace the bulbs in my light fixtures. One of the PC light fixtures is approaching one year old.

 

[patsan]

Actually, as the food sits and rots it could decay into PO4 making the PO4 levels higher than normal. I threw the food out, nothing like wasting $60.00 in frozen food. When I buy frozen I buy a LOT of frozen food at once so it lasts awhile. This was pretty new food also so it is disappointing!

Why don't you just make your own food? It would be a heck of a lot cheaper....and you wouldn't have to rinse it knowing you made it and exactly what's in it.