Aquabacs' Cadlights Artisan 50 Azooxanthellae Tank build

Thanks Mike.

I have a second piece of Astrangia that I picked up from Greenwich over the weekend. The colonial azoox pieces that are coming in from West Africa have some serious potential. Not just for hardiness but for sustainability by fragging. Time will tell on the second part.

Mike
 
Some growth ;)

T3811.jpg


3811.jpg


Mike
 
Got some good news from Dan at Avast that my custom reactors are ready for shipment. Looking forward to sharing photos of them once they arrive. Plan for one of them is to increase the volume of Warner/SeaSlug biopellets in use. For the second reactor, it's use is still undecided.

Mike
 
After a few months of a difficult pregnancy, me and my wife had a beautiful little girl on the 16th of March, 4lbs 15ounces.

My reactors did come in from Avast and have not posted any photos of them yet ;) Dan & Justin turn out beautiful work on a day by day basis but the finish/attention to detail on their custom work is insane.

Mike
 
Congrats on your daughter! Your life has changed forever...

I have two girls, a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old. They are a ton of work, but worth every moment of it. I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times, but it gets a lot easier as they grow older. There is a big difference between a newborn and a two month old.

Anyways, enjoy her. Put her in front of the aquarium so she can see the fish. My girls both loved watching the fish move around.
 
Aquabacs said:
After a few months of a difficult pregnancy, me and my wife had a beautiful little girl on the 16th of March, 4lbs 15ounces.

My reactors did come in from Avast and have not posted any photos of them yet ;) Dan & Justin turn out beautiful work on a day by day basis but the finish/attention to detail on their custom work is insane.

Mike
Click to expand...

Congrats! Your tank is beatiful!! But your daughter........................... Enjoy while you can. Little children little problems. My oldest son was 3 lbs 3.5 ozs they catch up and grow up. He has his own lttle guy now. I have 2 grandchildren I watch my granddaughter 5 days a week. Enjoy!!!! Take it from someone whose been there done that.

~Dee~
 
Thanks all :)

Right now we have been working on our sleep schedule over the last few days before I go back to work on Monday. Has been getting better each day, feeding at 2-2.5 hour intervals, and not waking at every single peep she makes.

Mike
 
Maybe you should invent an automated continuous feeder for her....

Seriously though, a very big congratulations Mike!
 
Thanks Mike :) Feeding for her is already automated...since I am married to the two pump dosing system ;)

Having the current husbandry practices in place have greatly reduced the stress of the tank while my mind is on other things. I have played out different models of events that could occur to the tank; act of nature, equipment failures, lack/limited husbandry, and believe to have a handle on each. Now, even with the best well thought out plans, there is something always new to be learn about the system and areas/methods that can be approved upon.


Mike
 
I'll add my congrates Mike, no doubt my kids are the best thing in my life.....there are times when I don't always remember that but all they have to do is smile. ;) Have your nitrates/phosphates dropped with the addition of the new pellets?
 
Thanks :)

At 1000ml of pellets the nitrates hover at 5 and phosphates are still only controllable with the addition of GFO. With the GFO reactor offline the PO4 jumps to .7-.8 within 3 days (at .2-.3 on the Hanna with GFO). What I am looking at doing is going with a GFO reactor that is foam filter free. Then have the effluent from the GFO reactor go through a 10 micron filter sock to prevent fines from the GFO from entering the system. With the increase of pellets in the system, the foam filters in the GFO reactor quickly become clogged, then compact the media.
 
I find that the pellets will only control one at a time. my Nitrates are down, then my phosphates start to rise. Then my nitrates start to go up and the phosphates fall. I wonder if when the nitrates drop the bacteria that feed on them die off and then are replaced by bacteria that feed on phosphates and so on and so on.
 
Don, I believe that is where the Redfield ratio comes into play. If the nitrates bottom out to 0, IIRC it has been in discussion of actually dosing nitrate to have the pellets continue to lower phosphate.



Mike
 
Aquabacs said:
Don, I believe that is where the Redfield ratio comes into play. If the nitrates bottom out to 0, IIRC it has been in discussion of actually dosing nitrate to have the pellets continue to lower phosphate.
Mike
Click to expand...

I see, that makes sense. I would think it would balance its self but it seems to keep bouncing around.
 
Thanks!

Took care of my monthly skimmer cleaning Monday night and changed out the mesh wheel for a needle wheel on the Bubble Magnus. The mesh wheel works very well but when doing monthly maintenance on the skimmer found that mesh needs to be replaced every 3 months. Since there is no sock/mechanical filtration between the overflow and the skimmer...the mesh wheel gets abused. With my mind focused on other priorities, I don't need the mesh wheel failing on the skimmer, so... in with the needle wheel. The needle wheel for the skimmer was initially a real PITA to locate, vendors that supposely stocked them either didnt have them in stock or were waiting on them, add to that, back up skimmer pumps were difficult to acquire as well. A couple of fellow reefers told me about SoCalTropicals started selling parts for BM skimmers this year. Ordered up 2 skimmer pumps with needle wheels installed, one extra needle wheel, and 2 extra ceramic shafts. Have OCD when it comes to back up parts or even back up for the back up parts ;) Even have an extra skimmer body but that is a whole nother story. SoCal shipped the parts quickly and had them with 4 business days from the order (came by standard US mail). Packing could be better but dont need to be picky since everything arrived in one piece.

By Tuesday night the skimmer was back on target. Looking forward to seeing how well it performs in the long run.

Mike
 
Aquabacs said:
Thanks :)

At 1000ml of pellets the nitrates hover at 5 and phosphates are still only controllable with the addition of GFO. With the GFO reactor offline the PO4 jumps to .7-.8 within 3 days (at .2-.3 on the Hanna with GFO). What I am looking at doing is going with a GFO reactor that is foam filter free. Then have the effluent from the GFO reactor go through a 10 micron filter sock to prevent fines from the GFO from entering the system. With the increase of pellets in the system, the foam filters in the GFO reactor quickly become clogged, then compact the media.
Click to expand...

ATB.jpg


White ATB reactor came in on Friday :) This is will now be used for running the GFO on my tank.

Mike
 
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