Coral Tank from Canada (1350gal Display Tank)
- Thread starter nineball
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mr.wilson
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If your neighbour has dandelions you are a lot more likely to have them too
Once you introduce a nuisance species of algae, you always run the risk of nature not understanding where you want it to grow. Rinsing can't hurt, but I don't think you would benefit by any kind of oxidizer such as iodine or potassium permanganate in the dip. Time is the best healer, as the saying goes. Throwing the tray or screen in a secondary tank would be the prudent method.
I'm tempted to switch our refugium from Chaetomorpha to caulerpa for faster production/reduction but I don't like the potential threat of a milky tank if the algae crashes. On the other hand, it is a very small refugium and it wouldn't create too much of a problem. Hmmm?
mr.wilson
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It's funny that I have spent so much time studying cryptic zone filtration and developing the Duplex sump and Peter's tank doesn't have one
Of course, every reef system has one, whether we plan around it or not. The overflow boxes are chalk full of sea squirts and the live rock in the sump is covered in non-photosynthetic invertebrates. The sump does get too much light for my liking, and I have considered covering it. I still think eggcrate would make a better media for growing cryptic inverts though. We actually have some room in our little refugium for a Duplex set-up. We currently have about 4" of sand but there is room for 6" of eggcrate partitions and a shallow tray for caulerpa.
There are merits to the ATS system, such as a shallow growing area and more intense lighting, but the methodology has been cursed with misinformation in both generations of its application.
If your neighbour has dandelions you are a lot more likely to have them too
Rinsing can't hurt, but I don't think you would benefit by any kind of oxidizer such as iodine or potassium permanganate in the dip. Time is the best healer, as the saying goes. Throwing the tray or screen in a secondary tank would be the prudent method.
I'm tempted to switch our refugium from Chaetomorpha to caulerpa for faster production/reduction but I don't like the potential threat of a milky tank if the algae crashes. On the other hand, it is a very small refugium and it wouldn't create too much of a problem. Hmmm?
I'm still wondering where the Bryopsis comes from in the first place. Are there spores in every tank that grow if the conditions are right? So an ATS could actually introduce Bryopsis in that manner? If I remember correctly Joe at Atlantis Aquarium (20,000g reef tank) believes every tank has Bryopsis. However my daughter's 9g biocube was severely neglected and looked like a scientific experiment in the end with algae and you name it growing in there, however no Bryopsis :uhoh3:
mr.wilson
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Yes, we have one over our refugium since one of our plasma lights died
We tried it over the display tank and seriously considered going with it. If you go back in the thread you will find some pictures of it over the arch. The LUX is higher than the ones we are using, but the PAR is lower and the spectrum is different. The AI unit has a nice controller (ours fell in the water after a few days), the fixture looks slick and it is very well built. LEDs are following the same evolution as metal halide, and fluorescent before that. You start out with standard lighting industry components designed for home and office use, then specialty reef-specific technology emerges. The hobby used 5,000K venture MHL bulbs, then progressed to 6,500K Iwasaki, then 10,000K, 14,000K and finally 20,000K where you no longer needed actinic lighting. First and second generation LEDs had to rely on 7,000-8,500K white emitters, supplemented with lots of blue and royal blue emitters to drown out the yellow colour. We went with the only company that was offering high colour temperature LEDs (16,000K) so the choice wasn't difficult.
mr.wilson
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First off, a few 55 gallon drums for more system water is the most cost effective filtration and water chemistry tool you can find. A slow throughput is sure to give you an ideal site for denitrifying bacteria and water polishing cryptic invertebrates. I would shut the airlifts down and see if you can repeat your earlier results (in reverse).
I was having problems keeping the NP pellets from sticking together in our media reactor. I think the pump I was using wasn't strong enough for the job once the sponge collects some biofilm and detritus. I decided to fill a large media bag with the NP pellets and see what happens. Every few days the pellets get covered in biofilm (bacterial slime) so I manually shake it a few times in the sump where it is located. This releases bacteria for corals and sponges to consume frees up some space for more delicious slime. The whole idea is to offer up a carbon source for anaerobic bacteria so I was never keen on the idea of keeping them in an aerobic fluidized bed in the first place. There are localized anaerobic layers in a fluidized bed, but they are limited and the constant abrasion wears off bacteria populations too quickly. I think my low tech bag is the right way to do it and I don't mind manually agitating it. It could be automated by using the fluidized bed with a pump that was intermittent, maybe on for one minute once a day. You would need a strong pump once the NP pellets start sticking like wet pasta.
mr.wilson
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I think bryopsis is everywhere (like Elvis). It does need certain conditions for it to proliferate, and one could argue that a large scale bryopsis farm in the sump constitutes a greater likelihood of it migrating to the display. As I said before, we have a few varieties of nuisance algae present in the refugium and mangrove planters that do not exist in the display for one reason or the other. I would still be more at ease if we didn't have them at all.
The main difference between these nutrient export methods is the species used. Mangroves are slow growing plants, macroalgae is a fast growing single celled organism, and microalgae (turf & hair) is an even faster growing more primitive organism. In fact they aren't too far removed from bacteria. If you take a dry weight of each of these after one month of growth, one will outperform another, but not by much in the case of micro vs. macro algae. The latter is more stable so I see no need to push harder with the former.
Efficacy rates are further slanted when you compare a passive macro algae refugium to an active ATS super farm. A well planned refugium should be no deeper than 6", have decent flow to deter red cyanobacteria, utilize high intensity lighting, and contain an iron rich substrate such as laterite or get regular doses of iron.
nineball
New member
'Dog' as he became known developed an enormous appetite for anything soft in the tank. Since this is a coral tank with fish a decision was made to help Dog find a new home. He is now living with Drago (Ro/DI water expert and we still have a mixed coral tank. We miss him but not the carnage he caused in the tank.
Peter
mr.wilson
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As much as we all loved the Blue Face Angel, he suddenly started picking at any coral in his path. Chago, the gentleman who did our RO/DI unit has him now, and he no longer has coral
sidewinder2180
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Wow just wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nineball
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No the truth is 'WE' are making it. This progress belongs to the team and this loyal thread community. Mr Wilson as principal architect is without a doubt the central DNA for success with this project. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Peter
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