Double or Nothing... AJ's 405-Gallon Reef Savvy Upgrade

I am so glad to see that I am not the only one that looks at the amps and see how things are running over days or weeks. After I replaced on of my DC12000 with another one I saw that it was having issues and was drawing a lot of amps.

I look/watch trends in pH and other items too. You can see a trend when you look at a month's worth of data.

I use this too: https://www.reeftronics.net/wn/worm5406/apex-history

If you look at that link around Dec 15 you will see that my temp went flat line for a bit. That was when my heater died. Under amp3 you can see the AMP draw dropped off too.

Look at Amp 5 and see around 12/15 when I replaced that DC12000 that was not working for my skimmer. Once replaced the overall draw went to a better amp draw.
 
That is very interesting. Thanks for pointing me to Reeftronics. I just used their program tool to write the OSC code for my kalk reactor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Double or Nothing... AJ's 405-Gallon Reef Savvy Upgrade

Hello my RC friends. Quite a few things to update. My apologies for the gap in posts.

For starters, my buddy Locito gave me a MARS Hydro 300w LED Grow Light. It went up over the fuge easily and we now have some chaeto growing.

9b2f726fae8cd4d1088b880311fa05f6.jpg


We also added several fish. This is the stock list as of today:

Female Bimac anthias
(3) Bartlett anthias
Male lyretail anthias
Female lyretail anthias
Male yellow coris wrasse
Female yellow coris wrasse
(2) Rainfordi gobies
Yellow banded possum wrasse
Labouti fairy wrasse
Male lubucks fairy wrasse
Female lubucks fairy wrasse
Male ruby head fairy wrasse
Male solorensis fairy wrasse
Red velvet fairy wrasse
Blue sided fairy wrasse
Male red margin fairy wrasse
Long fin fairy wrasse
Mcoskers flasher wrasse
Melenaris wrasse
Mystery wrasse
Japanese four line wrasse
Male onyx Picasso percula
Female onyx Picasso percula
Chocolate tang
Purple tang
Blond naso tang
Black cardinal fish
Pink bar goby
Yellow watchman goby
Sailfin blenny
Yellow tail blenny
Male crosshatch trigger
Female crosshatch trigger
(2) skunk cleaner shrimp
Fire cleaner shrimp

Fish have all been doing great until today, when I noticed ick spots on the purple tang, who has been with us for years.

I've got the Vortex XL diatom filter going and I have continued to feed metroplex infused food. At this point, stressing over it won't help. Say a prayer for our fish!

https://vimeo.com/201080567

6c1a89e1d776665372157daa6d67279f.jpg


9fb59ea51c72839360526799c2429579.jpg


c701254c5989fa58f1b9ef511ca152cf.jpg


8f9fe91cada9ed2f6c7c507807f675e7.jpg


a735a77abb5d82f3db89da72950268b7.jpg


3aa2e6b9e1becf34217868520febd53d.jpg


30a70d16036287bda71b4bbe88474041.jpg


I have to make note that the crosshatch pair was a birthday surprise from my wife... I am blessed.

Let's hope that my next update is a positive one...






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Looking really good. Maybe try taking closer pictures of the front of the tank and have them overlap. Then use a sticher program and make it a large panoramic.

Would look nice on a dual screen monitor!!
 
Looking really good. Maybe try taking closer pictures of the front of the tank and have them overlap. Then use a sticher program and make it a large panoramic.

Would look nice on a dual screen monitor!!



Thanks! I'll try and snap a few good pictures this weekend. I don't know about "stitcher" programs, but I'll try to post up some better quality shots.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I enjoyed all the pictures tank set up is top notch!, thanks for sharing!.. I just ordered a ghost overflow from synergy is it really as quiet as they claim?
 
Double or Nothing... AJ's 405-Gallon Reef Savvy Upgrade

I enjoyed all the pictures tank set up is top notch!, thanks for sharing!.. I just ordered a ghost overflow from synergy is it really as quiet as they claim?



Thanks! It is absolutely silent. You will also really appreciate the slim profile. Congrats on the new overflow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Good evening ReefCentral. It's been about a month since my last update; probably too long...

I ended the last post with the sentence "let's hope my next update is a positive one". While I was doing all I could to stay positive, I fully expected to have some fish losses as a result of the ick. Here we are a month later and I am happy to report that the only losses were the red margin fairy wrasse, who died after the trigger bit its pectoral fin off and was subsequently killed by its tank mates. My wife saw him missing the fun in the morning and called me. I expected to get him out later that evening after work. By the time I got home there was not enough of him left to even pull a carcass from the tank [emoji15]. I also lost the red velvet fairy wrasse who jumped out while I had the canopy open. He could not have been on the floor more than a few minutes while I was in the garage. By the time I found him and put him in the sump, it was too late. He swam around a bit and died within minutes.

As for the ick, I used a combination of a DE filter (Vortex XL with mag drive upgrade) and Poly Lab Medic treatments to tackle it. I wont vouch for either of them as I have no clue which one worked or if the fish just developed immunity to the ick. Nevertheless it's been over a week since I last saw any white spots on any fish or any scratching against the tank floor or rocks. I now have to decide if it is worth adding any more fish and risking another outbreak or just leaving things as-is.

On the coral front, I am sad to report that I have discovered AEFW in the tank. Some eggs must have snuck in. We Bayer dip and check every frag. Oh well... such is life. I have started a regimen of using a maxi-jet 1200 to blow off all of the corals and fortunately the fairy wrasses are consuming all of the flat worms that are blown into the water column. These wrasses learn quick! They now follow the MJ1200 around the tank waiting for the meaty little morsels to manifest. Not sure I will ever eradicate the AEFW, but this is the best option I've got...

I also have what I think is a bryopsis outbreak. There are little patches within several acro and zoanthid colonies. I am strongly considering giving the fluconazole treatment a try. I may order the capsules this coming week. I'll post some progress photos if I do.

I added some macro algae to the refugium. A batch of dragon's breath, some more chaeto and a clump of caulerpa prolifera. They came in earlier this week. The chaeto and prolifera are looking great. The dragons breath, not so much. I have since moved it into the shade a bit as the 300w light may be a little much. I also added some additional dry rock to the refugium.

Finally, I added another larger rock to the middle of the tank. I wasn't loving that one rock structure and feel the addition looks much more natural. I glued several frags to the new rock and am looking forward to seeing it fill in a bit, both with some encrusting from the frags and with coraline.

Thanks for reading now on to the pics:

3808b4dcf6dc1b372ce724e082df2c65.jpg


5187f4acda84340ca5407291c46556a7.jpg


212b6c31acdd6e0e5e551ec0af6bc38c.jpg


630f5b0298f59a5d2c29e3e6b9f391fe.jpg


dc4237517387f29edbb5ecdca122926c.jpg


33ac0b9cf3c946b34ccb90e8cc359d69.jpg


09157ab7a99776331add9fe38ce9e571.jpg


And a few chalice shots. Some are mine while others are being babysat for a friend.

d7433d36fd795acc4b924ae22836c94c.jpg


e53b11a6a86597d0440e3f048319745e.jpg


d0c7a404684017f0751dfc5e73c375d4.jpg


Thanks again!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've been noticing a little more algae than I would like, particularly on the starboard and rear glass. Decided to add 50 more turbo snails. I think I underestimated the surface area of the tank.

dcbc1db0bb9baf11cc651e209109369a.jpg


Within minutes I could see a difference.

64e91ddcaa66d5f16d4e60bae495ab94.jpg


I also cleaned out the refugium today. Should have taken a before picture - the algae growth was unreal. Here is the end result.

f7fac6bcb93fb105fc5f4a7cb3bcb072.jpg


19129bf6273aa774c18592f6210d546c.jpg


And just for fun, here is an actinic shot I caught of the mystery wrasse. Since the addition of the fairy wrasses, his vertical stripes have really popped.

1b5b5cf3be47f2116ca3ef1921fec477.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've been battling algae for the last few weeks. I attribute it primarily to the amount I'm feeding to make sure the triggers get enough nutrition. Today I did what I thought was a deep cleaning and a 75 gallon water change. Sadly the tank looks like I didn't even touch it.

These are picture after the water change and scrubbing:

1d75e3e0e9ab733df568975fe9636798.jpg


006292c53a3d6422d3462f86bc896213.jpg


50faf201e7574ef1a1aaee1c79a4d0e1.jpg


45f69dcd35820309e7e579842417e763.jpg


8fa99126e9e98ead1a5eaaeccddc1fc5.jpg


I think it's a combination of bryopsis, hair algae and this brown stringy algae that seems to be everywhere.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
People have had cyno breakout using vibrant at the same time. I would hold off on the VIbrant if you need to use it until it has run its course.
 
Here are a few photos taken yesterday for algae growth comparison.

0cca890bb5659a64c1ba044e8b45b68c.jpg


22775d9e8201733c1f41e264855aee0e.jpg


d3efaae4e6fef99ce819146263691fd0.jpg


d39e0d5723a9caa0b78ffb599b7b9491.jpg


bf30cf26c6ce852511a30e8354b373b6.jpg


fdc74ffe2d75accc60b3a5479c6f7b6e.jpg


a2d0766c71da2e25133fbc34585bb7e4.jpg


The 50 additional turbo snails have made a difference but barely noticeable. The BRS high-capacity GFO should arrive today.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
How is your tank coming along? New pictures of progress? The algae, which it may have to do with detritus settling and not enough of a "cleaning crew", likely has more to do with the new increased bioload. It takes several weeks, and sometimes months for a new tank to settle even with the same corals, rock, fish, and even better equipment than before. Add to it that using natural seawater does bring a huge amount of life in it that will contribute to the bioload. Give it time/patience and use a powerhead from the to time to blow off the algae.
 
Lastly, increasing the amount of rock you have would be a good thing. I realize you like the clean and minimal look, but rock does magic to your water quality. I would fill that sump with as much rock/rubble as you can fit in it. Just something to consider..........
 
Back
Top