drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[cromedogg33]

Interesting, I'm on the verge of adding my pellets back. I'm not really seeing any nitrates as of right now due to the water changes I'm doing with the new water changing station

Is there a reason you switched from the WM to the TLF pellets, or just a "might as well try a different brand?"

 

[drummereef]

I had to go back and look
per the TLF instructions on the back: 100ml per 100L (or 100ml per 25g)
so 80% of what the standard indicate, or 400ml/100g

OK great. I mistakenly threw away the bag (whoops!) but now that you said that I vaguely remember those amounts. Thanks for checking on that for me. I'll probably add another 200ml then and see where I stand in a week or two. So that would be 600ml in a 220g system. Still probably slightly on the low side of 75% but I don't have the bio load your system has at this point.

Interesting, I'm on the verge of adding my pellets back. I'm not really seeing any nitrates as of right now due to the water changes I'm doing with the new water changing station

Is there a reason you switched from the WM to the TLF pellets, or just a "might as well try a different brand?"

It was more of a "might as well try" kind of thing. The WM pellets seemed to work back when I was using them but they never clumped or seemed to shed any bacteria. That made me always wonder if it was the pellets keeping my NO3 at 000 or my weekly water changes. I suspect it was the combination since the NO3 jumped to 20ppm when I stopped doing water changes for a couple months and took the pellets offline. I saw a bunch of people have really solid results with the TLF's brand pellets and they are smaller in size and seemed to be a different polymer - which may or may not effect efficiency, I don't know... I do know the last time the TLF pellets were clumping I took a spare piece of RO tubing to break them up and you wouldn't believe the amount of bacteria that was growing in the reactor! That never was the case with the WM pellets. Again, not that it would matter as long as your test results are checking out but I thought it was something new and noteworthy.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


So I added a cup of ROX 0.8 carbon in a media bag to the sump last night. The display water seemed a little "hazy" like there was just an excess or organics in the water or something. Shortly after, two of my Tri-Color Acro frags decided to do what you see in the pic. Any ideas what they are doing? I thought it might be a feeding response but not sure...

On a side note... About an hour after adding the carbon the display water was crystal clear. So it seemed to address the clarity issue fairly quick.

 

[psteeleb]

those look like mesenterial filaments, by definition they come out as a feeding response but are alos know as a defensive move. They basically externally ingest what they catch or touch. They extend them to feed but also to fend off corals getting too close or when they feel otherwise threatened. Based on the chain of events you may have gotten some residual ROX dust on them.

 

[psteeleb]

from NOAA - and you will note Mesenterial filiments are not sweeper tentacles although a lot of people jump to that conclusion.

Aggressive Methods

To survive and thrive in a space-limited environment, some corals have developed several specialized mechanisms for direct interaction for self-preservation and competition with other corals and other organisms for space in an ecosystem. The most common aggressive mechanisms include sweeper tentacles (detect and damage adjacent coral colonies), mesenterial filaments (enabling external digestion of neighboring colonies), and terpenoid compounds (coral chemical warfare). [d] These methods are not necessarily mutually exclusive as some species of corals employ each of these mechanisms in concert to prevent losing their space on the reef. [e] It has been estimated that, on the reef, between 22 and 38 percent of all coral colonies are engaged in battle or are within range to engage. [f]

Sweeper Tentacles

Sweeper tentacles are the most common defense mechanisms in the hard corals, and also occur in some soft corals. Specialized stinging cells called nematocysts are present in these tentacles and can attack a competing coral and literally burn it to the point of either killing it or severely damaging it. The length of these sweeper tentacles is not correlated to the length of the normal coral polyp and may, in fact, be many times longer. [e] Sweeper tentacles are also utilized by some species to detect adjacent coral colonies that are encroaching on it.

Mesenterial Filaments

In addition to sweeper tentacles, several hard coral species can produce mesenterial filaments from their stomachs (corals of the genera Favia, Favites, Scolymia, Pavona, and Cynarina all have this capacity). [g] These filaments can kill or devour other coral polyps through a process similar to digestion. Some corals even have the capacity to produce both sweeper tentacles and mesenterial filaments, enabling them to fight a battle on several fronts. [e]

 

[drummereef]

Very interesting information Pete, thank you. I agree, probably the mesenterial filiments from the carbon dust. Strange my Tri-Colors were the only corals showing this response though. Maybe they are just more sensitive than the other corals when something like this happens...?

 

[drummereef]

So I added a couple filter socks to the sump last night and they are making my skimmer go nutso and overflow. I washed the socks in hot water with some vinegar and made sure they were dry before using them. I thought it would have settled down by now but 12 hours later it's still foaming and overflowing. I opened the drain plug and connected some tubing to drain back into the sump overnight just in case... didn't want any floods. Any ideas why it's taking so long for them to break the skimmer in?

If it doesn't stop by tonight when I get home I'm going to take the skimmer pump apart and make sure nothing weird is going on with it.

 

[110galreef]

Filter Socks are notorious for making skimmers go nuts. Most will sock in RO water overnight before adding. I typically just rinse w/ water & let drip dry for an hr before adding. I don't seem to have any more issues. The issues seem worse too when the sock are newer.

Your skimmer should be fine by now, but if not just clean it up and you will be fine.

 

[dekand]

Every time I put a brand new filter sock on my skimmer goes bananas... I've yet to try any of the pre-rinsing/soaking methods, but you're not alone in that...

 

[reeftanknewbie]

never had a problem with filter socks but I also bleach them in the washing machine then air dry them.

 

[drummereef]

Filter Socks are notorious for making skimmers go nuts. Most will sock in RO water overnight before adding. I typically just rinse w/ water & let drip dry for an hr before adding. I don't seem to have any more issues. The issues seem worse too when the sock are newer.

Your skimmer should be fine by now, but if not just clean it up and you will be fine.

Good to know, thanks 110g. I picked up a couple of 4" felt socks at the LFS on Sunday, which are the ones giving me the bubble trouble, but have a couple more mesh on the way from BRS. I'm pretty sure these are BRS too since my LFS stocks some bulk items from them like socks and GFO etc... The 4" slip onto my 1.5" bulkheads perfectly but I've got an idea on how to secure the 7" if they don't want to stay put. I'll update when they get here...

Every time I put a brand new filter sock on my skimmer goes bananas... I've yet to try any of the pre-rinsing/soaking methods, but you're not alone in that...

Thanks dekand.

never had a problem with filter socks but I also bleach them in the washing machine then air dry them.

OK thanks reeftanknewbie. This time around I just used vinegar to wash them but might look into the bleach method next time. I've seen a lot of people use H202 as well, which they claim has even more of a disinfectant that bleach when washing them - and perhaps slightly safer in the long run.

 

[drummereef]

UPDATE:


Now that the skimmer has stopped overflowing I plugged the drain back up and it's kicking some serious soap bubbles. :lol: Here's a pic of the bubble madness. :spin2:

As I said earlier I picked up a couple 4" socks at the LFS this weekend. The small tab inside the plastic ring seats perfectly against the threaded end of the two bulkheads in the sump, so they almost "clip" into place. I have a couple 4" and 7" mesh socks on the way but these two were a trial run to see how difficult mounting them would be. I'll have to play with the 7" socks a bit to get them to work but I'll update when they come in.

Here you can see how nicely the 4" socks lock right onto the threaded end of the bulkhead. I also got a new TLF Micro Valve for my Kalk drip which you can see in the foreground of the pic.

Here's the two socks installed.

I also added a 4x8" mini mesh sock to the skimmer to cut down on the excess bubbles. So far it's working perfectly. Absolutely no bubbles in the drain or skimmer section. I just seated it right on the output TEE.

Whole left side of the sump.

I've also been running some BRS GFO alongside the TLF Bioplastics. Since I added the second round of pellets I'm running approximately 600ml in the reactor. The bubbles in the pic are some stray foam that left the skimmer when I took the tubing off the drain and plugged it back up. Normally the return section is free of bubbles. Notice my "high tech" probe holder (still working on that). :lol:

 

[psteeleb]

hey - hi tech or not - it works

 

[drummereef]

hey - hi tech or not - it works

Indeed!

 

[aquaph8]

As always, nice job keeping everything nice and clean looking.

 

[drummereef]

As always, nice job keeping everything nice and clean looking.

Thank you Brett.

 

[crvz]

which skimmer is that again, brett? And I agree, everything always looks really clean. too clean.

 

[Taqpol]

That probe holder is brilliant, its always at the right height! I just might steal that idea for my own tank.

 

[drummereef]

which skimmer is that again, brett? And I agree, everything always looks really clean. too clean.

That's the magic of photography. :lol: The skimmer is an MSX 250A. Marine Solutions (MSX) was the domestic retailer of SWC skimmers so it's basically an Askoll 1500 with SWC volute using an MSX pinwheel impeller. Probably nothing you didn't know already, but these skimmers were almost exactly the same as the older Octo Extremes from a year or two ago.

That probe holder is brilliant, its always at the right height! I just might steal that idea for my own tank.

Thanks Alex. I just wedged it in between my bubble trap and it's stayed put since. Kinda wish it was a different color, pink doesn't exactly go with my color scheme... :lol:

 

[iwishtofish]

Thanks for the great idea of the mesh sock over the skimmer output. I'll be ordering one! Perhaps I'll put one at the bottom of the drain pipe as well, as it seems like they'd be easier to clean than the felt socks.