drummereef's 180g in-wall build

[sirreal63]

Brett, I got my Marco in 2007, 50#'s and all have been through at least 3 acid baths, and some pieces have been through 4. After 6 years and all of those acid baths, it is finally doing what real live rock did after curing, it is processing nitrates. I don't want to suggest you try and give it a good acid bath but if I ever start over, it will be with good quality live rock. I have nothing against dry rock, but after having used both live and dry, there is just no substitute for good live rock. I have never had an algae issue other than Valonia and I do believe in the acid baths for removing the outer layers of the rock and whatever may have adhered to it. I did seed my Marco with some live, but if I had to do it all over, it would be with 100% live and I would probably go with TBS.

I wish you luck and if I were still close, I would gladly come help.

 

[drummereef]

In for the long haul, not going anywhere

:thumbsup:

Brett, are you still using the bio pellets, if so I would change to another form of carbon dosing, one that you can control the amount of carbon source in the system,...
I have a friend that had for the longest time had the same problem, and completely by luck he removed the pellet reactor to clean the pump, the pump fell and died, so he ordered an pump, in the meantime he started using vinegar, instead of bio pellets...very low quantities to start...one week later all of the dynos , briopsis, and cyano was almost gone. One month later it was all gone, and i mean gone...His theory was that they were all feeding on the extra carbon available from the pellets...

Last I spoke to him he uses vinegar 15 ml daily, and zeo bak weekly.no more problems. Just saying. Good luck!!!
Love the attention to little details....:thumbsup:

Thanks for the info. I haven't used bio pellets for close to a year or more - I'd have to look back. My tank never produced "testable" NO3 so I took them offline after fabricating the recirculating reactor. This started well before I started using bio pellets but I'm not discounting the Dino issue might have been exacerbated using the pellets - hard to pinpoint in my case. I appreciate the feedback though.

I got mine through local fish store owner friend of mine. he got me 150 lbs. premium fiji live rock ,that's a total 3 boxes 50 pounds ea. the boxes were label with walter smith label or something like that. Im pretty sure you can find good deals on live rock through the internet or maybe a local fish store you can trust. good luck

Excellent, thanks!

Good luck Brett. I know all about the hair algae, all to well. Are tanks were started around the same time with the same rock. Financially starting over is not an option for me so I'm toughing it out. I scrubbed a ton of rock and am keeping up on my water changes. Went back to dosing MB7. Every thing is looking decent right now, even kept a birdsnest for a couple weeks now. Don't give up your tank has always given me and many others hope. Keep us updates.

I hear you man. There just has to be layers of junk buried in this rock that (in my case) should have been dealt with up front. But alas, live and learn right...? What's funny is, I dosed Lanthanum Chloride on the BRS Pukani and haven't had any Dinos or really any undesirable algaes in the refugium at all. A little cyano but that's about it. I dosed Lanthanum in the display for a short period with no positive results. Sirreal's suggestion is spot on with dealing with this stuff, otherwise you end up dealing with it later unfortunately.

Brett, I got my Marco in 2007, 50#'s and all have been through at least 3 acid baths, and some pieces have been through 4. After 6 years and all of those acid baths, it is finally doing what real live rock did after curing, it is processing nitrates. I don't want to suggest you try and give it a good acid bath but if I ever start over, it will be with good quality live rock. I have nothing against dry rock, but after having used both live and dry, there is just no substitute for good live rock. I have never had an algae issue other than Valonia and I do believe in the acid baths for removing the outer layers of the rock and whatever may have adhered to it. I did seed my Marco with some live, but if I had to do it all over, it would be with 100% live and I would probably go with TBS.

I wish you luck and if I were still close, I would gladly come help.

Wow Jack, incredible. That seals the deal for me. Round 2 will be live rock in the display for sure. Why TBS versus the Fiji from Premium Aquatics? Jeremy said the Fiji they are getting in is the "real" stuff like we had back in the 90's. Not sure, just asking...

 

[sirreal63]

I would go with TBS only because I haven't seen any good live rock like we used to see frequently. The last decent stuff I found came from Chad at Gateway but I bought it uncured the day it came in and cured it myself (he brought in a lot at one time). If Jeremy is pleased with what they are getting it would be worth looking at. I like the TBS because it is as close to fresh as possible, even though the hitch hikers have to be removed, what you get is really alive and hasn't sat in the sun or stagnant buckets for days waiting to be trans shipped.

I don't plan on replacing my Marco any time soon, but if I did it would be with something nice, even if I had to cure it myself. My Marco is very encrusted with sponges and loaded with micro stars and lots of worms and pods, it would be silly to replace it now. The numerous acid baths has made it very light, which is good and probably why I have a hard time keeping my nitrates at my preferred 5, most of the time it doesn't react with Salifert testing. With TBS there is very minimal die off, even though the rock is dense it is also worth it for the life it contains.

 

[biecacka]

Yeah in order to attempt to avoid GHA I bleached then acid dipped my rock this time around for my new build. I. Really sorry to hear about your problems man but great reefers pull through and you are one

Corey

 

[drummereef]

I would go with TBS only because I haven't seen any good live rock like we used to see frequently. The last decent stuff I found came from Chad at Gateway but I bought it uncured the day it came in and cured it myself (he brought in a lot at one time). If Jeremy is pleased with what they are getting it would be worth looking at. I like the TBS because it is as close to fresh as possible, even though the hitch hikers have to be removed, what you get is really alive and hasn't sat in the sun or stagnant buckets for days waiting to be trans shipped.

I don't plan on replacing my Marco any time soon, but if I did it would be with something nice, even if I had to cure it myself. My Marco is very encrusted with sponges and loaded with micro stars and lots of worms and pods, it would be silly to replace it now. The numerous acid baths has made it very light, which is good and probably why I have a hard time keeping my nitrates at my preferred 5, most of the time it doesn't react with Salifert testing. With TBS there is very minimal die off, even though the rock is dense it is also worth it for the life it contains.

Thanks for the the advice Jack, much appreciated.

Yeah in order to attempt to avoid GHA I bleached then acid dipped my rock this time around for my new build. I. Really sorry to hear about your problems man but great reefers pull through and you are one

Corey

Indeed. What's crazy is I never had any GHA in my tank, not a speck. It was always a filamentous brown algae and/or Dinoflagellates. Believe me, I would have welcomed GHA over the junk I ended up with. :facepalm: LOL

 

[canyousee]

That's some kind of living hell when you would welcome GHA. Bret it really is a shame you got such foul dry rock,the time and effort you have put in to this build should have resulted in a show tank. Please stay up beat I know you will beat this.

 

[biggles]

Damn i'm sorry to see the ongoing problems have gotten to this point mate. I've never used anything but high quality live rock and it has always taken care of my nitrates rather than requiring other filtration media.
I know it's a pain to swap the rock out but i'm sure you'll never look back and just think how much more joy you'll get from the tank when it isn't such a battle, best decision all round i think :thumbsup:

 

[drummereef]

That's some kind of living hell when you would welcome GHA. Bret it really is a shame you got such foul dry rock,the time and effort you have put in to this build should have resulted in a show tank. Please stay up beat I know you will beat this.

Damn i'm sorry to see the ongoing problems have gotten to this point mate. I've never used anything but high quality live rock and it has always taken care of my nitrates rather than requiring other filtration media.
I know it's a pain to swap the rock out but i'm sure you'll never look back and just think how much more joy you'll get from the tank when it isn't such a battle, best decision all round i think :thumbsup:

Thanks guys.

 

[iced98lx]

So Brett, have you contemplated what sort of rock you are going to get?


.... inquiring minds want to know!

 

[iwishtofish]

I am eager to see the changing of the rock! Maybe you can find some genuine live rock that has the good surface area of the MR Key Largo. I've always had a relatively small amount of Key Largo in my tanks, and I think its filtration properties are impressive.

 

[Krazie4Acans]

:hammer: :hammer: :hammer: Brett. :hammer: :hammer: :hammer: Brett. :hammer: :hammer: :hammer: Brett. Awfully quiet quite on this thread :sad1:

 

[Tikidude]

This was an amazing thread to follow and I'm still following. The downturn on this tank is something that could effect so many and to see how one person resolves it will be beneficial to many.

As a newbie that is looking at setting up a tank soon, there is a wealth of info here.

Thanks!

- Dale

 

[prop-frags]

Along with everyone else, we're awaiting the decision, here Brett!
Personally, we've used dry rock with success, using a very long curing process. But we also use live rock, and actually welcome the hitchhikers... honestly, what's a few pests compared to the beneficial fauna that come with the deal? I sometimes think that the "sterility" mindset can be bad, just got to keep perspective that the ocean is full of all kinds of life and a healthy reef needs diversity to thrive.

 

[Bdial]

:hammer: :hammer: :hammer: Brett. :hammer: :hammer: :hammer: Brett. :hammer: :hammer: :hammer: Brett. Awfully quiet quite on this thread :sad1:

Hahaha! Awesome.

Brett. What's up?

 

[whiteshark]

Along with everyone else, we're awaiting the decision, here Brett!
Personally, we've used dry rock with success, using a very long curing process. But we also use live rock, and actually welcome the hitchhikers... honestly, what's a few pests compared to the beneficial fauna that come with the deal? I sometimes think that the "sterility" mindset can be bad, just got to keep perspective that the ocean is full of all kinds of life and a healthy reef needs diversity to thrive.

I was on the sterility bandwagon for a while but I think I'm shifting back to this way of thinking.

 

[Mudbeaver]

Along with everyone else, we're awaiting the decision, here Brett!
Personally, we've used dry rock with success, using a very long curing process. But we also use live rock, and actually welcome the hitchhikers... honestly, what's a few pests compared to the beneficial fauna that come with the deal? I sometimes think that the "sterility" mindset can be bad, just got to keep perspective that the ocean is full of all kinds of life and a healthy reef needs diversity to thrive.

I was on the sterility bandwagon for a while but I think I'm shifting back to this way of thinking.

Permit me, i'm all for the natural development, but you can't compare nature to are small , stuff up tank where everything can go wrong in a second. I rather put something in it than deal with something that i have no control or that has no business in my tank, if you have any doubts, take a look at this guys nightmare tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6zPhelI1Q&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFcnDWV9CBKyfdSf3h-ehY_J&index=2

You want to deal with that every time you put a new thing in your tank?

 

[whiteshark]

Permit me, i'm all for the natural development, but you can't compare nature to are small , stuff up tank where everything can go wrong in a second. I rather put something in it than deal with something that i have no control or that has no business in my tank, if you have any doubts, take a look at this guys nightmare tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6zPhelI1Q&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFcnDWV9CBKyfdSf3h-ehY_J&index=2

You want to deal with that every time you put a new thing in your tank?

Fully agree and understood which is why I used to/still think that way to some extent. I just think that the potential for disaster is outweighed by the good that LR can do for a tank. As long as you get the rock from a trusted source it should be OK.

In any case, I'm still kinda on the fence with this issue.

 

[Krazie4Acans]

:hammer::hammer::hammer: Brett. :hammer::hammer::hammer: Brett. :hammer::hammer::hammer: Brett. Awfully quiet quite on this thread. Someone needs to drive over there and see if he's still breathing.

Good or bad updates are a good thing!:bounce3:

LOL apparently only 10 emoticons can be used in each message. I had to remove a couple. lolz

 

[d2mini]

Permit me, i'm all for the natural development, but you can't compare nature to are small , stuff up tank where everything can go wrong in a second. I rather put something in it than deal with something that i have no control or that has no business in my tank, if you have any doubts, take a look at this guys nightmare tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6zPhelI1Q&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFcnDWV9CBKyfdSf3h-ehY_J&index=2

You want to deal with that every time you put a new thing in your tank?

Please stop. Every time someone is talking about using quality live rock we have to hear about how your new tank will only have dry rock and live rock is evil. Let it go. And that video you posted... there is more wrong with that tank than just aiptasia. You have no clue where the rock came from, what his husbandry is like, how he introduces new things into the tank, and the guy can't even change the battery in his smoke alarm for pete's sake. :facepalm:


Meanwhile.... i agree with the others... Brett, we need an update!!! :thumbsup:

 

[fishcatdog66]

the guy can't even change the battery in his smoke alarm for pete's sake.

When I watched that video I thought it was my smoke alarm for a second lol!