Geezer's Reasonable Reef Build

[reefgeezer]

Changes

Changes

The Plating Monti I started as a test piece is growing rapidly and has pretty good color. After moving them into weaker lighting, the Zoas are now appearing pretty happy. I have a some SPS frags set for delivery as soon as the weather breaks so I've been doing some testing and changing some things.

I have removed the GAC and filter socks from the system and did a 20 gallon water change in an effort to stem the Hole-in-the-Head symptoms being displayed by my Cole Tang. Thanks to the crew here at RC for helping me figure out what was going on. I've also started feeding Algae flakes soaked in Selcon. Damn Tang won't eat sheet algae even when I cut it up and soak it in Selcon, so I have to go with the flakes. I can't say it's helping, but it appears that it hasn't gotten any worse in the past two weeks.

I have reduced the Vinegar & Kalk dosing to 50 ml per day and am feeding heavily. Still, I have 0 nitrate and am seeing some phosphate rise slowly even with GFO. It's still low enough (.006 ppm max) but the trend is rising. Additionally, Alk is dropping an average of .2 dKh per day & calcium is falling slightly with the minor Kalk dosing.

I have a plan...

1. Dose potassium nitrate (stump killer) to increase then maintain nitrate at ~5 ppm. I hope this will allow the carbon dosing process to use a little more phosphate and provide enough nitrate to keep the corals happy.

2. Get rid of my Green Brute ATO storage vessel. Yea... I know... Dumb.
I mixed some ASW with water from this vessel and it showed about .008 ppm phosphate. I also mixed some ASW with fresh RODI water as a control. It showed basically 0 ppm (3ppb on my Hanna). The RODI water had only been in the storage container for a week. It holds about a month's worth of top off water, so the phosphate input could be a bigger issue over time. I've had this vessel for years! I've already bought a gray Brute to replace it.

3. Increase the concentration of Kalk in the vinegar & kalk solution so I can get a little more alk & calcium without adding more vinegar. There is a lot of vinegar in the solution so I can increase the kalk quite a bit.

 

[reefgeezer]

Got the potassium solution mixed. 100 grams of Spectracide Stump Killer in 500 ml of RODI water. Added 12 ml of the solution to the DT. Nitrate tested 2.5 to 5 ppm one hour later. We'll see how it goes.

 

[reefgeezer]

Tests Tonight
Phos .05 ppm... Go figure... Dropped a little bit but could just be testing noise.
Nitrate 2.5 - 5 ppm
Alk 9.9

 

[reefgeezer]

Update

Update

Tests & Observations Last Night

Frags coming today so I though testing might be a good idea.

Nitrate ~2.5 ppm
The color is much closer to the 2.5 than the 5 ppm color of the Salifert test kit. Same goes when looking through the side of the vial and comparing it to the 25 & 50 ppm colors. That tells me nitrates have dropped some from where I originally established them... without carbon dosing.

Phosphate <.01 ppm
I'm seeing some variability in my Hana ULR's results. I think the test vials might be getting scratched or hazy. I did three tests. Two were in the 2 & 3 ppb range but the first one was 97 ppb. This has happened the last couple of times I've tested. Doing three tests to come up with a reading I have confidence in sucks!

Alk 8.8 dKh

I'm not carbon dosing or adding any calcium/alk supplements right now. Nitrate & phosphates seem to be holding steady without carbon dosing and I want to get alk down to around 8.

I have noticed a slight increase in algae on the glass and a very slight green haze on the white rocks since increasing the nitrate levels. I imagine that where my nitrates/phosphate have gone. Right now, I'm not even running GFO.

Ca & Mg ok also

I finally got the Tang to eat some algae flakes. Soaking until absolutely soft in water & Selcon was required. He won't eat it if I just soak in Selcon. The Hole in the Head doesn't seem to be getting worse since I removed the GAC. Hopefully, I can get him to eat more algae and help him improve.

Oh yea... I had a minor disaster. While returning my skimmer back to the sump after cleaning, I bumped the side and partially broke a seam in the sump. It's a DIY sump and I obviously had not bonded that seam well. Long story short, I lost a couple of gallons of water that I soaked up quickly with a crap load of towels. Now I have a clean, repaired, and improved sump. I added a lip at the corners to ensure they wouldn't separate in the future. The tank ran without the sump for about 36 hours with no ill effects except a 3 degree temperature drop. I guess it was better that I broke it rather than have the seam break while I wasn't home.

 

[Reef noob_]

More pics please!


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[reefgeezer]

Pictures

Pictures

So I got the first batch of Frags mounted.

 

[reefgeezer]

More Pics

More Pics

Test Monti

 

[reefgeezer]

Couple More

Couple More

 

[reefgeezer]

Tang Face

Tang Face

Looking better but still rough.

 

[reefgeezer]

My kalk & vinegar plan failed. Even with the high pH, a bacterial bloom happened in the storage jug. No big problem as I was watching to see what happened. I've been running with no vinegar or kalk for a while now. I've even removed the GFO reactor. Nitrate & phosphates are ok but I've been feeding a little less.

I also figured out what was causing the variability in my Hanna Checker... the lid wasn't always closing completely.

I had to add 5 ml of the potassium nitrate solution to get nitrate back up to 2.5 to 5 ppm. Phosphate is testing at .04 ppm. Today I installed a BRS 1.1 ml dosing pump to add a little vinegar so I can feed heavier and add some more fish. It's only running about 5ml/day right now so really not doing much. I like the idea of having the capability. My plan is to add nitrate as needed so that phosphate can be maintained at low levels without using GFO, ATS, or etc.

Alk is 8.6 dKh. I have the Litremeter III set up for Ca, Alk, & Mg once the alk falls to around 8.0. It's falling about .6 per week so I'll start pretty soon.

 

[reefgeezer]

Testing Today

Testing Today

After 5 gallon water change...

Alk - 8.6
Nitrate 2.5
Phosphate .03-.04 ppm

It appears that all the work I did on the rock in the initial set-up is paying off. Phosphate seems pretty easy to keep in check now. I had questioned the green Brute I'm using as an ATO storage vessel. Since I've figured out how to get reliable readings out of my Hanna Checker, I now believe it is fine.

It seems like my alk has stabilized some. I'm using Fritz salt that tests about 8.6 dKh at 35 ppt. The two differences in the system are the removal of GFO and a lack of appreciable algae/bacterial blooms.

 

[reefgeezer]

Update

Update

Turned off the dosing pump that was supplying only 5ml/day of vinegar. Nitrate dropped to 0 in one day and the water started to cloud. I guess I'll rinse the dosing pump and wait until I need it. I'll add potassium nitrate solution to put nitrates back to 2.5-5 ppm.

I lost a couple of the frags I added. The Lime in the Sky frag bleached from the base. I saved a small frag of it. Another never recovered from arriving in a dry bag. The rest are doing just ok. They aren't losing the color they arrived with, but they're definitely not as colorful as I expected and aren't encrusting further on their plugs. None have yet to show any polyp extension. I suppose it takes time but waiting sucks!

New plan... Feed more & add more fish. :mixed:

I can't add wimpy fish. The current occupants are just too aggressive. I'd like them to be larger "show" fish. Maybe two or three in all. Angelfish, Tangs, Triggerfish, and bigger Wrasses come to mind as possibilities. Anybody got any suggestions?

 

[reefgeezer]

Tests

Tests

Last night...

Phos: .08 (After heavy feeding of flake food)
Nitrate: Well less than 2.5 ppm
Alk: 8.0

I also noticed that some of the new frags are starting to show signs of life... minor polyp extension and slightly better color. The little Lime in the Sky frag I saved isn't bleaching/RTN'ing. I added 5ml more of potassium nitrate.

So now Alk is where I want it, I have to decide how to approach dosing... again. Alk is dropping at least .125 dKh per day. The reef tank calculator says ~71ml of Randy's Recipe 1 Alk Solution will raise the alk in my 100 gallon system 1 dKh. I think I'll set up the dosing pump I was planning to use for vinegar to dose like 10 ml/day of Alk and see what that does over a couple of weeks. I'll dose Ca/Mg manually until I get the Alk dose right.

 

[reefgeezer]

2-5-18 Update

2-5-18 Update

Added a small to medium Yellow Tang... yea, I know... Grandkids' choice. They were looking for Dory but couldn't find her! Did a 5 gallon water change in the process of acclimating the Tang. I hope the Cole and the Yellow Tang get along. I was hesitant. They showed a little aggression but nothing too worrisome so far.

Corals are looking better. I'm seeing some polyp extension where I expect it and some growth on the frag plugs. The corals that have been in the tank a while are really doing well. Zoas are starting to spread.

Alk 8.0
Nitrate 2.5 PPM
I'm out of phosphate reagent. Waiting on a delivery.

 

[reefgeezer]

Observations

Observations

Looks like the Tangs have decided to get along. They're happily grazing on the same rock. One another happy note, the coral frags are encrusting... Slowly though.

Tests tonight: Nitrate 2.5 to 5 ppm; Phos .027 ppm. I got new test tubes for the Hanna Checker because I was getting some funky readings. The new tubes solved my issues. Test repeated within 3 ppb.

That said, I 'm not sure where the phosphate sink is. I'm not doing anything to export or bind it, there's no algae to speak of, and I'm feeding lots of stuff including flake food. Maybe binding in the rock.

 

[reefgeezer]

New Fish

New Fish

Thought I'd post a pic of the new addition. I'm still trying to drive up nutrient levels. I thought a big Yellow Tang might do the trick.

Tests 2-11: Nitrate 2.5 ppm, Phos 0. I've also increase feeding. I stopped carbon dosing quite a while back. I'm am starting to see a little sheet algae and a couple spots of Cyano.

 

[Reef noob_]

Wow you sure like testing.... you're driving up nutrient levels to avoid burning coral correct?


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[reefgeezer]

Wow you sure like testing.... you’re driving up nutrient levels to avoid burning coral correct?

Yea... there are a lot of reasons I've been testing so much. For me, testing is required until a tank is mature and very stable. Mine is neither. I have been in the process of determining how the tank runs the best, i.e. carbon dosing or not, GAC and/or GFO or not, filter socks or not, and etc.. I have figured out that, for now, the tank runs the best without carbon dosing, GAC, GFO, or filter socks. It's now a simple Berlin Type System: bare bottom; rock; and a skimmer.

I have set targets for nitrate (~5 ppm) & phosphate (~.03) levels. Obviously at first, the levels were high. Now they are low, but getting close to where I want them. The tweaks I need to make now are small... a couple more fish & some additional feeding should do. I test a lot to make sure I see as soon a possible if I'm overdoing it.

Some of the early phosphate testing was me trying to get a handle on using the Hanna ULR. Testing errors like not getting the lid closed and using dirty tubes made me make some poor decisions early on. This led to even more testing.

I don't think low nutrients in and of themselves "burn" corals. Some report burning tips when nutrients are super low and alkalinity is greater than about 8dKh, but only when carbon dosing. I'm not carbon dosing, and my alkalinity is around 8 dKh, so I'm not too worried. I chose my target levels because I think they are optimal for growth & color in an SPS tank.

 

[reefgeezer]

Testing today...

Alk. 8.5 dKh
Nitrate 2.5 ppm
Phos .03 ppm
Calcium 380 ppm
Magnesium 1500 ppm

Haven't had to add nitrate or carbon dose for a while. Everything looks ok. The little bit of sheet algae that grows on the glass seems to keep phosphate in check... I guess.

 

[tonyespinoza]

Following... would love an update w/pics of course!