High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

I can't remember how much I went into my ATO creating a mishap. A BTA parked it's carcass on the float valve thus emptying the reservoir, probably 8 gallons of freshwater. I felt fortunate that my only casualties were featherdusters but I took the ATO offline until I could think of a way to prevent another scary episode.

Today I decided on a course of action. After I cleaned the sump and did my water change, I reset up the ATO but only in a 1 gallon container. I also covered the sump tank (to slow evaporation) as best I could with plumbing coming and out of it. The display tank is already covered which has slowed evaporation greatly. If that container is adequate for 5 or so days, I will consider this an acceptable solution. One gallon of water dumped into my 80 gallon system is no big deal, should a mishap take place. I am anxious to see how this works.
 
griss said:
Sounds like a plan Dawn.
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Thanks griss. Today I checked on the sump and the ATO seems to be working well. If it continues to work well, I will plan to have custom made glass tops made for the sump to accommodate the drain plumbing and the return pump plumbing. That should slow evaporation even more.
 
Sorry for not replying sooner, but I saw your narrated video because I subscribe to your YT channel, but I was away from the PC for a long time, busy vacationing in Florida for the past couple weeks and didn't get to respond. My thoughts about your narrated video are...

...you should do more of them. Great job! And, your voice sounds just fine to everyone watching. I can hear your Pittsburgh accent too. Reminds me of the fun times that I spent with my Alliquippa friends ;)

I feel like I learned more about your tank watching that video than since you've started the thread. I guess the narrated visual tour sticks in my brain and my reading comprehension must be pretty poor, because now I can remember the names of your fish and what species they represent! And, I just love your tank, your video (and past ones) clearly show how well scaped it is. It's very appealing.

Sorry about your ATO and anemone issues, but it sounds like you have a solution.

I can't stand my own voice either! 🤮
 
Chasmodes said:
Sorry for not replying sooner, but I saw your narrated video because I subscribe to your YT channel, but I was away from the PC for a long time, busy vacationing in Florida for the past couple weeks and didn't get to respond. My thoughts about your narrated video are...

...you should do more of them. Great job! And, your voice sounds just fine to everyone watching. I can hear your Pittsburgh accent too. Reminds me of the fun times that I spent with my Alliquippa friends ;)

I feel like I learned more about your tank watching that video than since you've started the thread. I guess the narrated visual tour sticks in my brain and my reading comprehension must be pretty poor, because now I can remember the names of your fish and what species they represent! And, I just love your tank, your video (and past ones) clearly show how well scaped it is. It's very appealing.

Sorry about your ATO and anemone issues, but it sounds like you have a solution.

I can't stand my own voice either! 🤮
Click to expand...
How kind of you, Kevin. I still feel like I stumble for words, especially the names of coral but maybe as I make an occasional video that will become more natural.

And I felt the same way about your videos; in that I remembered details about your fish and the tank more from watching the narrated videos than reading the posts. Perhaps it's the strong visual impact of seeing it simultaneously while hearing the description that makes a bigger imprint in our minds.

Yes, I would have told you that I have no accent at all, but I have been told by folks from other areas of the country that my Pittsburgh accent is rather prominent!

Friends of ours just came back from a FL vacation and said the weather was great and it was lovely. I hope you had the same experience.
 
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It's all good. The video isn't a science project, it's about your passion and art. If people really want to know the names, then they can wait until your future videos or look them up on the internet. I struggle ID'ing my macro species, but heck, I'm just happy that they grow! I can tell you that if you want to make a more in depth video, you can use queue cards or make a script, but for simple updates, just winging it is fine. I think that sometimes the spontaneous narrative makes you more personable to the viewer.

Many years ago, I spent two summers with relatives in Colorado while I played baseball out there. I never thought that I had an accent either, but many folks and friends out there constantly made fun of how I pronounced some words. I never realized it before. I guess you can say that I have a mix of B'more and Southern Maryland accents LOL.

Yes, the weather was great down there for the most part. We stayed in Sarasota, and visited Venice and Caspersen Beaches looking for sharks teeth primarily, and also, if I would have had clear and calm water, I would have been on the lookout for blennies and other fish. The gulf was rough, and the onshore winds were stronger than normal, so I didn't get to see any fish while on the beaches...except for dead ones. They had a red tide problem that got worse as time went on. We spent two days on the beach, and found some dead fish, including a huge goliath grouper that had to be almost five feet long. We found some fossils, but they were beat up and not in great shape. Apparently, the fossil collecting is much better when the water is calm, and the red tide gets pushed out to sea with calm currents and east winds coming from shore. I never realized how bad the red tide can be before. I always saw in on TV or the internet in the most extreme blooms, but even toxins released by these organisms during light to moderate blooms can kill fish and affect people's health. On my last planned day to the beach, I couldn't even go near it, as the toxins in the air filled my lungs, causing a burning sensation and obvious coughing. Even on the days early in the trip on the beach, I had to cough a few times, but not nearly as bad. The other thing that is bad about the red tide for beachgoers is the dead fish smell.

I did get invited to fish with a friend of mine and a couple of his buddies one day, and caught some nice fish, including a bucket list fish for me, snook. It was by chance that my buddy was down there, and the invite to fish came out of the blue. My wife and daughter when shopping that day.

Two other pleasures were visits to the Mote Aquarium and Sarasota, and the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. I shot some pics and video footage, and plan to put together a YT video of those experiences. I highly recommend people visit them, as their exhibits were fantastic.
 
Chasmodes said:
It's all good. The video isn't a science project, it's about your passion and art. If people really want to know the names, then they can wait until your future videos or look them up on the internet. I struggle ID'ing my macro species, but heck, I'm just happy that they grow! I can tell you that if you want to make a more in depth video, you can use queue cards or make a script, but for simple updates, just winging it is fine. I think that sometimes the spontaneous narrative makes you more personable to the viewer.

Many years ago, I spent two summers with relatives in Colorado while I played baseball out there. I never thought that I had an accent either, but many folks and friends out there constantly made fun of how I pronounced some words. I never realized it before. I guess you can say that I have a mix of B'more and Southern Maryland accents LOL.

Yes, the weather was great down there for the most part. We stayed in Sarasota, and visited Venice and Caspersen Beaches looking for sharks teeth primarily, and also, if I would have had clear and calm water, I would have been on the lookout for blennies and other fish. The gulf was rough, and the onshore winds were stronger than normal, so I didn't get to see any fish while on the beaches...except for dead ones. They had a red tide problem that got worse as time went on. We spent two days on the beach, and found some dead fish, including a huge goliath grouper that had to be almost five feet long. We found some fossils, but they were beat up and not in great shape. Apparently, the fossil collecting is much better when the water is calm, and the red tide gets pushed out to sea with calm currents and east winds coming from shore. I never realized how bad the red tide can be before. I always saw in on TV or the internet in the most extreme blooms, but even toxins released by these organisms during light to moderate blooms can kill fish and affect people's health. On my last planned day to the beach, I couldn't even go near it, as the toxins in the air filled my lungs, causing a burning sensation and obvious coughing. Even on the days early in the trip on the beach, I had to cough a few times, but not nearly as bad. The other thing that is bad about the red tide for beachgoers is the dead fish smell.

I did get invited to fish with a friend of mine and a couple of his buddies one day, and caught some nice fish, including a bucket list fish for me, snook. It was by chance that my buddy was down there, and the invite to fish came out of the blue. My wife and daughter when shopping that day.

Two other pleasures were visits to the Mote Aquarium and Sarasota, and the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. I shot some pics and video footage, and plan to put together a YT video of those experiences. I highly recommend people visit them, as their exhibits were fantastic.
Click to expand...
I never thought of cue cards when making a video but that is a great idea!

Like you, I did not know that the red tide was so bad, even before it gets severe. That is terrible! How disappointing for beach goers during those events. Also it's sad about the wildlife deaths.

My husband and I visited the keys on a 25th wedding anniversary motorcycle adventure. That was a few years ago,🤣and I snorkeled at Penchamp reef. It was gorgeous and thriving then but I understand that a lot of it has since died. That is very very sad. I am glad that I saw it then.
 
With my macroalgae growing so well along with the green polyps and purple photosynthetic sponge popping up different places, I used today as a time to reclaim some areas for the marine life that I want to grow there. That means using tweezers to eradicate and then just plain doing some old fashioned weeding. I got lax the last few weeks at doing a good job on the glass so started that process too. Tomorrow I will finish what I started.
 
Today I ran my gyre and Tunze powerhead in a bleach/water bath to clean the algae off of them. The gyre especially is moving a lot more water now. I also finished the glass although I could still do even a better job but will probably settle for 'good enough'! LOL
I did a water change and also used a brush on rockwork to clean debris and detritus off of it. Tomorrow I should test my nitrates and phosphates just to make sure that they are not being depleted too much. Maybe I will take a few pics too.
 
I tested my nitrates and phosphates because I was worried that they may be being depleted. They are still ok but have definitely come down and will need to be watched. NO3 is 10 ppm and PO4 is .25. I am sure that it is the ulva because of it's phenomenal growth. I am going to need to keep it trimmed back a lot and I plan to increase the frozen food for the fish by adding a 3rd feeding, which they won't mind, I am sure. Pics to come this afternoon hopefully
 
That's a good idea, running my powerhead from my river tank through a bleach bath. What concentration do you use, I assume, with water? I'm tired of taking things apart to clean them...
 
Chasmodes said:
That's a good idea, running my powerhead from my river tank through a bleach bath. What concentration do you use, I assume, with water? I'm tired of taking things apart to clean them...
Click to expand...
I am guessing about a cup or pint of bleach to 2 and a half to 3 gallons of water. I do it in an empty 5 gallon salt bucket and fill the bucket just over half and then just pour bleach in it, which is why I am guessing. I am not a strict recipe kind of a gal, ha ha! Then I just rinse it good under the spicket.

I have used white vinegar too but the acidic nature of that is harder on the components of the pumps. Both will work however
 
 
 
So, yesterday's high winds has our power out since 7 pm last night. Fortunately, about 10 years ago I bought a 1000 watt power inverter. We hook it up to our Dodge Charger and have 2 extension cords, 1 for the fish tank and 1 for our fridge. I am only running a power head and lights on the display. The sump is aerated by a battery back up. We have a fireplace and kerosene heater to keep us and the tank warm enough. This happened about 5 years ago and we did just fine for the 4-5 day outage.
 
The power came back on after being out only 24 hours. Everything is fine and now running back to normal. The temperature got down to 70-71°F but I know from having seahorses (who need cooler temps) that nothing will be impacted by that. So all is well that ends well!
 
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