its hip to be square....

Just got a 50 gallon food grade brute to use for water changes. This time I'm putting in float valves so i don't have to monitor it and can let it run while I'm not home. I'm also putting on a line from my manifold to run to my sink. This way I can do water changes by turning that valve open, and tuning on a mag 5 via a power switch. The mag 5 will be in he water change vat. The water change of new in and old out will work simultaneously

Corey
 
Good idea. I have two 30gal brutes.

When I start on my 265 and converting the garage into a fish room I am going to make a drain down the back wall that will be common to rodi, water changes, wash out sink with a P trap to keep those gasses out. So then I can be at any place and just use a short hose and drain to the outside world.

I just have to make sure I dont suck up much sand and get it all jammed up.

I have two 200 gallon vessels for SW and RODI storage. Once I get them setup I am going to start doing automatic water changes. My water volume will be at 640 before the 265's sump.

I got a Stenner 170DM5 dual head to automate my water changes. For each amount in it takes the same amount out.
 
Yeah mine isn't fully automation but it's close. I will eventually go to a litermeter or stenner pump for one.
So I tried this thing on the tank last night. Bubble scrubbing.....essentially I took an air pump hooked up to balsa wood and placed it in front of my return inlet. Just during the night, so it shoots bubbles into the tank all night. Micro bubbles attach themselves to things in the water column helping send them to the sump and being caught at the filter sock or skimmer. It also maintains the ph. It is semi popular in Japan and cleans the water column tremendously. It is said to remove algae which I don't have but still will clean the sandbed, remove particles from water column etc. Tonight will be the first full night of runnin it, I tried it last night but the wood wasnt lined up.

Corey
 
I, unintentionally, have micro bubbles on things. And when the return side gets too low it sends in macro/micro bubbles.

Some people are still out on this one, and I would love to see some factual numbers/observations. I mean the ocean does this all the time when a wave comes in. In the wild, some of our corals are in small wave pools that are extremely shallow in low tides.

I have not hooked up the stenner, to even test it, but I will. I was thinking of making up a batch of SW and running it and watching the apex to see how the readings are. I mean if you think about it you could do an almost continuous water change.
 
Yeah I'm interested in seeing it. My nitrates stay around 5-10 with p04 undetectable on sailfert. The thinking is keeping my water column cleaner. Plus I plan to stir some of my sandbed each night to help remove all that crud..

Corey
 
So far I have been stirring the sand bed gently in sections at night, my filter sock is far dirtier than normal for this short period of time. My skimmer also seems a tad bit more full, but I fed a little more the last few days since I was home
A local guy to me was on vacation some time back and his sump went low and his return pump pulled a bunch of air while he was gone. Thus causing excessive bubbles in his tank and he actually lost a fair amount of fish. Something at I'm keeping my eyes one. I could see how that could happen if they breath in too many bubbles. Dont want to lose or risk any fish.

Corey
 
Yeah but the low sump could have caused high SG too.

Poor water flow causing stale bad water.

IDK about bubbles unless they were microfine and hung to the gills.
 
IDK about bubbles unless they were microfine and hung to the gills.[/QUOTE]


^^^^my thoughts.
Worm, I'm still kicking away on that vortech program you uploaded for my apex man!!!

Corey
 
I will say this regarding the bubble scrubber, in the last week my skimmer has been more active, my filter sock has gotten dirtier quicker. I had no algae to begin with so that is all the same. The only difference I have noticed is that my ph goes up in my carx for a few hours at night when the scrubber is running. I'm monitoring this very closely as to make sure it doesn't mess with my alk. But, the way my CaRx is set up, it runs anyway so a higher ph just keeps it on and it would be on to begin with.
I tested my no3 yesterday and my nitrates appear to be lower. Closer to at 5 range.

Corey
 
What is the Ca reading? It is not getting too much and participating into the skimmer is it?
 
It goes up to 7.12 or so.
The bubbles are fed to the main tank via my return pump which also feeds my CaRx. But once the airstone is off, the numbers stabilize.
Thoughts?


Corey
 
Where does the discharge CO2 go? As in the old gas. Does it get piped into the feed air of the skimmer? Fresh air have any impact?
 
The reactor is a recirculating one, so the gas gets used (hopefully). Fresh air does have a slight impact on my ph. However my alk is staying stable.

Corey
 
Few months back

AC428A63-A361-4035-AB92-2FB0774011D2.jpg




Today

b63da567ba446e631acc69c530b046e6.jpg



Corey
 
Put a gyre on the overflow box today. I been wanting some flow between the 2 islands. I would prefer a vortech in a dry box but I have heard great things on the gyre flow. While I do like the flow so far, I HATE the cord coming out the top of my tank. It's not really rimless, but eurobraced and no canopy. So I like the clean look of the top of the tank, with no wires hanging out of it. Time will tell if I keep it or what I do.
I will say, the gyre flow with the bubbles from the stone, they really get spread around great. Moved a few frags around, will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Corey
 
Just keep the gyre clean. Anything gets in with the propeller and it's toast.
Shielding it from light is probably good if you can do it.
 
Did the new bushings help?
scubadan206 said:
Just keep the gyre clean. Anything gets in with the propeller and it's toast.
Shielding it from light is probably good if you can do it.
Click to expand...
I've not had that issue at all. And my feeder drops pellets right over top of one of mine 4x a day to spread them quickly through out the tank which many go through the pump and has asterina starfish flying through all the time. And both of mine are in direct light. I do use their new covers. I also toothbrush them like once a week.
 
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