Jacob's 360 Gallon Build

Read them both. I don't know. They both also state that it's toxic to all forms of algae and I have had a ball of chaeto in my QT ever since it was set up, there is also plenty of film algae in there.

Prior to ever using chloroquine I spoke to a biologist at a highly regarded public aquarium about it's use. He stated that it's the primary treatment that they use in QT and that they had not experienced any issues with it wiping out the bilogical filter.

I believe Paul B has also used chloroquine in his reef tank.

I don't know how to test (without great effort) to what extent bacteria and which specific ones are affected by chloroquine but I have not experienced any nitrite/ammonia spikes in my QT after using it. As I mentioned I have kept inverts in the QT while the medication is in the system. There are currently snails in there that have survived multiple treatments of it. Several cleaner shrimp have also gone through the process. I had a handful of ricordia that over time (months) melted and/or bleached. This may be due to long term exposure to the drug. I also have a Palau nephthea in there for months that is still doing fine.

This link states that it is non-toxic to bacteria, but toxic to *some* invertebrates. http://www.reefculturemagazine.com.au/cryptocaryon.html edit: just realized this is the same source Brian posted.

So... My opinion is *some* corals may tolerate it to an extent. Long term it's probably not a good idea. I definitely would not attempt it at all with a tank full of SPS, and probably not anemones. I do recommend it for use in QT, and possibly with corals present if you their reaction to it has been previously tested (i.e. with frags of those corals). All of the fish and inverts that made it through QT have done very well. I have only used this medication for 6 months. It's not a lot of experience, but it is first hand experience. As with all things I won't recommend for/against something unless I have first hand experience with it. This is the main problem with forums; too many people give their feedback on things they haven't actually had experience with... makes it difficult to wade through the info.

FWIW
 
True that. I was just seeing if what the people were saying were true, knowing you probably did extensive research. Where do you get the CP? Is it a specific brand?
 
I believe Paul B has also used chloroquine in his reef tank.
Click to expand...
Quinicrine hydrocloride is a combination of chloroquine and pyrimethamine and is a better drug than one of them used alone. They are all Malaria drugs for humans. I use quinicrine with copper to get a cure on about a day but not in a reef.
Those drugs (without the copper) can be used in a reef and the water does not have to be changed but corals and anemones may be damaged. Starfish, urching, crabs, shrimps, gorgonians, and tube worms are resistant.
You just need to add carbon after treatment.
I have used it many times.
 
I need to treat some wrasses this week and would love to be able to get some of the miracle drug you speak of. Just need to know where.
 
Chloroquine is available under several brand names (Aralen is one) as well as generic. How to get it I'll leave up to you :)

I don't know about the Quinicrine hydrochloride that Paul mentioned, but you need to treat with chloroquine phosphate for around 5 weeks for it to be effective.
 
I guess it's about time I update... Last year was rough, lots of things going on with family and friends that kept me away from the tank. This year is looking better so far :) My tank has been pretty neglected though... To sum it up; for about a year I did no significant water changes and just added food and top off water. All the corals are doing fine but I did lose a couple of fish due to stress.

Getting things back on track I've made a few recent changes:
1. Added a second pump to my skimmer effectively making it a model 9440 (Tunze).
2. Upgraded my two Tunze 6000's to 6100's by replacing the transformers.
3. Replaced MH bulbs.
4. Feeding with rinsed Hikari mysis + garlic extract + Zoe

My goal for now is to hamper the hair algae growth that has gotten out of hand. More water movement (up to about 14,000 gph now) will equal more detritus heading down to the sump and skimmer. The cleaner food I think will have a big impact as well. I made it by rinsing flat packs (each flat is equivalent to roughly 4 packs of cubes) in RODI water and straining through cheese cloth, then rinsing again, then repacked with the garlic and zoe to enhance it a little. The left over water from the initial rinse was a disgusting brown mess. Hikari is one of the "clean" brands to begin with... I was pretty shocked at what was left behind. I have rinsed food in the past but never this large of an amount which made it very apparent just how much mystery gravy you get with your mysis. After I'm satisfied that the nutrients are under control I'm going to be adding some select macro algae in effort to create a planted system. More on that to come later.


Aside from that I've been working on getting my RODI and auto-water-change system hooked up. I plumbed my water supply over and into the water room (outside my house) a couple of days ago, got my float switches and solenoid valves out of the closet, and just ordered a few relays and other odds and ends. I'll post some pics when I get a little further along.
 
Jacob, I thought you would be SCUBA diving in that thing by this time.
Jacob's tank is so big it could be considered a room in his home.
How is your wife's tank doing?
 
How much drilling, plumbing, etc was needed to add teh extra pump to the Tunze? Should be even a bigger of a skimmin' beast now!
 
'morning guys.

Paul - We broke down the nano cube some time last year. Lots of stuff going on at the time and I don't even remember who I sold it to.

Brian - They come plumbed for a second pump, just remove a cap and put the pump on.
 
That's a nice upgrade option, no need to worry about cracking the body. How's the skimmate production of that beast?
 
I finally have my power consumption calculator posted. I've used it to test various scenarios and see how changes to equipment and/or schedules will affect my tank's power consumption. It hurts to look at it, but it is what it is :hmm3: Feel free to try it out..

A PG&E bill will be needed in order to fill out the top part of the form, the daily use of 20kwh was something I think I pulled off an old bill of mine before the tank was running, everyone's use will vary of course. Make sure to confirm the rates, although I think everyone on PG&E will be the same.


Here's an example of how to fill the form out (this is my current usage):
<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4332863829_c66768c0c0_o.jpg" width="535" height="832" alt="power" style="border: 2px solid #000;/>
 
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Yeah, the Dart and Snapper are great energy efficient pumps - but - I actually want a pump that *will* put heat into my system. The reason being; the evaporative cooling is almost too efficient and my heaters are working over time to keep up right now, they even run in the summer a little to keep my tank around 76.

I'm throwing energy at energy, instead I plan to do the opposite and use regenerative heating. In essence getting two things done at once... why only move water when I can move water and heat my tank? It might seem to make more sense to just stop the evap cooling, but in my case the air exchange also keeps the house dry, and I can't just turn it off.

I used to run a PS3 (really it was a Velocity T3, but same pump). They are silent, you literally cannot hear them, but they do add heat. I'm thinking about going with a couple of the TS4 models in parallel. It's hard to know exactly where my tank temp will fall with the pumps as the main heat source; I'll just set my heaters to the lower limit, say 70*F that I want to run at. In the winter I expect the temp to be in the range 70-74, and probably 76-80 in the summer (based on experience over the last year). I don't mind a season swing as long as the daily swing is not more than 2 degrees. Thankfully the evap cooling seems to naturally keep the swing at 1-2 degrees.



So if anyone is in the market for a Dart or Snapper let me know I've decided I need to sell them. The Snapper can be made into a Dart by changing out the impeller (they are otherwise identical pumps).
 
I've been holed up sick with bronchitis (just found out what it is today). Since I had to miss the swap because of it I figured I should at least do some small thing for my tank.

I ended up extending the cable on the moonlight/photocell on my Tunze 7095. It wasn't long enough to reach up through an air duct and into one of the light boxes. I had purchased some quick disconnect fittings to make for a cleaner end result but they turned out to be too difficult for me to wire up. The wires on the controller are tiny and my soldering iron and soldering skills were not up to the task, sadly. I was able to make a pretty clean butt joint and heat shrink it.

Everything works and now I FINALLY don't have to manually set night mode and remember to reset it the next day. Most of the time I'd just let the streams pulse all night long, other times they'd be on min power for a few days until I noticed and clicked the button off... now everthing happens automagically when the lights go on and off... plus I have a moonlight.



I also got my media filters unplugged and working again. I'm just running carbon this week, but next week going to start rowa again. I' turning the corner on the hair algae and things are looking up.
 
Sweet! Getting things working well manually is a bear. I always forget to turn on/off my fuge lights, moon lights and of course the pumps go 24x7 without being able to drop into night mode. Need a controller bad :)

Bronchitis sucks for sure, Sebastian had a nasty bout of it last week and <knock on wood> hasn't hit me yet. Hope you're feeling better.
 
Brian, yeah the more things that can be automated the less there are to keep track of. The 7095 is a pretty old controller design, but it does what it does very well.



The next thing on my hit list is moving the RODI into my water room, getting it wired and running... hoping to have that done this weekend.

Right after that will be ATO & AWC. My ATO design has changed; I've come up with a way to use the same pump that will do the AWC. When I looked at the cost of running a peristaltic pump 24/7 for ATO it didn't make sense energy-wise. I'll see if I can post some schematics for the ATO later tonight. It's actually a pretty simple design that only requires one latching relay, a couple of float switches, a dc power supply, and a pump. I'd guess everything could be had for around $40 (excluding the pump) and built by anyone who can follow basic instructions.
 
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