Kong's Restored BB (90g)
- Thread starter King-Kong
- Start date
King-Kong
New member
Thanks moo0o
I dont have any readings or etc. to tell how much flow is lost/gained due to the way the edge of the starboard is.. I just wanted to cover all of my bases when I replaced my old board, which was just trapping too much in the cracks.
I also think it depends on how thick your board is; thicker board is going to create deeper canyons for poop to settle, so thin board probably doesnt need any edge work done.
Rekonn
Premium Member
Cuttingboardcompany.com offers beveling as a free option if you get starboard from them.
King-Kong, your thread was one that convinced me to not bother with a faux barebottom, and just go for starboard. Glad to hear your system is recovering! I'm debating whether to run a filter sock on my system. I'm wondering if my protein skimmer would be good enough by itself at removing detritus. Have you run your system without one, and did you notice a difference in nitrates?
King-Kong, your thread was one that convinced me to not bother with a faux barebottom, and just go for starboard. Glad to hear your system is recovering! I'm debating whether to run a filter sock on my system. I'm wondering if my protein skimmer would be good enough by itself at removing detritus. Have you run your system without one, and did you notice a difference in nitrates?
King-Kong
New member
Rekonn; in the future I may try to do a better 'study' on my system's nitrate demands, and the role of a filter sock and RDSB.
A few weeks ago I used to ONLY run my skimmer. Then, in a bid to squash the weird recession, I added filter socks, and a RDSB; turns out neither was the cause of my problems, as it was my food.
I am still running both, however. I like the filter socks. They arent difficult to clean/replace, and spending a couple minutes every ~2 days to clean them out gives me a peace of mind. That said, my skimmate production is DOWN, as there are no large heavy particles to remove.
Ideally, I would test my nitrates/phosphates professionally, then remove the RDSB and test 1mo/2mo's later and see where im at. Problem is, everything else has to stay the same; how much I feed, how often I do w/c's, etc. etc. I'm not sure I can be that consistant
Before I ran both, my nitrates came in at 7ppm. That was also without any real W/C's being done for some time. To me, 7ppm isnt very bad, and I was surprised. This may lead me to just remove the RDSB, but leave the filter socks, perhaps letting my nitrates/nutrients settle somewhere inbetween 0 and 7...
that's what im thinking, at least
A few weeks ago I used to ONLY run my skimmer. Then, in a bid to squash the weird recession, I added filter socks, and a RDSB; turns out neither was the cause of my problems, as it was my food.
I am still running both, however. I like the filter socks. They arent difficult to clean/replace, and spending a couple minutes every ~2 days to clean them out gives me a peace of mind. That said, my skimmate production is DOWN, as there are no large heavy particles to remove.
Ideally, I would test my nitrates/phosphates professionally, then remove the RDSB and test 1mo/2mo's later and see where im at. Problem is, everything else has to stay the same; how much I feed, how often I do w/c's, etc. etc. I'm not sure I can be that consistant
Before I ran both, my nitrates came in at 7ppm. That was also without any real W/C's being done for some time. To me, 7ppm isnt very bad, and I was surprised. This may lead me to just remove the RDSB, but leave the filter socks, perhaps letting my nitrates/nutrients settle somewhere inbetween 0 and 7...
that's what im thinking, at least
Swanwillow
goby girl
don't remote DSB's not even start working for 8 weeks or so? So removing it wouldn't change diddly.
King-Kong
New member
From what I saw in the major RDSB thread, results varied on how quickly they started working, but I think you're right; I could remove it now and nothing would change.. I'm just not sure if I want to remove it, yet.
I'm torn... both by the fact that I'd like to see what it can offer, and also by the fact that it cost about $70 to setup
What food were you using that you felt increased your nitrates significantly?
I'm subscribed to this thread now. So much interesting conversation goes on here. Maybe one day on my way up to Tally I can stop by and see "The amazing 90g with 3 vortechs." I really want to see that faux-sandbed starboard. I want to go BB, but the problem in my tank is that I don't trust my rock work enough to leave the glass bare. I suppose I could let my montiporas encrust the rocks together... but what's the fun in that?
I'm subscribed to this thread now. So much interesting conversation goes on here. Maybe one day on my way up to Tally I can stop by and see "The amazing 90g with 3 vortechs." I really want to see that faux-sandbed starboard. I want to go BB, but the problem in my tank is that I don't trust my rock work enough to leave the glass bare. I suppose I could let my montiporas encrust the rocks together... but what's the fun in that?
Devtech
New member
well if theres not much coral growth up top u can always take the piece that are flimsy down and work with less rock, but one thing i learned with my 90 is that its much easier placing rock with little water in the tank, water in the tank when u placing rock on top of rock it grabs air sooo the rock is flimsy and moves around in which in the long run causes "rock slides"
if u can id siphon out most of the water leave a foot of it in there. then re work the rocks, best thing to is place all your upper body weight onto the rocks and they will connect in some form and become super sturdy. i did this with my 90 when i had every inch in rock i had alot of power heads behind the rocks hitting them directly and not one of the rocks will budge. IF you do this with a BB tank make sure u have the bottom of the tank covered with starboard, or else it u can really scratch the tank bottom.
King-Kong
New member
Thanks Rowall, but there are much better tanks out there!
Leonardo's Tank is one of my favorites: http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76460
King-Kong
New member
It wasnt the nitrates that bug me; it was the unknown substance in the food killing my corals! The food was a home-made raw seafood medley that came in a bag from the supermarket; somethig in it was building up in my tank and killing the corals.
I dont know how strong a monti encrustation will be... but here's an interesting thing that happened in my tank:
On the right side of the middle island, my closed brain grew onto a rock that was acting as a slight archway: http://www.d3f.org/misc/fish/90g/a09-full-tank-angle.jpg
They fused together, and now I can lift up the brain, and take this entire huge rock with it.
I believe these kinds of corals are considered reef "building" corals (versus things like Stags, which are just "weeds"), and I get to see why! Given more time, that brain will also touch the rock underneath, and will further help to fuse the rock structure together.
Use epoxy and lots of elbow grease to get your rocks to fit nicely together, and in the end, let your thriving corals give you height, not some lame rock
Thanks for the suggestions, both of you.
I've got a nice favia colony that is growing like that as well, fusing rocks together. My montipora digitata do it, but I hate monti. digi as they grow so fast and don't look that great. They're starting to fall under the label that my previous pocillapora colony was falling under.... "persona non gratis."
The rockwork thing is funny though, because I'm always debating whether I've got too much rockwork, or too little. I feel it's too little because it's almost the wall, which I hate, but it only extends up to about 6" from the top of the tank. I hate having the back of the tank show because it's covered in coraline and I don't have enough room around the hood without removing it entirely to clean the back of the glass.
If I get AEFW and take my tank apart to treat, or ever just decide to take my tank apart for any other reason, I'll definitely re-do my rockwork in the lower island style, with acros just growing out the sides and tops. Gives a really nice appearance. I just can't ever decide if I want fore-reef like yours is, or an SPS+lagoon style, kind of like how mine is now.
I've got a nice favia colony that is growing like that as well, fusing rocks together. My montipora digitata do it, but I hate monti. digi as they grow so fast and don't look that great. They're starting to fall under the label that my previous pocillapora colony was falling under.... "persona non gratis."
The rockwork thing is funny though, because I'm always debating whether I've got too much rockwork, or too little. I feel it's too little because it's almost the wall, which I hate, but it only extends up to about 6" from the top of the tank. I hate having the back of the tank show because it's covered in coraline and I don't have enough room around the hood without removing it entirely to clean the back of the glass.
If I get AEFW and take my tank apart to treat, or ever just decide to take my tank apart for any other reason, I'll definitely re-do my rockwork in the lower island style, with acros just growing out the sides and tops. Gives a really nice appearance. I just can't ever decide if I want fore-reef like yours is, or an SPS+lagoon style, kind of like how mine is now.
lol thanks for the complements
Yea, I'm up at school, away from my tank for months at a time, so that was the growth after a week of having a calcium reactor but not being home at all that week. I was gone for a month at one point with the calcium reactor keeping up levels, and the viewable portion of my tank was about 2x1x1, down from 4x2x2. The coralline grew about 12" in on each side. It was quite interesting.
Because of your luck and a few other's luck with Vortechs, I'm going to try my friend's out, and probably end up buying one as well. Then I can finally get the sides of the tank cleaned up a bit and reclaim some of that lost real estate that is being taken up by those giant powerheads with the magnets and their arms and other crap. I'm very excited.
Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to your next update
Yea, I'm up at school, away from my tank for months at a time, so that was the growth after a week of having a calcium reactor but not being home at all that week. I was gone for a month at one point with the calcium reactor keeping up levels, and the viewable portion of my tank was about 2x1x1, down from 4x2x2. The coralline grew about 12" in on each side. It was quite interesting.
Because of your luck and a few other's luck with Vortechs, I'm going to try my friend's out, and probably end up buying one as well. Then I can finally get the sides of the tank cleaned up a bit and reclaim some of that lost real estate that is being taken up by those giant powerheads with the magnets and their arms and other crap. I'm very excited.
Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to your next update
Thanks! It's not totally automated. The parents add water and feed every day or two, but the reactor is dialed in rock solid, and I have to pay my brother to clean the skimmer every week or so. I could drill it, but I know the neck could clog too much in a month and stop skimming, and also I have to worry about flooding because sometimes the ER does that...
I'm actually waiting to get home for school winter break so I can set up my new Aquatronica, so then I'll be really automated. Set up the skimmer with a flood sensor to shut it off in case of an overflow, same with the sump and other stuff. I'll get the ethernet module so I can check on the tank/control it remotely, get email notifications sent to my phone and/or email account when something is going awry. I can't wait to get rid of the pH controller, pH monitor, temp controller, etc etc etc and just have the aquatronica setup and controlling everything. Now if only they could add a vortech/tunze controller (I hear they're working on it).
The SPS in that picture were right before they started to decline, and I couldn't figure out why for 2-3 weeks. Then when I was home, I just figured I'd pull out one of the encrusted acros and see what was up and why it was losing tissue. Surely enough it was RB, which was a total shock to me because I treat EVERYTHING that goes into my tank with a HUGE dose of interceptor and fluke tab (for RB and AEFW). So the last 3 weeks I've been going home every weekend and treating the whole tank, then big water changes and carbon, and now my parents are saying that the corals have colored up much much better than before. I'm very excited.
Thanks again for the complements, and let it be known that your contribution to this hobby is an influence and a point of aspiration.
Cheers,
Eric
I'm actually waiting to get home for school winter break so I can set up my new Aquatronica, so then I'll be really automated. Set up the skimmer with a flood sensor to shut it off in case of an overflow, same with the sump and other stuff. I'll get the ethernet module so I can check on the tank/control it remotely, get email notifications sent to my phone and/or email account when something is going awry. I can't wait to get rid of the pH controller, pH monitor, temp controller, etc etc etc and just have the aquatronica setup and controlling everything. Now if only they could add a vortech/tunze controller (I hear they're working on it).
The SPS in that picture were right before they started to decline, and I couldn't figure out why for 2-3 weeks. Then when I was home, I just figured I'd pull out one of the encrusted acros and see what was up and why it was losing tissue. Surely enough it was RB, which was a total shock to me because I treat EVERYTHING that goes into my tank with a HUGE dose of interceptor and fluke tab (for RB and AEFW). So the last 3 weeks I've been going home every weekend and treating the whole tank, then big water changes and carbon, and now my parents are saying that the corals have colored up much much better than before. I'm very excited.
Thanks again for the complements, and let it be known that your contribution to this hobby is an influence and a point of aspiration.
Cheers,
Eric
King-Kong
New member
Nice that you squashed out the RBs. I had them once, and they do a good job on weakening certain acros..
The odd thing is, they are so easy to treat, i cant believe they exist in the hobby as much as they do!
Small Update: I purchased 3 more threadfins today from the LFS. All were eating, so hopefully they will continue to do the same here.
I also purchased a small ORA Blue Tort frag.. I will try to take a pic tomorrow and post it. It had RBs, but I was able to treat it with a super high dosage of TMPCC and then a long bath in some interceptor.
Everything continues to grow very well, so I am pleased. Hopefully I can snap some tank shots soon!
King-Kong
New member
Got another 25g waterchange done today.. corals lookin good.
The 3 new threadfins are eating! Weee! I think that means I can expect all 3 to survive, so that will bring my school up to 10 total!
Also, I installed a solenoid shut off/on for my RO/DI reservoir.
What it does it only allows my RO to be turned on for large blocks of time (say, once an hour/day) during which time it can fill up my reservoir (which has a float valve).
The problem with going directly from a float valve->RO machine is that it can create an issue called 'TDS creep'. The rapid on/off of the RO doesnt allow a proper pressure to buildup inside of the RO membrane, and this in turn allows bad/dirty water to get through it.
Since my aquamedic parastaltic pump is SLOWER than the RO's fill rate, the RO turns on/off very rapidly as the pump tops off my fish tank. This causes TDS creep which burns up your DI and eventually leads to higher TDS in your water.
So, I have been having to turn on my RO machine by hand for a few hours every week.. this is a chore cause i have to remember, and is also bad if i have to leave for long trips.
The solenoid will allow me to set a timer for it, and all should be well in the land again.
The solenoid (wired, with power supply) can be purchased here http://www.thefilterguys.biz/top-off_controller.htm (2nd on the list)
Here are pics of the solenoid:
The 3 new threadfins are eating! Weee! I think that means I can expect all 3 to survive, so that will bring my school up to 10 total!
Also, I installed a solenoid shut off/on for my RO/DI reservoir.
What it does it only allows my RO to be turned on for large blocks of time (say, once an hour/day) during which time it can fill up my reservoir (which has a float valve).
The problem with going directly from a float valve->RO machine is that it can create an issue called 'TDS creep'. The rapid on/off of the RO doesnt allow a proper pressure to buildup inside of the RO membrane, and this in turn allows bad/dirty water to get through it.
Since my aquamedic parastaltic pump is SLOWER than the RO's fill rate, the RO turns on/off very rapidly as the pump tops off my fish tank. This causes TDS creep which burns up your DI and eventually leads to higher TDS in your water.
So, I have been having to turn on my RO machine by hand for a few hours every week.. this is a chore cause i have to remember, and is also bad if i have to leave for long trips.
The solenoid will allow me to set a timer for it, and all should be well in the land again.
The solenoid (wired, with power supply) can be purchased here http://www.thefilterguys.biz/top-off_controller.htm (2nd on the list)
Here are pics of the solenoid:
