Lukinrats 75 gallon tank thread!!!

[lukinrats]

Well, I think I said that I have to assume it was the reactor... I changed it from an old kent reactor to a new TLF 150... It was not running full tilt, but I guess when I removed the media from the old one, then rinsed it, and then put it in the new one, it must have caused a lot of dust... I looked it over real good when I installed it to make sure that did not happen, so all I can figure is that it must have taken a little time for the smaller fines to reach the surface... I guess that could have caused this, but since that was a few days ago, and everything seemed to have not been bothered by it... I just was thinking it had to be something else... I put a dose of prodibio in there about 2 am on Thursday morning

I wonder if that new bacteria could have caused this... Since I am running a low nutrient system, plus using vinegar in my limewater, I thought it would be a good thing to add other bacteria to the system... I forgot about that until just now, so I guess that could have had something to do with it... Maybe the vinegar (carbon source) + bacteria from Prodibio

Should I turn the lights off for 24 hours?

 

[melev]

I think you better go ask in the Chemistry forum, laying out all the details so they can help you. Be specific what you dosed too, as Prodibio is a brand name, and not the actual item.

 

[lukinrats]

It was BioDigest... I will not be home for the next 36 hours, so I will wait until then to post those details... I have made sure all the parameters are correct, and decided to leave the lights off until I get home... I also dialed the skimmer back to skim dry, and turned off the phosban (just in case it is the nutrients being too low)... My dad will be coming by to make sure everything is OK, and the tank will be topped off like clockwork

I hope they will color back up, and I think they will, it just freaked me out for them to lose color that quick... they all still look like they did other than the color

I will post an update as soon as I get home, and in the mean time, maybe some of the Chemistry guys will stumble onto my thread

Later,
Nathan

 

[lukinrats]

Ok... Well, I got home last night, and the frags seem to look better, and it appears that they are already starting to color up again... I also noticed that, after the prodibio, I had a lot of algae die since the time that I dosed it... It could have been that there was some nitrate that the algae was keeping me from detecting... I know that the phosphate was low, but I have not done anything to try and reduce nitrates... So, maybe that is what it was... Maybe the NO3 fell too fast

Here are some pictures, after 36 hours of no light... I also took away the Kalk top off last night, and I am going to use 2 part for a few days to see what that does

Thank you guys for all the replies, while trying to help me understand

 

[lukinrats]

 

[lukinrats]

I got to messing around with the camera today, and thought I would put these shots up for everyone to see... I have had an explosion of baby snails, pods, and snail eggs lately... The first bunch of snail eggs I saw where about 2 months ago, and those have already hatched, and turned into little ones... Here is some shots of the Nassarius that I probably have the most of

Then I have noticed a bunch of small Strombus snails (I think)... Here they are, and maybe someone will know for sure what kind they are... Kind of hard to see even still, but they have 2 little thin antenna that are up by the front of the snail

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

I also have a bunch of new egg clutches... The white ones are so small that you can't tell they are eggs, just by looking at them... I did not know until I got the pictures on the PC... Check them out... The ones that the Nassarius snails put down where pretty big, and you could see 8-10 little eggs inside the clutch

Above are the microscopic ones... These ones below can be seen very easily, but still do not look like the nassarius eggs

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

Yippee, I have pods... I guess I can start thinking about a mandarin now!!!!

 

[lukinrats]

Last, but not least... Here is my jellyfish!!!

Thanks to Melev for the ID on this!!!

Later,
NathanS

 

[melev]

Nathan, the small snail that looks like it has a trunk is probably a Strombus Grazer. The smaller rounded one is probably a Collonista. The pods and jelly are right on. The egg sack could be nerite or those Stombus.

Lots of life in that tank. :thumbsup:

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186299#post13186299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Nathan, the small snail that looks like it has a trunk is probably a Strombus Grazer. The smaller rounded one is probably a Collonista. The pods and jelly are right on. The egg sack could be nerite or those Stombus.

Lots of life in that tank. :thumbsup:

The one you say looks like a Collonista, really looks like a mini version of this bigger snail... So whatever this one is, I guess that is what the little one would be

 

[melev]

That one is a Nerite.

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186299#post13186299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
The egg sack could be nerite or those Stombus.

Both of them

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186299#post13186299 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Lots of life in that tank. :thumbsup:

Thanks,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186374#post13186374 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
That one is a Nerite.

Ok, well that itty bitty is probably one of those then... I knew I had my Nassarius and Strombus backwards... I mean, how could I confuse those... IPSF has the cartoonish picture right there on the site...LOL!!!

I am a Dumb***!!!!

 

[Mykel Obvious]

Lukinrats... I've got a TON of baby "Strombus Grazers" (which are not actually Strombus sp. BTW... dunno why IPSF insists on calling them that :sigh: ) The clear bubble sac with white dots is from this snail...

The super tiny single white dots on the glass (not the pods) are from Nerite snails, but I have yet to have any of them hatch in my tank... wish they would as my hermits are killing my Nerites for new houses :grr:

Not sure about the white with yellow eggs, if you figure out where that one came from, let me know (and send me some babies :lol

My super Nassarius lay eggs, but they are gone from the glass in a few days... and my Cerinth lay eggs that last a few weeks... haven't figured out who is eating them yet, but so far the only snails I've had breed successfully are the "Strombus Grazers" and they are like rabbits... for every egg you see on the glass, there are probably two more somewhere on your rocks or powerheads... I've even found them on the plastic part of my heater and on the leaves of my Halimeda algae as well... I can't even count how many little ones I have in my tank now

 

[lukinrats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186906#post13186906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mykel Obvious
Lukinrats... I've got a TON of baby "Strombus Grazers" (which are not actually Strombus sp. BTW... dunno why IPSF insists on calling them that :sigh: ) The clear bubble sac with white dots is from this snail...

Ok, thanks:thumbsup:... Good to know

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186906#post13186906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mykel Obvious
The super tiny single white dots on the glass (not the pods) are from Nerite snails, but I have yet to have any of them hatch in my tank... wish they would as my hermits are killing my Nerites for new houses :grr:

I think they may have a chance in my tank... Right now, I have not fish in there, and I am not a big fan of hermits, so I have just a couple of the little micros in there... I guess we will see!! I will have to get a jewelers loup or something just so I can tell though... Those things are as small as copepods :eek1:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186906#post13186906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mykel Obvious
Not sure about the white with yellow eggs, if you figure out where that one came from, let me know (and send me some babies :lol

That will not be a problem... If I can hatch them, you can have some... I kind of like being able to hatch my own snails!!!:beer: Maybe I will leave the fish out of the display a little longer than needed

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13186906#post13186906 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mykel Obvious
My super Nassarius lay eggs, but they are gone from the glass in a few days... and my Cerinth lay eggs that last a few weeks... haven't figured out who is eating them yet, but so far the only snails I've had breed successfully are the "Strombus Grazers" and they are like rabbits... for every egg you see on the glass, there are probably two more somewhere on your rocks or powerheads... I've even found them on the plastic part of my heater and on the leaves of my Halimeda algae as well... I can't even count how many little ones I have in my tank now

Man that is not kid:eek1:ding... I have got them everywhere, and now that all the fish are gone, they have exploded :blown:...:lol:

Later,
NathanS

 

[lukinrats]

I found what seemed to be an affordable little salinity meter... I know that a refractometer is supposed to be the bible when it comes to salinity, but it seems as though I am always calibrating it... I also get tired of having to re-check the new water when I make a new batch... It gets fairly old after a while

So I decided to bite the bullet and try this thing out... It cost $36 with shipping, and I thought that was worth a try... You can find them on Ebay

Here is what you will get

The meter measures 3 different things

Temp This would be the temp in my house

Salinity

Specific Gravity

 

[lukinrats]

So, in order to check the accuracy, I decided to calibrate my refractometer with Pinpoint fluid to 35 PPT... Then I checked my homemade calibration fluid to make sure it was 35 PPT, and it was
Here is a picture of my refractometer after calibration

This picture is taken with the meter in my calibration fluid

Finally, here is my reef... It looks like I need to adjust it a little... I really don't like my refractometer, because I always thought that it needed to be calibrated before each measurement... This seems to confirm that belief... I check my new water with the refractometer, but I think after I use it once or twice, that it needed calibration again... I have not been doing this, and I think it shows here

 

[lukinrats]

So, I was messing around last night with the salinity meter... As you can see above, it was measuring my reef about 2 points below normal, so I went on a search for the solution... First of all I needed to decide whether I trusted the meter or the refractometer... The refractometer was calibrated with pinpoint solution, and it was reading the water @ 35 ppt on the money... I decided to go with the refractometer since it has not failed me yet, even though it is a pain in the ***

My solution was to make a new calibration fluid for the meter... The meter comes with a 30 ppt standard solution, and that is what it automatically calibrates to... So I thought about it, and decided to make a new solution that was actually 28 ppt (read with calibrated refractometer), and then use the 28 ppt fluid to calibrate the meter to 30 ppt... I hope that makes sense

Anyway, after I made the new calibration standard, the meter read all my water perfectly @ 35 ppt... So, now when I make new saltwater, I do not have to keep using that PITA refractometer... I am still keeping it to use as the final say on things, but at least I can use the meter as my everyday simple method of checking salinity

Later,
NathanS

 

[melev]

So the calibration solution that came with the meter isn't any good?

The one you made is only good until it gets unbalanced. Each time you open up your solution bottle, a little bit may evaporate. In other words, what is good today may not be as accurate in 6 months nor in a year.