Maroun 150g Build Thread
- Thread starter maroun.c
- Start date
maroun.c
New member
One more question on those 10 Ks, do I have to take out my 14 and 22Ks? or is it ok if I add 2 10Ks to them?
I could always add 2 MHs 70 or 150 W with 10 K bulbs once I find some and add those to the canopy from the back side in addition to the halides I already have, I could run those in the morning before my halides kick in and then shut them down when my bluer halides turn on or maybe keep them running together if that's better? any info on such a lighting schedule would be great.
Also do you think it will be helpfull to add for the time being (and only till I find dedicated aquarium 10 K bulbs) 6500 K regular MH bulbs that are sold for general use? Do you think those will cause any other problems (alga...?)
I could always add 2 MHs 70 or 150 W with 10 K bulbs once I find some and add those to the canopy from the back side in addition to the halides I already have, I could run those in the morning before my halides kick in and then shut them down when my bluer halides turn on or maybe keep them running together if that's better? any info on such a lighting schedule would be great.
Also do you think it will be helpfull to add for the time being (and only till I find dedicated aquarium 10 K bulbs) 6500 K regular MH bulbs that are sold for general use? Do you think those will cause any other problems (alga...?)
melev
Well-known member
This is the problem... you like your blue look. The corals and I do not. :lol: So how can you adjust your desires to that of ours?
If you add more lights, you pull more power and you heat the water more. It would be best to replace the bulbs with the 10,000K bulbs, but I don't know if you could live with it.
Forget 70w. That is pointless. The 150w bulbs you are currently using are barely up to the task. I have one (150w) over my 20g that is trying its best to keep my livestock happy, but they look a tad see-through as well. Just a bit, but enough that I'm aware of the situation.
6500K will look horrendous - it is sooo yellow you will begin to hate your tank. Sure, you'll push all kinds of PAR into the water but bleeech! It's ugly as sin. If you do it just to do it, reduce the lighting period so you don't burn your light-starved corals. We always want to avoid going to extremes.
maroun.c
New member
Got that right, coming from a 20 K lit tank I already find that i'm already on the whitish side with the 14 Ks...
Still I would put the benefit of the corals ahead of my colour preferrences.
I will be in Holland next month and will try to buy soem 10Ks if I find them if not It'll be of Ebay. Wish I tried this before paying 150 usd per 150 W 14K bulb.
Found some 10Ks ib /ebay and they only cost around 20 USD? does that seem too checp to be a good bulb?
One LFS here told me they might have 1-2 10K bulbs but are charging 90 USD per bulb
I already got some more Actinic lighting to supplement when the 10 Ks are here and to create a nicer dusk and dawn with the T5 actinics instread (or maybe in addition) to the T8 actinics I have.
got 2 54W Arcadia T5 actinic ran by a single electronic controler.
maroun.c
New member
Very good catch Marc. I tried it again with an airtube connected to a syringe and they sucked off.
On closer inspection few days later one of the mushrooms lookled this bad:
I started sucking them with the syringe and airtube.
They seem to move very fast when they are disturbed and hide behind the mushroom. but soon after I finsh taking some of the remiaing ones will quicky reappear on the same mushroom.
The mushroom did not look happy after each cleaning but I'm sure will "feel" a lot better afterwards.
I removed a similar amount on each cleaning session (did a total of 8 sessions so far)
I still see a few on 1-2 mushrooms but they will be finished over the 2-3 coming days.
Also other mushrooms were affectede and some brown ones were difficult to assess or remove.
The good thing is that they are limited to a few mushrooms and I didin't find anyone relocting on the rocks or on other LPS. Do you think I should dip the affected rocks in something? or treat the whole tank? or is it just manual removal of what I see?
Last edited:
maroun.c
New member
Performed my first 40 G water changeafter switching to reefcrystals. Fresh mixed water without any additions tested as follows:
Temp 81
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.4
Ca 460
Mg 1140
Kh 19 (tested 2 times!!!)
Tank water tested as follows 1 day post water change:
Salinity 1.025
Temp 82
PHh 8.3
Ca 500
Mg 1000 ( had dropped from 1260 in My-June to 960 in Jul and now up to 1000)
KH 12
No3 30-35 like Jul
Po4 0
Do you think I should add Epsom salts to increase my Mg further or just rely on water changes with Reefcrystals which has more Mg?
I'm aftraid I can't rely on Purple up, CA balance or Kalwaksser that I still don't have as they'll increase my Ca further.
Do you think further additions in Ca or Kh will have any side effects? do you think I should keep on maintaining them weekly or cut off to 1 dose of Ca balance every two weeks instead of weekly?
I'm also hopoing my waerchanges will handle the nitrates a bit more for my DSB to kick in or til I have beter Caulerpa growth. I'm already seeing better growth in the refugium however not to the desired levels. I still didin't prune caulerpa since I started this tank (4-5 months now) and I guess it still needs a few months before needing a pruning.
I'm using this power Saving lamp that consumes 23 W and should give around 120W. i still have to get a reflector for it. do you think I should add another one too?
or maybe use a 70 W MH that I have laying around with a 6500 K bulb or would that be overkill?
Temp 81
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.4
Ca 460
Mg 1140
Kh 19 (tested 2 times!!!)
Tank water tested as follows 1 day post water change:
Salinity 1.025
Temp 82
PHh 8.3
Ca 500
Mg 1000 ( had dropped from 1260 in My-June to 960 in Jul and now up to 1000)
KH 12
No3 30-35 like Jul
Po4 0
Do you think I should add Epsom salts to increase my Mg further or just rely on water changes with Reefcrystals which has more Mg?
I'm aftraid I can't rely on Purple up, CA balance or Kalwaksser that I still don't have as they'll increase my Ca further.
Do you think further additions in Ca or Kh will have any side effects? do you think I should keep on maintaining them weekly or cut off to 1 dose of Ca balance every two weeks instead of weekly?
I'm also hopoing my waerchanges will handle the nitrates a bit more for my DSB to kick in or til I have beter Caulerpa growth. I'm already seeing better growth in the refugium however not to the desired levels. I still didin't prune caulerpa since I started this tank (4-5 months now) and I guess it still needs a few months before needing a pruning.
I'm using this power Saving lamp that consumes 23 W and should give around 120W. i still have to get a reflector for it. do you think I should add another one too?
or maybe use a 70 W MH that I have laying around with a 6500 K bulb or would that be overkill?
melev
Well-known member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13090950#post13090950 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maroun.c
Got that right, coming from a 20 K lit tank I already find that i'm already on the whitish side with the 14 Ks...
Still I would put the benefit of the corals ahead of my colour preferrences.
I will be in Holland next month and will try to buy soem 10Ks if I find them if not It'll be of Ebay. Wish I tried this before paying 150 usd per 150 W 14K bulb.
Found some 10Ks ib /ebay and they only cost around 20 USD? does that seem too checp to be a good bulb?
One LFS here told me they might have 1-2 10K bulbs but are charging 90 USD per bulb
I already got some more Actinic lighting to supplement when the 10 Ks are here and to create a nicer dusk and dawn with the T5 actinics instread (or maybe in addition) to the T8 actinics I have.
got 2 54W Arcadia T5 actinic ran by a single electronic controler.
Bulbs for $20 - skip them. You are very very unlikely to be happy with them. The price range you'll expect for various bulbs would be $59 to $89. Here are the bulbs you might consider:
ReefLux 10,000K bulbs
XM 10,000K bulbs
Ushio 10,000K bulbs
Reeflux will be the least expensive. Perhaps order a few to make shipping worthwhile, plus assure you'll get enough bulbs in case one breaks during transit.
While it is nice to see blue at times, it isn't all that natural, right? Perhaps run the 10,000K during the earlier part of the day, so you can enjoy the blue look in the evening. Or run them so that you have to see 10,000K for about 2 hours a day, then switch to blue, so you can get used to it.
Finally, DE bulbs cost more than SE bulbs. Unfortunately.
melev
Well-known member
The more I look at those pictures, the more flatworms I see. Having see-through mushrooms helps. :lol: Just remove them manually. Perhaps a small wrasse will eat them for you, but you'll have to find out what kind is best before you make that purchase.
Some type of dip would work, like dipping in Iodine, but these aren't the kind that you really have to panic over. I just would want them out of my system before they increased in number.
melev
Well-known member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13090963#post13090963 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maroun.c
One last new thing I'm seeing is some sort of Alga, (Vaonia?) just on one rock from too sides. I could remove it and scrapp it off if needed? this rock is in high light and high flow so Its not flow issues leading to its formation? Thanks for any info
Yes, that is valonia. Emerald crabs are known to help take care of that problem.
melev
Well-known member
<b>Comments in bold...</b>
Performed my first 40 G water changeafter switching to reefcrystals. Fresh mixed water without any additions tested as follows:
Temp 81
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.4
Ca 460
Mg 1140
Kh 19 (tested 2 times!!!)
<b>That's hard to believe. Have you posted this number in the chemistry forum? Have you mixed up another batch yet? Do you have more than one bag/bucket to compare these results?</b>
Tank water tested as follows 1 day post water change:
Salinity 1.025
Temp 82
pH 8.3
Ca 500
Mg 1000 ( had dropped from 1260 in My-June to 960 in Jul and now up to 1000)
dKH 12
No3 30-35 like Jul
Po4 0
Do you think I should add Epsom salts to increase my Mg further or just rely on water changes with Reefcrystals which has more Mg?
<b>You definitely need to raise up Magnesium. I would either buy a bunch online or make it yourself. I do realize you may not be able to get the same products we use, but Randy's Recipe #2 for Magnesium is excellent and will get that number up. Mg is supposed to be 3x the calcium level. From your numbers above, Ca is too high, and Mg is too low. I would suggest raising it to 1300-1350ppm. Jdieck has a great calculator you can use to determine how much (and of what kind) Mg you'll need to add to get the number to your goal range.
http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html</b>
I'm afraid I can't rely on Purple up, CA balance or Kalkwasser that I still don't have as they'll increase my Ca further.
<b>Both your alk and ca are plenty high. I'd like to see them drop. Purple Up doesn't affect calcium, but C-Balance and Kalkwasser do. I'd stop dripping & dosing that for at least 48 hours, and retest. If the numbers are still high, wait again. You can test daily. You may not need to dose for almost a week, but please test the water regularly instead of just sitting there waiting. Make sure it doesn't drop too quickly.</b>
Do you think further additions in Ca or Kh will have any side effects? do you think I should keep on maintaining them weekly or cut off to 1 dose of Ca balance every two weeks instead of weekly?
<b>Stability is key. If you can determine what your tank needs, you can dose the proper amount daily or weekly. Daily is better because the water will have less of a swing in parameters.</b>
I'm also hoping my waterchanges will handle the nitrates a bit more for my DSB to kick in or til I have better Caulerpa growth. I'm already seeing better growth in the refugium however not to the desired levels. I still didn't prune caulerpa since I started this tank (4-5 months now) and I guess it still needs a few months before needing a pruning.
<b>Either the light isn't strong enough or the water doesn't have enough nutrients to support plant growth.</b>
I'm using this power Saving lamp that consumes 23 W and should give around 120W. i still have to get a reflector for it. do you think I should add another one too?
or maybe use a 70 W MH that I have laying around with a 6500 K bulb or would that be overkill?
<b>A reflector would really help get the light where you need it.</b>
Performed my first 40 G water changeafter switching to reefcrystals. Fresh mixed water without any additions tested as follows:
Temp 81
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.4
Ca 460
Mg 1140
Kh 19 (tested 2 times!!!)
<b>That's hard to believe. Have you posted this number in the chemistry forum? Have you mixed up another batch yet? Do you have more than one bag/bucket to compare these results?</b>
Tank water tested as follows 1 day post water change:
Salinity 1.025
Temp 82
pH 8.3
Ca 500
Mg 1000 ( had dropped from 1260 in My-June to 960 in Jul and now up to 1000)
dKH 12
No3 30-35 like Jul
Po4 0
Do you think I should add Epsom salts to increase my Mg further or just rely on water changes with Reefcrystals which has more Mg?
<b>You definitely need to raise up Magnesium. I would either buy a bunch online or make it yourself. I do realize you may not be able to get the same products we use, but Randy's Recipe #2 for Magnesium is excellent and will get that number up. Mg is supposed to be 3x the calcium level. From your numbers above, Ca is too high, and Mg is too low. I would suggest raising it to 1300-1350ppm. Jdieck has a great calculator you can use to determine how much (and of what kind) Mg you'll need to add to get the number to your goal range.
http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html</b>
I'm afraid I can't rely on Purple up, CA balance or Kalkwasser that I still don't have as they'll increase my Ca further.
<b>Both your alk and ca are plenty high. I'd like to see them drop. Purple Up doesn't affect calcium, but C-Balance and Kalkwasser do. I'd stop dripping & dosing that for at least 48 hours, and retest. If the numbers are still high, wait again. You can test daily. You may not need to dose for almost a week, but please test the water regularly instead of just sitting there waiting. Make sure it doesn't drop too quickly.</b>
Do you think further additions in Ca or Kh will have any side effects? do you think I should keep on maintaining them weekly or cut off to 1 dose of Ca balance every two weeks instead of weekly?
<b>Stability is key. If you can determine what your tank needs, you can dose the proper amount daily or weekly. Daily is better because the water will have less of a swing in parameters.</b>
I'm also hoping my waterchanges will handle the nitrates a bit more for my DSB to kick in or til I have better Caulerpa growth. I'm already seeing better growth in the refugium however not to the desired levels. I still didn't prune caulerpa since I started this tank (4-5 months now) and I guess it still needs a few months before needing a pruning.
<b>Either the light isn't strong enough or the water doesn't have enough nutrients to support plant growth.</b>
I'm using this power Saving lamp that consumes 23 W and should give around 120W. i still have to get a reflector for it. do you think I should add another one too?
or maybe use a 70 W MH that I have laying around with a 6500 K bulb or would that be overkill?
<b>A reflector would really help get the light where you need it.</b>
Aquarist007
New member
Are you using drinking water/tap water or an ro/di filter over there?
I would test what every you are using prior to adding the salt mix and see where the alkalinity level is
I would test what every you are using prior to adding the salt mix and see where the alkalinity level is
maroun.c
New member
Thanks for your input Marc.
Will try posting in the Chemistry forum as you suggest. Only problem I see is that my ca does not drop very quickly usually as I don't have to much demand for it. Will try to get the lamps from an LFS in Holland as they have very decent equipment usually.
As for the worms I can only see 4-5 ones left whish I will be taking out tomorrow morning when lights go on.
My yellow cories wras and 2 two spot wrasses don't touch those worms so far.
Emeralfd crabs are not available here so I'll try to take the rock out and scrubb the valonia ?
On the bright side my torch coral seems to have lost loding heads and colours and I'm seeing a slight increas in tissue over the skeleton, still not at the 1 inch of tissue on the skeleton but better than before.
Will try posting in the Chemistry forum as you suggest. Only problem I see is that my ca does not drop very quickly usually as I don't have to much demand for it. Will try to get the lamps from an LFS in Holland as they have very decent equipment usually.
As for the worms I can only see 4-5 ones left whish I will be taking out tomorrow morning when lights go on.
My yellow cories wras and 2 two spot wrasses don't touch those worms so far.
Emeralfd crabs are not available here so I'll try to take the rock out and scrubb the valonia ?
On the bright side my torch coral seems to have lost loding heads and colours and I'm seeing a slight increas in tissue over the skeleton, still not at the 1 inch of tissue on the skeleton but better than before.
melev
Well-known member
The high alk & ca could be part of the problem your torch was suffering from. The water is very hard currently.
You can pluck out valonia with tweezers. I try to roll them off rather than pop them whenever possible. Some tangs eat them too.
If Calcium doesn't drop quickly, then you don't need to dose any. We dose what needs to be replenished.
You can pluck out valonia with tweezers. I try to roll them off rather than pop them whenever possible. Some tangs eat them too.
If Calcium doesn't drop quickly, then you don't need to dose any. We dose what needs to be replenished.
maroun.c
New member
Capn
I' use tap water which is drinking water quality, filtered by RO.
Our water is uaually alkaline and contains some calcium but I never had those values which I presume are from over dosing CA Balance. Will try to check the freshwater I'm using after RO. I know I'm getting 8.1 PH from that water without the salt but was told that the testing for freshwater can be misleading fro some reason.
I' use tap water which is drinking water quality, filtered by RO.
Our water is uaually alkaline and contains some calcium but I never had those values which I presume are from over dosing CA Balance. Will try to check the freshwater I'm using after RO. I know I'm getting 8.1 PH from that water without the salt but was told that the testing for freshwater can be misleading fro some reason.
Been following your thread for sometime when it was active.
Nice overall build, its sad how it ended with all those problems.
Any new updates lately?
A while ago you there was some pictures of your powerplugs, could you please post a good picture of them and if it's OK with you post where yo ugot them and how much they costed?
Nice overall build, its sad how it ended with all those problems.
Any new updates lately?
A while ago you there was some pictures of your powerplugs, could you please post a good picture of them and if it's OK with you post where yo ugot them and how much they costed?
maroun.c
New member
Hi there,
Guess all tanks have their ups and downs especially when new. it's true that I did have a big share of hard luck....
I do have some good updates however my schedule was hectic lately that I did not have the time to update this thread.
Had to travel to Turkey, Dubai, Syria (where I sstill am till Friday) then to holland on Saturday for 7 more days. After that should be home for 1 week and hoepfully will have finished processing and uploading all pics to post.
Will also post the power plugs pictures you are asking about. However I don't know their price as they were already installed when I rented the appartment. Don't know if it will be good to know where to get them from as I live on the other side of the planet...
Guess all tanks have their ups and downs especially when new. it's true that I did have a big share of hard luck....
I do have some good updates however my schedule was hectic lately that I did not have the time to update this thread.
Had to travel to Turkey, Dubai, Syria (where I sstill am till Friday) then to holland on Saturday for 7 more days. After that should be home for 1 week and hoepfully will have finished processing and uploading all pics to post.
Will also post the power plugs pictures you are asking about. However I don't know their price as they were already installed when I rented the appartment. Don't know if it will be good to know where to get them from as I live on the other side of the planet...
maroun.c
New member
Ok Time to start the updates of the last few weeks.
fortunately it was mostly good updates and additions.
I finally finished my DIY Q tank. I intens to use it as introduction tank and sometimes I endup buying more than a fish a time as the LFS only get 1shipment ever 4-5 weeks which sells completely in few days so 1 fish every shipment with the high risk of death due to shiping conditions will take me years to fill the tank. IT's a bit over filtered but at least I can hook another tank to it and have it filter both.
the triangle in it is to add bioballs and I decided to have a flow of air in the bioballs to make it wet dry instead of having a small wet dry trickle witht he risk of it running dry due to the small volume and my frequent 1 week travels.
Also added those small supports to be able to insert a separation in case of fish agression:
It also has a small fiilter with only carbon in it. in addition to an old seaclone which at least would aerate the water. it did skim a bit on the first few days though.
Bioballs were running for around 10 yrs in my 80 G kept them in my sump for 3-4 months. still have a few in case I have any spiles to help increase my bacteria population quickly.
I believe bioballs are the best iltration methos for a Q tank. I also have a sand bed and some rocks. My old Q tank never cycled till I had a sand bed and rocks in it.
First inhabitant was a hyppo tang that arrived in really bad shape, half dead in the bag I had no time to acclimate and dropped him immediately in the tank. ran the skimmer and the airston in the bioballs partition and an additional airston in the Q tnak to increase the oxygenation. he was suffering from amonia poisoning and laid on the sand then started surfacing and spiiting water out and trying to jump out. Luckily he made it and improved the second day, was fine for 10 days that I was considering transfering it to the display 2 days before I traveled. Murphy always works it's best before I travel as it showed severe spots all of a sudden. Luckily I had two days to drop the salinity, been fine since 2nd day in hypo salinity (14 days now)
fortunately it was mostly good updates and additions.
I finally finished my DIY Q tank. I intens to use it as introduction tank and sometimes I endup buying more than a fish a time as the LFS only get 1shipment ever 4-5 weeks which sells completely in few days so 1 fish every shipment with the high risk of death due to shiping conditions will take me years to fill the tank. IT's a bit over filtered but at least I can hook another tank to it and have it filter both.
the triangle in it is to add bioballs and I decided to have a flow of air in the bioballs to make it wet dry instead of having a small wet dry trickle witht he risk of it running dry due to the small volume and my frequent 1 week travels.
Also added those small supports to be able to insert a separation in case of fish agression:
It also has a small fiilter with only carbon in it. in addition to an old seaclone which at least would aerate the water. it did skim a bit on the first few days though.
Bioballs were running for around 10 yrs in my 80 G kept them in my sump for 3-4 months. still have a few in case I have any spiles to help increase my bacteria population quickly.
I believe bioballs are the best iltration methos for a Q tank. I also have a sand bed and some rocks. My old Q tank never cycled till I had a sand bed and rocks in it.
First inhabitant was a hyppo tang that arrived in really bad shape, half dead in the bag I had no time to acclimate and dropped him immediately in the tank. ran the skimmer and the airston in the bioballs partition and an additional airston in the Q tnak to increase the oxygenation. he was suffering from amonia poisoning and laid on the sand then started surfacing and spiiting water out and trying to jump out. Luckily he made it and improved the second day, was fine for 10 days that I was considering transfering it to the display 2 days before I traveled. Murphy always works it's best before I travel as it showed severe spots all of a sudden. Luckily I had two days to drop the salinity, been fine since 2nd day in hypo salinity (14 days now)
