Mhucasey's SPS obsession
- Thread starter mhucasey
- Start date
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
BRS did a nice experiment with Chaeto showing its effectiveness, and it was literally free for the algae. My total out of pocket is 20dollars for an LED strip to make this diy reactor:
I also have a standard Refugia area in the sump with another mass of Chaeto. I know it can work, and I have seen proof of nice colors in many Triton tanks, so I think I can do a bit of "Triton on the cheap".
Hey Matt, I like what your dosing.
Can you explain your % targets for z and mn and why you are dosing boron?
Oh and .. more pics!
The Triton test results show a value for Correction dosage and maintenance dosage that can easily be back calculated to determine percentage of NSW value to be dosed per day. It's about 12% for both Manganese and Zinc per Triton recommendations.
Joe has been dosing Manganese at 0.0006 mg/l daily, Zinc at 0.0008 mg/l daily(Much higher than 12% - 36 and 48%, respectively of NSW target), and only recently saw a little accumulation for Zinc.
My dosing works out to a smaller amount(0.00024mg/l Manganese and 0.00032mg/L Zinc) so I am not worried about build-up, and I will raise the values after I am comfortable that everything continues to do well.
I added Boron since it may improve reds, and it is an important biological component that will not be adequately replaced without water changes. Calcium reactor media doesn't contain enough, and algae can be a sink for Boron. It also is pretty forgiving if overdosed, so I am not worried there.
Between the algae and the dosing, everything is doing well, here is another progression shot:
The FTS is still a little barren as the corals are smaller and father apart, but see how clean the rocks are - its like everything has been scrubbed clean all the time:
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Thanks Daniel! There are several gems in there that are working their way back to glory, I must have patience!
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Possibly, since I am using Algae. Most salt mixes have slightly elevated Boron, so regular water changes may keep levels in line. You can dose Boron using Borax dissolved in water.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Thanks Mark, I think stability is very important, but there is something else that my tanks have that lets them break the rules a bit. By all the conventional wisdom, a tank with as much light as both my tanks have, with Nitrate at around 50ppm and Phosphate as high as 0.45ppm, supplemented with Iron, there should be tons of green hair algae everywhere. I've never had hair algae. All i can think of is that the tanks have been designed to strip out DOCs efficiently with the oversized skimmers I have used, and by design have been extra good at stripping out CO2. My pH has been very high for years, right now my swing is between 8.35 and 8.65. It just goes to show that there is much more to the whole thing than PO4 and NO3.
The DIY reactor is a Nextreef XL media reactor that I have repurposed a few times. Marine Depot sells a kit with a media reactor, Warm white LED strip, and starter algae. I saw the kit and realized I could just use my own reactor and buy a LED strip from Amazon. Im giving the plant grow spectrum a whirl to see if it grows better than white LEDs.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
I made up a solution of Boron using Borax that would raise the amount of Boron by about 1.5ppm if dosed all at once(250ml solution). I started dosing it partially because I was having Chaeto that was breaking apart and not growing well at first. I dosed about 30ML day one and I am dosing a small amount daily directly into the Chaeto - about 10ml of solution or 0.006ppm Boron and the Chaeto is wiry and growing well now. I haven't tested anything yet.
What is your flow through the reactor? How are you dosing boron? What test kit do you use to measure it?
Lots of questions. I'm happy whenever I see an update to your thread.
I am not sure what the flow rate through the reactor is, if I would guess I would say 150gph.
biggles
Premium Member
Hey Matt, the positive color changes in those pics are obvious so it's great to see things going the right direction mate. That DIY reactor is the coolest thing i've seen in ages and looks bloody cool to boot. :thumbsup:
Have you noticed any guys knocking on the door wanting a haircut since you put the new light reactor into operation ?
Have you noticed any guys knocking on the door wanting a haircut since you put the new light reactor into operation ?
nemodan
New member
:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Update: Things are going very well in the tank I upped the warm light hours to 5 hours, and have added a once a week addition of FM Color Elements red/purple and blue/purple to cover any missing trace elements. The growth is really picking up so everything seems to be going well. Phosphate is down to 0.06ppm due to the combination of the Chaeto growing and some GFO. Alk is steady at 7.9. My pH is off the charts, ranging between 8.45 and 8.8:eek1:
Here are some tank shots, still pretty sparse but that won't be for long...
Kitchen Side:
Family Room Side:
A few closer shots:
I upped the warm light hours to 5 hours, and have added a once a week addition of FM Color Elements red/purple and blue/purple to cover any missing trace elements. The growth is really picking up so everything seems to be going well. Phosphate is down to 0.06ppm due to the combination of the Chaeto growing and some GFO. Alk is steady at 7.9. My pH is off the charts, ranging between 8.45 and 8.8:eek1:Here are some tank shots, still pretty sparse but that won't be for long...
Kitchen Side:
Family Room Side:
A few closer shots:
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Thanks Mark!Looks fantastic Matt, keep on keeping on.
Ahh, the waiting game...I hate the waiting game!!
Nitrate is pretty much unchanged at about 50ppm. Some GFO helped with Phosphate but my previous GFO use didn't have as much of an impact as the combination with Chaeto has.
thanks!
Wazzel
New member
BRS did a nice experiment with Chaeto showing its effectiveness, and it was literally free for the algae. My total out of pocket is 20dollars for an LED strip to make this diy reactor:
I also have a standard Refugia area in the sump with another mass of Chaeto. I know it can work, and I have seen proof of nice colors in many Triton tanks, so I think I can do a bit of "Triton on the cheap".
The Triton test results show a value for Correction dosage and maintenance dosage that can easily be back calculated to determine percentage of NSW value to be dosed per day. It's about 12% for both Manganese and Zinc per Triton recommendations.
Joe has been dosing Manganese at 0.0006 mg/l daily, Zinc at 0.0008 mg/l daily(Much higher than 12% - 36 and 48%, respectively of NSW target), and only recently saw a little accumulation for Zinc.
My dosing works out to a smaller amount(0.00024mg/l Manganese and 0.00032mg/L Zinc) so I am not worried about build-up, and I will raise the values after I am comfortable that everything continues to do well.
I added Boron since it may improve reds, and it is an important biological component that will not be adequately replaced without water changes. Calcium reactor media doesn't contain enough, and algae can be a sink for Boron. It also is pretty forgiving if overdosed, so I am not worried there.
Between the algae and the dosing, everything is doing well, here is another progression shot:
The FTS is still a little barren as the corals are smaller and father apart, but see how clean the rocks are - its like everything has been scrubbed clean all the time:
Tank looks nice and cool chaeto can. I have been kicking around the idea to doing something similar to what you did.
Similar threads
