My 1300 gallon addiction: A Miami reef build story.

My 1300 gallon addiction: A Miami reef build story.

mr9iron said:
I would think the use of Lanthanum Chloride could help with the phosphate issues on such a large tank.
Click to expand...


This is what I did in my 240 that I used all Florida limestone rock.

I did a very slow drip of it in my overflow (Similar style to yours) and ran filter socks on the drain pipes. They can clog up quick. So monitor frequently.
 
Sounds like a straight forward solution. How did you dilute and what was the amount of Lanthanum Chloride you used and for how long? Was it a permanent drip or a once a week treatment? The specifics are REALLY appreciated. I'm thinking this would be a viable and economical solution.

The sump I have had drains that through a spray bar onto a flat "drip plate" of sorts, where I have a large sheet (approximately 10" x 48" of filter floss...but I don't think it would be the appropriate micron size. I'm wondering how I can modify to implement... I heard a 10 micron sock/material is needed.

Also, was it the SeaKlear brand?
Thanks.
 
Thanks Corey, much appreciated.

I'm going to continue to explore the option.

I'm out of town until Sunday but I'm hoping the additional Rowaphos I added has continued to bring down the phosphates. I want to start adding some corals that I pulled from my previous system.
 
DannyDJD said:
Sounds like a straight forward solution. How did you dilute and what was the amount of Lanthanum Chloride you used and for how long? Was it a permanent drip or a once a week treatment? The specifics are REALLY appreciated. I'm thinking this would be a viable and economical solution.



The sump I have had drains that through a spray bar onto a flat "drip plate" of sorts, where I have a large sheet (approximately 10" x 48" of filter floss...but I don't think it would be the appropriate micron size. I'm wondering how I can modify to implement... I heard a 10 micron sock/material is needed.



Also, was it the SeaKlear brand?

Thanks.
Click to expand...


I don't remember the concentration I used. I believe I got used whatever everyone was using the the link above. I diluted mine in close to a half gallon of RODI water. I took a square just, used a 1/4" push connect fitting bulkhead. Bulk reef supply sells them. And installed that with ro tubing inside of it and on the outside I used to tubing to a little valve to control drip rate.

They do sell filter floss in lower micron sizes. We looked a while back for a friend with a similar setup. He ended up running a setup that pulled water from his sump into a 5 gallon bucket. And drained via gravity into a filter sock back into his sump.
 
Ok, ok, that definitely sounds viable. The only concern I have with the low micron floss is that I have so much flow between the hammerhead and the 2 x 2" drains through the spray bar(s), that when I tried to use 100 micron floss upon initial system setup, simply to polish the water more, the flow rate over powered the floss and the water overflowed into the adjacent section of the sump. An individual super low micron sock with a slow drip of diluted LC is probably going to be the route I go. I saw in the above link (or read somewhere in my recent research) that some are using 30ml per 1L of RO water to treat approximately 300 gallons. If that's the appropriate dose, then that would put me right around 120ml diluted into 4L of water...what sort of treatment time/drip rate would work? And would this treatment be constant and ongoing, or simply a weekly or monthly thing.

Thanks again!
 
I tested the tank last night upon getting back into town, and the nitrates still stood at 25ppm, but the phosphates had lowered to 0.03, which was good news. I have not added anymore Rowaphos into the reactor (currently 1.5L of media) and am hoping it will reduce it a bit more in the next couple of days. If not, I will add another 0.25-0.5L of media and that should do it for now. The rest of the parameters are: Cal 450, Alk 7.2 (I dosed 360ml/3ml per 10 gallons as recommended), PH 8.1 or so, salinity 1.024ish. I plan on adding more salt to the system today in an attempt to raise it to 1.025/6.

That said, I understand that it is normal in new and cycling tanks to have light green (like lime color) algae growing on the rocks, and that's definitely the case. I went through the full blown diatoms, then cyano, which I got rid of successfully dosing Chemiclean, but now a large portion of the rocks (that receive light) are covered in this light green algae. How long should this last? Other than water parameters, is there anything I can do to mitigate? I don't think it's common hair algae, but did not experience this with my last 210 gallon.

I added a tricolor torch and hammer coral (from previous system) into the display last night and will add some pics tonight.
 
So here's a pic of the green algae I mentioned earlier. The Phosphates continue to decline and I have heard and read plenty that this is a somewhat normal/common occurrence in new tanks.



I'm going to grab some of the numerous snails that are around the tank and focus them on the most covered areas...as can be seen, the upper levels of the tank, despite receiving the most algae producing light, are much less covered as the snails seem to doing some solid clean up.

Who else has experienced this sort of "new tank" green algae issue, and what tips can you suggest?

Thanks!
 
Let it run its course...small water changes and monitor water quality, but outside of that its just part of the cycle.

Corey
 
Thanks Corey, that gives me a bit more peace of mind. I'm planning a solid water change within the week (last one was a 250gallon change after dosing Chemiclean about 2-3 weeks ago) and continuing to monitor the parameters.
 
Don't run it through filter floss. You want to catch ALL of the precipitate. I would just buy a bunch of socks of the right size and rig up some kind of reactor or simply a sock holder and just drip it in an IV bag or similar. Just go SLOW and monitor carefully. You don't want that stuff getting into your tank as some report it can have a negative affect on livestock. I used it to cure my rock ahead of time so I just dumped it in my brute, but at the end, I rinsed everything really well. You don't have that luxury.

As far as the green algae, let it go. Make sure you have a CUC, and just wait it out. It took 3 months for mine to subside, and 6 months for my rocks to color up and about 8 months before all the "new tank" stuff completely or almost completely went away. It may be longer for you due to high phosphate you are starting with. I think I started at 0.03-0.04. Either way, a tank that size there should be no rush. If you want to rush, get a nano, LOL!
 
I second the "let it be" mentality of the green algae. I believe a system is not truly cycled in less than a year, but that's just me.
 
Agree sonic. I cured my rock in trash cans for 4 months before I set up my tank. I still expected to have some sort of mini cycle at least.


Corey
 
Man, I wish I could find a place to put a peninsula tank like this. I love the look of them, but the house just isn't set up right to have one anywhere. I'm sure my wife is glad for that haha. Beautiful build. The algae doesn't seem all that bad, nothing more than I'm seeing now on my new tank. And good luck positioning snails to eat it, I move mine from time to time onto rocks loaded with algae, next morning they are gliding around the glass that I clean daily. Sigh.
 
Ok. I'll just focus my efforts on getting my parameters and water quality where it needs to be and being patient. Looking up those 10 micron socks...
 
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