slief
RC Sponsor
Thanks Bob! I completely agree! Sadly, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Hopefully he takes advantage of this opportunity. He has a lot to prove and I can only hope is is up for the challenge.
My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics
- Thread starter slief
- Start date
Thanks Bob! I completely agree! Sadly, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Hopefully he takes advantage of this opportunity. He has a lot to prove and I can only hope is is up for the challenge.
slief
RC Sponsor
I normally hate acclimation but this time I am enjoying it.
3 Ocellaris clowns, one Lemon Peel Angel and two yellow tail blue Damsels in my Reef Gently Acclimate XL. I really like this device! It sure makes slow acclimation a breeze and also works well for transporting the fish.
One Naso tang getting drip acclimated in the bucket.
3 Ocellaris clowns, one Lemon Peel Angel and two yellow tail blue Damsels in my Reef Gently Acclimate XL. I really like this device! It sure makes slow acclimation a breeze and also works well for transporting the fish.
One Naso tang getting drip acclimated in the bucket.
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slief
RC Sponsor
Acclimation complete. New fish seem to be doing well. Lemon Peel is already at home grazing on the rocks. The Naso is hiding in a cave.
The new clowns and the new yellow tail damsels along with one of the sergeant majors I added to test the waters.
The new Lemon Peel and the Fox Face that I put in a week or so ago.
The new clowns and the new yellow tail damsels along with one of the sergeant majors I added to test the waters.
The new Lemon Peel and the Fox Face that I put in a week or so ago.
MxReEfEr92
MASVC President
I need to come over I want to check out the tank, I can't use the "I live to far away" excuse!
slief
RC Sponsor
slief
RC Sponsor
New fish are a all doing well & eating. I also added two lawn mower blennies and a cleaner shrimp this morning.
Fish count as of today is as follows starting with the "sole survivor".
1 Engineer Goby
1 Naso Tang
1 Lemon Peel Angel
3 Ocillaris clowns
2 Sergeant Major Damsels
2 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels
2 Lawn Mower Blennies
1 Fox Face
1 cleaner shrimp
It's so nice to have colorful fish life in the tank again! More to come tentatively this Thursday including a bunch of cardinals, a flame angel, and a couple royal grammas followed by the fish from Jackson Hole the following week.
Fish count as of today is as follows starting with the "sole survivor".
1 Engineer Goby
1 Naso Tang
1 Lemon Peel Angel
3 Ocillaris clowns
2 Sergeant Major Damsels
2 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels
2 Lawn Mower Blennies
1 Fox Face
1 cleaner shrimp
It's so nice to have colorful fish life in the tank again! More to come tentatively this Thursday including a bunch of cardinals, a flame angel, and a couple royal grammas followed by the fish from Jackson Hole the following week.
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KrazyOnetime
New member
Seeing the cyno on the sand bed suggest to me there is an excess of PO4 in the water column along w/NO3 which has turned into green algae on the rockwork. Are you feeding dry pellet food? IMO/E it introduces PO4, rinsing frozen food is a must and from the pics it may be time to use Boyds chemiclean. Stuff works wonders with little to no side effects.
slief
RC Sponsor
One of them is with the second one and I am thinking it was a mistake putting them in. My plan is to try to catch them and remove them.
The stuff you see on the sand bed is not cyano. It's a red turf algae. I had cyano before and used the red slime remover with success. I always rinse my frozen food. I only use a little pellet and a little flake food. My Po4 levels are pretty low although I have not tested in a while (It might be time to do so) I would expect them to be under .05.
slief
RC Sponsor
I'm happy to report that the tank continues to improve. ORP hit 327 this morning and is continuing it's climb back to normal levels. All the new fish that I added last week are doing well. I also got a couple lawn mower blennies (mentioned previously) as there seems to be a bit of hair algae creeping in due to the lack of herbivores and the changes in my water quality in the wake of the disaster. I may need to invest in a bunch more snails and blue leg hermits. I will also test my PO4 levels this weekend to make sure they are at normal low levels.
Jim came by yesterday with 7 PJ Cardinals, 1 Bangai Cardinal, 2 Royal Grammas and a Flame Angel. Since the lights are not on yet, I can't really see all the new recruits but I'm sure they will be doing well in their new home. I will try to get some pictures when the lights come on.
Early next week should bring the shipment from the gentleman in Wyoming who is breaking down his tank. That will include a couple more Flame Angels, Wrasses, another clown fish, goby's and two larger Vlamingi's along with a few soft corals. Probably about 15 more fish in total which will just about complete my fish acquisitions.
So far my fish list is:
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clown fish
1 lemon peel angel
1 naso tang
2 Sergant Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
1 bangai cardinal
1 flame angel
2 royal grammas
1 cleaner shrimp
Here is my current ORP trend. I was at a steady 350 before the incident and I am getting very close to those numbers now. It will continue to rise for another hour or so when the lights come on. I expect it to hit 330 this morning as its at 328 now. I will post some tank and fish pictures later today.
And a shot of my ORP trend for the last 30 days from the Reeftronics site. This one shows the before and after trend since the disaster. I expect my ORP levels to be back to normal by the first of next week if not by Sunday based on the current daily increases.
Jim came by yesterday with 7 PJ Cardinals, 1 Bangai Cardinal, 2 Royal Grammas and a Flame Angel. Since the lights are not on yet, I can't really see all the new recruits but I'm sure they will be doing well in their new home. I will try to get some pictures when the lights come on.
Early next week should bring the shipment from the gentleman in Wyoming who is breaking down his tank. That will include a couple more Flame Angels, Wrasses, another clown fish, goby's and two larger Vlamingi's along with a few soft corals. Probably about 15 more fish in total which will just about complete my fish acquisitions.
So far my fish list is:
1 Engineer Goby (sole survivor)
3 ocillarus clown fish
1 lemon peel angel
1 naso tang
2 Sergant Major Damsels
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 fox face
2 lawn mower blennies
7 PJ cardinals
1 bangai cardinal
1 flame angel
2 royal grammas
1 cleaner shrimp
Here is my current ORP trend. I was at a steady 350 before the incident and I am getting very close to those numbers now. It will continue to rise for another hour or so when the lights come on. I expect it to hit 330 this morning as its at 328 now. I will post some tank and fish pictures later today.
And a shot of my ORP trend for the last 30 days from the Reeftronics site. This one shows the before and after trend since the disaster. I expect my ORP levels to be back to normal by the first of next week if not by Sunday based on the current daily increases.
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Reefing21715
New member
woow the colors on those fish are amazing congrats
slief
RC Sponsor
After the fiasco 3 weeks ago, I've noticed a bit of hair algae growing along with some red turf algae. Something I have not seen in a while. I'm sure part of that was due to the lack of herbivores for the last few weeks.
While I do run GFO, I decided to test my P04. I first tested with my 2 year old Elos test kit which was well (2 years) expired and it came up clear. I then pulled out my Hanna Checker. According to my Hanna checker, my PO4 came in at .30 which is pretty high. My regent expired 4 months ago so I'm not sure how accurate that was but I'm sure it's still fairly accurate and judging by what I see in the tank, I'm sure there is elevated levels of PO4. I decided to run a bit of Lanthanum Chloride into my system to bring it back down. It's possible that my levels elevated from all the water changes in the wake of the disaster or it's possible that my GFO just isn't keeping up with whats been leaching out of my rocks.
I used this process before (noted previously in this thread) with stellar results. 5ml of LaCl mixed with 1 liter of RODI water. I drip the mixture via an IV bag into a 10 micron filter sock at a rate of 1 drip per second. It's a very slow process that requires keeping an eye on the filter socks as the LaCl reacts with the tanks water and percipitates the PO4 which clogs the filter socks up fairly quickly. I have several 10 micron socks ready to go which I will swap in as the socks back up. As I said, it's a slow process that will reduce the PO4 levels gradually over the course of several hours but the end results are pretty impressive and if done right, very safe in my experience.
There are some who have been experimenting with LaCl reactors but I really don't like that idea as it requires a lot of monitoring and constant adjustment. I feel my solution is much safer and most importantly isn't dosing LaCl continuously unlike the reactor experimentation. LaCl can be dangerous and I did a lot of reading/research to come up with my ratio and dosing method. All percipitate is caught in the filter socks and the LaCl reacts and binds with the PO4 instantly when it hits the water. The key is doing it very slowly and in a heavily diluted ratio of LaCl to RODI water.
None the less, here is the setup. I will update with the results late today or tomorrow when I am done with the process. Depending on the results, I expect that I may need to do one more follow up dose in a couple days. Note to any of you considering this. Do your homework first. This stuff can be dangerous to your livestock if used improperly.
The tools:
IV Bag with 1 Liter of water and 5ml of LaCl set to one drip per second..
Into the 10 micron sock.. The sock should back up with PO4 percipitate in an hour or so.
While I do run GFO, I decided to test my P04. I first tested with my 2 year old Elos test kit which was well (2 years) expired and it came up clear. I then pulled out my Hanna Checker. According to my Hanna checker, my PO4 came in at .30 which is pretty high. My regent expired 4 months ago so I'm not sure how accurate that was but I'm sure it's still fairly accurate and judging by what I see in the tank, I'm sure there is elevated levels of PO4. I decided to run a bit of Lanthanum Chloride into my system to bring it back down. It's possible that my levels elevated from all the water changes in the wake of the disaster or it's possible that my GFO just isn't keeping up with whats been leaching out of my rocks.
I used this process before (noted previously in this thread) with stellar results. 5ml of LaCl mixed with 1 liter of RODI water. I drip the mixture via an IV bag into a 10 micron filter sock at a rate of 1 drip per second. It's a very slow process that requires keeping an eye on the filter socks as the LaCl reacts with the tanks water and percipitates the PO4 which clogs the filter socks up fairly quickly. I have several 10 micron socks ready to go which I will swap in as the socks back up. As I said, it's a slow process that will reduce the PO4 levels gradually over the course of several hours but the end results are pretty impressive and if done right, very safe in my experience.
There are some who have been experimenting with LaCl reactors but I really don't like that idea as it requires a lot of monitoring and constant adjustment. I feel my solution is much safer and most importantly isn't dosing LaCl continuously unlike the reactor experimentation. LaCl can be dangerous and I did a lot of reading/research to come up with my ratio and dosing method. All percipitate is caught in the filter socks and the LaCl reacts and binds with the PO4 instantly when it hits the water. The key is doing it very slowly and in a heavily diluted ratio of LaCl to RODI water.
None the less, here is the setup. I will update with the results late today or tomorrow when I am done with the process. Depending on the results, I expect that I may need to do one more follow up dose in a couple days. Note to any of you considering this. Do your homework first. This stuff can be dangerous to your livestock if used improperly.
The tools:
IV Bag with 1 Liter of water and 5ml of LaCl set to one drip per second..
Into the 10 micron sock.. The sock should back up with PO4 percipitate in an hour or so.
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slief
RC Sponsor
My LaCl dosing finished up around 9PM yesterday. It took about 6 hours and three 10 micron socks to complete the dosing. According to my Hanna Phosphorus Checker, I'm now at .13 which is a significant reduction in PO4 based on my previous test. I will wait a day or two and do another treatment using about half of what I did this time which should get me down to around .03
After that, I will replace my GFO and I should be golden. It's been three years or so since I did my last LaCl treatment. The only thing I have done to maintain my PO4 is keeping my GFO reactor filled with media. I don't even test for PO4 regularly which frankly I should be doing. I typically judge my conditions by my tanks overall health. I am reasonably certain my PO4 levels were pretty good up until the disaster. None the less, I think I will be keeping a closer eye on my PO4 levels. I guess it's time to order up more Hanna Phosphorus regent packs.
After that, I will replace my GFO and I should be golden. It's been three years or so since I did my last LaCl treatment. The only thing I have done to maintain my PO4 is keeping my GFO reactor filled with media. I don't even test for PO4 regularly which frankly I should be doing. I typically judge my conditions by my tanks overall health. I am reasonably certain my PO4 levels were pretty good up until the disaster. None the less, I think I will be keeping a closer eye on my PO4 levels. I guess it's time to order up more Hanna Phosphorus regent packs.
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aquaenthusiast
Member
:thumbsup: nice and simple
slief
RC Sponsor
Wow... I was reduced to tears today but this time for a positive thing. I mentioned earlier last week that I had somebody that I was referred to that was breaking his tank down in Wyoming. I sent the boxes and packing supplies last week which he got on Thursday.
He had emailed me over the weekend to let me know he was planning on shipping today. I spoke with him this morning and told him to try to use as few boxes as possible as the freight costs would likely be more than it would have cost me to buy the fish locally. He told me he would put a couple boxes on his account to help with the freight. Money was never this gentleman's concern.
Mid day today I received the tracking number receipt. I was shocked to see a $790 cost on 5 boxes Fed Ex P1 with a total weight of 147 pounds. After looking close at the receipt, I noticed he did not use my Fed Ex account number which I had provided him. I get a great discount and it would have cost about half that which I was prepared for. I immediately called him to see why he did it that way and didn't use my account. His response took the wind out of me and literally reduced me to tears. He covered all the costs to insure that the fish went to a good home. I had told him previously about my disaster but quite frankly, I was not expecting him to do this. How the hell do you thank somebody for that? I'm at an absolute loss for words at this point. Not only did he not charge me for the fish, shrimp or corals, but he covered the freight too. I thanked him profusely over and over and over. My business has been suffering and just last Thursday my wife got laid off after 3 years working for her company. When it rains it pours. Then this guy who is now my hero does this. If he only knew how truly grateful I am. Something that words could never properly convey.
All I can say is that this gentleman is an absolute god send. In the face of adversity, his kind gesture really left me speechless and in tears. And I am not an emotional kind of guy either. I'm absolutely shocked.
None the less, tomorrow morning I will get a big shipment of fish at my office immediately after which I will race home to acclimate them.
Expected tomorrow are 2 larger Vlamingi's, two flame angels, a bi-color angel which may end up in my office tank, 2 diamond goby's, blennies, a clownfish, several wrasses, a couple shrimp and a few soft corals. I think the total fish count is 15 or so plus the shrimp.
Updates to come tomorrow. Hopefully everything arrives safe and well.
In the interim, every fish I have added since the disaster is doing great and the tank seems to be back to it's normal self.
He had emailed me over the weekend to let me know he was planning on shipping today. I spoke with him this morning and told him to try to use as few boxes as possible as the freight costs would likely be more than it would have cost me to buy the fish locally. He told me he would put a couple boxes on his account to help with the freight. Money was never this gentleman's concern.
Mid day today I received the tracking number receipt. I was shocked to see a $790 cost on 5 boxes Fed Ex P1 with a total weight of 147 pounds. After looking close at the receipt, I noticed he did not use my Fed Ex account number which I had provided him. I get a great discount and it would have cost about half that which I was prepared for. I immediately called him to see why he did it that way and didn't use my account. His response took the wind out of me and literally reduced me to tears. He covered all the costs to insure that the fish went to a good home. I had told him previously about my disaster but quite frankly, I was not expecting him to do this. How the hell do you thank somebody for that? I'm at an absolute loss for words at this point. Not only did he not charge me for the fish, shrimp or corals, but he covered the freight too. I thanked him profusely over and over and over. My business has been suffering and just last Thursday my wife got laid off after 3 years working for her company. When it rains it pours. Then this guy who is now my hero does this. If he only knew how truly grateful I am. Something that words could never properly convey.
All I can say is that this gentleman is an absolute god send. In the face of adversity, his kind gesture really left me speechless and in tears. And I am not an emotional kind of guy either. I'm absolutely shocked.
None the less, tomorrow morning I will get a big shipment of fish at my office immediately after which I will race home to acclimate them.
Expected tomorrow are 2 larger Vlamingi's, two flame angels, a bi-color angel which may end up in my office tank, 2 diamond goby's, blennies, a clownfish, several wrasses, a couple shrimp and a few soft corals. I think the total fish count is 15 or so plus the shrimp.
Updates to come tomorrow. Hopefully everything arrives safe and well.
In the interim, every fish I have added since the disaster is doing great and the tank seems to be back to it's normal self.
slief
RC Sponsor
Thanks Dave! I'm a firm believer in passing it on when I have something to give. Now I've just got to decide it the bi-color angel will be safe in this tank with my lemon peel, flames and soft corals. Since he had this bi-color in his tank with his soft corals and two flames, I think I should be fine.
