ChrisKirkland
Reef and Coral Fanatic
Really nice thread looking forward to see the progress
My Bacteria Driven Journey
- Thread starter Tswifty
- Start date
PogoMonogo
New member
I'll second what was said earlier about amino acids. I have been running a bacteria driven system for almost two years and I have yet to add them. Do one thing at a time, it will help trouble shoot through process of elimination. Start with the vodka dosing for a few months, tthen add the AAs and if you get weird results, you'll know why. Overall, the bacteria driven system is the best thing I have ever done. I have more fish than ever, yet my tank is still super clean with sps thriving. Just have a big skimmer.
NaH2Ofreak
Premium Member
Just curious why you are dosing 140ml of Mg a week? Dosent that seem in excess? Also, you're dosing that much Mg and have no test kit? Also seems like a pretty high fish load for such a small tank. JMO. YMMV.
Dennis
Dennis
I'm glad you're starting with the MB7 before the vodka. I started the other way around, because I wasn't aware at first about the mb7, just about vodka, and as a result, any small patches of cyano in my system blew up and grew a TON, but after about 2 weeks of vodka with the mb7, the cyano disappeared, and now after about 3 months of dosing both, I'm happy to say that I don't have any cyano, and I never really had an algae problem, so I guess I'm clear there too.
This will be a good thread, and I'm excited to see your progress.
This will be a good thread, and I'm excited to see your progress.
Marc, you didn't have cyano problems though, did you? I believe you and I were "gettin' on the vodka dosing train" at about the same time in their thread. I had cyano problems then and still had problems now until I did the Microbacter7. If it weren't for the cyano, I'd just do vodka by itself no question. If it ain't broken, don't fix it!
scaryperson27
New member
If I were to run a fuge system now a'days, I would have cheato in with a powerhead to keep stuff off of the bottom and keep the cheato in a rolling motion.
Tswifty
New member
Thanks guys. Hopefully this will be a positive experience for everyone involved.
I wouldn't call them worthless. It's no secret that test kits aren't accurate. However, at this point I feel some idea of what's going on in there is better than none. I agree though, the Hanna Photometer would be ideal.
Glad to hear you have had good results with the system. I plan on taking it very slow, but hadn't heard that tip about the AA's. Thanks for pointing that out.
Come on now... you don't think I would dose something to my tank without testing? :lol:
I guess I should have specified, I ran out of my Salifert Magnesium test kit a few weeks ago. 140ml per week is what it takes to keep my system around 1400 ppm. The potency of supplements will differ, that's just the amount it takes with the particular brand I use. Since I have the dosage figured out, I really don't plan on switching.
If you look at the amount of fish, I guess it may seem high. However, I really don't feel as if any of my fish are high waste producers. I look at it in terms of the footprint a large Tang probably has versus my little Yasha Gobies (a large Tang's waste would probably be as large as them :lol: ). I think the largest fish in my system is 2.5" with the majority around 1" or so.
Only time will tell though.
No, I plan on moving forward regardless. It's going to be a few days before I can start the MB7 though, because I can't find a LFS around here that sells the Brightwell line. So I'm going to have to order it online.
I have considered extending and teeing off that line that empties into the fuge though. That way I can get flow moving across the bottom of the refugium, underneath the macro algae. Also, I'm hoping to add 1 or 2 Tunze 6025's to the display tank to address some dead zones or low flow zones that I feel may also be causing issues.
Whatever man... :lol:
:lol:
Well... I haven't seen many refugiums that keep cheato "rolling." Especially as it grows, I think it's impossible to achieve that effect. However, as Sonny pointed out in his thread... I agree that it's important to keep any deritus from settling in the sump area and in suspension so it can either be filtered off or taken up by the corals.
I'll actually be interested to see if I am able to keep a refugium once I progress with the system. It seems most people who run UNLS do not, or maybe I should say... cannot keep refugiums.
aquariumclown
New member
Personally I think that's scary unless you are accurately testing for it. I'm dosing 2 times a week about 4 drops on my 150gal. I'm not sure I'll continue, not seeing any difference by dosing.
Yea after a few threads on improving blue color in corals I bought some brightwell lugols at 50% off, and have been dosing about 2-3 drops a week since I'm not testing at all. I have been doing this for about 2 months now, and have yet to see any difference at all...... In contract to vodka+bacteria dosing, where I've seen a lot of colors lighten up and more skimmate being produced.
scaryperson27
New member
I would think you would have trouble keeping a refugium. I remember reading Sonny's post on that.
Goo luck with your ULNS
Goo luck with your ULNS
Tswifty
New member
I don't have the bottle yet, but from what I've read the dosages are listed as once per week. However some people break the recommended weekly dosage into smaller daily dosages. After viewing the directions online, I'll probably dose it once per week, as my total water volume isn't enough to make daily dosing a realistic option.
Directions: Add 1 drop per 25 gallons aquarium capacity weekly to sump or an area of high water flow.
Glad to hear you've experienced positive results with the system.
Thanks. Yeah, that's something I'll be on the lookout for.
aquariumclown
New member
What do you mean yellow sticks? You mean yellow sps turns green it signals how much iodine is in the water?
Padrino
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15500748#post15500748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tswifty
Over the next few days I plan on getting everything that I'll need ordered, pulling the live rock and live rock rubble out of my refugium section, as well as working my alkalinity down into the 8-9 dKH range. Hopefully I'll have my "before" pictures to post later.
As always... questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions are always welcome.
Why must you remove the live rock from your fuge and drop the alk to 8-9?
