My Bacteria Driven Journey

[Padrino]

TJ,
I agree with your move back to TMP. This salt has a lower Alk than the ones you currently use. I have measured my last 2 buckets at 8.0. Currently my alk is 11.2 in the tank but i am going to stop added Alk to my changeover water until my tank parameters go back to 8.0. You will get less coraline algae which i think will look cleaner and better. My overflow is covered with purple spots. Kinda wish it wasn't

 

[strittmatter]

I am on week 2 of vodka, I started to help get rid of some green cyno I have. A friend said he had red cyno and did vodka and disappeared. I have not noticed an increase or decrease in the green cyno since starting this.

After reading this and Sunny post i think i am going to get some MB7.

I have a couple questions:
1. you suggested to someone else to stop dosing vodka for a week and when they start the MB7. When you start back up what level would you start back up on? I am up to 2ml per day right now.

2. I am looking at the instructions for MB7 on a website and it says to shut down the skimmer for 4 hours after dosing. You stated you left your skimmer on. Is this not needed?

 

[reefkeepa14]

super interested...ill be tagging along. this is something ive been wanting to do as well.

 

[jahorgos]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15620635#post15620635 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by strittmatter
I am on week 2 of vodka, I started to help get rid of some green cyno I have. A friend said he had red cyno and did vodka and disappeared. I have not noticed an increase or decrease in the green cyno since starting this.

After reading this and Sunny post i think i am going to get some MB7.

I have a couple questions:
1. you suggested to someone else to stop dosing vodka for a week and when they start the MB7. When you start back up what level would you start back up on? I am up to 2ml per day right now.

2. I am looking at the instructions for MB7 on a website and it says to shut down the skimmer for 4 hours after dosing. You stated you left your skimmer on. Is this not needed?

#2 The idea is that the MB7 is not taken out by the skimmer. What I see a lot of and I do myself is that I dose a bit more then recommended and leave the skimmer on. I would say 20-30% more.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15619109#post15619109 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CleveYank
I add Calcium Chloride to adjust for Instant Ocean Alk issues both in the new mix and add some to the tank simultaneously. (When I added the total adjustment, the amount required would cause it to precipitate in the new mix.) Some have gone to other brands of salt. IO has been what I've always used I make the adjustment, since higher alk levels can make the whole carbon dosing counterporductive (did some damage to a few corals during the learning curve but didn't lose them completely).

Yeah, I've been blending the Instant Ocean with Coralife in order to cut down the alkalinity. I'll have to dig through some old posts, but I believe I was ending up with an alkalinity around 10 dKH... which was what I was shooting for back then. I noticed a new line on the Salt Mix Thread that shows "new" Reef Crystals batches posting an alkalinity of 13 dKH.

I've jumped around a few times with different salt mixes, and really haven't noticed any reactions from my livestock (positive or negative). Just changes in how much I need to buffer one level or another after I make up a fresh batch. The funny thing is that I always seem to end up back with Instant Ocean in some form or another.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15619441#post15619441 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Padrino
TJ,
I agree with your move back to TMP. This salt has a lower Alk than the ones you currently use. I have measured my last 2 buckets at 8.0. Currently my alk is 11.2 in the tank but i am going to stop added Alk to my changeover water until my tank parameters go back to 8.0. You will get less coraline algae which i think will look cleaner and better. My overflow is covered with purple spots. Kinda wish it wasn't

I think I'm actually going to try out Red Sea Coral Pro. I took a look at the Salt Mix Thread in the Reef Chemistry forum, and like what I see. Plus I have a gift card for the LFS, and they don't carry Tropic Marin. Perhaps I'll start out with the smaller 55g mix bucket before making a 175g commitment.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15620635#post15620635 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by strittmatter
I am on week 2 of vodka, I started to help get rid of some green cyno I have. A friend said he had red cyno and did vodka and disappeared. I have not noticed an increase or decrease in the green cyno since starting this.

After reading this and Sunny post i think i am going to get some MB7.

I have a couple questions:
1. you suggested to someone else to stop dosing vodka for a week and when they start the MB7. When you start back up what level would you start back up on? I am up to 2ml per day right now.

2. I am looking at the instructions for MB7 on a website and it says to shut down the skimmer for 4 hours after dosing. You stated you left your skimmer on. Is this not needed?

1. When you start back up, I would resume at 1/2 the dosage you were currently on.

2. I leave the skimmer on. Someone on Sonny's thread reported losses after dosing MB7, and turning the skimmer off. It was felt that depleted O2 levels were the cause. I don't really feel that there is any negative to leaving it on.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15620719#post15620719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefkeepa14
super interested...ill be tagging along. this is something ive been wanting to do as well.

Glad to have you along.

 

[Tswifty]

Updated Pictures:

ORA Marshall Island Blue Bottlebrush

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

ORA Tri Color

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

Tri Color

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

Paletta Pink Tip

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

 

[Tswifty]

Purple Digi

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

ORA Red Planet, ORA Joe the Coral, Purple Tip Efflo

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

Green Acro

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

One of the worst areas for algae.

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

 

[Tswifty]

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

August 9, 2009

August 30, 2009

 

[elijaher]

Nice improvement 21 days,slight growth.

 

[boret]

Even the algae is looking better
Nice pictures!! Thanks for all the work to keep this documented.

 

[Tswifty]

Here's my absent minded calendar. Hopefully this will prevent me from skipping or double dosing anything. Had to re-size it a bit, so I'm not sure how legible it is for you guys. :lol:

I'm going to back off from weekly water changes, and instead begin performing a 5 gallon change every 2 weeks. This will have me changing 20% a month, which I think should be adequate for my system. However, the first water change this month will be 10 gallons since it will have been 1 month since my last water change. Also, the Microbacter 7 dosage will be increased the day following the water change to compensate for any bacteria lost during the change.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15623189#post15623189 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elijaher
Nice improvement 21 days,slight growth.

Thanks. I'm not extremely focused on growth just yet. Although, it seems like I can sit in front of the tank and watch the Digi's grow regardless of what the tank is going through (darn weeds). :lol: Getting my tank healthy and water params line is the first priority... then I'm sure the growth will come.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15623200#post15623200 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boret
Even the algae is looking better
Nice pictures!! Thanks for all the work to keep this documented.

Thanks. The before and after pics aren't mind blowing just yet, but I definitely think progress was made in the right direction. I was extremely surprised in the turn around of the ORA Marshall Island Blue Bottlebrush. That particular piece looked like it was about a week from ending up in the field behind my house. :lol:

Also, it seems there was an increase in polyp extension over the course of the 2 weeks I was dosing Microbacter 7. I just hadn't noticed it until I looked at the older pics.

 

[Tswifty]

Time to start Vodka dosing. The Vodka I picked up is actually 40 proof instead of 80 proof. So I will adjust my dosage accordingly.

 

[aquariumclown]

40 proof is prolly better for you since you have a small tank.

 

[Tswifty]

Also, I had to adjust my MB7 dosage from 1 drop to 1 "dropper" full per day. In doing some quick tests, it took about 5-6 droppers to make up the 5 ml of Microbacter 7 that I should be dosing each week now. So 1 dropper full is probably close to 1 ml.

I'm not sure if my skimmate observations were skewed a bit in the beginning from the waste collection container not being emptied in a while or what. I was wiping black sludge out of the neck when I reported it 2 weeks ago (Aug 18). However, it seems like my skimmer is back to pulling the colored skimmate I was used to seeing. Although I think it is pulling more than usual (I haven't checked the amount it pulls over the course of a day in a long long time). Anyway, I unhooked the waste collection container a few days ago, and here is about 3 days worth of skimmate. I figured it'd be nice to get a picture before I started dosing Vodka.

 

[aquariumclown]

Good job. Mark on the dropper idea is cool.

 

[soccerbag]

Great updates! Looking forward to seeing the next pics in a month or so. I agree, the bottlebrush improvement is pretty amazing for 30 days.

 

[Tswifty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15626451#post15626451 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aquariumclown
Good job. Mark on the dropper idea is cool.

Thanks. I filled up the dropper a few times and got some variation each time, so I figured placing the mark will help to eliminate some of the variation. Also, I'm going to be traveling to Arizona for a week at the end of the month, and my little sister takes care of the tank in my absence. So anything I can do to make her job easier always helps.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15626481#post15626481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by soccerbag
Great updates! Looking forward to seeing the next pics in a month or so. I agree, the bottlebrush improvement is pretty amazing for 30 days.

Thanks. Hopefully I can get it to color up like some of the pictures I have seen. I may have to relocate it though depending on how it responds over the next month or so. It's beginning to become shaded by the large purple digi in the tank, and may not be getting enough light. Although I plan to leave it be for a while. I actually picked up some new coral frags last weekend, and need to get them placed in the tank. The one thing that stinks about a smaller system... you run out of space so darn fast! :lol:

The first dose of Vodka went into the tank. 0.4 ml of 40 proof Vodka.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Looks like you getting some good results ..... Keep us posted on your journey. I see why you started to dose the vodka. You are going to need either a rabit fish or some Mexican turbo snails to chow down the red cotton algea.
Vodka will help in the long run just keep poking away.
Michael Anthony

 

[Tswifty]

Thanks. I can't complain at this point. Up until today I had only been dosing Microbacter 7 and Kent Marine Lugol's Solution.

I don't think the red algae is cotton candy algae. I've had small outbreaks of cotton candy algae in previous tanks, and this stuff is nothing like it. I would add another Tang before a Rabbitfish though. I just don't trust Rabbitfish in Reef Tanks, and they seem to grow at an astronomical rate. I may give the Mexican Turbo's another shot sometime down the road. Although I've had miserable luck with them in the past, and they usually end up dying within the first few days.

For now I'm just going to leave the tank and inhabitants as they are, and wait to see what effect the Vodka and Microbacter 7 have over the next few months.

Also, I think I mentioned that I turned off the CO2 the other day. Anyway, the Alkalinity fell to 8.0 dKH last night, and tested at 7.7 dKH tonight. My ESV 3-Part will be arriving tomorrow, so if the levels continue to drop I will be able to boost them back into range. I would really like my alkalinity to hold at 8.0 dKH, but would be extremely happy if it decides to hold at the current 7.7 dKH. If that happens then it would mean I could leave the tank as is running on the Kalk Reactor alone for the time being, and not have to worry about manually dosing.