my house reef (211 g.)

[TryTheChi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7017527#post7017527 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Simon, I'll send you the URL to the current images in a PM.

I'm running carbon in a Phosban Reactor. Water flows through it slowly (using an old MaxiJet 250), but it wouldn't be passive filtration.

My tank had PO4 issues galore, with an all-time peak of 3.0 last summer. At that point, either the phosphate or the phosphate remover were going to kill my corals. So I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, I hammered away at the water with every P04 remover on the market, and finally got it down to 0 on Dec 31, 05. I'll test the water here shortly, to get all my readings. I've had low readings this year around .5, so there still is some in the LS & LR.

I plan to test the water weekly during the dosing regime.

I shut off the skimmer every night when I feed, so that might be the perfect time to dose. Actually, I turn off the return pump, so it keeps the food in the display instead of wasting food in the sump and overflows.

Hi MArc

Carbon slow flow sounds good Sounds like its worth keeping the rowa in until you get a steady 0 - 0.02 - after that Prodi can handle it (at least it did on my tank)

The zooplancton in the refugium will get as boost from Booster and the substrate in there can also benefit from the bacs. If you isolate the main tank at night - why not dose a % (proposrtional to respective water volumes) of all 3 in the refugium on dosing nights?

I forgot to mention that my chateo - which prior to prodi was booming began to slow down - then became static then died off - this was arround week 4 IIRC - so its worth keeping an eye out for that incase it dies off and releases bound nutrients. Most other macro algae and all nuisence alge have also died except bubble algae which has emerged and increased a tad more than I like :twitch: (That stuff has been GM'd by Al'quieda to undermine moral in the west - what does it live off - human attention )

Cheers

SImon

 

[Floridiot]

Originally posted</a> by TryTheChi
Hi Marc

Your tank is highly stocked and fead heavily so there are plenty of pressures - if it were me - I wait to take the rowa offline when you get zero for NO3. The other factor is phosphates bound in the LR and any sand. If you have had rowaphos from day 1 of the tank and have no PO4 readings even with rowa then I'd feel more inclined to take rowa out sooner> I took mine off about 11 weeks after prodi started and it has stayed zero. Ovbiously - when you decide to take it off line - regular testing will be important. Tankblack has had good results with dosing weekly to bring PO4 down.

Re carbon - if its low flow or passive - thats good IME - unless there is a specific issue that neads clearing up. I actually use a trickle filter for my carbon.

RE the skimmer - they do say switch it off for 15 mins after dosing but I find the fatty content of Booster suppresses skimmer bubble formation for a few hours - so I dont bother switching it off.

Dosing time - I dont think it matters - although its always nice to dose at night and wake up to stunningly translucent water. RE Booster - PE is enhanced eve n during the day so......its fun to watch day and night - but the water goes cloudy for a few hours dso I dose at night.

LOoking forward to your pics

Cheers

Simon

I don't turn off my skimmer when dosing the reefbooster, but I do cut way back on the airflow going into the skimmer. If I don't, the skimmer overflows like crazy after a couple of hours. I wait until the next morning and increase the air until I get foam just coming over the lip of the collection cup. After another few hours, I increase the airflow back to wide open again.

As far as effectiveness of the Prodibio products vs. PO4 in my testing, I will have a six week test result back tomorrow from the lab. I will post my results on my thread: Floridiot's SPS Journal

 

[melev]

Here are some pictures of my tank. A full tank shot:

And then individual shots starting in this post of my 280g thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6995454#post6995454

Time to go test the water.

 

[jnarowe]

Marc, that looks so sweet! Love that tang!

 

[melev]

Thanks. Spock is a beautiful Naso Tang. Okay, all my water tests are done. I'm impressed - I usually hate finding out the truth about the water in my tank. Nitrate 7.5; Phosphate .25, the rest was pretty much in line although Mg would need to be 240 higher to be 3x the calcium level. Guess I'll be dosing more magnesium for a while.

Time to figure out what to dose and how much of it.

 

[jnarowe]

Cool. I have already done a water change since my ammonia got up to 1.0 ppm within a couple hours of adding the rock. I am running carbon and tomorrow I will start RowaPhos too.

Now I MUST get that skimmer going! You wouldn't believe how nice this rock is. Came in with a lot of macro-algae, a few worms, several hairy crabs, lots of sponges, several corals, several dead shrimp, etc. I sure wish I had a pro here to identify stuff as I sorted the rock. I am stoked!!!

 

[melev]

Ammonia will affect your inverts way more than pH. You might have to dose Prime in the tank to protect the hermits.

 

[jnarowe]

Never heard of "Prime" but I really don't care if I lose the hermits. There's only 10 or so in there anyway. They have become more active since I added the rock though. I am much more concerned about saving as much life on the rocks as possible. What is Prime?

BTW, pH has dropped to 8.38.

 

[melev]

Seachem makes Prime. It locks up ammonia, removes chloramines, and even locks up nitrate. I love the stuff, and always keep a bottle on hand for emergencies.

 

[padams626]

When can we expect the next podcast Melev? Big fan of Reefcast.

 

[melev]

Evan is working on it right now. I've not heard from him yet, but hope I will soon. If all goes as planned, it should be available in the morning.

 

[padams626]

Cool. I needed a lid from AquaC for my Remora. When I contacted them I mentioned how you and Evan said that they had great customer service. Just trying to spread the word about a good site and podcast.

What is Evan's Reef Central user name?

 

[melev]

Quiksilver. PM him if you like.

 

[Bmpower007]

Beautifull setup Iwan

 

[hawaiianwargod]

melev,
Nice tank. I love your collections of corals Marc.

 

[melev]

Thank you.

Here's my proposed schedule using the Prodibio products. Please let me know if you see any problems with it. The X denotes out of that product.

I'm spreading out the iodine and strontium because I don't think I agree with the package directions.

<b>What I need - When to dose - What is recommended on the package</b>
6 bioptim (every 2 weeks) (one ampule per 50g of water)
3 Stronti+ (weekly) (one ampule per 100g of water)
3 ReefBooster (weekly) (one ampule per 100g of water)
2 BioDigest (every 2 weeks) (one ampule per 250g of water)
3 Iodi+ (every 2 weeks) (one ampule per 100g of water)

So this is the proposed schedule:

 

[robthorn]

I would maybe wait so we all don't come down with algea problems. I added to my 125 1 of each biodigest,reefbooster,andbioptum. I started 1 and a half weeks ago and I am starting to see some algea on the rocks now. after 7 days I added another reef booster so today 3 days after the 2nd reef booster I see the algea which I am sure was there the past couple days but I am setting up my new bigger system so the 125 is getting neglected. I am sure it is not truely the fault of the reef booster or the prodibio products it's probably more like left over nutrients in the aquarium. I might should have started with bio digest and bioptim for amonth or 2 before trying the reef booster. I am going to skip it for a couple weeks to make sure I don't feed the algea anymore. I do not have detectable phosphates but I bought the whole turn key aquarium from a guy with a harley that liked to ride so I fought algea the first 4 months and it just started really clearing up the last 2 months maybe. just a little something to think about before you go head over heals dosing everything at once at full dosage

 

[melev]

Thanks for your input. I can definitely hold off on ReefBooster, or any other ingredient. This is exactly why I'm asking before adding.

 

[TryTheChi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7024086#post7024086 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Thank you.

Here's my proposed schedule using the Prodibio products. Please let me know if you see any problems with it. The X denotes out of that product.

I'm spreading out the iodine and strontium because I don't think I agree with the package directions.

<b>What I need - When to dose - What is recommended on the package</b>
6 bioptim (every 2 weeks) (one ampule per 50g of water)
3 Stronti+ (weekly) (one ampule per 100g of water)
3 ReefBooster (weekly) (one ampule per 100g of water)
2 BioDigest (every 2 weeks) (one ampule per 250g of water)
3 Iodi+ (every 2 weeks) (one ampule per 100g of water)

So this is the proposed schedule:

Hi Marc

This is what I figured for your tank a few pages ago:

"You have 280 gal = 1120 lts - lets say 1000lts net.
The core product is Prodibiodigest - 1 amp is good for 1000lrs each fortnight -
You will need 5 amps per 2 weeks TPIM
You will need 2-3 amps Reef Booster per week"


Was that excluding your sump volume? What is your system net volume?

If not, then the recomendation from Prodi is not to overdose on the Digest but to dose weekly if there are nutrient issues rather than double dose fortnightly. Personally I'd doese 1 amp every 2 weeks for 6 weeks and see where that takes you.
Again if 1000ltrs is system net then 5 TPIM would be enough.

Sorry I cant offer any views on Str and Iodide - I dont use them.

Again - if it were me - I'd start off with Digest and TPIM for 4-6 weeks as recommended - then up the dose to weekly if readings arent falling. I'd hang back on the Booster for 4 - 6 weeks so you can establish what the other 2 are doing, then phase in Iodine then strontium a couple of weeks appart- again to observe changes so they can be attributed to specific products. Your not planning a salt change or other husbandary changes?

'Good things happen slowly'

Cheers

Simon

 

[TryTheChi]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7024152#post7024152 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by robthorn
I would maybe wait so we all don't come down with algea problems. I added to my 125 1 of each biodigest,reefbooster,andbioptum. I started 1 and a half weeks ago and I am starting to see some algea on the rocks now. after 7 days I added another reef booster so today 3 days after the 2nd reef booster I see the algea which I am sure was there the past couple days but I am setting up my new bigger system so the 125 is getting neglected. I am sure it is not truely the fault of the reef booster or the prodibio products it's probably more like left over nutrients in the aquarium. I might should have started with bio digest and bioptim for amonth or 2 before trying the reef booster. I am going to skip it for a couple weeks to make sure I don't feed the algea anymore. I do not have detectable phosphates but I bought the whole turn key aquarium from a guy with a harley that liked to ride so I fought algea the first 4 months and it just started really clearing up the last 2 months maybe. just a little something to think about before you go head over heals dosing everything at once at full dosage

Hi Rob

Interesting.....a reaction to note. An algae spurt cant be due to Digest of TPIM directly because it works in the opposite direction - stravation - but a couple of indirect factors could come into play... Just thinking arround the issues here... what sort of algae is it - have you a picture?

Is your skimmer cleaned regularly and taking out the waste from the bacterial activity? What happened to the color of the skimmate (Should go darker for a while)?

What is the PH range of the tank min - max daily? If it is low - then I understand that algaes can be encouraged by this due to greater ability to extract CO2 from disolved elements. PH can drop with a huge increase in bacterial activity, and so buffering is important through decent KH and aragonite materials.

Where has the algae grown in relatiuon to water flow and surphace texture? Is it growing in a high flow area with plenty of nooks and crannies?

Are the clean up crew at full muster?

What are your NO3 and silicate levels? Has PO4 been consistantly low - and was the test kit in date?

Interesting to hear of that reaction - and would be good to find the solution

Cheers

Simon