My New AGE tank build! It's big! ~1500g DT

[prickles]

Just a thought. With the turf scrubbers working, I am down to undetectable nitrates and phosphates. This sounds good, but I think the phosphates are a lie. I have been experiencing the same problem as when I was dosing carbon. I have had a cyano outbreak recently. It was of medium severity. I have been dosing lanthanum chloride for the last week or so and it seems to be clearing up the cyano.

The argument here is that with carbon dosing, you get rid of more nitrates than phosphates and those build up, creating a cyano bloom. The same is true of algae scrubbing. The algae can't grow because of a lack of nitrates, so the phosphates build up. By lanthanum chloride dosing, I lock up the phosphates and the cyano can't grow.

I am actually planning to start dosing sodium nitrate and have that feed the algae. By artificially adding nitrates, the algae should grow quickly and pull out the phosphates, thereby clearing the problem. I don't like the lanthanum chloride for long term addition because of the cloudy water and the propensity of it to precipitate on the glass and make it cloudy.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Interesting theory on nitrate/phosphate, but why wouldnt you detect phosphates if thats the case?

 

[Chrisrush]

You can't detect the PO4 if it is bound up in cyano.

May want to look into Iodine addition as well to help with the ATS if you haven't already. Adding NaNO3 is a good thought too.

 

[prickles]

Not sure why I can't detect it. This is with a liquid test not the hanna. Being lazy, I just drop a bit of lanthanum chloride into the water and if it turns cloudy, I know I have phosphates.

For long term, I prefer the idea of exporting to adding, since I'm not really sure where the bound phosphate goes. With the ATS, I know i'm pulling nitrates and phosphates out of the system.

Neither of my skimmers nor my ATS's are doing hardly anything right now, so I'm guessing the water is just too clean. No hair algae in the DT either.

 

[sfsuphysics]

You can't detect the PO4 if it is bound up in cyano.

So if it's bound up in cyano then removal of phosphate should be relatively easy. If the cyano keeps coming back then it should be detectable since there won't be enough cyano (i.e. you siphoned a bunch out) to keep up with what production of phosphate you're doing.

 

[prickles]

You can't detect the PO4 if it is bound up in cyano.

May want to look into Iodine addition as well to help with the ATS if you haven't already. Adding NaNO3 is a good thought too.

what's the iodine do again?

 

[rholguin]

Wow!!! Amazing build. Just read the whole thread. Love the tank and the aqua scape is terrific.
Can't wait to see this tank in a couple of years when all your frags start growing out.

 

[prickles]

Wow!!! Amazing build. Just read the whole thread. Love the tank and the aqua scape is terrific.
Can't wait to see this tank in a couple of years when all your frags start growing out.

thanks! I can't wait either!

 

[bigrock]

How is the tank doing? Any resolution to your phosphate issues?

 

[prickles]

How is the tank doing? Any resolution to your phosphate issues?

The tank is doing okay. The phosphate issues went away with the lanthanum chloride and the nitrate additions. The cyano went away.

unfortunately, I was bad about QTing my corals and now have flatworms. I fragged most of my colonies and put the frags in the 120 and did repeated bayer dips over a couple months. I have been losing the colonies over time in the DT and need to get around to pulling all the acros and leaving it fallow for a while.

Unfortunately, that's not a fun process and I am not excited about it, so have been delaying and kinda neglecting the tank.

 

[bigrock]

Sorry to hear you are dealing with those nasty worms. With that size tank it just makes all issues harder to deal with I would imagine.
Good luck with irraticating.

 

[prickles]

Sorry to hear you are dealing with those nasty worms. With that size tank it just makes all issues harder to deal with I would imagine.
Good luck with irraticating.

Thanks! The major pain is just reaching stuff

 

[Hd818]

Holy cow this tank is huge!

 

[prickles]

Holy cow this tank is huge!

Yes, that's why it's a pain to reach stuff!
Whenever I need to rearrange the 120g it's amazing how easy it is

 

[McPuff]

Are they AEFW or just red flatworms? Have you tried to add melanurus wrasse(s)? I had the red flatworms and the wrasse took care of them in a very short time. If AEFW, sorry. :0(

 

[m0nkie]

The tank is doing okay. The phosphate issues went away with the lanthanum chloride and the nitrate additions. The cyano went away.

unfortunately, I was bad about QTing my corals and now have flatworms. I fragged most of my colonies and put the frags in the 120 and did repeated bayer dips over a couple months. I have been losing the colonies over time in the DT and need to get around to pulling all the acros and leaving it fallow for a while.

Unfortunately, that's not a fun process and I am not excited about it, so have been delaying and kinda neglecting the tank.

I have had good luck with Flatworm Exit.. gotta dose more than the recommended dosage. Did 3-4 treatments. Did not cure flatworms but it brought it down to manageable levels. Then I added a few yellow corris wrasse (or melanurus wrasse), good to go!

all the anemones and corals made it without issue.. need to remove your favorite worms and feather dusters.. and large WC after every dose

 

[McPuff]

I have had good luck with Flatworm Exit.. gotta dose more than the recommended dosage. Did 3-4 treatments. Did not cure flatworms but it brought it down to manageable levels. Then I added a few yellow corris wrasse (or melanurus wrasse), good to go!

all the anemones and corals made it without issue.. need to remove your favorite worms and feather dusters.. and large WC after every dose

I have also read the flatworm exit makes the corals grow faster and have better colors. Do a quick search if you haven't heard this... pretty interesting.

 

[prickles]

Are they AEFW or just red flatworms? Have you tried to add melanurus wrasse(s)? I had the red flatworms and the wrasse took care of them in a very short time. If AEFW, sorry. :0(

I saw the bite marks and eggs on the corals. Each plug I pulled had eggs on them near the base.

I have a 6 line and no apparent change.

 

[prickles]

I have also read the flatworm exit makes the corals grow faster and have better colors. Do a quick search if you haven't heard this... pretty interesting.

I have been trying to get the wrasses for a couple of months and they keep getting zero'd out by the wholesalers. I also was looking for target mandarins, but couldn't get them.

I have since decided to pull all the corals as they keep dying. About a week ago, I pulled every acro in the tank and tossed them. I did take frags a couple months ago, and I have about 100 frags in the 120 that have been sitting there since I first discovered the problem as a backup. Several of the colonies that succumbed to the worms have frags that have survived.

As an interesting point, the colonies that showed no signs of the worms' destruction had acro crabs in them. There were about 6 perfectly happy colonies that I pulled when I pulled the rest of the corals. I removed the crabs to the frag tank, and dipped the colonies before putting them into the frag tank. No signs of any flatworms coming off the corals. The frags that I dipped had visible worms falling off them. There were also no visible eggs.

Yes I did try to buy acro crabs, but they only seemed to like the bigger colonies, so any new colony would be decimated. Also they moved periodically and the colonies they were protecting got killed.

 

[Reefable]

Wow beautiful tank..just came across your thread on the RC..Kudos from Canada...cant wait to see your tank maturing with all the colonies...