My Tank Thread (Take3) ★Total AUTOMATION★ DIY Doser, Sump, AlgaeScrubber, WaterChnges

[Wally.B]

Wally,

The best thing is to treat all fish in that tank with TTM and leave the tank fishless 72 days to get rid of ich once and for all. TTM is really easy to do.

I looked up TTM, and found this.
https://www. r e e f 2 r e e f.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655

Going to analyze this further.

Sounds like I have to catch all my fish.
Originally I was thinking that will be impossible (to catch the Algae Blenny).
But if he loves Nori, maybe not impossible after all.

However I did order the Med Pellets, and see how that goes.

 

[Wally.B]

New SPS Tank FRAG (Can't Stop Staring at it) Forest Fire Digitata

So when I went looking for Pellets, I came across a Frag I couldn't leave in the store.

When I brought it home, have to say I've never been so stunned by a Frags initial looks.

A Forest Fire Digi. Not an Fancy coral that will WOW the High End Acro experts.
Placed it Very Low down since it's not a high light coral. Secluded a bit to not get hit by high circulation.

This is 3 minutes after Mounting and placing in tank. The Polyp's haven't even come out.

I'll get a better photo once it acclimatizes, but this gived you an idea compared to my other Frags.

(I probably don't need to point it out to anyone)

If I can get it to grow, it will be a nice addition to the Tank.

 

[ReefWreak]

Nothing wrong with nice colored Montiporas! Forest fire is a great one and if you like that color combo, the Chili Pepper Monti Cap is a nice red/green contrasting SPS that is easy to keep and keep colored up (not to mention the cool scrolling of monti caps).

I'm glad the blenny is considering nori now. As mentioned, it would be ideal if now you can catch all of the fishes, run the tank fallow for 72 days, and treat them all gently through hyposalinity in a QT or just do TTM (though TTM is quick, and you'll need to leave the display without fishes for 72 days, so almost no reason to rush through).

It's so great that our hobby has advanced to the point now where not only is it achievable to have a tank free of ich, but it's pretty easy and not an expensive process either.

Just remember to TTM/quarantine all new fishes going forward too (another reason to consider QT for corals too, in theory they could transfer ich between tanks).

 

[sensei]

I looked up TTM, and found this.
https://www. r e e f 2 r e e f.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655

Going to analyze this further.

Sounds like I have to catch all my fish.
Originally I was thinking that will be impossible (to catch the Algae Blenny).
But if he loves Nori, maybe not impossible after all.

However I did order the Med Pellets, and see how that goes.

yes, that is the best thread for TTM IMO.
I have done easilly more than 50 times and it has never failed for me.
I belive you have around 4 or 5 fish in that tank, so you can do all of them at same time

good luck

 

[Wally.B]

My thoughts are with the People of Turks and Caicos.

They just got hit by Hurricane Irma, and possibly another storm on the way.

The Island is beautiful and after a week there the Hotel Staff at "The Sands" were like Family, so I think of them and hope all is as best as can be.

I got these Flora Photo's just on the Hotel Property, and know things are not the same.

The Island got hit Directly By The Eye at 2am this morning and at this point all communication is lost, and I haven't heard anything on news yet.

This Photo I took a couple of week ago, looking out into Turks Sunset is kind of special, since it kind of represents to me an image of the Storm that was brewing and on the way to the Island.

My thoughts and prayers are with them all, and all places that have, or will be affected.

 

[Wally.B]

Forest Fire Digitata Frag (Next Day) Lights Come on, and some PE today.

Yeah, I'm still obsessed with it's Striking Beauty.
I've seen them before, but never one like this with such Green Tips.

When I walk into my office, it stands out 20-30 feet away.

Never been so pleased before with a Frag Purchase.
Maybe it will look tacky when it gets bigger. Too overwhelming.

Might as well enjoy the moment. With my luck, it won't be around for long.

 

[Wally.B]

...Double Post

 

[Wally.B]

Algae Scrubber (Speeding up) Macro & Hair Algae Growing

Boring stuff, seeing Algae Grow, but for my record in case this happens again:

The photo Period must be good. 20 Hours ON. 95% Intensity.

I see both Macro Algae linking both screens, and Hair Algae on the Airline Hose. The Virgin screen is showing darkening.

I'm not measuring Nitrate Yet since I have about 3-4 Tests Left on My Salifert Kit.

Seems that Salifert (Nitrate only) is out of stock Everywhere.
All stores, and online in Canada backordered.
I had to go online and get one from West Coast.

 

[sachabud]

Hello,

I am in France, your thread of discussion is very interesting. Is it possible to have the code of the Dosing / Water Change controller?

Thanks in advance and continue this thread , which is very informative.

Sacha

 

[Wally.B]

Hello,

I am in France, your thread of discussion is very interesting. Is it possible to have the code of the Dosing / Water Change controller?

Thanks in advance and continue this thread , which is very informative.

Sacha

Sacha. I will PM you and we can exchange emails.
Sure I can assist you, but I think just giving you over 1000 lines of complex code that took 1 year to write needs some discussion.

 

[reefmutt]

Forest Fire Digitata Frag (Next Day) Lights Come on, and some PE today.

Yeah, I'm still obsessed with it's Striking Beauty.
I've seen them before, but never one like this with such Green Tips.

When I walk into my office, it stands out 20-30 feet away.

Never been so pleased before with a Frag Purchase.
Maybe it will look tacky when it gets bigger. Too overwhelming.

Might as well enjoy the moment. With my luck, it won't be around for long.

Dayum!!! Wally, nice pic!!
Great detail and clarity.
No such thing as tacky and overwhelming when it comes to sexy corals

 

[Wally.B]

Dayum!!! Wally, nice pic!!
Great detail and clarity.
No such thing as tacky and overwhelming when it comes to sexy corals

Thanks Matt,
The Corals get's the credit for looking so HOT!
But you get the credit for my improved Photo Skills.
The PHoto Tips/Tricks you shared on your thread really help.
For this photo, I still shot thru glass, but when you mentioned putting lense flat against glass, I thought about it.
So rather than shooting from an angle on a mini tripod like before, I put the camera on a few books (Perpendicular to tank). That helped get me focus across the whole frag.

More nice photo's to come as I continue to improve my skills. But need more healthy corals.
On that topic.....

Waiting for scrubber to bring down Nitrates.

Also I gave up on the 250W MH setting after a couple of weeks. Dropped to 175W for next while. Can't hurt much, and will help with tiny cyano outbreak.
All that light is fueling Film Algae on glass a lot. Maybe now slowing down with Scrubber kicking in.
250W x2, + 2x T5 is Just too intense in my opinion for 65Gallon space.
I think some corals don't like it since most are at the same depth in my tank. Tank is so bright, and I can see particulates way more than with just T5's on.
The Red Planet started Receeding at base (which is opposite of what it is suppose to do) . Showing burnt white tips too. Even thought ALK, P is stable.
I know this is contrary to what the PAR meter told me to get 350PARS.
Mid Intensity Lighting 200-300PARS (not Low) isn't a bad thing to restore Coral Health. Even the Acros.
Let Light Demanding Corals reach up to Higher PARS.

 

[Wally.B]

My Theory on (250W MH) Why Lighting is Too Intense

Here are my thoughts why I think 175W might be better, even though PAR meter says I need 250W, and Fixture Low @ 8".

-> Not much Lower than 250W, but better than 150W
-> I NOW have T5's on at same time as MH lights (before they were staggered)

-> Going back 3 years, the tank did well on 150W Bulbs, before I changed Ballast to Variable to handle 250W bulbs.
-> Back then my SPS corals grew (many varieties). Hardly any bleached, but were pale since I didn't have enough nutrients (fish). I now have nutrients.

-> I don't have colonies that are large and spread out to absorb all this light, it bounces off glass.... (Why waste all this electricity)
----> I am basically MOSTLY lighting up the Water Column (The Pariticulates, the Cyano floating, etc)

-> My MH light fixture has tight reflectors
-> Water Surface is turbulent and I noticed that PAR meter would swing in intensity with Surface circulation on (so maybe there are short burst hot spots caused by ripples which are like a Magnifying Glass)
-----> Too bad the PAR meter doesn't capture PEAKS.

-> All the corals doing well during 250W setting are slightly lower down

-> At Higher End of Lighting Intensity (it appears there is less forgiveness, for any instability). so is it a contributing factor to the Burn Tips, and Bleached Corals.
----> Why do top Tip burn (I know one factor is alk swing, but why?) It is thin tip that is more sensitive to Alk Swing, or is it the tip that is closer to light, OR IS IT BOTH !!
----> Why do bases recede (putting aside bugs, etc). Are bases not more exposed to light, than Vertical parts of Coral.

Matt, on your thread there was a recent post, that one successful tip for SPS is Lower Lighting, and more Frequent Water changes. I'm going that why for a while (As scrubber brings Nitrate down to the Low Level of P that I am holding right now).

 

[reefmutt]

Hey Wally, not necessarily lower lighting intensity but actually same intensity with shorter photoperiod...
However, I don't think you reducing from 250 to 175 would be a bad thing right now.
I think Ed had mentioned only needing about 6-8 hrs mh.. you could go longer with the t5- maybe another 2 hours on either side...
But with mh and t5, it's rarely a cause of burnt tips.. so, not sure where that's coming from.. I think some water changes can never hurt..

 

[Wally.B]

Hey Wally, not necessarily lower lighting intensity but actually same intensity with shorter photoperiod...
However, I don't think you reducing from 250 to 175 would be a bad thing right now.
I think Ed had mentioned only needing about 6-8 hrs mh.. you could go longer with the t5- maybe another 2 hours on either side...
But with mh and t5, it's rarely a cause of burnt tips.. so, not sure where that's coming from.. I think some water changes can never hurt..

I still have MH 6 hours, T5's around 8 Hours. 1 hours break on T5's in middle.

Doing 175W just for a short while (more for Cyano control, since very VERY little, so don't want it to spread).

No new burned tips except for Red Planet (talking about the past for the others) which was probably caused by the Drastic P drop, and then the N rise with scrubber shutting down. (Instability).

Now things are stable, and if things stay that way (fingers crossed), I'll go back to 250W.

 

[sensei]

Wally,

I believe that a 250W bulb has to be fired by a 250W ballast to be sure you have the correct spectrum. Instead of lowering the Watts in the ballast why don't you just higher the MH lamps and keep the ballast with right wattage to get less par in the tank and at the same time warranty the right spectrum??

highering the fixture will also give you more even light in dt.

 

[Wally.B]

Wally,

I believe that a 250W bulb has to be fired by a 250W ballast to be sure you have the correct spectrum. Instead of lowering the Watts in the ballast why don't you just higher the MH lamps and keep the ballast with right wattage to get less par in the tank and at the same time warranty the right spectrum??

highering the fixture will also give you more even light in dt.

I have been raising and lowering my fixture do change intensity.
Yes, higher gives more spread.

This 175W is only for a week.

Every time I raise MH lights (which is easy), it is a bit of work to match the T5's since they are on Hard Drop lines.

I did contact the bulb manurfacterer. They said that 250W DE bulb can be run at 150W, 175W. Yes a small shift to blue spectrum. But not much.
They said it DOES NOT hurt bulb, and that it will actually extend the bulb Life running at under-power setting.

Running 250W bulb on Overdrive settting will reduce bulb life by half.

Again, this is for a week at 175W till the spot of Cyano goes away, while I am dosing ZeoBak, mixed into Coral Snow.

Yes, I agree with George, and Reefmutt, that I should run PROPER PARS as I measured. Only option is Less Photo Period when I want to acclimatize.

I almost feel like I should remove every damaged coral from the recent past. Mount/Hide at them back of tank.
Just leave just the good ones in Front and visible from my Desk. That will make me forget wanting to make changes to fix things.

 

[Wally.B]

I almost feel like I should remove every damaged coral from the recent past. Mount/Hide at them back of tank.
Just leave just the good ones in Front and visible from my Desk. That will make me forget wanting to make changes to fix things.

And that is EXACTLY what I just did.

I trimmed all the corals with Burnt Tips.

Put the really bad ones into Frag Tank.

Put a couple in the back (out of view) to heal.

And I mounted Good Frags from DT Frag Rack, onto Rocks.

I can now look at my tank and not think it's rotting, and needs fix.

Fresh after fixes, photo, for Future Reference. (No New Frags, only what I had in DT, so All acclimatized Frags)

Also if something does go wrong on any Frag, I will notice.


KIND OF A "Fresh Start (Healthiest Frags) with Scrubber Running and Tank Stable" BUT with no new Frags to Experiment with (except the Forest Fire).

Onward.....

Again

 

[sensei]

the bulb manufacturer may tell you that and bulbs do run, but is there sufficient evidence that people has had success with acropora using those bulbs running them at lower wattage??
will they give the proper spectrum for coloring and growing sps??
Also keep in mind is that every time you change wattage in your ballast you will also be changing the spectrum and corals will have to adjust to that spectrum and it could be that spectrum is not the right one for exciting the proteins and showing the right colors.

This is my opinion
regards

 

[Wally.B]

Jorge,
Is it a good opinion, and makes perfect sense.
Stability for Successful SPS means Everything, including Light Spectrum over Long Period (The Sun may get Shaded by Clouds certain days, but when it shines Bright on the Corals it's the same Spectrum).
You convinced me. Going back to 250W but will raise light 1.5" (just for a week, and then go back to the proper PARS I measured.)