New 100gal Reef setup

[Jerm77]

haha ya.

I have decided to dose vodka on a regular schedule except when I see a think coat of slime on the live rock. I'm pretty sure its concentrated bacteria. after a couple of days, it goes away. I'm trying to be consistant to a point, but when I notice "too much" bacteria, I think its a good idea to take a break.

I don't think daily dosing is that important in the maintenance stage,but when you are ramping up the probiotic treatment I think the daily dosing is important.

 

[buccard]

How is you mandarin doing?

 

[Jerm77]

hes actually fattening up quite nice. still a little shy - meaning he doesn't come out much when the halides are on. but, he's always sucking up pods when i see him.

 

[Hammsreefbeer]

hows the powder bown doing?

 

[Jerm77]

The powder brown is on his 5th cycle of ICH. the other fish have still not shown any signs. He eats well, even when there are several white spots. he has the white spots for about 3-5 days usually, and they reappear in about a week. so far the parasites are only attaching to the powder brown in small numbers. I do fear that the ICH cycles may start to separate, and I may get more than one cycle active at once. I'll monitor how he is doing, if the infestations get larger or more active - I will remove him and treat him.

I will not add any more fish until the ICH is not visible for more than 8 weeks. at this point - It's almost impossible to tell when that would ever happen. although I have read that after about 35 cycles the ICH can breed itself out effectiveness. Although, I'm not relying on this to happen.

 

[Jerm77]

day 132

day 132

Did some quick tests today. I got my 2 part kit from BRS.

calcium 400
alk 8.0-8.3
mag 1290-1320

My goal for my parameters are going to be as follows.

calcium 450ppm
alk 9 dKH
mag 1300-1400

according to the BRS calculator I need to add

410ml of CAL
57ml of ALK
516ml of MAG (1400ppm)

I am going to dose the cal in two doses today. the alk and mag I will break up into multiple doses over the next couple of days / week.I am going to test weekly to see the demand on the tank and record it here. I'll take another test on Tuesday when I come back into town.

I am also going to run the lights out this weekend for the 3rd month in a row. I am currently not having any nuisance algae problems, but I believe this is beneficial to my tank - this is an ongoing procedure I am doing with the tank.

 

[Jerm77]

been a while since my last update, So I'll talk a little bit about how I've been caring for the tank the last couple of months.

I have since ceased the 3 days no lights routine. I had noticed a slight bit of bleaching the last time I did this - going to wait a while before I try again. although, there was no recession or death - I still believe this is beneficial or at least safe.

I have been vodka dosing on and off. I usually dose .5ml a day.

still have not done a "traditional water change". I do adjust salinity when necessary, this requires removing water from the system, and adding either RO top off water or more mixed saltwater. this amounts to less than a gallon of salt water a month.

I have not been able to keep topping off with RO/DI water. I had to use distilled water for about 2 weeks. this may have caused a PO4 peak, but I conducted no tests - I only observed the macros growing quite rapidly.

the skimmer is now cleaned once a week. Its not run as wet as before.

the filter socks are changed every 2 days. and were not run for about 2 weeks when I was in Thailand.

I have been trying to keep up the CAL and ALK dosing. I had picked up the raw cal and alk from BRS. But, I am not on any regular schedule yet. I have not installed my calcium reactor yet, I may not even install it. calcium stays above 400 and alk about 8-9. the mag has been in the mid 1200's.

I have changed my GFO from the high capacity to a pellet form, much less mess.

My tang has been through about 12 very light ICH outbreaks. he is still being feed Nori with a garlic soak, some "red seaweed", flakes, pellets, brine shrimp, and arcti pods. the "ICH" hasn't spread to the other fish yet.

all the other fish look happy and healthly.

here is a FTS. Ill get some frag updates posted later.


day 127 Mar 2009

day 195 May 2009

 

[spsfreak]

Jerm77 - I would get that algea out right way.... IME that is the most aweful algea I have ever had to deal with. It will take over the entire tank if you are not careful. I forget the name of it but there are several threads here on RC about it too. Just thought I would mention it.

 

[Jerm77]

spsfreak -

you are talking about the brown macro algae right? its starting to become more invasive and it is growing really fast. I was going to ask about it. do you know the name of it? or maybe you can point me to a link.

I've been removing it by hand, but I think its just causing it to spread. the tang will eat it, but not his favorite food.

 

[Jerm77]

Day 202

Day 202

update:

So I picked up two Sea Hares and a Salfin(algae) Blenny to help combat the Dictyota sp. growth. manual removal has been done in the past and hasn't worked that well. I have also upped the vodka dose to 1ml / day in trying to combat any phosphates in the system. I can run a phosphate test but, I'm sure it probably low as the phosphates are probably being consumed by the Macros.

I have watched the sailfin blenny eat the Dictyota. I have seen the Sea Hare much at it as well. The Powder Brown and the dragon goby also munch at it. Although, I don't think any of them prefer the Dictyota, they do eat it - and hopefully in time they may eradicate it.

from what info I've read the Dictyota sp. have evolved a chemical defense and some grazers have developed an immunity, hopefully my fish have this immunity and continue to eat it.

I also added a few softies. got them from Liveaquaria.com. all looking in good shape. I did a lugol's dip and added them to the tank. no quarantine.

pics of ric garden

new Zoa polpys

FTS

 

[Jerm77]

day 208

day 208

update: while trying to battle some of the dictyota sp. algae I was noticing
that the flow through my sump was getting very very slow. there has also
been a large amount of sponge growth over the last couple of months
So, what I found was the algae growth and the sponge growth has severely
restricted the return through the chiller. I decided to finally move
the chiller and clean the return pump and line.

I did this about 5 days ago. along with the correct turnover rate and the
ramping up of the vodka dosing(@1ml / day ), the water has become extremely clear.
Even so much so, that there is a slight diatom bloom on the sand from the
increased light penetration. or is at least what I believe. we'll see if it
subsides in a few days.

Dictyota sp. algae

this algae is still growing and spreading. although, I think a little slower than
before. the addition of the Sea Hares and the Sailfin Blenny have done little
so far with the eradication. For now the Sea Hares are attracted to the
other Macro in the tank, hopefully once they have exhausted that food
source I hope they will find the Dictyota sp. as desirable as the other Macro.

So, for now, the Sea Hares have not worked against the Dictoyta sp. algae.
Furthermore, The Sailfin seems to like coralline algae and other encrusting algae
over the Dictyota sp. as well. We'll see if this changes over the next
couple of weeks.

 

[spsfreak]

Jerm77, if you have no luck one of the best methods of getting rid of this stuff is raising your Magnesium. There are several threads here on RC about it, might be worth taking a look at.

 

[jungliztkruger]

everything is looking great

just read through all six pages... not bad

 

[Jerm77]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15129683#post15129683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spsfreak
Jerm77, if you have no luck one of the best methods of getting rid of this stuff is raising your Magnesium. There are several threads here on RC about it, might be worth taking a look at.

I have seen the bryopsis thread with raising the mag. but, have not seen anything with dictyota sp. was there a specific type of magnesium dosing product that worked better? or is it just the higher concentration?

thanks for reading jungliztkruger. and yes i do agree with you - not bad, could be better maybe. But, I have tried to take a minimalist approach to maintaining the tank - we'll see how far this gets me.

 

[Jerm77]

day 224 (month #7)

day 224 (month #7)

took a couple of parameter tests today.

mag 1380 (salifert regent)

nitrate 4ppm (digital)
nitrate 0ppm (salifert regent(expired))

calcium 390ppm (salifert regent) added 320ml today

Alkalinity 6.7 - 7.4 (salifert regent) added 25ml today

tank care status:

I have been focusing on raising the magnesium levels to be a little higher than I would normally keep them. I have been also ramping up the vodka dosing up to 2ml / day. I still don't have the calcium and alkalinity in check - I still haven't established a regular dosing schedule. I have been doing about 40-60ml per week in calcium supplementation, and about 25ml per week in alkalinity supplements. this is obviously not enough.

about 5 days ago I did another the "3 days no light" method. this helped kill off some of the carpet like algae that was pretty much covering all the live rock. the tank was really brown because of this - it is now turning more geen and pink again since this is dying off. the diatom bloom wasn't really affected by this.

I also did some major removal by hand of the Dictyota sp. algae.

the diatom bloom on the sand, I was talking about previously, is still going strong. today i decided to stir up the sand a little to see if there is any effect. I have a few sand stirring creatures, so I don't normally do this.

the Dictyota sp. algae has been slowed quite a bit by the "3 days, no light" ,the hand removal, and possibly the higher mag concentration.

I haven't seen the Sea Hares in about 2 weeks, they have consumed all the green macro that was in the tank. they don't like the Dictyota sp. as far as I can tell.

fish:

Powder Brown Tang
Bullet Goby
Sailfin blenny
Ocellaris Clowns
Green Mandarin

most of the fish are doing well. The Powder Brown still has ICH. he has gone through about 15-18 cycles now. the last cycle seemed pretty heavy compared to the previous. no ICH has spread to other fish yet. I have decided to feed heavier than I did before. at some points I was feeding every 3 days. now I am feeding 2 times to 3 times a Day - maybe why there is a diatom bloom... not so sure.

Corals:

I am at least happy that I haven't killed anything yet. all the SPS corals show some growth, but slow. Most of the SPS seem a bit brownish or not as vibrant lately. I know there could be several reasons for this, and I'm not really sure where to go with this - but, I do want some better coloration. I am going to focus on the CAL and ALK this next month and see where it gets me.

the polyps, ricordia, and frog and hammer are looking fine. I try to hand feed them at least every couple of weeks with chopped mysis and some dry blended "coral food" I got from IPSF a while ago. the tank gets phytoplankton and oyster eggs at least once a week on top of the 2 times a day feedings.

Equipment:

I had purchased some 14k ushio bulbs to replace the 10k ones I currently have. unfortunately one bulb was cracked in shipping. so right now im running one 10k and one 14k until I can replace the other 14k that was broken. the 14ks actually look more white than the 10ks, but it seems as if the 10k is brighter, maybe because you get a little more shimmer with the 14ks. next time I may try a set of 20ks.

I have not been running GAC for about a month and decided to add some today and put it into my bubble tower.

the skimmer should be due for a vinegar bath soon as well as the main display tunze's.

FTS to follow later.

 

[divewsharks]

while many things can affect the color of your SPS, i would focus on the low ALK. Your CA is also a little low; do you use dose the tank? a 2-part?

 

[Jerm77]

yes i dose randy's recipe #1 (3 part) from bulk reef supply. my current goals are:

cal:450
alk: 9 dKh
mag:1350

 

[Jerm77]

day 228 (month #7)

day 228 (month #7)

Sailfin goby passed away yesterday. I never seen him take any food from the algae clip and never saw it eat any meaty foods.
I only saw him eat some of the dictyota. maybe this was his demise. but, the tang was pretty aggressive toward him, could
also be the cause. although he could have been plagued by ICH from the tang. or just wasn't that healthy. either way I need
to be really careful with what life I put in this tank and how its going to interact with the environment I've made.

the sand bed is still covered by a diatom bloom! this is pretty frustrating. there may be more going on here than I can understand,
or quantify. is it the vodka dosing? could very well be the problem. during my lights off routine a few weeks back, I did notice my
sand bed changing colors prior the routine and after. could I have had some massive biological death in my tank? could this
be one of these algae cycles? something else I have noticed was my bullet goby was very very thin the other day. I never
seen him eat much, but I had assumed he was eating the bethic organisms in the sand. so are these two things related
somehow? I not really sure how to tell.
My tank water has almost never been so clear - I will attribute this mostly to the vodka dosing and maybe less sand flying around
because of the bloom on the sand. but, this is where it puzzles me. is this purely from all the algae dying off of the rocks and just
excess nutrients becoming sucked up by the sand? but it could really just be that the water is so clear and with me lowering the l
ights, I am just having a little bloom. last bloom took about 3-4 weeks to subside.

I have a microscope with a digi cam, so maybe I can get a microscopic picture of the sand. I'll see what I can do in a few days.

Yesterday I cleaned the skimmer and Tunze pumps with a vinegar / RO mix about @ 30/70. pumps and skimmer are spotless and needed
the cleaning. skimmer is breaking in again. I did not dose vodka for the past 2 days because of possible vinegar residue. day 229
I will resume with 2.3ml.

totals dosed to the tank in the last 4 days have been:
CAL: 700ml
ALK: 75ml
MAG: 0ml

todays tank parameters are:
CAL: 470ppm (goal is 450)

ALK: 7.4-7.7dKH (dosed 40ml after reading taken) (goal is 9)

MAG: 1350-1320ppm (at goal of 1350)

some tank shots as promised.

close up tank shots.

 

[Jerm77]

day 228 cont.

day 228 cont.

frag shot updates.

new frag. some type of polyp, not sure what it is. hope its not GSP.

 

[Garrett_F]

Looks good i love the side view pictures