Owners Thread: Innovative Marine Fusion 40

[Reduck]

Thanks all.
I had some side discussions on Facebook yesterday with the folks at Cadlights. They are bringing most of the tanks I am interested in to Reefapalooza NY. Also offering some show specials. I guess we will have to wait and see if Mr Tang gets a new home. (It will ultimately be the Mrs decision) He seems pretty happy now. I have him eating nori off the Mag Float. Hes quite a pig so I think he will grow pretty fast.
For the most part the tank is doing pretty well. There are some patches of cyano I'm dealing with by manual removal. Its some pretty disgusting stuff.
I finally got over to HD yesterday to get the pump adapter for the Sicca. Maybe I'll find time tonight to drop it in...

 

[Mrs Fish]

This phosphate thing is driving me nuts.

So I have a reading of about 0.06 in RODI water and about 0.04 in tank (even though I am running a new bag of ROWA) and in the RODI water. I will be calling SpectraPure when they open in an hour - the RODI system is only a month old. All filters were unwrapped and it is connected correctly.

I went out and bought natural sea water and will be doing a water change today ... but I have no way to create top-off water - suggestions? I have distilled on hand, and am testing my household water supply right now - looks like between 0.1 and 0.08.

Could the algae bloom be creating phosphates in the tank?

 

[Reduck]

algae bloom will give you a false phosphate reading as its consuming it faster than you can check it.

.06 isn't horrible in the tank if its stable but I suspect your reading is going to be a lot higher in reality.

If the rowaphos is fairly fresh, give it a couple days to work and check again. I'd be prepared to change it out at least once a week just till this bloom subsides. Most of the phosphate medias can reach adsorption saturation pretty quickly in this environment. I was changing my phosguard every three days during my worst bloom.

If you really suspect the rodi, get steam distilled water for top off.

You are undoubtedly going through new tank syndrome. It will pass once everything stabilizes...try not to freak out.

This phosphate thing is driving me nuts.

So I have a reading of about 0.06 in both the tank (even though I am running a new bag of ROWA) and in the RODI water. I will be calling SpectraPure when they open in an hour - the RODI system is only a month old.

I went out and bought natural sea water and will be doing a water change today ... but I have no way to create top-off water - suggestions?

Could the algae bloom be creating phosphates in the tank?

 

[Mrs Fish]

Thanks Reduck - I have steam distilled so I'll use that for now. Going to do a 13 g water change shortly with real sea water, and remove as much as the algae as possible. I have a new post of Eheim chemi pure elite on hand too. The Rowa went in on Friday, so still newish.

It's weird because ALL the other parameters are perfect ... and trust me, I've tested for LOTS of things !!

 

[Reduck]

you are quite welcome.

be aware that you also may be getting false nitrate readings at the same time, for the same reason as the phosphates. The WC should help the nitrates for a short while, but the fresh sw may incite the algae to grow faster. New batch of nutrients to absorb!
You are correct in manually removing as much as you possibly can. I would do it just prior to the WC. Then crank your power heads up to max for a bit to get as much in suspension, turkey baste your rock while the flow is up, then do the WC. You'll get more crud out that way.

It's weird because ALL the other parameters are perfect ... and trust me, I've tested for LOTS of things !!

 

[Mrs Fish]

... and now I have snails spawning ...

 

[Reduck]

when it rains, it pours. Think of it as free a clean up crew...or free fish food. I know when mine spawn, the clowns make short work of them..

... and now I have snails spawning ...

 

[Mrs Fish]

Here's a photo ... took me a while to figure out how to post one ... and I have no idea why it's rotated it 90 degrees !!

 

[Mrs Fish]

Great conversation with Jeremy at SpectraPure.

To help others, my 5-stage rodi unit has the following specs, which are apparently extremely good and normal:

Waste water: 600ml per minute, RO / keep water: 240ml per minute. TD meter 'IN' readings: In: 80 (very low) out 0, TD meter 'OUT' readings: In: 0, Out: 0. Pressure Gauge reads 5 (normal pressure) = 70psi. I should note that I have 0 hardness in my faucet water supply.

Conclusion, the filters are not saturated and he feels I'm getting a false reading from my test kits.

Per what Reduck said ... It's possibly just an algae bloom which has accelerated it's own growth by getting a bit out of hand in the tank.

Did a 13g water change using real ocean water. Removed as much algae as possible and scrubbed a couple of spots in-tank. Blew off rocks with turkey baster ... sucked out the 13g. Added new water. Changed filter floss in overflow, and changed skimmer to more wet-skim. Blew off rocks for 3 hours (about every 30 mins) and will change out floss in overflows again tomorrow AM. Going to have a 24 hour dark day tomorrow.

Odd thing is ... everything is looking super healthy. Only have a couple of zoa colonies (all doubled in 3 weeks) and 5 fish (pair of clowns, pair of bangaiis, algae blenny) ... all looking good, green star polyps have now seriously grown onto back of tank wall and look good. No cyano. Snails spawning like crazy - but not on the glass ... (no zig-zag lines) ... into the water like clouds of smoke (see picture in message above). Algae blenny looks like he swallowed a soccer ball ... too funny!

All other tests normal: KH, ph, temp, salinity, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, calcium

How very odd ... wish I could feel comfortable with the phosphate issue ... these algae colonies need to GO!

 

[Reduck]

It's not odd that things look super healthy. Some corals thrive on higher than zero phosphates. And fish deal with it. You just need to be patient and don't try to drop it to zero too fast. That's when you'll see issues. As long as corals are not losing tissue or color you are ok.
Give it time, and check your nitrate levels tomorrow. Stirring up all the crud can cause a spike. Your skimmer should be working hard now removing the crud in suspension. Same with the filter pads.
It will get better. I know it looks bad now...but it will get better.

I came home to a mild cyano outbreak. No panic. Basted the rock, vacuumed the sand and I'll do it each day till it passes. Sure it's a mild pita, but I know It'll pass shortly. I've learned to not freak out from these things. Just deal with them..
We all have too much money and time invested in this hobby. It's supposed to be fun. If you let it aggravate you, it's not fun any more. As our buddy Biz has said, pour a glass of wine, and just watch the tank....enjoy it. Don't let it get to you...

 

[Mrs Fish]

I hear you ... this is my 3rd reef over 20 years ... darn frustrating ... but yes, wine and reef do indeed go together. I spend more time peering into the tank than working !! LOL.

I'm not stressed about it ... just want to educate myself and learn!! You guys are amazing! Wish you were near to me ... would donate wine to the cause !!

 

[OsiViper]

Well I lost my first tank inhabitant tonight.. Went to a movie earlier tonight, left my tank and everything was fine.

Got home from the movie and tank lights were already out, so I used a dim flashlight to look in on the tank. 2 nassarius snails and a crab were on top of my maxima clam who had flipped over in the sand again. Went to get them off and check on the clam, but the shell was empty, they had already picked it clean.

Not exactly sure who is to blame. My Tonga fighting conch was also burried right next to it. Needless to say though my crab was upset at me for pulling him off. He went and buried himself in the sand

 

[Reduck]

sorry for the loss. wonder if it was sick and that's why it was moving around a lot? Normally most creatures won't bother a healthy creature. But at the first sign of weakness, they will pounce.
I had a skunk shrimp for a while. It did not wait for anything. If it didn't move fast, he attacked it. Hes in another home now...We are watching our female peppermint shrimp now since shes showing attack tendencies on occasion. If we catch her attacking anyone else, shes gone. No room for bullies in this tank.

Well I lost my first tank inhabitant tonight.. Went to a movie earlier tonight, left my tank and everything was fine.

Got home from the movie and tank lights were already out, so I used a dim flashlight to look in on the tank. 2 nassarius snails and a crab were on top of my maxima clam who had flipped over in the sand again. Went to get them off and check on the clam, but the shell was empty, they had already picked it clean.

Not exactly sure who is to blame. My Tonga fighting conch was also burried right next to it. Needless to say though my crab was upset at me for pulling him off. He went and buried himself in the sand

 

[bizacon]

brave man with a peppermint shrimp. Once I watched mine pick clean a couple frags they were back for adoption.

sorry for the loss. wonder if it was sick and that's why it was moving around a lot? Normally most creatures won't bother a healthy creature. But at the first sign of weakness, they will pounce.
I had a skunk shrimp for a while. It did not wait for anything. If it didn't move fast, he attacked it. Hes in another home now...We are watching our female peppermint shrimp now since shes showing attack tendencies on occasion. If we catch her attacking anyone else, shes gone. No room for bullies in this tank.

 

[Reduck]

I must be braver (or crazier) than you think. We have a mated pair! They have never eaten coral. I make sure they are fed. They pick around, but never to the point of destruction. If they have or had offspring, I'm pretty sure they'll be tank food..never saw any offspring..

brave man with a peppermint shrimp. Once I watched mine pick clean a couple frags they were back for adoption.

 

[jguinn]

Have any of you guys that use the Apex noticed auto-complete when using the Advanced programming editor? I just added the ALD module tonight and noticed I could tab through building building all the commands and it would give me a list of my different modules. MUCH easier than trying to remember exactly what was capitalized, where the underscore goes, etc... I didn't see that in any of the new release documentation, so it's entirely possible it's always been there and somehow I missed it. But if it is new, I think you guys will really like it!

 

[Reduck]

Haven't seen that yet but I just noticed another change as well. They've made apex fusion mobile friendly according to the announcement. Either I read it in the Neptune forum here or neptunes support forum. If you unlock the panes in fusion on mobile device, they now do the dancing x, for easy icon removal or relocation I'll try programming statements later.
I love free updates!

 

[OsiViper]

Put a new addition on the tank today.. Hopefully it will help.

Was gonna have it run off of its own pump, but decided since its 1/2 inch I'll just tie it into my return pump and T off of it. Less power and less chance of failure.

 

[Reduck]

Probably better off. Longer dwell time in front of the uv is better if I recall. Unless you can find a real low flow mj pump I think this will work.
Usually they rate them on max flow. That's a pretty large uv so it may handle half the output of the main pump. I know my 54w gets half of the water passing through the skimmer at 4000 gph. I have baffle plates in the skimmer to slow the flow past it. It's probably at least 1000 gph into the uv chamber and 500 out..

You should see a difference in 24 hours.

Good luck!

Put a new addition on the tank today.. Hopefully it will help.

Was gonna have it run off of its own pump, but decided since its 1/2 inch I'll just tie it into my return pump and T off of it. Less power and less chance of failure.

 

[jguinn]

If you unlock the panes in fusion on mobile device, they now do the dancing x, for easy icon removal or relocation I'll try programming statements later.
I love free updates!

That's fantastic! Thanks for the tip on that. Totally agree - I've been 110% impressed with Fusion and the updates that seem to have good functionality and are delivered frequently enough to keep my attention.

In unrelated news, as would be typical I sent an e-mail to support at Aquamaxx to ask (er... complain) about the microbubbles from the skimmer. And when I got home from work the next day, they were totally gone for the first time since I've had the darn thing. Just cleaned the skimmate cup and if odor is any indication of function, I'd have to say it's doing a good job at this point!