ReefWreak finally got an upgrade!

[soulpatch]

Small choppy bubbles can also be indicative of too low pressure from regulator. You can try to turn up the pressure on the reg so when solenoid pops it is a larger bubble.

My bigger concern is you say stream of small bubbles so that would point to also potential of faulty needle valve or if use planted tank reg a faulty servo that doesnt seal properly.

Stick with it since once dialed in it really is set and forget. I have not touched mine other then cleaning in months now

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[LQT]

Also, when you find the time, I know you both are super busy between work and the toddler, swap out the Airgas that we determined has an internal leak and swap all the post body parts onto that new old stock Matheson 3121 that you picked up. I think that will go a long way towards relieving some of your issues. Also, when you pick up that Fluval bubble counter, grab some dedicated CO2 proof tubing so you can also eliminate “leaky lines” as a variable in your CaRx set up.

https://www.amazon.com/AQUATEK-CO2-...TF8&qid=1535485444&sr=8-3&keywords=CO2+tubing

Also, if you want, PM me your address. I’ll send you my stock Victor regulator gauges (low pressure 0-60 psi and high pressure 0-3000 psi) for your Matheson since I no longer have any use for them when I got my SS Wika gauges.

 

[homer1475]

I've done quite a bit of gas plumbing over the years. Once I started using Teflon paste, I haven't touched a roll of tape since.



While tape is convenient, paste just seals better.

 

[LQT]

I've done quite a bit of gas plumbing over the years. Once I started using Teflon paste, I haven't touched a roll of tape since.



While tape is convenient, paste just seals better.

Yeah, I now use paste on all my plumbing and it works great and is leak free. Just DO NOT use it for the metal fittings on your Alan Le style CO2 regulators! Stick with tape for that. I've heard of paste making a complete mess of regulators, metering valves and solenoids when used in that application because of the high pressures involved with bottled CO2.

 

[hbrochs]

Sorry to hear all that, you were doing awefully well with your old tank dosing two part.
Maybe go back to that while you are figuring out the Calcium reactor?

 

[Rakie]

I've done quite a bit of gas plumbing over the years. Once I started using Teflon paste, I haven't touched a roll of tape since.


While tape is convenient, paste just seals better.

Wow never heard of the paste, that's cool.

 

[LQT]

Wow never heard of the paste, that's cool.

https://www.oatey.com/2371984/Product/Oatey-Great-White-Pipe-Joint-Compound-With-PTFE

or

http://www.laco.com/pipe-thread-sealants/plasto-joint-stik-/

 

[ange062]

Nice selection of fish!! I've noticed that the barlets anthias aren't picky eaters and easier to keep alive long term than the others I've tried, if you decide to try anthias again.

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[cdhappy]

Trident has been pushed to q3 fir insiders and q4 fir general purchase at the moment. I suspect 2019 at this rate.

For me personally I'm eyeing up for coralvue monitor more and more. The focustronic is promising but too expensive. Imho anything over 500 is too much for automated testing as it stands now. And with them all being new I wouldn't trust them to dose ar the moment.

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Love following along your beautiful build. Did you ever choose a monitor / controller? Coralvue? Trident. Neptune?

 

[ReefWreak]

Sorry to hear all that, you were doing awefully well with your old tank dosing two part.
Maybe go back to that while you are figuring out the Calcium reactor?

Thanks Howard. I've finally got the calcium reactor dialed in, but I think the tank will still take some time to stabilize. Now my LPS are starting to receede for no known reason, so I'm going to start resorting to water changes to hopefully stabilize the system. I also have a trident test kit to throw at it too. Might as well use it since I bought it!

Wow never heard of the paste, that's cool.

Ordered a bottle off Amazon last week. I'll be redoing some threads soon with it. I can use it for the kegerator supplies too!

Nice selection of fish!! I've noticed that the barlets anthias aren't picky eaters and easier to keep alive long term than the others I've tried, if you decide to try anthias again.

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Thanks. These lyretail ate plenty which is what is so frustrating. I suspect that the answer is you either need a tank with plankton (zoo and phyto) circulating naturally (from a big fuge, large sump, but generally not mechanically filtered) or you just need to feed a lot directly and remove it quickly with mechanical filtration to keep these fishes happy.

I'm also annoyed that despite religiously changing out these filter socks when they fill (every 3 days), I still have a TON of detritus in my sump. AND on top of filtering heavily and regularly, I STARTED WITH DRY ROCK so there wasn't any die-off or life to them for that matter. So I guess it's just fish poop from feeding a lot.

Love following along your beautiful build. Did you ever choose a monitor / controller? Coralvue? Trident. Neptune?

Soulpatch has been doing a great job with his build, that's for sure. Actually I've been incredibly lucky that the people I keep in touch with from the nano tank days have (almost) all moved up to larger tanks or larger systems filled with big beautiful corals. I feel like the odd one out, but I think I skipped some steps and rushed some things to get short term stability at the price of longer term stability. I have purple rocks and tons of fish, it looks like a fantastic FOWLR tank, but SPS just aren't having it yet, so it'll take more time to swing the pendulum and bring longer term stability.

 

[soulpatch]

Not ordered anything yet personally for monitoring. Shall see what winter holds though. Been waiting for Neptune but seems it will be 2020 at this rate.

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[ange062]

I have the same problem with detritus in the sump, but it's not really a surprise as most socks are 300 micron and some "polishing" socks are 100 micron. I've actually been working up plans to integrate a Klir DI7 on my sump to replace the dual 300 micron socks. It'll take the too-frequent (in my opinion) chore of replacing a washing socks out of the equation and it's also 50 micron fleece so less detritus in the sump - a win win.

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[homer1475]

Interesting about the detritus in the sump as I have been running no socks for about a year now, and I have no increase in detritus in my sump.



My first section and fuge section are both still crystal clear.

 

[Rakie]

Interesting about the detritus in the sump as I have been running no socks for about a year now, and I have no increase in detritus in my sump.



My first section and fuge section are both still crystal clear.

Mine get very dirty really quickly, it has to do with how much flow is going through the sump. Once a year or so I put in pillow batting in the weirs and put a maxijet in the chambers to blow detritus out. THe amount I get would have people doing it monthly or even more.

 

[soulpatch]

every 6 months or so I just vacume out the sump with my wet/dry vac...

 

[ReefWreak]

I started vacuuming the sump with the BucketHead wet/dry that you recommended. I just have to do it again, and my wife was good about siphoning out of the nooks and crannies when we did a 20g water change last night.

Another few observations related to detritus:
1. I started vodka to lower nitrates, because they were hitting ~20PPM or so. This lead to me dosing NoPox. NoPox dosing filled my filter socks with bacteria, and they filled up much faster, mostly with clear/lightly colored gunk, not so much with particulates.
2. When I was away for a week due to funerals in FL, I didn't have anyone dosing NoPox, only feeding the fishes. This lead to my more recent filter socks not being white and gunky, but filled with thick dark pieces and chunks of detritus, and taking longer between when it gets clogged.
3. I also moved one of my MarinePure blocks from being tucked away in a very low flow area of the sump (out of the linear flow entirely) where the two blocks were, to being in the flow behind my skimmer, in linear flow. Since that move, without dosing NoPox for over a week, while feeding the fishes regularly, I am not getting any more nitrates.

So. I suspect that NoPox dosing filled my filter socks very quickly with bacteria, causing me to have to clean them more often.

I also suspect that my marinepure blocks were in too low of flow to be doing much good for the tank. This surprised me, as I figured they got "enough flow" to be effective, and maybe less flow would enhance denitrification. but this turned out to not be correct, as it seems that they're more effective in moderate flow than low flow.

Stable alkalinity at around 9dkh, salinity at 1.024, and nitrates at 0 for a few weeks now. Hoping to keep it that way for a while longer, then reach out to some people locally to try some Montipora Digitata frags and see if I can get them to take hold in the tank. I think I need some life to start uptaking nutrients and fish waste, and then the tank will stabilize further.

 

[ange062]

I use a Sicce 3.0 pump configured for inline use with 1/2" hose on each side. Once you prime it this makes a really good suction pump for cleaning junk outta the sump and the 1/2" hose let's you get into all the compartments, nooks, and crannies.

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[Rakie]

Do some searches on NoPox. Lots of people end up with issues from long term use. Lots of crashes and such.

Yeah, a few people never have those problems, sure. But I've met far more people who do run into that after a few years than those who don't.

 

[ReefWreak]

Do some searches on NoPox. Lots of people end up with issues from long term use. Lots of crashes and such.

Yeah, a few people never have those problems, sure. But I've met far more people who do run into that after a few years than those who don't.

I'll have to look into it. I rarely have time to surf RC these days. Last time I did, NoPox was all over the place and everyone was loving it. Even vodka dosing, it seemed like people were doing it for a number of years without issue, but I understand the risks and appreciate the heads up. I'll do some more research maybe this weekend.

The water changes are a struggle because I'm using 3/4" ID vinyl tubing and the MagDrive outlet is something like 3/4" or 13/16" something just ever so slightly too large to fit perfectly with the hose, so I need a barb or something to make it easier. I basically have to hold the hose to the pump when pumping the water back upstairs, and my wife holds the hose in the sump upstairs and lets me know when to turn the water off. I know there are much more elegant solutions out there, once there is some more time.

While the calcium reactor is dialled in perfectly right now... Man, that Matheson reg and CarbonDoser that I have are just staring me in the eye every time I walk through the garage.... One of these days I'll have the time/energy/interest to hook them up together and build a super-regulator.

 

[ReefWreak]

I've been a bad internet friend, and haven't updated my thread in quite some time. Honestly, the tank was really frustrating for a while. I went through some algae, then it turned into bubble algae, and I got very scared. Then I used Vibrant, and while I was 75% sure it was snake oil, I was desperate because bubble algae almost ruined my last tank, and HEY IT WORKED! (I also added 6 or so emerald crabs). My nutrients went up (~25PPM nitrate), but NO algae ANYWHERE. Not good for my clean-up crew, but hey, it got rid of the scourge of bubble algae for me.

2 months after that, with Nopox dosing, nitrates are down to 2.5ppm, slight greenish tint to the sand bed, and I'm getting some patches of cyano, but generally things are going well. I also added a small algae reactor, and hope that will keep the nutrients and cyanobacteria at bay without needing to keep dosing nopox long-term.

I've also picked up a lot of frags since my nutrients have leveled out, and my alkalinity is stabilizing, though it's still quite up-and-down. I'm really looking forward to getting a Neptune Trident when they finally release... I google for new news/threads every morning on it...

I also picked up a used Seneye Reef monitor for PAR reading, since I've always wanted a PAR meter but not to spend the $$$ for one. $80 or so for a used in excellent condition PAR meter? Yes please!

So find below, a recent FTS, with PAR numbers (2xRadion G4 Pros with Diffusers, running AB+ at 55%):

I hope everyone has had a good holiday season, and wish everyone the best for the new year (a month late).

Also, I just found out our department medical chief has a reef aquarium, so I'm trying to limit how much I talk to him about aquariums, but it's fun to find someone you totally didn't expect to be in the hobby to be in the hobby.