SaraB's 268 Gallon Build¦ Try #3!

[SaraB]

Sara,
If you want to do diatom, we can do that with my H.O.T. Magnum.
Gary

Guess you know what it is too, huh?

LOL, as long as that little beast does not shock me again!!! :uzi:

 

[glparr]

Well, keeping water out of the motor housing will help with that. :uzi:

Your affinity for electrical jolts is amazing. I've owned that thing for years and never had a hint of an electrical problem. You have it for two weeks and electricity's seeking you out with a vengeance. Maybe it's your electric personality?

I'll send it home with you tonight with a set of rubber gloves, hip waders, and hand tools with rubber-coated handles. That should effectively isolate you from those evil electrons!

Gary

 

[SaraB]

In addition to the new test kits outlined above, I also got a LaMotte Low Range Nitrate test kit as well. I tested on Saturday and the nitrates were not as bad as I expected and were 20ppm.

Correction ... didn't read the instructions so the Nitrate is really 8.8ppm :hmm4:

 

[mr.wilson]

Last night Gary and I spent 3.5 hours working on the display tanks (268G & 45G). I worked on rocks that could be removed from the system and I scrubbed the rocks with a stainless steel brush and toothbrush to remove the Hair Algae. Gary worked in the displays with a vegetable brush and scrubbed the large rock that could not be removed of their hair algae. He also used a Maxijet 1200 to blow the detritus off the rocks and in the crevices of the rockwork.

We also installed a new 5k compact light over the fuge to run 24/7 for now to light the Chaetomorpha.

The lights recently came on and it's nice to look at a tank with no hair algae in it ... hopefully I've got a leg up on it now

Tonight after helping Gary with his new rockwork, I'll change out the carbon, gfo and replace the kalk in my kalk reactor.

The refugium should be on a 16 hour photoperiod so the algae can have proper photosynthetic respiration at night (production of Co2 and reduction of oxygen). "It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature".

Make sure it's on a reverse photoperiod so the Co2 produced by the corals at night is converted to oxygen by the algae instead of lowering the PH (carbonic acid). The Co2 created by the algae during its "sleep" will supply the coral's symbiotic algae during the "day" (photosynthesis/carbon fixing).

A 24/7 photoperiod disturbs the algae's hormones, and "breathing". Growth will be slower, export will be depleted.

 

[SaraB]

The refugium should be on a 16 hour photoperiod so the algae can have proper photosynthetic respiration at night (production of Co2 and reduction of oxygen). "It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature".

Make sure it's on a reverse photoperiod so the Co2 produced by the corals at night is converted to oxygen by the algae instead of lowering the PH (carbonic acid). The Co2 created by the algae during its "sleep" will supply the coral's symbiotic algae during the "day" (photosynthesis/carbon fixing).

A 24/7 photoperiod disturbs the algae's hormones, and "breathing". Growth will be slower, export will be depleted.

Got it, I'll put it back on the timer so mother nature does not revolt!

I also figured out what the diatom filter was ... I used those back in the freshwater days in addition with the diatomaceous earth in the Magnum filters.

 

[mr.wilson]

Not a problem only reading the last 2 pages, I just appreciate your input and suggestions!

Here's my response to the direct questions above:

I' m not exactly sure what is a diatom filter is? Could you share a link to one? I do currently use filter socks which I had been changing out every couple days. This week I've starting changing daily as it is getting pretty dirty after all the work that is being done in the tank. Could I place a sponge into the filter sock? You obviously have not seen the back of the tank to know that there's an octopus of piping attached, so getting into the external overflow boxes to place or remove sponges would be an absolute nightmare! I added 2 pictures at the bottom so you can see what I'm talking about.

I'm good on the RO/DI water with a 0-2 tds reading. That's one of the easiest ones to fix and monitor as I had learned my lesson prior trusting a faulty inline meter!

I'm not running my CA reactor yet and have been dosing 2-part for the last 4 months. I just changed from the Bulk Reef Supply products over to B-Ionic 2-part just last week.

The product I was looking at for carbon dosing was Prodibio. We travel a lot and I like the aspect of not having to dose the product every single day. I'm also using the Tropic Marin Bio-Actif salt that has some carbon element in it as well. I've fine tuned my skimmer to wet skim as it was not performing as well as it used to due to the pipes getting slime coated!

All my bulbs are only 4 months old, so it should not be them. I run the halides 6 hours a day and I'm using Radium 20K's and I supplement with actinic VHO's 11 hours a day.

I do use high quality carbons, so I think I'm okay there. I'm getting ready to order some more from Bulk Reef Supply this week as I'm going through it like mad!

I'm better than some with the frozen foods, but I don't rinse with RO/DI water. What I do is melt the foods and then drain all the excess melted water off before I feed the fish. I guess I could throw a bottle of RO/DI water into the fridge so that I have it available to rinse!

Guess you don't need to make a Dr. House call Safe travels and I hope you enjoy your time in Chicago!

Yes, I saw your octopus. All you need is some bald guys in blue makeup and you have an orchestra

Did the algae problem start when you changed the bulbs?

Oceanclear filters can be used with diatom powder, or you can pick up a Vortex diatom filter. It's a one micron (very fine) mechanical filter. It's basically a mason jar with a pump on the lid and a filter sock inside. Diatom powder is dried diatom algae. It's also used for bed bugs and cockroaches.

Following the instruction for nitrate testing would help establish the real numbers, but unfortunately it doesn't reduce the toxicity if you get a false low reading

 

[SaraB]

I had been fighting cyano since last year and the Hair Algae reared its ugly head in mid-April which was about 2 months after the new bulbs went in, so I wouldn't say it's related to a lighting change.

I'm actually going to be running a Magnum filter with a Micron cartridge. I'll see what I can do about digging up some Diatom powder ... maybe go visit a south Chicago "hotel"

I've got the test kit thing down now and I would expect it to be an accurate reading as I used the LaMotte Low Range Nitrate test kit.

The timer is also back on the refugium lighting so it runs 16 hours on and 8 hours off.

 

[BenjieC]

How's your macro growing in the fuge? Maybe switch to a MH like I have. I attribute my lack of nusence algae to running a 250w MH on my fuge and having a 13" sand bed in it. That and having 9 fish in 500gal of water.

You always had some fish in yours off and on right? Maybe the fish were eating all the micro-fauna in the fuge, so your DSB became a nutrient sink?

 

[SaraB]

How's your macro growing in the fuge?

I've never had an issue with it not growing, I can say that!

Right now I need to keep rinsing it to remove all the pest algae's that have been trapped in it from all the manual removal action that's been going on in the system.

 

[mr.wilson]

I've never had an issue with it not growing, I can say that!

Right now I need to keep rinsing it to remove all the pest algae's that have been trapped in it from all the manual removal action that's been going on in the system.

Yeah, macroalgae in the refugium can become a mechanical filter & growing medium for nuisance algae.

Sometimes it's easier to chuck the algae and start with "clean" stuff.

 

[SaraB]

How's your macro growing in the fuge? Maybe switch to a MH like I have. I attribute my lack of nusence algae to running a 250w MH on my fuge and having a 13" sand bed in it. That and having 9 fish in 500gal of water.

You always had some fish in yours off and on right? Maybe the fish were eating all the micro-fauna in the fuge, so your DSB became a nutrient sink?

Looks like you added more after I had responded.

The left side of the fuge was lit with a 50/50 power compact bulb with spill over from a 250 20K halide on the right side. Yes, I had a couple of fish in and out of the right side, but believe it or not the left side that never had fish in it and was for the macro only actually had the worse sandbed.

I'm starting to see an improvement in the overall look of the water in the tank. My skimmer is also pulling lots of nog lately! :dance:

Maybe you could spare a fresh batch of some macro so I can start over?

 

[SaraB]

Well it appears that my tanks journey south on the highway to hell is over and we are now heading northwest on the road to recovery! :beer:

I think the change that made the largest impact was removing that DSB from the fuge. I also now have 50% of the CA Media that I used as substrate removed from the frag tank. I'm taking that removal slow as I'm having to chip away at it to get it out. The rest is under a piece of eggcrate loaded with corals, so I'm not looking forward to doing that section.

I'm also feeding less, skimming more wet and Gary is still brushing off my hair algae in the display when I'm out of town (thanks Gary!!!) The growth of the hair algae has slowed considerably and it's pretty much confined to the far right side of the tank. There is no algae growing in the 45G cube at all. I still have some bryopsis in the frag tank, but I need to test my Magnesium levels before I continue dosing the Tech M.

I'm also doing the carbon and gfo changes every other week. I have some Prodibio on back order, so I'll start dosing that in a couple of weeks. I also switched from the BRS 2-Part and I'm now dosing the B-Ionic 2 Part instead.

 

[mpoletti]

Thats great news Sara :thumbsup:

 

[outy]

ive been running BB fuge for years now after many depths of sand.

All I can say is your on to what I found out, SB in a fuge is a detritus trap and quickly becomes more of a problem that outweighs the benifits

 

[DanW]

Glad to hear that the war is almost over and you're winning. Curious...why did you change from BRS to B-Ionic 2 part?

 

[pookstreet]

Yay :celeb1: I think that was the turning point for me also after I replaced the sandbed in the DT and removed the coarse stuff from the prop tank. Even the sandbed in the DT now is less than half of what it was before. Makes it much easier to vacuum during each water change.

Just a thought, have you considered just filling the fuge up with rocks instead of leaving it empty? Don't use rubble, keep the sizes to fist sized or bigger. It will be much easier to keep clean if you put a cheap powerhead down there to keep everything suspended. One of the other things I did was to fill my sump with as much rocks as I could to increase biological filtration. Your tank and mine are set up in much the same way, with minimal rocks in the display, although yours has even less than mine.

 

[pookstreet]

Here is another thought. Have you considered bio pellets at all? I've been using the Warner Marine EcoBAK with positive results so far and in the long run, it's a whole heck of a lot cheaper. When I was using Prodibio, I didn't notice any improvements. It could've been that my tank at the time was just too far south to change directions. This stuff you can just put it in and forget it, which is the beauty of it all. I like simplicity.

 

[SaraB]

Thats great news Sara :thumbsup:

Thanks Mark!

ive been running BB fuge for years now after many depths of sand.

All I can say is your on to what I found out, SB in a fuge is a detritus trap and quickly becomes more of a problem that outweighs the benifits

Yes, it's surprising how many people are saying they had some of the same issues with a DSB. I know many can argue both sides, but I didn't have much luck over time in my individual system.

Glad to hear that the war is almost over and you're winning. Curious...why did you change from BRS to B-Ionic 2 part?

Thanks Dan! I have a section of pure white sand in the center of my display tank and that section of the tank reminds me of your tank when I look at it, less the incredible SPS of course

Gary has been using B-Ionic for longer than I've had a saltwater tank. Last year he switched from B-Ionic to the BRS 2-part and didn't have the same results as he did with the B-Ionic. He gave me all of the left over BRS product and I've been dosing with it since early this year. After all my issues he asked/suggested that I too switch over to B-Ionic as he's had nothing but positive results ... hence the switch. :spin2:

 

[SaraB]

Yay :celeb1: I think that was the turning point for me also after I replaced the sandbed in the DT and removed the coarse stuff from the prop tank. Even the sandbed in the DT now is less than half of what it was before. Makes it much easier to vacuum during each water change.

Just a thought, have you considered just filling the fuge up with rocks instead of leaving it empty? Don't use rubble, keep the sizes to fist sized or bigger. It will be much easier to keep clean if you put a cheap powerhead down there to keep everything suspended. One of the other things I did was to fill my sump with as much rocks as I could to increase biological filtration. Your tank and mine are set up in much the same way, with minimal rocks in the display, although yours has even less than mine.

Thanks Kenny, yes it's reason to celebrate! :celeb1:

My fuge actually does house extra rock along with my sump. I had to put it somewhere like you said as I have minimal rockwork in my display. I probably should add a powerhead to each side as you said. I did leave about 1/2" of sand in there just for some buffering capacity, but I might even have to pull that at some point too.

Here is another thought. Have you considered bio pellets at all? I've been using the Warner Marine EcoBAK with positive results so far and in the long run, it's a whole heck of a lot cheaper. When I was using Prodibio, I didn't notice any improvements. It could've been that my tank at the time was just too far south to change directions. This stuff you can just put it in and forget it, which is the beauty of it all. I like simplicity.

I've been reading up on the bio pellets and I have not seen many results that would drive me that way of using them. I know that the new EcoBAK product might be more promising, but I'd like to see some long term results first. We'll see how the Prodibio fares for now. I'd like to eventually use something like VSV for the cost factor, but until I do so I need to figure our my new controller and its dosing pump ... so that could be a year from now I like to buy things and leave them sit on the shelf waiting for them to install themselves!

I'm starting to like simplicity more and more! I've got such a confusing looking set-up that my husband asked Dan where the rest of his tank equipment was ... he was shocked it all fit under the tank in the stand. There's truely a value in simplicity!

 

[spleen93]

Good to hear about the turnaround, Sara!