Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[epleeds]

Sonny,

i was wondering if you could give me your perspective. I have a 75 gallon mixed reef. with a niger trigger, porky puffer, large maroon clown, two hawk fish, and a copperband butteryfly.

I just did the testing on my water and this is what i came up with..

PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - .5
Calcium - 350 (this needs to be higher, i know that)
Phosphates - .015

I just got my bottle of MB7 and was wondering with these readings would you go low nutrient or med/high. I have some green hair algae and bubble algae that are driving me crazy.

I am also running a Remora C skimmer, with a maxi 1200. Do you think this skimmer would be enough to dose MB7 or should i look to upgrade the pump or the skimmer all together before dosing MB7.

thanks..

eric

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15375038#post15375038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by epleeds
Sonny,

i was wondering if you could give me your perspective. I have a 75 gallon mixed reef. with a niger trigger, porky puffer, large maroon clown, two hawk fish, and a copperband butteryfly.

I just did the testing on my water and this is what i came up with..

PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - .5
Calcium - 350 (this needs to be higher, i know that)
Phosphates - .015

I just got my bottle of MB7 and was wondering with these readings would you go low nutrient or med/high. I have some green hair algae and bubble algae that are driving me crazy.

I am also running a Remora C skimmer, with a maxi 1200. Do you think this skimmer would be enough to dose MB7 or should i look to upgrade the pump or the skimmer all together before dosing MB7.

thanks..

eric

Hello

When algae is present in a system in can throw off PO4 readings. I recall a system in the past where we would test out the PO4 and it always showed up very close to 0. What was happening was the algae was eating the PO4 so fast it wasn't showing up on the test.

So, your "true" PO4 reading is likely higher then what you had tested.

With algae present in your system I would usually recommend the medium to high dosing. But, I am worried that your skimmer may not be sufficient to process the waste and aerate the tank properly. Bacteria added to a system will uptake quite a bit of oxygen so you need to be sure your system can handle.

The best possible soultion would be to get a larger skimmer, but if that is not possible you could start with a small dosage and work up from there. Start out with 2 drops daily and add a drop every 3 days for the first two weeks. Keep an eye on your fish for any signs of heavy and labored breathing. It would be a good idea to have an aquarium air pump with hosing nearby in case there is an issue.

Good luck and take it slowly.

Sonny

EDIT: What was your ALK reading?

 

[t5Nitro]

Hey sonny, I'm just curious if doing 5 gallon water changes per week is sufficient on my 125 per week while dosing MB7 and vodka. I'm past the 2 week point so I'm doing 2 drops daily of MB7 and then .8ml vodka right now.

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

Hey sonny, i was just looking back at some of your pics and was thinking....i wish i could get a frag of some of those! Im local to you (SE MI), when do you frag and how much do you usually sell them for?

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15377548#post15377548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 1DeR9_3Hy
Hey sonny, i was just looking back at some of your pics and was thinking....i wish i could get a frag of some of those! Im local to you (SE MI), when do you frag and how much do you usually sell them for?

You have PM.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15377518#post15377518 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by t5Nitro
Hey sonny, I'm just curious if doing 5 gallon water changes per week is sufficient on my 125 per week while dosing MB7 and vodka. I'm past the 2 week point so I'm doing 2 drops daily of MB7 and then .8ml vodka right now.

5gl is good. I do about 30gl a month on mine.

Have you been slowly increasing your dosages of MB7 and Vodka?

 

[trueblackpercula]

Ok I am done with the Mb7 and have clear the sand and walls as best as I could. What's the next step in Vodka dosing.
Do I stop running GFO and carbon?
What about water changes ? 5 gallons per week still ok?
80proof vodka ok?
It's been a lot work so far hope it pays off. Cleaning the top layer of sand was a lot of fricking work. I was also told I could add up to an inch over the old with no problems is this ok.
Sorry if this is off the original topic
Michael
thanks Sonny

 

[stagcrazy]

sunny quick ? do u stop your skimmer when you dose the mb7 on a daily basis i just stop mines once a week for 4 hours when i do the weekley dosage but never daily.

 

[t5Nitro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15378025#post15378025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
5gl is good. I do about 30gl a month on mine.

Have you been slowly increasing your dosages of MB7 and Vodka?

No. The MB7 after 2 weeks the bottle says 2 drops daily (for my tank).

 

[Tritonian]

Regarding bubble algae.
I've always had a small bubble algae problem, along with cyano, dyno and green hair and green slime algae. And now that I don't have any Tangs in my system Caulerpa is growing a tad out of control. I say small problem, because it hasn't been that bad really.

Since I've started dosing Bacteria (not MB7) and kalk (PH 8.6 +) and wet skimming, vacuuming my SSB. I've seen the slime and cyano die off within 2weeks. My dyno is still trying to hold on. Manually removing bubble algae and Caulerpa. though.

My sump has LR packed into it with my skimmer and a circulation pump in it. I have a very minimal amount of rock in my setup. The corals take up enough space. So I figured I'd have majority of my LR in my sump.

My NO4 is unreadable and so is my PO4. I will test those levels again after I have totally eradicated all the algae. As you said Sunny, the algae may be causing the test to lie.

I'm shutting my lights off again today. To help kill off more dyno.

One more thing - My water has never been more clear than it is now, and it's so noticeable.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15378271#post15378271 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trueblackpercula
Ok I am done with the Mb7 and have clear the sand and walls as best as I could. What's the next step in Vodka dosing.
Do I stop running GFO and carbon?
What about water changes ? 5 gallons per week still ok?
80proof vodka ok?
It's been a lot work so far hope it pays off. Cleaning the top layer of sand was a lot of fricking work. I was also told I could add up to an inch over the old with no problems is this ok.
Sorry if this is off the original topic
Michael
thanks Sonny

Hello

Continue to run the carbon and slowly ween yourself off of the GFO over the next month or so.

80 proof vodka is fine, follow the dosing chart here: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

Continue to dose MB7 as well and the water changes look good.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15380320#post15380320 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stagcrazy
sunny quick ? do u stop your skimmer when you dose the mb7 on a daily basis i just stop mines once a week for 4 hours when i do the weekley dosage but never daily.

I never stop mine. the only time I stop mine is when I dose AA's, and it is usually only for an hour.

If you are worried about losing some bacteria to the skimmer just add a couple extra drops to your current dosing.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15381928#post15381928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tritonian
Regarding bubble algae.
I've always had a small bubble algae problem, along with cyano, dyno and green hair and green slime algae. And now that I don't have any Tangs in my system Caulerpa is growing a tad out of control. I say small problem, because it hasn't been that bad really.

Since I've started dosing Bacteria (not MB7) and kalk (PH 8.6 +) and wet skimming, vacuuming my SSB. I've seen the slime and cyano die off within 2weeks. My dyno is still trying to hold on. Manually removing bubble algae and Caulerpa. though.

My sump has LR packed into it with my skimmer and a circulation pump in it. I have a very minimal amount of rock in my setup. The corals take up enough space. So I figured I'd have majority of my LR in my sump.

My NO4 is unreadable and so is my PO4. I will test those levels again after I have totally eradicated all the algae. As you said Sunny, the algae may be causing the test to lie.

I'm shutting my lights off again today. To help kill off more dyno.

One more thing - My water has never been more clear than it is now, and it's so noticeable.

Yeah, Dino's can be a pain to get rid off. It sounds like you have weakened them to a point where 48hrs of no lighting should finally wipe them out.

Tangs are great at keeping alage at bay but they take up too much space and need larger systems to grow out.

Oh, and I checked out your website and illustrations-AMAZING stuff! :thumbsup: You really have a talent art my friend.

 

[saltygeek]

Ok I dont think this posted, trying again. Sorry if its a Double Post

Sonny,
I was looking at your website and saw the new livestock post. Do you run a QT tank or do you dip and place in the main tank?
Thanks

 

[sps1-2-b]

Hi Sonny, been dosing MB7 for 5 weeks and vodka for 3 wks. My nitrates were 50 ppm before I started dosing and now they're at 10. I'm happy with that and know it will continue to drop. But my phosphate level started at .10 and stayed there up til now. Does it take longer for po4 to drop? I followed your thread and the dosing table you linked. Total vol is about 220gal. I'm currently dosing 20 drops mb7 and starting wk 4 of vodka which is 3.1ml. Thanks.

 

[sps1-2-b]

Hi Sonny, been dosing MB7 for 5 weeks and vodka for 3 wks. My nitrates were 50 ppm before I started dosing and now they're at 10. I'm happy with that and know it will continue to drop. But my phosphate level started at .10 and stayed there up til now. Does it take longer for po4 to drop? I followed your thread and the dosing table you linked. Total vol is about 220gal. I'm currently dosing 20 drops mb7 and starting wk 4 of vodka which is 3.1ml. Do you think po4 will eventually drop? Thanks.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15382701#post15382701 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltygeek
Ok I dont think this posted, trying again. Sorry if its a Double Post

Sonny,
I was looking at your website and saw the new livestock post. Do you run a QT tank or do you dip and place in the main tank?
Thanks

I have a small 30gl rimless where I place my frags and purchase for a day or two before placing them into the tank.

All corals are dipped with Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure before entering my system.

I dont do anything special for the fish, I simply drop them into the tank.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15382731#post15382731 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sps1-2-b
Hi Sonny, been dosing MB7 for 5 weeks and vodka for 3 wks. My nitrates were 50 ppm before I started dosing and now they're at 10. I'm happy with that and know it will continue to drop. But my phosphate level started at .10 and stayed there up til now. Does it take longer for po4 to drop? I followed your thread and the dosing table you linked. Total vol is about 220gal. I'm currently dosing 20 drops mb7 and starting wk 4 of vodka which is 3.1ml. Do you think po4 will eventually drop? Thanks.

I am glad it is working out well for you. The nitrates will drop before the Po4 will so keep it up. There is a chart in Reef Aquarium Vol III that shows a graph with vodka dosing. It shows days nitrate going down much faster then PO4. Then , 28 days or so out the PO4 rapidly drops to 0.

Just keep doing what you're doing.

 

[Lyfey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15365027#post15365027 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
Hello

The first thing I would do is check under the rocks in the sump to see how much detritus is trapped underneath them. If you are not already doing so I suggest you place a powerhead in the sump blowing water onto the rocks.

A good option for reducing nutrients would be to start up a bacteria dosing regiment. I use Brightwell's Microbacter7(MB7). I would dose the MB7 for the first two weeks and then decide if you would like to take the next step and start dosing vodka as well.

With you DKH at 10 I would try and bring it down to around 9 if you decide to give the MB7/vodka a try. The bacteria should start to out compete the algae for nutrients within the first two weeks. With no available food source the algae with die off.

Sunny, I took your advice on checking out on how dirty my sump was with all that LR and LR rubble in it and "Wow!" Thats all I have to say, No wonder where my nitrate issue came from. I had to turn off my return pump after pulling out 2-3 large pieces of LR, it got really nasty after that.

After pulling out a 1/4th of a salt buckets worth of LR rubble (main chamber where drain flows into and skimmer pulls out) my sump was dark brown. The tank has been set up for less than two months and LR was only put into the sump less than a month ago. All that ditritus was only from 1 month! How do you think someones sump is after six months? Hmmm...

I drained all water and cleaned the sump with RODI water 2x, then made Reef Crystals water (I didnt get a chance to let salt settle in for 24 hrs prior to W.C due to my trip to atlantic city that night.) I Refilled the sump with 1.025sg / 79 degree water ~20 gallons RODI Reef crystals water and bada bing~ instant happiness! My nitrates where about 20 ppm. I'll check tonight (a few days later) and let you know how it worked. Total net volume of tank is roughly 90 gallons. 75 gallon RR tank, 30 gallon sump.

I am posting this issue for the debate on how LR rubble and LR in the sump can effect nitrate issues. This is supporting Sunnyx's idea on how LR should be placed with adequite flow and possibly on top of egg crating with flow underneath the LR.

I use a Oceanic Model 2 sump. A Koralia 4 is dedicated to circulating water in the large return chamber. I use a Quiet One 4000 for a return pump. 15lbs of LR rubble and about 25-30 lbs of LR in the sump. Water line is kept around around 3/4ths mark.

Ill check with my older API test kit tonight and let yall know how the issue was effected by the thorough cleaning of the sump. Thanks sunny on your thoughts about the nitrate factory that was my sump Im sure it helped a great deal! Somebodies quote I saw was "A clean sump, Is a happy sump." I believe! I believe!

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15383395#post15383395 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lyfey
Sunny, I took your advice on checking out on how dirty my sump was with all that LR and LR rubble in it and "Wow!" Thats all I have to say, No wonder where my nitrate issue came from. I had to turn off my return pump after pulling out 2-3 large pieces of LR, it got really nasty after that.

After pulling out a 1/4th of a salt buckets worth of LR rubble (main chamber where drain flows into and skimmer pulls out) my sump was dark brown. The tank has been set up for less than two months and LR was only put into the sump less than a month ago. All that ditritus was only from 1 month! How do you think someones sump is after six months? Hmmm...

I drained all water and cleaned the sump with RODI water 2x, then made Reef Crystals water (I didnt get a chance to let salt settle in for 24 hrs prior to W.C due to my trip to atlantic city that night.) I Refilled the sump with 1.025sg / 79 degree water ~20 gallons RODI Reef crystals water and bada bing~ instant happiness! My nitrates where about 20 ppm. I'll check tonight (a few days later) and let you know how it worked. Total net volume of tank is roughly 90 gallons. 75 gallon RR tank, 30 gallon sump.

I am posting this issue for the debate on how LR rubble and LR in the sump can effect nitrate issues. This is supporting Sunnyx's idea on how LR should be placed with adequite flow and possibly on top of egg crating with flow underneath the LR.

I use a Oceanic Model 2 sump. A Koralia 4 is dedicated to circulating water in the large return chamber. I use a Quiet One 4000 for a return pump. 15lbs of LR rubble and about 25-30 lbs of LR in the sump. Water line is kept around around 3/4ths mark.

Ill check with my older API test kit tonight and let yall know how the issue was effected by the thorough cleaning of the sump. Thanks sunny on your thoughts about the nitrate factory that was my sump Im sure it helped a great deal! Somebodies quote I saw was "A clean sump, Is a happy sump." I believe! I believe!

Thanks for the update!

Yeah, you wouldn't believe how fast crud can accumulate. All that stuff does is raise your nitrate and create problems in your main system.

Good luck with the change and let us know how it works out.

Sonny