Sonny's Rimless Shallow Reef.

[acrylic_300]

Concerning corals eating bacteria:

The bacteria, aminos, and vodka thicken up your bio film...this allows particles to conglomerate in the water column (reef snow). As the particles grow they become more complex until they are tiny living organisms.

Some grow tiny fan like feathers....some grow into a spiral...some are just chunks of juicy fish poop covered in bacteria. If you keep your nose to the glass long enough you might see what I'm talking about unless you skim too aggressively.

A lot of these microcosms depend on light to grow, so the water becomes thickest with particles towards the end of the light cycle.

Corals eat this stuff...I see about 25% of my polyps closed on each coral during these episodes. Sometimes it will be all the Millies, other times all the digis or the Torts...sometimes all of them.

My skimmer dumps back into my nitrate reactor...this is also where I dose the aminos and sometimes sugar. The snow happens the best when the skimmer bubbles look like big strong snot bubbles.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15268744#post15268744 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acrylic_300
Concerning corals eating bacteria:

The bacteria, aminos, and vodka thicken up your bio film...this allows particles to conglomerate in the water column (reef snow). As the particles grow they become more complex until they are tiny living organisms.

Some grow tiny fan like feathers....some grow into a spiral...some are just chunks of juicy fish poop covered in bacteria. If you keep your nose to the glass long enough you might see what I'm talking about unless you skim too aggressively.

A lot of these microcosms depend on light to grow, so the water becomes thickest with particles towards the end of the light cycle.

Corals eat this stuff...I see about 25% of my polyps closed on each coral during these episodes. Sometimes it will be all the Millies, other times all the digis or the Torts...sometimes all of them.

My skimmer dumps back into my nitrate reactor...this is also where I dose the aminos and sometimes sugar. The snow happens the best when the skimmer bubbles look like big strong snot bubbles.

Awesome! Thanks for the explanation. :thumbsup:

 

[acrylic_300]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15269948#post15269948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
Awesome! Thanks for the explanation. :thumbsup:

Here is a good article by Eric Borneman

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/e_borneman_051098.html

I don't know what to make of this next article but apparently these aggregates harbor viruses also (not sure if it's pro or con).

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/73/16/5245

 

[mojo~]

good info on here. I did pull all the death from tank yesterday. and well because of all the garbage in the water I changed about 20g of it yesterday. And well I am going to see if the MB7 can help clean it up. I dosed 1 drop. lol I will do that twice a day. A little at a time.

 

[SWINGRRRR]

I dosed another 20ml yesterday. The MB7 is like water polish in a bottle. My water seems alot cleaner, and even the tiny patches of brown slime I had are gone. In 2 DAYS!!
My skimmer output is like on overdrive. It used to pull green tea/water. Now, without adjusting the height, the entire cup is full of foam. Its dark green and has filled the cup up maybe 1/4 of the way in 2 days. I used to have to empty it every 2 days. I run BB so I skim real wet. I cant wait to see what the vodka addition does. Still have 12 days though.
No ill effects seen so far.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15270988#post15270988 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SWINGRRRR
I dosed another 20ml yesterday. The MB7 is like water polish in a bottle. My water seems alot cleaner, and even the tiny patches of brown slime I had are gone. In 2 DAYS!!
My skimmer output is like on overdrive. It used to pull green tea/water. Now, without adjusting the height, the entire cup is full of foam. Its dark green and has filled the cup up maybe 1/4 of the way in 2 days. I used to have to empty it every 2 days. I run BB so I skim real wet. I cant wait to see what the vodka addition does. Still have 12 days though.
No ill effects seen so far.

Glad to see it is working out well for you. You should start to see some increased polyp extension in the next few weeks.

When you add Vodka you should be able to get even better colors.

 

[tas5tas]

Just made my order with Greg from Reefgeek.com. I ordered a 6x80w retro minus 1 IC660 since I already have one. For bulbs I ordered 2- ATI Aquablue Special, 3- ATI Blueplus, and 1- ATI Pro Color. I ordered an extra Blueplus just in case i don't like the look with the Pro Color. What should I do about acclimation from my 250w Lumenbright setup???

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15270322#post15270322 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mojo~
good info on here. I did pull all the death from tank yesterday. and well because of all the garbage in the water I changed about 20g of it yesterday. And well I am going to see if the MB7 can help clean it up. I dosed 1 drop. lol I will do that twice a day. A little at a time.

Glad to see you are toughing it out. Take is slow and be sure to have the skimmer going.

Good luck!

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15271769#post15271769 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tas5tas
Just made my order with Greg from Reefgeek.com. I ordered a 6x80w retro minus 1 IC660 since I already have one. For bulbs I ordered 2- ATI Aquablue Special, 3- ATI Blueplus, and 1- ATI Pro Color. I ordered an extra Blueplus just in case i don't like the look with the Pro Color. What should I do about acclimation from my 250w Lumenbright setup???

I would call up Reef Geek and cancel the Pro Color bulb. Have them replace it with a Fiji Purple or another Aquablue Special. I ran the Pro Color for on week and it was horrible. I had all sorts of issues because of it. Last I heard the Pro Color has been discontinued.

For acclimation you will need to have the fixture raised up high and slowly bring it down, or you will need to start with a lower Photo Period and work your way up. I would start with 4 hrs a day and then add a half hour ever two days until you get to the photo period you desire.

 

[t5Nitro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15270988#post15270988 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SWINGRRRR
I dosed another 20ml yesterday. The MB7 is like water polish in a bottle. My water seems alot cleaner, and even the tiny patches of brown slime I had are gone. In 2 DAYS!!
My skimmer output is like on overdrive. It used to pull green tea/water. Now, without adjusting the height, the entire cup is full of foam. Its dark green and has filled the cup up maybe 1/4 of the way in 2 days. I used to have to empty it every 2 days. I run BB so I skim real wet. I cant wait to see what the vodka addition does. Still have 12 days though.
No ill effects seen so far.

I am a week into dosing MB7. I dose the same amount you do per day. I thought it could've just been me thinking it looked better, but yes, it seems like the water is crystal clear.

I need to dose 20ml/day for another week yet and then starting the vodka addition.

Good stuff. Unlike you though I'm not running my skimmer because I do 10ml in the morning and then 10ml at night. Says not to run the skimmer after dosing for 4 hours. Are you just dosing 20ml all at one time and then running the skimmer later?

I just realized though that I should've bought the liter bottle. Dosing 20ml per day is downing the bottle a bit. :lol: Come Tuesday I have to go another week. I'll be doing another mail order.

 

[tas5tas]

i will try and send Greg an email and see what he can do.......I guess I'll get another Aquablue b/c the Fiji is on backorder.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15272440#post15272440 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SunnyX
I would call up Reef Geek and cancel the Pro Color bulb. Have them replace it with a Fiji Purple or another Aquablue Special. I ran the Pro Color for on week and it was horrible. I had all sorts of issues because of it. Last I heard the Pro Color has been discontinued.

For acclimation you will need to have the fixture raised up high and slowly bring it down, or you will need to start with a lower Photo Period and work your way up. I would start with 4 hrs a day and then add a half hour ever two days until you get to the photo period you desire.

 

[tas5tas]

Ok....it's taken care of. I have 3- Aquablue and 4- Blueplus coming. Now the question is....What combo should I run since I'm only going to be running 6 bulbs??

 

[t5Nitro]

3 of each type.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15272877#post15272877 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tas5tas
Ok....it's taken care of. I have 3- Aquablue and 4- Blueplus coming. Now the question is....What combo should I run since I'm only going to be running 6 bulbs??

Both bulbs put out almost the same amount of PAR(336 vs 311) so pick what ever looks best to you.

3 and 3 as T5nitro suggested is good but if you dont like it you could try 2 and 4.

That's the beauty of T5's, you can pick the EXACT color you are looking for.

 

[t5Nitro]

Sonny, are you supposed to run your skimmer while dosing MB7? So far I'm not because of how it says to turn it off until 4 hours after dosing. Well since I'm doing 10ml in the morning and 10ml later in the day I just never turn the skimmer on. Is that a problem and not going to get the effect that MB7 is made for and get rid of the HA?

 

[tas5tas]

Hopefully I'll actually get a little more par than that since those measurements are for 54w bulbs that aren't overdriven...and since I'll be overdriving 80w bulbs...I'm really looking forward to the change!! I ordered the sunlifts as well to suspend the rack I'm going to build so I think I'm going to run a normal lighting schedule and just drop the lights closer to the tank every week. I'm thinking about starting with them around 8" off and taking a month to lower them to 4". I'm going to sheild all the bulbs and reflectors with a piece of 1/4" acrylic underneath them mounted to the bottom of the rack. Doing this should keep the bulbs and reflectors free of salt creep and I'll just have to wipe the acrylic with RO water every now and then.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15273375#post15273375 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by t5Nitro
Sonny, are you supposed to run your skimmer while dosing MB7? So far I'm not because of how it says to turn it off until 4 hours after dosing. Well since I'm doing 10ml in the morning and 10ml later in the day I just never turn the skimmer on. Is that a problem and not going to get the effect that MB7 is made for and get rid of the HA?

LEAVE YOUR SKIMMER ON. Mojo~ just had many fish die because the skimmer was not on and the O2 was depleted.

The older bottle say turn the skimmer off but on the new bottles it is no longer there. I leave my skimmer on at all times and only turn it off when dosing AA's for about an hour.

 

[mojo~]

Leaving mine on for sure.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15273475#post15273475 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mojo~
Leaving mine on for sure.

Is that the NEW ATB???

 

[mojo~]

Yea its what I made room for. thats less than 2 days running.