★ 110 Gallon (In-Wall Office Dream SPS Reef Tank) ★ PROJECT GENESIS [Total Automation, DIY & More ]★

[WallyB]

The DOUBLE Copperband Deaths (Two Separate Tanks) has me thinking.
One tank didn't have any more Aptasia, but the LPS still does.

Why the instant two death timing.

I have no clue when it happened.
I never saw a weak copperband floating around that would catch my attention.

WONDER IS THERE is ANOTHER REASON.

My Brother in Law gave me 3 packets of Never Opened Frozen Food a couple of week ago.
Mysis, Frozen Brine, and Blood worms.

Both Packet of Frozen Food always kept frozen (all sealed except one slightly used), but at least 4 years old
I thought since sealed and frozen it would be fine.

I used a bit of the (opened) Blood worm thinking Copperband would eat it.
Other fish must have eatten the Mysis and brine, but not so much the tiny bit of Blood worm I added.

Kind of weird to have two copperbands Starve at same time.
It may have been within the last two weeks when I got the OLD food. Or maybe earlier but I never noticed.

 

[WallyB]

VOTE for POTM OCTOBER (Anthias)

Hey Folks,

This is about the Fat Head Anthias that Vanished few weeks ago.

I got a great photo of him while he was around, and submitted for POTM.

I'm in the Finalist for Voting...

If you like the Photo (6) which is mine...., vote for me.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/october-2019-potm-contest-voting-poll.661205/

I had a tough choice choosing which photo to submit.
This one was my first choice PHoto, but to make it different than others I chose the one above.

You can vote for more than one photo, if you don't think mine is the best from the other finalists.

 

[Fudsey]

Done

 

[Nar-1992]

Nice build

 

[WallyB]

Done

Thanks. At least I'm not at the Bottom anymore.
But WOW Photo #9 is certainly to me a Winner. Amazing Photo!!

 

[WallyB]

NEW (CHEAP TEST FRAGS) UPDATE

Well I'm glad I went with Cheap Frags. When they die it doesn't feel that bad.

One really cheap one that was bleaching from bottom when I bought it. Died.
One I had to trim yesterday to preserve the top.
One is either growing a new tip or a tip is bleaching/burnt.

The rest look pretty good and might actually be coloring up.

At least I'm not stressed, and building up experience and confidence. Minimum $ loss too.

 

[WallyB]

Can't Grow SPS in SPS Tank ( BUT Other Tank )

Someday, I'll have SPS Live longer than a month, and maybe years later Have Color and Growth.

BUT TODAY, I passed by my KITCHEN LPS tank and Noticed a DIFFERENT GLOW.

I've been cutting back my Lighting since that seems to make LPS Happier. Less White Too.

Noticed my two Citrius Mushrooms, which always looked great, but today, AMAZINGLY DIFFERENT.

This Initial Phone Taken WIde PHoto show's why they caught my Attention.

These are two SLR Photo's of Each Shroom' best Angle.

and the one on right.

and a CLOSEUP

Hoping these guys multiply like my other Shrooms.

That SPS that I cut down yesterday, bleached away. Didn't Save it!

Seriously Starting to Consider Giving up on SPS for my Office Tank and do LPS/Shrooms, etc.
Why NOT? I'll probably be more Happy looking at stuff that lives....

I've never made a Nickle on SPS. Lost Tons of $'s trying...…over and Over again.
LPS/Shroom's/Softies... I've sold/traded, and made some Pocket money to run the tanks. (NO EFFORT TOO)

 

[WallyB]

GENESIS II ( Tank Clearing up : NO Urchin ) New Frags Simmering for Future Mounting.

No more Urchins in any of MY DT. The Coraline Scraping they do is an Eye Sore.
Still scrape marks but I see hint of Coraline coming back.

Brown Algae is receding slowly from some Dead Flow Spots (after Improved flow).

Not perfect but the remaining Frags look better and Better each day.
Today got some NEW Frags (Not high end but some of my Favorite Classics) ** Far LEFT 8 Frags **

The tank is coloring up and that's motivating me to Finish the ALK MONITOR (final code/testing is tedious...But it has to be [perfect/Accurate/Bullet proof] if it will Control my Doser)

 

[WallyB]

Sump Refugium ( Urchin, Future Copperband Acclimation Tank)

This shows what the Urchin does.
The rocks in my Refuge were Totally Coraline Purple.

Now stripped down.

New on the Replacement Copperband. It's already in QT and 2 weeks to go. (Not doing QT myself).
I won't put him into DT right away.

He has some work to do in the Refuge. He'll go in FAT into DT.

That's an Aptasia FARM. (Never cared with a Copperband in DT).

Without a Copperband in DT, I already had to Zap my 2nd Aptasia.

 

[WallyB]

ONLY ON MY THREAD ( Ultra Rare, never seen Before) DOUBLE Color Torch

Actually that's my Bubble Tipped Anenome that can't decide where to stay.
He is hunting for a permanent place. Been on the Torch stem twice.
Wonder who wins the Sting War?

 

[Janci]

ONLY ON MY THREAD ( Ultra Rare, never seen Before) DOUBLE Color Torch

Actually that's my Bubble Tipped Anenome that can't decide where to stay.
He is hunting for a permanent place. Been on the Torch stem twice.
Wonder who wins the Sting War?

You got me when I saw the picture... until I realized those red things were no torch tentacles.

 

[WallyB]

Killing the ( DEAD FLOW CORNER )

I improved the Flow in the Tank a little while ago. Overall Good, except for the Far Right Side.

That side is building up detritus and due to lack of flow (Brown Algae, or diatoms)

Tough spot to get Flow to, even with the Sea Swirl there.

I got an idea since the Hydor Koralia's pump have a Long Adjustable mount.

I mounted it on the TOP of TANK (Verticall off the EuroTrim )

The pump isn't blowing directly on Rocks (Where I will place corals)….
It's crashing into the other pulsing pump at back (and SeaSwirl), and creating some good Random mixing.

The new Pump in that Spot certainly caused a Dust Storm (Mean's deitritus is clearing)
I added a SOCk to Sump, and some Coral Snow to clump particiulates.

The new Pump stands out a bit, but not as much as Brown/Redish Algae on Rocks.

We'll see how things look tomorrow.

 

[WallyB]

Tank cleared up ( DEAD SPOT Gone!! )

That didn't take long for tank clarity to come back....

The Right SIDE Dead Flow SPOT is gone.

Now I see a small SPOT the Left side. Very small (Will leave alone for now).

Frags on BACK Rack are begging to be mounted. I must do soon since Snails or Flow keep knocking them off the Rack.

 

[WallyB]

ALK MONITOR UPDATE ( Learning Liquid Management ) Getting Close to Finshing!!

Anyone wondering why the Alk Monitor is Still Not Done?

We'll it would be done ages ago if it were not having to program Liquid Flow thru dosing tubes.

I've learned that Liquids have certain properties, and things amplify with the Nice Looking Clear AirLine Tubing I picked (WIDER than normal dosing tubes [Inner Diameter] )

A simple doser which pushes a liquid (ONE DIRECTION) is easy. You simply push enough liquid to push out all the bubbles (ie Prime the Tube) and you are set to go for Accurate Dosing (in that Same FLOW direction).

I learned thru testing that if you want to REMOVE the Liquid (Reverse Flow), it's not that simple;
- Drops get left behind
- Bubbles can build up

Maybe it's not a big deal with a short line, or maybe it doesn't really matter for the Test Result Accuracy.
However I am doing things in order and the Actual Test will be LAST. (Ie I WANT LIQUID bugs ironed out)

A thin Dosing Line/Tube would probably work perfect, since liquids glob/stick-to-themselves. I can see that effect in the Thinner Inner-Diameter Tubes that the Dosing Heads have.

However with a Wide Inner-Line Diameter (like I'm using for Extensions), bubbles/Air-Pocket happen.

I've played with various way of purging the tubes, and also having the tubes run vertical (Not Horizontal).
That fixes things since Gravity pulls on the liquid to re-accumulate.

A really easy fix is I could just take more sample water, and prime the tubes enough, that I push out all the bubbles, but that would increase my Test Sample by a few mili-litres (might go for this solution).

ANOTHER SOLUTION (later) is I can switch the Tube Extensions to smaller Inner-Diameter.

 

[WallyB]

PERFECT ( BUBBLE FREE "Accurate" Sample ) SOLVED!!

I found a way for a Bubble Free Sample.
After 3 days of Banging my Head the Solution came by Accidental Observation (while testing over and over).

Simply PRE-WET the Dosing lines (Pre-Flush the lines Twice with Sample Water), then take the Sample Right Way while The Tube Inner-Walls are still slightly wet.

Appears letting the Dosing Lines Walls dry out was the problem (Causing Friction, and thus Creating Bubbles)

THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, was the PROBLEM (Water Sticks), Therefore (Make it STICK MORE!! )

Tested it 10 Times and Each Time, No matter what Length of Tubing, it Worked. Even Tubing not Vertical !!!!

MOVING ON!! Finally!!!

 

[Janci]

Tank cleared up ( DEAD SPOT Gone!! )

That didn't take long for tank clarity to come back....

The Right SIDE Dead Flow SPOT is gone.

Now I see a small SPOT the Left side. Very small (Will leave alone for now).

Frags on BACK Rack are begging to be mounted. I must do soon since Snails or Flow keep knocking them off the Rack.

It was hard to understand that you still have dead spots in the tank with that many pumps and fow pipes.
Glad to see it solved.

And a great solution to the bubble problem.
Simple but effective.

 

[WallyB]

It was hard to understand that you still have dead spots in the tank with that many pumps and fow pipes.
Glad to see it solved.

And a great solution to the bubble problem.
Simple but effective.

I hear you about the Impossible Dead Spot.
Maybe I used the wrong Term. It's not a Dead Spot, it a "Lowest Flow Area"...….
I've been watching the Tank-Flow-Dynamics closely.

There is flow everywhere, but there is always some area where Flow is least.
AND That is where Detritus/Dust accumulates.

My other tank has a similar SPOT. And it's perfectly located, since I get a pile of Dust on the Glass Bottom.
Perfectly located to sweep up the Detritus Debris Pile.

In the SPS Tank, that SPOT was located in a Rock Area, so the Rocks got the dusting.
And thus the bad area, and rocks looked Horrible. Coral's never did well there either.

I guess I could have moved around pumps, or re-programmed them to deal with the area.
RISK was some other BAD SPOT would appear. Plus like the Current pump placement for Optics/Cords.

Thing looks good now, and the NEW PILE up area is under my Right Arch, on the Glass bottom.

The LEFT side I'll leave alone. The Firefish and the Anthias like to swim/hover there in the slightly lower flow area.
It's perfect viewing spot where I sit.

 

[WallyB]

ALK MONITOR ( TANK 1/2/3 Tubing Flow Perfect)

Moving on the Last Challenge (1ml Regent Setup)

Really getting close to finishing ALK Monitor (THIS TIME I MEAN IT!! )

-> All 3 Tank Lines work perfect (for the 10ml Sample).
-> The Rinse Line is (Simple, no reverse flow needed)

I just need to program the 1ml Regent Programming. Has to be SUPER ACCURATE.

Once that is done. I run my FIRST REAL TEST

Can't wait!! Never been done yet.

 

[Fudsey]

Getting there Wally but, what will you do once it's finished.....?

 

[WallyB]

Getting there Wally but, what will you do once it's finished.....?

Hang around your thread will be my first thing.

But as my tanks get stable....

Prune my SPS as they over grow one another and move chunks to my stable frag tank to encrust on plugs before selling/trading. (Dream come true).

Yeah, as if that is going to happen.
I'm an expert on messing up sps!!

I Can't seem to fail messing up.
Already doing it again. Noticed my frags look better, so last night I was passing by the Amino bottles. Did two drops. (I'm an additive addict). Just two drops.
Is there a thread to get Therapy/Treatment?