JCOLE's Big Box of Rocks

JCOLE · Sep 1, 2024

FYI, I listed my MP60s for sale. They are one year old and like new.

Thread '2 x Ecotech MP60QD with extra wetside and controller mount' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/2...h-extra-wetside-and-controller-mount.1071169/

JCOLE · Sep 4, 2024

One week into the cycle, and bacteria are growing. I added some live rock to the tank this morning. Looking forward to the addition. I haven't had live rock in my systems in over ten years. Ammonia is still present and nitrates are still 0, so I still have a little time to go.

JCOLE · Sep 5, 2024

Anyone know of a good source for marine plants? Most places I know of are out of stock. I want to put various plants throughout in the sand along with Gorgs in the rockwork.

JCOLE · Sep 8, 2024

Anyone ever dosed bleach to their system? I am on 2 weeks now at 1.5ml daily. So far, I am liking the results. Two weeks is still to early for anything, but we shall see.

Reefering1 · Sep 8, 2024

JCOLE said:
Anyone ever dosed bleach to their system? I am on 2 weeks now at 1.5ml daily. So far, I am liking the results. Two weeks is still to early for anything, but we shall see.

Never heard of this!! What are the effects?

drawman · Sep 8, 2024

What's your goal @JCOLE ? To battle the uglies?

JCOLE · Sep 9, 2024

Reefering1 said:
Never heard of this!! What are the effects?

It is purely anecdotal, but ever since I started two weeks ago, the system has been doing good. The 300 in the garage only uses a skimmer for filtration, and I haven't done a water change since moving everything over to the sump eight months ago. A month ago, the smell from the tank, skimmer, etc began to stink up the garage. The first thing you noticed when you walked into the garage was the smell. Since I started dosing, the water is clear as glass and the smell has disappeared. My corals are coloring up and now shooting out growth tips. It could be a coincidence but it seems positive.

JCOLE · Sep 9, 2024

drawman said:
What's your goal @JCOLE ? To battle the uglies?

Not really. On this tank, I only use a skimmer, and I could tell the water was not clear and started to smell. Since starting the bleach dosing, the water is crystal clear and the smell is completely gone. I always wanted to try it and figured now would be a good time. Things look positive so far. Once I get a comfortable max daily dosage, then I would like to set it up on a doser.

Reefering1 · Sep 9, 2024

JCOLE said:
It is purely anecdotal, but ever since I started two weeks ago, the system has been doing good. The 300 in the garage only uses a skimmer for filtration, and I haven't done a water change since moving everything over to the sump eight months ago. A month ago, the smell from the tank, skimmer, etc began to stink up the garage. The first thing you noticed when you walked into the garage was the smell. Since I started dosing, the water is clear as glass and the smell has disappeared. My corals are coloring up and now shooting out growth tips. It could be a coincidence but it seems positive.

How much are we talking about in the 300g sys? Any other effects on algea or cyano, dinos?

JCOLE · Sep 9, 2024

Reefering1 said:
How much are we talking about in the 300g sys? Any other effects on algea or cyano, dinos?

I began with 0.5 ml daily, progressed to 1 ml daily, and currently maintain 1.5 ml daily. I intend to continue until I notice a problem or see no reason to increase the dosage. This is a small dose compared to others that do 1ml per 10 gallons.

No other effects have been noticed so far.

Reefering1 · Sep 9, 2024

Do you think it's the chlorine, oxidation or water clarity making the difference?

JCOLE · Sep 9, 2024

Reefering1 said:
Do you think it's the chlorine, oxidation or water clarity making the difference?

I believe it is a combination of all three. The oxidation of organics (DOC) contributes to better water quality and light penetration, among other things. Although I don't have a definitive answer, the current situation seems promising, so I plan to persist with the course and observe the results over the next few weeks as I gradually increase the dosage.

Reefering1 · Sep 9, 2024

JCOLE said:
I believe it is a combination of all three. The oxidation of organics (DOC) contributes to better water quality and light penetration, among other things. Although I don't have a definitive answer, the current situation seems promising, so I plan to persist with the course and observe the results over the next few weeks as I gradually increase the dosage.

Please keep us updated on this!!

JCOLE · Sep 13, 2024

500 is still cycling. Live rock from the keys is brown and covered with algae now, which was expected. Dry rock is now specking with brown algae (possibly diatoms). Hopefully, the cycle will be completed soon, and I can add rock from KP next week. Corals in the 300 are looking better now. After Ivermectin and tearing the system down, the corals turned brown and looked bad. They are now regaining their color and growth, which is a positive sign.

JCOLE · Sep 18, 2024

20lbs of KP live rock came in this morning. Really nice for base rock. There is also a good amount of life on the rocks.

JCOLE · Sep 20, 2024

A little update on the systems.

The main tank has the uglies starting. There are no concerns here, and I personally find those stages enjoyable. The cycle is acting a little strange, though. Ammonia dropped to zero; I have 40 No3 and .07 Po4 but nitrite still shows elevated and will not lower. I am not worried, as the tank does seem to be cycled. I will still give it a couple of weeks to see how it progresses.

The corals in the 300 sump in the garage have done a complete 180. The colors are back, and the ones that were struggling are now showing their color again. Except for the bleach dosing, I haven't done anything different to the system. It could be one big coincidence and the corals found a happy spot after six months or there is something to this bleach dosing. I know it's all anecdotal but the color and growth have drastically improved since dosing bleach daily.

JCOLE · Sep 22, 2024

Cycle is complete now. Algae is starting to cover the rocks and is taking to the cement shelves the most.

This doesn't look look like GHA. Does this look like bryopsis?

xiaoxiy · Sep 23, 2024

The fern-like pattern definitely is consistent with bryopsis. That being said, I had something similar when I upgraded my frag tank last year and it ended up going away with CUC alone (which is unlike bryopsis). I found that pincushion urchins and turbos seemed to do a decent job mowing it down.

JCOLE · Sep 23, 2024

xiaoxiy said:
The fern-like pattern definitely is consistent with bryopsis. That being said, I had something similar when I upgraded my frag tank last year and it ended up going away with CUC alone (which is unlike bryopsis). I found that pincushion urchins and turbos seemed to do a decent job mowing it down.

It does look like bryopsis. If it is then it came in on the live rock. I will grab a decent clean up crew to see. I have a bunch of macro algae coming in next week. I don't really want to hit a new tank with Fluconazole but it is taking off quick and will spread like fire within weeks.