Never-ending Reef Tank Shenanigan's (RSR250--65gallons)

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Feb 24, 2022

powers2001 said:
@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 I’m going to try carbon dosing with RS NOPOX. And use glass Voss water bottles for that. And stick RO tubing down in the bottle. Lot of guys are doing that.

That's right. I've seen that around. The cocktail mix I mentioned is the same as RS NOPOX and a lot less $$$. When are you going to fill your tank?? Did you move into the new house yet?

Flameback Pair · Feb 24, 2022

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 said:
That's right. I've seen that around. The cocktail mix I mentioned is the same as RS NOPOX and a lot less $$$. When are you going to fill your tank?? Did you move into the new house yet?

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 yes in the house now. I’ve got to do some remodeling in the fish room first and it may be awhile before I get to that.

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Feb 24, 2022

@powers2001 Congrats on the move in!!

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Feb 24, 2022

One thing I've figured out that was causing my P04 to not lower is my ATO tank was dirty. I had a feeling about it, so I tested the P04 at it was .15ppm of P04 and my RO water I tested in my RO drum is .01ppm. Cleaned my ATO tank and added new fresh RO water. Another thing I'm curious to see from the ICP test is the RO levels. Which I took from the drum not my ATO for the test.

Remember to check the ATO water level once in awhile.

Flameback Pair · Feb 24, 2022

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 thanks. Funny thing. I’ve been sleeping on the couch, don’t have my new mattress yet!!

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Feb 26, 2022

So it begins…. Waiting on my ICP test results. Reef Moonshiners method.

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Mar 7, 2022

Tank update:

Shopping around for a bigger skimmer, and almost purchased a Reef Octopus 150int with various 2 pump and controller. It's just a little to big to fit in my sump. So I went with a Nyos 160 skimmer to replace the Nyos 120. It's about double the skimmer from the 120 to 160. I've had a airline plumbed to the outside for fresh air into the intake of the skimmer. It wasn't making enough of a difference with the PH. It was definitely better than no fresh air. My PH would be 7.9-8.05 consistently with the fresh airline on the 120 skimmer. Just installed the 160 and it barely fit. Hooked the fresh airline up, and boom my PH is already hitting 8.1 beginning of the day. I now CO2 scrubbers work but if I can get away with a large skimmer and fresh air, it's a better option in my opinion. The Nyos 120 did a great job, but I think for the bio load in my tank and the direction I'm heading I needed a bigger skimmer. The CO2 in my house is really good between 500-600ppm and when I have a bunch of people over with the windows closed I get a reading to about 1000-1100ppm(CO2 meter monitored). Summers here in Socal get up to the 100's and the windows will be closed during that time. Preparation for that time of the year is key.

The reef moonshiner's method has been working out really good so far. The day after I started dosing my elements needed based on the ICP test my dKh and CA dropped. I really didn't think the Trident was measuring the two levels correctly. So I checked them with my Hanna checkers. Recalibrated the Trident(see the spike in the chart). Sure enough, it was right. So I slowly changed my dosing amounts up every day till I reached the correct ideal level. I went from dosing 30ml of dKH to 95ml to reach my ideal level and now I'm at 55ml/day and my CA went from 15ml to 30ml/day. Pretty interesting that it did that. I keep pretty good notes on my Apex log so I can go back and check the charts vs things I added to the tank.

My nutrient export has improved really good at this point. Still in the "dialing in" stage. My P04 is now .03 and my nitrates are 43ppm. I've been dosing vinegar slowly increasing based on the "Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium" article. Vinegar dosing Currently dosing 7ml/day of vinegar this week and only when the lights are on from 1pm-9pm. The vinegar will take some time to lower the nitrates but I'm ok with that. Slow and steady. Feeding 2 cubes now a day of frozen with no other food for now. I may feed some pellets to keep my P04 from going to 0. My goal is to keep P04 at .08 to .1 and nitrates around 10-20ppm. I really don't want a ULNS.

I've been using GFO(1 cup) in the reactor along with dosing PNS Probio to control my P04 levels. PNS Probio was only used for about 1 week after that my P04 has dropped. Turned my GFO to a very slow trickle just to keep water flowing thru the reactor in case I have to kick it back up. Here's an article about the PNS Probio, and some really interesting stuff. Great read, and worth the try. PNS Probio to consume P04 . I've dosing it twice a week right now, and will add it as needed to keep my P04 inline.

The algae scrubber(CW-50) is still on 24hrs/day and fills up with algae within 7 days. Last week I let it run to 14 days to see if that made a difference in my nitrates. It didn't change anything. I wondering if I go bigger on the ATS to help with the nutrient export? I'm sure it would, but I think sticking with the larger skimmer, ATS, dosing vinegar correctly with the aid of PNS Probio, biodigest, BW7 bacteria as maintenance for all the "good" bacteria that's needed to keep the "bad" bacteria away.

The vinegar dosing has been added to the Reefdose4. I made the DIY "Voss" dosing container 800ml. Dosing the vinegar directly into the return pump area for now.

One thing I noticed in my sump and in the tank is the growth of white sponges and orange in the tank. It's really cool to see the growth. I know that the vinegar really helps feed the sponges, and sponges consume P04 at the same time.

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Mar 7, 2022

My RTBA has been splitting and splitting the last couple of weeks. So I put these three nems up for sale to a new home.

Absolutely love this Ricordea....

Sgchick · Mar 7, 2022

You've been busy!! Tank is looking good. I'm just picking up a new on Wednesday...too bad I wasn't closer...your nems look beautiful as well!

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Mar 7, 2022

Thank you @Sgchick. The nems went quick. Then a bunch of messages on if I had more. I only sold them for $50, $30, and $30.

Kenneth Wingerter · Mar 7, 2022

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 said:
I've been using GFO(1 cup) in the reactor along with dosing PNS Probio to control my P04 levels. PNS Probio was only used for about 1 week after that my P04 has dropped. Turned my GFO to a very slow trickle just to keep water flowing thru the reactor in case I have to kick it back up. Here's an article about the PNS Probio, and some really interesting stuff. Great read, and worth the try. PNS Probio to consume P04 . I've dosing it twice a week right now, and will add it as needed to keep my P04 inline.

Very cool. Just curious, how are you dosing the PNS ProBio (directly into the reactor, or into the water column, or somewhere else)?

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Mar 7, 2022

@Kenneth Wingerter , I'm dosing 75ml directly into a gyre in the tank, all at once twice a week. I also turn the return pump off for a couple hours letting the Probio recirculate in the tank. My sump is very small and no room for an area for live rock to be stored. Otherwise I would add Probio post skimmer into the rocks before the return pump. I do have a few powerheads with plenty of water movement in the tank. Keeping the skimmer off for at least 12hrs along with no UV. I don't dose the Yel Sno because I'm using the RM vitaminX. I haven't dosed the Probio again. It's due for another dose. Love your product though... great articles about it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Kenneth Wingerter · Mar 7, 2022

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 said:
@Kenneth Wingerter , I'm dosing 75ml directly into a gyre in the tank, all at once twice a week. I also turn the return pump off for a couple hours letting the Probio recirculate in the tank. My sump is very small and no room for an area for live rock to be stored. Otherwise I would add Probio post skimmer into the rocks before the return pump. I do have a few powerheads with plenty of water movement in the tank. Keeping the skimmer off for at least 12hrs along with no UV. I don't dose the Yel Sno because I'm using the RM vitaminX. I haven't dosed the Probio again. It's due for another dose. Love your product though... great articles about it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you! I think you've got it right, so long as the vitamin supplement contains p-aminobenzoic acid. And you answered another question I forgot to ask (re: skimming and UV).

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Mar 8, 2022

My nitrates are starting to slowly lower from 43.8ppm to 36.1ppm in two days from the last nitrate test. That's the first time my nitrates have lowered down instead of climbing up slowly. Curious to see how dosing 7ml of vinegar this week will keep lowering my nitrates. Feeding 2 cubes daily with no other foods at this time. Once I reach 15ppm on my nitrates with my phosphates staying at a good level I will start with some pellet feeding with the PLANK feeder. The fish really love to eat the pellets. They go nuts.

The ATS is almost full of algae again with tomorrow being 7 days from the last cleaning. I'm going to clean it at 10 days.

Flameback Pair · May 22, 2022

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 I made a post on my thread about the new upgrade to the PLANK feeder. BTW, how often do you have to refill your food hopper on it? How many times a day at how many seconds do you run the auger? I assume you use the OSC timer command with your Apex?

Perfectly_Imperfekt1 · Dec 17, 2022

Update:

The tank has been doing really good. Had some BJD that took out most of my hammers and torches. Did the kungfu dip to save what I could. The coralline algae have really covered a lot of the rockscape. The moonshiner method is still in full effect, and haven't done a single water change since the start of this tank in Nov 2021. Purchased a 125 gallon CDA tank/stand to build out. Going to move all the fish and live rock to the new build. The bio-load I have in my tank now is high and it's been a fun challenge to keep it all balanced. Lost a couple fish that jumped from tank. Mostly small fish, and I still haven't pulled the trigger to buy a lid. I'm not going to now because of the new tank build. I will build the rockscape out just like I did on this RSR250. The plank feeder has worked wonderful during my vacations and I would definitely recommend it.