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

[Flameback Pair]

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 from what I’ve read of the Plank running intermittently as opposed to continuous creates speed/ noise problems. They say it does the mixing pump has a hum, have you noticed? Do you know if the speed can be set? Seems like I read something about that.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

@powers2001 I can't hear the pump running on the down tube at all. There's no speed setting the pump just stays on continuously. I did order the splitter/extension from Amazon and it will arrive some time today. Give that a try and see how this works out.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

@powers2001 , I was wrong about speed adjustment on the down pipe pump. Justin @avast is very helpful and responded to my email questions quickly. There's a little slider on the bottom of the pump that I missed originally. Turned the pump down to a reasonable flow. The food is suspended in the pipe longer to allow it to absorb water so that it doesn't float right to the top of the tank and then into the overflow.

I'm interested in making my own dry food mix now. Something else for me to experiment with on my tank.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Merry Christmas!!! It's been a busy month for me. Went on a cruise chasing sunsets, getting ready for the holidays, and messing with the reef tank.


After working with Neptune on the EB832 it was decided that it had to be sent back for review. Neptune replaced the EB832 at no charge. The EB832 had failed while I was on vacation but the good news is that I didn't have anything plugged into it that would have failed the tank lifelines. Actually impressed with the Neptune warranty service and getting it replaced fast.

Ordered an acrylic lid and currently have a DIY cover(egg crate) for now that's horrible looking but will have to work for now.

The tank has new fish added and a couple trial coral. I've been monitoring the levels of the tank and logging it into the APEX. Still haven't connected the Trident, but I will in the next 2 weeks.

Additions to the tank:

Fish
1 - Small blue tang
2 - Tiny ocellaris clownfish
1 - Midas blenny
1 - Starry blenny
1 - Tomini tang
1 - Mystery wrasse
1 - blue spotted jawfish
Coral
1 - leather
2 - mushrooms

Here's some videos of the tank, fish.

Blue spotted jawfish photos/videos of it from the start of the burrow building to the end:

Some tank shots and gang:

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

The ugly stage is just starting to take place. I've been feeding from the Avast plant feeder x2 a day(basically a couple small pinches of dry food), and 1 with frozen mysis/brine mix. Target feeding the BSJF, and only feeding about 1/2 cube a day right now. Letting the tank settle in with the bacteria, nitrates, and phosphates.

I've been adding vitamins(vitaminX - RM) to the frozen food water/food on every feeding. The fish are fat and happy with vibrate colors. The blue tang is a really deep blue and black. Tomini tang is eating and picking at all the rocks for algae. The starry blenny I picked up from a local reefer is the largest fish in the tank and quite the character. Which is why I really like them. The mystery wrasse, BSJF, midas blenny, and starry blenny were definitely on my top list to get, and favorites.

The clarity of the water with the Clarisea is awesome. Really love it so far. I'm so used to taking filter socks and cleaning them, and for the first time that's not needed. It's a great thing. See in this video towards the end how you can see the christmas tree clearly, also you can see the green algae starting to take place(ugly stage).

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Tank update:
Unfortunately the jawfish jump out of the tank thru the eggcrate little squares. Was hoping that wouldn't happen, and sad to see that happen - RIP McFly. Knowing that they are prone to do this, I didn't think he was talented or small enough to fit between the little squares in the eggcrate. Especially with him settling into the tank and eating so well. I will wait till next season and I have my legit lid installed before getting another jaw fish.

There are new items that have been added to the tank. With recently purchasing a IM25 lagoon tank w/APS white stand from another reefer that was full of coral and 3 fish. Added 1 Blue tang(little bigger than my current blue tang), 1 larger ocellaris clownfish, and a Choati Wrasse. LPS, RTBA(3), and Zoas, sea urchin(spiny black), 3 crabs(pom pom, emerald, and porcelain), 1 fire shrimp. They are currently all in the RSR250 till IM25 water levels settle from the move. Really need to get a filter for my phone to shot a good video to post.

Clear water algae scrubber arrived and I have been figuring out how I want to install this. CW-50 seems to be the perfect fit for my tank. After some researching and plaining I have decided to mount it just outside the sump. Gluing a couple shelf brackets with an epoxy glue to the side of the sump. Let that cure for 24 hrs and then did a mocked up run to see if it fits and works properly. Picked up a sheet of plexiglass to build a "pan" to put the ATS on as a fail safe. Just in case there's a leak I want to protect from major water leaks. The idea is to put the plexiglass with a lip on three sides except the sump side so that the water would drain back into the sump incase of a leak. I designed the layout with the mounts to account for that or just to leave the ATS on the mounts as seen in the video below. The scrubber has been running 24hrs a day since yesterday.



The electrical side of the tank still needs to be organized and right now is a complete mess. Rat's nest is a good way to describe it. Well besides the power blocks and EB832 mounting behind the tank and seen thru the open back area in the sump. The dosing system needs to be installed and my plain is to put it to the right of the ATS and dosing containers next to the Trident. Putting the Trident underneath the ATS. All a work in progress, and always open for input. Once the dosing system is in place I will finish this rat's nest. Not sure if I will get a cabinet for next to the tank to put the electrical in with the ATO rez. To be continued......

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Picked up this little gem for $15. The colors were dull and it really was a sample coral to put in the tank with the leather I first added. Well it's turning out to be a very nice piece. It's been coloring up really nice. Rainbow edge along the outside, deep blue base with red. It's starting to balloon in little areas. Curious to see how this grows and colors up. Really need to get a filter for my camera. LOL!!

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Picked up this little gem for $15. The colors were dull and it really was a sample coral to put in the tank with the leather I first added. Well it's turning out to be a very nice piece. It's been coloring up really nice. Rainbow edge along the outside, deep blue base with red. It's starting to balloon in little areas. Curious to see how this grows and colors up. Really need to get a filter for my camera. LOL!!

Nice find! I also like that one down in the right hand corner at the end of the video.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Nice find! I also like that one down in the right hand corner at the end of the video

Thanks Daniel. Picked up a few good pieces recently. Should have my filter lens next week sometime and I can post better pics of the tank.
This piece is an acan enchinata. It has about 20+ eyes on it with bright orange with streaks of bright green with mixtures of oranges and greens. This pic doesn’t show the colors off. But an idea.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Decided to post a video taken with my iphone 13 pro max with no filters. Lot's of blue tint to the video.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Tank update:

The algae scrubber is starting to show some algae building up. The picture was take on day 7 of it running 24hrs/day. Once I hit week 2 (Jan24th) I will turn the GFO reactor off. I might wait another week if there’s not enough growth. There’s only 40grams of GFO in the but it’s almost a month old(Dec 23rd it was added).

My phosphate(measured with phosphorus ppb) were .09ppm on Monday day 7 of the scrubber. With nitrates at 32ppm. Hanna checkers used for both tests. Yesterday I tested my P04 and Nitrates were .12ppm and 27ppm. While I have been trying to keep my feeling consistent with a pinch of pellet food early in the day, and 1 cube of mysis or a cube brine shrimp. I haven’t used the plank feeder because of the P04 spike it will cause. But I will once this algae scrubber gets up to speed.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Messing around with the filter lens I received for my phone. Orphek lens kit. Doesn’t really fit the iPhone 13 max pro. But it does the job.

 

[A Young Reefer]

one of my favorite rock scapes for sure. following along.

 

[Flameback Pair]

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 your clown(s) aren't being hosted by your nem now?

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 your clown(s) aren't being hosted by your nem now?

You know they won't host it. It's weird. I did try a fix box/quarantine box in the tank with a nem. One of the clowns did host it in there. But then as soon as I took them out. It went right back to the tube on the flank feeder.

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

Tank update:

The tank has been doing really good with a few hiccups along the way. The amount of coral that I have added has increased a lot since my last update on Jan 20th. Looking at the video of the tank you can clearly see the difference from the last video. The ATS has been working 24hrs a day and I'm been cleaning the screen every 7 days. I'm going to let the scrubber run 10 days to see if that helps with nutrient export. With the amount of fish in the tank and the feeding has been a challenge to get the nutrient export inline. Testing my P04 and N03 weekly to P04 daily since I got back from vacation. While I was on vacation the PLANK feeder was the only source of feeding for the 8 days I was gone. Feeding tiny pellets only for 3 seconds and 3 times a day. The PLANK feeder is awesome and I'm glad I made the investment. Best thing about it is the amount of food you can add to the tank with the water flowing in the tube to feed the fish. My experience with other auto feeders is that you get too much food added per feeding and the food floats on the top of the water. Ultimately ends up in the overflow.

Going on vacation for 8 days was a test to the tank and what will happen. I believe feeding the fish pellet food contributed to the raise in P04. At this time I haven't had any algae outbreaks, but keeping a close eye on the nutrient levels with minor adjustments. I've been running the GFO in minor amounts to help with the P04 along with the ATS running 24hrs a day. Originally I started the GFO Dec 28th with only 60 grams of GFO with a slow tumble / flow of water in the reactor. Right before I left for vacation on Feb 6th I changed the GFO and put in a cup(150 grams) in the reactor. Gradually started the flow of GFO until I left for vacation. The nitrates have been hovering around 20-25ppm(tested with Hanna Nitrate HR). The ATS hasn't been able to lower my nutrient level to date, but I believe it has been maintaining a constant level. Feeding 1 cube a day with some pellets with the PLANK feeder, to 100% feeder while I was on vacation. Currently feeding only 1-2 cube a day of mysis and monitoring my nutrient levels closely.

The balance of nutrient export and import is key to having a successful reef tank. The dance of feeding fish to feeding corals to feeding the bacteria in tank to excess nutrient export. I'm amazed on how much this hobby has changed in the few years. The bacteria in our tanks and the balance to keeping a healthy reef tank is key. Reading a lot of info in regards to algae blooms, tank crashes, thriving reef tanks. My goal is to get the nutrient balance correct with natural biological ways as much as possible(ATS, bacteria, skimmer, etc). Meanwhile I have the GFO in a reactor online as needed. Being patient is a key factor on letting things change slowly. There's a product that I've been reading about and going to try is PNS Pro Bio. Here's an interesting article about the bacteria in this product. Pro Bio arrives today and I will be added it to the tank daily and testing daily to monitor the effects to the nutrient export. Testing P04 with the Hanna phosphorous LR tester.

https://www.hydrospace.store/post/removing-phosphate-with-pns-bacteria

Carbon dosing is something else I'm very interested in doing as a alternative solution in reducing my nutrients. Basically a cocktail mix of 70% vodka, 30% vinegar, with a couple TSP of white sugar in a liter. Dosing this in small amounts over time. Only concern with this is bottoming out P04 and nitrogen export.

There's been some added equipment - Reefdose 4 with dosing containers, Nero 3 wave maker placed on the overflow side to more water movement, and the Aqua UV advantage 15watt sterilizer. What a challenge it was to add the UV to the sump. Currently dosing BW Alkalin 8.3, Calcion-P daily. My dosing container has three chambers and I'm thinking that I can add the carbon dosing cocktail. Haven't done it yet, but I have a place if needed.

ATI ICP test was sent this week, and the RM nutrients will arrive by the end of this week. I'm looking forward to starting the reef moonshiners method after my ICP test results. The only thing I've been adding is iodine and the vitaminX with every feeding(frozen food soaked).

I haven't done a water change since the beginning. That's right NO water change - yet. So I'm very interested in seeing the ICP test and what the levels are. I've added salt to raise the salinity(in a cup in the sump for slow introduction to the tank) to the water since the beginning because I have taken water out of the tank for different reasons such as coral treatments etc(small amounts).

My Apex has been a struggle since I got it. With the EB832 issues and then replaced under warranty to the base unit being replaced under warranty because of Wifi connection issues. It was a stressful time right before I left for vacation because I needed it all to work before I left for 8 days!!! I did run a cat5 cable to the new base unit to save any issues with Wifi while I was gone along with a camera on the tank at all times. So I could not stress while I was gone knowing the tank was ok. I know you guys can relate to that feeling......

The electrical wire and equipment still hasn't been organized. Need to get this done.

I went to Cancun for 8 days on vacation and what a beautiful place it is. Spent my time on a resort, went sailing, snorkeling, Rio Secreto underground caves(75 feet under ground), watched the Superbowl at the resort. It was a heck of a party. Met a lot awesome people along the way. Mostly from the midwest and east coast. While I was snorkeling seen a couple dragon wrasses, parrot fish, different types of fish, triggers. Some monti plate corals.

 

[Flameback Pair]

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 just in case you didn’t know, you can’t put vodka, vinegar in acrylic containers or use acrylic tubing. It causes crazing. Thanks for the updates. Glad you got to see Cancun!!

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

@Perfectly_Imperfekt1 just in case you didn’t know, you can’t put vodka, vinegar in acrylic containers or use acrylic tubing. It causes crazing. Thanks for the updates. Glad you got to see Cancun!!

What's a safe container to put the carbon dosing cocktail mix in??

 

[Perfectly_Imperfekt1]

The coralline algae is starting to appear all over the rock scape, back glass, and powerheads. Looking forward to seeing the rock scape with the added colors.

 

[Flameback Pair]

What's a safe container to put the carbon dosing cocktail mix in??

@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.