Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

Here are some coralline growth photos.

This was taken almost a week

Here’s today‘s picture.

 

[tbrown]

It's coming along! Don't get an urchin or it'll all be gone.

 

[Fishy888]

I know it! I want to get a small urchin at some point but not until everything is covered in coralline and only if the coralline can grow back faster than the urchin can eat it.

@tbrown3589 how fast does your urchin eat? I’m going to add probably another 25 to maybe 40 lbs more of rock eventually but I have about 35 to 40 lbs of rock currently. I know that within a year or so coralline will be growing on everything and in places I didn’t know existed. I also know that it starts out slow but once there’s enough of it it’ll reproduce much faster. It’s just a matter of whether or not it can grow back fast enough to keep most of my coralline intact at all times.

 

[tbrown]

I know it! I want to get a small urchin at some point but not until everything is covered in coralline and only if the coralline can grow back faster than the urchin can eat it.

I just picked up a second urchin today. The first one destroys all algae in my tank. I doubt I'll ever see a speck of coralline that's not on my snails.

 

[Fishy888]

I guess I need to abandon that idea then. Too bad there aren’t any micro urchins lol.

 

[tbrown]

I guess I need to abandon that idea then. Too bad there aren’t any micro urchins lol.

A lot of people get tons of coralline and then pick up an urchin. I'd your tank is big enough and covered in enough coralline and your urchin focuses on the other algae first you might be ok for a while. I didn't have any coralline but he's already turn close to 1/4 of the rock on my 125 white. I got him on Black Friday so he's a voracious scraper for sure!

 

[Mschmidt]

You might have some. The urchin first needs to find the coraline. I can have it on a rock for weeks, then nice and white again.

 

[Fishy888]

So I tested the water and got 16 ppb phosphorus which translates to 0.049 ppm phosphates. I cleaned out the sump about 15 minutes after that.

I had much more cyano in there than I realized. It’s gone now but the water is still a bit green. It’s cleared out a decent bit considering I finished removing the cyano about 3 hours ago.

While I was at it I pulled out the bits of chaeto that were caught in the louvres of the return pump. I’m saving the deep cleaning of the return pump until after Christmas. I’ll probably do that when I get my new pump which should be in two weeks.

This is my now clean sump. I harvested some chaeto as well that had cyano growing on it. The chaeto is doing well. It’s grown some but I expect it’ll grow faster now that it’s getting more light and no cyano is growing on it now.

The water had cleared somewhat as of when I took this picture. It’s cleared a good amount since then but the lights are going down for the night.

 

[Fishy888]

I dosed phosphate-e at the normal concentration last night after cleaning out the sump. I tested for phosphorus around 4:00 today and got 5 ppb. That equals 0.015 phosphates. As much cyano as I pulled out of the system I can see at least one reason why the sudden swings in phosphates were happening.

Yesterday’s test showed 0.05 ppm phosphates. I dosed enough to bring phosphates down by 0.08 ppm however. The DT looked like pea soup after the sump cleaning. While the corals and pods likely ate some of the algae and cyano in the water column most of it died off. I also fed pellets last night.

My RO/DI should be arriving later next week or just after the new year (thank you @Lost in the Sauce more than you know). Armed with RO/DI and the phosphate trends in the system, I’ll be able to dial in the dosing to keep phosphates where they’re at; and keep them stable.

The difference between when my phosphate levels were 1 ppm and today’s 0.015 ppm is like night and day. My duncans especially respond to low phosphates with better coloring, faster growth, and good tentacle extension. Even the soft corals have better coloring and growth rates.

I’m also going to start running GAC in one of my emperor 400s. I really want the yellow in the water gone. Soooo @tbrown3589, @Lost in the Sauce, @fishguy242, and @Mschmidt do you run GAC? If so does it suck out the trace elements? Does your chaeto still grow well (if you have it that is)?

 

[Mschmidt]

I'm not sure what GAC is. Carbon? I have some in my canister filter but not enough to do a lot. It's mostly the for it I don't wash my hands well enough before stocking then in the tank or one of the candles turns dangerous. Haven't noticed much of a change in much. I don't really test for trace though. Salinity, N, p, alk, if I'm feeling feisty I'll do calc and mag but they are always high so I generally assume they are as the always are. I'm also dangerous to ta take advice from.

 

[fishguy242]

yes carbon will help polish water ,rinse w ro water pack in tightly .
you can polish the water with polyfil also
do you have a reactor ?

 

[Fishy888]

No I have an emperor 400 HOB filter that I want to use for the purpose. It has media cages which hold a decent amount of carbon. I’m going to research polyfil too. Thank you for the idea.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I run a lot of carbon actively in the nem tank, passively in the big system. Couldn't tell you if it pulls out trace elements or not. Regular water changes should replace those.

As soon as I start a fuge up, I start dosing Chaeto gro twice a week as well.

 

[fishguy242]

90 gal correct ?
use one side carbon other side polyfil...
hint, cheap pillow at walmart ,same thing 3-5$ cut a slit it cover pull it out,save bag to store pillow dry...

 

[tbrown]

I dosed phosphate-e at the normal concentration last night after cleaning out the sump. I tested for phosphorus around 4:00 today and got 5 ppb. That equals 0.015 phosphates. As much cyano as I pulled out of the system I can see at least one reason why the sudden swings in phosphates were happening.

Yesterday’s test showed 0.05 ppm phosphates. I dosed enough to bring phosphates down by 0.08 ppm however. The DT looked like pea soup after the sump cleaning. While the corals and pods likely ate some of the algae and cyano in the water column most of it died off. I also fed pellets last night.

My RO/DI should be arriving later next week or just after the new year (thank you @Lost in the Sauce more than you know). Armed with RO/DI and the phosphate trends in the system, I’ll be able to dial in the dosing to keep phosphates where they’re at; and keep them stable.

The difference between when my phosphate levels were 1 ppm and today’s 0.015 ppm is like night and day. My duncans especially respond to low phosphates with better coloring, faster growth, and good tentacle extension. Even the soft corals have better coloring and growth rates.

I’m also going to start running GAC in one of my emperor 400s. I really want the yellow in the water gone. Soooo @tbrown3589, @Lost in the Sauce, @fishguy242, and @Mschmidt do you run GAC? If so does it suck out the trace elements? Does your chaeto still grow well (if you have it that is)?

I run nothing! Don't copy me. I'm a horrible role model! I just figured out why my alkalinity is sooooo stinkin' high. I don't use RO/DI like a dummy but what could it hurt, right? Well, my tap water (before even adding salt) runs 11.5 alkalinity. After adding salt? I don't know, it's too high to calculate... I'm topping off with 11.5 dKH alkalinity and water changes are almost 20 dKH. I don't run any carbon at this point because my nitrates stay mostly low - will be even lower when my ATO isn't adding to it. I have two RO units just am too lazy to buy the fittings and new membrane.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I run nothing! Don't copy me. I'm a horrible role model! I just figured out why my alkalinity is sooooo stinkin' high. I don't use RO/DI like a dummy but what could it hurt, right? Well, my tap water (before even adding salt) runs 11.5 alkalinity. After adding salt? I don't know, it's too high to calculate... I'm topping off with 11.5 dKH alkalinity and water changes are almost 20 dKH. I don't run any carbon at this point because my nitrates stay mostly low - will be even lower when my ATO isn't adding to it. I have two RO units just am too lazy to buy the fittings and new membrane.

Oops.....

 

[tbrown]

Oops.....

Yep. I'm such a bad influence!

Especially on myself.

I usually give the right advice, but like most dummies, I refuse to follow said advice....

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Yep. I'm such a bad influence!

Especially on myself.

I usually give the right advice, but like most dummies, I refuse to follow said advice....

Rodi input would be a make or break for me, no matter what size tank.

What's the worst that could happen? All of the things...

 

[Fishy888]

I run nothing! Don't copy me. I'm a horrible role model! I just figured out why my alkalinity is sooooo stinkin' high. I don't use RO/DI like a dummy but what could it hurt, right? Well, my tap water (before even adding salt) runs 11.5 alkalinity. After adding salt? I don't know, it's too high to calculate... I'm topping off with 11.5 dKH alkalinity and water changes are almost 20 dKH. I don't run any carbon at this point because my nitrates stay mostly low - will be even lower when my ATO isn't adding to it. I have two RO units just am too lazy to buy the fittings and new membrane.

I’m not as worried about nitrates since they’re so quickly consumed in my system. I want crystal clear water. Having gelbstoff in the water column sharply decreases the effectiveness of our lighting and just looks ugly. Running carbon also helps get rid of chemicals from warring corals.

 

[Fishy888]

With the new circulation pump and RO/DI system coming soon I decided to make two cabinets to add to the stand.

One cabinet will house the outlets, an apex or reef-pi (and I’m leaning toward the reef-pi), eventually an inkbird heater controller, and possibly a ph controller

The other cabinet will house the RO/DI unit, a 32 gallon brute trash can, a bank of peristaltic pumps and their reservoirs for dosing, and an automated water changing system.

I’m going to use wing nuts to attach the cabinets to the stand. They need to be movable so I can work in the sump. This is especially true for the plumbing/dosing cabinet.

The plumbing/dosing cabinet is going on the side I use to work in the sump. As a result I’ll put wheels on it so it can be easily moved. 32 gallons of water weighs quite a bit. The wheels are like what you see on shopping carts so they can hold quite a bit.

The electrical cabinet should be light enough to drag it across the floor a short distance when I have to maintain the ATO (which I will add in a couple months). I might put wheels on that cabinet too.

I’m considering the possibility of running a garden hose to the sink from the RO/DI unit. The kitchens in our apartment complex are small and narrow. Plus they don’t let us modify their plumbing. If I get a garden hose adapter to fit our sink all should be good.

On the other hand I could just roll the plumbing/dosing cabinet into the kitchen when I’m only making small batches of RO/DI. Either way will necessitate the use of a garden hose. The hose needs to be 25 feet long give or take. I’ll measure the distance from the stand to the sink.

The framework for the aquarium stand was made with 2”x 4” studs. I’m going to use 2” x 3” studs to build the framework for both cabinets. I got some wood out of our storage unit to build the frame for the plumbing/dosing side. Monday I will start measuring and cutting the 2” x 3” boards to length. If all goes well I’ll have the framework done for the plumbing/dosing cabinet by Tuesday evening.