ReefGrammie's 90-Gallon Reboot

[ReefGrammie]

So much for being a "seasoned veteran" at reef keeping...did you know that if you let your ATO reservoir get too low, you can burn out the pump? UGH. ;Sour

Thankfully, I did have a backup Tunze pump just in case mine failed. I didn't think it would because of my dumb lack of attention. I knew it was getting low, but was planning to run the RO/DI unit today. The moral of the story is don't play chicken with your ATO system! ;Chicken

 

[ReefGrammie]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The title of a Clint Eastwood movie seems appropriate to describe 2020. My tanks have experienced all three in the last year…along with the world, I might add. The end of 2020 seems appropriate for a little tank reflection over the last year. Did I mention that I’m a huge Clint Eastwood fan? ;Happy

The Good

Compared to where the 90-gallon tank was in late 2019, I have to describe the tank as “the good.” Thankfully, it’s not covered in nasty hair algae now. My sandbed has never looked this clean. Another “good” was adding the 16 BioCube this fall. The intention was a grow-out tank for some corals, but I think it’s turning into a zoanthid tank! I’ve always had a thing for zoanthids, but I remember how quickly they could get out of control on my original 46-gallon bowfront tank and was hesitant to add them again. I finally settled on a zoanthid rock for the 90 (AKA Zoanthid World), which is currently growing out in the BioCube. I envision a rock with all different colors of zoanthids, which eventually will be moved to the 90. It will stay separated from the rest of the live rock so I can control the spread. I will also be adding a fish or two to the BioCube, but it has to get past “the ugly” first. I also got over my fear of dosers this year and am currently dosing alk and calcium. I replaced several pieces of equipment, which were original pieces when I started up the 90 in 2013. I figured I was pushing my luck and replaced the heater, ATO, light fixture, and powerheads. I’ll also be replacing the return pump soon, along with replacing the RO/DI filters.

The Bad

What a weird year for the entire world. I don’t have to say anything else about that. As far as “the bad” regarding the tanks, I think the 90 is almost too clean. I noticed some of my acropora fading recently. I’ve never been huge fan of checking multiple parameters, other than alk and calcium and occasionally magnesium. I run Chemi-Pure Elite in a filter sock in the sump. I’ve also never been a huge fan of additives, but I’m doing a little experiment now with Brightwell CoralAmino. I had a supply of some of the Red Sea aminos, but they seemed to make my skimmer go nuts for days so I stopped using them. So far, the Brightwell product hasn’t done that to my skimmer. I’m adding a small dose several times a day to high flow areas, after turning the skimmer off for about 15 minutes, and will see what happens over the next few weeks. I took some pictures yesterday and will take some comparison pictures soon. The acropora seem to be coloring back up, but I could be dreaming about that! Pictures will tell the story. I was reading about dosing nitrates/phosphates and overfeeding, but those options seem like an invitation for more problems. The BioCube has also started going through its own little hair algae problem recently. See “the ugly” for more on that. I also had the slight disaster yesterday when I burned out my Tunze pump by letting my ATO reservoir get too low. I take full responsibility for that one because I knew the reservoir was getting low and was waiting to run the RO/DI unit…lesson learned. At least Tunze ATO replacement pumps aren’t too pricey!

The Ugly

I HATE hair algae. I also HATE bubble algae. I’ve seen some of both in the BioCube. I first noticed a little bit of bubble algae on a zoanthid frag back when I had the zoa rock in the 90. I dealt with bubble algae in my 46 bowfront and eventually got rid of it with persistence and emerald crabs. I was never sure that the emerald crabs did much good, but I like them and usually have a few of them on hand. I didn’t have any in the 90 at the time I noticed the bubble algae, but it seemed to be contained to the one frag and I haven’t seen any bubble algae in the 90 since I moved the zoa rock into the BioCube. I just manually remove the bubble algae with tweezers when I see it. I also have a few emerald crabs on order…my LFS was totally sold out! I fully expected hair algae in the BioCube at some point….I figured it had to go through the new tank “uglies.” I used Vibrant when the 90 exploded with hair algae over a year ago during my tank reboot and think it helped. I didn’t have any horrible aftereffects. I did have a slight problem with what I think was dinos afterwards (stringy bubbles), but I raised my alk and it went away. Hopefully, the uglies will go away soon in the BioCube!

I’m ready to move on to 2021. It will hopefully be a great year for our tanks and for the entire world! Happy New Year, y'all! ;Joyful

 

[count krunk]

Nice write up!

I think it would be worth testing your phosphates and nitrates and then deciding if you want to do anything about those results.

Phosphates is easy to raise, and nitrate you can raise with spectracide stump remover

 

[ReefGrammie]

Nice write up!

I think it would be worth testing your phosphates and nitrates and then deciding if you want to do anything about those results.

Phosphates is easy to raise, and nitrate you can raise with spectracide stump remover

Thank you! You're right, I really need to check those levels. I'll report later!

 

[sp1187]

So much for being a "seasoned veteran" at reef keeping...did you know that if you let your ATO reservoir get too low, you can burn out the pump? UGH. ;Sour

Thankfully, I did have a backup Tunze pump just in case mine failed. I didn't think it would because of my dumb lack of attention. I knew it was getting low, but was planning to run the RO/DI unit today. The moral of the story is don't play chicken with your ATO system! ;Chicken

Need to set up an ATO for your ATO.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I hope 2021 is fantastic for you @ReefGrammie and your tank!!

 

[ReefGrammie]

I hope 2021 is fantastic for you @ReefGrammie and your tank!!

Same to you, @TriggerFinger! ;Joyful

 

[ReefGrammie]

Well, the results are in. Phosphate and nitrate levels are both 0. I'm wondering if I should remove the Chemi-Pure Elite from the filter sock in my sump. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[count krunk]

What test kits did you use?

I would remove it for a week and retest.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I’ve not used any chemi pure products because I can’t keep nitrates. My one acro that hasn’t bit the dust is very pale and I believe it’s from no nitrates. I agree with remove and retest in a week

 

[count krunk]

@TriggerFinger have you considered or tried dosing to raise nitrates? You can use a DIY solution pretty easily. I have the formula from the chemical man if you are interested

 

[ReefGrammie]

What test kits did you use?

I would remove it for a week and retest.

I had some API test kits on hand, which are the same ones I used over a year ago during my reboot. I guess they're still ok. The bottles don't expire until 2024, and I was most definitely registering phosphates and nitrates during my reboot.

I’ve not used any chemi pure products because I can’t keep nitrates. My one acro that hasn’t bit the dust is very pale and I believe it’s from no nitrates. I agree with remove and retest in a week

Thanks for the suggestions! Chemi-Pure is out, which reminded me to change my filter sock. Filter sock is changed, which reminded me to wash my filter socks because I just put the last one on. Y'all are making me work today! ;Joyful

 

[TriggerFinger]

@TriggerFinger have you considered or tried dosing to raise nitrates? You can use a DIY solution pretty easily. I have the formula from the chemical man if you are interested

I did make a 1 gallon solution with loudwolf (either sodium or potassium) nitrate. It was on the “weak” side. I am going to make another batch and make it a bit stronger. I was scared to overdose, now I’m just fed up with cyano and want it to go away. 2021 is going to be my reefing year!! I’m interested in your formula!

 

[count krunk]

Here is a quick copy and paste for you! Formula is from @Randy Holmes-Farley

Increasing Nitrate​

You need to maintain 2-5 ppm nitrate in your reef to keep dinos at bay and for best coloration on your corals. You can do that with RO/DI water and stump remover! Below is a formula from Randy Holmes Farley.

Dissolve 10 grams in 1 liter of fresh water. That 10 grams contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, so that solution is 6,140 ppm nitrate.

If you add 1 ml of the solution per 2 gallons of tank water volume, that will boost nitrate by 0.8 ppm nitrate.

You can get Spectracide brand Stump Remover from many places for about $8. For those of us without a scale, 10g = 2.35 teaspoons. And for people without a liter container, 1L = .26 gallons or 33.8oz.

As always, start small with your dose and test every day!

 

[count krunk]

I am working on a google doc with useful reefing info, that is the first entry I have made into it. Enjoy!

 

[sp1187]

Well, the results are in. Phosphate and nitrate levels are both 0. I'm wondering if I should remove the Chemi-Pure Elite from the filter sock in my sump. Thoughts, anyone?

I got nuthin'.
my NO3 runs 40/60 & PO4 .9/1.2

 

[ReefGrammie]

I got nuthin'.
my NO3 runs 40/60 & PO4 .9/1.2

Do you have any issues running at those levels?!

 

[count krunk]

Do you have any issues running at those levels?!

"And lo, do not be tempted by guiles of the high nutrient reefer"

2 The Reefers Creed 2:3

 

[ReefGrammie]

I was taking a few pictures this morning and thought of you, @sp1187. This is one of my favorites and is currently in the BioCube. I have few zoanthids with their own dedicated rock, but this Miami Vice colony is well deserving of its own rock. It is also the only zoanthid I've fragged...I hate fragging zoanthids (picture me looking terrified with gloves, glasses, tweezers, and a scalpel and glue in hand). I have 3 polyps currently growing on my Zoanthid World rock. This one came from that vendor of yours where I'm extremely jealous of your local curbside pickup option. I can't wait until it covers the entire rock!

I wish I could ID the colony behind it. My LFS owner handed it to me and said "grow this." I've never seen it before and tried Google images, but haven't been able to find anything. I need to get a better picture and put up a post about it!

 

[sp1187]

Do you have any issues running at those levels?!

issues???? hmmmmm.

do I have spots of algae growing in the tank? yes. do I care? no. it isn't overrunning corrals. it comes and goes.
the foxface, spot tail blenny, hermits and snails gotta eat.

twice a year I get this dino/cano out break on the scape. none in the sand bed. dose of Chemiclean clears it up.