- Joined
- May 2, 2020
- Messages
- 116
- Reaction score
- 111
I poisoned the Tank last Sunday with Bad Frags. It was the second load of Frags that caused the Ammonia Poisoning. The Tank was done by 06/26/20 with all cycling. Based on a Nitrate Level of 1. It had peaked at 45 ppm on Wednesday Night. It was down to 4 on Thursday and then 1 on Friday. The Ammonia was zero as was the Nitrite. Based on the readings I put some Old Aged Cement Frags in the Tank. The next morning the Nitrate was zero as were the Ammonia and Nitrite. That is when the mistake happened.
Making Frags is fun, but without real Dry Coral it is not possible to use Natural Attachment. Several months ago I bought a bag of Cuttle Bone ( yes, that white bony stuff Parrots love ). It wasn't like it showed. It was nasty stinky and had a Protein Covering. After cleaning off and aging it was time to try this Coral Substitute. Very bad idea. It was apparently still rotting inside and giving off huge amounts of Ammonia. This was not apparent in the 270 gallon Marine Pond. It is now clear why my big Feather Calerpa decided to suddenly die. Right after working with my new Coral Substitute 3 feet up current. The new Cuttle Bone Frags are what was put in on Saturday morning ( 06/27/20 ). At that point the Ammonia showed up. It went up to 3 and stabilized, for 3 days. Today after seeing the same unexplained Ammonia, I actually sort of Yelled, what the heck died in this Tank. At that exact moment it occurred to me that the Cuttle Bone Frags were still rotting. After lifting one up, it wasn't hard to smell the Ammonia wafting off. At last a real reason for the Tank going crazy. The mistake has improved the design. It did not need Two Nitrate Reactor Cores. It has never moved from zero Nitrate even after the Ammonia Problem. It did need a finer filter to polish the water. Foam Anaerobic Filters have always been great water polishers. Now both aerobic and anaerobic Bacteria have dedicated housing to maximize efficiency.
All the Cuttle Bone is out. The Tank is now running in the Original Form with the single change being the Foam Filter addition. If it returns to the water quality of last Saturday ( pre Cuttle Bone ) it will be ready for testing by Reefers. I will provide free systems to Reefers that want to test the Nitrate Destroyer and Protein Skimmer. It doesn't matter what you put in the Tank. It is all good data.
PS: There was a concern that my Test Kit was not accurate enough. Be assured that all my measurements are verified when needed by the LFS. They charge me for an accurate set of Tests and I get a Receipt. It was the LFS Measurements 5 years ago that indicated that the right materials had finally been found. It took 2 years to find a material that would protect Anaerobic Bacteria from Oxygen and allow an effective flow around the Anaerobic Cells. Since a workable material was found and installed 5 years ago there have been no Nitrate issues at all. How long will it take to remove a dead Cuttle Fish? We are going to see.
Making Frags is fun, but without real Dry Coral it is not possible to use Natural Attachment. Several months ago I bought a bag of Cuttle Bone ( yes, that white bony stuff Parrots love ). It wasn't like it showed. It was nasty stinky and had a Protein Covering. After cleaning off and aging it was time to try this Coral Substitute. Very bad idea. It was apparently still rotting inside and giving off huge amounts of Ammonia. This was not apparent in the 270 gallon Marine Pond. It is now clear why my big Feather Calerpa decided to suddenly die. Right after working with my new Coral Substitute 3 feet up current. The new Cuttle Bone Frags are what was put in on Saturday morning ( 06/27/20 ). At that point the Ammonia showed up. It went up to 3 and stabilized, for 3 days. Today after seeing the same unexplained Ammonia, I actually sort of Yelled, what the heck died in this Tank. At that exact moment it occurred to me that the Cuttle Bone Frags were still rotting. After lifting one up, it wasn't hard to smell the Ammonia wafting off. At last a real reason for the Tank going crazy. The mistake has improved the design. It did not need Two Nitrate Reactor Cores. It has never moved from zero Nitrate even after the Ammonia Problem. It did need a finer filter to polish the water. Foam Anaerobic Filters have always been great water polishers. Now both aerobic and anaerobic Bacteria have dedicated housing to maximize efficiency.
All the Cuttle Bone is out. The Tank is now running in the Original Form with the single change being the Foam Filter addition. If it returns to the water quality of last Saturday ( pre Cuttle Bone ) it will be ready for testing by Reefers. I will provide free systems to Reefers that want to test the Nitrate Destroyer and Protein Skimmer. It doesn't matter what you put in the Tank. It is all good data.
PS: There was a concern that my Test Kit was not accurate enough. Be assured that all my measurements are verified when needed by the LFS. They charge me for an accurate set of Tests and I get a Receipt. It was the LFS Measurements 5 years ago that indicated that the right materials had finally been found. It took 2 years to find a material that would protect Anaerobic Bacteria from Oxygen and allow an effective flow around the Anaerobic Cells. Since a workable material was found and installed 5 years ago there have been no Nitrate issues at all. How long will it take to remove a dead Cuttle Fish? We are going to see.