Turtle's Deep Blue Sea

[Zack K]

Hmm[emoji848] Alkalinity, Calcium, Nutrients, and Light %?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

• Alk 8.5
• PO4 0.04-0.08... but could be over 9000. I'm starting to not trust my Red Sea test and the Hanna ALWAYS shows 0.00ppm.
• Salinity 1.026

Just cleaned the skimmer, gonna let water clear up and I'll test everything again. Just those two acros and the "hardy" pavona with STN. The forest fire, German blue and the frags on the rack look good. The stag is just a little STN above the base, but under that there's still PE.

 

[Second Shot]

Maybe just need to let the tank run awhile and get “seasoned.”

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I've been doing an experiment with the nano... as in the light peaks at 100%. It's a brief peak and it's at 7pm and the light turns off by 11. Since doing that the trumpet coral that was receding into the skeleton has started to expand its tissue. The duncans that were doing badly are perking back up and the rhodactis I fragged are almost back to full size, one I cut into fourths.

Today I put the lights on the deep blue sea one the same schedule.

The times and percent on the ramp are,
1100 5%
1200 15%
1500 50%
1900 100%
2200 15%
2300 0%

Color starts at 0% and goes to 30% from 1200 to 2200, then back to 0% by the time the lights turn off.

Par at 100% power and 30% color at top of the water is 400 directly under the two lights and 300 between them, pretty much a flat blanket of 100 par on the sand, and around 250 at the top of the rocks. Which seems like it's in the proper range for keeping a mixed reef.

I have the Kessil Controller set to a 14 day acclimation starting at 60% max intensity.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Elements test results

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Nutrients test results.

I don't see anything that would cause STN... elements good, nutrients are getting under control, ground probe is still working, no where close to too much light (altho I'm sure it's too little light, but that would cause browning out not STN, right?), there's no metals in the tank other than the Flipper.

Oh, my GHA is being replaced with Cyano, so we're in that phase of the maturity cycle.

I tooth brush it off when it gets built up on the rock and my conch is actually eating it off the sand now.

Oh, and check out this one zoa that popped up a different color in this middle of this frag.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Oh, and I forgot... this is the amount of food I've settled on twice a day, when I'm home. When I'm working day shift they get fed double this amount at 7pm. At this rate, I might use that package of LRS Reef Frenzy by this time next year. Heck I might be building a new tank by then... I might be addicted to new tank builds.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Just noticed this also...

1/20/18

2/4/18

Ignore the photo bombing clowns... I couldn't get them away from the camera... that's one busy turbo astrea snail.

 

[Zack K]

I trust the Hannah over RS kits. You need Phosphates turtle. They are very important. Amino’s and Coral Foods can help as well.
-Zack

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Yes I know I need phosphates, but this Hanna ALWAYS tests 0ppm. The Red Sea test has been an odd color lately, between 0.08 and 0.04, today it was closer to 0.04. I'm not fond of the color tests and would rather have a number like the Hanna checkers. I'll try again but I think it's been busted since I got it. I might get that ULR phosphorous checker.

Well I'll be d---ed... the thing showed something other than 0ppm for the first time, ever. 0.08ppm, if you can't read it from the glare.

I still want to find a calibration for this checker.

 

[Brew12]

I don't sweat my PO4. I never even use my hanna checker anymore. As long as I have "some" and less than 0.2ppm I feel good.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I'm just trying to make sure my fuge is doing its job and not the GHA in my display. Once I establish a working fuge, and get rid of the GHA, I'll worry a lot less about nutrients.

 

[Brew12]

I'm just trying to make sure my fuge is doing its job and not the GHA in my display. Once I establish a working fuge, and get rid of the GHA, I'll worry a lot less about nutrients.

Have you tried using Vibrant?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Have you tried using Vibrant?

First I've heard of it, but I did some quick research just to figure out what it is. I'll look into it more. I've got NOPOX altho I haven't used it in a while.

 

[Brew12]

First I've heard of it, but I did some quick research just to figure out what it is. I'll look into it more. I've got NOPOX altho I haven't used it in a while.

Vibrant and I have a love/hate relationship. It takes out hair algae so quickly it crashed my system. It was really all my fault. I dosed too much too quickly and couldn't remove the nutrients fast enough.
Nopox is basically Vodka and Vinegar. Vibrant is mostly bacteria that are very efficient nitrate consumers along with other bacteria that directly consume chlorophyll from algae. It will put a hurt on hair algae in one or 2 doses.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

What will it did too chaeto and ulva? I don't want to wipe out all my algae...

 

[Brew12]

What will it did too chaeto and ulva? I don't want to wipe out all my algae...

It will take those out too, if you aren't careful. I have very healthy Chaeto using it once every other week. At once a week it may not go well. I would only try it if you are struggling to grow algae in your fuge.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

It's just hanging in there, not really growing. Maybe even shrinking a bit, but I just had to clean out my skimmer and that whole section of film algae from the H380 spilling light over there. I might give this Vibrant a try.

 

[JoeIII]

As an alternative to Vibrant, Fluconazole is effective at removing some types of GHA. It is primaially used to remove bryiopsis, but it did so well on my GHA when I used it for bryopsis, when GHA returned after my reboot I used it again, within a few weeks every last strand was gone in both tanks. There is an in-depth thread on it here somewhere.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I've seen that thread. Isn't fluconazole only available by prescription? I'd rather not deal with that headache. It looks like the GHA is subsiding from the display, just can't get this chaeto to do anything.