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LCDRDATA

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    GHA from H-E-double hockey sticks!

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by LCDRDATA

    What are you parameters again?

    Last tested a few days ago:

    pH 8.2

    Alk 7 dKH

    ammonia/nitrite/nitrate all 0

    phosphate 0 =/< x <.03

    Calcium 500

    Mag 1850

     

    Bringing up alk with Kent Superbuffer dKH; it was low the previous test. Mag raised w/Brightwell Magnesion; I've ordered the Kent Tech-M that apparently is the only one that kills GHA.

    GHA from H-E-double hockey sticks!

    in General Discussion

    ... anything beyond nutrient control is just going to be a constant cost and maintenance effort.

     

    Actually, I agree, and that absolutely is my longer-term goal. Right now, my priority is knocking it back sufficiently that I don't loose any more livestock while I work on the nutrient balance.

     

    I mentioned this already, but there are 3 basic reasons for HA to flourish:

     

    1. Overfeeding

    2. Overstocking

    3. Nutrient leaching from LR, ornaments, water source, etc.

     

    There is one more that I think is a factor in my tank right now, and I'll talk about that below.

     

    The first two are easy to determine and easy to address.

     

    1. How often do you feed and how much?

    2. What is in your tank (and how big is tank and how long has it been up)?

     

    Taking these in reverse order, my DT is a 75-gallon mixed reef that's been up a little over four years. Current fish include 1 each leopard wrasse, Kole tang, engineeer goby, Randall's Shrimp goby; 2 each green chromis, yellow-tailed blue damsel, false percula clown. All fish resident at least a year and at or close to full adult size. Corals include SPS (birdnest and montiporas), LPS (open brain, acan, aussie duncan) and softies (xenia, kenya tree, GSP, encrusting gorgonian, asst. zoas). Inverts include a derasa clam (~6"), skunk cleaner and coral banded shrimp, and cleaners (asst. snails, mithrax crab, etc).

     

    I'm feeding the equivalent of 1-1.5 cubes frozen once daily, some flakes or pellets and 1/2 sheet nori or equivalent every couple of days. Once a week I shut down the main return pump and add to the daily regimen another cube or two of rotifers/baby brine shrimp, ~20 ml Kent phytoplex, and ~10-15ml TLF marine snow. I let that circulate for a couple of hours and then start the return back up. I've been gradually cutting this back to the point that one or two fish started picking on polyps and then bumped up slightly.

     

    The third is harder....

     

    Where did your rock and sand come from? Live or dry? How did you prepare it?

    What is your water source? Have you tested your water before/during/after you prep it for a water change?

    My rock came primarily from two places: dry rock from the original owner (who had broken down the tank to sell) and live rock from one or two reefers I found via Craigslist (this was in my pre-WAMAS days). Live sand came from Marine Depot. With roughly 70 pounds of live rock and another 60+ pounds of live sand, initial cycle was minimal; I didn't do anything in particular to prepare it. I have vacuumed the accessible parts of the sand bed twice since all this started, but it hasn't made a discernable difference.

     

    I use a four-stage RO/DI setup for water; I recently replaced all four stages and added a two-point TDS meter. Water off the membrane reads between 2-5, and 0 after the DI resin. I use Reef Crystals salt mixed to ~1.025, but haven't otherwise tested my input water.

     

    Regarding your three-point "reasons" listing above, I agree. I think there's an additional factor that may be contributing, and that sadly is dead livestock. :cry: I hadn't thought about it before, but right now I can't remember the last time I saw the large serpent star or sea cucumber I have (had?). Similar story with the last sea hare I tried. I'm now wondering if they didn't crawl into a hole or bury themselves, expire, and start decomposing in some inaccessible place in my tank. Any one of those would be enough to "overfeed" the tank for some time.

    refugium lighting

    in General Discussion

    Most people stick around 6700k. I use a cheap CFL bulb in mine and it works great.

    If you don't mind my asking,where do you get yours? I'm also looking to replace the bulbs in my 'fuge fixtures - both 4-pin CFLs, 24 and 18 Watt - and most of the prices I'm finding are around $20-$25 for a 6500-6700K bulb.

    "Control, control, you must learn control!"

    in General Discussion

    ... A good question to ask might be if anybody's had a bad experience with a controller, or if they've either abandoned or changed controllers and, if so, why. Those of us who use and have had success with controllers are more likely to be cheerleaders and tell you to get one. I'd be interested in knowing more about why people leave or change controllers.

    I think you've put it better than I could have myself. I know checking the poll that only one respondent does not use a controller, and only two checked the box for "wasted my money." So if you're out there, what did your controller not do or do badly - or break down, etc. - that it was a waste?

     

    As far as the "best" controller goes, I suspect it's in the eye of the beholder. Since I don't have the level of equipment many members do (multiple sets of lights on separate circuits, ATO, dosing pump(s), kalk stirrer/reactor, etc) I'm looking for a fairly limited set of functionality, and that more on the "monitor" than the "controller" side. So, temperature, salinity, pH - possibly for two different tanks ~ 10-15 feet apart - and maybe a pump or two. Expandability in case I get more stuff probably more nice-to-have than necessary at least at this point. 250 options all controllable from a smart phone, not so much. That being said, I'm getting some good ideas from this thread so far and I'm happy to hear experiences (good and bad) and best practices while I try to figure out what I "need" vs. what I can afford. :bluefish:

    GHA from H-E-double hockey sticks!

    in General Discussion

    I added a couple of Mexican turbos and it seems that they are at least nibbling on the stuff :clap: so I added four more - we'll see how it goes but that's the first bright spot on this in some time. I'm going to order some Kent Tech-M as well, since apparently the brand/composition of mag makes a difference as well as the level.

     

    I also just added about two gallons of brand new healthy chaeto (courtesy of OldReefer) to my 'fuge and I am running my light 24/7. This brings up another question: it's a CPR fixture and comes with a 50/50 (10K/actinic) power compact. I am thinking I would get better growth with either 10K or 6700K - does the actinic component add anything in terms of helping chaeto grow? Thanks!

    "Control, control, you must learn control!"

    in General Discussion

    I'm appreciating the feedback, which largely seems positive (18 of 21 votes "Can't live without it" or "Very Useful") - please keep it coming :biggrin:. On the parameters monitored question, (pH/temp/ORP/salinity/Alk-dKH/other), I see temperature and pH as the big winners. No votes for alk/dKH - is there no automated monitoring, or just too expensive? What are the "Other" parameters that people are watching via the controller?

    One other question - is it possible to monitor a given parameter (pH for example) with two different probes in two different neighboring tanks? Which controller(s) allow you to do that? Thank you all again.

    "Control, control, you must learn control!"

    in General Discussion

    I'm appreciating the feedback, which largely seems positive (18 of 21 votes "Can't live without it" or "Very Useful") - please keep it coming :biggrin:. On the parameters monitored question, (pH/temp/ORP/salinity/Alk-dKH/other), I see temperature and pH as the big winners. No votes for alk/dKH - is there no automated monitoring, or just too expensive? What are the "Other" parameters that people are watching via the controller?

    Electrical fires more common

    in General Discussion

    I think a lot of people think that as long as there is an air gap, you're safe. People don't think about humidity and salt creep.

    +1

     

    Also, I can't see NOT having your equipment plugged into a GFI (ground-fault interrupt) circuit/outlet.

    "Control, control, you must learn control!"

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by LCDRDATA

    So I am thinking it may be time for me to bite the bullet on this one and get a controller. On a quick look, it seems the difference between the least and most expensive units is number of outlets controlled and level of programmability. As my lights are all on timers now, and a basic wavemaker switching powerheads, a bunch of programmable outlets might be a nice to have but isn't necessarily required. Even the simplest units seem to monitor pH, temperature and ORP - the last of which I haven't used so far and about which I've seen varied opinions regarding its value. Are there any that monitor alkalinity/dKH as well? - Salinity? - anything else? What are your experiences? Thanks!

     

    Also, I've tried to make a poll to go along with this - I'm not sure if I did it correctly or not.

    GHA from H-E-double hockey sticks!

    in General Discussion

    Except coralline helps in the fight against nuisance algae. It doesn't give it a place to take root.

     

    Personally, I'd suggest a sea hare first before any other animals. They just are algae eating machines. I'll never go the chemical route again.

    Tuxedo urchin, pincushion urchin, sea hare all been tried and failed :cry: I'm seriously considering a rabbitfish, but with what I've already bought that was "supposed to" eat stuff like this but wouldn't I'm somewhat hesitant to go that route. I'm also corresponding with John at ReefCleaners now, and hoping he can come up with something. I'll probably put phosguard and/or neo-zeo in my small canister filter again, but as it didn't seem to make a difference before; I'll probably get some Tech-M as well. Do you "inject" that straight out of the bottle or just generally in the tank? I don't to "destroy the village to save it." Thanks all!

    "Fish Stuck" hmmmm ....... help???

    in General Discussion

    I once worried about this, but its never happened. I figure if they do land up there, they must be flopping around until they slide back in the water.

    It's happened to me twice, although they ended up cooking on the glass tank top vice the overflow. One was a chalk bass, the other a scissortail goby. :sad:

    Ideal fish for a 50g reef?

    in General Discussion

    Yep, it's true. 2-3 months ago I had 8 or 9 chromis but they were fighting and left only 3. I'm thinking to add Mandarin and something else (I had Royal Gramma but disappear).

    I've had scissortail gobies and chalk bass in the past and really liked the look of them. Lost to carpet surfing, though, so make sure they can't escapte

    Carpet Surfing :-(

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by LCDRDATA

    So, I just lost my snowflake. He took a field trip to the floor and didn't make it back. I have had fish jump in the past, a six line, maybe one or two others.

    I don't have a jump guard, but if I ever got another eel I would definitely get one, but what about other fish?

     

    How many people actually use a mesh over their tanks to keep jumpers in. I've seen a lot of tanks but almost no one with any jump prevention systems.

     

    If I do use a mesh, what would I use? How would it affect lighting etc? My new tank is euro-braced. Will that help reduce jumping?

     

    Would lover to hear your thoughts!

    I currently have a glass top, and it's prevented a number of jumpers from departing my tank. Yet, a few have still managed to slip out the slot for the overflow etc. - over four years I've lost a chalk bass, scissortail goby, juvenile (~ 8") snowflake moray (different tank, similar setup), and possibly a couple other disappearences (we have three cats, so if they found them first I'd expect no evidence). About two weeks ago I found my leopard wrasse on the floor, but got him back in the tank apparently no worse for the wear. My top does cut the light down some. I thought about using white egg crate for a top instead, but that seemed to have the same light blockage as the glass. Now, I've got all the parts for a screen top, including clear mesh from Bulk Reef Supply. Then I'm going to use egg crate for the back slot (overflow, inlet, etc) but I figure that should be minimal. I wouldn't worry about significant light loss if using the clear mesh. :bluefish:

    Room for a Rabbitfish?

    in General Discussion

    I have a ~4" scribbled rabbitfish in my 55g frag tank. He does a great job keeping it clear of any sort of hair algae, but I think he may be picking at my zoanthid frags as well so I'm looking to re-home him and will be posting him for sale soon.

    Did you have a price range in mind?

    Room for a Rabbitfish?

    in General Discussion

    You should be fine. Only 2 tangs and the rest are small fish. I would suggest looking at some of the other rabbitfish like a gold spot, 2 bar or scribbled.

     

    What type of algea are you having a problem with?

    I don't know about the 2 bar or scribbled, but the gold spot - while admittedly a pretty fish - is supposed to get over a foot long, which I think is just too big for my tank.

     

    As best I can tell the algae is a mix of GHA and turf types, including bryopsis. The saga is on my thread that I put the link to in the original post.

    Room for a Rabbitfish?

    in General Discussion

    My DT is a 75-gallon mixed reef. Current fish include 1 each leopard wrasse, Kole tang, engineeer goby, Randall's Shrimp goby; 2 each green chromis, yellow-tailed blue damsel, false percula clown. All fish resident at least a year and at or close to full adult size. I may also be adding 1-2 saltwater-adapted mollies.

     

    It has been suggested a rabbitfish (foxface or one-spot foxface) could help with my algae problem (see thread "GHA from H-E-double hockey sticks) but I wonder if there's really room in my tank for an additional fish that size. I suppose theoretically I could get one, let it do its thing and then remove it, but the idea of finding a new home and trying to catch it make that theory dubious in practice, at least in my mind. Especially since nothing else that is supposed to eat this stuff has touched it so far. Any thoughts/experience? THANKS!

    T5 bulb options

    in General Discussion

    Hello everyone,

     

    In my 180 reef, I have been using the stock Current TrueLumen T5 bulbs. I've had tremendous growth with the bulbs. My reef has mostly softies (leathers, mushrooms, ricordia, zoos, polyps, etc), a RBTA, monti caps, and LPS (duncans, torch, and trumpets).

     

    I've been running the same stock bulbs since March 2011, and it's time to buy replacements. Since the TrueLumens gave me such success, I hate to change a good thing. I'm considering switching to AquaticLife or ATI bulbs. What are others thoughts? Do I keep what works or switch brands?

     

    What are people's experience with AquaticLife bulbs? I know ATI are highly regarded.

     

    Thanks

     

    Matt

    If you go to ReefCentral's "The T5 Q&A Thread" you'll find more information than you can use. You are correct that ATIs have a better reputation than AquaticLife bulbs, although I saw something recently at Hellolights.com about a new line from AquaticLife.

    carribean reef octopus

    in General Discussion

    I Have had an octopus for three months now. I dont know the species, age, or sex. Its about 6 inches long. Its healthy and eats well. I dont have the correct set-up for it. im looking to see if anyone is interested in it.

    Knowing what kind of escape artists octopi are, if you've kept him for three months something about your set-up is definitely "correct."

    Mermaids aren't real?

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by LCDRDATA

    I can't remember if it was Animal Planet/Discovery, but a year or so ago I stumbled across a similar special on dragons. In that one they took the approach of explicitly assuming they were real and then using science to explain the various characteristics found in dragon legends. The science fiction "hook" was the "discovery" of a frozen dragon body in a cave that had been buried in a glacier since the middle ages. It was a neat show, but much like the famous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, you would have had to be actively NOT paying attention to miss the fact it was a dramatization, not a documentary.

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