WheresTheReef

I saw people dosing H2O2 but didn't look into it much since it kinda worried me. I guess I'm at a point that I could try it. Lots of research to do first though. Did you start dosing during the black out? Where did you dose it? How long did it take for you to notice a difference? Thanks Eric

I have a 2.5yr old 40g breeder mixed reef that has been infested with dinoflagellates. I have been battling this crap for around 6 months. During this time I have lost a clam and many of my SPS. Other SPS have been fragged down so much that it is killing me and I’m just tired. Frags start to heal, but the dinos spread onto the rock/frag plug and eventually irritate them again so they start to STN where it touches them. I also had a one-spot fox face (had him for 1.5 yrs) that refused to stop eating it and just recently died. I still have a few fish and quite a few corals SPS, LPS, and zoas that are still hanging in there. I tried many things including 72hr lights out every couple weeks, running carbon/GFO (though still ramping it up to recommended levels), manual removal and reduced lighting schedule. I recently just sucked out 99% of my sand bed over a few weeks, and bumped up weekly water changes from 10% to 25%. During water changes, I have been blowing off the holes in the rock with the turkey baster and crap still keeps coming out for me to siphon out. This has helped beat the dinos down quite a bit, but it’s still there. This has really made this hobby hard to be happy with, but I am ready to nuke the dinos and get things going again in the right direction. I’m considering to either 1) restart the tank or 2) go ahead and upgrade (e.g. 90g). The upgrade seems really attractive right now, but would also require buying more rock + equipment changes. For example, I don’t think my 32” IT2080 Evergrow light would cut it for a 4’ tank. I would try to trade it out for a couple 24” lights even though it is only ~1yr old. Would my return pump (EHEIM Compact+ 3000) be sufficient for a 90g tank? The pump will eventually be used to connect in my son's 20g long. My skimmer would need to be swapped out eventually (Reef Octopus 110 4” internal) as the stock increases. Another hard question is I would like to reuse my existing rock (after an acid wash). I would also like to keep the corals I have. The issue is how would I ensure that there are no dinos riding in with the coral? I don’t want to kill off my livestock and start over with it. Anyone have experience with doing this? Sorry for the long rant, just want to get things right again.

I'm a night owl as well. Lights out for my tank is 1am. It's in the basement but light makes it in through a window. Livestock should be fine and would adjust.

http://reefbuilders.com/2008/07/18/ultra-algae-x-is-a-hit-with-aquarists-fauna-marin-ramping-up-supply/ States Ultra Algae X can harm urchins and tridacna clams so keep that in mind.

Definitely not the problem then.

What is the water pressure? I had to put a pressure reducer to be within specs of my rodi system.

Really cool. Thanks for sharing and keep the updates coming.

Do you have a pic of your setup? If I understand your description, the distance between the corals and lights is only around 12". Most of these units come with 90 degree optics, so increasing the distance will allow for a wider light spread. Additionally the lights are pretty powerful and zoas/LPS don't need such a high light intensity.

Was the tank surface clean where the gasket goes? Did you hand tighten only? They typically need another 1/4ish turn with channel locks. Also be careful not to overtightened the threaded elbow as you can crack the bulkhead.

Not currently running any. I plan to test my phosphate levels to see if it's issue. Need to buy a tester first though. Just doing homework right now to see what/how people run their media in reactors.

Thanks everyone. I am still in the research phase of this. I don't have a tester so don't know for sure if it's phosphates/nitrates giving me some minor algae problems. Was thinking about getting either a phosphate or phosphorus hanna checker. Many people online prefer the phosphorus since (once converted to phosphates) it supposedly provides a higher resolution at lower levels that we have/want in our tanks. I tested my nitrates with an api test kit, but know that it may always read 0ppm if some algae is present. I already run carbon in a media bag, but don't think it is very effective so I plan to move it into a reactor. I think one of my problems is that I overfeed a little. I plan on cutting back a little on the feeding and see how the tank fares. Lots to think about. Still a learning process for me.

Will be picking up 2 reactors this weekend and need some advice in adding them to the system. I plan to run GFO in one reactor and carbon in the other. I have a 40g breeder + 20g sump at the moment. I need to go ahead and order some media (and possibly a pump) so would appreciate advice in setting this up. I currently use about 2 cups of marineland activated carbon in a media bag and switch it out around every 2 weeks. 1) Which media (GFO & carbon) works well in the reactors? 2) How much of each media would you start with and increase to over time? 3) What is a good media change out schedule? I don't have a phosphate test at the moment. 4) Do the reactors need to be at the height of the sump or can they be below the sump's water level? 5) Where would you tie in the reactors input (e.g. from main pump or separate pump) and output (e.g. return pump section or other)? 6) Currently growing macro in a 5g refugium, but thinking about starting a 10g remote refugium. Once I tie the reactor in would you trash the refugium instead? Thanks in advance! Eric

5ppm is a lot of ammonia. It can have long term effects on the fish. I would do more frequent changes and use a binder as well. Have you monitored nitrites? If you had it for a "while" then the tank should be cycling/cycled. The added food might require a boost in the biofilter to accomodate the added bioload. If this is the case, then feed lighter and slowly ramp it up. It can be a bite, but the anthia is pretty fast. More likely when it was sleeping if so.

You can use an ammonia binder to help with the toxity of it between water changes. Make sure and only feed a little at a time and remove any uneaten food. Helps to always have mixed water for those water changes as well. Just keep an eye on the fish for now. Can't see any other fin deterioration in the pics.

Might be able to pick up a "cheap" ATO in the for sale forum if you post a WTB there. You can also look up gravity fed ATO which shouldn't be too expensive to build if your handy. My tank is only a 40g breeder so no experience with larger fish/open swimmers, but I think the Kole tang, fox face, and copper band might appreciate a larger QT than 10g. Not that it can't be done, especially if the fish are small, but the fish may be more stressed if they are cramped. Many people keep multiple fish in a QT at a time. I had 1 sick fish die in a QT due to some parasite I didn't catch early. Two other fish in the same QT died a day later. Three dead fish instead of just 1 really sucked. I learned to keep 1 fish at a time in the QT to reduce the risk of loss. I know this makes adding fish to your tank a longer process, but you shouldn't really rush stuff in this hobby anyways. Make sure and research each fish you plan to get. Have fun and take it slow. How big is your DT? Some of WAMAS' sponsors now claim to be selling quarantined fish. This might be worth looking into since it can be a little challenging to run a good QT. Definitely worth it to buy a fish that should be healthy after going through a proper quarantine process.

Never got good polyp extension on my sps during the day until I got rid of my flame angel. Never hurt anything though. It also liked to pick on all my snails. Left my other soft and LPS corals alone. Try to use a rubber band to attach some algae sheet to a small rock to see if you can direct it away from the corals.

I prefer to cycle the QT. Takes longer, but less stress on the fish (and you). Also, when medicating it is really hard to maintain the proper dose when you are constantly doing water changes. Consider an ammonia binder in case ammonia starts to rise. I would also consider an ATO. With a tank that small it doesn't take much evaporation + top offs to cause salinity swings. This can be stressful on the fish. Additionally, for some medications it is important to maintain steady water parameters. It is ok to run carbon in your filter unless you are medicating. Be careful when choosing medications/treatments as some fish do not tolerate copper. I prefer to not run lights to avoid algae growing in the QT. There is enough ambient light from the room and your DT if have the QT nearby. I usually just turn the light on for observation + when feeding. Make sure and remove any uneaten food. Feed lightly in that small tank. I moved to using 20g long for my QT for more water volume and swimming room. More forgiving, especially when just starting out and learning.

The LEDs are broken up into 2 channels. I was thinking about running both channels at the same intensity to keep things simple. At the end I just want an estimate of the PAR at different locations within the tank. I am just simply trying to get a closer estimate to the "real" value. Another issue is that the meter might be in "electric" mode instead of "sun." The model is an apogee quantum QMSS, but the s/n starts with ELEC. From http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/content/QMSS.pdf and http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/2/equipment, the sun mode is more accurate for our application and the electric mode will read 10-15% lower. Seems like there are errors from using LEDs, as well as reading in the "electric" mode (if in fact electric). I want to get an understanding of the lighting at different points in my tank. I am also still ramping up my lights and want to know my target intensity/channel. I want to make sure the corals are getting enough light within their recommended ranges that is why an estimated PAR reading is enough for me. The only thing is that if the error is around 15-25% (e.g. LED error + electric mode error), that can be pretty significant at the higher values (e.g. reading of 400)

I just borrowed the WAMAS Apogee Quantum PAR meter today. I plan to take measurements at different points in my tank with different light channel intensities of my Evergrow it2080 LED light. I have read that the meter doesn't read the PAR of LEDs correctly and need to be corrected for more accurate results. I came across this page (http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/light-intensity-measurements-for-light-emitting-diodes-leds/) that describes the error. If I read this correctly, would the meter value read ~15% lower than the actual PAR based on my layout given below? I figured that correcting for mostly the 12k and 450nm light would be sufficient since they represent around 75% of the light output. LED - #LEDs ------------------- 12k White - 28 6500K White - 4 420 Purple - 6 450 Royal Blue - 46 480 Blue - 4 520 Green - 4 660 Red - 4 480 Moonlights - 3 Anyone with the similar light correct for the values given by the PAR meter? thanks, Eric

That ph is a little low, but probably not worth messing with. Buffers are temporary solutions and just another pain to work with. To determine if it is a CO2 problem, take some tank water in a cup and aerate it with an air stone for around 10-15mins near your tank. See what the ph is. Now take the water sample outside and aerate it for the same amount of time and measure the ph. If the ph raises in the outside test sample then fresh air will make a difference. No/little change means that opening a window will likely not make a big difference. My situation was a CO2 problem since my tank is in a basement and my house is sealed up pretty well. My ph was at 7.45ish. When I aerated the water outside, the ph in the cup went up to 8.2 with alk around 9. I ended up drilling a hole on the outside wall, and running some 1/2" pvc pipe to my tank and connected it to the intake of my skimmer. I created a diy inline carbon filter for toxins and dust etc. My ph now runs around 7.95-8.05. To combat low ph due to CO2, another alternative to running a line outside is to run a C02 scrubber. They tie into your skimmer and uses C02 absorbing media (lime pellets). BRS sells that stuff. I went with airline since it was a short run and I didn't want to mess with changing out the media once it was exhausted. Might also want to test the ph of the new saltwater. My ph drops a little after a water change since the ph in the new water is a little lower than the tank.

So I ended up picking up a nice ~2.5" blue clam from Pacific East Aquaculture today. I placed a 2" frag disk under it and moved a little sand around it to keep it from tipping over. Very happy with this purchase. What PAR do you guys have your clams under? I should hopefully get the WAMAS par meter soon, so I'll have a better understanding of my tank's lighting then. I've read that the blue clams require more light than some others (e.g. tan/darker clams). I observed what looked like it was expelling a little zooanthella, but not sure so I raised my lights a few inches.

Specifically, looking into the maxima clams. I read that some come attached to a rock. If not attached, I would like to set it on a small rock to give me the flexibility to move it later if needed. How long does it typically take for them to attach themselves? Any tricks to keep them from tipping over until they attach?

If (most likely when) I get a clam, what are your recommendations on acclimation/introduction. I would probably do temp & drip. Some mention burping a clam, as I don't want to get any LFS water in my system. How exactly do you burp it? I assume you don't put it over your shoulder and pat it on the back... sorry couldn't help being cheesy. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks for all the replies!

Perhaps I should start here. I've been running a reef aquarium for ~2yrs now. Started with a 29g (for ~6 months) and upgraded to my current 40g breeder (~1.5 years old) + 20g sump. I have a mix of SPS, LPS, zoas, & softies. Most of my water parameters have been stable (test little before lights out): Sal: 35ppt Alk: 9.2 Ca: 465 Mg: 1420 Ph: 7.95-8.05 (night-day) Temp: 78.5* I do 10% weekly wc w/ reef crystals. Not currently dosing anything. I battled fluctuating Ph (7.4-7.8) for a few months up until 1.5 months ago. My tank is in the basement, so fluctuating CO2 levels was the issue. I ended up running an airline into my skmimmer and now Ph is stable at the range listed above. Lost a few more sensitive acropora to STN during this time. Other corals (including other acropora & montipora,etc) are doing ok. I am looking at Pac East Aqua. since they have some good prices right now and I will be within driving distance later this week. The sizes range from ~2-2.5in not bigger. I don't have to buy now, but just looking into it. I also plan to go out during the social next month so that will be another opportunity (though not sure about pricing then). thanks, Eric