JBD's cube upgrade
- Thread starter jbdreefs
- Start date
My pest friend is gone... Hopefully forever!
The tank's health continues to improve. In my 20H, I constantly battled crazy high nitrates. After setting up this tank, I was at about 60 ppm. In this build, I addressed nitrates in a few different ways. 1) I picked up an oversized skimmer: it's the RO 150 classic.
2) began using NO POX as a carbon source: I had a bad experience with this product on the 20H. When I began dosing NO POX, I jumped straight to the high nitrate recommended dosage and I think it basically shocked the tank into a borderlined crash. This go around, I have started very slow with the dosage rate. After several weeks, I have built up to the recommended dosage for low nitrates.
3) the addition of a sump has allowed me to run reactors: one of which is full of matrix.
My nitrates are currently at about 12 ppm and continue to trend downwards. I had a cyano outbreak about a month ago and treated it with chemiclean. I still have one small patch attached to a dead spot of a coral. It's not growing and I am hoping to starve it to death. If it doesn't go away in another week, I will do a follow up treatment of the chemiclean, but I don't want to.
My corals are coloring back up and steadily improving. I have noticed some SPS growth recently. So, all in all, things are going well.
The tank's health continues to improve. In my 20H, I constantly battled crazy high nitrates. After setting up this tank, I was at about 60 ppm. In this build, I addressed nitrates in a few different ways. 1) I picked up an oversized skimmer: it's the RO 150 classic.
2) began using NO POX as a carbon source: I had a bad experience with this product on the 20H. When I began dosing NO POX, I jumped straight to the high nitrate recommended dosage and I think it basically shocked the tank into a borderlined crash. This go around, I have started very slow with the dosage rate. After several weeks, I have built up to the recommended dosage for low nitrates.
3) the addition of a sump has allowed me to run reactors: one of which is full of matrix.
My nitrates are currently at about 12 ppm and continue to trend downwards. I had a cyano outbreak about a month ago and treated it with chemiclean. I still have one small patch attached to a dead spot of a coral. It's not growing and I am hoping to starve it to death. If it doesn't go away in another week, I will do a follow up treatment of the chemiclean, but I don't want to.
My corals are coloring back up and steadily improving. I have noticed some SPS growth recently. So, all in all, things are going well.
FWIW I prefer Reef napalm. Can mix it up any time I like, works in seconds and then is completely inert.JBDreefs;1072030 wrote: Had one aiptasia show up. I properly fed it a most royal dinner of Aiptasia X. It was my first time using this product. I hope it worked.
I also hope it doesn't kill my zoas that were right next to it.
alt="" />
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Working a ton right now... It's my busiest time of year, so not much of my projects have made progress...
My wife did go nuts buying me coral for Valentine's Day. Some how we came home with 10 frags. Outside of having more coral, the new additions have sparked an interest from the rest of the family. That's always a good thing. It even prompted my wife to ask how close we are to setting up the "big tank". I kindly reminded her that I have to lay hardwoods first....as she previously required.
My wife did go nuts buying me coral for Valentine's Day. Some how we came home with 10 frags. Outside of having more coral, the new additions have sparked an interest from the rest of the family. That's always a good thing. It even prompted my wife to ask how close we are to setting up the "big tank". I kindly reminded her that I have to lay hardwoods first....as she previously required.
Hopefully there's only one baby! I've heard if it don't kill it it can produce several babies... Assuming you can't remove the rock its on?
The old Peppermint shrimp is a sure cure most of the time and one would fix you at this point.
Looking good, how about a tank shot of those new corals?
So, I've noticed the build up of a white (probably more clear than white) slime in my sump. I can see strings of it attached to the various chords and I'm starting to see accumulations on the sump walls. My assumption is that this is the build up of bacteria related to the No-PoX that I dose. I'm relatively new to carbon dosing, so I don't quite know all the in's and out's. Is this to be expected?
I've also read that, when carbon dosing, one should use a beefy skimmer to more efficiently remove the bacteria consuming the nitrates. I have roughly 45 gallons of water volume and I'm using the RO 150 classic. This skimmer seems like total overkill to me, so I'm hoping that my issue is not really related to my choice of skimmer but more of the normal experience.
I've read many times that people carbon dosing experience a higher rate at which filter socks need to be replaced/rinsed. This is usually attributed to the higher density of the good bacteria that consumes the nitrates. My experience with filter socks and carbon dosing certainly mirrors this.
Based on the experience described above, I presume that equipment needs to be cleaned more regularly (pumps, reactors, etc.).
My questions are as follows:
1) Is this normal?
2) Do I need to beef up my maintenance routine to include a good scrub of the sump and equipment periodically (looks like monthly may be about right). The skimmer chamber definitely has a nice film of this stuff on it.
3) Is this a sign of too much carbon? (my nitrates are sitting between 8 and 12 ppm) Should I reduce my dosing regimen? Based on my nitrate level, My thoughts are that the amount I'm dosing is about right.
4) Should I rinse my matrix in water change water? Surely, the matrix is being coated in this bacteria which clogs the pores and renders it useless? The carbon chamber of my reactor gets cleaned every two weeks. I was thinking about emptying the matrix chamber into a colander/strainer of some sort and shaking the matrix around in salt water to knock loose some of the slime.
I've also read that, when carbon dosing, one should use a beefy skimmer to more efficiently remove the bacteria consuming the nitrates. I have roughly 45 gallons of water volume and I'm using the RO 150 classic. This skimmer seems like total overkill to me, so I'm hoping that my issue is not really related to my choice of skimmer but more of the normal experience.
I've read many times that people carbon dosing experience a higher rate at which filter socks need to be replaced/rinsed. This is usually attributed to the higher density of the good bacteria that consumes the nitrates. My experience with filter socks and carbon dosing certainly mirrors this.
Based on the experience described above, I presume that equipment needs to be cleaned more regularly (pumps, reactors, etc.).
My questions are as follows:
1) Is this normal?
2) Do I need to beef up my maintenance routine to include a good scrub of the sump and equipment periodically (looks like monthly may be about right). The skimmer chamber definitely has a nice film of this stuff on it.
3) Is this a sign of too much carbon? (my nitrates are sitting between 8 and 12 ppm) Should I reduce my dosing regimen? Based on my nitrate level, My thoughts are that the amount I'm dosing is about right.
4) Should I rinse my matrix in water change water? Surely, the matrix is being coated in this bacteria which clogs the pores and renders it useless? The carbon chamber of my reactor gets cleaned every two weeks. I was thinking about emptying the matrix chamber into a colander/strainer of some sort and shaking the matrix around in salt water to knock loose some of the slime.
I think I am going to start an addition to the cube. The setups with a little frag tank next to the display have always appealed to me. A couple members have these that I have seen.
The primary purpose is to have a cabinet to house my dosing equipment. The secondary purpose is to house more frags that will be eventually transferred to my tank in the living room. At the moment, my wife seems to be on the "more coral the better train". I better take advantage of it while I can.
The primary purpose is to have a cabinet to house my dosing equipment. The secondary purpose is to house more frags that will be eventually transferred to my tank in the living room. At the moment, my wife seems to be on the "more coral the better train". I better take advantage of it while I can.
Wow, cleaning a sump and a quick clean of all the equipment is work!
I don't have a suitable wet vac, so I turned a maxi jet into a vacuum by attaching a hose to either end. The output hose was run into a filter sock. This worked quite well. After vacuuming the big stuff, I just left the maxi jet running into the filter sock and kept the sump water stirred up.
Everything is pretty clean now. I had a lot of sediment from the initial fill back in January that is now gone.
The "slime" I referred to above wasn't as bad as I thought. I could definitely see strings of the stuff attached to power chords. I am planning to continue the carbon dosing without modifying my dosage.
About to do a water change. If things are looking decent before my LEDs turn super blue, I may snap some pictures.
I don't have a suitable wet vac, so I turned a maxi jet into a vacuum by attaching a hose to either end. The output hose was run into a filter sock. This worked quite well. After vacuuming the big stuff, I just left the maxi jet running into the filter sock and kept the sump water stirred up.
Everything is pretty clean now. I had a lot of sediment from the initial fill back in January that is now gone.
The "slime" I referred to above wasn't as bad as I thought. I could definitely see strings of the stuff attached to power chords. I am planning to continue the carbon dosing without modifying my dosage.
About to do a water change. If things are looking decent before my LEDs turn super blue, I may snap some pictures.
Went to get my dslr out and the batteries were dead...
Here are some CIPP's.
Full tank shot:
alt="" />
This was a gift: I was told it's a hairy mushroom.
alt="" />
I have two firefish.
alt="" />
My clown:
alt="" />
Meteor shower.
alt="" />
Another cool mushroom. It's huge! And I almost wish I could rid of these guys. I have several now.
alt="" />
Duncan
alt="" />
One of my favorite pieces: it's a deep red with a blue mouth.
alt="" />
Some acan's, gsp, and sunny d's
alt="" />
Torch
alt="" />
Here are some CIPP's.
Full tank shot:
This was a gift: I was told it's a hairy mushroom.
I have two firefish.
My clown:
Meteor shower.
Another cool mushroom. It's huge! And I almost wish I could rid of these guys. I have several now.
Duncan
One of my favorite pieces: it's a deep red with a blue mouth.
Some acan's, gsp, and sunny d's
Torch
- Messages
- 5,121
- Reaction score
- 7
You are absolutely right. I came up with a router jig that makes almost perfect half laps. I may do a sketch up drawing and share it with you.
- Messages
- 5,121
- Reaction score
- 7
Kinda, not really
. This one is designed just for half laps.I really like half laps , it is one of the strongest joints, Jjust not cost effective in a production setting.
Updates for this week:
Parameters are pretty good. I missed my water change last week, but I made sure to get it in today.
Nitrates are still hovering around 12. I can't seem to get below 8 ppm.
I grew tired of having to move all the frags off the sand bed so that I could vacuum, so I threw together a cheap frag rack out of things I had laying around: a cheap magnet cleaner and some egg crate. I epoxied the two together.
Lastly, I pulled my doser out of the closet and hooked up some Alk and NOPOX. It's been great not having to worry about dosing ALK. I have been running this for about a week. My current regimen appears to be holding the alk level stable. I adjusted Alk up to 8.5 from 7 over the last two days. We'll see how thing go this week.
I did the calibration setup of the doser, but I am pretty sure it over dosed my NOPOX on Tuesday, the day after setting it up. While not terrible, I definiitely had an algae bloom. It subsided after a couple days. I cut the NOPOX off for two days to just let things simmer down a little. I started a new schedule for the NOPOX today, just about 1/3 of what I had been dosing. I will watch my numbers and adjust accordingly.
I may have mentioned before, but the plan is to build a cabinet to house the doser and related equipment. The dinner tray table is temporary while I figure things out.
Also, I am starting to notice down falls to the AI prime on my system. My corals appear to be doing better on one side.... They one getting direct light. I am considering adding a second unit and/or building a canopy to house some retro T5s.
alt="" />
alt="" />
Parameters are pretty good. I missed my water change last week, but I made sure to get it in today.
Nitrates are still hovering around 12. I can't seem to get below 8 ppm.
I grew tired of having to move all the frags off the sand bed so that I could vacuum, so I threw together a cheap frag rack out of things I had laying around: a cheap magnet cleaner and some egg crate. I epoxied the two together.
Lastly, I pulled my doser out of the closet and hooked up some Alk and NOPOX. It's been great not having to worry about dosing ALK. I have been running this for about a week. My current regimen appears to be holding the alk level stable. I adjusted Alk up to 8.5 from 7 over the last two days. We'll see how thing go this week.
I did the calibration setup of the doser, but I am pretty sure it over dosed my NOPOX on Tuesday, the day after setting it up. While not terrible, I definiitely had an algae bloom. It subsided after a couple days. I cut the NOPOX off for two days to just let things simmer down a little. I started a new schedule for the NOPOX today, just about 1/3 of what I had been dosing. I will watch my numbers and adjust accordingly.
I may have mentioned before, but the plan is to build a cabinet to house the doser and related equipment. The dinner tray table is temporary while I figure things out.
Also, I am starting to notice down falls to the AI prime on my system. My corals appear to be doing better on one side.... They one getting direct light. I am considering adding a second unit and/or building a canopy to house some retro T5s.
