My Slice of Nature (Part 3)

[Harlequinmania]

Look like the seeded alage screen does help alot to promote its growth.

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[SubzeroLT]

20 hours to brew this.

it keeps the water very clean. The only slight downside is the need to drain it daily. Setting up a separate drain bucket this week.

 

 

 

 

 

[reefbuilder]

Wow sure looks like coffee. Skimmer is really doing a good job. But this amount in less than a day? Your tank dun look that overloaded so how come this much? Is it normal?

[SubzeroLT]

32 minutes ago, reefbuilder said:

Wow sure looks like coffee. Skimmer is really doing a good job. But this amount in less than a day? Your tank dun look that overloaded so how come this much? Is it normal?

No idea if this is normal.

During this time, there was some feeding (mysis/pellets/reef roids) & some dosing of amino acids/bacteria. 

[Harlequinmania]

Wow solid skimate.. did you notice any change in your nitrate level after the switch of the skimmer ?

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[SubzeroLT]

On 11/27/2016 at 11:57 PM, he said:

Wow solid skimate.. did you notice any change in your nitrate level after the switch of the skimmer ?

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I've not measured nitrates after switching off the skimmer, but I did measure ORP. This is 1 data point which needs to be repeated to be conclusive :

Preliminary data shows

- ORP decreases after feed or after skimmer is off

- Bacteria was dosed just after feeding. About 1hr later, ORP increases even when skimmer was off. 

- Spilling skim into the sump makes it dirty. Significant drop in ORP

- The regular run rate for ORP is roughly 350-380 zone. But adding carbon brings it beyond 400 zone => Carbon makes the water cleaner

[SubzeroLT]

Tank is now about 1 month old. Still trying to stabilize things (CR tuning, light setting......)

Some photos to share :

• The very effective skimmer does a fantastic job of removing organics fast & helped keep nitrates quite low. 
• Diatoms appeared during the 1st week then disappeared after 1 additional week & never came back. I'm attributing the reduced diatom / algae in the display tank to the ATS.

1.5wks of hair algae from the ATS screen.

 

Green Monti nicely encrusted on back wall already.

 

This has lighted up significantly

 

Jade green digi 

 

[SubzeroLT]

On 11/25/2016 at 1:26 AM, he said:

Look like the seeded alage screen does help alot to promote its growth.

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Definitely helps

 

[Dechew]

ATS is also useful to eliminate diatoms?

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[SubzeroLT]

Just now, Dechew said:

ATS is also useful to eliminate diatoms?

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No 'scientific proof', but just my anecdotal feedback. I'm using mostly new media (sand, rocks). Did not use yeast. There was loads of diatoms everywhere on week 1 (no ATS yet)

But they started to disappear a couple of days after I started the ATS (on week 2). And completely went away within a week.

 

[Dechew]

Thx for the info.

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[SubzeroLT]

Just back from an 11 day overseas trip. Thankfully, there weren't too much issues. A couple of things done :

- Connected a drain tube to the skimmer cup to an external bucket

 

- Hooked up a float switch to the bucket in case it overflows. These things can happen (eg. Anemone gets stuck in the wavemaker). If too full, the Apex Neptune will shut off the skimmer & send me a mobile phone notification.

 

- Placed a larger ATO bucket

 

- And many thanks to Lawrence & Chun Wai for coming in to check on my tank occasionally.  At the mid point, they helped to test KH levels....found it was dropping to from 8.5dKH to 7dKH. With the Apex, it was possible to increase the CO2 timing of the calcium reactor to bring it back to the 'regular levels'.

 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Some photos to share :

 

Acans from recent LCK shipment

 

Browned up blue stag. New growth is more blue.

 

Yuma from early SA shipment

 

 

 

Time to molt. Shell growing algae

 

Sunflower from reefer Anthony. Recall exchanging a few polyps from him in exchange for a tube of BSI glue at 12.30am in the morning.

 

[Darren Sim]

Really nice photography! How is your no3 and po4 during your absence?


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[SubzeroLT]

Thanks....pics taken a moment ago.

 

I didn't measure phosphate after i got back. Wasn't too concerned about it as there is Rowaphos running in a reactor.

Nitrates was between 0.5ppm - 1ppm, KH 8, Potassium was 360ppm (low).

 

2 colonies were faded possibly due to lack of supplementation & feeding. Hope they recover. The rest are generally OK.

[Darren Sim]

Thanks....pics taken a moment ago.
 
I didn't measure phosphate after i got back. Wasn't too concerned about it as there is Rowaphos running in a reactor.
Nitrates was between 0.5ppm - 1ppm, KH 8, Potassium was 360ppm (low).
 
2 colonies were faded possibly due to lack of supplementation & feeding. Hope they recover. The rest are generally OK.

So how do you feed your fishes? With the help of law and cw? Any manual dosing needed for your tank or only those normal cal, kh, mag in the dosing pump?


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[SubzeroLT]

Feeding was done mainly with the auto feeder. 2 rotations twice a day.

 

I engaged a pet sitter to come in daily to feed my cats. They are not familiar with marine aquariums, so they were only able to drop a cube of frozen mysis shrimp into the tank. Not safe to get them to dose stuff.

 

The calcium reactor covers the basic Ca, Mg, KH. Other things dosed regularly are FM color elements (manual at the moment). 

Other things dosed are Potassium (2x a week), Bromide (2x a week), Iodide (daily)

[Darren Sim]

Any reason why you must dose potassium, bromide and iodide regularly? Did you check your water parameters and notice these three drop regularly? Because I don't really dose these three. Not sure whether am I'm doing it safe or not. By the way did your calcium reactor clog during your absence? Any plan b if it clog during your trip?


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[SubzeroLT]

Potassium is a main element in NSW (not a trace element). Hence its considered one of the more important parameters.

I'm not an expert but based on what i understand, lack of Potassium will result in dull colors especially blue/purple.

I always check potassium before dosing.

 

Iodide is used by macro algae (eg Coralline). This helps the rocks color up purple quicker.

I copy/paste this from google : Iodine is a critical element for cellular function and the transfer of nutrients within cells.  Larger organisms require Iodine for proper thyroid function, production of hormones, and regulating metabolism.  Iodine is utilized by corals for the synthesis of pigments, which allow them to adapt to varying light conditions and provide their tissue with protection from UV radiation.  Invertebrates with exoskeletons (primarily shrimp and crabs in the aquarium) incorporate iodine in to exoskeletons and require iodine for molting and forming new exoskeletons as they grow.

I test for iodide but test kits may be inaccurate - always reads below specs close to 0ppm

From what  read, Bromide must be present in order for Iodide to be metabolized by marine organisms. Can't test for bromide with home test kits.

 

I suppose that regular water change should suffice to maintain good water parameters. But i'm changing 10% every 2 weeks, so more attention is probably needed with dosing.

 

The CR was run at a fast drip rate to minimize the chance of clogging. Plan B will be for reefer to come in to help check & purge the tube to unclog it.

A more certain way would be to use a high duty cycle peristaltic pump to push water through & not restrict it after the CR (similar to Ian's set up). I've not implemented it yet.

 

[quarantasei]

Thank you for sharing. Very informative especially on the automation part.


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[Darren Sim]

Well said! Thank you for your explanation!


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[redsuns]

On 1/4/2017 at 8:28 PM, SubzeroLT said:

Potassium is a main element in NSW (not a trace element). Hence its considered one of the more important parameters.
I'm not an expert but based on what i understand, lack of Potassium will result in dull colors especially blue/purple.
I always check potassium before dosing.
 
Iodide is used by macro algae (eg Coralline). This helps the rocks color up purple quicker.
I copy/paste this from google : Iodine is a critical element for cellular function and the transfer of nutrients within cells.  Larger organisms require Iodine for proper thyroid function, production of hormones, and regulating metabolism.  Iodine is utilized by corals for the synthesis of pigments, which allow them to adapt to varying light conditions and provide their tissue with protection from UV radiation.  Invertebrates with exoskeletons (primarily shrimp and crabs in the aquarium) incorporate iodine in to exoskeletons and require iodine for molting and forming new exoskeletons as they grow.
I test for iodide but test kits may be inaccurate - always reads below specs close to 0ppm
From what  read, Bromide must be present in order for Iodide to be metabolized by marine organisms. Can't test for bromide with home test kits.
 
I suppose that regular water change should suffice to maintain good water parameters. But i'm changing 10% every 2 weeks, so more attention is probably needed with dosing.
 
The CR was run at a fast drip rate to minimize the chance of clogging. Plan B will be for reefer to come in to help check & purge the tube to unclog it.
A more certain way would be to use a high duty cycle peristaltic pump to push water through & not restrict it after the CR (similar to Ian's set up). I've not implemented it yet.

A more certain way would be to use a high duty cycle peristaltic pump to push water through & not restrict it after the CR (similar to Ian's set up). I've not implemented it yet. - I actually have a peristaltic pump lying around, so to clarify, to do this, do we remove the current pump feeding the CR and use the peristaltic pump instead or do we continue to use the feeding pump and install the peristaltic pump after to push the water through the effluent ?

[SubzeroLT]

57 minutes ago, redsuns said:

So to clarify, to do this, do we remove the current pump feeding the CR and use the peristaltic pump instead or do we continue to use the feeding pump and install the peristaltic pump after to push the water through the effluent ?

The peristaltic pump now becomes the 'feed' pump before the CR (i.e. replace original feed pump with peristaltic pump). 

With a good peristaltic pump, you can adjust the motor speed -> effluent drip rate

[redsuns]

The peristaltic pump now becomes the 'feed' pump before the CR (i.e. replace original feed pump with peristaltic pump). 
With a good peristaltic pump, you can adjust the motor speed -> effluent drip rate

I see, thanks! So using the peristaltic pump to control the effluent drip rate thus bypassing the current needle valve used to control the drip rate ya?

[SubzeroLT]

On 1/5/2017 at 9:24 AM, redsuns said:

I see, thanks! So using the peristaltic pump to control the effluent drip rate thus bypassing the current needle valve used to control the drip rate ya?

Yes, no need for the needle/pinch valve. However, a good peristaltic pump is expensive & noisy. Hence the economical approach of using a feed pump method may just be more practical for many.

 

Personally, the 2 best flow control valves used are the (1) SMC needle valves, and (2) Flow-Rite Controls Pinch valve